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garbinge · 4 months ago

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SO SIMPLE (4/?)

Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw x F!Reader // Word Count: 5.4k Summary: After meeting Rooster (and some people in his life), you two walk on the beach and share some things with each other. Warnings: All my fics are 18+ regardless of content. Angst re: heavy topics. Mentions of parental loss/grief. Mentions of lifting reader off the ground. A/N: For some reason this was really hard for me to write lol. I feel like it's filler without being filler? If that makes sense lol. I do have a rough plan for these two that'll probably span over a few more fics! Thanks to everyone whose enjoyed this! Appreciate you all <3

📲 Bradley: You busy?

💬 You: Depends.

📲 Bradley: What if I told you I’ll be shirtless?

💬 You: I’m free.

📲 Bradley: I’m more than just a pretty face, you know.

💬 You: I know, you’ve got killer abs too.

📲 Bradley: I feel objectified.

💬 You: It’s not objectification if you enjoy the attention.

📲 Bradley: You got me there.

💬 You: So what are these plans where you’ll be shirtless?

📲 Bradley: Beach in front of The Hard Deck, 4PM.

💬 You: Do I need tickets?

📲 Bradley: Tickets?

💬 You: To the gun show.

📲 Bradley: Admission is always free for you.

Smiling, you put your phone down and looked at the time, there was about an hour until 4. With a sigh, you opened the laptop in front of you, adjusting yourself in the office chair that was large, leather, and brown, not your style at all, until you were comfortable and looked over to your right. The image of your family sat dusty and in the same position it had always been in, right next to the few medals and pen stand. This was the one spot you knew you’d be able to write what you needed to.

You were right, because before you knew it, the sun was shining golden through the window behind you and you realized it was definitely past 4.

“Shit.�� You shut the laptop closed and pushed your phone in your pocket before grabbing your bag and heading out the door.

Walking up on the sand, you saw the large group of pilots playing football. They were laughing, tackling, yelling, dancing all while you brought your hand over your eyes to take the scene in. Your eyes scanned over them all, first seeing your brother, pointing at someone with a large grin before the play was called out. Your glance jumped around to see Rooster, sunglasses on–of course, his tongue hanging out as he caught the ball and landed a touchdown, following it up with a dance as he threw the ball to the ground.

You let out a laugh, which caused someone to turn around to your left. As your eyes caught it in the peripheral, you turned, seeing Penny, the owner of The Hard Deck with a bunch of notebooks out on the table.

“Sorry.” You moved the back of your hand that was shielding your eyes from the sun to your mouth to muffle the laugh as well as physically show your apology for the startle.

“No need.” She politely spoke, pointing to the table inviting you to sit. “I could use the company.”

Joining the woman, you sat down so you were facing her, but your head couldn’t help but move to look out at the team having a good time and she was doing the same.

Eventually, she introduced herself, you gave her your name following it up with some pleasantries about the bar so she knew you were well aware of who she was even without the introduction. It was then that she put a finger on who you were. “Your Rooster’s friend, right?”

That was new for you. Everytime you’d come home, you’d be referred to as Admiral Garcia’s daughter, Lieutenant Mickey Garcia’s sister, but never Rooster’s friend.

“I am.” You agreed and looked over at the team tackling one another again, your eyes searching for Bradley. “Can I ask you something?” With your head moving back to Penny, she looked up from her paperwork and nodded. “What’s it like being back here?”

Her confused look held strong for a few seconds which made you elaborate. “I might not have spent time at the bar, but I know the news around here, read that you spent some time here on base when you were younger, your father was an Admiral, then after some time you came back and bought the bar.”

“Didn’t know my reputation preceded me like that.” Her smile grew and she dropped her pen and her hands intertwined with themselves as she stretched them across the table.

“I like to read the paper.” You rolled your eyes slightly embarrassed and shrugged.

“It’s…” Her voice trailed off as she thought of the right word. “It’s different. While having these incredible moments of the same feelings.”

You nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. But she still took the time to discuss the details on that.

“I’m different, right? I’m not who I was when I was here all those years ago. I have a kid now, a business, but even more than that, I’ve learned so much and grown so much. But then there’s these moments where I feel like I’m that person again, or something feels exactly like it did back then.”

“Do you hate it?”

“Not even for a second.” She smirked, her grin glistening as the sky continued to get golden as he day slipped away. “Is it hard being back?”

Now it was your turn to be taken aback.

“I read the paper, too.” Her eyebrows raised and then fell as you could tell she was thinking of something until it finally came to her. “Life in Brief, I think it was called? Written by the girl who grew up in Fightertown USA.”

Now you understood and let out your own chuckle. “It is. But some things make it easier.” You turned again to watch the pilots lift up one of the guys you knew was Bob up in the air and let your grin grow wider. “But sometimes, being here is hard. The memories you know? Not all of them are the best. It’s easier to get past them when you’re not drowning in them.”

Penny nodded and let a few minutes of quiet pass before picking her pen back up with a shrug. “Maybe you’re back so you can learn to swim.”

That was something you never thought of and when you continued to marinate on it, you liked the sound of it. Feeling more in control of something that you thought you really had no control over at all these last years. You were about to answer her, get more in depth about what she meant, but instead another voice was filling the conversation.

“Didn’t think you’d show.” Rooster was running up to you, sweat glistening all over his body, pushing his sunglasses up his nose as he bent down, leaning his arm on the table to prop him up so he could place a kiss to your lips.

“I’m sorry I lost track of time.” Your left hand extended up to catch his face as he was pulling it away, bringing it in for another kiss which he happily obliged to.

“Writing?” His face still twisted in a smile as he pulled away, hopeful he was right.

You nodded, hiding your excitement behind a muted smile that quickly turned into an open grin as he thrillingly threw you over his shoulder. Letting out a few cheers, he twirled you around as you laughed with a bit of nerves as the twirling continued.

“Rooster put me down!” It was spoken through your laughs and the occasional grip around his body to make sure he didn’t drop you. He listened, placing you down but it didn’t stop him from whirling you around and bringing you close to him, against his bare chest.

“This what weekdays as a Top Gun Fighter Pilot look like?” You were now wrapped in his arms, looking up at him dropping your head to the right where the crew continued to play football.

“Team building.”

It was all the explanation you needed. “Go team build then, I’ll spend some time with Penny.” You were untangling from his arms until he caught your hand for a brief moment and pulled you closer to him in one swift motion and chuckled as he caught you against his chest. Placing one more kiss to your lips, this time deeper than the first letting his tongue move around your bottom lip, his hand was still grasping yours closer to him not wanting to let you go anywhere.

You hadn’t known Bradley long, at this point it maybe was a week and a half, but what he said that night of your first real date was true. Things move fast when you’re on base. Days felt like weeks in some cases. It helped that every free moment he had, he’d share it with you. If he wasn’t on base training, he’d be at your place or at The Hard Deck with you. Now, you weren’t a stranger to dating. There was a fair share of relationships in your past. A couple serious ones that ended for one reason or another, a few more shorter ones that didn’t go past a few months, and a few more than that when it came to first dates and one night stands, but nothing felt like this. So simple.

There was also the fact of the matter that you hadn’t been in any of those situations since your father died. It was probably why Mickey was so hesitant to play any typical protective older brother role once he found out about you two. But Bradley was different. You just felt different around him.

“For good luck.” He whispered in your ear after he kissed you.

You picked back up where you left off with Penny, your conversation continued with little lulls and many laughs. It wasn’t always deep, she would tell you stories about Amelia, then about some of her favorite patrons of the bar. Currently, she was talking about how many people leave their phones on the bar when one of the culprits of just that came up to the table.

“Sorry to interrupt, ladies.” An older, tall, dark-haired gentleman was approaching from the game as he placed his shirt back on. As he got closer, you realized you recognized him, you couldn’t put your finger on where exactly but you knew it probably had to do with your father. There had been quite literally thousands of naval pilots you had met over the years in passing. As he got closer, Penny introduced you to the man, letting you know he was the instructor for the team at Top Gun School. He leaned over to shake your hand, hearing his name–Pete Mitchell, sparked a little bit of your memory.

“Captain.” Is how you greeted him back, while you didn’t refer to many of the other pilots by their rank, you were raised to show respect where you felt it was needed and this was one of those moments.

“Pete, please.” He responded with a warm smile.

“This is Rooster’s…friend.” Penny trailed off at the end of her sentence, judging by your display of affection before she was well aware you were more than friends but wasn’t going to assume your relationship. Lord knows she wasn’t exactly sure on what hers was at this moment either.

Pete’s face got a little taken aback, his smile dropped just slightly, something maybe not everyone would notice but you learned to pay attention to little details like that. It’s what made your articles stand out, you’d be able to write a full paragraph based on a sparkle in someone’s eye or in this case sudden drop of a smile. Pocketing that small piece of information, you focused more on the conversation ahead of you with him.

“Where you visiting from?” He was trying to bounce back from his initial reaction all while he sat down next to Penny.

“Kettner Boulevard.” You were waiting for his eyes to widen and they did, you could tell because he lifted his sunglasses up like that was going to make what you said clearer or repeated to him. It was obvious he was searching your face for some familiarity trying to place you like a database running in his mind. Doing him the honor without needing to ask, you laughed and continued to talk. “I grew up here, Mick–Fanboy is my brother.” You pointed over to him. “Ad–”

Pete cut you off, “Admiral Garcia was your father, I’m sorry I didn’t realize. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“I didn’t realize until you said your name.” You tried to make him feel more comfortable, speaking through a curt smile. “You were stationed on the USS John C. Stennis with my dad, right?”

“USS Ranger, actually. We were both on it when it got decommissioned.”

All it took was that one word to be spoken for it to snap into place. “That’s why you look familiar!” It had finally hit you, and your voice was drenched in satisfaction and excitement as you remembered. “You hacked the powerpoint montage at the decommissioning ceremony to show those hilarious videos from the guys on the ship over the years.”

“Cujo is the one who actually hacked the slideshow, I’m the one that gathered the footage.” He remembered it like it was yesterday. All the white uniforms in the crowd trying to hold in their laughs while the music played through the speakers and videos of crewmates dancing in their bunks or sneaking into the freezer to eat from the tubs of ice cream filled the screen.

“My dad loved to tell us that story, kept the photo of your group at the ceremony in his office, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile so much, especially after being put on a new assignment.” It was true, every time your father got put on a new assignment, he wasn’t exactly thrilled. It meant figuring things out like how long he’d be away from his family. It’s what made the jump from Lieutenant to Admiral easy for him.

“That and he decided to make the jump to Admiral that year.” Pete remembered it well, because he was one of the many that had rallied for him to get the promotion. All of that was so long ago, and as it all came back to him, the memories, the years that passed in between, it was then that he realized it was only a handful of years ago that the Admiral had passed. “I was sad to hear of his passing.” It was his way of offering condolences.

“Yea.” You nodded in agreement. “Thank you.” Your eyes moved to the water, it was hard to look at Penny or Pete, or anyone really, as you thought of your dad. “The service was nice.”

Pete shook his head, picking up on your change in mood. Penny as well, and she was about to change the subject but Pete jumped in.

“Are you Mickey’s older sister?”

That comment brought you back from your thoughts with the widest grin on your face. “You just made my day, Pete.”

With a confused smirk, he tilted his head looking for some sort of answer from you.

“I’m the middle child. Mickey’s the oldest and we have a younger brother.” The noise of the pilots who were currently tackling one another in a dogpile called the attention of the table over. Your brother was jumping on top which made you wonder. “How’s Mickey?”

You never got the chance to ask anyone but him about him. And while he wouldn’t lie to you, he also wasn’t one to complain much, he’d tell you about his day when you called, any big plans that the future held. In fact that’s what brought you to come home when you did, while things lined up perfectly with your contract at The Washington Post being up, knowing your brother was going to be on base for a bit made it more convincing for you to visit. But when it came to this part of his life, being on mission, in training, being one of the best of the best, you didn’t know much.

“He’s good, balanced–level headed as hell. Sometimes, you can tell when one of the guys is waiting for the other shoe to drop, you can see their anticipation, but not Mickey. He’s ready for whatever direction the shoe is dropping. Sometimes he’s even able to catch it.” Now it was Pete’s turn to look out at his team of pilots before turning back to you and shrugging. “Plus he knows his stuff.” Pete grinned at that and you did as well. “If I got a question, I know who to ask.”

“Sounds like Mickey, they don’t call him Fanboy for nothing. Him and my dad were the same way, every detail embedded into their brains.”

“He’s a good kid.” Pete nodded. “So how do you know Rooster?” That was the question you could tell he was waiting to ask you when it was appropriate. His face had hardened, just slightly, but again enough for you to notice.

It was what happened next though, where you really picked up on something.

“You ready to head out?” Rooster’s voice wasn’t in its usual tone. The straight lipped expression he was sporting and his eagerness to leave was enough in itself to show you there was something big in the air that you weren’t privy to. Not to mention that you hadn’t seen Bradley anything less than content in the time you had known him.

It took you a minute to respond, trying to rack your brain around whatever situation was brewing here. “Yea, sure.”

As you grabbed your bag and moved it over your shoulder, you offered a glance over at Pete and Penny. “Thanks for keeping me company.” As you climbed out of the bench, you shot a look over at Pete knowing he was going to love what you said next. “Keep Mickey on his toes, he might seem like he knows it all, but he’s got some pockets in that brain of his.”

“Long walks on the beach, smooth move, Rooster.” Hangman was calling out to Bradley from only a few feet away as he tossed one of the footballs in the air while you two began to stroll on the coastline. He was one of the last pilots on the beach, everyone else had either gone back to their places near base or made their way into The Hard Deck for a drink, but not Hangman. “Don’t let the tide wash away all your ego, already got you sitting on the sidelines enough, don’t think we can take any more.”

All Rooster did was raise his hand and flip Hangman off as you two continued to walk along the waterline.

“Bird from a bird.” It was the last muffled thing Hangman said, or the last audible one at least.

Now it was just the two of you, occasionally bumping shoulders as the water lightly brushed up your feet, rinsing sand off of them while simultaneously bringing more to them. Neither of you had said anything since he asked if you were ready to head out. Sounds of waves, seagulls, and cars were the only thing filling your ears. But your mind? Well that was filled with a lot. Questions mainly. In the short time you knew Bradley, asking him questions never felt as hard as it did in this moment so you spent the silent minutes passing convincing yourself to say it.

“What’s the deal with you two?”

“Hangman? We’ve been at each other’s necks since The Academy. Just your usual nice guy vs. dickhead story.” That usual smile was on his face as he joked but you knew it wouldn’t stay there long with what you were really looking for an answer for.

“I told you, I don’t want to talk about Hangman.” You served the comment with a side of a smile, to let him know you weren’t trying to be rude. It was something you said to him the first night you met, and you still meant it.

It worked because he smirked from the side of his mouth before frowning and asking you what you meant then.

“Pete.”

It was one word. Four letters. But you would have thought you spoke a plethora of uncivilized and vulgar comments with how his face tightened, his jaw bones clenched, his chest tensed, all while his eyes did what yours did whenever you remembered anything surrounding the thought of losing your father–danced. They’d dance around looking for something to stare at, something to focus your energy on instead of the thought.

Without thinking, you moved your hand into his, intertwining your fingers and leaning your body into his. It could have backfired, you had been in this situation plenty of times where you didn’t want to be touched, the feelings of heavy memories weighing you down enough that you didn’t need the weight of anyone else on you. But you’d also had be in the situation where all you needed was someone to grab you, pull you out of the mess that was your mind. You’d hope that this was that sort of moment.

Rooster looked at you, something that he found extremely hard to do at that moment. It was always hard to look at someone when he was running through each thought about Maverick, about his father. The memories. And the thing was, they weren’t all bad, a lot of them were even good. But that was the thing, not only did those few bad ones sit a little more fresh and a little clearer than the good ones did– but the good ones almost felt like a reminder of them too. It’s why he’d always look away when someone mentioned it. Find his eyes searching around for something that would be on his side. Another reason it was so hard to be looking into your eyes right now, because he knew you would be on his side but your eyes also spoke forgiveness, the one things he was not ready for. But behind that, he saw someone who was just looking for answers to who he really was, which is what allowed him to open up, just a little bit.

“He pulled my papers at The Academy.”

You hated to follow it up with another question, but there wasn’t really room for any other words. “Why?”

There were those dancing eyes again. Why. That was the weighted question. One that was too much Bradley.

“You seemed to know him, with how you were talking with Penny and him earlier.” He didn’t let go of your hand, which was enough for you to know that while he didn’t want to answer your question, he wasn’t pushing you away either. Despite him not really asking you something specifically, you knew the information he was looking for.

“Pete knew my dad. They were stationed on the USS Ranger together back in the 90s.”

Rooster nodded at that, his jaw still clenched tightly again.

You stopped walking, your hands intertwined is what pulled Rooster’s focus back onto you as his body turned back to see what you had stopped for. His eyes were scanning you up and down for an answer, searching your body for an injury or your face for some information.

“I have to tell you something–well, want to tell you something.”

“What’s up?” His jaw had loosened, the look of concern now filling his face as he searched your eyes for any hint to what you meant.

You could have warmed him up to what you were going to say. Started out slow, explained the story in full, but something in you wouldn’t let you. Maybe it was because the story was hard to tell, with everything you knew now, the weight of all you knew before was heavier, harder to sift through.

“I’m adopted.”

His immediate reaction was on his face, a small twitch of his right cheek bone as his eyebrows moved together as the words processed in his brain.

“That’s–that feels like a big deal.”

Your lips curved slightly at that and your head barely moved in acknowledgement of it.

“I just mean–that I’m surprised I didn’t know before.” He wasn’t mad, at all. He was racking his brain around it.

Being adopted was something you recently felt sat differently with you than before. Now over the last few years as you grieved the loss of your dad, things just were different. There was a disconnect and you hated it. Hated to think of the detachment you felt. It started out as anger, searching for something that kept coming up short. You cried, a lot. Pushed people away. You remember when you showed up at your little brother’s doorstep out in Nevada, you didn’t call, hadn’t reached out in months, but you went there because he was the one that never pushed. Mickey called, alot. He was a problem solver. Griffin, he was an understander. You sobbed to him, told him what you thought, what you felt. How you didn’t feel like a Garcia anymore, you didn’t feel like you were able to keep your father close to you anymore. Then you buried all of it. Because it was too hard to revisit.

You sat down in the sand, tapping the spot next to you for him to join you. Obliging, he plopped down, his eyes still on you waiting for you to talk while you looked out at the horizon. There were only a few minutes left of golden hour, and you felt the same ticking clock against the words you wanted to share which is why after a large exhale, you spoke before you talked yourself out of it. “I was 5 when I got adopted. Don’t remember too much before that besides jumping from a couple shitty homes for a bit. But that’s never really been the hard part for me–it’s now.”

This was the most attention you had given these feelings in a while and suddenly it felt so easy to just let them out.

“I don’t feel as connected to the family anymore–my dad especially. These last few years have just been coasting along this fuckin’ numbness. Mickey– he has,” you pointed to the sky and towards the base, “this.” Shaking your head you continued, “he’s Admiral Garcia’s son, you know? He gets to keep him close with that. Honor him with that. My little brother, he’s Trainer Garcia’s son, got his own business out in Nevada training dogs. His love for it comes from everything my dad showed us.” Another head shake as you felt the tears starting to swell in your eyes you blinked a couple times and looked away, wiping them clean and free from your face paired with a couple muttered euphemisms as you tried to get out the hardest thought of all. “And me? I thought I had that. When he was alive, I felt so fucking connected. Not a single fucking doubt or anything you hear about kids who were adopted wondering about their biological parents or what their life could have been. I felt like I belonged. Like this was what was meant for me.” You swallowed and it tasted like salt water which meant the tears you wiped away before were letting loose on your face despite your previous efforts. “And then he died. And my whole fucking world crashed.” Those words were spoken at a higher octave as they rushed out in between a subtle cry. “I felt like I had nothing left of him here. Mickey had the Navy, Griffin had his business, and I had nothing.”

You took a minute to take a deep breath, wiping your tears away and pushing all that feeling back where it came from. Rooster looked like he wanted to swoop in and hold you, like he could take the reason for your tears and strangle them until there was no chance they could come back and haunt you. His eyes though, they looked knowing. Like he knew the profound impact losing someone so close to you could do, and that even though he’d never understand the exact burden you faced, he wished he could take all the pain away from you and keep it for himself instead.

Bradley was about to open his mouth to say something but in your effort of trying to mask it, you cut him off with a quick laugh. “I know I don’t have nothing, I’m not an idiot.” You smiled at that to let him know you weren’t completely woe is me right now. “I just mean, it’s why it’s hard coming around to writing this book. I’ve realized that I have this story–my story. And I don’t want it to be over.”

“And if you write it, it’ll be over.” Bradley began to fully grasp the big picture and the gravity of what you were saying. It was honestly the best thing he could have said at that moment. You didn’t want pity, condolences or sorrow, you wanted someone to simply get it.

“And when it’s over, I’ll be back in this limbo.” A mindless shrug came from your left shoulder because that was the end of it. The end of your unpacking.

“Will you, though?”

Maybe it wasn’t. Maybe that’s where you always ended it. Feeling like you hit a wall when there was just a few more bricks to tear down before there was more to think about. Rooster questioning you wasn’t something you weren’t expecting. It was proof that you were still learning things about him.

“I hear you–totally hear you, but it doesn’t have to be this whole once you finish the story stops. If anything I think it gives it a place to live, it gives it this bigger purpose.”

Bigger purpose. Wasn’t that what you were looking for this whole time? Between this and what Penny said earlier, you felt like today opened up a whole different viewpoint for you.

It was then that you were looking at him with this look–a new one for both of you but especially Rooster. It was one he couldn’t read off the bat and was squinting as he tried to search for some hint.

“Who are you?” It was a joke, clearly you took his words to heart, opening your mind to new thoughts and perspectives. This was the second time in such a short time frame that Rooster managed to do this. He was standing up now, extending his hand out to you in an effort to help you up off the sand.

“Some call me Bradley.” He tossed his arm over your shoulder once you stood up, bringing you snugged into his embrace, “some call me Bradshaw,” now a quick kiss was being placed on the top of your head as you both started to walk again, “some Rooster,” a modest shrug came from his shoulders as he spoke his call sign, “but all who know me know I am a master of wisdom, an enlightened mind, some might even say philosophical guru.”

It was impossible not to laugh at his words, tucking your arm around his back as you cuddled in more to him, hearing his voice echo against his chest as he continued to boast about his grand sage.

The silence eventually grew back over the two of you and you could tell that Rooster’s mind was wandering. Something was still hanging in the air and both of you knew it, but one of you was ruminating on it while the other was letting it go. For one of you the sound of the waves was amplifying the words bouncing around the brain while for the other, it was washing away expectation. The seagulls calls were poking at one of you, begging to speak the words out while for the other, it was a patterned song that drowned out the noise.

You could tell that for Bradley, it was getting loud in his head because he spoke the words out so urgently.

“Pete knew my dad, too.”

Your neck snapped up to look at him. That clenched jaw was back and in action as he continued to talk to you, less urgently now and more just sorting through it all. You remembered when you told Rooster you wanted to know everything. How hard it was for him, and it ended up being what made you fall for him. He was this complex guy, who had been through things so similarly to you and was still figuring it out. So that’s what the two of you did as you walked along the California coast. He told you everything. About losing his mom, growing up without his dad, and then he told you about Maverick. Then the two of you just sat in those emotions that you both harbored for so long, and suddenly they didn’t feel so heavy for once. It felt simple. So simple.

Dividers by: @cafekitsune :3 🛫Top Gun Maverick Taglist: @drabbles-mc @justreblogginfics @kmc1989 @writing-until-i-drop @jtheteenagewitch @meera10 @winchester-whiskey (let me know if you’d like to be added! I'm using my all writing taglist right now!)

CHAPTER INDEX <- where you can find previous chapters to this fic!

#top gun maverick #bradley rooster bradshaw #bradley rooster x reader #bradley rooster x y/n #bradley bradshaw #bradley bradsaw x reader #rooster fanfiction #Top Gun Maverick Fanfiction #Bradley Rooster Bradshaw Fanfiction #My Writing #Garbinge

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alba8688 · 5 months ago

Text

Love hurts

Chapter 60

Word count:3718

A/n This is just a filler chapter ,also I had this chapter written since November of last year as a tribute to Mathew Perry .Based on the episode of Friends season 8 episode 9”The one with the Rumor.” But I might have change some things enjoy ..

November 22

Tomorrow was Thanksgiving day and everybody was hanging out at Steve's house planning who's gonna bring what..

Eddie was sitting down in the couch next to lyric's swing where she was sleeping Nate was sitting down on the floor infront of Eddie drawing while ozzy sat next to Eddie in the couch .

They where all in there own conversation talking about pregnancy and hormones because Dustin had found a magazine in one of the boxes Dani had at her storage where she had some of her stuff that was left on Eddie's van .

"Hey guys ." Dani walks in Steve's house with Nancy next to her they had gone to pick up some pizzas for movie night and Dani told her about the embarrassment they passed back in Indianapolis.

"Hey baby ." Eddie reply ,he stood up from the couch just to give Dani her kiss ."I miss you ."

"I was gone for 30 minutes silly ."

"But 30 min is so much ." Eddie whine attacking her face with kisses .

"Uugh you guys a disgustingly cute ." Steve pretended to barf.

"Ok,now that everyone is here Thanksgiving tomorrow at my house mom said so ." Dani look over Eddie's shoulder while he continue to attack her face and neck .

"Eddie baby stop ." She giggle

"I don't want to ." He pouted

"Later I promise ." Dani peck his lips and walk over to sit next to Steve .

"Guess who I invited .Remember that guy Dalton Colbert from high school?"Dani asked Eddie

"No"Eddie replied taking his seat in his same spot .

"He was in O'Donnell class...marching band...kinda overweight?"

"Wow! I don't remember him. Baby."Eddie was trying his best to remember who the fuck Dani was talking about and also making him a bit jealous inviting some random dude.

"are you sure you're not talking about your imaginary boyfriend?"Dustin chuckled

"No that was Jensen! Wow! I haven't thought about him in a long time... "Dani Stares off into the distance lost in thought.then she Pauses"Anyway, umm Dalton's, Dalton is here on business and he didn't have a place to go so I invited him here"

"Excuse me who is Jensen?" Eddie asked but Dani ignored him as if she hadn't heard him.She didn't want to have to explain herself why she invented Jensen only to make Liam jealous .

"Oh, and by the way, he's lost a bunch of weight. I mean he looks goo-ood! Okay, I mean really, really gorgeous! "Dustin clears his throat."I still love Eddie."

"Ok I was just wondering ." Dustin says chuckling.

"Thank you man ." Eddie crosses his arms over his chest pouting.

"Baby you know I love you ." Dani sat on Eddie's lap placing a kiss on the tip of his nose.

"Yeah ." Eddie whisper

"Only you baby ."

"Guys there might not be cameras here but we are still

Here ." Steve blurted out making everyone laugh.

"You told him?!!" Dani asked Eddie

"Maybe."

November 23 thanksgiving(My bday )

The next day everyone was at the Henderson home Dani in the kitchen with Her mom and Nancy preparing the food while Eddie ,Steve and Dustin are watching the football Game not that they understand what's going on .

But the three of them were cheering for whoever made a touchdown .

"Hey." Robin enters the kitchen holding a sweet potato pie in one hand and in the other leftovers of her dinner with her family .

"Hey Robs." Dani walks over to help her with the leftovers

"Hi Claudia ,Happy Thanksgiving ." Yeah Mrs.Henderson had told the kids they could call her Claudia .

"Hey Robin I'm glad you could make it sweetheart ." Robin smile and politely dismissed herself to go watch the game after having a long conversation about the ham her mom had send .

"So how's the game ?" Robin asked the boys

"I have no idea." Eddie responds still keeping his eyes on the screen

"What?"

"Yeah! I'm just pretending to watch the game so I don't have to help out with stuff."Eddie turnt to look at Robin then to the kitchen to make sure Dani hadn't seen him take his eyes off the screen .

"And you dingus ?"

"I'm taking care of lyric." Steve slightly pushes lyric's swing who is peacefully sleeping .

"I don't believe you!

"Fine,fine sit." Steve orders Robin Wich she listens

"Ok,so we are pretending to match the game so we won't have to help in there an every time a team scores we cheered you know ." Eddie explains to Robin.

"Yup ." Steve says popping the p

"That is...brilliant! And Dani has no idea?"

"Nope! Every once in a while I just scream stuff at the TV."Eddie tells Robin as a matter of a fact

"Yeah ." Both Steve and Dustin respond

Dani enters into the living room to check on lyric and the three boys scream at the screen as if something important happen .

"You guys really enjoying the game huh?" Dani asked

"Yeah."the three of them responded

"Is your team winning Ed's?"Dani asked raising a brow

"Yeah baby Romo just score a touchdown."Eddie turn to look at Robin when Dani walks out of the kitchen with lyric .

"He is not even there anymore and I don't even go for that team just research everything right now ." He chuckled

Robin joins the guys in the couch while Dani finishes feeding lyric then puts her into her crib back in Dani's room.

Knock knock knock

"Coming !" Dani shouts

From The hallway .

Eddie ,Steve and Dustin didn't even bother to open the door too afraid that if they did, Dani would put them to do something .

"Hey!" Dani opens the door to reveal Dalton

"Hey!" Dalton pick up Dani spinning her around

"Happy Thanksgiving ." Dalton tells Dani setting her down slowly .

"Aww thanks! God Dalton I'm so glad that you came! You look great! You must've lost like..."

"150 pounds. Yeah, I'm gonna be in one of those Subway sandwich commercials."Dalton joked making Dani laughed and Eddie wasn't liking that another guy that wasn't him or Steve make Dani laugh .Even though he was watching the game he kept his ear on the conversation Dani was having with that Dalton Guy .

"You wanna meet some people? This is uh; this is my Fiancee Eddie . Eddie , this is Dalton ."

"Hey." Dalton extends his hand to Eddie to shake but Eddie looks at his hand then at him and he feels like he isn't as good looking as this Dalton guy .

Well shit Eddie thinks .

"Oh hey. I'd shake your hand but uh; I'm really into the game. Plus, I think it'd be better for my ego if we didn't stand right next to each other."Eddie says plopping in the couch with his arms cross over his chest looking at the game .

Dustin and Steve both chuckled they love watching Eddie being jealous and plus this was fun they never seen Eddie act this way around anyone .

"This is Robin." Dani introduces them and Robin blushes hard if she weren't into girls .Dalton would be so her type but she was so into girls .

"This is Steve my best friend ." Steve stand up and shakes Dalton hand .

"Yeah ,you can shake his hand because you're both handsome ." Eddie says a little bit too loud and turnt his attention to the game again .

"And this is my little brother Dustin." Dustin doesn't stand up from his place but shakes Dalton's hand .

"Hey ,Did you know Dani and Eddie have a baby together ?" Dustin tells Dalton .

"I do actually Dani told me ." Dalton looks at Dani then at Dustin smiling .

"Yeah and they are getting married ."

"That I know too ." Dani knew what Dustin was doing he was protecting his dungeon master .

"Ok,Dalton you want to give me a hand and I'll introduce you to my mom ." Dani tells him

"Sure! Dani, I can't get over how great you look! You look stunning!"Dalton grabs Dani hand spinning her around to admire her .

"Well you look incredible too! You're just—you're so fit!"

"I'm watching the game, but I'm not deaf!."Eddie shouts from the living room.

Eddie clenches his jaw and closes his eyes trying to control himself because he knew murder wasn't right and right now he was about to murder that Dalton guy .

"Hey man you ok ?" Steve asked Eddie

"Yeah never been better ." He sarcastically said

"Hey man you know Dani loves you ." Steve reassured him

"Yeah I remember that dude used to follow Dani and the cheerleading squad like a lost puppy doing things for them ." Eddie tells Steve remembering how Dalton use to bring Dani coffee or her favorite pie at school or even help her with her homework.Yeah Eddie knew Dalton had a crush on Dani ."Even Robin is smitten and she likes girls ." Eddie pointed at Robin who was completely lost staring at Dalton.

"Yeah he is handsome but you have nothing to worried about ." Steve told him

"We have a lot to worried about ."Dustin said from his place "look at the guy He is handsome has blue eyes and Dani loves blue eyes her imaginary boyfriend had color eyes ,tall very handsome .Eddie lost concentration when he heard Dani laughing with Dalton and Mrs.Henderson laughing about memories .

Eddie might kill Someone tonight .

"Oh I forgot to tell you Liam is coming ."

"Liam is coming. Great! I love Liam!"liam had always been nice to Dalton when all The other kids treating him Like shit .

"So Cinthia." Dani saw that Daltons smile faded away as if she had told him someone had died.

"Oh" was all that Dalton said to Dani

"Is there a problem ?" Dani asked worried she knew her friend was a little bit on the bitch side treating people less than her but her friend never treated her like that .

"Nope. Uh, it's okay. It's just uh, God I hated her."yeah he did after how she treated him in school .Making him feel like shit when Dalton confessed he like her .Cinthia made fun of him and told him that she would never look at him or lay eyes on someone like him .

"What?!" Dani gasped I mean Dalton was always with them and he was always so nice to them and so was Cinthia she wondered if something ever happen when she wander around .

"Yeah, I hated her. She was horrible to me in high school. But hey, it was a long time ago, I'm in a good place, it might be actually fun to see her again. "

Eddie was listening to the conversation of Dalton and Dani and was surprised to hear Dalton Hated Cinthia maybe they did have something in common.

"Y'know, it's been a while since we've screamed something. Maybe we should"Robin told the guys who where as well listening to the conversation

"Oh ok." Steve replied

"Oh come on!"dustin shouts at the screen

"Noooo!! Damn you ref! You burn in hell!!!"Robin shouted

"Dalton." Liam enters the kitchen with Nate and ozzy by his side ."

"Liam"!

"Hey-hey you came! Man you look incredible! Hot stuff! "They hug and Liam realizes what he said.Hot stuff?

"It's good to see you man."

"Yeah, you too. Man, so-so what are you up to?"

"Well I own my own company was pass to me by father when he died just a bunch of numbers and stuff ."Dalton explained what he did to Liam confusing Dani even more since he began telling his story .

"Really? Yeah that-that sounds interesting."Dani says trying her best to rally for her friend but she didn't understand numbers and whatever he was telling Liam.But Liam seem to understand him.

"Yeah, it's not. But I'm rich and thin."he chuckles

"Oh! Man I don't think I've seen you since uh, Denise Davis' graduation party."Liam tells Dalton

"That was such a fun night!"

"So what do you, what do you do now?"

"Dani and I own our own company as well we started this app that help college students with there assignments and now we also offer messenger for them to communicate with each other even professors are using now."Liam tells Dalton excitedly about there company totally forgetting about Dani next to them .

"Hi!"cinthia walks in the kitchen saying hi to Mrs.Henderson Dani hadn't even hear when she knock on the door one of the guys must have open the door .

"Hey sweetie." Dani greets her

"Cinthia Lewis." Dalton glares at her

"Aw—oh, that's right. Are-are you gonna be okay?"liam asked Dalton ,he was the only one that knew about Dalton confessing to Cinthia and what Cinthia did to him.If Dalton only knew that Liam slept with Cinthia after him and Dani go separated Dani didn't know about this and they where hoping she never found out because it was a drunken night when Liam was crying for what he had done to Dani.

"Oh, I'll-I'll be fine. Just God I hate her Liam! I hate her!"

"Well, high school was-was a long time ago."Liam tells Dalton trying to make him feel a little better

"Look at her standing there with those yams! My two greatest enemies Cinthia Lewis and complex carbohydrates.."

"Oh my God Dani, who is that?"cinthia stares a Dalton .

"That's Will from high school!"dani tells Cinthia

"Oh! I do not remember him! Wow! He's really got that sexy, smoldering thing going on. "Meanwhile Dalton is angrily staring at Cinthia.

"Oh my God, he's... Look at the way he's just staring at me. I think he's trying to mouth something to me, but I can't make it out."Dalton mouths, "I hate you."but Cinthia can't figure it out but Dani did .

She wonders what happen with them two for Dalton to act this way .

"Okay, dinner's ready!"Mrs.Henderson shouts making everyone stand up and run to the kitchen to get a plate .

"Good game!"Eddie says wrapping his arms around Dani's waits placing a kiss on Dani's cheek .

"yeah really good game ." Robin says getting her plate.

"Yeah. Solid effort. Solid effort."Steve says going along .

"Oh, so who won?"Dani asks Eddie who was still hugging her and kissing her neck .

"Green bay ." Robin says simultaneously

"Giants."Eddie says simultaneously.

"What?"dani knew they where lying but now they weren't even paying attention to the damn game .

"Well the Lions technically won, but it was a moral victory for the Green Bay...Mermen."Robins rambles on who was playing along saying a different team name all the time .

Steve closes his eyes keeping his mouth shut because he knows Eddie and Robin fucked up everything already .

They sit down at the table and Dalton goes to talk to Cinthia

"Hi! Dalton, right?."

"Right."Dalton rolls his eyes .From the other side of the Table Eddie is staring at what is unfolding infront of him wondering what really happen between those two .

"Hi! I'm Cinthia Lewis".she flirts

"Oh I-I remember you."

"Really?! Aren't you sweet! I gotta tell you though, I am, I am having the hardest time placing you. Oh-oh hang on! Did we umm, did we fool around at Denise Davis' graduation party?"

"You are unbelievable."Dalton gets mad

"Thank you!"Cinthia smile at Dalton thinking he is flirting with her .She really didn't remember the guy she said she was never going to lay eyes on him and now look at her flirting with him .

As the night goes on Cinthia tries flirting with Dalton but He keeps giving her the cold shoulder until Cinthia breaks .

"Did I do something to you ?" She asks

"I don't know did you ?"

"Apparently you were umm, a little mean to him in high school."Dani tells her

"A little mean? You broke my heart into a million pieces and then laugh at my face saying you would never lay eyes on a guy like me ."

Eddie was enjoying this so was Steve and Mrs.Harrignton watching the show unfolding in her house .

The honest true was she never like

Cinthia always making her daughter feel down always depressing her because of Cinthia Dani lost alot of weight . Because of her Dani got sick .The only reason she accept her in her home was because of Dani because she was so blind to see what kind of friend Cinthia was .

"Oh my I remember now !" Cinthia laughs "your fat Albert !!" She cackles looking at Liam who just nods his head not laughing at Cinthia's joke .

"Cinthia!" Dani gasped covering her mouth .She couldn't believe what her friend was saying .

"Oh Dani please your gonna tell

Me you just hang out with him because you were nice we all use him for our needs ."

"Cinthia I was never mean to Dalton always treated him with respect ."

Eddie ,Steve ,Dustin ,Robin and Mrs .Henderson where enjoying their show while stuffing there mouths with food .

Nate was in his own world eating and listening to some music on his tablet waiting for his grandpa Wayne to get here.

"Hello family I'm home." Wayne walked in the house just in time when the situation was getting better .

"Jesus Christ ! What's happening here ?"he asked sitting down next to Nate

"Grandpa Wayne." He smirk his face stained with gravy

"Hi son." He placed a kiss on top of Nate's head."

'Dani got up fast making Wayne's plate she wanted all this show to end when did her friend turn to be such a bitch !

She could still hear them

Arguing but she was trying to block everything out then she heard something that broke her heart completely.

"If you're such a good friend why did you sleep with Liam while he was till with Dani !!"Dani walked over to the table giving the plate to Wayne then walked over to her seat next to Eddie .Eddie stop what he was doing and look at Dani who look like a deer caught in headlights .

"W-what?" She asked looking straight ahead to the wall.

"Dani I can explain." Liam told her

"Explain that you slept with my best friend while we were together Liam!!" She stands up from her chair closing her eyes .

"Dustin can you take Nate with you the room please." She says nicely

"Dani the coversation is getting good ." He whines

"Please Dustin ."Dani's voice breaking

"Ok fine.Nate let's go play in my room."

"Ok." Nate follows Dustin with ozzy walking by his side .

"This is better than those soap operas you were watching the other day Claudia ." Wayne leans to tell Claudia making her chuckled .

"Baby ." Eddie says softly now his jealousy completely gone and now he wants to kill Cinthia for hurting Dani .He knew she was evil but he didn't know she could do this to her best friend .

"Liam ." Dani looks at Liam who has a sad face .

"Dani it wasn't when we were together we had b-broken up and I got drunk and she came to see how I was doing and the next morning I regret it everything ."

"Yeah the whole time he kept crying and saying your name ." Cinthia says like nothing annoyingly.

Steve looks at Robin then looks at Eddie then at Dani who looks like she is about to kill someone.

"Before, I would have care because I was completely and utterly in love with you Liam but now, yes it hurts me a lot especially because you're my best friend Cinthia you never told me anything,you watch me and heard me cry so many nights telling you how I wish Liam would change ." Dani stops and catches her breathed "I need you to leave Cinthia." She says in a nice way trying to control herself .

"Really Danielle after I stuck here for you after you stay with the freak !!!"

"Excuse me young lady !!" Wayne got in but was

stop when Dani slap Cinthia right across the face.

"You can do whatever the fuck you want to me

But you would never disrespect Eddie like that because he is not a freak now I ask you Cinthia to get the hell out of my house !'"

“Holy shit this is better than any soap opera .” Steve says with his mouth full of food “can you serve me more turkey please ?” He passes his plate to Mrs.Henderson who is also watching everything unfold inferior her .

Eddie is just staring at Dani and he had never felt more flatter .His girl just defended him .His ego might have gone a bit high right now .

“Fine !” Cinthia gets up pushing the chair harshly making it fall to the floor .

“What did I miss !!” Dustin runs back into the kitchen

“The bitch left .” Nancy answers ,she had been quiet all this time listening to everything .

“Dani.” Liam starts but Dani stops him .

“Liam , it’s in the passed ok you have nothing to worry about .” And with that Dani sat Down next to Eddie and started eating like nothing .

Everyone stared at her confused as to what just happen .

But the true was that Dani already kind of had a feeling about this she just needed to confirm it.It didn’t hurt her anymore but what hurt her the most was the way her best friend lied to her .

Was that her best friend has always been fake to her .

But it’s ok she didn’t need that kind of people

In her life .

“Are you ok ?” Dalton was the one to ask Dani.

“Never been better Dalton ,I couldn’t be happier I have my friends and family here with me that’s all it matters that all I’m thankful for .”

Next chapter

#eddie munson #stranger things #love #lovers #hawkins #hawkins high #teacher crush #student #corroded coffin #eddiemunsonfic #eddiemunsonandreader #friends

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nygiantsnews · 8 months ago

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Potential Running Backs in Giants' Draft

After the loss of star studded, yet injury prone, Saquon Barkley, the Giants managed to pick up a sufficient filler RB in Devin Singletary. However, there are still plenty of options of the Giants to choose form, if they wish to pick a younger RB in the draft who can still develop into a long-time starter.

Two popular names that could be selected on Day 2 of the NFL Draft include Trey Benson from Florida State, and Jaylen Wright from Tennessee.

Lets start with Benson. He's been scouted and referred to as a good comparison to Lamar Miller back in 2012 with Miami. He's an agility machine recording multiple runs of over 20 or 21 mph, as he also scored the first ever 80 yard catch and run touchdown in FSU history. His vertical and horizontal speed are both explosive, combine that with his very solid frame and strength, Benson is a very promising back within a Zone or Power Run Scheme like the Giants.

Now onto Wright. He's just as fast and maybe even more shifty than Benson, however he possesses a much smaller frame and build type. He focuses more on speed and less on the aggressive downhill contact. He still averaged over 7 yards per carry in College; to put that into perspective, a very good YPC average in the NFL is anywhere above 3.5. Wright also has a better knack for pass protecting than Benson, which would come in handy with our below average Offensive Line, attacking defensive targets and looking for engagement in the backfield.

Both of these guys would be very solid pickups on Day 2, and I believe either of them would blend in perfectly with Daboll and the rest of the offense.

Source:

#sports #nfl #espn #football #new york giants

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64bitgamer · 2 years ago

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dustedmagazine · 2 years ago

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G.T. — Money Counter Music Vol. 2: Born in It (Money Counter Music)

youtube

This follow-up to G.T.’s Money Counter Music is close to a disaster. On the new tape, the Detroit rapper endlessly recycles clichés. G.T. was always an underdog, standing in the shadow of Peezy and Babyface Ray, his former partners in the Team Eastside days. Now the days when people “tried to hoe me and lil bro me” are over for him, and he proclaims himself The Vet (as he names one of the tracks here). He has got his own style, yet he has hardly ever been a frontrunner. Every G.T. CD includes two or three listenable cuts and a lot of low quality filler. Money Counter Music Vol. 1 was no exception: it had a few catchy opening songs where G.T. shone on the hook with his groovy half-singing and the slick rapping, but that was all.

Money Counter Music Vol. 2 is a bad copy of the first tape. G.T., it seems, was too busy counting money to put much effort into his little songs. Most of the time he doesn’t even try to rhyme, just piling up lines as they come into his head. On “Road Running” he pairs “bingo” and “Pacino,” “running” and “road running.” On another track it’s “Celine” and “cheese.” Even on the best cut, “The Vet”, he’s doing a sub-par job of freestyling: “I'm on another level, adding money like I'm Elon \ Remember momma used to drop me off in her Neon \ I used to tell myself all the time, we'll be fine \ Touchdown, I'm in my primetime like Deion.”

The opening and closing tracks (like “Without It,” “Paper,” “The Vet”) are at least mildly amusing. What’s in the middle is shopping lists and sale catalogues made into songs. The Detroit rapper either lists his designer clothes, golden watches and premium cars or offers every kind of drug on sale (“Talkin' hard dope, makin' the soft dough \ I done sold it straight, beat it down like I'm Herbo”). It becomes exhausting, especially when guests appear. They have no chemistry with G.T. and their lines make even less sense than those of G.T.

G.T. ran out of things to rap five years ago, yet he still makes music. He is still an artist to watch out for, but only in micro-doses.

Ray Garraty

#g.t #money counter music #vol 2: born in it #ray garraty #albumreview #dusted magazine #hip hop #rap #detroit

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villagecigarcompany · 2 years ago

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Are you ready for some……. That’s right friends, it’s time to kick off another season of gridiron madness, couch surfing & over indulgence in premium cigars alongside some - or many - adult beverages! How about the Alec Bradley Gatekeeper to get this one started? This is the second release from Alec & Bradley, sons of AB Founder Alan Rubin. On this project, they worked together with the ‘Godfather’ of cigars, Ernesto Perez-Carrillo at his factory in the Dominican Republic. With the Gatekeeper, they have opened the gates to new tobaccos and experiences. Ernesto has given the Rubin brothers the opportunity to grow as second-generation cigar makers. This is a great blend of perfectly aged tobaccos from Nicaragua, Ecuador and Dominican Republic. Wrapper: Ecuador (Habano) Binder: Nicaragua Filler: Nicaragua/Dominican Republic Body: Medium TOUCHDOWN! Village Cigar Company & Barbershop Burlington, Oakville & Guelph VillageCigarCompany.com #cigar #barber #BurlON #BurlONT #DTBurlON #Oakville #DTOakville #Guelph #premiumcigar #handmade #walkinhumidor #getitatVCC #barbershop #barbershopconnect #barberlife #cutthroat #straightrazor #shave #haircut #beard #toronto #cigarshop #milton #classic #shoplocal @alecbradleycigar @alecandbradley #beer #whiskey #bourbon #rum #football @dtburlingtonon @oakvilledowntown @downtownguelph https://www.instagram.com/p/CiQr9pav6qH/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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teacup-crow · 3 years ago

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Scar Tissue

Imagine losing Officer Eiffel. Imagine losing him slowly, by inches…

Even in full gravity, Renee still has Doug to worry about.

Whatever the opposite of a fix-it fic is. Post finale sadness (spoilers for all of Wolf 359). CW pulmonary fibrosis/sickness/hospitals. For the Nightmares prompt from @badthingshappenbingo

She sat in a too-small plastic hospital chair and pretended to read something on her laptop, some minor feel-good filler piece Dominick asked her to edit about a new tech startup helping disabled kids. He didn’t really need her help; most of his coverage was more significant these days, but she tended to steer clear of the front pages. All too often, her face was still on them, thin and bloodied and grimly set, Jacobi and Lovelace propelling her out of the pilot’s chair. It had been six months since they all gave their testimonies, but the Goddard Futuristics trials were expected to take years to conclude, and every new accusation or scrap of evidence, every new department head put in jail dredged the story up again. Jacobi had had the right idea; he’d vanished off the radar within seventy-two hours of touchdown. Lovelace, too, had gone travelling, to shake hands with an aging, widowed father somewhere in Brussels; a mother and sister in Liaoning Province; an ex-boyfriend in Melbourne. But Renee had Dominick to think of. Renee had Doug.

God, she craved a cigarette. The entire time in space and the decade before that, she hadn’t touched them or even considered them except to confiscate Eiffel’s out of thin air, yet now… It must be the smell of the hospital, she thought, the sound of footsteps squeaking along the floor, of wheeled gurneys and old men coughing and wheezing. Or perhaps it was the fact that she’d been here for twenty-nine hours, watching the brown haired man hooked up to the oxygen tank, watching his chest rise and fall.

There was something in him that remembered what he’d been through. It was torn from his mind by Pryce, scrubbed from his skin by the alien blood that had not only regrown his fingernails but fixed the broken bones from the final shuttle crash so perfectly the doctors here didn’t believe they’d ever shattered. Still, the trauma had a way of lingering in the subconscious: the body remembered what the brain did not. The scarring on his lungs also remained - the Dear Listeners had neglected to mend all the damage done before their arrival.

Doug’s eyes opened, unfocused. He tried to scream around the breathing tube, but it was a hopeless attempt, a scratchy and guttural dead end. Being in the hospital made the nightmares worse, she’d noticed. Too much like a laboratory. She took one of his curled hands in hers, and rubbed circles with her thumb, talking just to fill the silence. That was always his job, before.

“…you know, we watched the new Star Wars movie the other night at the theatre, Dominick and I. You’d like it, I think. I…”

The attempt to scream became more desperate, his hands scrabbling claws, and the nurse rushed in to sedate him further, then to falter backwards and stare at them both because how often did you get to see the famous fucked up astronauts? Renee had to bite back something sarcastic, words from Isabel and Daniel teetering on the tip of her tongue.

“Anyway, as I was telling you. Star Wars. The first thing we’re doing when you’re feeling a bit better is going out to see it.”

She wondered what part exactly he was dreaming about. He almost never recalled the nightmares when he awoke, and she was pretty grateful for that. There had been one time, before he got this sick, where he’d sat bolt upright and told her I was alone, wasn’t I? Alone and cold. She’d nodded, and he’d passed back out again, and to her own horror she’d found herself crying.

“C’mon, Officer Eiffel. Of all the things that nearly killed you, it’s going to be pneumonia back on Earth? Think of what Lovelace would say! She’ll never let it go.”

When the nurse next drew back the curtain to gawp, she found Renee asleep with her face smushed against the wall, and draped her in a blanket. Renee walked a pitch dark corridor, guided only by the voice of Hilbert’s ghost, never quite sure if he was leading her to safety or to suicide, if she were hunting something or playing the part of the hunted this time.

His hand twitched, and was suddenly gripping hers, blinking himself awake. She woke with a start. Doug’s face had a different quality to Eiffel’s - there was a softness, an openness there. She resented it for its wrongness, and hated herself for that.

“Doug? Are you okay?”

His eyes fluttered once. Yes. She missed the sound of his voice more than she could say

#Wolf 359 #wolf 359 spoilers #w359 #Wolf 359 radio #bad things happen bingo

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penhero · 3 years ago

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An unpublished photo from 2006. This is a Classic Pens CP4 Richmond sterling silver fountain pen engraved in a moiré guilloche, released in 1997. Paired with the CP4 Washington, the set was the fourth limited edition in the CP series, based on the sterling silver Sheaffer Legacy fountain pen. The pens commemorate the capital cities of the American Civil War. The complex engraving was done using a circular engraving machine dating from 1928 by the Murelli company in France. The Sheaffer Legacy was a modern version of the Sheaffer PFM, a landmark pen introduced in 1959 and noted for its new Inlaid nib and equipped with Sheaffer’s Snorkel filling unit. The Legacy uses a pneumatic Touchdown filler with a removable converter so cartridges may also be used. The pen fills by unscrewing the end cap, pulling out the plunger, inserting the nib into ink and quickly pushing in the plunger. It is fitted with a Sheaffer 18 karat gold Inlaid nib and accented with 22 karat gold plated trim. The cap band is laser engraved with CP4 and the individual edition number. Only 500 sets were produced. #pencollecting #fountainpen #classicpens #lambroupens #guilloche #moire #sheaffer #sheafferpen #sheafferpfm #sheafferlegacy #legacy #sterlingsilver #artpen #penhero https://www.instagram.com/penherostore/p/CXHggVhPXjk/?utm_medium=tumblr

#pencollecting #fountainpen #classicpens #lambroupens #guilloche #moire #sheaffer #sheafferpen #sheafferpfm #sheafferlegacy #legacy #sterlingsilver #artpen #penhero

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thisolddag · 5 years ago

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Our Family Unplugged For 24 Hours. Here’s What Happened.

Back in September, our thirteen-year-old son finally got his own room. We converted the playroom by dragging in his bed and desk from the room he used to share with his little brother. The new “bedroom” still has bins of Legos and Thomas trains and action figures hidden in drawers, and it’s still painted a cheery bright teal, and he let me keep yesteryear scribbly artwork up, and it doesn’t quite fit his current cool, detached teenager image - but it’s got a TV and it is His Own Personal Space.

From which he hardly ever retreats.

This is the first thing. The fact that we have for all intents and purposes, momentarily “lost” contact with him. It’s normal, I know this - normal to want to burrow away and figure things out in solace, normal for someone who is 13 and looks 16 and is wracked with evolving feelings and changing body. I get it.

But this new room, and this new kid (who is now taller than me) got me missing things. Missing how things used to be before we walked around with devices in our hands. Because the truth is we are - all four us in this house - burrowed away in our own Personal Spaces. Eyes down, time wasted, hours spent scrolling, clicking, forwarding, deleting. Even the ten-year-old who doesn’t have a phone, has an iPad and access to a computer - and so while we still play board games, and eat dinner as a family, watch movies together sometimes - the cold, hard truth is that any leisure time to spare is time spent alone, in some corner, staring down at a screen.

So when I came across Tiffany Shlain’s new book “24/6: The Power of Unplugging One Day A Week” it was like a plea, a dare, and an answer all rolled into one. The next day, I called a family meeting.

“We’re going to implement a Tech Shabbat. We are going to unplug for twenty-four hours. No iPhones, no iPads, no computers. ALL of us. We will have a landline, a list of phone numbers to call people if we want, and one TV to share, in the family room.”

The ten year old was excited.

The thirteen year old cried.

He shed actual tears, and his reaction - fear, confusion, desperation, fury - further cemented my decision.

Yesterday was our first unplugged Sunday.

And here are my take-aways.

THINGS THAT WERE SURPRISING

1. Teenagers are resistant and reluctant to use phones for anything other than texting. I had to implore my 13 yr old to pick up the house phone and call his friends (they were supposed to meet up for Superbowl hangout that evening.) “Nobody calls anybody! Nobody leaves voice messages. Nobody checks voicemail!” “They won’t know this number. They won’t pick up.” He was correct on all accounts. I had to call parents and inform them that it was, in fact, our son calling from a landline, that this was no prank. The kids who ended up calling back didn't know to how to greet me. They stammered and hemmed and hawed. The idea that reaching out to a friend did not guarantee a direct connection with said friend, was foreign and stupid and strange. This all blew my mind.

2. The day felt incredibly long and languid. It unfolded slowly. When we get on a device, time is sucked up so quickly. I liken it to being in a casino. Minutes fly by, the whole concept of time is warped, thwarted, eradicated. Many times a day, I take my phone out of my pocket and there I am - Instagram, Facebook, Flipboard, Twitter, Matchington Mansion - and when I slip it back into my pocket, I’m unaware of how much time has passed. An hour? Twenty minutes? I don't register it, and yet, it’s gone in a flash.

3. I didn’t miss the things I thought I would. I didn’t miss social media, I didn't miss news notifications popping up, I didn't even miss the Marco Polos I love exchanging with a group of close friends. I didn’t miss getting emails. I didn’t miss looking around for my phone or “alone time.” I still had my alone time except it was quieter - an aloneness with my thoughts, observing things instead of being distracted by them. I didn’t miss being available and connected to an outside world. When I started wondering about how someone was doing, I picked up the house phone and gave them a ring. I left a message and hoped they’d call back. It felt freeing. It felt authentic. My husband felt the same. However, our oldest son’s biggest worry was missing out. He still got dropped off at his friend’s house for the SuperBowl party (the only kid there without a phone, I'm sure) and he still had loads of fun. In fact, when I called the kid’s house later that night to check up on him, he sounded energetic and happy and even ended the conversation with “I love you, mom.” But later he mentioned experiencing anxiety - feeling like he was missing out on “something important” by not having access to his phone. To him, having his phone nearby means having his friends nearby. Without it, he feels lost, unmoored. That admission made me think about how hard it is for our kids, who have grown up used to being “connected” all the time.

4. Landlines are FUN. My friends called a few times, and I would slightly thrill at the sound of a phone ringing throughout the house, and I’d run downstairs to pick up the receiver in time, smiling. As we talked, one friend commented how it felt like we were sixteen, hanging off our beds, twirling our hair, talking about our crushes.

5. My husband and I worked on a crossword puzzle over coffee and breakfast. I also finished a jigsaw puzzle in one afternoon, which I’d been working on for weeks. I read a lot. My boys lay together on the couch and agreed on what to watch on the one TV we could use. They hung out more than they had in a long, long time. We all felt relaxed. I ended up watching the Superbowl because by 9pm, I was too tired to start another jigsaw puzzle, too tired to read, so what else was there to do? I laid on the couch and learned about fumbles, and touchdowns, and cheered for the Chiefs and I kind of got into it. Who the fuck would have thunk.

THINGS THAT WERE ANNOYING

1. I couldn’t take pictures. That sucked.

2. Traveling was unsettling. When the boys went to SkyZone, I didn't like not being able to get in touch with them. Granted, my sister and her husband and kid were there too, and I called her, but still. I thought about car accidents or something random and awful happening while they were out, and I worried about when they’d get home. That kinda sucked too. It felt like an old yet unfamiliar sensation - not knowing what was going on at every single moment.

3. We couldn't order anything online. We couldn't use GrubHub or DoorDash, or GoogleMaps. We couldn’t just like check the weather with a swipe of one finger. Not having the everyday convenience of being online was a bit of a bother, but we survived. It made me realize that we have gotten lazy about daily tasks, and that part of our brain has BECOME our iPhone.

4. I snacked a lot. Without my calorie counting and fitness apps to log my food intake, I suddenly found myself snacking on junk. I did work out, but eating that day became a sort of time filler, and the feeling reminded me of quitting cigarettes and turning to food. That was unforeseen, and I did not like it.

THINGS THAT WERE PROFOUND

1. All day, we felt like we were together in the same space. We retreated less often. We felt serene, light on our feet. We settled into feeling bored, or lazy, or inspired. We gave each other more attention but somehow felt less encumbered upon. It was really, really lovely and soothing. Putting away our devices felt like going on vacation. When we went to bed, I felt closer to my husband. I felt like we had truly shared the day. And both us were not exactly looking forward to Monday, because it felt like going back to the grind. Already there was a bubble of anxiety in our chests, a feeling of weight on our shoulders. Also, I had 127 emails waiting for me this morning and not a one of them was something that desperately should have been answered yesterday. So there was that realization too. The world won’t fall apart if you check out for one day.

2. Twenty-fours can change you. It is a small amount of time, yet our 24 hours unplugged felt so incredibly substantial and so behavior-altering that it made me pause and realize just how addicted we have become to always being connected to the outside world via technology. It’s fucking bizarre, if you think about it.

3. Unplugging and reaping the benefits will only work when the adults in the house do it too. We already have a Device Free day and have had it for years, but it only applied to the kids. It has never felt as pure, and as important and GOOD, as yesterday, when the rules applied to all of us. Taking electronic away from the kids, while being allowed ourselves because “we didn't grow up with this, so we’re not addicted to it” - is like telling someone to go on a diet and eating cake in front of them all day, because well, you personally don't have an issue with weight. Suddenly, it became clear: to be together, we have to do this together.

Moral of the story: this was a pretty amazing experience, as trivial as it seemed to some. If you are feeling burdened, stressed out, fractured, cranky with your kids, your partner - I highly recommend investing in a landline, writing down phone numbers, picking a weekend day, and trying it out. It will feel new and beautiful, and reassuring somehow. Because while there were moments when obviously we went our own ways, did our own thing, we still felt as one. There were no walls, no apps, no texts getting in the way of figuring out and enjoying the day. We were fully present with each other, with ourselves - aware of time but not panicked or confined by it.

In her book, Tiffany Shlain writes that her family has been unplugging one day a week for ten years now. I don’t know how long we’ll last, but all I know is this - we can’t wait for next Sunday.

#unplugging #24/6 #familytime #rest #technolgy

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