#until then this was nice thank you julia for giving me a chance to appreciate everything i've done up until now

[cosmicdreamgrl]

my gif wrapped 2024 🎊

(tagged by the lovely @raplinenthusiasts 💗, also there's an issue with the hyperlinks for some of these so bear with me)

january

jk season's greetings 2020: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/740314140498952192/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-2-cr-qdeoks

jk be room photoshoot: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/741033226949312512/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-6-𝘤𝘳-𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥

maknae line season's greetings 2020: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/740410109262479360/𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮-𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴-𝘧𝘰𝘳-jkvjimin-𝘤𝘳-𝘲𝘥𝘦𝘰𝘬𝘴

february

jk gma butter performance: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/742945686277046272/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-16

jin hair colour comp: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/741312054517972992/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦-𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳-𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴-𝘴𝘦𝘰𝘬𝘫𝘪𝘯-𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯-𝘧𝘰𝘳

jk photo folio #1: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/741402180002643968/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-8-𝘤𝘳-0613𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢

jk calvin klein s/s 2024: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/742492809125330944/ᴊᴜɴɢᴋᴏᴏᴋ-ꜰᴏʀ-ᴄᴀʟᴠɪɴ-ᴋʟᴇɪɴ-ꜱꜱ-2024

jk photo folio #2: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/742045664309100544/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-12

namjoon sbs super concert: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/742271804926836736/𝘨𝘰𝘵-𝘢-𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦-𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦-𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘮-𝘧𝘰𝘳-fireworksgalaxy-𝘤𝘳

jk mots on:e : https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/741774349097467904/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-11-𝘤𝘳-𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥

jk ptd in vegas: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/742167403998412800/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-13-𝘤𝘳-0613𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢

march

jk mint hair: this was so pat coded it had to be done

jk golden album shoot: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/744485836050087936/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-25

jk for youth focus cam: one of my personal faves 💜

taehyung singularity tokyo dome: colouring this was- something alright

jk mots on:e (red): https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/744021436990144512/𝘢-𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭-𝘪𝘯-𝘳𝘦𝘥

taehyung black swan mv: yeah apryl asked for this basically

jin dna making film: when you randomly discover things that put your friends through it lol

jk calvin klein bts: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/744213439079202816/𝘫𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘬𝘰𝘰𝘬-𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘯-𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘪𝘯-𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘤𝘩-𝘧𝘰𝘳

jimin 5th muster japan: loved this fit on him, so pretty

ot7 tokyo dome: this was just something cute for me personally

april

jk dionysus stage mix: one of my all time fave comps wbk

jk mots on:e bts: because i love suffering, also i killed it with the colouring

jk snty music video: everything about this = perfection

jin butter mv making film: kayla coded to a t, was only right to make this for her bday imho

jk snty mv bts: the first of my 'he's doing nothing but this means everything to me' sets, also the suit ya'll already know

yoongi mots on:e concept photobook bts: god tier look wbk

jk mots on:e bts #2: he's too beautiful, it needed to be commemorated

black swan music video: the icon the legend the moment

jk sys in chicago making film: *sighs dreamily*

jk snty promo bts: idk how this got so much traction tbh

jin pink comp: the colour comps are some of my greatest work, truly

kim line black swan comp: an inspired idea, i'm glad it turned out as good as it did considering some of the obstacles that arose

jk x red comp: what started out as a gift for a friend turned into a passion project & i'll always be proud of myself for all the time and effort i put into these

may

namjoon mots persona comp: the platinum was a serve wbk

jk dope performance: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/751461327466283008/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-60

jk 3d focus cam: he knew what he was doing jfc

jimin mots on:e concept photobook bts: petition to remove egregious yellow tones in footage, please & thank you

maknae line mots persona album bts: colouring this was a lot of fun ngl

jk calvin klein bts: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/749830461725048832/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-53

jin 2016 muster bts: what's the funniest anecdote & why is it that kayla wanted to gif this and couldn't but i ended up being the one to do it and i'm not even biased towards this man lol

jk dna mv making film: this is my all time fave era/album/title track, are we surprised? didn't think so

ot7 gda 2020 vcr: it baffled me to know so many people didn't know this existed, like? how? but also i adore the colour grading here, really lent to a cool look in the end

jk dreamers mv bts: i couldn't have picked a more apt caption, also this will always be one of my favourites for multiple reasons

jimin lys in seoul: i'm shocked at the reception this got tbh, it was fun to experiment with the sparkle filter for the first time too

ot7 magic shop fukuoka dome: i needed to commemorate them performing one of my fave songs, it'll always remain close to my heart, i can promise you that

june

jk dynamite performance: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/754178882478964736/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-74

jk x blue comp: yes i made myself a bday gift, what about it

jk for youth focus cam (i could kiss myself for how well i coloured this i kid you not): https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/752729693819731968/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-64

yoongi fake love making film: this turned out really pretty, go me

jk mots on:e concept photobook bts: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/753996667118845952/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-72

jk run bts dance practice: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/754269074615418880/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-76

jk esquire mag making film: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/754360068637605888/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-77

jk weverse video (supposedly for jimin's bday, the way i snorted because who uploads a glorified thirst trap as a greeting? this man smh): https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/754540999335903232/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-79

july

jk amas 2021 bts: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/756079005119184896/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-82

jk x pink comp: first time trying out a different aspect ratio/layout, would turn out to be one i really liked going forward

taehyung on/black swan comp: i don't get enough credit for working around interesting camera work for the sake of my friends, truly

jk louis vuitton bts: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/757078260153729024/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-86

jk 5th muster: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/757168451251044353/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-87-𝘤𝘳-𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥

jk ytc in busan bts: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/757530749307060224/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-89

august

jk amas 2020 performance: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/757984205685882881/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-91

jk dna mv making film #2: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/758165380230430720/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-92

jk ptd on stage merch making film: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/759343208225538048/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-98-𝘤𝘳-𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥

taehyung singularity stage mix: clearly i love torturing people lol

jk ptd on stage vcr making film: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/760068022103932928/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-101-𝘤𝘳-𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥

jk x black pt.1 comp: did i need to make two of these? actually yes, all things considered plus it was for his birthday, i rest my case

september

jk sys in osaka: i needed this as much as pat did, i love him the most wbk

jk anpanman performance: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/762785921883111424/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-110

jk dna show champion: i don't know how this got as many notes as it did, but it's nice knowing other people appreciate him in this era

jk time mag dynamite performance: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/762151510446669824/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-106

jin vogue korea #1: yes i giffed the whole thing, it had to be done

jin vogue korea #2: these two looks are my personal faves

jk dicon mag 2020: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/761789209655869440/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-105

jk x purple comp: keeping this a secret was so hard, simply because i loved the end product so much & i stand by that

jin dionysus mma 2019: this needs no explanation i think

taehyung blue hair comp: 'tis the month of all the bday comps, this was also another fave, it's so aesthetically pleasing to look at

rap line mic drop comp: we love evolving, this compared to the very first comp i made of them? i'm just saying

jk x black pt.2 comp: the way i felt burnt out after finishing this but i'm glad i got through it

october

jimin lys in nyc: apparently i really love shiny/sparkly outfits

jk vogue mag bts: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/765594512321118208/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-114

taehyung army zip: again i love being a menace, on occasion anyway

vocal line dimple stage mix: one of my greatest works, it makes me miss making comps but......we won't get into it

jk lys in chicago bts: just the prettiest boy being made even prettier, need i say more

november

jk ctdv live butter performance: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/765956924981280768/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-115

jin sys md making film: he just looked good, enough said

jk ptd in seoul: best believe i put myself through it when making this, he's so fine, it's unfair

taehyung dynamite era comp: it's odd seeing how everyone loves this comp because if i'm being 200% honest, idk if i do. like, i did my best with it but just- oh well

jk prom party bts: i have loved him in this fit since i first watched this concert, case closed

hobi fake love: it's always the ones you make on a whim that do well, strange but true

jk airplane pt.2 mama 2018: https://cosmicdreamgrl.tumblr.com/post/768312360893120512/𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦-𝘫𝘬-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴-119

tagging: @cordiallyfuturedwight @jkvjimin @rjshope @btsiu @jung-koook

@kimtaegis @taehyunghobi & @btsjk-biased (no pressure as always)

[kitausuret]

Just saying: it brings soo much joy seeing someone get excited by Wanda after the whole cinematic experience.

That was my first encounter with the character and it really did not give a good first impression. And it only got worse with how they treated her and her own actor's obliviousness on the character's background (I will never say 'her character', she simply does not deserve that kind of recognition from me - yes, I am spiteful).

I do not know much about her 616 storyline, nor midnight for that matter, but despite that complete lack of knowledge I enjoy seeing you post about her. I may have originally come here for the Venom stuff but really anything you decide to share is what I stay here for.

Anyways, hiding behind the anon mask, I wish you a good day!

Hi anon! Thank you for your kind words; Wanda really was one of the first characters I got into with Marvel, long long before I cared about anything arachnid-themed (unless it was Julia Carpenter, since she was one of Wanda's teammates, haha). I'm fortunate that I met her character via comics (thanks to my friend who dragged me to the LCS) so that got to be my first impression.

Wanda's an interesting character to try to get into, since she's so strongly tied to the Avengers. She didn't get a solo of any decent length until 2015... but I highly recommend checking out Scarlet Witch by James Robinson if you can. It's not perfect, but it's very good and it has a lot of nice art by different artists. It's a fun series!

A lot of people who like That™ version of the character seen in certain films and a mediocre television show will talk about "feats" and "power" and all that even in terms of the comics, but honestly I think all of that is a load of bull. Wanda's greatest moments have always been where she follows her heart, but also her head. She's a veteran Avenger, she's one of the most compassionate characters ever, she has had epic highs and some very low lows... but she always pulls through.

And when you get a good writer that really does her justice? Oh, that's just peak. That's the best.

(I also like when she just straight-up punches people - Avengers #186; Plot: Gruenwald, S. Grant, W: Michelinie, A: Byrne)

On the note of Midnight Suns, they kind of... tried? Like, it's hard to explain. It's not great, and I would prefer her hair to be several shades darker, but it could be worse, as far as adaptations go?

EDIT 8/4/2023: I previously criticized the game here for using Romanian for Wanda - this was a mistake on my part as it's been pointed out that she has spoken Romanian in the comics but it does not mean she is intended to be Romanian. I've also learned it's commonly spoken in the region Wanda is from. To my friend who pointed out my mistake, you have my thanks!

Anyways, I'm glad you've continued to stick around even as I've expanded beyond just Venom-posting. I confess, though, I've often thought about what it would be like to smash my two little interests here together... I think particularly in Midnight Suns-verse (mixed with a little 616, of course) Venom and Scarlet Witch could have an interesting conversation. (Let's be real, I'll probably write it.)

I also think about Poisoned!Scarlet Witch a lot. I think about the universe where she was Venom... what that must have been like... what their symbiosis was... many thoughts. I bet their joined form was awesome. Wanda has great style.

(Venomverse #3, #4, #5; Bunn, Coello - that last one is fine; the host and symbiote are both dead the second they get Poisoned 😔 Mania did them a favor.)

Anyways, thanks for stopping by! If you get a chance, check out @brw's Comic Scarlet Witch Week 2023! Life circumstances have kept me from participating thus far but every week is a great week to appreciate Wanda Maximoff as she was meant to be. 🥰

[adamartinmusic]

Fall 2024 Semester with Grief

The first semester of my final college year is almost over. I'm in my last class of the day, right now. I cried earlier in the day. Not because it is almost over and I was able pull through, but because the day I enrolled for this fall semester I found out that Rachael Lillis passed away and she means so much to me.

Rachael Lillis was an amazing, talented voice actress I grew up listening to on the show Pokemon. I fell in love with her voice. Goldeen stood out to me. I was learning English when I started watching Pokemon in English because I had grown up watching Pokemon in Mexico in spanish.

As a kid, I was captivated by the characters she voiced but I didn't know it was her because I didn't own a PC when I was 11 or 12 to do my research. I related to Jessie and Misty so much because of their fiery temperament. However, her passing hit so close to home, because I lost my older sister to Breast Cancer in 2021, she was 45.

It's been 4 months since her unfortunate passing and as a long-time fan of hers (I'm 28 now), her talent, her voice and how simply beautiful she was (because I was always amazed at her beauty and still am. I mean, Go watch "I Just Want to Eat My Sandwhich by Julia Radochia, she is a STAR. I am still mourning her but in silence.

I never had the chance to meet her in person but was able to send her tweets and she replied. She was so nice and so kind. I will always admire and appreciate her wherever she may be and I will always do my best to pay her tribute in my creative endeavors. To say "I love her" sounds vague but it is so much more than that. I would have given her my life, if possible but she took my heart with her and that's okay. Her voice brought me alot of comfort as a kid when i really needed it. As an adult, her voice is still my safe space.

On Aug. 6th, I sent her a tweet hoping she was feeling better.

On the night of the 10th, I remember watching Pokemon because I couldn't stop thinking about her.

On the 11th, I go to work and In my head i pray she's feeling better.

On the 12th, I'm enrolling for classes and I get a notification from X that Rachael passed on the 10th. I held my breath until I could find a seat. My stomach hurt. Held back the tears because I was in a public place. At that point, It was time to get a college ID so I made an excuse that I forgot something in my car, but I really ran to my car to cry. More like I went to sob. Took my time to let it all out. I go back in and my eyes are bloodshot red, the photographer must've thought I smoked something (given my age, but i don't smoke) but my face was really swollen. You can see it on my college ID.

Ever since, I haven't stopped crying myself to sleep over the fact that she didn't deserve that. She will always mean the world to me. Days after, I couldn't stop singing "If Only Tears Could Bring You Back" by Midnight Sons which is from Pokemon: The First Movie and "Flying Without Wings" by Westlife from the movie 2000. I've also seen license plates with 708 on them and on the clock. Sometimes AM or PM.

If you are a fan of Rachael Lillis' work, please continue sharing her work, your fan art, your favorite characters she voiced, favorite convention clips or memorable interactions. Keep her legacy alive. Rachael Lillis is most certainly still in everyone's hearts and forever.

(I'm sorry this was so long, but I'd give anything to turn back time.)

Thank you for your incredible and beautiful talent, Ms.Rachael 💙

[mrs-march-ahs]

Hi! I have a request~ The Evans reactions to losing in any sort of game. Can be board games or video games 😅

The Evans Losing At Games

Headcannons for all, imagines for some!

Cute idea, thank you! I didn’t write much for Jimmy, I’m sorry Jimmy I love you<3

Enjoy:)

Tate

-Clearly a teenage boy who lets emotions build up a lot -Definitely cheats if he’s had enough -If he keeps losing in the same part of the video game and rage quits, it takes him forever to get back into the game - “Ohhhh… I forgot that’s where I let off… fuck it” (quits) -Much better and calmer at playing cards, and generally prefers games were the two of you can talk and he doesn’t have to focus too much

--

You laid on your bed, scrolling aimlessly through social media, and occasionally glancing at Tate playing a video game he hasn’t played in a while. When you started talking about games, and you told him you had it, he nostalgically reminisced how much he used to play it when he was alive, so you set it up for him. Every few minutes, when a red screen would pop up, Tate would sigh, and with every passing death, his sighs got louder and angrier.

After only maybe half an hour of playing, Tate clearly couldn’t take it anymore, and threw the control towards the floor, before stomping over to shut the console and TV off. The sound made you flinch, and you had never seen Tate angry before. Nor his body language nor face showed his emotions, just his actions, and when he flopped by your side, he looked fine. If somebody had come in right now, they would just see two teenagers laying next to each other.

“Uhhh… you okay?”, you ask, before rolling over to face him. You poke at his chubby cheek as he stares up at the ceiling and tease him. “Sore loser”.

“Shut up, it’s your fault. You reminded me why I wasn’t allowed to play this game for very long”.

“Wanna play something else? Together? We could play Dragon Ball Z?”, you ask quietly, before going back to your childish sing-song teasing. “Be nice, and I’ll even let you win a few times!”

Tate looks over at you and huffs, before sitting up and getting the controllers, “Good thing you’re used to begging me for mercy”

Kit

-Least sore loser out of them all -Always up for a rematch -He’s pleasant even when he does win - “Want a rematch sugar? So you can have another shot at beating me?” - “Ah you were close, you’re getting good” - “You’re a good rival” - “If I lose, you can drag me to that Rom Com you wanted to see” - “If I win, we make more babies” -Pretends to be competitive when he’s playing with the kids - “I would say Team Girls vs Team Boys… but that’s not fair, the two of you don’t even stand a chance, right Tommy?” -If one of the kids beat him, he’d act super dramatically to give them as much satisfaction of winning -Laser tag is 34 years before Kit’s time, but if he played something like that, he’d try to let the kids win

--

You ran around the garden and chased a giggling Julia. Because of current financial issues, the power was out, but not wanting to worry the children to much, and not wanting them to ask too many questions, you and Kit decided to make the most of the sun and tire them out before it got dark. Kit, being the big kid he is, suggested playing a tag-like game Thomas invented, where you each get three pebbles each, and try to get each other out by throwing them. Gently. Unless you were throwing them at Kit.

Julia started slowing down when she reached the corner of the house, hoping to hide from you, but you were right behind her, making her turn around and burst out in giggles. When the 5-year-old laughed, the only thing you could see was the missing tooth she donated to the tooth fairy last night. Once you circled all around the house, you come back in view of the garden, and see Julia hiding behind Kit.

“That’s cheating!”, he exclaims, trying to run away from her and toss a pebble in her direction, only for her to do it faster. The second Julia’s tiny rock hits Kit’s tummy and bounced, he put his hands over his stomach and held it like a gun wound. He dropped to the floor dramatically, leaving the two little kids to die of laughter, and you walk over to him, Kit peeping open one eye slightly to see if you were watching him, and then stuck his tongue out to play dead. You picked up a stick from the floor and poked at his chest, making Kit chuckle but quickly hide it.

“Is it dead?”, you ask.

Thomas leans in closer to look at his dad on the floor, before Kit opens his eyes and pulls Tommy to the floor with him, rolling over to be on top of him.

“I win!”, Kit announces, before kissing his son on the cheek.

Franken Kyle

-He doesn’t particularly play complicated games, but he isn’t too patient and gets frustrated with himself pretty easily -If on one of his educational games, he messes something up too many times in a row, he’ll shut off the game and throw the tablet on the bed -He’ll avoid even looking at it -If he loses a tickle fight he’ll sit and whine, straddle you and then tickle you until you beg him to stop -Whines even if he loses at rock paper scissors -He likes colouring and drawing, and because it’s good for his motor skills, the two of you made a really simple game together -You drew out a long snake shape on a big piece of paper and drew lines in between for the spaces -Kyle carefully coloured them in with pencil and with a marker you wrote occasional things like ‘Go back two spaces’ or ‘Go forward three spaces’ -Sweet little Ky would roll the dice, and take his time, pushing his little figurine, which was something like a pencil sharpener or a bottle cap, and counted out the spaces -Got super excited if he won, but wouldn’t mind losing -He would insist the two of you keep playing, and you’re only allowed to stop and go to bed if you end on him winning -Sometimes he would try to let you win so that you could keep playing -Whine and pout if you had to stop playing, and how are you meant to say no to him? -You would have to promise you’ll play tomorrow -You’d be able to slowly make more and more complicated games, until eventually he’d be able to play things like checkers or Ludo

Jimmy

-Lowkey a sore loser -If there were loads of different people playing, he would be a lot more friendly -If he lost, he would still be super annoyed, but just wouldn’t show it -But if it was the two of you, he’d be super competitive -The type of person to flip the board game if he was losing -But he’d apologise straight away and pout if you didn’t want to play with him again - “C’mon let’s play again, I’ll be nice this time” - “Loser gets spanked” -Loves playing games like beer pong

James

-Unpleasant loser but also not a pleasant winner -Bitter compliments if you win at cards - “Well done darling, who would have thought with your high school education you were such a poker master” -Only willing to play the same 5 card games, because if you teach him a new board game he is not familiar with and he loses, he’ll claim it’s only because he’s new to the game -Absolutely infuriated if he loses at Monopoly, since he built a hotel after all -Don’t even bother trying to teach him how to play a video game -And of course - “Only amateurs keep score”

--

“What are you doing, dear?”, James said, fascinated at your little character wandering around a shop, on the screen in front of both of you.

“I’m trying to buy this plant, but I don’t have enough money, I want to see if I can sell anything I have”, you explain, pointing at your backpack filled with items that you can exchange for spare coins.

“Nonsense, darling, why don’t you simply stab the storekeeper and steal what you desire?”

“Because this is Animal Crossing, James, there isn’t a stab button”

Kai

-Kai likes playing video games or board games with literally anybody apart from you -He likes playing with Ozzy because he’s a kid so most of the time Kai can beat him easily -Definitely not the type of person to let the kid win, even if Ozzy is sobbing and Ally asks him to let Ozzy win once in a while - “Winning fairly will feel so much better for him” - “He won’t appreciate success if he doesn’t first taste failure” -Sometimes instead of story time with his troops he’ll play some board games -At first, everybody will keep letting Kai win out of fear -But eventually someone will win, and everybody else will be fearful for them, scared Kai will be angry - “Finally somebody capable, somebody strong, not scared to show their true capabilities” -But if you ask him to play a game with you, he probably won’t -If you eventually beg enough that he will agree to play a game with you, he’ll tell you he’s only playing one -If you win, he’ll be like, “Okay, are you happy now?” - “Finally it’s over” - “I let you win, are you happy?” -But if he wins, he’ll try to get you to play a few more games - “Are you giving up already?” - “Don’t be a sore loser, rise up to the challenge” - “I assumed you wanted to win, not just to play”

- (Kai loses) “See… you have to give a humiliated man a chance to redeem himself in his own ey-”

[amlovelies]

Kindling

big thanks to everyone on discord for your help and feedback on this one 💜. Julia and Cyn rescue some hostages and then make out in an alley 😉

fandom: fhr pairing: Julia Ortega/f!sidestep (Cynthia Basri) rating: M, death/violence mention as well as some mild spice words: 2.9k read on ao3

               Even without your telepathy, it’s easy to know where to go. The craned necks of passersby and the distant sound of sirens all point towards Los Diablos’ latest disaster. Ortega had been frustratingly vague in her message, no information, just an address and a ‘come quick’. Not that you really need details. There’s nothing else you’d rather be doing.

               There had been a time when you had to work to slip behind the barricade unnoticed. Back when you were still an unknown vigilante, as likely to be a nuisance as an assistance. When you had to amplify your usual projections: ‘don’t notice me’ and ‘there’s nobody there.’  It’s still uncomfortable letting them drop, feeling the moment when you are seen, when you are recognized. Feeling little excited exclamations of ‘Sidestep’ and ‘hero’ in the minds around you.

               Uncomfortable, unfamiliar, but also real. You spend so much of your time hiding, just a ghost in a crowd, dancing at the edges of life, but not now. Not when the officers give a respectful nod in your direction. Not when they look at you like someone who matters, like someone who can help.

               You allow your mind to expand, to scan the city block around you as you take in the scene.  Brushing over the crowd, you sense nothing to be concerned with, just morbid curiosity and anxiety. A customer is worried about their favorite teller. Exclamations that this is a nice neighborhood, things like this aren’t supposed to happen here. Never mind that they have no idea what ‘this’ is, they’re just irritated at the disruption to their daily routines.

               You know the moment Ortega notices you by the lift at the edge of her mouth. She throws a smile in your direction that makes your stomach knot before returning her attention to the officer in front of her. You still don’t know what to do about this new thing. Fuck, you shouldn’t even call it a thing, that makes it too real. So what if you’ve been kissing, so what if you’ve let her see your face? You’re sure it’s just a passing fancy on her part, a new way to stave off boredom, and you are too stupid and selfish to stop it.

               She nods at your approach, and you take the opportunity to listen in. An established routine, it’s happened more than once that the LDPD failed to give the Rangers crucial information.  Sometimes it was simple incompetence, like an officer in over their head who was unable to recall the right details. Not always though. Not everyone has such an appreciative viewpoint of the Rangers, and some have a real problem with having to play second fiddle to a woman. Want to see her knocked down a peg or two (or in that case, nursing a couple broken ribs).

                               Even if she hadn’t asked, you would have checked. Would have let your consciousness spiral out, gentle fingers touching lightly against the minds around you, getting a fuller picture of the situation. It’s too ingrained a reflex, your primary role, reinforced in endless hours of training. Always meant to be a fly on the wall, not a part of the action, only there to report and monitor. Not anymore. You are so much more now.

               Seems like a botched robbery. The ringleader is a fire boost, Pyradical, and he has at least two modded goons with him.  That’s more firepower than the LDPD can comfortably deal with. It makes sense they called the Rangers in. You’ve heard the name before. He’s new on the scene and young. Early twenties or so, another desperate kid taking a chance with the boost drugs and looking to get rich quick. He was blamed for the robbery of La Brea Jewelers last month. Nasty. Last you heard, the security guard was still in the ICU recovering from the burns, but that had been a solo job. He’s getting more daring.

               Ortega gives you a look as the officer mentions hostages, and you switch your focus. A year ago, this would have been outside your range, but not now. A deep breath as you push your consciousness out to toward the darkened bank. Heat, intrusive and suffocating, blazes across your consciousness and your lips pull back in a snarl in response. You change direction, not trusting yourself to touch the knotted maelstrom of Pyradical’s thoughts. Even that brief connection was enough to make your muscles tense and bunch.

               The hostages are easy to pinpoint, beacons of terror and despair. The officer had said four hostages, but you only count three. Did they separate the hostages? Or is this an inside job? You need more information so you let your consciousness dip down, no longer a light brush, but letting yourself connect with one of them.  

               You rear back almost instantly as the scent of burning flesh fills your nostrils. A steadying hand on your shoulder keeps you from wobbling.

               “You okay?” Anathema asks. Her brow is furrowed until you give her a small nod. Her frown returns, however, as you relay what you had seen in the teller’s memories. The branch manager was dead, Pyradical holding a flaming hand to his face when he refused to input his half of the vault combo. You need to move quick.

               It’s a simple plan: you and Anathema will sneak around back and focus on getting the hostages out. Ortega will create a big showy diversion and keep Pyradical busy. Getting attention is what she does best after all. Power has been cut to the building, so you don’t have to worry about any alarms. Anathema rubs her hands together and you grimace as the sharp scent of acid fills the air.  You’ll never get used to the sound of metal bubbling as she presses her palm against the lock. You close your eyes and focus on the minds inside. The world narrows down. Narrows down to just this building, you feel yourself settle into your body. Awareness focused, reflexes honed, like an arrow ready to be fired, listening and waiting to react.

               The mod guarding the back door goes down easy. He had no hope of dodging your punch to his throat. Especially not when his brain is telling him you’re still a foot out of reach. He goes down and you keep moving.

               It’s stuffy inside, warm even for Los Diablos. Sobs, muffled and hopeless escape from behind the teller line, but no sounds of alarm. You step over the prone body and into the dim interior of the bank, Anathema following close behind. Any second now Ortega and her distraction should arrive.

               Glass shatters as her familiar form crashes through the front window. A roar of surprised anger erupts and chaos descends. It takes an effort to ignore the sounds of the fight, the fizzle of Ortega’s mods and flesh hitting flesh, you have to ball your fingers into a tight fist as you resist the urge to join her. Orange and white light paint the walls in bright flashes as you draw closer to the hostages.

               You catch an intention and roll to the left as a bullet narrowly misses you. Before you exit your roll, Anathema is already moving, her fist flying towards the shooter’s face.

               You trust her enough to turn your back on the fight. The hostages look dazed, eyes unfocused and tears staining their faces. The fear rolling off them hits you like a wave and you strengthen your shields. You make quick work of the zip ties binding their ankles and wrists. One of them begins to bolt, fear clouding his judgment. He’s only focused on the safety promised by the daylight shining through the shattered window, not one the flames shooting from Pyradical’s hands.

               It’s a good thing you’re quick, hands flying out to grab the back of his jacket and pull him away from the danger. Heat billows in waves from the lobby. Even through your mask, your eyes burn from the acrid smoke as cheap décor goes up in flames.

               Ortega’s voice taunts from the lobby. You can’t make out the words, but you know the tone. As long as she’s laughing things are under control.

               It’s easy enough to soothe the hostages, just a gentle brush against their minds, a promise of safety, of making it out of here alive, to trust, to be ready.  A firm command to their minds and they follow you out the door.  

               You lead the hostages to the waiting hands of the paramedics who are waiting with shock blankets and oxygen masks. Your objective completed you turn back to the building. Smoke pours out the shattered window mixing with the omnipresent Los Diablos haze. If you don’t end this fight soon the whole building is going to go up.

               You’re nearly to the building when Ortega leaps out the window.

                 “Get down!” she yells. Not that you are given a choice as she barrels into you. The wind is knocked out of your lungs as she tackles you to the ground.

               “What the fuck—” but the words are lost in the explosion that shakes the ground.

               Your ears ring. Ortega’s lips are moving, but you have no idea what she’s saying. Probably some dumb quip.

               This is not the time or the thing you should be focused on, but she’s so close. It feels different. Different now that she’s kissed you. Different now that you’ve felt her lips against yours. Fuck, you want to feel them again.

               You should focus on the fact that there was just an explosion, but instead your whole world has shrunk down to the weight of her body pressing you into the ground. The concrete is hard and painful under your body. There’s nowhere else you’d rather be.

               “Was that really necessary?” Your voice has none of the steel you were hoping for. It’s a gulping flustered thing.

               “Better safe than sorry,” Ortega says with a wink. “Besides, I’m quite comfy.”

               “Really? Is that all you think about?”

               “Only around you,” she says as she presses her lips down against yours. Even with the mask in the way, you can’t help but gasp. She doesn’t need her mods, or even to touch your skin to leave you feeling electrified.

               And then she’s up, all movement and action, turning back to the burning shell of the building. Anathema emerges, one of the goons in tow, and you breathe a sigh of relief as Julia surges forward to help her. Smoke rises in thin tendrils from her suit, and there are patches where the fabric has burned away to reveal her pale freckled skin underneath. Skin that is untouched and undamaged despite being caught in the explosion.

               Pyradical is dead, going out in a blaze of glory rather than allowing the Rangers to bring him in.

               The hostages are shaken up, but physically fine. The goon you’d left unconscious by the back door is carted away in the back of an ambulance, the other in the back of a cop car. He’s lucky to be alive. Anathema shielded his body with her own during the explosion. Not that he’s feeling particularly grateful right now.

               The action is over and you let yourself slip into the background. Anathema has already left, back to HQ for a shower and change of clothes. Ortega holds court answering questions and smiling for the cameras. You should leave, head home, but you can’t bring yourself to yet. Not with the glances Ortega keeps shooting you.

               At last satiated, the press leaves, and with them the rest of the crowd. It’s oddly peaceful. The fire from the explosion has long since been put out, though smoke still hangs in the air. The surrounding area is almost empty, now that the excitement is over, people go on with their day.

               You fall into step with Ortega as she walks to where her motorcycle is parked. It’s a natural instinct to envelop her in your projection, to let her pass unnoticed as well. A young woman nearly walks into her, and Ortega shoots you a questioning glance. You shrug, she should be used to this trick of yours by now. It’s just easier to wrap you both in a bubble of anonymity. To not have to worry about sharing her with the public.

           Her smile turns wicked, and something in your stomach flutters, twists, knots. You don’t have the language to describe the things that smile does to you. You can’t read her thoughts, but you can guess her intentions. This is when you should dodge, should step to the side, distance yourself. You don’t. You let her grab your hand and pull you into the dimness between two buildings.

                Her hands are quick, nimble, as they roll up the edge of your mask with ease. As if it was a regular practiced movement, and maybe it is becoming one. How many times have you let this happen now? You’d have to stop her if she tried to remove the whole thing, but she doesn’t. Only your mouth is exposed, and only for a moment, before she captures your lips in a kiss.

               This is so much better than that ghost of a kiss during the fight, so much better when you can feel the brand of her lips on yours. A small sigh escapes you, and that’s all the invitation she needs to deepen the kiss. Her tongue darts out, teasing and quick; one hand grips the back of your head. Her nails scrape against the nanoweave of your mask as she angles you exactly how she wants you.

                Oh, this is foolish. This is playing with fire and knowing that you will get burnt, but not caring. You have so many scars already, what is one more?

               The kiss breaks and she pulls back. You chase her lips, wanting more, needing more. Another drag, another kiss, you’re used to wanting things that will end up hurting you.

               “You’re too damn tall,” you huff. You need her closer, but you don’t trust your footing balancing on your tip toes. Your arms wind around her neck as you attempt to pull her down to your height. She concedes bending down to kiss you again. She chuckles against your lips, the reverberations traveling down to your toes and sending a shiver down your spine.

               Before you can protest, her hands move to your waist, and she lifts you with an ease that draws a surprised squeak out of you, one that is cut off as she captures your lips again. Your legs wrap around her waist as if by instinct, pulling her flush against you. Nothing but your skinsuits between you. You trust yours to stop a knife, a bullet, but now it feels so insubstantial. Unable to protect you from hungry press of Ortega between your thighs as she holds you pinned against the brick wall of the alley.

               Adrenaline from the fight is still coursing through your veins. Your very blood transforms into an electrical current, dancing through your veins and grounding you on the feel of Ortega’s lips. You wonder if this is how she always feels. Your fingers knot in her hair, pulling it out of her careful braid. The small curls at the nape of her neck wrapping themselves around your fingers much like how your limbs are wrapped around her.

                You should stop this, eventually you will have to stop this, but that thought is a small voice compared to the screaming of your body. A voice drowned out by the groan Ortega makes as you nibble on her bottom lip, and her grip tightens on your thigh. For a few moments the rest of the world ceases to exist. There is nothing but this moment. You don’t think, can’t think of anything but her. Her hands and her lips and the blood pounding in your veins. You thought you felt alive during that fight? There’s no comparison.

               Eventually, the kiss breaks, and she rests her forehead against yours. You both are breathing heavy; your pulse is a wild erratic thing. A softer kiss this time, not quite a peck, still letting herself linger, but the frantic need of a few moments ago has dissipated.                

                Your legs wobble when she sets you back down on your feet. From the smug smile on her face, you know she notices. You wish you had a sharp quip at the ready, but you’re still too drunk on her.

                At least pulling your mask down means she can’t see your facial expressions.

               You walk back to the bike in silence. She’s closer than she needs to be. Her hand keeps brushing against your arm. Gentle, accidental touches which you know are no accident at all.

                “Come back to HQ with me?” she asks as she climbs onto the bike. “I’ll order pizza and you can keep me company while I do paperwork?” 

               You don’t have to read her mind to know she isn’t thinking about paperwork. Not with the way her eyes trail over your body. Letting you know she is looking, appreciating.

                “Only because I’m hungry,” you lie as you take the helmet from her outstretched hand and climb behind her.

                “Don’t worry,” say says with a wicked laugh, her hand squeezing yours where it rests on her waist. “I’ll make sure you’re satisfied.”

[shera-dnd]

Cupid’s Kiss

Took me way longer than expected curse the whims of my mental health but the winner of this month’s 3k fic poll is finally here!

In which Carmen and Julia have a lovely totally not date in Paris while in search for two thieves who are certainly also not having a date

if you’d like a chance to get your fic ideas written by me, or just want to support me, you can feel free to donate to my ko-fi (rules over here)

and here is the ao3 link if you’d rather read it over there

also this fic was brought to you thanks to the help of @cantdrawshaw

NOW ON WITH THE FIC

Carmen Sandiego was the best at her job. She had bested trained assassins and killer robots, evaded the world’s most advanced detective agency, and destroyed the largest criminal organization. All in her early twenties.

Yet there was one task she was not prepared to face. One that escaped her skills, both martial and technical. One that she had failed to plan around. One that existed entirely beyond the range of her skills. A foe that she could not beat.

“Come on, Carm,” Zack called, “it can’t be that hard. If even Ivy could score with the girls, you can do it too.”

“Even Ivy?!” His sister replied, furious, “I’ve been with more girls than you, jackass.”

“Guys, guys!” Carmen interrupted, “you’re not helping.”

Mentioning her interest in spending more time with Julia Argent had been the biggest mistake she had made in weeks. This was supposed to be a peaceful day at their old home base, but now here she was.

Her friends were trying so hard to help her and she couldn’t even be mad at how poorly they were doing, because she knew she wouldn’t fare much better were the roles reversed.

“Sorry,” the siblings replied in unison.

“I appreciate the support,” she assured them, “but I’m not trying to ‘score’ with anyone. I just wanna get to know Jules a little better.”

“So this is not a date?” Ivy asked.

“No!” She replied, a little too quickly, “me and Jules aren’t like that. She’s more of a… professional acquaintance. A coworker.”

“Carm,” Zack replied, “we’re coworkers and you’ve never had a bouquet of roses delivered to my door.”

“It was just a thank you for handling all those precious artifacts for me,” she explained, “she’s a hard worker, she deserved it.”

“Sure,” Ivy nodded, unconvinced, “is that why you take time to chat over coffee with her every other caper?”

“Not every moment of our lives has to be a chase, you know?” she countered.

“Or why you keep finding excuses to dance with her?”

“It’s the easiest way to speak privately at those parties without garnering unwanted attention,” she recited as if from a textbook.

“Or why-”

“Cease this!” Shadowsan’s stern voice commanded and the siblings fell silent, “VILE has trained her to never cave under interrogation. You’ll have a better chance extracting information from a rock.”

Carmen smirked at them, proud to have her skills of deflection recognized.

“Do not be so full of yourself,” he added, making Carmen flinch just a bit, “I have taught those lessons for years and I know how to see through them.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” she deflected, looking away.

He walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder with uncharacteristic gentleness.

“I have seen the happiness Miss Argent brings you,” he said, “and I wish you the best of luck should you wish to pursue it.”

That meant a lot to Carmen. More than she could really express in words. But after she had been so thoroughly embarrassed by her friends, all she could really say was,

“Not you too.”

She looked up at the smirking siblings and braced herself...

“Hey, Red,” Player’s voice called, just in the nick of time.

“Player!” She jumped to attention and grabbed the laptop from their desk.

“Woah!” he exclaimed, “everything okay, Red?”

Zack and Ivy snickered as they sat by each side of her, so they could see Player.

“I think Carm would rather you sent her on a crazy chase instead of sitting here talking about her crush on Jules,” Ivy teased.

“Well it looks like you might get to do both,” Player replied, to Carmen’s dismay, “look who our cameras just found walking around Paris.”

The screen cut to a video feed of one of ACME’s hidden cameras over the streets of Paris. None of the people on camera seemed particularly conspicuous… until a particular pair walked on screen. Even without their costumes Carmen could always recognize them.

“Tigress and Paper Star,” she noted, “those two can’t be up to any good.”

“Looks like we’ll be going to Paris, eh Carm?” Ivy commented as she playfully nudged her side.

“City of love,” Zack added as he joined the nudging.

Carmen groaned. This was gonna be a rough mission.

Chase had grown a lot over the past few months. His deductive reasoning had vastly improved, his mood was far more amenable, and he actually stopped to listen to Julia nowadays. What hadn’t really improved with time was his overall clumsiness. 

“Miss Argent, I’ll be fine,” his insistence was interrupted by a powerful sneeze, “This is nothing.”

“Agent Devineaux, please,” she pleaded, “you’re in no state to continue this investigation.”

Devineaux had landed himself into his fair share of rivers over the months he had worked for ACME, and it seemed that so many cold baths had finally caught up to his health. Not that he would ever admit to that.

“Nonsense,” he claimed, “I’ll be back in perfect shape by the time we land in Paris.”

The sneeze that followed said otherwise.

“Chase, please,” she asked again, “rest. I can handle this.”

“I refuse to send my partner on a mission by herself.”

“As sweet as your concern is,” she countered, “I doubt I’ll be by myself for long.”

“Ah yes, I’m sure La Femme Rouge will make for good company,” he agreed and she was glad he did, but it sounded like there was more to his words. “Were you anyone else I’d worry this was all a ploy to have some private time with Miss Sandiego.”

She shot him an unamused glare.

“Apologies,” he said almost immediately.

“Accepted,” she sighed, “but I do not appreciate any insinuations as to the nature of me and Miss Sandiego’s relationship. We’re good friends, nothing more.”

“Of course,” he nodded, but Julia could tell he had more to say.

Truly his detective skills have improved considerably as of late. It had become harder and harder for Julia to pass her excitement for those missions as simple passion for her work. Not when she had abandoned that work as soon as it conflicted with her passion for… something else.

Chase was her friend and she knew he’d understand her feelings for Carmen. She was also sure he’d do his best to keep it a secret until she was confident enough to bring these things to light. She trusted him and she didn’t fear anything of the sorts.

What she did fear was Chase trying to wingman for her. Just the thought was enough to fill her with dread. Enough dread to keep her mouth shut about her feelings in the vicinity of Agent Devineaux. Even if it felt bad to hide this from her friend.

Thankfully the Chief chose that exact moment to call her to give her updated information on their targets. 

Now she could just shut off all these awkward feelings and focus on her work.

The Louvre had been an obvious target. The world’s most famous museum, home to thousands of priceless works of art, including the Mona Lisa itself. It was so obvious in fact that VILE had never bothered to consider it.

But VILE was gone now and its escaped students no longer had any faculty to dissuade them from this target.

That’s why Carmen now walked its halls, diligently searching for any security flaws that could be exploited and any sign of the two master thieves on the loose.

She still took time to appreciate the art of course. This was the most famous museum in the world for a reason and she wasn’t gonna let this unique opportunity escape her, even with the evil duo to watch for.

Carmen had her attention split in every possible direction, her mind juggling its many tasks as she wandered hall after hall. Until, that is, she found something that pulled her focus into one singular point.

A shorter woman in a nice fitted suit, standing before one of the statues.

“Jules,” she greeted as she walked up behind her.

“Miss Sandiego,” Julia smiled as she greeted her, utterly unsurprised. She must have been expecting her, “it’s nice to see you here.”

“It’s nice seeing you too,” she replied, “and we went over this before, Carmen is just fine.”

“Carmen,” she said, in a way that warmed Carmen’s heart, “I take it you’ve been enjoying your time in Paris.”

“Hard to go sightseeing while I’ve got work to do, but I’m making do,” she shrugged, “how about you? What caught your attention today?”

Julia turned back to the statue she had been appreciating until then, “Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss.”

Carmen smirked, it was her time to shine.

“Sculpted by Antonio Canova, commissioned by welsh art-collector John Campbell in 1787,” she recited from memory, “its prime version was acquired by the Louvre in 1824 after the death of its previous owner, Joachim Murat.”

“Very impressive,” Julia praised, “I wish my students put half as much time as you do into their research.”

“I’m just good at memorizing trivia,” Carmen shrugged, trying to hide her pride at earning that praise, “I’m sure you know so much more than me on the subject.”

Boy was Carmen right about that. That seemed to have been the cue to send Julia into a long lecture about the neoclassical and romantic periods, as well as an analysis of the sculpture’s mythological origins and the many interpretations of the myth.

Many people would probably find this amount of information unspeakably tedious. But for Carmen, who was always hungry to learn about the world around her (and could never get tired of Jules speaking so enthusiastically,) it was exciting and endearing.

Carmen had realized then that she wanted nothing more than to spend her every waking hour listening to Julia talk on and on about anything she wanted, as long as it was passionate like this. Maybe someday soon.

Right now they had the whole rest of the Louvre to scout.

“Alright, alright, victory is yours,” Carmen playfully interrupted, “I guess you really are the biggest history nerd here.”

“Oh I’m sorry, it seems I got a bit carried away,” Julia cringed in shame. Damn it Sandiego! “I didn’t mean to bore you.”

“You couldn’t bore me if you tried,” Carmen assured her as she placed a hand on her arm, “I mean it. It’s nice hearing you talk.”

“Unfortunately I no longer teach,” she replied, “otherwise I would have given you an open invitation to any of my classes.”

“Well, how about you show me around the place?” she suggested, “we can call this a private lesson.”

At that Julia smiled again, “then I hope your memory is as good as you say it is, Carmen Sandiego, because I’ll be quizzing you at the end of the tour.”

They both laughed as Julia led them along to the next art piece in what was clearly a meticulously planned tour of the museum. Jules kept her teacher face on for all of her little lectures, but as they walked from room to room it felt so simple and casual.

For once Carmen felt like there was no rush and that she could just enjoy her time with someone she cared about. Maybe that was the moment. Her chance to make something out of this and let Julia know how she felt.

“Hey, Jules,” she called, walking a little closer to her.

“Yes?” Julia turned to look at her, she seemed surprised by the sudden closeness, but did not move away from her.

Carmen decided to take that as a good sign.

“This has been really nice, you know?” she tried, her usual confidence failing her, “just spending time with you like this.”

“I guess it was,” she replied with- Wait, was that a blush? No, that had to be wishful thinking.

“Yeah,” she agreed, awkwardly scratching the back of her neck, “and I just feel like-”

It was then that she was rudely reminded of what she was here to do.

“-you have got to be kidding me!”

“What?” Julia jumped a little in surprise.

“5 o’clock, behind you,” Carmen instructed.

She turned to look and there they were. Tall, blonde and scheming, and short, monochromatic and homicidal. The two thieves they were here to catch. Two thieves that had also noticed them.

They both smirked at them for a moment, before Paper Star whispered something into Tigress’s ear and they both bolted in separate directions.

“I go for Tigress, you go for Paper Star,” Carmen ordered as she bolted after her target.

Tigress was the fastest of the two, and the one most likely to pull dirty tricks on them. Unfortunately for her, Carmen was well-versed in all of those tricks, and of course had all her equipment on her. It’s amazing how much she could hide in just a red hoodie.

Soon Tigress had led the both of them out of the main building, ready to make a run for it and disappear into the city. Her mistake though, was going somewhere Carmen could use her grappling hook without worrying about damaging priceless works of art.

She swung after her, quickly closing the distance and knocking her down with a kick to the stomach. Tigress groaned as she forced herself back up, but instead of running again or getting ready to fight Carmen, she simply shouted.

“Come on!”

“Done running around?” Carmen taunted.

“Yeah yeah whatever,” she replied. Well that was unusual, “did you girlfriend catch Paper Star already?”

“What!?” She nearly jumped in surprise, “She’s not- we’re not- that doesn’t matter! You’re going to jail, for good this time.”

“For what?” she replied.

“Trying to steal from the Louvre!”

“Ah yes, because that’s the only reason we’d be enjoying some time together in the city of love,” she mocked and rolled her eyes.

Was she implying what she thought she was implying?

“Aww, babe,” a voice above them called. Paper Star leaned out of a nearby window and openly teased her partner in crime.

Babe?

“She caught you already?” she continued

Tigress groaned again, “not my fault you got easy mode.”

Paper Star jumped down and casually hooked her arms around Tigress’s neck.

“Well I’ve won,” she declared, “now where’s my prize?”

The last thing Carmen expected was for the two of them to kiss right there in front of her, and yet that was exactly what they did.

“I did not need to see that!” She complained.

“You were the one who interrupted our date!” Tigress complained back.

“Do you seriously want me to believe that you two were just spending the evening together in the Louvre as a date?”

“Was that not what you and your little agent were doing too?” Paper Star teased.

Carmen’s reflex was to say no, but… was that what they were doing? They had been walking around, sightseeing, talking and laughing and enjoying each other’s company and- oh god Carmen almost confessed to her back there. 

This was her chance to have a proper date with Jules and it got ruined right at the finish line because of a mission that didn’t even exist in the first place!

She would have time to figure all of this out later, right now she had a job to do and two smug assholes to put in their place. Thankfully she already knew just how to do that.

“You’re right, it was very rude of me to interrupt your romantic evening,” Carmen raised her hands in surrender and backed away, “how about you two get back to what you were doing and I can arrest you both tomorrow?”

“What?” Tigress challenged, “no romantic chase over the rooftops of Paris?”

“I’m sure your girlfriend would love that,” Paper Star added.

“Actually I think Julia would rather just have you behind bars,” she shrugged.

Right on cue the ACME’s blue sleep gas finally reached the both of them, making them both drop on the spot. It was kinda cute how they were put to sleep still holding each other. Carmen almost felt bad for arresting them. Almost.

She pulled her grappling hook again and launched herself through the open window above, landing right next to a very proud Julia Argent.

“Two for one,” Carmen praised, “at this rate, pretty soon you won’t be needing my help anymore.”

“I appreciate the compliment, but I had my partner down there to keep them in place,” Julia replied playfully. Carmen’s heart skipped a beat at the word ‘partner’, even though she knew she meant it as coworkers.

“Always happy to play distraction for you, Jules,” she played along.

Taking another step forward, Carmen felt her sense of balance completely leave her as she accidentally inhaled some sleep gas fumes. 

She tumbled forward, but before she hit the ground she felt Julia’s arms holding her up. It took her a second to shake away the effects of the gas, and another second to process the position they were in. How Julia was holding her like she had just dipped her in a dance.

For a moment they froze, staring into each other’s eyes as they held onto each other, until finally Julia helped her up again.

“I’m so sorry about that,” Julia apologized as she tried to fix up Carmen’s scuffed clothes.

“It’s fine,” Carmen assured her, “I should’ve been more careful around the sleep gas.”

Still Julia fussed over her, readjusting Carmen’s hoodie as she muttered a few more apologies. It took her a moment to notice just how close they were both standing now. The realization made her jump back a bit on reflex, but still she remained considerably close to Carmen.

She took a moment to collect herself before finally asking, “so uh- you had something you wanted to tell me?”

Carmen sighed in relief. Good to know those two hadn’t completely destroyed her chances.

“I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed our time together today,” she admitted, “before we got interrupted that is.”

Julia gave her a genuine smile that made her heart stop, “I enjoyed our time too. It’s nice to be able to talk about these things outside of work.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, feeling her confidence return bit by bit, “wanna do that again sometime? Maybe over some coffee.”

Jules seemed surprised at first as she caught on to what Carmen meant, but that expression was quickly replaced by a playful smile.

“Carmen Sandiego,” she called, “are you asking me out on a date?”

“Nothing escapes ACME’s best detective,” she joked, “I guess I am.”

“Then I’ll have to ask you to wait a little for my answer,” she asked.

Carmen opened her mouth to say that she was more than fine with waiting however long she needed, but she was frozen mid motion when Julia’s lips met her own. A quick, sweet little peck. 

“I want to finish our first before we plan the second.”

[uwua3]

starry eyed (dear universe).

❄️���� mikage hisoka

summary: one thousand stars, that’s all he needed to make one wish

dedication: julia ♡ i love you, thank you for being my bff~ ☆★

warnings: angst, crying, gods, graphic descriptions of physical pain, blindness, memory loss, star tears, unrequited love

author’s note: based on the concept of “star tears”! similar to hanahaki, but the unrequited love instead causes the person to cry bright, twinkling stars. over time, the person could become blind or in extreme cases, lose their memory if the pain becomes unbearable :)

word count: 2,498

music: first love – bts (yoongi), 134340 – bts

All Hisoka needed was one thousand lucky stars to make one wish. One wish, one simple request for the galaxy to make come true—for you to love him back.

He had no reason to believe in the unexplainable, but Hisoka trusted the stars to grant him a new chance. Yet, every hopeful, silent plea to any passing shooting star was unheard. Why did the gods peer down on Earth, then? To glance in curiousity, to listen to mortal grievances and suffering, only to turn a blind eye towards the pitiful. Hisoka cursed the gods that one night, then he collected his first star out of many.

Perhaps, they were listening. Or, they knew all along, because Mikage Hisoka was fated to die by the hands of unrequited love. But, all he needed was one thousand lucky stars, that’s it. One thousand would change Hisoka’s life, give him an opportunity to save himself before the night took him into the darkness.

But maybe, just maybe, you were worth going blind for.

You were the moon, glowing and ever present in his life. A source of infinite comfort that was unwavering, gentle, and a figment of the most desperate parts of his imagination. It was odd how the universe worked in your favor, how the gods seemed to bend his will to fit yours. Giving him the curse of crying stars when you were a divine god, it was a punishment for falling in love with someone so out of his reach.

As Hisoka thought of you, you and the way the sun became jealous over your beaming smile, he closed his eyes to avoid the light. It was too bright, too blinding, too breathtaking despite the consequences he’d have to face later on. Regardless, Hisoka reached up and held the fragment within his shaking hand. It was ethereal, you would’ve liked it. Yet, he pocketed it for safe keeping, for later to continue his destiny.

You couldn’t know of his star tears, Hisoka thought with a quiet sigh. This was a secret between him and the gods of the night sky.

☆★☆★☆

Hisoka didn’t like to, but he remembered the moment he realized he was in love with you.

It was night, as expected. You were outside, dragging Hisoka with you despite his reluctuance. Hushed background noise faded into nothing when you two reached the edge of the forest. The college party left behind consisted of your friends who gathered for the spectacle tonight, but you wanted a front row seat in your childhood spot. You two were the loudest of them all. Your laughter disturbed the way of Mother Earth, but even she couldn’t be mad at an angel like you.

Settling onto a tree stump with both your names carved into the base from a long, long time ago, you grinned and it felt like the start of a new day. It wasn’t even past midnight yet, but being with you felt like a sunrise was near. Hisoka fell into routine easily and rested next to you despite the wet grass, intending to always be by your side as you excitedly rambled about the supernatural phenomenon tonight. Old habits die hard, and ever since Hisoka knew you, you were in love with the stars.

There was a meteor shower tonight, apparently the first of many decades, nearly a century since. It was a sight to behold, an occurrence that would never happen again in both your lifetimes. You two comfortably talked amongst yourself, though the conversation was inaudible in his memory. Hisoka always had a rather blurry take on his past, but that night was something he’d never forget.

When the first meteor passed, you went silent with awe and stared at the sky. Hisoka didn’t look, at least not for a while, as he took in the way you shined. You were the event of the century for him, someone that would never happen again for this lifetime at least. You were so happy, the stars in the sky, the reflection in your eyes.

“Hisoka, look! Make a wish!”

Hisoka saw a sembelance of a shooting star and you quickly made a wish under your breath. He couldn’t remember what yours was, but he recalled his without a doubt.

Dear universe, I wish they would love me.

(When Hisoka was left by his lonesome after you went to find your friends, he cried his first star. You loved the stars so much, that he had them in his tears now.)

☆★☆★☆

Hisoka often wondered what it would be like to be in the void. To see nothing but black, surrounded by the absence of nothing constantly. It crossed his mind whenever the twinkling of the stars weren’t enough to distract him, or when you were illuminated by the cascading moonlight in such a way that made his breath hitch. Either way, the threat was present. In the far future, but a concern nonetheless.

These days, you seemed fascinated by it all ever since you noticed Hisoka started needing glasses. The concept of blindness, being unable to visualize anything anymore. You called it rebirth, though that was an optimistic way of seeing it. Starting over again, like how before you entered the world. Hisoka didn’t exactly disagree, though he didn’t exactly remember what it was like before his first breath.

“Do you think you’ll go blind?” You intended to jokingly ask but it came out as a whisper, as if you were afraid to break the silence between you two. As you leaned back, Hisoka noticed the stars were reflected in your eyes again as you looked up. How cruel of the universe, to taunt him this way as he gulped, pretending to think it over. He already knew the answer.

“Maybe so.” For you, I would, was left unsaid. You slowly nodded concerned, as if finding truth in his statement after a bit of consideration. Pushing your knees up, you rested your chin upon them and hugged your legs close. You were so radiant despite the late hour, much more eye���catching than the constellations in his own. Sitting beside you, Hisoka watched you carefully with the quiet, suppressed love of a man who knew it would never be enough. Despite his internal dilemma, you turned your smile at him like nothing was wrong. As if Hisoka wasn’t going from blind from directly staring at the sun named you.

“Take care of your sight, okay? You have the galaxy in your eyes.”

When you placed your fingers against the bridge of his glasses to adjust them, it took all his prayers to the gods to not cry. Hisoka turned his attention back to the sky and out of the corner of his eye, caught a a gleam. Maybe it was shooting star, maybe not.

If only you knew who the stars in his eyes were for. Hisoka closed them and put his hands together, making a wish. He knew you were doing the same and wondered what you wanted so desperately in this world. Was it so naive of him to hope his name was in your thoughts? Nevertheless, Hisoka wished.

Dear universe, if I am reborn, please let me be the love of their life.

☆★☆★☆

Hisoka’s vision was getting worse and he knew, he was running out of time. For some unexplainable reason, his right eye seemed to be blurrier than the other. It was beginning to become a struggle to explain why his eyes were different shades, something you picked up on the day it became painfully obvious.

“Hisoka, your eyes! Who did this to you—?” You started, moving in closer to stare directly at his eyes. Hisoka flinched, stumbling back quickly just as your fingertips grazed his cheek. You were clearly shocked, not used to such a violent reaction. How could you not be? Everything you graced shined, glowed in a heavenly manner as if you had the touch of golden life. While Hisoka was made of glittering cosmos from your presence, he was slowly losing the light in his eyes at the same time.

“It’s okay. I won’t go blind.” Not until I collect one thousand stars, not until I make my wish, unspoken and ignored once again. Hisoka turned away, his hands in his pockets and hair long enough to cover his mismatched eye. It was a nice style, perhaps he’d keep it, curse or not. The silence between you two was foreign, contemplative, questionable, but charged with intense energy. You had something to say, and so did he, but neither had the blessing to share their thoughts aloud. Then, you sighed.

“Promise?” You held your pinky out after a while, to which Hisoka finally caught your gaze. You looked scared, as if you knew, but it was impossible. You couldn’t have... he’d never let you until the sky fell and the world ended. So Hisoka looped his pinky around yours with the guilt of a liar, forcing a thin smile to ease your conscious. It didn’t, but you appreciated the effort.

“Next time, I’ll make a wish for you to see normally.” You promised, letting go and glancing at the moon. You didn’t ask what was wrong or why he was everchanging, privacy a strong factor between you two. Yet, he knew curiousity was building inside of you as you snuck a peek at his green eyes again. Regardless, Hisoka nodded, the quiet comfortable this time around as he closed his eyes to make a wish even if there was nothing that would hear him.

Dear universe, I wish to have one thousand stars soon.

☆★☆★☆

Hisoka believed, if you cried when missing the sun, you also wept for the stars. Maybe you were his deadly sun during the day, and his mystical and dazzling moon at night. As always, Hisoka centered around you, the far away stars adorning the crescent of your lunar being. Even if you weren’t always with him, he’d be with you until the end as fragments of the galaxy.

Yet, being with you was painful. Stumbling home with harsh, raging pain splitting his eye, his hand over the right with multiple swears at the gods again only made it worse. Crashing into nearby tables with the inability to see, doing everything under the sun to lessen the torture of crying so prettily, eventually giving up to land on his floor and scream in frustration became a cycle.

Star tears came at a cost. It felt like asteroids were bursting through his sight, exploding violently and waking him up in the middle of night just to cry. Sometimes if it got too much, Hisoka would speak to the moon and hope someone, anyone, would have mercy on his mortal state and grant him relief from agony. But how many times did he have to accept that the gods didn’t listen? They didn’t care and never will, they’re present and fading all at once.

Unfortunately, tonight was one of those nights.

Hisoka gritted his teeth, gripping the ledge of his window as he repeatedly hit his head against the wall. Anything to distract him from the immense pain of such a severe disease. Hisoka was so exhausted; it was a particularly hard day, the lack of control was eating him alive. Hisoka pushed himself up, wobbling as he tried to gaze upon the full moon that night. The wretched strain upon his right eye making his vision blurry, but the glowing moon was as elegant as ever. Hisoka wondered if you two were sharing the same sky.

Another star from his eyes and then another. He was so close, just a hundred more, and he’d be set for one wish. So despite the torment, Hisoka thought about you more, thus setting off the meteor shower. At least it got him closer and closer to his goal, love was pain, after all.

When you unexpectedly called him that night, he barely heard his ringtone before hurriedly opening it to seek the comfort of your voice. His tears settled down once Hisoka used all his energy to focus on your tone, speech, and anything that indicated it was you. With the moon as his witness, Hisoka gathered the star pieces to his jar and tallied them with your voice besides him.

When Hisoka counted nine hundred ninety nine, he gripped the phone tighter. He didn’t remember if you mentioned the subtle twinkling in the background on his side, but Hisoka could pick up on one last chime as he prayed to anyone.

Dear universe, please let me cry one more star.

(When you ended the call, insisting on seeing the constellations tomorrow night, Hisoka cried. It was the most painful tear of them all, but he did it. He had one thousand lucky stars.)

(But, as he tried to make a wish, he ran out of time.)

☆★☆★☆

Hisoka woke up to a soft, barely audible twinkling sound right beneath his hands. Slowly lifting his head from his position on the floor, Hisoka opened his tight fist to see a sharp glowing fragment within his palm. What was that? Hisoka noticed the spilled jar near his window, the container broken and even more shining pieces spread out around him. Why were there so many?

Counting them, Hisoka noticed there were nearly a thousand scattered about. Yet, he had no memory of why he would want so much. Something inside him was hurt, pained, it was difficult to even bear the sight of the fragments. His soul was graviating towards them, as if his existence was meant to orbit around these very stars. How was this possible? Stars belonged in the sky, not at the floor of his own home.

But, there was no need to dwell on it further. He must’ve dreamed everything. A scene of a meteor shower, someone’s infectious laughter, and his name carved into a tree went as soon as it came, and Hisoka disregarded it. He moved to pick everything up, carefully placing it in a draw before shutting it tight. It was strange, how it felt like something was missing, how much he wanted to put them all together. How great of a star would it be? To build one star out of a thousand parts? Before he could act on his impulse, Hisoka noticed a slip of paper tucked in the corner of the previously cracked jar.

Bending down to pick it up, Hisoka recognized his own handwriting. But the words were unfamiliar, unheard of and something that made Hisoka feel like he was forgetting something.

Dear universe, I wish they would love me.

(Hisoka looked into the mirror and stared at his reflection curiously. One eye was lighter than the other... he never remembered having such bad vision before. He put on a pair of glasses, anyways.)

Maybe, a better wish for one thousand stars would be to wish back Hisoka’s lost memories. But, no one, not even the gods, were listening.

[spn-safeandsound]

02. Saving the Day

Safe and Sound

Dean Winchester x Original Character

Episode: 1x02; Wendigo

Word Count: 8,436

Warning(s): Mature language, canon violence and gore

Author’s Note: I hope you enjoy! Reblog and like!

Masterlist in Profile Description!

"Dean, please."

"Nope."

"I'll do anything."

"No fucking way, Junior."

"Oh, Dean, come on!" Julia whined, falling back against her seat. "Just one song. You'll like it, I swear."

"I'm not listening to Mariah Carey or Carrie Underwear," Dean scowled at her in the rearview mirror.

"Well, I don't even like country, so..." she shook her head. "And I think you would like Fall Out Boy."

"I think I wouldn't," Dean retorted.

"What about Elton John?" Julia raised her eyebrows at him. "He has older music. My mom loved him."

Dean's face visibly softened when she spoke about her mother. He knew she missed her, especially since the fourth anniversary of her death was coming up. He didn't blame her. Naomi Petersen was a great lady and had treated him and Sam as her own, even though she already had four children to take care of. He could still remember the taste of her famous peach cobbler. He wasn't usually a cobbler man, either, but he couldn't turn down Naomi's food.

"Fine," he gave in reluctantly; Elton John wasn't that bad anyway. "but only one."

The smile that Julia gave him was worth more than one song but he kept quiet, not wanting to give away complete control of his music. If Julia knew that flashing a smile would get her whatever she wanted from him—like it did for the rest of the world—he was done for.

Julia dug her cassette jack that she bought at the last gas station out of her bag and practically climbed over the front seat. She was careful not to hit a sleeping Sam because he really needed the rest; he hadn't been sleeping much since Jess and she spent most of the nights they shared motel rooms making sure he was okay.

She set up the jack and plugged in her iPod, turning it to her mom's favorite song.

Blue jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band...

Julia let out a relaxed sigh as she practically melted back into her seat. She smiled softly as she listened to the lyrics, remembering all the times her mom sang this song to her while she was growing up.

Her mom had been a dancer for years in her childhood and well into her adulthood. That was how her parents met, actually. When she was in college, her mom was in a recital that her dad coincidentally went to during one of his earlier hunts. He used to tell Julia that he was mesmerized by her mother and that she really was his tiny dancer.

Hold me closer, tiny dancer...

Dean appreciated the silence that fell over Julia because it seemed like she was always talking. And she was actually staying still, a stark contrast to her chronic fidgeting that drove Sam nuts. What he appreciated more than that was the small and contented smile on her face. It seemed like it was the first time he saw that smile in days; she had been grieving Jess, too, and trying to take care of Sam at the same time.

Despite being two years younger than his little brother, she had always been one of his caretakers.

You had a busy day today...

Dean let her bask in the last few notes of the song and then unplugged the jack, passing it back to her without a word. Julia was just as silent as she took it from him, her lips turning up at the corners when he popped in one of his cassettes.

Sam awoke with a start as the drum beat kicked in. Dean gave him a hesitant look as Julia leaned forward worriedly.

"You okay?" she asked him, trying not to hover as much as she had been the last few days.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sam answered groggily, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Another nightmare?" it was Dean who asked this time.

Sam cleared his throat loudly, refusing to answer.

"You wanna drive for a while?" Dean offered.

Sam laughed in amazement. "Dean, your whole life you never once asked me that."

"Just thought you might want to," Dean shrugged casually. "Never mind."

Sam looked between Dean and Julia; he could easily read the worried look on Julia's face but Dean's was a little bit harder to decipher. "Look, guys, you're worried about me," he acknowledged. "I get and thank you, but I'm perfectly okay."

Dean hummed doubtfully. Sam looked back at Julia for her reaction but she just smiled sweetly and looked over to Dean, changing the subject as a distraction for Sam.

"You know, I can drive—"

"I don't think so, Julia," Dean cut her off, causing her to pout at him.

"All right," Sam chuckled and looked back at her. "where are we?"

"Um..." she looked at the handheld GPS that she was in charge of while Sam slept and found where they were. "we are just outside of Grand Junction."

Sam sighed and grabbed the GPS so he could look at the location of the coordinates John gave them. "You know what, maybe we shouldn't have left Stanford so soon."

Dean blinked slowly; Sam always got so depressed when he brought up what happened to Jessica and it was starting to worry him. "Sam, we dug around there for a week and we came up with nothing. If you wanna find the thing that killed Jessica—"

"We gotta find Dad first," Sam finished, having already heard this speech before.

"Dad disappearing and this thing showing up again after twenty years, it's no coincidence," Dean theorized. "Dad will have answers. He'll know what to do."

Sam shook his head and focused on the device in his hands. "It's weird, man," he changed the subject and studied the map. "these coordinates he left us, this Blackwater Ridge..."

"What about it?" Julia spoke up, leaning her chin on the front seat.

"There's nothing there," he informed her and Dean. "It's just woods. Why is he sending us to the middle of nowhere?"

Dean didn't answer as they drove into the town of Lost Creek. They headed straight to the ranger's station so they could look at a 3-D model of the area around Blackwater Ridge.

"So, Blackwater Ridge is pretty remote," Sam sighed as he pointed at the location on the model. "It's cut off by these canyons here. Rough terrain, dense forest, abandoned silver and gold mines all over the place."

Though Julia was listening curiously, Dean wasn't paying an ounce of attention. His focus was on the huge taxidermized grizzly bear on display.

"Dude, check out the size of this fucking bear!"

Julia smiled at his childlike amazement and added, "And I'm guessing a couple of grizzlies?"

"A dozen or so," Sam confirmed with a grin as they walked over to stand by Dean. "It's no nature hike, that's for sure."

"You three aren't planning on going out near Blackwater Ridge by any chance?" a ranger walked up to them, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh, no, sir," Sam assured him politely. "we're environmental study majors from UC Boulder. We're just working on a paper."

"Recycle, man," Dean held up a supportive fist.

"Bull," the ranger called them out, his eyes flitting to each one of them. "you're friends with that Haley girl, right?"

"Actually, we are," Julia played along, sending him a sweet smile. "Ranger Wilkinson."

The older man looked charmed by her, though not in a way that she considered sexual. Maybe he was just fond of a kind soul now or then.

"Well," Ranger Wilkinson's voice was considerably nicer, causing Sam and Dean to exchange impressed looks. "I will tell you exactly what I told her. Her brother filled out a backcountry permit saying her wouldn't be back from Blackwater Ridge until the twenty-fourth."

Julia nodded understandingly.

"It's not exactly a missing-persons, is it?" Ranger Wilkinson asked rhetorically. "You tell that girl to quit worrying. I'm sure her brother's just fine."

"We will," Dean promised with a smirk. "Well, that Haley girl's quite a pistol, huh?"

The ranger nodded in agreement, grabbing his coffee mug off the large front desk. "That is putting it mildly."

"Actually, you know what would help is if I could show her a copy of that backcountry permit," Dean said casually. "You know, so she could see her brother's return date."

"I'm sure that will calm her down," Julia added.

Dean had to admit it was nice having a pretty girl around to convince people to cooperate with them. Ranger Wilkinson melted at the pleading look Julia sent him and quickly copied the backcountry permit so they could take it to Haley. He gave it to her with a smile and a fond goodbye as they left the station.

"What, are you cruising for a hookup or something?" Sam asked Dean as they walked to the Impala.

Dean gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"The coordinates point to Blackwater Ridge," Sam pointed out. "so what are we waiting for? Let's just go find Dad. I mean, why even talk to this girl?"

"I don't know, maybe we should know what we're walking into before we actually walk into it?" Dean said obviously. He gave his brother that had Sam stiffening in irritation.

"What?"

"Since when are you all shoot-first-ask-questions-later, anyway?"

"Since now," Sam's voice went flat.

Dean gave Sam an unimpressed look as he got into the car but before he open his mouth to speak again, Julia cut him off. Sam was delicate right now, no matter how tough he acted, and his emotions were all over the place. She didn't need the brothers to have a big blowout right now.

Dean sighed and got into the car. An hour later—after Dean stopped to make a fake ranger ID—they were knocking on the door of the address they got from Tommy Collins' backcountry permit.

The door opened and a pretty brunette a couple inches taller than Julia greeted them.

"You must be Haley Collins," Dean grinned at her. "I'm Dean and this is Sam and Julia. We're, uh, rangers with the Park Service. Ranger Wilkinson sent us over. We wanted to ask a few questions about your brother, Tommy."

Haley pressed her lips together as she looked them over. "Let me see some ID."

Dean pulled the fresh ID out of his wallet and presented it to her with a smile. Haley quickly looked it over and opened the screen door to let them into the house.

"Come on in," her eyes swept past Dean and locked on the Impala. "That yours?"

Dean nodded. "Yeah."

"Nice car," she said, impressed. She walked away from the door, leading them through the front room to the dining room. Julia and Sam exchanged eye rolls as Dean gave them a salacious grin, his eyes trailing to Haley's back.

There was a younger kid sitting at the table when they entered the dining room, frowning down at his placemat as he waited for his dinner to be served. He looked up when he heard their arrival and Julia smiled at him in greeting but his eyes quickly avoided her.

"So, if Tommy's not due back for a while, how do you know something's wrong?" Sam asked Haley as she walked into the kitchen and grabbed a hot serving bowl.

"He checks in everyday by cell," Haley brought the bowl to the table. "He emails photos and stupid little videos. We haven't heard anything in over three days now."

"Maybe he can't get cell reception?" Julia suggested.

Haley shook her head. "He's got a satellite phone, too."

"Could it be he's just having fun and forgot to check in?"

The kid, Ben, looked up in offense at Dean's comment. "He wouldn't do that!"

Ben, who sounded much older than he looked, looked down, ashamed at his outburst. Julia gave him a reassuring smile, hoping that he wasn't feeling uncomfortable in his own home because of them.

"Our parents are gone," Haley informed the three of them. "It's just my two brothers and me. We all keep pretty close tabs on each other."

Julia knew a little of what that was like. Despite her dad being alive, he didn't check in with his children much. So, Julia, her brother, and her sisters all made sure they were okay in the meantime. Levi, the oldest twin and only son, always made sure they were all safe. Bethany, the oldest sister, mothered over Julia and Abby like it was her job. Abby, the middle child and previously the only hunter of the siblings, checked in to make sure everyone was keeping up on their self-defense and protective charms. And Julia did all of the above, just making sure that her siblings knew that she loved them more than anything. They didn't always get along but they were family—who didn't argue with their siblings?

From the look in Dean's eye, Julia knew that he could relate to Haley, too.

Sam nodded understandingly. "Can I see the pictures he sent you?"

"Yeah," Haley pulled out her laptop and pulled up the most recent video that her brother sent. A man a few years older than Haley with the same dark hair as his younger siblings flashed onto the screen. "That's Tommy."

"Hey, Haley," the video played. "Day six. We're still out near Blackwater Ridge. We're fine, keeping safe, so don't worry, okay? Talk to you tomorrow."

Julia caught Sam making an intrigued face and wondered what he saw on the video that she or the others hadn't.

"Well, we'll find your brother," Dean assured Haley. "We're heading out to Blackwater Ridge first thing."

"Then maybe I'll see you there," Haley replied; she saw the look of confusion Dean gave her. "Look, I can't sit around here anymore, so, I hired a guide. I'm heading out in the morning and I'm gonna find Tommy myself."

"I think I know how you feel," Dean stated seriously.

"Hey," Sam interrupted the intense eye staring going on between Dean and Haley, gesturing toward the laptop. "do you mind forwarding these to me?"

"Sure," Haley agreed easily.

-

The bar they sat in for a late dinner was loud and filled with local college kids on Thanksgiving break. Julia was used to the loud scenery of college bars, though, being a college kid herself, and she had to admit the burgers she and Dean ordered were good. She was just paranoid that someone would catch on to the fact that she was underage—her fake was great but she was always worried every time she walked into a bar.

She didn't drink anything alcoholic just in case. She spent most of her time learning how to research the meticulous way that Sam likes it to be done, both of them searching for any local history of mysterious disappearances having to do with Blackwater Ridge.

"So, Blackwater Ridge doesn't get a lot of traffic," Sam told Dean as he sat down with a fresh beer. "Local campers, mostly. Still, this past April, two hikers went missing out there. They were never found."

"Any before that?" Dean asked as Sam opened John's journal.

Julia cleared her throat, looking down at the local newspapers they had collected. "Yeah, in 1982, eight different people all vanished in the same year. The rangers said it was a grizzly attack."

She slid a newspaper over to Dean, the headline reading, UP TO EIGHT HIKERS VANISH IN LOST CREEK AREA. HIKER'S DISAPPEARANCE BAFFLE AUTHORITIES.

"And again in 1959 and again, before that in 1936," she finished. "Every twenty-three years this happens."

"Like clockwork," Sam commented, opening his laptop now. He moved it so Dean and Julia could see. "Okay, watch this. Here's the clincher. I downloaded that guy, Tommy's, video to the laptop. Check this out."

There was a video on the screen. Sam pressed play, showing a slowed-down version of Tommy's video. Julia's eyes widened in surprise when she saw a shadow move behind the missing man.

Dean blinked. "Do it again."

Sam played the frames again. "That's three frames," he told them. "That's a fraction of a second. Whatever that thing is, it can move."

Dean excitedly hit Sam in the shoulder, a know-it-all expression on his face. "I told you something weird was going on."

Sam nodded in agreement, only looking a little annoyed by Dean's smugness.

"One more thing," Julia spoke up. "In fifty-nine, one camper survived this supposed grizzly attack. It was a kid and he barely made it out alive."

Dean raised one eyebrow. "Is there a name?"

Julia smirked and passed him the newspaper.

-

The next morning, Julia, Dean, and Sam set out to find Haley and Ben before they could go up to Blackwater Ridge on their own. They carried multiple weapons because they weren't exactly sure what they were going up against.

The night before, after leaving the bar, they questioned the witness that Julia discovered. He was an old man now but his memory of the night his parents were killed by whatever was out there was still fresh in his mind. The bear—or what the rangers were calling a bear, anyway—had unlocked the cabin the man was staying at, slaughtering his parents while he was asleep. Dean thought that the creature might be a skinwalker or a black dog but he and Sam both agreed that whatever it was, it was corporeal.

Sam wasn't happy about their babysitting job but Dean wouldn't hear about leaving Haley and Ben to fend for themselves. He was adamant that they continue like any other case while Sam was just gunning to find his dad. Julia, on the other hand, went with the flow, not wanting to get in the middle of one of their notorious arguments.

Dean pulled the Impala up to the trail entrance where Haley, Ben, and an older man were talking. They got out of the car, Julia being the only one actually prepared for a long hike.

"You guys got room for three more?" Dean asked Haley as he locked his car.

"Wait, you want to come with us?" Haley said skeptically.

"Who are these guys?" the older man looked the three of them over with disdain—especially the duffle bag that Sam was carrying over his shoulder.

"Apparently, this is all the park service could muster up for the search and rescue," Haley informed him.

The man raised his eyebrows. "You're rangers?"

"That's right," Dean said confidently.

"And you're hiking out in biker boots and jeans?"

Julia smirked, having had the same argument with Sam and Dean before they left their motel room, and passed by her to stand with Sam. "I told him the same thing."

"I don't do shorts!" Dean called after her.

The man didn't look impressed with Dean's cocky tone. "Oh, you think this is funny? It's dangerous backcountry out there. Her brother might be hurt."

Julia turned back to Dean, begging him with her eyes not to lose his temper on the naïve man.

"Believe me, I know how dangerous this could get," Dean stated firmly. "We just wanna help her find her brother, that's all."

The group of them started up the trail, all six of them walking in a single-file line. Roy—the older man—led them with Haley and Dean in front, Julia and Ben in the middle, and Sam bringing up the rear.

As they hiked, Julia shared some of her trail mix with Ben, who was turning out to be a sweet kid. He didn't talk much—he was clearly very worried about his older brother—but he spoke with her a little about how his freshman year of high school was going.

"Roy," Dean spoke up about two hours into the hike. "you said you did a little hunting."

"Yeah," Roy answered reluctantly, clearly not wanting to talk to the younger man. "more than a little."

"Uh-huh," Dean wasn't bothered by the man's grumpiness. "What kind of furry critters do you hunt?"

"Mostly buck, sometimes bear."

Dean sped up, passing Roy in line. "Tell me, did Bambi or Yogi ever hunt you back?"

Roy didn't answer as he reached forward, grabbing the back of Dean's jacket to stop him from continuing. Julia and Sam stiffened, ready to intervene in case the men got a little violent.

"Whatcha doing, Roy?" Dean asked warningly.

Roy let go of his jacket and bent down, picking a stick up off the forest floor. He held it down to the ground, where there was a freaking bear trap, and pressed the stick into it. It popped up, chopping the stick in half.

Julia's eyes widened; Dean was about to step in that!

"You should watch where you're stepping, Ranger," Roy advised Dean with a knowing smirk.

Dean pressed his lips together and clenched his jaw as Roy walked past him, looking back at the others. "It's a bear trap," he informed them needlessly.

"Yeah," Julia rolled her eyes to hide her worry. "We noticed."

As they hiked on, Haley confronted Dean, severely annoyed, "You didn't pack any provisions. You guys are carrying a duffle bag," she pointed out, grabbing Dean's arm to stop him. "So, who the hell are you?"

Julia didn't envy Dean, who now had to explain to Haley what they were actually doing out here. She smirked at him as she and Ben passed him and Haley. Sam paused a little but when Dean nodded at him to go on, he continued and caught up to Julia and Ben.

"You don't eat the M&Ms first?" Ben asked Julia curiously as she continued munching on her trail mix. "That's what I do."

"Well," Julia handed him a couple of M&Ms, which he threw in his mouth. "They're my favorite part of trail mix and I probably wouldn't eat the stuff if there weren't any in there. I save them for last to make sure I eat the healthy stuff first."

Ben nodded. "That makes sense."

"My best friend here is a health nut," she gestured to Sam, who rolled his eyes. "He likes to keep an eye on me."

"You have an insufferable sweet tooth," Sam interjected.

"Bite me," Julia playfully snapped back at him.

Ben gave them a small smile; Julia was happy that she could help get his mind off of his missing brother.

Only an hour later, they arrived at their destination.

"This is it," Roy declared, looking at his GPS. "Blackwater Ridge."

Sam stepped around him and stopped, looking around at the trees. "What coordinates are we at?"

"Thirty-five and minus one-eleven."

Dean wandered over to Julia and Sam. "You hear that?"

Julia stopped, listened, and nodded; the thing was, there wasn't anything to hear. That was the whole problem. There should be some noise considering the fact that they were in the middle of the woods.

"Yeah," Sam confirmed. "Not even crickets."

"I'm gonna go take a quick look around," Roy told Haley and Ben, causing Julia and the brothers to turn around cautiously.

"You shouldn't go off by yourself," Sam advised, knowing that it was too dangerous for a regular hunter in the woods around here.

"That's sweet," Roy scoffed mockingly and raised the shotgun he had been carrying around. "Don't worry about me."

"Just let him go," Julia grabbed Sam's arm to stop him from following Roy out of the area. "He's an asshole anyway."

Dean made a noise of agreement as Haley and Ben joined them. "All right, everybody stays together. Let's go."

Despite the fact that they all wanted to leave Roy—besides Haley and Ben—they followed the older man anyway. It didn't take long for Roy to find something and when he did, he called for Haley.

She took off at the sound of her name and the rest of them followed her. They came across a campsite that was absolutely ravaged apart. The tents were shredded with some blood on the bigger parts, there was clothing everywhere, and food packages flattened into the muddy ground.

"Oh, my God," Haley breathed.

"Looks like a grizzly," Roy examined the mess.

"Tommy?" Haley called her brother's name, unclipping her backpack. "Tommy!"

"Shh!" Sam hissed at her, jogging over to her side to calm her down.

"Tommy!"

Sam shushed her again and Haley whipped around to face him with an angry stare.

"Why?"

"Something might still be out there," Sam answered.

As Sam and Haley spoke, Dean gently took Julia's arm and pulled her away from Ben. He led her a couple of feet away from the tent, looking at the ground intently. Once he saw what he was looking for, he called his brother's name to get his attention.

"The bodies were dragged from the campsite. But here," Dean explained to Julia as Sam made his way over, pointing to where the tracks stopped. "the tracks just vanish."

"That's weird," Julia wrinkled her nose.

Dean nodded at her. "I'll tell you what, it's no skinwalker or black dog."

Sam nodded in agreement and the three of them wandered back over to Haley, Ben, and Roy. Haley was perched on the ground, holding onto a broken cell phone and crying lightly. Julia guessed that it had been Tommy's.

Dean crouched next to her to offer some comfort. "Hey, he could still be alive."

Haley gave him a look, clearly not believing him.

And then, there was a scream from somewhere in the woods.

"HELP! HELP!"

Dean pulled his gun from his jacket as he, Roy, and Sam took off running toward the voice. Julia, Haley, and Ben followed them at a slightly slower speed, all of them hoping that it was Tommy that was alive and screaming for help.

However, when they came upon a clearing, there was no one there.

"It seemed like it was coming from around here, didn't it?" Haley asked, slightly out of breath.

Sam looked around cautiously. "Everybody back to camp."

They ran back to the messy campsite where Sam's duffle bag and Ben, Roy, and Haley's packs were missing.

"Our packs!" Haley groaned.

"So much for my GPS and satellite phone," Roy grumbled.

"What the hell is going on?" Haley turned to Sam and Dean for answers.

"It's smart," Sam said bitterly. "It wants to cut us off so we can't call for help."

"You're saying someone—some nutjob out there just stole all our gear?" Roy's voice was flat as his eyes darted around the trees.

Sam rolled his eyes at the older man and walked over to Dean and Julia, who were each searching the outer rims of the campsite to see if the creature left anything behind.

"I need to speak with you in private," Sam told them quietly, leading them a couple of feet away from the others so they couldn't overhear. "Okay, let me see Dad's journal."

Dean immediately looked to Julia, who pulled off her backpack and unzipped it. She reached in and grabbed the journal from atop the water bottles she packed, handing it to Sam without a word.

Sam flipped through the pages until he found what he was looking for. "All right, check that out," he showed Dean and Julia, pointing out a sketch which looked like a weird stick-figure drawing that reminded Julia of the First Nations.

"Oh, come on," Dean scoffed. "Wendigos are in the Minnesota woods or Northern Michigan. I've never heard of one this far west."

"Dad hunted one in North Dakota once," Julia recalled unhelpfully. Her dad hadn't been expecting the creature since they normally didn't pop up west of Minnesota and he had come home from his hunt badly injured. Julia's mom didn't let him out of the house for a whole week.

"Think about it, Dean," Sam tried to convince his brother. "The claws, the way it can mimic a human voice."

"Great," Dean muttered sarcastically, pulling his gun from his jacket. "Well, then this is useless."

"What kills wendigos?" Julia asked them.

"Fire," Dean told her. "Flare gun, flamethrower, torch, Molotov cocktail. Anything that can blow the fucker up."

Julia winced; that sounded like hard work especially since wendigos were apparently lighting speed fast.

"We gotta get these people to safety," Sam declared as he started heading back to the campsite. When they arrived, he got the others' attention. "All right listen up. It's time to go. Things have gotten more complicated."

"What?" Haley looked at him in shock.

Julia put John's journal back in her bag as Roy gave Sam an annoyed look.

"Kid, don't worry," he stated. "Whatever's out there, I think I can handle it."

"It's not me I'm worried about," Sam replied. "If you shoot this thing, you're just gonna make it mad. We have to leave, now."

"One, you're talking nonsense," Roy faced Sam head-on. "Two, you're in no position to give anybody orders."

"Relax!" Dean warned him, not liking his tone.

"We never should have let you come out here in the first place, all right?" Sam continued, trying to get them to leave. "I'm trying to protect you."

Roy stepped forward, getting in Sam's face. "You protect me?" he laughed mockingly. "I was hunting these woods when your mommy was still kissing you goodnight."

"Hey," Julia snapped at him, bristling at the man's verbal attack. "Back off."

Sam glowered at Roy, losing his temper. "It's a damn near perfect hunter. It's smarter than you and it's gonna hunt you down and eat you alive unless we get your stupid, sorry ass out of here."

"You know you're crazy, right?"

"Yeah?" Sam retorted back. "You ever hunt a wen—"

Dean pushed him away from Roy before he could finish his sentence; Julia grabbed Sam's arm, holding him in place just in case he wanted to beat the shit out of Roy.

"Roy!"

"Chill out!"

"Stop it," Haley protested, stepping in the middle of Sam, Julia, Dean, and Roy. "Everybody just stop. Look, Tommy might still be alive and I'm not leaving here without him."

Dean looked at Julia and Sam before sighing. "It's getting late," he pointed out. "This thing is a good hunter in the day but an unbelievable hunter at night. We'll never beat it, not in the dark. We need to settle in and protect ourselves."

"How?"

Dean held out his hand toward Julia at Haley's question. She gave him a look, annoyed that he just expected her to have his dad's journal out and ready, and pulled the backpack off her shoulders once again. She handed him the journal and pulled out her water bottles, handing three of them to Ben, Haley, and Roy so they could keep hydrated.

Dean flipped through the journal until he got to the pages about the wendigo. He found what he was looking for, a row of protective symbols that would keep the wendigo away from them, and he and Sam got to work on etching them into the dirt around the campsite.

As it got dark, Roy and Ben started a fire so they could keep warm and be able to see who—or what—was around them.

"Okay, so what exactly are these?" Julia asked Dean, hovering behind him as he drew in the dirt with a large stick.

"Anasazi symbols," Dean spoke loud enough so everyone could hear, Julia having told Haley, Ben, and Roy what exactly they were up against. "It's for protection. The wendigo can't cross over them."

Roy laughed in disbelief, slinging his gun over his shoulder.

Dean gave him an annoyed look. "Nobody likes a skeptic, Roy."

Dean stood up and walked over to where Sam was sitting on a log, a melancholy look on his face. Julia let them have their privacy and went back to join Ben and Haley at the fire.

"So, how do you know about all of this?" Haley asked her quietly.

"Honestly, I'm still training," Julia admitted. "but my family has always been involved and Sam and Dean grew up in this. It's like a family business for all of us."

"Your families do this?"

"My dad and one of my older sisters, yeah," Julia confirmed. "Sam and Dean's dad hunts, too."

"Does it scare you?"

"Yeah, of course," Julia said honestly. "It scares the crap out of me but it's better that I know and help out than other people dying, right?"

Haley nodded and Ben looked thoughtful. Suddenly, a voice—the same voice that called for help earlier—started shouting in the distance. Everyone perked up at the noise, getting to their feet in shock and fear.

Dean pulled his gun out of his jacket while Sam flooded the area in light with his large flashlight.

"He's trying to draw us out," Dean stated, cocking his gun. "Just stay cool and stay put."

"Inside the magic circle?" Roy scoffed, raising his own gun for protection.

Everyone ignored his skepticism as the voice shouted again.

"Okay," Roy admitted. "that's no grizzly."

Ben hurriedly grabbed Haley's hand and burrowed into her, frightened beyond belief. Haley had an equally afraid look on her face and held her little brother tightly so she could protect him.

"It's okay," Julia assured them with a calming smile. "You'll be all right, I promise."

Something rushed past the campsite, too fast for anyone to see. Haley shrieked in fear and Ben squeaked; ignoring her own fear, Julia took a protective step toward them.

"It's here," Sam muttered darkly.

As the wendigo sped past them again, Roy shot his gun. Nothing happened but when he took another shot, it sounded like something took a hit. Whether or not it was the actual wendigo and not a tree, Julia didn't know.

"I hit it!" Roy crowed before rushing out of the protective circle to see just what he shot.

"Roy, no!" Dean called after him. He looked back at Julia, Haley, and Ben and warned them not to move before running in the direction where Roy took off. Sam rushed after him and Julia kept a sharp lookout, flashing her light around every couple of seconds.

They couldn't see what was happening to Roy, Dean, and Sam but they could hear shouting. Dean was calling for Roy and Roy was shouting back but his voice abruptly got cut off, putting them in an uneasy silence.

"Roy?" Dean shouted into the quiet.

Within minutes, the brothers came back without Roy in tow.

-

The night passed slowly with Dean and Sam taking shifts to watch out for the wendigo. Julia mostly sat with Sam—who didn't seem to sleep even when he wasn't on watch—restless from the lack of bed and intense paranoia she was having.

They didn't talk as they sat side-by-side, Julia's head resting on his shoulder. They often had silences like this, it was comfortable and it was sometimes relaxing just to stop talking and get lost in your thoughts—that was Julia's point of view, anyway.

"I don't," Haley spoke up a half-hour after sunrise. Julia and Sam were in the same spot, against a tree trunk, and Sam was playing with his dad's rosary. "I mean, these types of things—they aren't supposed to be real."

"I wish I could tell you differently," Dean sighed.

"How do we know it's not out there watching us?"

"We don't but we're safe for now."

"Julia said that you grew up knowing this stuff," Haley said hesitantly; Julia perked up at the mention of her name but laid her head back down on Sam's shoulder once she realized that it was just a passing mention.

"It runs in the family," Dean confirmed.

Sam patted Julia's knee, warning her that he was getting up, and stood up when Julia leaned away from him. Julia hopped to her feet right away, picking up her water bottle to take a sip. They walked over to Dean, Haley, and Ben, who were all in the middle of the protective circle.

"Hey," Sam greeted them; Haley stood up to face him. "So, we've got half a chance in the daylight. And I, for one, want to kill this evil son of a bitch."

"Well, hell, you know I'm in," Dean grinned at his brother. "Give them the rundown, Sammy."

Sam opened up John's journal where he used the rosary as a bookmark and started to explain to Haley and Ben about wendigos. "Wendigo is a Cree Indian word. It means evil that devours."

"They're hundreds of years old," Dean added. "Each one was once a man. Sometimes an Indian or other times a frontiersman or a miner or a hunter."

"How's a man turn into one of those things?" Haley asked curiously.

"Well, it's always the same," he answered. "During some harsh winter, a guy finds himself starving, cut off from supplies or help. He becomes a cannibal to survive, eating other members of his tribe or camp."

"Like the Donner party," Ben supplied.

"Exactly," Julia confirmed.

"Cultures all over the world believe that eating human flesh gives a person certain abilities," Sam continued on with the lesson. "Speed, strength, immortality."

"If you eat enough of it, over the years you become this less-than-human thing," Dean stated. "You're always hungry."

"If that's true, how can Tommy still be alive?"

"You're not gonna like it," Dean sighed, exchanging a hesitant look with Sam before continuing, "More than anything, a wendigo knows how to last long winters without food. It hibernates for years at a time. When it's awake, it keeps its victims alive. It, uh, stores them so it can feed whenever it wants. If your brother's alive, it's keeping him somewhere dark, hidden, and safe. We gotta track it back there."

"And then how do we stop it?"

"Well, guns are useless and so are knives," Dean sighed and picked up a bottle of lighter fluid, a discarded but still intact beer bottle, a white cloth; a homemade Molotov cocktail. "we gotta torch the sucker."

After making a couple of Molotov cocktails, one of which Julia was allowed to hang onto after a stern lecture from an overprotective Dean, they started off in search of the wendigo and whatever cave it was hiding in.

They walked around for a half-hour before Sam spotted some claw marks in the trees, all off them high up and covered in blood. There were a lot of marks, making a circle in the trunks high above their heads.

Julia scrunched her nose; why wouldn't the wendigo cover its tracks? It was like it wanted them to find it.

"Sam, aren't these a little too distinct?" she quietly asked her best friend.

"I was thinking the same thing," he agreed with her. "they're too easy to follow."

A vicious growl came behind their group, causing all of them to whip around. Once they were facing the opposite direction, another screech came from behind them again, moving so fast that the trees rustled like they were in a major storm.

Suddenly, Haley screamed and fell to the ground, looking terrified. Roy's dead body fell right in the spot where she was standing, his neck broken so drastically that his head was almost turned around.

"You okay?" Sam asked her as he helped her to her feet. "You got it?"

"His neck's broken," Dean said needlessly; he stood up and urged them back toward the campsite. "Okay, run, run, run! Go, go, go!"

The five of them took off running, trying to get away from the wendigo as fast as humanly possible. Julia and Ben were at the back and when Ben tripped over an overgrown root in the ground, she accidently dropped her cocktail as she went to help him up.

Sam doubled back to help her and they started running again. They were almost back to the campsite when they heard Haley let out a loud scream. They raced toward the sound, stopping when they didn't see Haley or Dean.

"Shit," Julia sighed anxiously, spotting the Molotov cocktail that Dean had been carrying; it was on the ground, smashed to pieces and very useless. "It took them."

Ben didn't look as panicked as Julia thought he would be since his sister was now missing, as well as his brother. He pulled himself together and clenched his jaw, pushing back his anxiety so he could help find Haley, Dean, and Tommy.

"If it keeps its victims alive why would it kill Roy?" he asked Sam as they continued walking back to the campsite.

"Honestly, I think it's because Roy shot at it and pissed it off," Sam replied; Ben nodded, seeming to accept that answer.

Julia kept her eyes on the ground as she walked, making sure that they wouldn't step in any random bear traps that may be lying around. She gasped excitedly when she saw a large M&M in the mud, more of them following a few inches from each other.

"Look," she pointed them out to Sam and Ben. "Dean's peanut M&Ms."

Sam scoffed in surprise and picked one up. "It's better than breadcrumbs."

They followed the trail of M&Ms to one of the old mines that Sam told her and Dean about the day they got into town. There were signs warning them of intense danger but it was dark and hidden in there; a perfect spot for a wendigo to hide.

Julia, Sam, and Ben stepped through the broken door and made their way further into the mine. Julia pulled out her flashlight the darker it got, illuminating a clear path for them. They heard a growl and hid as the wendigo sped past them, leaving the mine; it was probably searching for them.

Once the wendigo was out of sight, they kept going. Eventually they came upon a larger cave. It was full of old human bones that made Ben flinch in disgust. They also spotted Haley and Ben's hiking gear and in the corner Dean and Haley were hanging up by their arms, both of them unconscious.

Julia sighed in immense relief and sped toward Dean, Sam right on her heels. To be honest, she had been so worried about him and was afraid she might never see him again. If they all got out of this alive, she was going to tease him about being a damsel in distress just to see that annoyed look in his green eyes that she secretly liked.

"Dean!" she exclaimed, reaching for his torso to shake him awake. While she did this, Sam reached up and started cutting at the rope that detained him with one of his knives. "Hey, Dean, wake up. Rise and shine, sleeping beauty."

Dean grunted as he slowly blinked. "Shut up."

Julia beamed at him and laughed softly, bracing him against her as his rope finally broke. Sam went to help Ben get Haley down and Julia slowly helped Dean sit down on the stone floor.

"Are you all right?" Julia asked softly as he groaned in pain.

"Yeah, yeah," Dean assured her quickly. "Where is it?"

"It's gone for now," she told him.

Haley stood up when she was freed from her ropes, way better off than Dean was. She gasped when she saw her older brother hung up in another corner. She, Ben, and Sam went over to him, waking him up and freeing him from his bindings.

Dean huffed and looked over at the bags Julia had set him down by, spotting a few flare guns that would really be helpful. He grabbed three of them, giving one to Julia, and slowly and painfully got to his feet.

"Check it out," he walked over to Sam with a slight limp.

"Flare guns," Sam grinned while Dean twirled two of them dramatically. "Those'll work."

They started out of the cave, Julia and Dean in front of the group—helping a man that was almost a foot taller than her walk was actually hard work—with Ben, Haley, and Tommy supporting each other in the middle, and Sam in the back to protect them.

The wendigo growled threateningly as it came back into the mine and Julia figured that it was upset she, Sam, and Ben weren't back at the campsite for it to bring home to dinner.

"Looks like someone's home for supper," Dean spoke quietly.

"We'll never outrun it," Haley said worriedly.

Dean looked back at them, his eyes flitting over everyone in the group. Finally, he pointedly looked at Sam last. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

"All right," Dean caught the attention of the Collins siblings. "listen to me. Stay with Julia, she's gonna get you out of here."

"What are you guys going to do?" Julia gave him a concerned look.

Dean gave her a dramatic—and only slightly attractive—wink and pulled away from her. He started running back down the mine with Sam on his heels, both of them screaming for the attention of the wendigo.

"Chow time, you fuckin' bastard!" Dean shouted over Sam's voice. "Yeah, that's right, bring it on, baby! I taste good!"

Any other time, Julia would have laughed her ass off at Dean's nonsense. Now, though, she had work to do and innocent people to save—she was kind of like a superhero now, she guessed.

She held up her flare gun in front of her as she continued out of the mine, the Collins siblings right behind her. She checked to see if the coast was clear before urging them to hurry up out of the mine's entrance.

"All right, come on," she said quickly. "Hurry!"

"Hey! You want some white meat, bitch? I'm right here!" they heard Dean shout.

He's having way too much fun with this, she thought.

Just as the siblings started climbing out of the entrance they heard the wendigo growling a little too close for comfort.

"Get out of here," Julia urged them, coming to a quick decision.

"Julia, no!"

"Go, now!"

"Come on, Haley!" Ben begged his older sister, reaching for her and Tommy through the entrance.

Once Haley gave in and she and Tommy left the mine, Julia turned around to head back toward wendigo's growls. When she heard quick footsteps, she hid behind the way and held her flare gun up, ready to shoot at a moment's notice.

A low snarl from her left caught her attention; she slowly turned to look and screamed when she came face-to-face with the wendigo. She heard Dean and Sam calling her name as she shot the flare at the ugly bastard but it quickly ran off.

Julia didn't waste any time; she sped toward the entrance, hoping that the wendigo wasn't going after Haley, Ben, and Tommy.

"Julia?"

Julia jumped out of the entrance where the siblings were waiting and quickly slipped Tommy's free arm over her shoulder to help bare his weight. "Come on, go, go, go," she urged them. "Hurry, hurry."

There was another loud snarl and the four of them turned around in horror. Although still in the mine, the wendigo had spotted them. It looked absolutely furious in what little expression it had and it was definitely not going to mess around and keep them for the winter.

"Get behind me," Julia ducked from under Tommy's arm, Haley taking her place, and stepped in front of them.

She stared down the wendigo, fearful for her life. The wendigo snarled angrily as it got closer and closer to the entrance, out for blood. It was only a foot or so away from the broken planks when something caught its attention.

"Hey!" Sam and Dean called from behind it.

When the wendigo turned around, both of them shot their flare guns. Their shots rang true and the wendigo burst into flames. Its body burnt into a crisp as it slowly lowered to the ground, finally dead.

"Holy shit," Julia sighed in relief.

"Not bad, huh?" Dean called over to her with a smirk; Julia let out a breathless laugh as he walked over to her, surprisingly cupping her chin and lifting her head to look for any injuries on her face. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," she assured him with a tired smile. "How about you? Did it get some white meat off of ya?"

Dean chuckled. "Oh, it fucking wished, shortcake."

-

Hours later, they had buried the wendigo's corpse so no one could find it, used Tommy's satellite phone to call for medical assistance, and hiked back to the trail entrance. Paramedics, police officers, and park rangers were surrounding the area, offering their assistance immediately.

Tommy went straight into one of the ambulances while Haley and Dean were tended to at the other. Ben and Sam were questioned by a deputy—Sam there in support so Ben would give the officer the correct, but fake, details of what happened—and Julia was questioned by another.

Her questioning was over quickly since she was the only witness the deputy had to talk to, so she quickly took a bottle of water from a helpful park ranger and walked over to the Impala, leaning against the trunk.

She watched as Dean and Haley conversed, likely saying their goodbyes, and smiled when he sent the girl a flirty look and got a kiss on the cheek in return. Same old Dean. Sam and Ben joined them and they quickly said their gracious goodbyes. As the siblings walked toward the ambulance that was bussing their older brother to the hospital, they waved enthusiastically at Julia, who waved back happily.

She was so glad that they had each other and they were all safe. Honestly, she felt great. Despite the fear she had while facing the wendigo, she was pretty proud of herself. She helped save people and it felt damn good.

Sam and Dean walked over to the Impala, their hands in their pockets. Dean leaned against the trunk next to her, sighing heavily.

"Man, I hate camping."

"Me too," Sam agreed.

"Glamping is way better," Julia stated honestly.

Dean gave her a weird look. "What the fuck is glamping?"

"Glamorous camping," she ignored the weird looks the brothers gave her.

Sam's face quickly fell into sadness and Dean gave him a sympathetic look. "Sam, you know we're gonna find Dad, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Sam said sullenly before perking up. "But, in the meantime, I'm driving."

Dean wordlessly tossed him the keys.

"Ooh," Julia squeaked excitedly. "Shotgun."

"I don't think so."

"Fine," she shrugged, unbothered as Dean gently pushed her away from the passenger seat. "At least the driver gets to pick the music."

"Ah, hell, I'm regretting this already."

(Gif is not mine)

[stylesgalaxy]

mastermind; chapter 9

"Now, turn. Turn, turn, turn! Julia, no! You're hitting the curb!" I yell.

"I'm sorry but I can't see!" she retaliates.

"You need to practise more," I tell her as I take off my seatbelt. We were all officially back from celebrating Christmas with our families. Everyone decided to meet up at the boys' house so we can exchange our gifts since we never got a chance to before Christmas, because of Louis' birthday preparations. And because Julia got that car she wanted for Christmas, we used it to drive here.

I grab my many bags from the trunk while Julia clutches her one bag that contains a gift for Harry and for me. She doesn't know any of the boys well enough to get them a gift but I told her she should at least get them small gift cards because I didn't want her to feel more left out then she already did.

We walk up to the door and Julia rings the bell. Harry opens the door for us and smiles wide before pressing a kiss to Julia's lips.

"Missed you, love," he says to her. She stares back at him lovingly and I feel an odd feelings growing inside of me. I didn't like this.

I think about pushing past Harry to get inside but it's then that he notices me.

"Aria!" he pulls me into an enthusiastic hug, that I can't reciprocate because of the bags in my hand.

"How've you been? It's been a while since I saw you," he says. He actually hasn't seen Julia for longer, but I don't point that out.

"Great! Um, I'm going to put these away, I'll leave you and Julia alone now," I smile and push past him before he can think of a way to keep me around for longer.

I got used to having Harry all to myself that now just seeing him look at Julia the way he always has, makes me sad.

"Aria's here!" Niall shouts and from somewhere behind me. I feel lanky arms wrap around my neck and Niall's head lean on mine.

"Niall," I giggle. "Let me go, I have to put these bags down."

He lets me go as soon as he realizes I'm carrying their presents.

"Let me help you with that!" he eagerly pulls the bags from my hands and runs towards the living room where I can hear Louis and Zayn playing a video game. Niall places the bags by the Christmas tree that they haven't taken down yet. I spot Eleanor sitting on the ground near the couch and watching the boys play with a bored expression on her face. Smiling to myself knowing I'll have someone around that's not a boy or Julia making heart eyes at Harry, I immediately pull my jacket off and leave it at the armrest, plopping down next to her.

"Great company you have there," I nod at Louis and Zayn, who still have no idea that Julia and I arrived.

"I know right, Louis is so attentive," she replies sarcastically. "To be fair though, he gets to see me all the time, he doesn't get to see Zayn as much." Her eyes flick up to someone behind me and she stands. "Oh, hello."

I glance back to see Julia walked in with Harry's arm around her waist. I stand up too.

"Eleanor, this is Julia, my best friend and Harry's girlfriend," I introduce. "Julia, this is Eleanor, Louis' girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you," Julia pulls a surprised Eleanor in for a hug. I know Julia generally doesn't like to touch people she's not close with, so I'm surprised at this too. I conclude that she probably feels left out and wants to make more friends in this house.

"You as well," Eleanor responds. "I'm—"

"Fuck YES! NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" Louis shouts, standing up. "Bring it in, lad!" he high fives Zayn who looks just as giddy. "Wait until the next match, those fuckers won't know what hit 'em!"

Zayn makes eye contact with me and saunters to give me a hug.

"Sorry, love, didn't see you there," his mouth moves against my hair.

"It's alright. You looked like you were having fun, I didn't want to bother you," I say shyly.

"Shall we serve pizza now? Everyone grab a slice before Niall finishes it all!" Harry announces.

We all crowd around the coffee table, piling pizzas on our paper plates. Louis passes the drinks around and Harry runs to the kitchen to grab napkins.

I find a spot for myself on the couch and as soon as my ass touches the cushion, Julia squeezes herself next to me.

"You alright?" I ask her.

"Yeah, I just don't want to be alone," she whispers. I roll my eyes at her.

"We're in a room full of our friends, you've known them for years."

She smiles sheepishly and starts nibbling on her pizza until Harry returns with napkins. He sees no space left for him except the floor.

"Harry, here!" Julia offers her spot. I wonder why she would give up a perfectly good spot for him but my question is answered when he takes her spot and pulls her down to sit in his lap.

Ugh. Now I'm stuck between them and the arm rest.

I finish my pizzas quickly so I can use the excuse that I need to use the restroom before coming back and changing my spot to the one next to Zayn on the floor. Luckily, no one notices.

"Who wants tea?" Louis questions loudly, after everyone is done. We all agree on some tea so he gets up to start on it when I remember the brownies and cookies in the car.

"Oh, I completely forgot the sweets!" I exclaimed. "I made cookies and brownies, but they're still in the car."

Julia stands to offer to get them with me when Eleanor speaks up.

"I can help you bring them in," she offers politely. I smile graciously at her while Julia sits awkwardly back down in Harry's lap. I wish Julia wouldn't feel so awkward because there was nothing to feel awkward about.

"Alright, is everyone ready to open some gifts now?" Niall asks, an excited grin stretched across his face after Eleanor and I return with the sweets and Louis serves his tea.

"Yes!" I shout in excitement. Eleanor laughs next to me.

We begin exchanging gifts. Niall and Louis went first, handing each of us our gifts and watching us open them. Louis got Eleanor a beautiful dress and some makeup and gave Niall a pair of old socks.

"What the fuck?" Niall exclaims. "I actually put some thought into your gift this year!"

We all laugh at poor Niall.

"I'm joking, I'm joking," Louis wheezes out in between laughs. "Here, this is your real gift."

He hands Niall a video games with a neat bow on top. Niall blinks at it then lunges forward to engulf Louis in a hug.

"This is too precious," Harry snickers, and snaps a few photos.

Zayn humbly announces that he wasn't sure what to get any of us so he hoped we liked the chocolates, while we all assured him that it was okay we all loved chocolate.

"Oh but I have something for you," he says to me and hands me a thin wrapped package. My mouth hangs open in shock for a minute, before I remember that he already told me he got me something.

I unwrap the package to reveal two cases of Tombow brushpens.

"Oh my God, you didn't!" I shout. "I thought we sold out of these! How did you get them?!"

"I bought the last ones," he laughed. I smile and engulf him in a hug much like Niall did to Louis. "Thank you!"

Julia wanted to go next. I could tell she was nervous but everyone appreciated the personalized gift cards she got. I was really happy about the makeup brushes, palette, and lipsticks she got me.

"Babe, this is amazing, thank you," Harry says holding the Ted Baker watch in one hand and Best Boyfriend mug in the other. He gave her a kiss on the cheek that had her blushing.

"It's nothing... I thought you would like it," she lies. Only I knew she "thought" Harry would like chocolate and socks.

It's my turn next, so I pass out the gifts I got for everyone. I got Niall a set of shot glasses with four-leafed clovers and drinking game card set. I got Louis assorted tea leaves from David's Tea but none of the fancy drinks, only the basic ones because he likes high quality tea. I got Zayn a magic card set complete with a hat and wand that I thought looked fun, along with a joke book on famous artists. Julia loved her jewelry and bath bombs. I wasn't sure what to get Eleanor but I didn't want her to be left out so I just got her a Sephora gift card and chocolate. Harry was the last to open his gift.

"Is this a Gordon Ramsey cookbook?" he exclaimed. I smile widely at him.

"You impressed me a lot with your vegetable chopping skills the other day so I thought you'd like this," I joke. He laughs loudly while Julia looks between us in confusion. "Oh, I showed him how to make your Beef Barley soup," I tell her.

"Oh," she answers quickly.

"A trivia game? And my favourite chocolates? How did you know?" Harry gushes holding the items up.

"Lucky guess," I shrug. "We'll have to play the trivia game because I'm determined to beat you."

"Oh, like you were going to beat me at Scrabble?" he rolls his eyes playfully.

"Hey, you got lucky!"

"I don't think so, Harry is the worst to play Scrabble with, he never loses," Niall chimes.

"Thank you, Niall," Harry said at the same time I said, "Shut up, Niall." We all burst into laughter as Harry reaches in for the last thing in his bag.

"No fucking way," he says slowly, holding the reusable Starbucks cups with the cute sayings on them.

"It's so you can save the planet!" I chirp, to remind him of the conversation we had about saving the planet.

He stares up at me blankly.

"Open your gift," he demands.

"What?" I ask in confusion.

"Open your gift!" he pushes his gift for me towards me and I quickly scramble to open it unsure of why he was so demanding. My hand closes around a cylindrical container and I pull the exact same Starbucks reusable cups that I gave him.

"No fucking way," I repeat. Our eyes connect and we both burst into laughter. The others join in.

"We're officially heroes," Harry says in a high-pitched voice, through his laughs and I nod firmly. The other realize there's some inside joke going on and don't question it. I notice Julia looking between Harry and I uncomfortably and decide to quickly move on and open whatever else Harry got me.

I pulled out a box of very expensive watercolours with my eyes bugging out.

"Harry, this is—" I sputter, unsure how to accept such a gift.

"For you," he smiles. I stare at him shocked. I glance at Zayn who is nodding appreciatively.

"Really good brand, really good quality," he comments. For once, Harry smiles at something Zayn says.

"Thank you," I say sincerely, trying not to show just how much Harry being supportive of my art and encouraging it, means to me in front of Julia.

"There's one more thing," Harry says. I stick my hand in the bag and pull out a cute little snow globe with a golden deer inside. My memory takes me back to the night I was stressed out and had my breakdown, and Harry was there for me and helped me with the deer idea. How he helped me find parts for it and even assemble it to it's final form. He told me that a deer was Artemis' sacred animal, Artemis who is my favourite goddess. He said I was like her and he admired how I was so independent and he found me hard to impress.

It's a small snow globe, not even the most expensive item in the gift bag, but it meant so much more to me than anything else did.

I think it was this gift that proved to me that Harry will never be just a "friend" to me.

I look up into his eyes with as much sincerity as I could and say, "Thank you." He nods back, being the only the person in the room who can understand what the deer even means to me.

"I don't get it, it's just a snow globe," Julia mutters uncertainly. She's realizing there's something between us that she doesn't know about and I think she doesn't like it.

"Yeah," I mutter. "Just a snow globe."

She doesn't drop her glare. Louis thankfully takes it upon himself to unwrap Harry's gift for him with loud commentary. I play with my new snow globe until I feel Julia's burning gaze off me.

The rest of the night is spent with us joking and laughing and Julia's awkward chuckles. Often times when she says something she looks straight at me because she knows I won't ignore, and I find that I have to explain something to rest of the group so they can be a part of the conversation too. I wish she would understand that all of these people are nice and they would never want her to feel out of place. She was the one putting herself out of place by not making eye contact with anyone but me and Harry.

It's really late when we all finally decide to go home. Julia fell asleep on Harry's shoulder and Niall was yawning every other second.

"We should probably leave now," I suggest when I notice tears in Niall's eyes from how much he was yawning.

"Fucking finally," he mutters. I scoff and throw the plush reindeer he got me at his face. He laughs and catches it throwing it back. "I'm joking. But not really, please leave."

I roll my eyes and start packing my things up. Eleanor and Louis say their goodbyes then head upstairs, so I assume she's staying the night. Niall does the same after giving me a short hug. I ask Zayn how he's getting home and he informs he he'll take an Uber.

"No, don't I'll drop you off. Julia lets me drive her car and I think she's mainly okay with it because I drive it better than she does," I chuckle.

"I'm out of your way," he argues.

"No worries," I assure him. I turn towards Harry to wake up the sleeping Julia and ask her if she wants to stay the night at Harry's or go back home.

"I'll carry her," Harry offers. "I don't want to wake her."

My heart tugs at his how considerate and caring he is. I nod and slip on my jacket. Zayn follows me out to Julia's car and I grab her keys from her jacket that Harry carefully tucked over her. Zayn sits in the passenger seat while Harry places Julia in the backseat and pulls her seatbelt on.

"You're okay to drive?" he asks me.

"'Course," I answer, tugged the driver's door open. He nods and begins to slide in the backseat next to Julia. "Wait, you're coming with us?" I ask alarmed.

"Yeah, I'm gonna stay over at yours tonight," he says casually then closes his door.

Well, fuck. It's a twenty-minute ride to Zayn's house and I hope the two will be okay with each other for that long. Well I know Zayn will, I don't know about Harry.

---

As anticipated, Zayn knew how to behave like a normal adult unlike Harry who had some stick up his ass. He kept asking Zayn weirdly random questions and just being very annoying. I think he was trying to come off as intimidating but it wasn't working very well.

"I don't know what you see in him," is the first thing Harry says to me after we drop Zayn off at his house.

"I don't know what you see in him that makes him so bad," I retort. "He's a nice guy and he's very cool."

Our conversation shifts on the drive back to food of all things. He tells me about some recipes he's excited to try out from his cookbook. We talk about our gifts and the gifts the others got, with chuckles here and there. Before I know it, I'm parking in our garage and he picks Julia up bridal style to carry her upstairs.

"How was your skiing trip?" I ask, holding all of our bags, while he carries a still-asleep Julia.

"It was okay," he says expressionless. I nod and open the door, giving him some time in case he wants to talk more about it.

He doesn't say anything, instead he just takes Julia to her room so I go to mine to change. We both emerge at the same time in much more comfortable clothes. I give him a soft smile then head to the kitchen to make some tea. I'd much rather drop and sleep but I want to be awake in case Harry wants someone to talk to about his trip.

He silently sits at the small table while I make both our drinks. I place the mug with the milk and sugared tea in front of him and keep my black one to myself as I sit next to him.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask, bringing the mug to my lips.

He plays with his lips and thinks for a bit. It's like he wants to tell me, he just doesn't know what to say.

"Your sister was there, yeah?" I try again.

"Yeah," he responds immediately. "Actually she brought her fiancée."

"Oh that's nice! What was her fiancée like?"

"Pretty cool, to be honest," he says with a small grin. "I like him. He's funny."

"When are they going to get married?"

"Not any time soon, she said she didn't want to take the spotlight off my father and his girlfriend."

"Spotlight?" I say in confusion.

"They want to get married," he replies monotonously.

"Oh," I say, understanding how upsetting this might be for Harry. Still, I wanted to make sure. "How do you feel about that?"

He looks at me then shrugs.

"Dunno."

"Is she cool? What's her name?"

"Elizabeth. I guess she's okay," he mutters. "She's nothing like my mother," he says firmly. "And she's really young. She's just a few years older than Gemma."

"Well, that's the amazing thing about your mother," I start. His eyes instantly flit up to mine. "She was one of a kind. No one else is going to be like her."

He takes this in for a moment.

"Does she seem nice?"

"Yeah. She's very inclusive with everything she does. I think she just wanted me to want to talk to her. I don't think I was very nice to her," he admits ashamed.

"If she's as nice as she seems, I'm sure she understands why you weren't very nice to her. But you can always apologize or try to be kinder next time."

He sighs and turns away not liking the idea of there being a "next time".

"It's worth a shot isn't it?" I press. "Your father deserves to move on and be happy with someone, if this is the choice he makes then you have to respect that."

"But I don't! I don't respect this decision and I don't respect his choice!"

"Why?" I scowl. I'm struggling to see why he's so intent on making this so difficult for everyone.

"Because it's hard!" he exclaims. "She's replacing my mother. No matter what you say about her not being like my mother, she is replacing her. And I don't want anyone in her spot, no one else deserves it. She thinks she can just be kind and we'll accept her but I can't! She may learn to understand my father but she'll never know Gemma or I like my mother did. So what's the point in trying?"

He bites his lip and fiddles with his hands. His face is turned away from mine in shame for his outburst. Any second now he's going to leave to claim he needs to go to bed. I need to stop him.

I place one hand gently over his, which instantly stops any movement from him. He glances at our hands then up at my face in confusion. My heart is beating a mile a minute and I'm so terrified of his reaction but I continue by wrapping my other hand over his other hand.

"Your feelings are valid. I need you to know that first," I say softly. "You're the only one who can decide how you're feeling. I can't make you feel anything else. I can't understand your position or situation, either. So I apologize if I crossed any line or boundary or offend you in any way. All I can understand is that you don't like the situation."

The more I talk the stupider I feel. Oh god, am I even making sense? Blood rushes to my face and I almost wish I never said anything because if he rejects what I say next, I'll be so embarrassed.

"But it's out of your control. So shouldn't you try to make the best out of it?"

He exhales through his nose and turns away again, shaking his head. I feel shame course through me, but I'm somehow determined to keep trying. I squeeze his hands to make sure he doesn't leave.

"I'm sure if you honestly told your father everything you felt and why you hate this, he would break it off with her. If you seriously sat down with him and told him everything you told me he would reconsider this marriage because you're his son! She's not more important to him than you are, right?"

I honestly don't know Harry's relationship with his father but if it's anything like Julia's then maybe I can make a point.

"No, she's not," he croaks.

"Then is that something you want to do? Explain to him how you're feeling and hope he breaks it off with her?"

I try to sound as unaccusing as possible so he doesn't get offended and so he comes to a conclusion himself.

He's silent for a while, and I almost lose hope. I wish I hadn't said anything because now I may have lost one of the best friendships ever.

But then he turns his palms up under my hands and wraps his fingers around mine. He squeezes my hand back and says, "No. I-I don't think I'd be able to look myself in the mirror ever if he broke off his engagement with Elizabeth for me."

Relief courses through me and I stroke my thumbs over his hand, waiting for him to continue.

"He would do it," Harry says confidently. "He feels bad that he wasn't there for us that he would actually do it if I asked... But I think I understand what you mean now. I shouldn't dictate what he does for my own selfish reasons."

"You're not selfish—"

"I am, Aria. You're too kind, I know you won't agree. What I wanted was very selfish. But you are right, he deserves to be happy too. I would hate myself if I took that away from him."

He smiles sadly at me with tearful eyes. His smile falls and I barely catch his bottom lip shake before he pulls his hands away and immediately stands up to leave.

I don't know what force is driving me right now but I stand too.

"Harry—" I pull his arm. He looks back at me in surprise, and I shock us both when I slowly wrap my hands around his neck. He's tense for a moment before he reciprocates, and I feel his arms snake around my waist. I hold him tightly—tighter than I've hugged him before and I feel him do the same. Teardrops land on my shoulder so I start rubbing a hand on his back.

"It's okay, you're okay," I keep repeating until he lets out a sigh and his crying stops. He doesn't pull away so neither do I. I cherish the moments I can hold on to him like this before they're taken away from me.

Harry removes one hand from my back to wipe his eyes and then pulls away so I can see his slightly red face and red-rimmed eyes. I keep my hands on his shoulder until I know he's okay.

"Do you feel a little bit better?" I ask.

He nods and gives me a genuine smile. "I don't think I've ever done that before," he says.

"You've never cried?" I ask tilting my head. He laughs.

"No I have. I've just never had, like, a heart-to-heart with anyone. It felt good. Thank you for listening," he says ducking his head. "And for saying the things you did. It really helped."

"My pleasure," I grin shyly. And more seriously, "You can talk to me any time you want. I know its probably hard to do it, but I'm here and I'm always willing to listen."

He gazes at me earnestly before forcing a smile. "Thank you," he croaks not breaking eye contact. I start to feel intimidated by his intense stare and I think he notices. "See you in the morning?" he asks with a crooked smile.

"Yeah, see you," I whisper.

We each head over to our respective rooms before giving each other one last wave and shutting our doors.

***

Whew, lots to unpack here!  So now:

- Christmas happened ✓ - Zayn got Aria the gift she wanted, Harry got her something expensive she would like ✓ - Julia is noticing things ✓ - Harry opens up to Aria ✓

Which was the most exciting thing to happen for you?  If there wasn't anything that excited you then hopefully the next few updates will! As always please let me know what you thought <3

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[myheadisinvaded]

On With The Show… chapter 5/and so it begins..

Word count- 2,068 maybe more

Warnings- curse words,drugs,drinking, I don’t know what else to list as always

A/N- feedback is appreciated, thanks for giving me a chance (if you read it) I apologize for it taking me longer than anticipated but life. I’m kinda better now anyways let me know what you think. there will be a playlist for this so far the first song is Heaven by Julia Michaels, On With The Show by Motley Crue, and Fuck Feelings by Olivia O’Brien. I’ll do links later.

Blair’s POV

Show time. We all have a good buzz going, some of us are pretty high but it’s the norm. I watch the boys from the side of the stage, my job is to be their personal assistant, and sometimes a babysitter when they’re off stage and when they’re on and it’s show time, I’m with Doc, learning the backstage part of things. I may not make it big but having this on a resume, it’ll get me a good show biz job. Doc calls me over to him, he’s over by part of the sound system. He tells the sound guys to just show me some things and then he leaves, giving me a knowing look. He doesn’t approve of me partying like the boys and can actually tell when I’ve had my share of some blow that night. He normally won’t say anything though, as long as I do my job, like I said, I’ve got good at functioning.

I pay attention to what their saying and showing me, turn the knobs this way to adjust pitch, they’re labeled. This controls volume, this one controls Tommy’s headset, this section controls some sound effects, it’s labeled too, don’t touch this, it will shut everything off.. Pretty easy and simple, having done tech theater in high school I already had an idea of what it would be like. I took some notes in the little flip notebook I have on me. Once we are done, I walk away to grab a small glass of jack daniels. I take it back with me to the side of the stage where I was watching the boys earlier. Doc comes back this way.

I sip on my drink as he stands beside me, I can feel him looking “How’s it going?’ he asked, leaning down closer to me so I could hear him. I give him a shrug and lean up to talk to him as well “Pretty great..” He nods and looks down at my hand that's holding the whiskey. I take another sip and give him a grin. He chuckles, shaking his head. ‘You’ve changed just a little bit.” I give him another shrug and nod “I guess I have” I hold up my drink and finish it. He nods “Be careful..” He begins and seems to change his mind about whatever he was going to say “I do need you to stay sober enough tonight to help get the guys ready to travel to the next city.” I nod “I’m sober enough.” He looks at me for a minute and just nods, we both stand there for the rest of the show.

The guys run off stage, sweaty, running make up, and pulling of some of their clothes already. I grab a few towels and throw it at them. Nikki, Tommy and Vince are jumping and full of energy, ready to go start partying. Nikki comes over to me and gives me a kiss on the cheek, I pretend to be grossed out “Ewwww you’re so fucking sweaty!” He just laughs, running to grab a bottle of whiskey. Doc and I, mostly Doc, gather them up and get them to shut up for a few minutes. “Alright guys, I know you want to party and have fun but we have to get going, so you can drink and party on the bus all you want but I need you on it in 30” They all groan and mumble, except Mick, knowing it would only give them enough time to make sure all their shit is packed. I laugh softly as I watch them run off. Mick stays behind and Doc immediately runs after them to make sure they don’t try anything stupid. I stay with Mick. “How was tonight back here?” He asks as people around us are beginning to pack up. We pass by ‘Uncle Oz’ drinking what’s left of the alcohol backstage. “It was great, Doc let me shadow the sound guys tonight. I thought about fucking with you guys” I joke and smile. Micks laughs “I would’ve fucked you up, kid.”

An hour later everyone is on the bus, Doc isn't too happy but at least it didn't take as long as it usually does. I’m on the same bus as them, I was in charge of going out and purchasing enough drinks for everyone for the whole ride. I have it all set on the small fold down table, Mick had come along with me so he got an extra 2 bottles of vodka, in addition to the other 2 I bought. Everyone is drinking, doing drugs, Vince has a couple girls in the back room. I see Nikki stand up and go back there with him, I just take some of Mick’s vodka and he looks at me. I can tell he’s trying not to laugh at me so I just flip him off. I don’t want anyone else thinking I have a crush on Nikki, thankfully Tommy is too busy with his new girlfriend for this week that he didn’t see anything.

I’m sitting next to Mick, I see him grimacing so I stand up, “Lay down, old man” I say, holding back a smirk. Now it's him who’s flipping me off. He lays down but leaves room for me to sit with him. He uses one of the pillows to prop himself up some so we can still talk “Have you got over him yet?” I stare at him, giving him the fuck you look I learned from the man himself. He chuckles “Don’t use that against me, you know I’m just fucking with you” Slowly I start to smile. I just roll my eyes as I take another drink of vodka. He sighs, closing his eyes and crossing his arms vampire style, as per usual. “You will, sooner or later.” I look over at him as I leaned against his legs, I just nod and finish the bottle of vodka, I’d done some lines earlier with Vince and Nikki, the vodka should hold me over for now. Doc probably wants me sober later. I guess I’ll sleep. I get comfortable on Mick’s legs, the room is occupied and the bunks are way too close to it but I don’t want to think about that right now.

Nikki’s POV

Vinney and I have been doing lines off of these groupies and fucking them. I’m super fucked up and just having fun like always. It’s not a fivesome, he gets the bed and I got stuck on the couch, I'm making it work though. Sometime during the night I pass out. Some naked girl on top of me, I wake up hours later with the sun in my face, it’s hot and stuffy in the room. I look over and see Vince with two girls on either side of him, all three passed out. I look back at where I am and huff, pushing the girl off of me as I stand up, stretching and pulling my pants back on, I almost never wear underwear. Too many layers.

I grab a bottle of jack daniels that is sitting on the nightstand and head out of the stuffy room. I pass the bunk beds and only see Tommy and his girl. Mick? Blair? Where are they, what time is it? I check the time on the clock above the curtain that leads out of the bunks, 06:39. Morning? Ugh. I walk out into the rest of the tour bus and see them, Mick sleeping on the couch with Blair’s head resting on part of his leg. She had to have passed out there, cause there’s clearly an available couch on the other side.

I watch her for a second and feel a small twinge of jealousy, they’re super close and I don’t know why. Sometimes it’s weird because he acts like her dad or something and other times she’s just one of us, one of the guys. Not to me… I want to see her as something more. Sometimes. I don’t know… I keep watching her. I just don’t know… it’s this constant inner debate, do I just want to fuck or do I actually have feelings for her. It’s the only reason I’m having sex less, a guy can’t stop but I did slow down on it a little.

“Quit staring at me you creep” She is waking up and stretching. I look away and laugh some, hiding behind my hair “I wasn’t staring, I was just uhh.. Thinking.” I look back at her and she gives me a skeptical look “You? Thinking. Really Sixx?’ My jaw drops “Bitch.” She shrugs, “You can’t tell me I’m not right… It’s not like you use your brain very often.” she’s right. Damn I like it when she’s like this. I watch her walk over to the mini fridge we have. She pulls out some wine and orange juice. She turns to look at me and holds them up. I nod and grab two glasses. “A nice morning drink” she smiles, pouring some of each into each glass. “What is this again?” She shrugs “I dunno, my mom would drink it all the time”

We’ve almost gone through the entire wine bottle by now, just sipping and talking. It’s only like 7 in the morning now so it’s gonna be a while until everyone begins waking up. “Have you been having fun?’ She looks at me, it seems like she's trying to figure out how to answer, I notice her eyes go to the back of the bus and she just nods “Yeah, it’s been great, I’ve been learning a lot from everyone.” She smiles this time and looks at me. “How ‘bout you? Did you have fun last night?” She nods over towards the back, I get what she’s talking about. I shrug as I pour some more blow on the table for us. “I guess so, just another groupie.” I see a flash of something in her eyes, what did I say? I do a line and she does hers. “Don’t you ever get tired of it?” her voice is soft, softer than usual. “Tired of what?” She’s looking at me now, right at me and I can’t look away. “Tired of not having someone, tired of it being just groupies.” it feels like she’s staring into my soul, I don’t know how to answer that. Of course I do. It is tiring being surrounded by so many people, friends but then at the end of the day I still feel alone.

“I do get tired of it sometimes” I watch her face, she just looks away and nods. “Sometimes I do want to have that someone ya know..” I continue and she looks back up at me. This is my chance. I don’t even know if I should take it. Should I try to be a relationship kind of guy. “It sucks feeling lonely but it sucks more when you like someone and you don’t know if they like you back” She starts laughing “What?” my voice definitely a little defensive. She shakes her head “Nothing, it just sounds like something a second grader would say.” She stops laughing but is holding it back. I look at her and we bust out laughing  “You’re right, yeah” I nod as we laugh. She stops again “But yeah, I totally get it”

I kiss her. It catches her off guard, this time she almost immediately starts kissing back. My hands rest on her hips and hers are on my chest. I can taste the orange juice and alcohol, it feels nice, nicer than most. It’s not sloppy, rushed or with a stranger. I pull back, an idiotic smile on my face. She’s smiling too. This time when I look into her eyes I get this weird nervous feeling in my stomach. It’s happened before, with her. We both stay quiet and the bus comes to a stop.

“Pit stop. There’s a Denny’s” The driver calls out to us. I stand up, offer my hand to her and she takes it. I don’t let go of it, not while walking to the door, not after I helped her off, not even when sit down. It’s a warm feeling, this us time. No one else woke up, it’s just us right now. Damn I really feel like Tommy now.

This is only the beginning. What they are feeling right now, they’ve craved before, they’ll continue chasing it.

Tag List: @triplehaitches @flizaa @fandomshit6000 @prettysureimgayxo or @lovesick-heart0 @tarahell @shamelessobsessions @miss-ncthing @sighsophiia @anxious-diabetic let me know if you want to be tagged! Thank you!

[paperclipninja]

Younger post-ep ramble 6x08

When episodes of TV shows are touted as 'epic' or 'game changing' I tend to proceed with caution, because chances of it living up to the hype are generally pretty slim. When it comes to Younger though, I should know better than to doubt such claims and 'Debu-taunt' (another pun-tastic title btw) really has changed the game and delivered some of the most poignant and meaningful character interactions of the series. This week's episode got back to the core of what this show is about: the female friendships in all their complexity. We saw lovely moments that deepened Diana and Liza's romantic relationships too of course, but these ultimately amplified the supportive and supporting role the men play in the women's lives. I've gotta say, I found this week's ramble hard to write because where do you start with an episode you've been anticipating for so long? The beginning, let's start at the beginning...

The episode opens with Liza and Charles living out some kind of domestic morning fantasy (minus the grapefruit for me thanks) and seeing the townhouse kitchen area in the daylight was something new, it's so much bigger than I realised! The entire scene is so aesthetically pleasing, particularly the Charles-in-a-vest-and-shirt situation as well as coordination of tie and Liza's dress, but of course it serves the far greater purpose of letting us know that Liza has fully integrated into the lives of Nicole and Bianca, right down to helping with homework and offering to drop a forgotten report off at school. It has been quite a few seasons since we saw or heard from the Brooks children and I fully appreciate catching a glimpse of Charles in dad-mode on the phone to Bianca, it's easy to forget that these characters have these other dimensions to their lives (speaking of which, is there some kind of alert out for Caitlin at this point? The lack of texts or calls or mentions is curious...Caitlin, if you're reading this, we're not mad, just let us know you're ok). Charles' gratitude to Liza for going to the school naturally makes my sappy heart swell, the 'I don't deserve you' only made better by his tardiness not being enough to stop him going back for a second kiss goodbye.

Pesky climate change forces Liza to discover she does not have a coat at Charles', but fortunately for her there is an entire closet full of coats, which naturally she does not question and is definitely not some kind of set up for a run in with the ex. Except it is of course and even as a viewer I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me watching Pauline ask Liza if the unexpectedness of their run in is why she is wearing her coat (seriously, I'm overwhelmed with second hand embarrassment typing this). Also, what was Pauline doing there? Just hanging out at the school for reasons or was she lurking in case Charles turned up with the report so she could catch a peek of him in a three-piece? While this remains a mystery (though who could blame her lbh), Pauline's desire to 'bury the hatchet' with Liza was def suspicious, but a nice distraction from the cringe-worthy, 'Bianca mentioned that she had two mommies' comment Mrs. Clipper makes before it's decided that Liza should be added to the pick-up list as she will 'be around for the long haul'. I am so grateful to see Liza showing that she is committed to and wants the life she has chosen with Charles in this episode. Regardless of what happens down the track, it's nice to see this character backing her own choices and decisions for now.

Any seasoned television watcher's alarm bells no doubt went off when Pauline cited the divorce negotiations as 'more or less behind us' (and again when Charles mentioned that 'it seems the worst is over' at the coffee station) because we all know that in the land of TV this 100% means it's only a matter of time before they will not be.

Keeping in the theme of wonderful character interactions, I may never get used to Charles and Liza just hanging out in the office (particularly Charles hovering around as an editor instead of the boss, but I am here for it until the end of time) and his adoring gaze as Liza recalls the awkward horror of her interaction with Pauline is topped off with a shared Harry Potter appreciation moment and honestly, these two and their nerd love, I cannot. The way the conversation about Liza moving in unfolded was so natural and yes, the answer is ALWAYS YES Liza when Charles Brooks suggests starting each day waking up together (insert swoon here). It turns out Liza doesn't overthink it, cue guilt pie and Pinot Noir with Maggie.  

These two are friendship goals times a thousand and Maggie's unwavering support upon hearing Liza talk about how she knows it's fast but it feels right epitomises the way these two only want one another's happiness (even if Maggie's expression as Liza goes to call Charles and tell him she will be moving in indicates she is going to very much miss her roommate). I loved hearing about and imagining them drinking wine and binging The Great British Bake Off and just how well they know and value one another, ugh, I could not gush more about all of it and this whole exchange felt like such a treat. I was envisioning Kelsey moving in once Liza moved out and I'm still holding out hope for this to happen when Liza does eventually make the move (remaining optimistic on this one even though I do pine for Liza/Maggie loft moments).

The sneak peek for this week showed us yet another golden interaction and that was, of course, Diana telling Charles about her engagement to Enzo. The main takeaways are a) Diana referring to herself as Charles' work wife and Charles's amused smile; b) Diana asking Charles for his blessing and him not really knowing why but giving it and; c) the longest hug in the world as Diana coaxes Charles into announcing her engagement to the office. I love that the interactions between these two always have a slightly awkward undertone but there is genuine care and warmth too. Diana telling Charles that he has always been able to read her like a book (lol) and the two sitting there with their hands together was just such a testament to their fabulously wacky relationship.

What better way to ensure that any DRAH-MAH unfolds in an overwhelmingly public forum than the morning meeting reveal that there is a Publishers Weekly Debutante Ball (for first time authors)  thrown every year! Turns out this is the event of the season, despite it being the first time Liza has heard about it (to be fair she has probs been distracted by the faux millennial facade previous years so didn't clock that this was a legit thing). I am digging Kelsey heading up and holding her own in these meetings, she is definitely stepping up to her new role it seems and I am keen to see how it continues to develop.  And those little looks across the conference room table between Charles and Liza, I see you.

Zane's gears still seem stuck on obnoxious since last ep, first throwing in Jake Devereux as a suggested author for the deb (a clear jab at Kelsey) and then putting his foot in it after hearing Diana's news by suggesting that DeLuca is 'better than Trout'. First of all, who in their right mind would say that out loud, let alone assume an established woman in her 40's (or any woman for that matter) is going to take a new husband's surname? Though Diana DeLuca is pretty great, I could definitely see her using it as an alias during future hi-jinx (preferably with Liza now that they can be actual proper friends, but I'm getting ahead of myself).

Right from the get go Her Majesty D. Trout is taking none of Zane's rubbish, asking him to use his words when he finally offers up PTB as a deb option and her zero tolerance for insolence continues when she corrects his question of who she's engaged to with, 'to whom'. At this stage of my love for this character, I'm really just wondering what sized portrait of Diana I should put in my shrine to her. This all comes out after Charles is prompted to announce Diana's big news (I'm kind of loving that Charles is a bit hopeless at remembering these sorts of details, last week when he'd failed to mention Bob and Julia would be on their table, then this week with the announcement...soon enough we'll be regaling ourselves with a collection of these, and we'll laugh and shake our heads as we mutter 'classic Chaz' under our breath) and it is of course Liza's reaction that is next level and so freaking OTT and I love it with every fibre of my being. Seriously, her yell-cheering and clapping is me in any excitement-inducing situation. My love for her love of Diana starts here and embarks on one hell of a ride from here onward during this ep.

While this episode certainly had a more serious tone than some others (I think this was definitely emphasised by the music choices too, there was a distinct lack of the usual pop/vocal and much more instrumental), Liza following Diana into her office semi-screeching, 'I'm so excited, why aren't you more excited?' met by Diana's 'Liza, please deactivate yourself', was hilarious. Diana asked Liza to be maid of honour in a way only Diana could and I tell you what, I damn delighted in that one hug a year. Everything about this scene was SO good, which of course meant that there was a dagger waiting right around the corner to plunge into our rib-cages and shatter our hearts into a million pieces (I wish I was being dramatic but where is the lie?)

That dagger's name is Pauline and it's during lunch that Liza discovers her real motivation for being all chummy and that is wanting Liza to help with her new book. Always a smart cookie, Liza agrees, in exchange for Pauline attending the Debutante Ball as Millennial's deb (I have to admit I did chuckle with the 'do you need to borrow a dress?' line). Despite dodgy af being Pauline's general modus operandi, I actually do think she was being sincere in her initial offer to move forward and let the whole 'you're-now-with-my-husband-and-my-kids-love-you-maybe-more-than-me-because-I-abandoned-them-for-a-year-at-a-pivotal-point-in-their-development' thing slide for the sake of maintaining some sort of relationship with her soon-to-be ex-husband and their children. If only she knew that the reason Liza understood her better than any of her current editors was because they were basically the same age and had similar life experiences...

...well THANK GOD for Mrs. Clipper, the true villain of the episode if you ask me, who quite frankly can't seem to get her paws on that copy of Liza's drivers license fast enough after Pauline tells her that men in her circle are always leaving their wives for assistants in their twenties. I might be off on an island on my own here, but you know what, I actually felt sorry for Pauline in this moment. In her mind Charles has also been deceived and by extension, her children, so I completely understand her initial reaction and feeling that she needs to tell Charles immediately and rescue him from this betrayal.

That all goes down at the Debutante Ball because it must of course, but first we catch Kelsey, Lauren and Zane reminiscing about their own proms at this prom for grown ups, with Lauren here for it and we unsurprisingly discover Zane was prom king (I heart Lauren's 'that tracks' comment). You always know whatever's about to go down is extra EXTRA when you see a couple of characters blissfully happy and unaware everything is about to implode, such as Charles and Liza celebrating their moving-in milestone, before Liza is whisked away backstage. When Charles is confronted by frantic Pauline and she discovers he knew about the lie too, I could imagine that up until that point she thought this would be something that would bond them in outrage, but it ended up being just another blow. While Pauline clearly has impulse issues and a pretty prominent vindictive streak, I do think it's one thing to wrap her head around her husband falling in love with a younger woman (though I do not understand on what planet Pauline thought she could piss off for a year on her own terms with zero communication and then just return to her life and there would be no upheaval) but the discovery that it was someone she could consider a peer would cut deeper.

As Pauline latched on to Liza's arm, it was like watching a live animal being led into the lion enclosure at dinner time.  I'm breaking out in a stress sweat just thinking about this scene, even though you could see it coming it was utterly shocking to watch unfold. The announcer emphasising that theirs was the only partnership in which the mentor was younger ensured the dagger was perfectly lined up before Pauline once again applied some revisionist history to her abandonment of the family, making a point of coming across as the blameless victim whose husband was 'lost' to the assistant standing beside her. As Pauline keeps talking Charles is clearly wary and concerned about where this is going and Kelsey quickly clues in just as Pauline drops that Liza is in fact 42 years old and the entire room gasps and murmurs and revels in the audacious reveal.

Enter Diana and that dagger is twisted well and truly into my fragile heart as she immediately assumes that 'this woman is deranged' and jumps to the defence of Liza, despite Charles and Liza trying to stop her. The fact that Diana tells Charles that she will not let this woman 'slander us', that she sees them as one united team, and holds Liza in such high esteem that she would put her own fear of making a scene aside to protect Liza's integrity, only made Liza's confirmation that 'it's true' even more heart-shattering. Miriam Shor deserves every damn award created for her acting in this entire episode, but the last 10 minutes in particular are nothing short of phenomenal. When Diana realises that Charles and Kelsey knew and that she had just made a spectacle of herself in front of a room full of the most important people in publishing, her need to escape is understandable and a panic attack is not an unreasonable physical response to such a huge revelation in such a public forum (I mean I was basically having one watching it all tbh).

Enzo's relief upon hearing that it was a panic attack is palpable and the interaction between him and Diana in the hospital may well be my favourite between these two yet. We see Diana as we've never seen her in this series; vulnerable, emotional, no necklace and no makeup. Always one to deliver a stellar line, her response to Enzo's 'how are you?',  'I'm fine, I've just lost trust in humanity as a whole, but other than that I'm fine', was on point and Enzo's response that 'she looks good' when Diana shares Liza's true age was A+ (for line and delivery). It is Diana's embarrassment at being that 'village idiot' when everybody else knew (I really wanted to somehow jump into my screen in that moment and tell her that Lauren and Zane didn't know either, it's not just you!) that took my heart pieces and trampled on them some more. I think it's because she is always so composed and controlled, but seeing Diana holding onto Enzo and saying that she just wants him, demonstrates how much he steadies her and allows her to be herself.

Just outside the room, Charles and Liza face a step back as Pauline has phoned to say she wants to re-visit the custody agreement (which I really struggle to see the relevance of or how Liza saying she was younger is anywhere near as bad as up and leaving your two small children for a year but sure, I'll play along for the sake of drama), which means that they cannot move in together as planned, Liza's lie has now impacted the man she loves as well as Diana and Charles feels responsible for Pauline exposing Liza the way she did. Liza reassuring Charles that he was just protecting her and the way he pulled her in to comfort her made any remnants of my shattered heart swell. It was such a tender moment between them and there was something about the parallel of Enzo comforting Diana in the room at the same time, whether intentional or not, that really stressed the uncertainty and distress both women were experiencing.

Josh phoning Liza to give her a hard time about being an upper East side lady was actually a really nice way to see this friendship developing (I would definitely expect my friends to do that) because had the timing not been so atrocious, I assume it would've been an otherwise pleasant conversation in which he would be happy for her (that's what I'm going with anyway). Obviously this call was to show that Liza's lie has once again stonewalled her and stopped her being able to move forward in her life and that she feels she's messed up everything at work and for Charles with his kids. Since learning that there were a number of deleted scenes, including the one in which Diana got her engagement ring, I must say that I feel like the phone call could probably have been omitted in lieu of progressing Diana's story for this episode and the choice to include it definitely feels like an extremely contrived attempt to stoke the triangle.

The fallout from the age reveal will no doubt play out over the coming episodes, however Lauren and Zane are still trying to wrap their heads around it the next morning (and again Zane, why on EARTH do you think you would've been someone who should know this information? I think I can count on one hand the number of conversations I've seen Liza and Zane have. Actually, no I can't because it's so few I can't even remember one) but I will say that I paused on the article Lauren is reading and Jackie Dunn has given a statement in it and this show, I swear, it outdoes itself even when no-one might notice. I appreciated Kelsey's itchy scalp to emphasise the stress of the situation and Lauren addressing Liza as 'Ma'am' was pretty darn funny (though I am a bit surprised at Lauren's reaction. I thought she'd be more intrigued and want to know all the details of how she did it etc.) But it is the final 3 minutes of this week's episode that absolutely blew me away and left me quite literally crying on the train as I watched.

There have been moments that have made me tear up and certainly times when character interactions have held such meaning on this show that the feelings are many, but there really never has been a scene like the one between Diana and Liza at the end of this week's episode of Younger. Diana's minimal make up and jewellery emphasised the rawness and realness of the entire exchange. Diana saying that she wouldn't have hired Liza if she'd known and Liza being able to say, 'exactly', made the point of why she told the initial lie so simply. In that moment Diana can understand Liza's need to lie about her age, but it is Diana's search for why, beyond that initial deceit, did Liza fetch her coffee and lunch and her urine samples...and hold her hand on the red carpet and convince her to go after Enzo...that she needs to know if everything else was real or was it part of the ploy to uphold the lie. Seeing Diana with her heart on her sleeve, needing to know if her perception of their relationship was a farce, was one of the most powerful moments, if not THE most powerful moment of this series. 

The resolution, that ‘honesty is the best policy’ and that Liza is no longer her maid of honour but her ‘old maid of honour’ could not have been more perfect. And in case I wasn’t already a blubbering mess, Diana’s emotional, ‘I just want to say...’ which Liza instinctively answered with, ‘I love you too’ did me in completely and honestly, the whole thing is so sublime, what an absolute gift.  No words I write can do justice to the incredible performances of Miriam Shor and Sutton Foster so I really can only suggest you go and watch the final scene again for yourself.

This episode of Younger really was something else. After five and a half seasons, Liza is finally free from her lie, she can FINALLY live her life without wondering if or when or how it is going to catch up with her. It feels like a big sigh of relief. For me this episode also showed how much more compelling it is for the drama to sit in the space of these women navigating friendships and work dynamics and how much the focus on the triangle detracts from what this show is actually about. It's not that often you get to watch an episode of a show you love and think, 'that episode is going to go down as one of the best in the series', but 'Debu-taunt' will without a doubt hold it's place as one of the best.   

[crystalelemental]

While I’m busy annoying fans of Genealogy with my general disinterest in its cast, here are some other characters I have strong opinions about:

Sigurd’s not nearly as interesting as people make him out to be.  The main action leading to him being branded a traitor was super avoidable and his squire even points out that he’s making a mistake.  His “romance” with Deirdre is one of the most shallow things the series has produced, and literally none of the awful events of Act 2 would’ve happened if he had just kept it in his pants.  His actions during the war are made with good intentions that often lead to further conflict, but most of the critical actions that cause disaster were super avoidable and complete his fault.  Good job, moron.

Arvis is also a putz.  Look, I get it.  His entire point is that he’s trying to build the world for the better, but is highly questionable in his means.  Cool concept!  Problem is we spend like no time with him, and the only indications of this are his discussions with Manfroy, where he talks about how he’s not going to persecute them like in ages past, but he’s also definitely not going to let them revive the baby eating god they worship.  Okay, solid.  The issue is, he knows full well he carries Loptyr blood, and that’s why Manfroy is sticking around.  And suddenly, Manfroy appears with some lady with amnesia, and is oddly insistent on you fucking this woman and having kids.  Did...did you never think about who this woman was, or why Manfroy’s so invested in her sex life?  This is not a difficult conclusion to reach, buddy.

I mentioned Eldigan, but it bears repeating: I hate the Camus archetype, and he’s one of the most annoying.  “I am honor-bound to follow my lord’s every command, I cannot join you and must instead try to get them to see reason.”  Yeah, and you know who else had this exact dilemma like two chapters ago?  Jamke.  Guess who’s on our side now, after realizing how fucked up his king was?  Jamke.  There’s no reason you couldn’t do this too.  Honestly, every time the Camus archetype shows up for a leader who is a complete buffoon, I always think of Wallace’s supports with Kent in FE7.  How his king ordered him to capture his daughter and bring her back from the plains, no matter what.  But when Wallace saw the love she shared with the man from the plains, he let her go, because he knew his king would never forgive himself if he tore Lyn’s parents apart.  Wallace put what was best for his king ahead of the order, and the entire moral is that, even if you’re punished for it, your duty is not to the title, but to the person, and you must act in the best interests of the people you serve, not blindly follow a command that would cause everyone harm.  So yeah, I don’t care to hear about the honor-bound idiots who are given plenty of chances to do the right thing but insist on staying with a sinking ship that’s also on fire.

Deirdre is a non-entity, so there’s really no point in talking about her.  Seriously, she exists almost entirely to produce the children that will be plot-critical in Act 2, but otherwise has effectively zero agency.  She shows up and immediately wants to fuck Sigurd, spends one chapter helping, and is immediately kidnapped afterward to be brainwashed and become Arvis’ wife.  Then she dies off-screen before the events of Act 2.  But she and Sigurd just loved each other so much!  They just saw each other and had such an overwhelming desire to fuck, it must have been love!  At least Deirdre’s excuse is being secluded away from men all her life and not knowing how to handle these feelings; what’s Sigurd’s excuse?

Quan and Ethlyn are actually wonderful.  No complaints.  But I do have another for Sigurd.  Hey, remember when they died?  Remember when Sigurd is told that people were ambushed in the desert and everyone’s dead, and he pieces together that it was his sister and his best friend?  Remember how that comment is all we get for his reaction to their loss, how it’s never brought up a single time ever again, and how Sigurd shows absolutely nothing about the devastation of this loss?  Yeah, but hey, it’s fine, you don’t need more dialogue to make a compelling story.  It just would’ve been nice for Genealogy to be a compelling story by having characters actually matter more than they apparently do.

Ayra’s cool, but her brother’s an idiot.  In her conversation with Quan, she mentioned that Quan’s suspicion is correct, and that the king was not responsible for the deaths of those from Grannvale.  A random lord took action without consent, so the king had that lord executed, and went to make peace with Grannvale, only to be assassinated along the way.  So what does her brother do?  “We gotta go to war.”  Uh...you know you’ll be slaughtered, right?  “Yeah, but my honor, though.”  Gen 1 was mostly a bunch of morons given political power and asked to play intelligently.  They all fucked up.

Lewyn...okay, I don’t like Lewyn.  I get his whole thing is running from responsibility, and being tired of the in-fighting over the crown, but his solution of just leaving is petty and childish.  It’s not that there isn’t some level of understanding there.  He’s just not doing it for me.  I do, however, appreciate how self-loathing he is in Gen 2.

No one else in Gen 1 really matters at all to anything substantial, so boy, it’d have been nice to have support conversations to flesh out everyone else a bit more.  But hey, maybe the sequel, right?

Seliph is pretty cool.  I don’t have a ton to say, but his story kinda allows him to take an easier route to power, with a more clear antagonist and the world at large being more united in his cause of overthrowing the empire.  Not particularly compelling, but not doing anything stupid or uninteresting.

Leif inherits being awesome from both of his parents, who were also awesome.  His sister, Altena, is also really cool.  Altena in particular actually gets a lot.  Having been taken in by the man who killed her parents, she’s grown up thinking that he is her true father.  Her character is in a position to act more as a bridge between two smaller nations that have constantly been at war, having the bloodline connection to Leif and to Leonster, while having her upbringing in Thracia and feeling a family connection to Arion, the true son of Travant.  She’s one of the better characters in this game, I think.

Ares is actually one of my favorites in this entire game.  He and Lene have great supports, but more importantly, you know what sets Ares apart?  Having a brain cell.  As soon as he realizes the corrupt lord he works for sent him out to the front lines and has likely taken Lene captive, he immediately turns coat, intent on killing everyone in his way to save her.  Thank you, Ares.  Thank you for being better than your father, who would’ve meekly decided he can’t disobey orders because he’s totally too honorable and not a fucking coward for letting his sister almost get killed.

Julia...oh my god, I have so much to say on Julia.  Has anyone following me noticed I kinda like the Eirika archetypes?  The female characters that are mostly really collected and quiet, occasionally have a showing of fire, and are ultimately either heavily under-utilized and ignored by the plot or given a story that’s really not very good despite how strong their character could’ve been if the story weren’t...the way that it is?  That’s Julia.  I adore Julia.  She spends most of the game not doing much, mostly being silent and also an amnesiac.  She gets like two conversations with Seliph, and they’re...they’re okay.  Nothing exceptional, just...okay.  But hysterically, once she’s kidnapped, she starts to show the makings of a really great character.  She’s compassionate and understanding to her father, who’s realized what a dingus he was, but pushes back against Julius/Loptyr and is pretty up-front about how willing she is now to kill her brother if it means stopping evil from being unleashed in the world.  She refuses to go quietly, and claims she’ll fight them to the end.  And, you know...is promptly brainwashed and spends the entire chapter as an enemy until Seliph kills Manfroy and lets her snap out of it.  Not even just talks to her, that won’t work unless Manfroy’s dead.  She doesn’t even get enough agency to break free of control under her own will.  This is the issue with Julia.  She should be fantastic.  She’s a character who carries the blood of both Naga and Loptyr, the greatest good and the greatest evil of this world.  Within her is a very concrete expression of the good/evil dichotomy that all humans face, and through her actions she chooses to do good for the world, yet acknowledges the potential for evil within her and struggles against it.  That’s super compelling!  Hell, that’s the most compelling character narrative in this entire game!  And what does it amount to?  Jack fucking shit, because her declaration of intent is immediately sidelined for her to be controlled by another for the entire chapter and made to do evil, until the male hero breaks the spell for her.  Only then is she allowed to confront her brother and actually show agency.  Her character arc should’ve been the diamond in the rough, and all the agency and development she brings to the table is immediately undermined.  Julia, sweetie, you deserved so much better than this.

Ugh, that one hurt to complain about.  But since we’re on the topic, Julius.  We’re supposed to be sad about how he’s completely taken over by Loptyr and needs to be stopped.  But...we never really know anything about Julius.  At all.  Julia talks a bit about how he used to be kind, but that’s...that’s it.  There’s no effort to have her and Arvis share stories about what the family used to be like, or give any indication of how close they were aside from saying it was the case once or twice.  So the plight of Julius, the boy who’s possessed, is completely lost on us, and as a result, Julia’s decision to fight against and kill her brother if that’s what it takes, feels a little less impactful, because you just...don’t have any emotional attachment to what’s being lost.

Ishtar is another Camus archetype, but a rare one where I kinda like her?  Kinda.  She’s come far enough to recognize that Julius is killing people and it’s a problem, and does her utmost to circumvent his violent tendencies and save people.  So why doesn’t she just leave?  Well even that’s pretty taken care of.  She was the betrothed of Julius.  She loved him.  Which means she’s another character who could’ve had meaningful dialogue about who he used to be to build up tension, but we’re not talking about that now.  She stays in part because of that love, but also because he’s violent, and seems to have his eye on her at all times.  She’s effectively stuck in an abusive relationship, unable to make a move for fear of what retaliation he might exact on her or the people she’s trying to keep safe.  That’s a way more compelling reason for a character to stick with an awful ruler.  It sucks, but at least it’s ultimately understandable, unlike Eldigan over here.

Oifey and Shanan I feel like should be more interesting characters, but they don’t really get enough time to be much else.  And if those two, who are meant to be prominent, got very little, you can kinda guess that the rest of the cast has basically nothing going for them.

Honestly, a lot of the events of Genealogy at large feel super avoidable, and largely created by idiots being allowed to make decisions.  But on the smaller level, and especially within Gen 2, I feel like all the game needs is support conversations and maybe more dialogue that didn’t focus so heavily on bloodlines.  The history is interesting, but it comes at the expense of most character development, and that’s really not a good trade.  I know people hate when I bring it up, but maybe if the maps were actually chunked and made into several smaller chapters, we could use wind-up and conclusion to castles being taken as a means to fill in more character moments, instead of just having quick exposition dumps and moving on.

[carmenxjulia]

You Never Did Get My Name Ch4

Title: You Never Did Get My Name, Chapter 4

Description: Stealing hearts may be the perfect untraceable crime, but who is the thief?

[Read on AO3]

Chapter 4:

There she was, seated comfortably in one of the wicker chairs outside the café. A black v-neck shirt with red stripes on the short sleeves, jeans rolled up below the knee, and red sneakers made up her outfit. A red hoodie was slung over the back of her seat, matching the fiery red hair that drew Julia in like a beacon. It was tied up in a messy bun, in the same style it had been when they accidentally met on the train.

She herself was clad in a black v-neck short-sleeved blouse with lace around the neckline, tucked into a red skirt flowing just past her knees. Modest, but not overly so. A thin faux leather jacket over her arms and simple black flats completed the look.

It was curious that her first interaction with the law-breaker had been when she was in plainclothes, and not dressed in her signature red hat and coat. It made her easier to identify on the street, while everyone else was oblivious to the fact that they were passing by just a few feet away from the super thief. As oblivious as Julia had been the day they'd met.

She was reading, seemingly distracted from the world around her, but Julia knew better than to underestimate Carmen Sandiego. She appeared so normal, sitting in the middle of the city among people, instead of engaging in her usual habit of breaking and entering. What did she do in her spare time, Julia suddenly wondered. While Interpol and A.C.M.E. were busy following leads and searching for clues, was Miss Sandiego casually exploring the cities she was about to rob from? Was it really so easy for her to blend in if she wished, appearing as nothing more than a common citizen?

She'd called what she did "work". Of course everyone had their own lives outside of their jobs. She must have had friends, possibly family, that she visited. What made Carmen Sandiego different from everyone else? Because her job involved illegal activity? Was it illegal to steal something someone else had already stolen? And what of all the items she had supposedly stolen, turning up in their rightful places again, with no body of law enforcement able to take the credit for their return? It was baffling, really. What was her goal? If she was truly on the side of justice, why did she operate as a rogue, instead of working with the authorities?

Julia didn't have any answers as to the motives of Miss Sandiego. Perhaps this unlikely encounter would yield some much needed results on the case. Then again, she probably couldn't expect her to give up information so easily. She had, after all, eluded capture in several countries for the better part of nearly two years.

There were no reports of any kind of meetings or interviews with Carmen Sandiego, because no one had ever been able to apprehend her. And yet, here was Julia, about to join her for coffee, as if they were long time comrades getting together after years apart. What made her so special that she had been awarded this opportunity?

Wonderful chatting with you, Jules. She recalled from their first conversation. Had it really been "wonderful"? Had it been so wonderful as to be worth taking a risk just to see her again? Why Julia, of all people? Carmen Sandiego had eased into the conversation so effortlessly, immediately bestowing her with a nickname as if they were old friends who had run into each other and were just catching up. Julia had felt it was easy, too, to talk with this stranger who was willing to listen and was intrigued by her knowledge and love of history. She hadn't realized who she was speaking to until too late, wrapped up in the charm and insight of her adversary.

Well, it was her last chance to turn around, even though she was sure she'd already been spotted by the lady in red. She hadn't looked up from her book, but anyone cunning enough to avoid being caught for as long as she had was surely smart enough to keep a close eye on her surroundings for any possible threats. Today, Julia was not a threat, but someone in Carmen's position surely couldn't take any chances.

And yet, wasn't leaving her a method of contact and asking her out taking a huge chance?

Even more baffling, still.

She strode to the chair opposite the Scarlet Outlaw, settling down as she asked, "This seat taken?" without waiting for an answer. A reversal of their previous interaction.

"Appears to be now," she set down her novel, which Julia observed to be Oliver Twist, reaching across the table and offering her hand, "I'm Carmen."

Pretend we just met. Julia recalled from their conversation the day prior.

"Julia," she accepted the handshake.

"Very nice to meet you, Julia. What brings you to this part of Poitiers?"

"I was passing through and thought I'd stop by my favorite café. What about you?"

"Taking some time to appreciate the city after finishing up some business. I've been placed on an involuntary vacation," Carmen held up her arm, currently supported in a sling, to indicate why. "I have orders to lay low and heal up. Not quite my style, but, I can't exactly do my job in this condition."

"What is your job?"

"I thought we agreed not to talk about work," Carmen smirked.

"Right. Sorry," Julia shouldn't have expected her to let her guard down so easy. Maybe she was determined to have to have a carefree conversation, like they really were average people meeting for the first time.

"You mentioned this is your favorite café. You like it here?"

"Of course! There are all sorts of books to read and so many fascinating people to see. Sort of like a library, but far more interesting and far less stuffy. I never know what I'll learn or who I'll run into," she spared a knowing glance across the table. "Do you live in France?" It was an innocent enough question, one not directly related to work, that could provide some much desired details about Le Femme Rouge.

"I don't really stay in one place enough to consider living there, but I have enjoyed my time in France quite nicely. I wouldn't mind settling down here someday, if given the chance."

That might be hard considering you're a fugitive in this country, Julia thought. But with how cunning and evasive she had been so far, she probably had the tools necessary to devise a whole new name and identity for herself. Just how easily could she recreate her life into something ordinary, slipping away as if she'd never existed?

"Where were you born, then?" she tried to focus less on analyzing her situation and the women before her, and more on attempting to carry on a pleasant conversation.

"Argentina."

"Do you miss it?"

"I don't remember it. I was only there as a baby."

"What about where you grew up?"

"The Canary Islands. Well, one of the islands. It was pretty remote."

"Did you like it there?"

Carmen paused for a moment, thinking before she replied, "Yes. I did. I don't think my upbringing was what one would call typical, but I never felt like I wasn't living the best life I could be. I was taken care of, I had private tutors, and I learned a lot of skills that are still useful to me."

"That sounds exciting! What did your parents do? Were they researchers? Scientists?"

"To be honest, I don't know. My birth parents didn't raise me."

"Oh, I see."

Who raised you? Julia wanted to ask, but it felt rude to pry any further.

Carmen drummed her fingers on the table as quiet settled between them. "Why don't I get us some coffee?" she offered, when it had stretched on a little too long. It occurred to her that she wasn't much of a conversationalist, and she didn't really have practice with getting to know others, aside from Player, and even that had been entirely over the phone. Phone silence wasn't nearly as awkward as in-person silence, she was finding out. And very different from preparing for mission silence or after mission silence, when everyone was either focused on escape or coming down off adrenaline. If there was talking it was mostly between Zack and Ivy anyway.

"Please, let me," Julia was already out of her seat, hovering next to the table as she waited for affirmation.

"Okay," Carmen agreed. "Thank you, Jules," she realized, belatedly, she would have had trouble carrying two drinks with one arm out of commission, which Julia had no doubt already considered as a factor, hence her offer.

Julia hesitated in the doorway, looking over her shoulder as she asked, "You won't go anywhere, right?"

"I won't go anywhere. I promise."

She hadn't asked for a promise, but it felt more genuine with the extra commitment tacked on the end. Julia was so used to only catching glimpses of Carmen Sandiego as she fled. For a brief moment she grew worried this engagement might turn out the same way. Hopefully she was one to keep her promises.

                                                             * * *

 Settling down was a foreign concept to Carmen. So why did she tell Julia she wouldn't mind doing so in Paris someday? What compelled her to say such a thing? She was so young, and V.I.L.E. was still very much a threat, so she couldn't see her life slowing down enough to allow it at any point in the near future. But what about when it did? What about when V.I.L.E. gave up or died off? Was she serious about Paris, or just trying to make small talk? Why not Argentina, where she was born? Pondering about it did not yield any explanation.

More importantly, Julia had actually shown up. Carmen half-expected she'd be having coffee alone, but here they were. Just as they'd discussed the day before. And now she was blowing it with boring details about her life. What did she even have to talk about with Miss Argent, when her previous life and her current work had to be kept as closely guarded secrets? What made her think this was a good idea? What made her suddenly wish for some semblance of normalcy to the point where she was willing to meet up with her enemy on neutral ground just so she'd have someone to talk to? What was all this?

She didn't have time to figure anything out before Julia returned.

After setting a cup of coffee in front of Carmen, she settled back in her seat. "Have you read much of Dickens' work?" she gestured to the book the woman across from her had previously been absorbed in, or had at least been pretending to be. Perhaps it was a random selection from what the establishment had to offer.

"I'm well versed in the classics, although I've never read the French translation."

"Dickens was an English author, although he was very fond of Paris. He spoke highly of it upon his return to his home in London. He was intrigued by the differences in city life and the cultural divergence from his native city, so much so that he called its citizens, 'the first people in the universe.'"

"You really know your authors, don't you," the woman in red complimented as she took a sip of coffee.

"Sorry, I ramble sometimes," Julia fiddled with her hair nervously as she looked anywhere but into those intense grey eyes.

"No, no. I don't mind. Please, continue."

She perked up at the encouragement, so used to being shut down by most people whenever she started to spout random factoids. The world was such an extraordinary place, who wouldn't want to learn and know more about it? Julia wanted to share her knowledge, but there were so few who were willing to receive it. Her current company being willing was quite refreshing, and rekindled her enthusiasm.

"You know, Jules Verne considered Dickens to be his favorite author, and he was born in Nantes, France. So it seems he had some famous fans in the country he so admired. Verne is almost the single most translated author in the world, second only to Agatha Christie. Dickens is the 25th, but that's still very notable."

"I'm guessing you read a lot." Carmen placed her good elbow on the table and settled her chin into the palm of her hand, watching her companion with interest.

"Admittedly I do. When I was in school I was never very good at making friends. I preferred to spend time with my books."

"No wonder you're so smart," she grinned fondly.

"I'm not sure about that. Most people think it was sad or unhealthy, to be so reclusive in my spare time."

"I spent a lot of time studying when I was younger, too. If you were happy, who cares what anyone else thinks?"

"I suppose that is the best way to look at it," Julia returned the smile, "You're pretty smart yourself."

Carmen chuckled, wincing as the action shook her body in just the wrong way.

It did not escape Julia's notice. "Are you okay?"

"Ribs are still a little tender," Carmen smiled back wanly.

"What was the extent of your injuries?"

Carmen took a breath and let it out slowly, relaxing her body while considering how much information to devolve. She sipped her coffee as she thought, before finally answering, "Broken leg, a few broken and even more bruised ribs, and this," she raised her obviously still healing arm.

"Is that why you haven't made an appearance for the press in weeks?"

"That, and my adversaries have been unusually quiet."

"Adversaries? Do you mean Interpol?"

"I would not put Interpol or any local law enforcement on my list of enemies."

"So what's your angle?"

"Angle?"

"I think Interpol would disagree about being enemies. What makes you feel otherwise? What's your goal with… whatever it is you do?"

"I want to protect and preserve history. And if stealing from other thieves makes me a criminal, I guess I'm guilty as charged."

So, Julia's hunch was correct. Carmen Sandiego was a thief who only stole from other thieves. Not only that, but she wasn't even stealing for personal gain. She returned everything she got her hands on. Julia had seen it firsthand when she'd left the Magna Carta for her to find.

"What do you gain by stealing from other thieves?"

"It's personal."

"Why don't you work with the law? You're on our side, are you not?"

"If I work with them, they'll want to send in their own force to help me complete jobs, and they have no idea who they're dealing with. Someone will get hurt. The people responsible for all these thefts do not go easy on their enemies. You-" Carmen hesitated, not wanting to hit a nerve, but needing to drive her point home, "-You know what happened to Chase. They went easy on him. If they wanted, he could have been dead in a matter of minutes after they found out where he lived. They aren't afraid to steal people's lives. That's why it can only be me. I can't let anyone else take that risk."

"That sounds like a dangerous way to live."

"It's the only way I know."

They both fell silent, each ruminating on their own thoughts.

Julia, absorbing the information she'd just been given, and contemplating whether she should share it with her superiors. It wasn't as if Carmen had asked her to keep the information a secret. They weren't exactly meeting in a private place. Someone sitting nearby or passing might catch snippets of their conversation, and neither of them could control what a stranger did with the information they were sharing.

Carmen, brooding whether or not she'd said too much. Julia's presence was so inviting and calming, she almost believed she could trust her with anything. She didn't feel threatened, in fact, she felt completely at ease in the presence of someone who had pursued her for months. Sure, she'd told Player she wasn't worried because she could definitely outmatch the agent, but it was more than that. She forgot where she was, who exactly she was with, and got completely lost in the moment. Completely lost in those dark eyes.

"Tell me more about yourself," she broke the silence, trying to prompt Julia into talking again.

"How much do you already know about me?"

She was momentarily taken aback. Of course it was easy to conclude Carmen and her colleagues had information on Interpol and its agents. How else would she manage to outsmart them, without being aware of their movements? Suddenly all the files Player must have had on his computer detailing the lives and sometimes private information of hundreds of members of law enforcement and government agents all around the world seemed intrusive. Now that she was face-to-face with someone she actually had extensive knowledge on, it didn't feel right to be poking around in other's lives. It was necessary to continue her work, and up until recently knowing such information was strictly part of the business. She squirmed a bit in her seat, not wanting to outright lie but knowing she had to be guarded in the answer she gave.

"I know your partner is Chase Devineaux," she began, slowly. "I know that several months ago you started working with Interpol, until suddenly you weren't, and neither was Chase. I know you were born in Poitiers and before leaving Interpol you'd never traveled outside of France. I know-"

"Then ask me something you don't know," Julia held up her hand, having heard enough. She decided it was better to be blissfully unaware of whatever archive of information Carmen Sandiego may have held. She probably had her whole life mapped out, down to her favorite color in Kindergarten. Any information she had was probably just a lot of facts and details, that could paint a lovely picture of a person, but wouldn't really let you get to know them.

"Why did you join the force?" Carmen offered a more apt response.

"I wanted to help people. That was the best way I could."

"Why do you think Chase joined the force?"

"I think he wanted to help others too, but perhaps not for the right reasons. He wants to do good in the world, but he also wants to be seen as a hero. The quest for recognition blinds him sometimes. That might explain his obsession with you. Your deeds have become known throughout the globe. Catching you would bring him international fame. There have been all sorts of high-class thefts over the years, but no one had ever been bold enough to show themselves before you. Anyone can catch a common thief. But you're not very common, are you?"

"And yet, you caught me."

"I wouldn't say that," Julia chuckled. This was probably the longest conversation anyone had had with the Crimson Phantom, but she had no intention of telling anyone or trying to turn in the thief of thieves. She wasn't their enemy, after all, so what reason did Julia have for wanting to take her down? She didn't possess the same quest for vengeance that Chase did.

"Why do you make yourself known before a heist? You could have stolen items much easier if you didn't draw so much attention to yourself."

"I want certain people to know who they're dealing with."

"Who are those people?"

"If I told you, it would put you in danger."

"Aren't you afraid they'll find you, though?"

"I wasn't afraid when they were just sending their lackeys. But after facing off with some bigger trouble from my past-"

Carmen stared down at her cast, contemplating how much she'd underestimated her opponents, and reflecting on how lucky she was to even be alive. She'd come so close to losing everything in that basement. She recalled the feeling of betrayal as her breath was squeezed from her chest, praying she'd lose consciousness before one of her cracking bones punctured a lung or her heart, so she wouldn't have to feel the pain of a slow death. Hearing the sirens outside, knowing they were getting closer but sounding so far away in her head. Thinking of so many ways this scenario could have gone differently. Wishing she could have experienced more in life.

"Are you alright?"

Julia's voice cutting through her thoughts jolted Carmen back to reality. She was here, at the café, not trapped in a basement fighting for her life. She was alive, Chase Devineaux was alive, she'd escaped, and thanks to Shadowsan, she could keep V.I.L.E. on its toes for at least another year.

"I have to be more careful," she looked up, determination painting her features, "They're not afraid to send their heavy hitters after me."

Carmen sighed, the fight draining out of her. She was tired. Healing from her injuries had certainly taken its toll, and it became clear she wasn't fully recovered yet. The conversation had drifted too close to work for comfort and their cups were empty. It seemed like the right time to make her departure.

"I should go. It was good to see, Jules," she stood, walking past the agent on her way.

"Will you answer one last question?" Julia stopped her in her tracks.

The thief paused, briefly, before turning back around and nodding.

"Are you responsible for kidnapping Chase Devineaux?"

"No. He was used as bait to lure me. Apparently he's so good at being a distraction when I'm working that some of my enemies mistook him for one of my allies."

"That's how you got hurt, isn't it? Trying to rescue him," Julia gestured to the broken arm.

"It's not his fault and he didn't deserve what they did to him. I don't care if they keep coming after me. But if your friend doesn't lay low, he might get caught in the crossfire again. And I can't guarantee I'll be able to protect him. I'll always do what I can to make sure innocent civilians don't get hurt, even at the risk of losing my target. It gets more difficult when one of those civilians is dead set on running towards the danger."

"I don't think he'll stop until you're behind bars."

"Sure is stubborn, isn't he?"

"Yes. Quite stubborn."

When it seemed clear that was the end of the conversation, Carmen turned to leave again.

"Will I see you again?" Julia was on her feet, reaching out as if she didn't want Carmen to go so soon.

"You will definitely see me again. If you're asking if we can meet up again, then-" she hmmm-ed thoughtfully, "-yes. I like you, Jules. I don't get to make a lot of friends outside of work. It can be hard to meet people when you have to make up excuses about where you're always running off to and what your job is. But you already know. You had to put a lot of trust in me to come here today. So, when and where?"

"Come to my apartment for dinner," the agent almost couldn't believe what she'd said, but there it was. "This week, if you're not busy."

"I think I've got an opening. Let me know the details. You have my number," she winked, before walking away.

Julia practically fell back into her seat, still not quite believing she'd just met and had coffee with the Carmen Sandiego. No tricks, no traps, no threats. Just two people participating in a normal activity. She glanced to the unoccupied seat across from herself, noticing the red hoodie still tucked neatly over the back of the chair.

"You forgot your-" but when she turned back around to where she'd seen Carmen Sandiego seconds before, she was gone. "-jacket," she finished, to no one in particular. How does she do that? Julia thought. There one minute, the next, gone without a trace. Even in broad daylight, without her signature attire, she was still as crafty as ever.

Well, they'd be seeing each other again soon, so the agent decided to hang onto it. As she walked back to her apartment, she ruminated on the entire conversation they'd just had, playing it back over in her mind. It was surprising how easy it was to sit and have a conversation with one she had pursued for months without coming any closer to apprehending her. She'd had the opportunity, but she didn't take it. It turned out her hunch about Carmen's motives had been right, so the meeting hadn't been a total loss. And the reassurance that she wasn't responsible for Agent Devineaux's kidnapping made Julia more at ease. But she still didn't feel any closer to finding out who in the world Carmen Sandiego really was.

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[j-j-ehlby-writes]

Meet Me at the Chalet || epilogue.

Eventual pairing: Tom Hiddleston x OFC (Jenessee Borosi)

Word count: ~2.5k

Summary (I suck at these): Jenessee goes on a solo vacation after the release of her first novel. She got a little more than she bargained for when she gets snowed in with her biggest celebrity crush.

Warnings: Just fluff

night one. || day one. || day two. || day three. || day four. || day five. || day six. || last day. || one year later. || epilogue. || bonus. ||

To say these past two years have been hard would be an understatement. After we met up again, we stayed for the rest of the week to talk and figure out the most important details of this relationship we were entering into. Many hours of serious talks and making up for lost time, we jetted off and have been together ever since.

Being with him has been the most challenging but rewarding time of my life. I’ve also never been so terrified of losing someone before so I try and spoil him as often as I can to show him I appreciate him. After a long day of filming, I have a home-cooked meal ready for him as well as a cup of his favorite tea. I give him shoulder and back rubs if he’s stressed. Small gestures to show him how crazy I am about him.

Tom has also treated me like I’m the most special person in his life. He spoils me with small gestures as well as extravagant ones such as taking me to Norway for my birthday to explore my Norwegian roots and baking brownies for finishing the last book in my series. He’s been there for me for everything, to when I got overwhelmed while writing my books to similar situations we found ourselves in years before. They don’t happen very often but having him there for every single bad moment has made a world of a difference. He always shows me that he’s here for the long run, no matter what the world throws at us. He has truly become my rock, my confidante, my love, and my life. He is my best friend and the love of my life. I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t have him.

After leaving the chalet, we flew to London to meet his family. My nerves were already on edge, but I was more worried about meeting Bobby. I was never a huge dog person, having grown up with cats. Don’t get me wrong, I like dogs. They’re too precious for this world and we don’t deserve them. He quickly became my baby though after meeting him. He was easy to love, just like his daddy.

When I did meet his family though, they welcomed me with open arms. They were elated to finally meet his “famous author girlfriend” who “stole our Tom’s heart.” They were getting tired of him only talking about me, our week together, and how he couldn’t wait to see me again. He was thoroughly embarrassed but I assured him that my best friend went through the same thing. They also loved the fact that Tom finally brought someone home. I was surprised how well I got along with them. It was more shocking that they had all read my book and loved it, wanting to know what else I had planned (apparently Tom made them all read it when he saw them after we met). 

And because of the series finally being finished, I’ve decided to reveal myself which is the reason why I’m backstage at Ellen. I told my agent when I first hired her that if I were to ever relinquish my anonymity I would want to do it on Ellen’s show. When my agent called the show, they were thrilled. 

So now I’m here, freaking out about the whole thing. Thankfully, Tom is here being the rock I need right now. He hasn’t left my side the entire morning. He made me breakfast, he held my hand on the ride over here, he sent me encouraging smiles when I glanced at him from the make-up chair, and now his arms are secured around my waist as I stand backstage. I’m just waiting for the show to start. I briefly met with Ellen, only adding to my nervousness. She raved about my books, having read the backs of all of them. Her joke broke some of the nervous tension but as soon as she left and a PA came in telling me I needed to take my place, it was back.

 “I’m so nervous, I’m shaking! I hate being the center of attention and I hate public speaking. Why did I decide to do this again?” I ramble, hearing Ellen’s monologue in the background.

“Because my darling, you deserve to be recognized. Your books are phenomenal, and everyone needs to know who the creative genius behind them is.” He placed a kiss on my temple. I tried taking a few deep breaths.

“I wish you could go out there with me,” I whine. “This would be so much easier if I had your hand to hold.”

“I know, love. However, I am looking forward to being the one backstage for once. I can be the proud boyfriend watching my love’s success.” His pride is beaming off of him in waves. Usually I’m the one filled with pride for him on the sidelines. It’s odd being on the receiving end but having someone being proud of me is an indescribable feeling.

“One minute, Miss Ehlby.” The PA warned. “Just walk out and around the chair, greet Ellen, and then take a seat.”

“Break a leg, darling.” He gives me a kiss before I hear Ellen.

“My first guest has just released the final book in her coveted book series that includes ‘Deny’ which she published with two different endings, not telling anyone. They created such pandemonium that she’s been the most sought after author to interview. She’s remained anonymous, using a pseudonym to stay out of the spotlight. Today she is finally ready to come out of the shadows. Please welcome J.J. Ehlby.”

The music started playing and the PA motioned for me to start walking. I followed the light out, doing exactly what the PA told me to do and what I’ve seen countless celebrities do every time I watched the show with my mom. I greeted Ellen with a hug before sitting down on the nice white chair so many famous people have said they’ve peed on.

“Hi J.J.!” She greets again when the audience and music have quieted down.

“Hi Ellen!” I smile back.

“Thanks for being here. I know you could have chosen any other show to do your first interview but clearly you chose the best.” The audience laughs.

“I did choose the best. I told my agent years ago that my first interview had to be on your show whenever I decided to throw my anonymity out the door.” The more words I said the more comfortable I felt. It doesn’t feel like I’m in front of hundreds of people and one of the funniest and kindest people in the world.

“So, why don’t you tell us about yourself? No one knows anything about you except you’re a great writer.” She asks the first question I was prepared for. I was given a list of questions she would be asking so I could know what was coming.

“Well thank you. That’s why I wanted to publish using a pseudonym. I wanted to be able to have my professional and private life be separate until all of the books I had planned came out. With the last book in stores now, here I am!”

“How did you come up with the pseudonym?” Question two.

I explain it the same way I did to Tom all that time ago, “My initials actually. With my name being Jenessee Julia Lynette Borosi, I wanted to still have it be connected to who I am, but not so close that people could easily figure it out. So it became a play on my initials, J, J, L, B.”

“That’s clever,” She comments. “I never would have guessed that.”

“Thank you. I thought so, too.”

“Let’s get to what everyone has been talking about since your books came out. You published two different endings.”

“I did.” I admit, smiling evilly to myself.

“And you didn’t tell anybody.”

“Nope! That’s what initially drew the publishers in. I had posted it online which somehow gained their attention. It wasn’t popular online due to it not having any references to vampires, werewolves, or any sort of fanfiction. But when they contacted me they told me they liked both endings that I had in mind, so I told them that I wanted to do both and not tell anyone. They were immediately on board. No one had ever done anything like this before, so I thought, ‘why not?’”

“And you did a sequel only for one of them?”

I nod, “Yes. With one of the endings, it was finite enough to where it didn’t need one. But the other ending left it open-ended on purpose so that I could write a sequel to it.”

After a few more questions about the books, she asked the one I was most anxious about, “Since you write about love and falling in love so well, do you have that in real life? Do you have that kind of love in your life?”

Tom and I haven’t been very public about our relationship. Only posting non-descript and non-identifying pictures of the other and we never tag the other. We were waiting for my identity to be revealed before we go public. It’s been more fun that way. The fans go nuts for every single picture Tom posts. Everyone wants to know who I am. It’s also given us a chance to get to build our relationship outside of the media. We’ve been very sneaky. It’s tiring but exhilarating at the same time.

“I didn’t while writing the first and second books.”

“But you do now.” She states, not questions.

“I do, yes.” I can’t help the smile on my face as I think about my love backstage watching this. He’s talked about me on a few occasions. After his first interview about the “Chalet Girl,” everyone has asked about it. He did give an update after we officially got together, but he obviously didn’t give any details as to who I was. I’ve always felt giddy knowing he was proud of talking about me. I could imagine that’s how he is feeling now.

Ellen teases me about the instant smile causing my whole face to go red.  “What’s his name? How long have you been together?”

“His name is Will. We’ve known each other for three years and have been officially together for two.” Tom and I decided to use the names we first gave each other to the media so no one would suspect anything, just like when we used them.

The rest of the interview went by smoothly. She asked a few more questions about my books and then surprised the audience with a signed copy of my first book.

The next day Tom and I headed to Burbank from Los Angeles so we could tape an episode of the Late Late show. We were going into it like we hadn’t met before so we could shock the world by revealing that we were actually together and have been for a while. Tom wanted to go public with our relationship on James’ show because that’s where he made his first interview about me and he’s sentimental. He’s all about things coming full circle… such a romantic man I’ve got.

We headed to our separate dressing rooms and taped our “intro” video a while later then we moved onto the actual interview portion. We sat on the blue couch, me being the closest to James, then Tom. We were told someone else would be joining us later for a different segment. He sat a safe distance away from me so no one would think anything was going on.

“Welcome to the show, J.J.!” James greets me.

“Thank you! I’m excited to be here.” I cross my legs at the knee and relax into the back of the couch.

“And good to have you back, Thomas.”

“Thank you, sir. It’s great to be back.” He’s also leaning back with his ankle crossed over his knee. He looks like an absolute snack and there’s nothing I can do about it… stupid interview.

James went on to ask me basically the same questions Ellen did yesterday, bringing up her interview a few times. I repeated my answers trying not to sound like I rehearsed them a million times beforehand. He’d also asked me about my boyfriend, like Ellen did.

“Speaking of lovers, Thomas, how are you and your ‘Chalet girl’? How long has it been now?” James asks Tom, segueing into his portion of the interview.

“We are wonderful. We celebrated two years together this month.” And what an amazing anniversary it was. We traveled to Italy where we indulged in so much pasta and pizza. We also each tossed a coin into the Trevi fountain and took a tour of the Sistine Chapel. It was absolute perfection. I didn’t want to come back.

“So, I take it you’re still pretty infatuated with her.”

“Oh James, I’m more than infatuated with her. She’s the love of my life.” He confesses, sending me a quick glance. “I fully plan on making her my wife someday.”

We’ve talked countless times about our future: where we would want to get married and who we want there, where we want to raise our 2-3 kids, where we would want to retire to if we ever were to- everything and anything that our future may hold. I’m so excited for that time. I’d marry him tomorrow if he asked.

“Am I ever going to meet this lucky girl? You’ve been so secretive!”

“You already have.” He promptly gets up, plopping down right next to me. He wraps his arm around my shoulders before grabbing my face and kissing me. 

“What?!” James gasped. “You two?!” He motions between us with the largest grin on his face. “She’s your ‘Chalet girl’?”

I stare at the man who I have fallen more and more in love with every day for the past three years. He looks at me with such love, devotion, pride… This wonderful man has shown me that I am worthy of love; worthy of his love. That I deserve this and so much more… and I truly believe I do now.

I bury my face in his neck as he answers, “As I mentioned before, she’s so much more than that.” His hand intertwined with mine on his lap. “I don’t know what I did to deserve an incredibly kind, funny, strong, independent, breathtakingly beautiful woman such as her in my life, but I’m the luckiest man. I really am.”

If my heart could fly, it would soar…

bonus...

Permanent taglist: @elusive-beauty @drakesfiance @im-a-slut-for-an-accent @fantasy-is-my-reality @hiddlephile @naniky

Taglist is CLOSED

[gracievanbrunt]

I have been home now for a little over a week and I am so so happy to be home! This past week has been all about spending time with family, hanging out with friends, resting from our long roadtrip and preparing for the transplant. 

On Thursday, I had my dental evaluation to examine my teeth before the transplant. Then Bradlee flew in from Michigan to do his preliminary testing on Friday and give consent to donating. 

Also on Friday I got to have a wonderful reunion with my high school friends Sav, Patty, Maya, Morgan and Emily. We all realized we haven’t had the chance to all hang out together since 2014! It was so nice catching up with them. Special shout-out to Patty’s mom, Ellen Williamson, for giving me some awesome books!! Also Shoutout to Miss Vicky Viebrooks for hosting all of us girls!!! I love you and I am so glad you and Morgan are in my life!

On Saturday I had my “last hurrah” sleepover with Emily, Megan and Alex and had the absolute best time (as I always do with them) just having fun, drinking some wine, being silly and just catching up on all of our lives! They all pitched in and gave me a very nice gift bag full of books, soaps and a blanket and I cried because I was so grateful for the gift and to have them in my life lol....

On Monday night, Louie and I got to hang out with one of my oldest and best friends Elizabeth and her lovely boyfriend, James! Elizabeth and her family have been nothing but supportive these past few months with everything going on and I could not express my appreciation more towards them. I am part of such a wonderful, loving and caring community and I just feel extremely blessed to be surrounded by the people in my and my family’s lives. 

Today was a BIG day. We arrived at the hospital at around 8:30am and didn’t leave until 4:45pm...All day I have been going back and forth between heart tests, chest X-rays, breathing/pulmonary tests, blood labs, consultations and finally the consent with my doctor, Dr. Antin who will be doing my bone-marrow transplant. We finally made it home around 6:30pm and we were all so extremely exhausted OMG.

Tomorrow I will be having a family dinner with my cousins Scotty, Julia and Drew (plus Drew’s gf Nicki who I haven’t met yet), my sister Nina and her boyfriend Vince, my parents and Louie! So excited to see them and be around family and so grateful to them for making the effort. 

Thank you TISCH COTE for tonight’s EXTREMELY DELICIOUS dinner and lovely note!!! Oh my god that meal was just what we all needed tonight. Thank you for dropping it off!

On Friday, I start the chemotherapy/CAMPATH to prepare for the transplant. I will keep everyone updated!

As always, 

I am filled with gratitude and love for you all!!!

[densi-mber]

Sneaky Pyromaniac Monkeys

A Densi-mber Drabble 

by Psyched

“Leave it, we’ll clean up later,” Kensi insisted as Julia and Bertie tried to rinse off their dinner plates.

“We, angel?” Deeks teased.

“Okay, maybe I’m hoping for a Christmas miracle and we’ll find everything washed and put away when we wake up in the morning.”

“There’s a better chance of Monty licking the dishes clean and burying them in the backyard overnight than Santa and the reindeer straightening up, Ms. Claus,” Deeks said as they settled in the living room and he topped off the ladies’ wine glasses.  “Everything was delicious, Moms.  You two are goddesses in the kitchen, I don’t think I’ve ever had a better Christmas Eve meal.”  He popped open another beer for himself, realizing he’d had more than his fair share of holiday libation tonight.  But it seemed to do the trick, as it really had been a nice evening with their parental units.  Even better because Guy was out of town visiting his own grown children.

Kensi smiled at their mothers, “You know, the first time you guys met, when we were trying to get you to come out to a restaurant for Christmas dinner and you both wanted to cook, Deeks didn’t think it was a good idea to have you share a kitchen.  I for one knew it would work out beautifully.”

“Wow, sugar plum, way to throw me under the bus.”

“In all fairness, it would have been awkward that first year, considering we’d just met,” Julia conceded. “But after all the time we’ve spent together since then, Bertie and I have become good friends and it’s a treat to cook beside her.”

Bertie held up her wine glass, “Here’s to something good coming out of Kensi’s coma.  Aside from Kensi, of course.”

They all toasted, and Kensi kept her glass aloft.  “And to spending the holiday with family.”

Bertie jumped on that opening.  “Speaking of family, when will you two be adding to yours?  Julia and I aren’t getting any younger, you know, and we’d like to spend time together doing more than cooking.  Maybe visit a hospital for something good for a change, if you’re picking up what I’m putting down.”

“I think you need to put that glass down and keep it there, Mama,” Deeks told her.  Apparently he wasn’t the only one who’d had too much to drink tonight.  Not that Crazy Bertie wouldn’t have made that same statement when perfectly sober.

“Maybe you should set a wedding date first,” Julia suggested.

“Nah, I already told them they didn’t need to wait for that.  It’s not like either one of them is going anywhere, they’re so in love,” Bertie replied.

“That’s true, but we’re thinking we’ll try this the traditional way: wedding first, kids some time after that,” Kensi said.

Julia was thrilled to have confirmation that they were still planning to have children, “You’ll be wonderful parents.”

“Well, heaven knows with all your secret agent experience, you’re ready for it if yours end up as rambunctious as Martin here.”

“Thanks for the love, Mama. You sure you’re not trying to talk us out of having kids?”

“Aww, come on.  You know I love you,” she reached across the coffee table pat his cheek.  “But do you remember the Christmas you were eight?”

“You’ll never let me live that down, will you?” Deeks said.

“I should have realized then you’d make a living snooping into other people’s lives.  Good thing you seem to have gotten better at it.”

“What happened?” Kensi asked.

“Your fiancé couldn’t wait for Christmas to open his presents.  About a week before, I heard noises in the middle of the night and thought someone had broken in.  I crept out of my room with a hardcover book as a weapon only to find this one had snuck into my bedroom closet while I was asleep and pilfered all the presents. He’d unwrapped them, took inventory, and was trying to re-wrap them when I found him.”

Kensi and Julia laughed.

“Oh, no,” Julia said.

“Except he didn’t realize until it was too late that he had no idea how to wrap a gift.  He had more tape, glue, and paper on himself than on any one box.  Every roll of wrapping paper was completely unrolled and strewn around the living room, and half of it somehow ended up stuck to the walls.”

“Glue?” Kensi managed to ask.

“I was desperate!” Deeks shrugged.  “I needed to know if those were the same presents that would supposedly be from Santa.”

“Lucky for both of us your father was at the bar.”

“I may not have known how to wrap a present at that tender age, but I knew enough to wait until the old man was gone to pull a stunt like that.”

Wanting to keep the conversation light, Julia shared, “You know, Kensi could be pretty sneaky too when she was curious about something.  We used to decorate our tree a few weeks before Christmas, but we always put the star on top after Kensi was asleep on Christmas Eve.  Don told her it only appeared then because it was full of the spirit of Christmas.”

Deeks grinned, “I can see where this is going.”

“One year, I think Kensi must have been about four, shortly after Don and I went to bed, we heard a huge crash.  We ran into the living room to find the tree toppled over and Kensi inside it.  Seems our little angel wanted to see the spirit of Christmas up close, so she moved all the gifts out of the way, crawled under the tree, and tried to climb up from the inside, where the branches were thickest.”

Deeks burst out laughing and turned to his blushing bride-to-be, “We are so going to have to tie our kids into their beds every night in December!”

“And take the knobs off the stove,” Julia advised.  “I think she was eleven when she almost burned the house down because the rule was that we didn’t open presents until after a family breakfast.  Kensi thought she’d work around that by waking us up with the aroma of French toast at three in the morning.”

Kensi took over, “Instead it was the smell of burnt bread and eggs that did the trick.  And it just got very smoky; I didn’t even come close to starting an actual fire, Mom.”

“Yeah, she was saving that up for after we moved in together,” Deeks joked, knocking Kensi’s shoulder with his own.

“Right, because you don’t drive Kensi nuts with your obsession about the Christmas lights, Martin,” his mother said.

“What?  What are you talking about?  Kensalina appreciates the appealing appearance of our Christmas lights.”

Kensi said, “You mean with all the,” Bertie chimed in and said with her future daughter-in-law, “clean angles and smooth lines?”

“Go ahead and mock me, but we have the best-looking house on the block.”

“You ought to after all the time you spent practicing hanging those damned lights inside the house year-round.  Not to mention climbing all over things like an ape because you didn’t want to use a ladder.”  Bertie looked at Julia, “With your monkey and mine as parents, our grandkids will be primed to join a travelling circus.”

“Nice, mom,” Deeks reproached.

Chuckling, Kensi said, “Things make so much sense now.”

“Honey,” Julia said slyly, “I have to apologize for saying you nearly set fire to the house that Christmas morning.  I was wrong. It was during one Hanukkah that you were practically a pyromaniac.”

“Okay, Mom, you’re cut off too,” Kensi moved Julia’s glass away from her.

“No, I want to hear this,” Deeks encouraged.

“There’s nothing to hear. I brought the menorah outside during the day to try to light the candles with a magnifying glass,” Kensi defended.

“And when that didn’t work…?” Julia prompted.

“Wait, let me guess!” Deeks all but shouted.  “She tried flint and steel, a stick and shoestring, and a battery and steel wool.”  He could read on Kensi’s face that he was exactly right, so he put his arm around her and kissed her cheek, “Props to you for keeping the fire outside the house, baby.”

Bertie loudly cleared her throat and glared at her son.  Deeks’ smile quickly faded.  Catching on, Kensi said, “Oh ho ho!  Deeks set fire to something, didn’t he?!  In the house! What happened?” She looked between her fiancé and his mother.

“Martin was eleven when that movie Home Alone came out and he was convinced someone was going to break in and steal his Christmas presents since his father was out of the house for good by then.  He borrowed a blowtorch from that delinquent Ray’s garage and rigged it to ignite if someone came in the back door.”

“It would have worked too if Mama hadn’t made me take it down.”

Kensi laughed her scary laugh and the family stared at her.  Once she regained her composure, she ruffled Deeks hair and explained, “You sound like every villain at the end of Scooby Doo, Shaggy.”  

Julia teased, “Well, they’ll be a handful, but at least your kids will be beautiful to look at while they get into all that trouble.”

“Oh yeah,” Bertie said. “Those good looks and the well-practiced ability to feign innocence will keep you two on your toes for sure.”

“That’s it,” Kensi threw up her hands.  “I’m not raising any sneaky pyromaniac monkeys.  Thanks Moms, you’ve talked me out of giving you grandchildren.”

“I’m with my ladybird on this one,” Deeks agreed, taking one of Kensi’s hands in his own.  “Sneaky pyromaniac monkeys don’t sound nearly as cool as mutant ninja assassins.”

“Oh, don’t get your panties in a twist,” Bertie said.  “You know it’s not all bad.  There’s also plenty of good about having high-spirited and clever children.”

“Such as?” Deeks asked.

Bertie was quick with an answer.  “You had so much energy you were super excited about pretty much anything.  I could have given you an empty coffee tin for Christmas and you would have found about a dozen different ways to play with it.”

Deeks looked at her askance, “You did give me a coffee tin one year.”

“Yeah, well, it wasn’t a gift or anything,” his mother waved him off.  “Just something to keep you busy for a while.”

“Kensi, you were just as well-occupied with any reading material about the Marines or whatever base we were living on.  You really were quite easy growing up,” Julia said sincerely.

“I wouldn’t give back a second of it.  Even though he may have been a little devil at times, my Martin was all heart,” Bertie said.

“He still is,” Kensi added, squeezing Deeks’ hand.

Eying her son, Bertie asked, “Do you remember when you were in seventh grade and you got caught doing other kids’ homework for money?”  The woman’s eyes misted as she turned to Kensi and Julia and explained, “He wanted to buy me something really special for Christmas.”

Julia exclaimed, “Oh my goodness!  Kensi was in fourth grade when she did the same thing, only it was so she could buy more presents for the Marines’ Toys for Tots drive!”

The foursome hadn’t finished laughing when Deeks furrowed his brows in thought.  “So I was twelve and you would have been, what, nine?  That happened the same Christmas, Kens!”

“I guess great minds really do think alike,” Kensi said, leaning into Deeks to give him a quick kiss.

Bertie stood up and toyed with her phone.  “And on that note, I think it’s time to hit the road.  What do you say, Julia, should we leave these two great minds to their baby-making?”

“Or wedding planning, whichever they prefer,” Julia said.

“Perfect, there’s a Lyft less than ten minutes from here.  I’ll drop you off on the way home.”

Fifteen minutes later, Deeks locked the door behind their mothers as Kensi set the alarm.  Putting his arm around Kensi’s waist and making their way toward the bedroom, Deeks asked, “So did they really change your mind about having kids?”

“Nah.  But I know one thing for sure.”

“What’s that?”

“The moment our kid starts to crawl, we need to put security cameras in every room and the perimeter of the house, linked to our phones,” Kensi suggested.

“Obviously.  And taking the knobs off the stove probably isn’t a bad idea either.”

“We can do that now as far as I’m concerned,” Kensi half-joked.  “Oh, and we should probably only ever live in a single-story house. No telling what havoc our kids could wreak with stairs and a high roof.”

“Done,” Deeks agreed, yawning.  “And maybe we can get our hands on a lifetime supply of Overwatch spray…”