#we put one foot in front of other other. (main v.2)

[yridenergyridenergy]

Sukekiyo 2025/04/22 - "When was the deadline for the one-man show?" live report

-Setlist-

Houmonsha X

Waizatsu

Creeper

Naburi

Candis

Valentina

MOAN

Aishita Shinzou

Mimi Zozo

Sesshoku

Sharara

Honnou okotowari

Koumo chigau mono na no ka,

Kashikomi Kashikomi

mystery na

breeder

Frame out kara no

anima

-encore 1-

Kashikomi Kashikomi

-encore 2-

Kashikomi Kashikomi

Tonight was absolutely brutal, I have no energy left to go jogging hah. I could not extend a foot a meter out from under me after the show. Due to Kyo's tweet earlier, there was a huge push from the back of the crowd from the very beginning, and then we could barely move.

So then, we were hyped and cheering from the start, as expected, but the instrumental beginning of Houmonsha X is long and awkward because we were waiting to get moving again fot a while.

I had a great view today, and anyway, as you can see from the video the band just posted, Kyo was wearing articles from his new Madaraningen collection. I could see that there were loose strands of fabric that had become undone, on each side, so I don't know if he was wearing the demo. And clearly, it's not made for the summer, because as early as in the second song, Kyo was drenched in sweat. There were a couple of times when he hiked up the end of the dress all the way to the top of his left leg in the set, and I suspect that it was an excuse to expose it to fresh air. But hey, it was very hot and sweaty in the crowd too.

It was just weird because, by the end of MOAN, Kyo looked so overwhelmingly hot that he seemed to look at odd places while doing the last ceiling pat move of the song.

In Candis, the dances were so varied and lovely. This was definitely a stark contrast from Kirito's moves, but it was expected. Kyo not only does knee drops/folds, but there's also tip-toeing with the hands open on the sides, and there's so much of the hip swaying while he's perpendicular to us.

And they played Valentina this time around! It made me realize what they did to adapt the backdrop screen for this show: they might have been limited by the fact that they would share it with Kirito yesterday, so it's smaller but a different dimension than usual. Basically, they ended up combining the screen that's usually projected in front of the band on the veil and put that at the bottom of the usual backdrop video.

In Valentina, Kyo went to gesture the first "kiss without a word word" but he seemingly forgot about singing, so his mic wasn't up at all until maybe "with", like what was more important at that moment was the gesture of blowing us a kiss.

What I also remember vividly is Kyo not just pointing but doing a large gesture to poke his genitals at least three times in a row while singing this part of Naburi:

"Try and lick the non-uterus

It swells and drips"

Other than that, it feels like a blur. There was so much singing from the crowd, dancing, jumping. Takumi teased Yuchi once more (he slips his hand over the strings of the bass on his way back to his spot in one of the early songs), Kyo was pretty much all smiles. Pretty sure he dropped to his knees at the front of the stage once, and then quite low at the beginning of the last session. Takumi also put one knee on the ground to play part of a song.

This time, in mystery na, Kyo's move for "ha haha haha" was more circular, less direct distribution to us in three directions.

Today, in Frame out kara no, Kyo actually went to hug Yuchi's back rather than target him with the stabbing, to which Yuchi responded by slightly bending and arching his neck backward. And it was mainly us singing the "sashite sashite" and "happy day".

There were a couple of short MCs from Kyo throughout the main set, which I don't fully remember... In one song, he said something but, at least from the centre-front, his vocals were actually hard to hear at times, so since he didn't use enough volume for whatever he said, he got zero reaction from us. He followed with: "Can yoi hear me?" at a reasonable volume, and we did cheer at that, but he was slightly put off by the whole thing.

I think he used the same tone, but maybe not the same words as yesterday to essentially ask us if we were alright to go on, and perhaps even to become one? But yeah, the tone that he uses to formulate the more polite form is so difficult to describe. I just picture this overweight lady who's confident in running a restaurant but who's actually not super smart. It has a nasal sound to it.

Oh, quite sure he referred to us as "hentai" and asked us to give even more.

What was clearer was the MC he did for the first encore. It was the "Ikimasu ka?/Ikaremasu ka?" variant again but he clearly had fun joshing around trying different tones and intonations each time.

UtA is so smiley and energetic when he comes to the edge of the stage after the encore song. Takumi also smiles a lot and looks very grateful, joining his hands together. Yuchi is a bit more stoic, but nevertheless hyped and grateful too. Mika is way too polite and composed, but when he left the first or second time, he gestured like he was pushing back our cheers toward him back at us, like he felt that it was too much. He's too humble!

And I say 'first or second time' because there was a second encore today! Yesterday, it may or may not have been because we just clapped, but today, we shouted: "ske-kiyo-sama" as soon as the members left the stage each time. And clearly it was a bit planned, because they had to show us the video for the next tour announcement and it didn't start playing after the first encore.

It took the band longer to come back on stage for the encore than yesterday, but for sure that was because Kyo had to change. I think Yuchi also remover something, and UtA took off his patterned suit to wear the tour T-shirt. Kyo took off his Madaraningen dress and came back wearing a black folded skirt and a brand new black T-shirt that read "Kyo" at the top and "Insanus" at the bottom, and the picture in between was a collage of his selfies from a past tour, some that are still on his Instagram. I guess it'll be an upcoming lottery prize.

For the second encore, Kyo did a much longer MC, and from what I got and remember, he started by saying: "Good job, eh?" while holding or scratching his head. Then, it was a bunch of questions he asked, and based on people's reactions, he must have asked which song we wanted to hear, obviously that didn't produce any intelligent response, then he asked if there was one we didn't want to hear, which got a more homogeneous negative answer. I think he asked us about something regarding the seventh song from the setlist... Someone said something and he jokingly said they were an idiot. Then he jokingly mocked the way we all did 🙏 during Kashikomi Kashikomi, maybe the way there's a push in the crowd or just the way it looks from up on top of the stage. After that, from what I understand, he looked at the back and might have said that Kashikomi Kashikomi was the song that all the staff was most ready to play again, and so that's what it would be.

During Kyo's MC where he himself laughed and made us laugh, Yuchi got a seat on Takumi's platform, and they both burst out laughing at some point.

After the first batch of screaming in Kashikomi Kashikomi, I was too busy headbanging, but when Kyo got back up from being folded for the screaming, he had a huge smile and was laughing at something. Yeah, the rest of that iteration of the song had nothing serious about it. It was exclusively fun, at that point.

When the song ended for the last time, I think Kyo stayed a bit longer, smiling, before leaving. UtA once again came beaming, arms open wide to drink our cheers at every point of the stage. Yuchi actually threw some picks. Takumi was just again joining his hands in appreciation of us and smiling, when UtA came up to him. I think it might have been once after the first encore and another time at the very end, but UtA essentially gave us fanservice with Takumi. The first time, he grabbed him from behind and kissed his neck for a while, with Takumi laughing. The second time, Takumi had urged him to come back over on the kamite side of the stage but UtA seemingly forgot all inhibitions and hugged Takumi, front to front, on the spur of the moment. It was a warm embrace.

I'll probably think of other stuff later, but that's about it for now.

Edit: There were two improvised sessions this time. The second one was quite similar to yesterday's, with piano at the beginning and Kyo yelling his heart out by the end. If I remember correctly, for the first one, he used the vocal instrument and I think it was the first time I heard its effects that clearly. Then, Kyo began rambling as if he were a woman on the phone, and it ended in an angry manner, from what I recall.

[penelope-regulus]

Welcome to an Incomplete Tour of the Eckhart Estate Part 2!

This part focuses solely on Penelope's bedroom! We've seen various parts of Penelope's room, but the whole thing was never shown in one picture, so let's put them together!

First of all, let's acknowledge that if we ever get the chance to move into this estate, Penelope's room would be the best room to take for ourselves for the simple reason that!

Reynold is probably here more frequently than his freaking bathroom.

And I only have three here because there's a limit of 30 pictures allowed per post and this one's going to have a lot. There are many, many, many other occasions where he barged in like it was his own room without any hesitation or knocking.

Next!

Her room is nice!

It has big windows on every corner, making it nice and bright and the view from her windows is also quite nice! Notice how the coloring of the window in the fourth image probably means you can watch the sunset.

Additionally, it has brown walls with gold stripes, which in my opinion is cozy.

Her carpet is gorgeous and high quality, please and thank you:

I mean like seriously, can we talk about how perfect her room is and how detailed? Look at the pictures of her bed:

Also, looking back at the pictures of the several times when Reynold barged into her room like some uncivil-- (sorry I tend to speak this way about him just cuz that's the kind of affection I have for Reynold)

Ahem!!

Where he's opened her door all the way looks straight at her and this image:

The head of Penelope's bed is against the wall to the right of the main doors to her room, all the way on the other side of the room next to the window.

Seeing how it's in front of Pennel here when he just entered the room, it's also the first you thing when entering her room.

The doors behind Reynold in this picture:

Are actually the doors of her bookshelf, which is to the right of her work table and behind her sitting area, which is situated between the foot of her bed and the shelf:

^ The painting above the shelf that can be seen behind Reynold too and the shelf beneath it

v Penelope's sitting area

This is her small work table and the shelf next to it:

And here's her sitting area:

There's also a sofa somewhere here, but don't know it's exact location

Hey, btw... Is her floor here covered in LEATHER?!

Additionally, she has a mirror hanging on the wall next to her left door:

There's a table too, although it seems there's nothing on it.

So to summarize, the layout of her room is something like this:

I don't really know where her closet or bathroom are, though.

Speaking of her bathroom!

It's majestic!!

The walls are lined with mirrors!

There's a huge window!

It's all white, which makes it extremely bright!

There's a small area for her to change into clothes and tables everywhere and a dressing table and despite all this it still maintains a minimalistic style!!

I could have her bathroom as a bedroom in the mansions and still be satisfied, I swear.

And lastly, I thought it was necessary to include the stairs leading up to Penelope's room, haha I'm obsessed

Right here:

As you can see, these stairs are also beautiful.

The rug has the same theme as the first floor corridors; a purple and gold, and there's a design etched onto the railing as well, in the same color.

Alright! That concludes part 2 of the Eckhart estate tour: Penelope's room! See you in part three, Duke Eckhart's Study!

[nomadical]

@wexarethewalkingxdead​ || prompts for emotionally stunted idiots || accepting!

“  i’m not gonna ask if ‘you’re okay’ cause that’s fuckin’ annoying.  you wanna get the hell out of here and do something?  ” (daryl dixon)

Paul feels like the walls are closing in. Every second he spends staring out over the grounds, thinking back to the night at the cemetery (because that’s all he’s been left with to DO), he swears he can still hear the whisper in his ear. Feel the whisperer’s warm breath on the shell of it. Smell the rankness of that man pretending to be one of the dead so close to him that it damn near felt intimate before the sharpness of the blade cut it’s way into him. And if he can’t get out of here soon? Get away from that train of thought? Those memories and where they take him? 

His mind’s going to snap and he’s not sure where that’s going to take him...

Or how the hell he’s going to get back from wherever that is. He’s seen others go there after trauma. (Rationalizing that this is from that experience--trauma--that’s what it is and he knows he has it and can see it in himself but knowing what to do with it? Yeah. He doesn’t. And that makes it even more INFURIATING.) Paul doesn’t want to end up like that. Powerless to anything but ghosts that haunt him. Suck away the life out of him. Leave him deader than he damn near was if it weren’t for Aaron and...

...Daryl. Daryl’s voice stirs him out of the motionless pose he has in his chair. His head turns, bright eyes peek out from a strand of hair that’s fallen from the loose bun at the back of his head. Relief instantly floods into his features at the offer. “Oh god. Yes. You have no idea..” It’s the first time he’s been offered. The first time someone’s talked to him like he’s made of anything more than glass. Well. Except Aaron who’s had to return home to Gracie. Rightfully so. But Daryl. Daryl just lit something up in his eyes that has him lowering his foot from the windowsill.

Takes him a minute. To get his boots on without grimacing. Gritted teeth get the job done but he’s got his beanie and a coat on and his bandages are minimal now. A small grin and he gives the other a devilishly wicked look. “Just gotta be prepared to talk our way past anyone who might think to police me back up here. If we aren’t careful.”

[libraryofloveletters]

so cute fic request. You are Maddie's OBGYN and at every appointment she insists to set you up with Buck, you deny her and finally one say yes just to be quiet and you meet what a great guy Buck is

The Set Up

Evan Buckley x Reader

Warnings: mentions of pregnancy and doctors offices, reader wears makeup, alcohol and the consumption of

Category: Straight Up Fluff 

Word Count: 2.6k

Author’s Note: here's a lil late v-day present for y’all :) 

Part 2: Dispatch: Labour in Progress 

----

“How does the baby look ?” Maddie was laid back, her eyes on the monitor. “Perfect, a perfect little baby” you smile at her as you hand her a towel to wipe up the gel. 

“How many copies would you like ?” you turn towards the ultrasound machine. 

“As many as you'd give me” she laughed, pulling her shirt back down. 

“Dad’s working ?” you asked, leaning back in the chair. “Yeah, he’s been trying to get off a day to come with me” she sits up, pulling out her phone. 

Maddie was one of your favourite patients, she was a sweetheart and always happy, regardless of what was happening, you didn't know how she did it. She began showing you a few pictures of the nursery and two guys who were in the picture. The first guy was Chimney, who was the baby’s father and Maddie’s boyfriend, the two of you had met at a previous appointment and the other guy, who you hadn't meant yet but felt like you had, was her brother Evan or Buck, which is what he went by. 

“You know, if you want to just come in one day when he's off work, we can just do a regular check-up just so he can see. It doesn’t have to be anything special for you to come in” 

“You’d do that ?” 

“Of course I would, between me and you, you’re my favourite patient” 

Maddie smiled at you, “so,” she gave you a look, “since I am your favourite patient, would you also go on a date with Buck ?” she asked, you nearly choked on your coffee. Maddie had a habit of trying to set you up with her brother. She did it often but it still caught you off guard each time. You coughed, “Maddie, no.” you laughed, “that would be unprofessional” 

“Oh come on, take a risk y/n. Life goes on and one date won't kill you” 

“Who said I’m looking ?” 

“Please, you are. You can't lie to me” she smiled, you shook your head. “Still a no Maddie” you handed her the copies of the ultrasound. “If you do want to do the ultrasound when he’s home, just give me a call” you smiled at her and she got up. “I will, thank you”

-- 

A few weeks later and Maddie was back in your office. “Good afternoon momma,” you were looking at the files as you walked in, pushing the door shut with your foot. Taking a seat on your little spinny chair, you look up when Maddie says good morning back to you. 

“Oh Chimney, it’s nice to see you” you smile as you shake the gel bottle. 

“Yeah,” he chuckled, “it’s good to be here” 

You hand him the gel bottle, he looked at you with brows furrowed. “You’re a paramedic, aren't you ? Go ahead” you chuckle as you turn the ultrasound machine on. “How are you feeling ?” you ask, “good actually, thanks for asking” Chim answers you. 

“I’m glad to hear that but I was asking Maddie” Chim’s mouth forms an O and he nods, Maddie smiles at him. “I’m good, baby’s good too. Kicking a lot recently. Especially when I drink orange juice” she chuckled. 

“And still just the one cup of coffee ?”

“Yeah, he won’t let me have anymore” she groans 

“Good, as he should be. You’re lucky I agreed to the one cup Maddie, you know I rather if you didn’t” 

“Ugh,” she groaned and rolled her eyes, “not you too” 

“I’m your doctor, it's my job to remind you unfortunately” 

Maddie sighs and rolls her eyes once again. You get what she meant, you couldn’t be pregnant and not have coffee, pregnancy is exhausting as it is, imagine it without coffee. “you know how to use an ultrasound machine right ?” you look over at Chimney, who was looking rather confused. 

”I do, why ?” 

“Would you like to do it ?” 

“Really ?” 

“Yeah, I let the dads have a chance to do it sometime. Makes them feel a little more involved” 

“I'd love too” 

You hand him the wand and step back, you watch as he rolls it across her belly. It was always sweet when the fathers came to the appointment, even more so when they're involved. 

“Y/n?” 

“Yes Maddie?” 

“Will you go on a date with Buck ?” She smiled sweetly at you, Chim looked at her, half shocked and half confused. 

“If I say yes to one date, will you quit bugging me about it ?” 

“Of course, just one date is all I’m asking for” 

“Does he know you’re setting him up ?” 

“Yeah- well no ? but he won't mind. It's part of my job as his sister” 

“Maddie, I have siblings as well, you don't see me setting them up” 

“Yeah yeah, that’s fine” 

Chim turned to you. “everything looks good doc” 

“Then we’re all done. Just hit print on the machine and you’ll get the pictures” 

Maddie wiped the gel off her stomach. She took a pen from the desk and scribbled a number down before handing the paper to you. “That’s his number, just message him” 

“You’re setting me up and I have to message him too ?” 

“Oh come on, you’ll be fine. Thank you for this and I'll be expecting details at my next appointment!” She gave you a smile before walking out. Chim looked at you, “I’m sorry I didn't know she was going to do that.” You laughed, “it's okay, she’s not the first person to do that. You should catch up with her though, she walks really fast for a pregnant lady” you chuckle, Chim smiled and walked out to find Maddie. You had some time to kill before your next appointment, you looked down at the paper in your hand. 

Do you text or not ? Wouldn't that be creepy ? Like oh hey, I'm your sister’s doctor let's go on a date.

You know what ? 

Screw it, what’s the worst that could happen. 

To Buck: Hey, I'm y/n. Your sister gave me your number, hope this isn't weird. She's been trying to set me up with you for months, thought we’d hit it off haha

God that was so stupid. Why the hell did you put haha ?

From Buck: Hey, it’s cool. She’s weird like that. What’s up ?

Oh shit, he answered. 

To Buck: Just at work, how about you ?

From Buck: Same thing 

Wait what do I say now ? Do you ask him out ? 

From Buck: Hope this isn't too forward of me or anything like that, but maybe you’d wanna grab a drink tonight ? Only if you’re free

Guess you don't have to ask him now 

To Buck: Yeah, that sounds good. Pick a place and let me know ? I’m off at 4 so anytime after that is fine. 

From Buck: I’m off at 6, how about 7 at the bar on Main Street ? 

To Buck: sounds good, see you then 

It was now 3:30 and Maddie was your last patient of the day. There was no harm in leaving now. After putting away your files and replying to a few emails from patients, you headed out. Only one issue you had when you got home was what to wear. 

Well so you thought. 

Taking a shower was the easy part, trying to do your hair and makeup with only 2 hours left, was a bit of a hassle. First disaster of the night was too much mousse in your hair, making it sticky and tacky. Washing it out, you managed to set it the way you like. The powder compact had fallen onto the floor, you hoped it wasn’t broken, turns out hope isn't enough. The other powder you had was far too light for your complexion right now and you decide against makeup for the night. 

Let him meet the bare you, you can wow him next time, if there is a next time. 

Deciding on a simple outfit, a white shirt that fit you nicely and a pair of black pants that went along with it. In your head, it seemed boring but in the mirror, it looked much better. Walking into the kitchen, there was a half drunk glass of wine from the night before.

Stale wine or nervous wreak ? Stale wine it is. 

You down the wine, spilling some onto your shirt. “Are you kidding-” groaning and turning back to the room, you end up changing your entire outfit. A pair of blue jeans and a black top that fit you in all the right places. One more look in the mirror and a hand through your hair, you headed out the door. 

It didn't take you long to arrive at the bar, as you only lived a few minutes off Main Street. You had seen Buck from the countless pictures Maddie had shown you so it didn’t take long to spot in at a table in the corner either. 

“Hey” you walked over, a smile on your face. He stood up, “Hi! you must be y/n” he leaned in for a hug, you mirrored his actions. “I am, it’s nice to meet you” 

The two of you sat across from each other and there was a bottle of beer in front of you. Buck spoke up when he noticed you noticing the bottle, “I ordered for you, I hope that's alright- you can order something else” 

“It’s fine, thank you” you take a sip, not your usual choice in drink but you didn't need to complain either. There was some silence for a while, not uncomfortable but not comfortable either. Anyone that passed by could tell it was a first date, if you could even call it that. 

“How do you know Maddie ?” he asks, you smile at him and take a sip of the beer before answering him. 

“I’m her OB” 

“Her ?” Buck had a confused expression on his face. 

“Her doctor, her obstetrician actually” 

“Oh for baby Buckley” he nodded. 

“Yeah, she's been bugging me about you since we’ve met actually. She’s sweet but she’s persistent” you chuckle and Buck gives you a smile, “that’s my sister” 

The night went by rather quickly, the two of you sharing work stories. Buck told you about the time he worked a full moon and they responded to a call at a yoga class only to have 3 women go into labour simultaneously. 

“It was the full moon I swear! I tried to tell Bobby but he didn't listen to me!” he said, laughing. 

You nodded and laughed too, “no, it’s true. I've had so many full moon babies. I never book off full moons because I know someone is going to go into labour”

“Thank you! Someone gets what I mean!”

You then told him about the time you filled in for your colleague, he told you it was supposed to be a regular birth but turns out it was quadruplets. It was nice to find someone who understood your weird work schedule. The two of you shared stories until the waitress came over to tell you that they’d be closing in a few minutes. It was a little past midnight when she came over, the two of you decided to call it a night and head out together. 

“How are you getting home ?” he asked you, you walked with him over to his Jeep that was parked down the street. “I’ll just walk, I don’t live too far from here” 

“No” he stated while shaking his head 

“No ?” you questioned him, your brows furrowed as you looked at the man in front of you.

“I invited you out, at least let me take you home. It’s late too, it won't be right to let you walk home by yourself” 

“Are you sure ? I don't want you to go out of your way” 

“Oh no it’s cool, c’mon” 

He opened the door for you like the gentlemen he is and then got in after. “Which way my darling ?” he gave you a cheesy smile which made you chuckle. “A left at the next light and the brown building is me” you leaned back in the seat. It was quiet as he drove down the street, you looked over at him and admired him. From the way his hand rested on his wheel to the little smile on his face, even to the birthmark above his eye. 

“It's rude to stare” 

“Can't help myself, you're pretty” 

Oh shit, did you just-

Buck looked over at you, a wicked little smile on his face. “You think I’m pretty ?” 

You could feel the blush on your face, “uh- well- um I guess ?” 

“I think you more than guess that but whatever you say” he smiled 

Buck pulled into the building parking lot, he stopped and his head hit the seat as he leant back. Looking over at you, “let me walk you up ?” 

“You’ve already done enough, it's fine” 

“It’s fine. Come on” he got out, you mirrored his actions. Buck followed behind you as the two of you made your way up to your apartment. Unlocking the door, you stepped in and he stood by the door. 

“Do you want to come in ?” setting your keys on the counter, you look back at the man who was leaning against the doorframe. 

“I’d love too but I've got the first shift. Maybe another time ?” 

“Yeah, that’s fine” walking back over to him, you stood in front of him. Even with him leaning, he still towered over you. 

“I had a nice time tonight” you say, he nods. “I did too. Maybe we can do this again sometime ?” 

“I'd like that” 

“Okay.” he smiles, “well, good night then y/n” 

“Good night Buck” standing on your toes, you go to kiss his cheek but it seems he had the same idea, both of you turning your heads at the same time and your lips were on his. Buck’s hand cupped your face for the few moments your lips were on his. When you pulled away, Buck had a slight red tint on his face, a blush or simply could have been the heat coming from your apartment, either way you were sure you looked the same way. 

“How does Saturday sound ? Noon for lunch if you’re free ?” he breaks the silence.

"Saturday sounds perfect” 

Buck smiled at you once more, he turned and began walking back to the elevator. He stopped in the middle of the hallway, turning back once again and walked towards your door.  He leaned down and gave you one more kiss. Laughing at the sweetheart that was now smiling at you from the other end of the hallway, you watched as he stepped on the elevator and then shut your door. 

Outside of your building was a happy Buck who skipped his way over to his car, his keys twirling on his finger with a big grin on his face. As he got into his car, he sent his sister a text message. 

To Maddie: You seem to know me better than I think, thank you. 

Upstairs, there was a similar scene, a happy you skipping their way to bed with a smile on their face. As you laid in bed, you too sent a text message to Maddie. 

To Maddie: Your match making efforts have worked, thank you. 

----

taglist: @mrs-dr-reid @ssa-volturi @advicefromnixxxx @dralexreid @keenmarvellover @venusrosepetal @mikaelson-emma @beth-winchester21

[plutosmoonchild]

v i r g o new moon, sept. 7 - 2:53am (UTC+1) envision your future - organize your life

this september new moon, occurring at 14°37’ virgo, invites you to take a new, fresh start. practice letting go, be mindful and listen to what you ~ your mind, your body and your soul ~ need. then start giving it to you by taking one step at a time. give yourself space and time ~ and compassion.

a new moon is when no part of the moon is visible from the earth. everything is cast in a thin veil of shadow. it marks the first lunar phase and represents the start of a new lunar cycle. a new moon is therefore connected to fresh starts.

virgo, then, is a mutable earth sign. while mutable signs are adaptable, comfortable with endings, detail-oriented, and fluid, earth signs, on the other hand, are stable, grounded, receptive, and loyal. by mixing these qualities and energies, we get virgo: intuitive, flexible and quiet.

✨ to find out what this new moon means for you personally, check the horoscopes down below. ✨

please always read horoscopes for your RISING sign.

interceptions may put the new moon in a different house. if you use placidus, please check the sign accordingly.

ARIES this new moon falls in your sixth house - the house of work and service, your routine and day to day life, your health. order your priorities, try not to procrastinate and think about what (work)projects need your energy / which remaining projects you need to see through. there could be new projects coming your way - which do you want and can take on? even a job offer may appear.

TAURUS passion and creativity are the key words for you this new moon. you could feel inspired to get yourself out more, experience fun and maybe date around, if you’re single. if you’re committed, your relationship could get a new spark as well. also: let your creative ides and expressions flow, then plan what needs to be done to actually realize them.

GEMINI you know, there are these days where you just get the bug to move everything around at home, roaming and fixing and adapting stuff? This could be you this new moon. it’s a good time to sort through your things, do some housework and even fix family ties.

CANCER activating your third house, your mind could be especially busy around this new moon. you could find yourself thinking and speaking, texting and traveling around town / nearby. all stuff communication related is highlighted as well, maybe take a closer look and reflect your communication habits.

LEO this new moon falls in your second house, the house of possessions and values, finances but also your self-worth. it’s a good time to organize your income, maybe even critically take a look at your expenses and reflect on the way you view yourself. do you value yourself? how much? enough, too much, too little?

VIRGO this new moon is about YOU. it’s a perfect opportunity to shed behavioral patterns which no longer serve you and manifest and implement new ones. who do you want to be? use this invitation to reinvent yourself, if needed. and if not: simply enjoy being your most authentic self.

LIBRA take some time for yourself. step back from the busy hustle of things, ground yourself and allow some space for all those new ideas, that could come to you this new moon. even if you normally don’t like to spend time alone, try to embrace and practice being solitary. maybe also write down your dreams, if you can remember them. they could provide some interesting revelations and symbolism.

SCORPIO rather cautious of strangers and new people in your life, it may seem counter-intuitive for you to welcome many into your circle - but maybe, this new moon, it will be a good idea. you could find yourself networking or spending more time in social groups. perhaps you’ll also meet someone who helps you taking the next steps to reach a dream of yours you dearly hoped for.

SAGITTARIUS business and career matters are on the forefront for you this new moon. you could have new insights, ideas or revelations regarding these matters. maybe you’ll feel newly inspired in your work or feel called to take on a new path / approach. remember to put one foot in front of the other and don’t forget the importance of time and patience.

CAPRICORN now is a good time to put in the work - and you’ll likely see results regarding your academic career, long distance travel plans or philosophical / spiritual journeys. this new moon provides you with some extra energy regarding those fields and maybe even offers you some new opportunities.

AQUARIUS with the new moon activating your eight house, the house of intimacy, power, merging and psychology, get yourself ready for some transformation (which is ruled by the eight house as well). if you’ve been suppressing emotions or change, this new moon could act as a catalyst. it could also light up your desire for partnerships and sharing yourself with people you hold close to your heart.

PISCES relationships of any kind are the main theme for you this new moon. it’s a good time to work cooperatively, make serious plans with your partner or your friends. if you’re feeling stuck with something, maybe try and share / talk it through with the people in your life - you may get a totally new revelation, view or idea of the matter. teamwork could be the way to go.

[itsjustmyfantasyroom]

Via Text

The lovely @beccabarba requested a follow on from Via Email. Hope this hits the spot x

Thank you @detective-giggles for helping along the way.

Warnings: Bryan Kneef, I repeat Bryan Kneef. He is an ass-hole and slightly rough but reader feels safe. Thigh riding smut. Swearing. Use of Daddy, slut and whore.

WC:  1881

Enjoy x

You had just walked out of your 6th interview in 2 weeks since you had quite your job as Bryan’s assistant and personal sex toy. You had applied for multiple jobs and been to interviews with no luck, and you weren’t really sure why. You were up to date with all training and had more than enough experience but you hadn’t gotten an offer. You were lucky you didn’t have to cut into your savings to live just yet and your parents had told you they would help out as much as they could so you didn’t have to do that.

You walked out of the 6th interview feeling kind of flat, 6 interviews in 2 weeks and it actually hit you that maybe you might have to go back to school and start all over again. You hated yourself for sleeping with your boss and you hated yourself even more for letting him get under your skin. You walked passed a bar and thought ‘fuck it’, it was lunch time and you needed a drink. You walked in sitting at the bar and ordering a pink gin and lemonade and a serving of wedges when your phone buzzed with a new text. You rolled your eyes when you saw the number, and against your better judgement you clicked on it just to see what it said,

6 interviews in 2 weeks, you’ve been busy. Shame none of them have worked out. Let me know when you want your job back.

Bryan

“Prick” you muttered under your breath it all making sense why you hadn’t heard back from any jobs, you had put Bryan as your previous employee and clearly they had all contacted him.  

You sat there as your blood boiled, everything running through your head. You had two more drinks before you got down off your stool, throwing a tip on the bar walking out to get a cab. You got to the office building making your way inside, storming past work friends as they said hello actually not hearing them you were so filled with rage. The drinks that you had were enough to give you some courage and make your flitter slip slightly, but not enough that you were intoxicated to the point you didn’t know what you were doing.

You walked up the spiral stair case into your old office space, to Ruth sitting at your desk. Ruth was a floater, a lovely older lady that had been at the firm probably since before you were born,

“Y/N, how is your break dear? What brings you in, I thought you had another week off”

“Wait, what?” You frowned at Ruth.

“Mr Kneef said you were using some of your vacation days”

“Fucking asshole” you muttered “Where is Mr Kneef?”

“He has a meeting, should be done in 20 minutes. You can wait in his office if you like”

“Thanks Ruth”

You walked into Bryan’s office shrugging off your blazer to your navy, short sleeved, v necked aligned dress with a waist belt, black peep toed Mary Janes your hair pulled back in a low lose bun, throwing it over the arm chair followed by your bag and you walked straight over to his bar cart garbing a low ball glass and his best whiskey he hide behind everything else on the top shelf, pouring yourself a glass. You walked over to the large window, the window he pushed you up against too many times starring into the distance while you waited for him to come back. It wasn’t long after when you heard his voice barking orders at Ruth about the meeting,

“I’ll get that done for you straight away Mr Kneef. Y/N is waiting for you in your office.”

“Have you had lunch yet?” Bryan looked down at Ruth and she shook her head no “ Go now, take two hours today”

“But the paper work”

“Don’t worry about it. Two hours, go” he snapped.

Bryan didn’t come in straight away. You heard the main office door close and then you heard his office door close. You spun around on your heels, your cheeks burnt and your tummy filled with butterflies as you looked at him. His grey pinned stripped suit with white shirt and black tie, his hair in place and his salt and pepper beard making your knees weak, the smell of his cologne kicking in your core instantly. You looked at him over the rim of the glass as he made his way over to you with a straight face, shrugging off his jacket throwing it on his desk, rolling up his sleeves. You shot the rest of the amber liquid back slamming the glass down on his desk and his eyes narrowed at you and suddenly rage filled you again,

“You asshole” you snarled “You have been sabotaging my interviews”

“You don’t need a new job”

“The fuck I don’t”

“No Y/N you fucking don’t. I blocked your resignation letter and made it into a personal leave submission. You just needed to cool down”

You raised an eye brow at him, and the room fell silent as he walked to his bar cart poring himself a drink and then walking to his two seater couch sitting down resting one arm along the arm of the chair holding his glass, the other resting along the back and his legs spread open,

“Asshole” you snapped.

“How many did you have before that one?” Bryan said coolly tilting his head to look over at you.

“Excuse you?” you walked over to stand in front of him your face red from anger.

“You don’t talk like that unless you’ve been drinking” he raised his eye brow at you with a smirk “Clearly I sent the text at the right time, pushed the right button” he chuckled.

You scoffed, crossing your arms across your body leaning into your right hip tapping your left foot on the floor,

“What are you trying to achieve here Bryan?”

“I don’t say sorry and I never admit I was in the wrong” he raised both eye brows fast.

Your eyes locked with his, the way he looked deep into yours made you gasp and like a flash he put his glass down on the end table and he was in front of you, his body flush with yours, his body heat seeping through your cloths, one hand on your hip and the other on the side of your neck, you bit your bottom lip,

“You have one week of personal leave left, 3 weeks of full pay all together. You come back Monday and the whole week will be time and a half”

“No” you spat back. Bryan grinned as he ran his hand from your neck up into your hair threading it between your bun and your scalp, his hand balling into a fist tugging your hair and head to the side and he started to kiss the slope of your neck. You moaned as his beard ran along your skin, his lips wet from his drink and you grabbed onto his strong muscly arms, your finger nails digging into the material of his business shirt “I’ am not your whore Bryan”  

“No your Daddy’s little slut” Bryan said into your skin, the hand on your hip running down to your ass cheek giving it a slight spank. You whimpered and squeezed your thighs together for some relief.

Common sense kicked in and you pulled away from him, “I’ am not doing this, not while you’re seeing or fucking other people, I’ am no ones fool. And pigs will fly before I work for you again” You pushed your pointer finger into his chest “Don’t fuck up my next interview”

You went to walk away when you felt his long fingers warp around your wrist and he tugged you back roughly, pulling you to the couch, tugging you down to sitting and the down to lay on your back. You were taken aback by his actions, but you didn’t feel unsafe, quite the opposite, he had never turned you on this much before. You trusted Bryan and you knew in his weird asshole way he was trying to mend whatever this was.

Bryan grabbed both wrists pinning them above your head, his long fingers in a tight grip around them, his knee pushing between your legs and you spread them willingly. All common sense you just had was gone the moment he grabbed your wrist. Bryan lent over you, his free hand resting on the back of the couch, and he adjusted his leg so his thigh was resting on your centre and you gasped as he started to moved his leg over you in a fast pace, your back arching off couch from the feeling of your panties rubbing on your hardened pearl as Bryan run his thigh over you. His lips ghosting yours,

“You don’t need another interview because you have a job here” Bryan pushed his thigh deeper into you and you moaned “I’ am not fucking or dating anyone else anymore. Only you”

You could feel your coil winding tight and you started to roll your hips over Bryan’s thigh, he could feel your wet coming through his pants. His own need was straining against his zipper, but today wasn’t about him. Today was about getting you back in and out of work. Your body covered in sweat and you screamed his name breathless as you rode his thigh till you came down from your high. When you stopped moving your hips Bryan lent down his lips landing on yours kissing you deeply. His tongue darting into your mouth toying with your tongue. Bryan broke the kiss so you could catch your breath, sitting up on the couch for a moment and then standing up in front of Bryan, his hands going to your hips again,

“That’s your way of saying sorry?” you smiled.

“You’re complaining?” Bryan smirked with an eye brow raise.

“Of course not” you cupped Bryan’s cheeks running your thumb along his bottom lip, he pouting his lips to kiss the pad of it “Only me?”

“I don’t need to repeat myself Y/N” he looked firmly at you “No titles yet, we work up to that”    

“Ok” you smiled giving him a peak on the lips.

“I’ll come past when I’ am done and you can show me how sorry you are” Bryan grinned at you.  

“I have nothing to be sorry for” you sassed back, pulling away from him to walk away to get your jacket and bag, Bryan’s hand landing on your ass again with a spank before you were out of reach, you looked over your shoulder and winked “But by all means stop by later Daddy”  

 Tags: @thatesqcrush​​​​ @witches-unruly-heart​ @madamsnape921​​​​ @annabelleb49​​​​ @prurientpuddlejumper

[wiypt-writes]

Riding High

Ch18: Sugar

 Chapter Summary: It’s July, and Fliss’ birthday…

 Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words.!!!

 Chapter Pairings:  Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

 A/N: Ok, so I know you’ve all been on edge since He-who-shall-not-be-named was released on parole and I hope this chapter doesn’t disappoint. We’ll be gearing up for a bit of a rough time over the next few chapters for Friss so buckle up…  

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Fliss Gallagher and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Riding High Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 17

July 2018

 “So now what?” Mary looked at Fliss as the two of them sat side by side at the table, both looking at the laptop in front of them.

“See these spaces here…” Fliss said, pointing to two empty squares dotted in the unpublished Internet Page and then to the larger space at the top “Now we need to add the photos…”

 They were working on a project of sorts for Sandybrook’s website. They’d decided to give Monty his own little weekly blog for the summer called “The Life of Monty” which Mary had eagerly said she wanted to write, something for her to do over the break. “Ooh, ok!” Mary nodded “I already know which ones I want to use!” “Yeah?” Fliss looked at her.

“I want that one that has me, you and Monty in…you know the one that Frank likes where we are both laughing.” Fliss smiled “Ok, we can use that one.” “And then the other one is the one where Monty had the Party Hat on because it was his birthday.” “Good choice.” Fliss smiled “And what about the one across the top.” “The one of him in the pasture.” Mary said after a moment “Where he is looking up and pulling the funny face, you know with all his teeth out?” 

Fliss grinned “Yeah, it looks like he is smiling.” Mary nodded eagerly “Yup.” With a move of the mouse, Fliss set to work selecting the photos, ensuring that they were positioned and sized right for the frames. She couldn’t help but smile at the one of her and Mary. Mary was looking at the camera, laughing a lot whilst Fliss was, in turn, watching her and laughing too. Frank had been trying to take the photo of the 2 of them but Bill had been stood behind him, pulling stupid faces which had reduced Mary to tears, and her giggles had then set Fliss off. Frank said he adored the photo, that much in-fact it was now the screen-saver on his phone.

 Fliss clicked save and then looked at Mary. “Wanna give it a final read over, check if you want to add anything else?”

Mary nodded.

“Ok, you do that I’m gonna start dinner.” “What are we having?” Mary looked at her.

“Carbonara. That ok?”

Mary grinned her approval as Fliss stood up, dropped a kiss to Mary’s head and walked into the kitchen.

It wasn’t long before Frank came home and greeted Mary before he headed into the kitchen area. He wrapped his arms round Fliss from behind, dropping a kiss to her neck.

“Good day?” he asked and she hmmed in agreement.

 “Not bad…are you filthy, as usual?”

 He chuckled as he let her go and moved to the fridge. She stopped what she was doing and turned to face him as he reached in for the water jug. He was, as always, covered in grime from his work and Fliss bit her lip. There was definitely something about seeing him in his dirty work jeans and grubby T-shirts that got her blood pumping.

 “Stop it.” he said, giving her a look, knowing full well what she was thinking. She shrugged and with a grin turned back to the food.

 “Oh, erm, wanted to check…are you if we use photos of Mary for her blog on the website?” Fliss asked, turning back to him.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” “It’s a public sight.” Fliss shrugged “Just wanted to check that’s all.” “It’s fine.” Frank said, placing a kiss to her cheek “I think it’s a really good idea anyway, give her something to do and practice her writing. Like Bonnie said, she’s sharp on the numbers but could do with honing up her English a little bit. She’s too logical, this should give her something to be creative with and keep her occupied over the break.”

 And you…he refrained from adding. In the week following the notification that parole had been granted, John had been released. And this had set Fliss on edge. One night after she had snapped at Frank, causing a full scale argument over the fact he had bought the wrong type of salad dressing, she’d broken down and confessed that she wasn’t sleeping properly and this was causing stupid things, like Ranch v French dressing, to tip her over the edge.

 The day after her spectacular salad dressing related melt down, Greg, who had already requested details of the terms of his release, came over and the 3 of them gone through, in detail what it meant realistically for Fliss.

 “Basically it’s as good as you could hope for.” Greg explained “He is forbidden from contacting you or any of your family in any way, via any means. He is State-bound to Massachusetts, specifically the Boston area. He’s tagged, and on a curfew between the hours of 7pm and 7am. And moreover the authorities here are following the UK’s lead as well and trialling these new GPS tracking tags, which they’ve deemed him eligible for. So at any time, any place, they’ll be able to lock onto his whereabouts…” 

“So if he does breach his conditions…” Fliss started and Greg nodded “They’ll be on him like a shot.” he said, with a gentle smile “Look, I know this is shit…but you really do have nothing to worry about. One breach and he’s back inside. And when he reaches the end of his parole, we’ll file for an injunction with the same conditions. Keep him away from you.”

 Since the conversation with Greg, Fliss had calmed down somewhat but still, in week following her confession she didn’t spend a night away from Frank, seemingly coping better with the fact that she was around him, and even when he wasn’t there, the fact she was in his apartment gave her some safety and comfort.

 So he’d asked her to move in permanently 3 days ago. Which he was still waiting for an answer on. 

“What you thinking?” her voice broke through his thoughts.

“Honestly?”

 “Always.” she nodded.

 “When you’re gonna give me an answer to that question I asked you a few days back.” She took a deep breath and looked down at the floor before she looked up at him, a soft smile on her face.

 “Are you sure you want me here, full time, and you’re not just asking because-“

 “Lissy…” he cut her off, shaking his head “I’d have asked you move in here the day I did if I’d thought you’d have said yes. I’d love you to come live with us. And I know Mary would too…” “Ok, that’s blackmail.” she narrowed his eyes at the fact he’d dropped Mary into the equation and he grinned. “Is it working?”

 She bit her lip and nodded “Yeah, ok, I’d love to…” “Yeah?” he said, a huge smile spreading across his face, warmth flooding his chest.

 “Yeah…” she nodded, and grinned as he wrapped his arms around her, pressing a kiss to her lips.

 “Gross…” Mary mumbled as she walked past the pair of them to the fridge, retrieving a juice box. . Frank broke away to look at her as she stabbed the straw into the hole at the top.

“Better get over it Stack.” he smirked. “Fliss just agreed to come live with us.” “Really?” her eyes widened and she grinned as Fliss nodded. Mary moved over to the pair of them and wrapped her arms around them both, Frank’s hand falling to the back of her head as she looked up at him. “Does that mean I don’t need to eat any more of your cooking, like ever again?”

 Frank rolled his eyes and glanced at Fliss who was chuckling slightly “Trust me Mary…” she said, grinning “I’ve no intention of eating his cooking either.”

***** Of course Verity and Bill were over the moon when Fliss told them she was moving into Frank’s, and the next week or so they all spent doing various runs with the things she decided she needed to take. Everything else she would be leaving in the annex to either throw or store at a later date. 

Considering the amount of time they spent together, it wasn’t a huge change for them, it just meant that the comfortable routine they adopted when they were together became a daily one, and it suited the pair of them just fine. Frank also surprised Fliss by getting her a vanity unit which she had made a passing comment about, making space for it in their room.

After 3 weeks it had become the new normal for them. They shared chores, shared Activity Club runs, grocery shopping,  bills…Frank had tried to object to that one but Fliss had put her foot down insisting that if she was living there she was paying her way so he’d caved in the end and agreed. Fliss felt happy, safe, secure, loved...and Frank was over the moon simply knowing he had her to come home to every night.

 One particular evening, a few days before her Birthday they were due to meet Evelyn for dinner as she was in town again to visit Mary, but Fliss was running ridiculously late, and as a consequence was in a total flap

 “Fuck, fuck…” she groaned, jumping out of the jeep and calling Thor to her. “Come on buddy…”

She hurried across the lawns and threw the door to the apartment open, Thor shooting in before her. 

“I’m so sorry I’m late…” she instantly began apologising  as she walked into the living area and groaned loudly “The last lesson overran and then one of the waterers broke in the livery barn, flooded Horatio’s stable…” “It’s ok, calm down…” Frank chuckled, dropping a kiss to her cheek. “How did it break?”

“He’s been scratching his arse on it.” she said, rubbing at her temple “He broke it off the wall. We turned the supply off but I had to sort his bed before I left, then call his owner to tell her…” she groaned “Fucking nightmare.” “Want me to take a look at it?”

Fliss shook her head “Dad’s gonna do it tomorrow, keep him busy. He always moans at me for asking you and not…” she trailed off as she spotted Evelyn who was sat on one of the chairs in the living room. “Oh, Evelyn…hi. Sorry, I didn’t realise you were coming here…I thought…”

“We were…” Frank explained “But Mary wasn’t feeling too good so I suggested to Mother she come here instead.” “Oh, no, is she ok?” Fliss asked.

 “Too much sun I think, she’s been running around at the Activities Camp all day and hardly drunk anything, despite the lecture you gave her. She’s had some water and gone for a nap. She’ll be fine when it’s time for dinner.”

 “I thought seeing as we can’t go out I’d treat you to take out.” Evelyn spoke, standing up. Fliss eyed her for a moment before she shrugged.

 “I can make something.” she offered, and Frank shook his head. “No, Lissy…” “I can do chicken with that pear and blue cheese salad you and Mary liked.” Fliss said, “Surely that’s gonna be better for her than a take out if she’s feeling shitty?”

 Frank looked at her and then to his mother “That ok with you?” “Sure, that sounds good.” Evelyn nodded “but only if it’s no trouble.” “It’s fine.” Fliss nodded “Let me go take a shower and then I’ll get started ok?” Frank nodded and dropped a kiss to her cheek before she headed off to the bathroom. Thor made his way into the living room and took his usual place on the rug, flopping down as he looked up at Evelyn as she followed Frank over to the kitchen area. He pulled a bottle of white wine out of the fridge and held it up.

 “Sancerre?” Evelyn arched an eyebrow. “And a pretty good one too…” “Fliss’ choice, not mine. I assume that means you’d like a glass.” “I don’t want to put you out Frank.” she said, and he shook his head.

 “You’re here now so…” he said “Oh, we normally eat outside but I’m not sure if Mary’s-”

 “What, in open view of everyone?” Evelyn asked, horrified “It’s hardly-“ She stopped dead as Frank shot her a look, and held her hands up. “Point taken…”

 Frank poured her a glass then got a beer for himself and leaned back against the counter as his Mother nodded appreciatively at the wine.

 “So, pear and blue cheese…” she said and Frank looked at her “You hated cheese as a child.” “Well, I like it now.” he shrugged “And Mary loves that salad so…” “It’s not a dish I would normally associate with a child to be honest.” Evelyn mused.

“Well, I think we can both agree Mary isn’t a particularly standard child so…”

 At that point Fred sauntered into the kitchen, straight to his food bowl. Evelyn eyed him, before she turned to Frank and smiled “I already took a Benadryl…” He snorted and a few seconds later Mary appeared.

“Hi Grandmother. Fliss said you were here.” “You feeling ok?” Frank asked as she walked over to him. He swung her up and she rest her head on his shoulder, nodding. “Want some more water?” “Fliss told me to ask for the elec…erm…the electo-” “Electrolytes” he said, nodding. “Not a bad shout…”

He set her on the counter and then reached into the cabinet to the right of the sink where they kept the medical supplies and pulled a sachet from the box. Grabbing a glass he pulled the Filter jug out of the fridge and made her the drink before he handed it to her. “Take it slow ok?” She nodded and took it from him with a thanks, sipping at it carefully, pulling a face. “What flavour is that?” “It says orange.” he answered, looking at the packet.

“Well it’s wrong. That’s disgusting.” “It’s good for you, so stop complaining.”  Frank tossed the empty sachet into the trash.

 To his surprise he heard his mother chuckling and he turned to look at her.  “I remember giving you something similar when you came home with sunstroke from playing Baseball all afternoon. You spat it out and told me you’d rather die than drink it.” Frank gave a huff and then turned to Mary who was grinning ear to ear “Don’t even think about it.” he pointed at her.

 She shrugged and then took another mouthful, grimacing as she drank. “Please can I get down?” Frank obliged and watched as she headed off to the sofa, Thor jumping up besides her, settling his head in her lap.

 “Go and talk to her.” Frank looked at his mother “That’s why you’re here, to spend time with her. Not me.”

Evelyn nodded, and for a moment Frank thought he saw a flicker of emotion in the woman’s eyes, but as quick as it had flashed across her face it was gone and she turned and made her way into the sofa. Frank leaned on the edge of the archway which led into the living area and watched as she sat down in the chair she had occupied previously before he heard the door to the bathroom open again, signalling Fliss was out of the shower. He moved to start taking the different things they needed to make dinner out of the fridge and turned on the oven before he seasoned the chicken breasts just as she had shown him with salt, pepper, chilli and a squeeze of lime. He dropped it onto a tray, placed it in the oven and was washing his hands when Fliss walked dressed casually in a pair of shorts and a fading Guns N Roses tank top. She was barefoot and her damp hair was piled up on her head in a haphazard bun. This was Frank’s favourite way to see her. Completely relaxed and at home.

 “Chicken’s in.” he said as he turned to the fridge and then poured her a glass of wine.

 “Thank you.” she smiled, taking a sip.

 “Can I show Evelyn around?” Mary asked, and Frank turned to her.

 “Finished your drink?” “Yeah.” “Ok then yes, of course you can.” She stood up and Evelyn followed, giving the pair of them a smile as she passed by the kitchen area of the open plan living space

 “Oh, Felicity.” “Fliss, please.” Fliss nodded to her as she turned back to what she was doing.

 “Fliss, sorry, but could I be awkward?” Evelyn asked.

“No doubt you can.” Fliss mumbled between gritted teeth and Frank smirked to himself before she tuned to look at Evelyn.

 “Could I ask for my salad dressing on the side?”

“That’s fine.” Fliss nodded “I’ll make you a separate bowl.” “Thank you, that’s very kind.” Evelyn smiled before she headed out after Mary.

 “If she doesn’t eat this, then she’s gonna be wearing it.” Fliss looked at Frank who let out a laugh as he chopped up the slices of cucumber.

 “Now that I would pay to see.” “I’ll do it for free.” Fliss narrowed her eyes.

Frank chuckled again as they continued to make their food. After about 10 minutes or so, just as they were dropping the salad bowls onto the table, Evelyn and Mary re-appeared.

 “You’ve made a nice home, certainly considering the area anyway.” Evelyn said, as Frank invited her to sit at the table before he headed back to grab the bottle of wine, a beer for himself and more water for Mary.

 Fliss rolled her eyes” The area is fine, and Frank did it all, not me. Well, him and my dad. I only moved in a few weeks ago.”

“Yes, he does speak very highly of your parents.” “Well they love him.” Fliss shrugged “But then again what’s not to love.”

Evelyn looked at Fliss for a moment as Frank made his way back to the table, and they all settled down and began to eat. As she had been at Mary’s birthday, his mother was polite, nodding appreciatively at the food, joining in the conversation and she sat with Mary once they’d finished so Mary could show he the latest installation of Monty’s blog. After another bottle of wine and a few more beers, Frank realised it was getting quite late and then told Mary she needed to be getting ready for bed. Evelyn took this as her queue to call for her driver, which Frank was pleased about as it saved him having to ask her to leave.

 Mary headed for a shower and the three adults made small talk until she reappeared in her pyjamas just as Evelyn’s driver called to announce his arrival. She bid Mary goodnight and then Frank made to walk her down to her car when the woman surprised him and looked at Fliss. 

“Could you…I’d like to speak to you.” Fliss looked at Frank before she shrugged “Yeah, sure…” Frank frowned, but didn’t object. He looked at his mother and nodded “Let me know when you want to see her again.”

 “I was actually wondering if she could come to Boston for a few days.” Evelyn said and Frank took a deep breath. “Obviously, when it’s convenient.” “Maybe.” He nodded “Goodbye Evelyn.” “Yes, I’ll call you.” she nodded and then the two women headed out of the apartment. Fliss stuck her hands in her pockets as they walked.

 “I’m glad he took my advice.” Evelyn broke the silence “Regarding you, I mean…”

“Yeah he told me what you said to him.” Fliss gave a snort “Gotta say I was surprised after I’d unleashed quite a nasty verbal tirade on you…” “Well I think all things considered at the time I deserved it.”  Evelyn shrugged “And I’m not surprised you hate me so-“

 “I don’t hate you Evelyn.” Fliss cut her off, shaking her head “I hate what you did to Frank and Mary, and honestly? I still don’t understand it.”

 “I thought I was doing the right thing.” “But how?” Fliss pressed “How was tearing a girl away from the only father figure she has ever known, the man that has cared for her and loved her since she was six months old the right thing?”

 Evelyn shook her head “I know Frank and I made an assumption-” “No, you knew Frank.” Fliss looked at her, “It was, what? Almost 8 years since you saw him last when you turned up…and how long was it before he left Boston since you actually had a conversation with him? I just…” Fliss trailed off and looked down at her feet before she glanced back at Frank’s mother “it baffles me how someone can be so callous towards their own child, that’s all.”

 Fliss watched as Evelyn stopped and looked at her “What do you want me to say?” “An apology might not go amiss…” “I did that with his birthday card, paying the fees…” “Money doesn’t make it ok Evelyn.” Fliss sighed, “And a card isn’t the same as saying it to his face…” she scratched at her head “If you want to try and salvage something from this mess, have some form of relationship with your son…” “What makes you think-“ “Because I saw you this evening, at various points, watching him…you might be able to keep your face straight but the eyes don’t lie” Fliss said gently. Evelyn looked down at the ground as Fliss continued. “I suggest you start with a verbal apology, a very open and honest discussion, because that’s when you get the best out of Frank. On a face-to-face level, when he isn’t being lied or talked down to”

 “You really do know him exceptionally well don’t you?” Evelyn smiled.

“Well, we’ve had enough of our own discussions recently with everything that’s been going on so…” “Right, your ex-husband.” “How do you-“ Fliss sighed, “Mary?” “No, actually, she never said a word. I looked you up.”

 “Course you did.” Fliss groaned.

 “I was curious about your family.” Evelyn shrugged “You have quite the back story.” “Yeah well, its history.” she said “And long may it stay that way.”

 “Well I hope for all your sakes it does.” Evelyn shook her head “Nothing I can’t stand less than a man that deems it acceptable to do that. Lord knows I pushed Preston the extremes at times but he never once raised a hand to me…or his voice now that I think about it. He preferred to argue on a cerebral level...”

 “Very like Frank.” Fliss smiled.

 “Yes, the two are exceptionally similar.” Evelyn said as they reached the car. “Thank you for dinner Fliss, it was a very enjoyable evening.” Fliss smiled and then as Evelyn opened the car door the woman turned back to her “Just think about what I said Evelyn. You can’t turn the clock back but it’s how you go forward from here that matters.”

 Evelyn nodded, and with that she climbed in the car and shut the door. Fliss watched them drive off before she turned and headed back towards the apartment. “You ok?” Frank asked, turning to look over the back of the sofa as she walked into the living area.

“Yeah, fine.” Fliss smiled. “Mary in bed?”

“She’s reading” Frank nodded “Told her you’d pop in and say goodnight.” Fliss yawned as she slid her arms round his shoulders from behind “I’ll go now, then I think I’ll get in bed myself. I’m whacked.” Frank smiled and turned his head to give her a kiss “I’m just gonna finish watching this and then I’ll be with you.” “What is it?” Fliss asked, turning her attention to the TV.

“A documentary on whales, funnily enough. You’d enjoy it…” “You’re such an old man” she teased and he scoffed.

 “Not what you were saying last night.”

Fliss laughed “Well you keep yourself in good shape, what can I say.” With that she kissed his cheek and headed down the hall.

After bidding goodnight to Mary and Thor, who seemed very happy to remain in Mary’s room with Fred, she changed for bed and slipped into the sheets, stretching out before she got herself comfortable. She was dozing, drifting in and out of a light sleep when she felt Frank climb into bed behind her, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her to his chest.

 “Finish whale watching?” she asked as he dropped a kiss to her shoulder.

 “Yeah.” he said gently. “So you gonna tell me what my mother wanted?” “Nothing much…” Fliss turned in his arms so she was facing him. “She was actually quite contrite.”

 “Course she was…” “No, I mean it, I think she’s genuinely sorry.” Her hand gently traced shapes on his bicep “Maybe you should give her a chance to apologise properly.”

“That must have been one hell of a talk.” Frank snorted “You were all for dumping salad on her head before!”

 “We had a very honest discussion, I got a few things off my chest.” Fliss shrugged “And, well, like it or not she’s still your mum Frank.” “No, she’s my mother.” he corrected her “Your mom is a mom.”

 “Was your dad a dad or a father?” “He was a dad.” Frank said, “Most definitely.”

 “Do you remember much about him?” she asked.

“Little bits.” Frank’s hand tucked her hair behind her ear. “Mostly about stuff we did. Baseball, football, when he taught me how to ride a bike. All the fun stuff you do with kids really.” he took a deep breath.

 “What did he do?” “He was a Surgeon” Frank said “Neurology.” “Really?” Fliss looked up at Frank as he nodded “Well that’s pretty cool!”

 “Yeah.” Frank nodded “I wanted to be just like him when I was a kid. I sometimes wonder if I idolise him a bit more because he’s dead you know but…” “Have you ever asked your mother what he was like? You know, since he died?” “Once or twice.” Frank replied “For all of Evelyn’s faults she did love Dad. She gave up her own career and research partnership she had with Cambridge in London to move to Boston when she met him. Then they had me. I think she resented me a little bit at first because me and dad were so close, and then when Diane came along that was it, Daddy’s girl...”

 “No longer his main woman.” Fliss smiled.

 “Something like that. You know, I do wonder at times why on Earth she had us.” Frank snorted “if we were such inconveniences…” “It can’t all have been bad.” “Well we wanted for nothing. In fact, we were both very spoilt. And yeah, we had Birthday parties, fun, vacations, trips…but when dad died…I dunno, it kinda went to rat-shit.” “It must have been hard for Evelyn you know, losing him when you were both so young.”

 “Yeah.” Frank sighed “I’ve no doubt it was. I remember the police coming round and breaking the news about the accident…only time I’ve ever seen her break down.”

“You know before, she said that you remind her of your dad.” Fliss looked at him.

“Yeah she’s told me the same, last time I saw her in fact. Probably why she doesn’t particularly enjoy being around me that much.” “I think she enjoys it a lot more than she lets on.”  Fliss shrugged “And besides, I enjoy being around you. And so do my parents…so…”

 Frank gave her a soft smile before she leaned up and gave him a kiss. “I know…” he said, as she snuggled into his chest “And that’s all I care about.” ******

 Friday rolled around and with it came Fliss’ birthday. Frank was pretty sure Mary was more excited than Fliss to give her the gifts they had bought, and with good reason. Fliss beamed as she opened her various packages from them both, which included a bottle of her favourite perfume, a pale blue and white striped sleeveless button down which Frank had thought was quite nautical so very apt and a box of British chocolate. Bonnie had also stopped round the night before to give her a bottle of her favourite gin and a huge bag of sweets which she declared she was hiding from Frank as she didn’t trust him not to eat them.

Frank then handed her the envelope with her main present in and she opened it, her mouth dropping open as she looked at the Broadway Tickets.

“Lion King?” she said, looking up at him. “We’re going to see the Lion King?” He nodded, smiling “I know you wanted to go so…” “Oh my God…thank you!” she practically squealed throwing her arms round his neck, kissing his cheek.

 “You’re welcome.” he smiled, winking at Mary over his shoulder. She gave him the thumbs up. Fliss turned back to look at the pile of presents arranged on the coffee table before Mary handed her another smaller wrapped one.

“This is from me…and Fred…and Thor.” she added and Fliss smiled, unwrapping the small black box. She opened it, and a small card fell out which she picked up and read out loud.

 “We hope you enjoy your “Precious Paws” hand-made resin beads…” she trailed off, and glanced down at the charms in more detail. One was green speckled with gold and the other was blue speckled with silver.

 “The green one has some of Heidi’s tail hair in it…” Mary pointed as Fliss gently took it from the box to examine it in more detail, clearly seeing where the hair was wound through the resin of the bead “And the Blue one has Thor’s in.”

 “I…” Fliss felt herself choke up “Mary these are beautiful, where did you…” “Joanne told me about them.” Mary said, and Frank smiled at her “And then Frank helped me order them…” “They’re not officially Pandora but the woman said when we emailed her they’d fit the standard bracelet.” He said as she turned her head to look at him, her eyes shining.

 “Thank you both, so much…” she turned to Mary and wrapped her up in a hug before she did the same to Frank, giving him a soft kiss “Love you.” “Happy birthday Sweetheart.” he smiled, hugging her again.

As Fliss had booked the day off, so had Frank so the three of them along with Thor and Fred spent the afternoon after visiting Fliss’ mum and dad on one of the boats belonging to Paul, the owner of the shop Frank worked in. Frank had deliberately chosen one of the smaller ones so they could access the small stretch of sand just off St Pete’s beach that they all loved. It was quieter than the main beach as it wasn’t reachable unless you waded or sailed over and they spent the afternoon on the beach with a few beers and a picnic, before they headed home. Mary crashed out on the way back, her head lolling on Fliss’s lap as she sat at the front of the boat, her bare feet resting on the bar in front of her, simply watching the dolphins. Thor was barking at them like mad, wagging his tail and then suddenly he shot to the bow of the boat, placing both his paws up on the metal, threatening to throw himself overboard. Frank’s hand shot out to grab his collar.

“Dumbass…” he yanked him back, and turned to Fliss “Does this mutt have a brain in his head?”

 “Don’t’ talk about my baby like that…” she narrowed her eyes at Frank as she covered Thor’s ears with her hands as he sat by her feet, tail thumping on the floor. “Fred does his share of stupid shit too, like getting his head stuck in cereal boxes.”

 Frank rolled his eyes “At least Fred knows not to jump in the ocean.”

 “That’s because he has no sense of adventure.” Fliss shot back, causing Frank to snort. Standing up, Fliss gently moved Mary, so that she was led flat down before she stretched and moved next to Frank who tossed his arm over her shoulder.

“Had a good day?” he asked and she grinned, nodding.

 “The best.” she smiled “I love it when you bring me out sailing.” “I’m driving.” he turned to face her, grinning. “You’re sailing.”

 “Whatever” he mumbled as his lips pressed to hers. She snaked her arms around his neck as his slid round her back, pulling her closer to him as he kissed her deeply his tongue sliding against hers.

 “You can unwrap your last present when we get home…” he said, grinning like a school boy as he rest his forehead head against hers.

 “Yeah?” she asked, arching an eyebrow

 “I’d let you unwrap it now but…” he nodded to Mary and she snorted.

“You know we’ve not actually done that.” she mused. “Sex on a boat I mean…” Frank let out a laugh “You harbouring a bit of a sailing kink?” “More of a sailor kink” she shot back and he shook his head, giving her another quick kiss before he turned his attention back to the boat as he guided it back into the Marina.

 He made good on his promise once they got back, loved on his girl. Once in the shower and then again later on when he woke up as Fliss had done the same to use the bathroom. Frank knew he would never get tired of hearing the soft cries of his names and the various encouragements she gave him when she begged him not to stop or told him how good he was making her feel. As he tumbled right over that edge, behind her 3rd, or was it 4th orgasm, he’d lost count, his fingers tightened slightly on her hips as his head tipped back in ecstasy. He lay still, panting as she collapsed onto his chest, his hands stroking up and down her spine as she lifted her head, grinning as she caught his lips in a soft kiss before falling down onto the mattress next to him. She looked at him, her eyes flashing in the soft light that was sneaking into the room through the crack in the curtains, a look of pure love on her face, as if he had hung the moon and the stars in the sky, and it was enough to choke him up slightly. He still wasn’t sure he was worthy of her unadulterated adoration, but damned it, he’d try constantly to be the best version of himself if it kept her by his side.

 He didn’t wake the next morning when Fliss’ alarm went off. Instead he woke to a gentle kiss to his cheek and as he roused himself the smell of freshly brewed coffee hit his senses. Blinking he smiled softly as Fliss placed a mug on his night stand.

 “What time is it?” Frank asked.

 “Just gone seven. I’ve got an early appointment with the Ariat rep at the stables, remember?” “Oh, yeah…” he yawned, rubbing his eyes.

 “You told me to wake you before I left.”

 “Yeah, I don’t know why I did that…” he moaned and she chuckled.

 “You gonna bring Mary up later?”

 “Yeah, I’ll leave he with you for the afternoon if that’s ok? Need to clean the boat and get it back.” “Course it is.” she smiled. With that she bent over to kiss him again and in a shot Frank’s arms were round her waist and she was flat on her back on the bed, laughing as he caged her with his arms.

 “Frank…” she whined, as he kissed her softly “I can’t, I’m gonna be late as it is…” “One more kiss, come one…” he pleaded, and she relented as he pressed his lips to hers before she eventually pulled away and shoved on his chest. With a pout he moved allowing her to stand and she shook her head at him.

 “You’ll be the death of me Frank Adler.” she said, straightening her top and he eyed her figure up as she did so and gave a shrug.

 “What a way to go…” he smirked and with that she reached down, grabbed one of the various scatter cushions that lived on the bed during the day, and smacked him straight on the face with it.

 He and Mary shared a lazy morning before they both dressed and headed out going via the bakery at the end of the high street to pick up a coffee and some Danishes for a late breakfast for Fliss as he knew she’d have left without eating any, she always did when she was out earlier than them. As he pulled up, Mary was out of the truck before he had stopped, something which he was fed up of telling her off for.

Frank walked into Fliss’ office where he placed the bag of food on the desk, along with the cardboard carrier which contained their coffee and gave her cheek a kiss. Mary shot into the tack room, grabbed her little box of brushes and shot off to go and see Monty.

“Bye then…” he said sarcastically, and she completely ignored him. He snorted, shaking his head as Fliss laughed.

 “Busy morning?” he asked and Fliss nodded.

 “I’ll say.” she nodded to the bag “Saturday’s always are…aww, you bring me breakfast?”

 “If 11 am counts as breakfast” he snorted and Fliss laughed as she continued sifting through the pile of envelopes on her desk. There was one that contained a few clearly hand delivered cards, he could tell by the shape and the fact they had no post marks, and then another small pile that had arrived in the post. “Bill, bill…oh…” She stopped at a bigger envelope. “A card?”

 Frank shrugged. She turned it over, ripped open the envelope and pulled out a white card with simple block writing on the front in multi-colours. With a frown she opened it and scanned the greeting, before her eyes grew wide and she threw it down onto the desk.

“Lissy?” Frank frowned, and he looked at her as she shook her head, taking a deep breath, before she swallowed and turned to face him. “Honey, what is it?” “It’s…” she swallowed, her eyes wide “That card…it’s…it’s from John.”

Frank’s face grew harsh as he grabbed the card and read the greeting. It was 3 words long. 3 simple words, but even he knew from what she’d told him about the name John used to call her, that it was from him. Happy Birthday Sugar. “Fucker.” Frank growled, tossing the card back onto the desk as Fliss turned to him and he wrapped her in his arms, letting her simply press her face into his chest. He rubbed his hand gently up and down her back as her breathing evened out and she stepped back. “You ok?” “Yeah…” she said, “Do me a favour and get rid of it.” “Don’t you wanna call the police?” he frowned.

 “They’re not going to do anything about a card.” she shook her head

 “He’s broken his parole…” “And they can’t prove its him.” she sighed “They’re not gonna DNA test or whatever on that…” “Fliss…”

“No, Frank…just…” she shook her head. “Please, do what I ask and rip it up, burn it, whatever, I just…get rid of it”

 “Ok, ok…” he appeased and she nodded, before she looked to the doorway and hastily her face rearranged into a smile.

 “Hi Steph!” she greeted. Frank turned to see a dark haired woman dressed in riding gear, Fliss’ next client. “DJ is ready, get Jo to get you on and I’ll be out in a moment.” The woman smiled and headed off down the yard. Fliss looked at Frank.

 “I didn’t think about the fact this place was so easy to find.” she shook her head “The webpage…” Frank sighed, it was something if truth be told he hadn’t considered either “Look, the worst he can do is send you shit.” he said, almost trying to convince himself as well “He can’t set foot out of Mass…he’s clearly doing this to try and upset you so…” “Well he can fuck off and die.” Fliss said venomously, “Ass hole…a fucking birthday card? He’s clearly losing his touch.” With that she gave his cheek a peck and grabbed a Danish out of the bag before she picked up her coffee. “This lesson is only half an hour so as soon as I’m done Mary can ride Monty and then she can do her jobs and stuff. You go and clear the boat from yesterday or whatever it is you were planning on doing and I’ll give you a call later ok?”

 “Sure.” he nodded.

“Love you.” she smiled at him, before she left the room.

 Frank watched her go before he looked at the card. She’d asked him to get rid of it…but something was telling him not to. He pondered it for a moment before he tucked the offending item back into the envelope and then curled it up so it would fit in his back pocket, before he headed out to the jeep, pulling his phone free as he walked. 

“S’up Man?” Greg greeted him as he opened his truck door threw the envelope onto the passenger seat.

“I need some advice.” Frank spoke quietly, glancing over to where Fliss was now stood in the middle of the paddock, the women on the large grey horse was walking around her in a circle. “Can we meet?”

**** Chapter 19

[omegatheunknown]

AEW Double or Nothing 2021

In which the spirit of WCW is alive in confusing and delightful ways and we are left to parse whether overbooking and extracurriculars are offset by having actually very good wrestling happening at the same time.

- Lessons learned from Revolution on the production side? Maybe just cool it on pyro, though the rappelling adventure in the Stadium Stampede showed some of that now-characteristic 'trust us it'll look better on TV' flair. Hot crowd tends to paper over most woes, and the crowd was pretty hot. My one gripe is that the casino theme is hanging around like yesterday's takeout containers. Nothing wrong with clinging to a theme, I just think it's time for season 2. My suggestion? Under the Sea.

*Pre-Card Serena Deeb (C) v Riho for the NWA Women's Championship (***1/2) - Serena Deeb's star has finally risen. She's a remarkably consistent technician and she can get a match out of anyone at this point. She's working at the level of Mercedes Martinez or Madison Eagles at this point, it's amazing that she was overlooked or considered fit only to be a coach for so long. With the NWA belt she has this new swagger, she's basically everything Tessa Blanchard might bring to the table with none of the downsides (Serena has a lot of friends and seems like a lovely person, even!) - Riho's back and here to stay. Her time in Stardom didn't do much for my evaluation of her, which is that there are many better wrestlers that would be better representatives of the joshi style and she's merely pretty good. - The match was very good. Serena showcased a champion's aggression against a sympathetic Riho, they really work well against each other, Deeb's technical prowess against Riho's flexibility led to a very dynamic finish.

*Main Card Hangman Adam Page v Brian Cage (***1/2) - Here the shenanigans start. Brian Cage is on Team Taz, Team Taz has nothing else much to do tonight, so why wouldn't Team Taz flex their muscles, bait us with HOOK, etc? (Because it would be nice to have some variety in the card in terms of a match where one competitor stands across from another competitor?) - Hangman is (checking notes) yeah, still over as fuck, as befits the Anxious Millennial Cowboy. Cage terrifies me, he's a child's drawing of a body builder. He do be very agile for a man of his immense musculature tho. They match up well, Page is biggish for a flyer, Cage loves to play catch. Nothing much to write home about, other than Hangman's beautiful moonsault to the floor and what was overall a very good curtain jerker. - Okay fine, I am curious about Cage's reluctance to lean on the goons, Starks can't come back soon enough.

The Young Bucks v Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston (***) - I will not be referring to Mox & Eddie as (The) Wild Things because it gives me 'he calls it the wacky line' flashbacks for some reason. - The Bucks have to cheat and abuse Rick Knox's attention span constantly to be on even footing with Mox & Eddie, which is a clever sort of thing that gets washed out by the appearance of LG and Karl Anderson, which again, is cool in a vacuum but was the story of the evening. - Pace was weird - repetitive in eliminating Eddie, then Mox fights back, failed hope spot, Bucks team up, Eddie saves x2/3 in a row. - Mox, unlike Cody (in so many ways,) will probably actually be taking some time off with Renee, which is the kind of thing I would prefer not to know in terms of booking, but they really uh, put him down on the canvas here, and it felt pretty finale-esque.

Casino Battle Royale (n/r, but on the balance pro) - Any changes to the theme of the PPV would likely include changing up the nonsense suit format of these largely joyless slogs. - Obviously anticipating a NJPW talent, or... I dunno, actually -- Lio Rush was a surprise. Got in a quick demonstration of his otherworldly quickness, and you know what, there's probably a fun place for him in AEW. He'll need some friends, of course, feel like Team Taz might fit his temperament. I wonder if he was aware of the Mark Henry news... - Christian does not need to win this kind of match to get a title shot, obviously, but that said it was super lovely to use him to give Jungle Boy the shine. Jungle Boy would be a license to print money if he was even as big as Hangman. - Could register some continued griping about how Penta is not getting his due in AEW but he also literally was dressed as the Joker so I'm low on sympathy on this one particular night.

Anthony Ogogo v Cody Rhodes (*) - I did not like this. It's hard for me to read jingoism as a face move to begin with, and Cody's was egregiously tone deaf and kinda silly yet delivered without a trace of irony because Cody doesn't do irony on purpose, ridiculous neck tattoo aside. - Great argument to be made that Ogogo just isn't experienced enough to be winning matches against Cody. But like, what are we doing here? Cody needs to take some time off, maybe. I thought that's what was happening when he had his mini feud with Penta that really just ended in quick decisive Cody win. I though maybe Cody was being turned when QT and The Factory snapped-- sure, they're a group of impotent player 2s, but Cody is an out of touch elitist with a callous and manipulative streak. Alas, also no. America #1. - Cody is approximately 8 times as tough as Billy Gunn based on his weathering of the one punch man. Match ran a bit long given how little there was to go on. Cody gigged? Quelle surprise. - Cody had the best match on the card like, 3 out of the first 4 AEW events or something, and that was all booking and storytelling. I do hope Cody follows Moxley's lead into a little sabbatical.

Miro (C) v Lance Archer for the TNT Championship (**1/2) - Card's hossiest hoss match, a quick burst reminiscent of a car wreck. Absolutely hit on what it should've hit on but a little slow moving considering it went all of 10 minutes. - I will not complain about Jake the Snake, who I love. And also the gimmick spot, with Miro very astutely yeeting what was definitely a snake in a bag (surely.) back down the tunnel.

Dr Britt Baker, DMD v Hikaru Shida (C) for the AEW Women's Championship (***) - Picked up a lot of steam toward the end but seemed a little toothless (heh) until the last five. - Shida 'deserved' some more time as champion in front of crowds but also it's time to let heel Britt reach her peak, I can't even imagine how obnoxious she can be as the champ, it's going to be great.

Sting & Darby Allin v Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky (***1/2) - Such is the power of STING that I feel like I might be underrating this match... I mean it was an okay match about very simply getting some revenge and the sixty year old man did a very subdued Code Red and a slightly less subdued dive. He's also Sting. They missed an opportunity in calling it the 'Scorpio' Death Drop, but the main takeaway here is you see something like this where it's The Icon and you start to understand why WWE trots out their legends to come out of incredibly still kick ass without bending their knees. - The difference, I guess, is that Sting is absolutely being used to build up Darby Allin, whereas it's not like the fed brought back Goldberg and his attendant aura to pump up... anyone but Goldberg?

Kenny Omega (C) v PAC v Orange Cassidy for the AEW World Championship (****) - Off the top I have to say I'm very sad that the rest of the Galaxy's Greatest Friends were seen only very briefly, nice of them to bring OC's backpack. - Also have to point out that PAC's promo featured one of my favourite jokes, that Kenny must be short for Kenneth as a sort of legal/birth name belonging to a professional wrestler. (See also: Samoa Joseph) - And Mr Cassidy certainly did try in this match, ragdoll sells and all. Kenneth and PAC are absurd talents who bring aerial, power and technical maneuvers in equal measure and OC is not doing any of those on the same level, but he picked his spots, showed his genre savvy and hung in there to the point that he wasn't just the fall guy. - The extracurriculars continue in a match that was already a little overboard for silliness due to asymmetry... I think if you're the Invisible Hand it would've made sense to save up all your tricks for this match, but who am I to question the golden goose? - Sure, Kenny and Don ran the classic heel manager interference spot and taking out the ref in desperation spot but having to take out the ref because PAC wouldn't break the hold is fun, as is the stupid/inspired sense in running the 'smash opponent with the belt' spot four times so as none of your heavy gold prizes feel left out. (I love that AAA Mega Championship, they weren't on TV so we get to see it?) - "Fuck You, Don," indeed.

The Inner Circle v The Pinnacle in 'Stadium Stampede II' (***1/2) - This one had to grow on me for two reasons, first that it's usually pretty unforgivable to co-opt the main event spot from the championship match, and second to law of diminishing returns on dumb gimmick matches. - But grow it did. There's a full on meat locker? Commentary will refer to a cardboard cut-out of Shahid Khan as Tony Khan's father (that's canon now,) and Jericho will lovingly pat it? Konnan happened to be the DJ at whatever night club there is a Jaguar Stadium? Spears surrounds himself dramatically with chairs and his hoisted by his own petard? - Ultimately it comes down to letting Sammy shine. His involvement with the Inner Circle has sometimes come at the cost of being able to showcase that prior to AEW he was an ascendant talent in PWG, on his way to Ricochet level feats of acrobatic excess. Still feel like Sammy could've/should've been the one tossed off the cage a few weeks ago, but even better is being the guy getting the pin in the ring.

[idreamtofthereaper]

Jung Jaehyun As Your Ex (Clarity Oneshots)

NCT 127 // NCT DREAM // WAYV // Clarity Main Masterlist

A series of oneshots for different groups, for each member, wherein instead of them being your boyfriend, how they will be as your ex.

The Build Up

Emotional af

you guys were high school sweethearts

and it was evident that your relationship was going nowhere

well, not for the public to know

graduated high school, then college, then got a job and have great careers

but none of you ever thought about proposals

marriage

family

kids

holding each other’s hands by the rocking chair staring at the sunset and sunrise

because you couldn’t see doing all that with Jaehyun

and he never mentioned everything with those to you

he asked you out to dinner, even if there’s no occasion 

for others this is sweet, swoony

but it has just become a habit

dinner at some fancy restaurant every friday

that was all it, a habit from the past

the dinner was delicious as always, especially after a tiring day from work

the night was spent engaging with small talk

and guess what

it’s about work

and the dinner ended, the last conversation about how the stocks were dropping

the valet grab the car and opened the door for you as jae went around to his door

the drive was silent af

and since the both of you got back from work late

the streets were empty, the lights and some shops and fast foods were providing light

with the silence enveloping everything, you remembered everything

how before, the both of you would sing to the songs in the radio

not taking cars, but walking to fast food joints 

fast food adventures

you were so enveloped with your thoughts you didn’t realize a tear was falling from your eyes

at the stop light, jae noticed

“Hey, everything alright?” He gave you a handkerchief from the pocket of his suit.

You nodded then took the cloth from his hands, damping it on your eyes as you sniffled. You turn to him with a warm smile as you handed the cloth, worry evident on his expression “I’m okay.” 

He just nodded, placing the cloth at the pocket of his slacks as he continued driving.

you remembered how the first time he bought a car

his main problem was how to hold you while he was driving

he wanted to hold your hand, your thighs, everything

but now, he wouldn’t even glance at your way if you weren’t crying

the emotions got too much that more tears started pouring again

“Jae, pull over.” You said with a broken voice, signalling at the sidewalk.

“Wh-”

“I want to walk, pull over. Please.” Without questions, though with confusions, Jae pulled over. Before he could utter anymore words, you exited the car in a hurry.

You finally let out all the emotions you’ve been feeling. Sobbing and sniffling as you walk away from the car. Only stopping when Jaehyun grabbed your wrist. “Yn, tell me what’s wrong. Please.”

“Jae, are you happy with this? With us?” You asked finally, a question that has been bothering you. “We aren’t the same Jae, this is not love. We’re only staying for each other because we feel that we have to.” 

Jaehyun stared emotionally at you before pulling you towards him, whispering comforting words as he rocked the both of you side by side gently. “We’re okay, I’m happy. I’m happy with us.” He whispered on your ear as you sobbed.

But then, you shook your head as you pushed away from him. His hands still on your waist, but you created a space now. “I’m not. Jae, we can’t go back the way we used to.”

“No, no. I’ll change, I’m sorry-”

“That’s the point, we shouldn’t have changed. Why did we change? I’m tired, Jae.” 

He caressed your back, comforting you. Eventually, he felt your weight lighten and upon a glance, he saw you already had your eyes closed but definitely still awake. “Let’s go home, yn.”

The Break Up

You knew he carried you to the car

and he tucked you in after changing your clothes 

and cleaned your face

upon waking up, you saw him at the edge of the bed.

He looked at you with a smile

his eyes were red and puffy

but he still put on one of your favorites

his smile

“It’s early, let’s walk?”

since it was pretty early, not a lot of people were in the streets

only the joggers and those going to work

but it still wasn’t crowded

he made small talk, pointing out to things he found interesting

“hey, remember when I was late in one of the exams and you had to sneak me in the classroom?”

“how could I forget, I almost lost my scholarship for that”

“yeah, your mom loved me a lot for that”

the walk was such a nice and refreshing thing 

how the both of you took a trip down memory lane to remember how it wasn’t that complicated before

the both of you stopped at the park, sitting down at one of the benches under a tree

“About last night, I don’t know what’s gotten into me.” You started, rocking your legs back and forth, Jae listening intently while nodding his head. “I don’t know, I just got overwhelmed. With my emotions, with everything. I don’t know. I hate it. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have lashed out.”

“Maybe you should. It gave me a lot of stuff to think about, and I agree.” You looked at Jaehyun softly and with curiosity. “Yn, we’ve been together for so long and I wouldn’t have become the person I am if it wasn’t for you. This past few months, I was only thinking about me, thinking about you but never about us. Are you still happy, yn? Do you want to make us work?”

You stayed silent, looking at Jaehyun intently. You look away at a distance for a while to think about it more, then turn back to him with a soft smile. “No, Jae. I think we both need to grow outside each other. I think it will be better for the both of us.”

Jaehyun nodded with a smile, a sad smile. He leaned close to you, making you close your eyes but not flinching or moving away, as he placed a soft kiss on your forehead. “Thank you so much for everything, yn.”

The Aftermath

You didn’t went home after that, you went to your nearest friend’s house and cried on their shoulder

telling them everything that has happened

all the while Jae was packing up the rest of the stuff he hasn’t packed last night

at the last bag, before he even left the house, he looked at the place one last time with a smile on his face as he soaked in the memories through the years

the house was the first big purchase the both of you made after college

how the both of you fought over how the kitchen should look like

he reminisced over every fight, love making, slow dances, karaoke and celebrations that happened between the walls of the home

a tear fell from his eyes when it landed at the framed photo by the shelf

it was the both of you after high school graduation, then college, then when the both of you got a job

he thought about leaving you a note, but decided that would make things more harder.

he closed the door behind him, leaving the house but not the memories

never the memories

Moving On

the first few months was H E L L

everything was new, you were alone 

with e v e r y t h i n g

but you managed

and from the looks of it, Jae was too

it was 2 years now

you became the CEO of the rival company you were previously working at

and you found out Jae became the COO of his

after he moved out, Jae moved in with his mom for a while before finally getting a place of his own

and he knew about what you’re doing too

his business partners couldn’t stop rambling about you

and the same goes to your end

everyone was rambling about the handsome bachelor 

and basically pushed you to make dealings with him

you didn’t because that would be weird

and jae had the same thought

but then, the both of you had the same partnership with this company

and lo and behold, the both of you met at the ball

jae was with a girl, presumably his date, when you walked in

he couldn’t miss it, he literally felt the conversations at the venue stopping when you walked in

chin up, chest out, in a tight and flattering red outfit

you smiled at the first person that approached you, even grabbing a drink 

the person then introduced the both of you

jae was wearing an all black outfit as the man approached, you clinging to his arms

he was shocked, the both of you were, when the man introduced the both of you to each other 

but then, jae wore a charming smile as he held his hand out

“Pleasure meeting you, Ms. Yn. It’s Ms, right?”

“Yes it is, I’ve heard a lot of great things about you, Mr. Jung.” You replied, shaking his hand. The girl beside him, who turned out to be his assistant, introduced herself to you.

After the greetings, the man excused himself to make a toast. 

You were tapping your foot restlessly as you stood beside Jae, trying to listen intently to what the man was saying. Your focus was destroyed when you felt a breath brush your ear. “You know, my focus was never really good. You never really helped.”

You smirked at the familiar voice. Jae leaned up as you turn to face him over your shoulder. “It’s not my problem you get easily distracted, Mr. Jung.”

“In fact it is, Ms. Yn. Red has always complimented your body well.” He replied with a smirk himself, taking a sip of his champagne as he waited for your retort. 

“I have a feeling it’s not the color, Mr. Jung.” His reply was postponed when the people around you clapped.

The both of you then clapped along as the man then said his closing words of the speech. “We want to thank everyone who attended the party and those who entrust our company with theirs. Our company, Clarity Enterprise, will make sure that everyone’s trust and efforts of our partners and our own won’t be put to waste.”

Another round of applause resonated, then the lights dimmed and the floor cleared. A slow song playing at the background as a couple of people went to the dance floor.

“I know there’s a queue for this dance, but to be fair I was always the first in line.” Jae appeared in front of you and offered his hand. 

You looked at him sweetly before nodding, taking a last sip of the champagne before placing it on the table. “I guess you are.”

hello this is the author I was crying the entire time I was writing it I’m sorry it’s so long

[tellywoodtrash]

immj2 05 + 07.12.20 lbs

05.12.20

“tum saari property mere naam karoge.”

BITCH WHAT NOW???????????

V like dadiiiiiiiiiii ko dhokaaaaaaaa?!!!!?!?!?! oh ho, lagta hai pair chhoote chhoote V ko asli waale feels aa gaye dadi ke liye, free of charge!

THIS MAN AND HIS FACE NEED TO BE STOPPED SO HELP ME GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

also what else that tongue do (other than throw constant taane to guilt a bitch) baby boy mmmmmmmhmmmmmmm 😏😏😏

riddhima thinking ki property meaning khatra and she can’t allow it to stay on dadi, she has to take it on herself, so that if kabir tries hurting anyone, it’ll be her.

this one’s paar ki nazar has recognized that train of thought, i think.

she’s like think whatever you want idgaf, just do whatever the fuck i say or else. and don’t even think of charging me an extra paisa. jaake bhaanda phodna hai toh phod lo, phir you won’t get your remaining 4.5 cr. DAMN GIRL, WHERE THIS SHAATIR TAKE-CHARGE SIDE OF YOURS BEEN ALL THIS TIME???????/

hubs thinking same thing. he’s never been more turned on by her as when she’s using maximum brain.

“kya hai?????? aise taad kyun rahe ho?????????”

“taadna ekdum free of cost hai. only for your pretty face!” I HATE HIM.

LOVE THIS TROPE. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE.

face change from smiley eyes to shaatir eyes, as he contemplates the facts before him. unf, the things it does to me to see him emote.

lijiye, iss show ke Idiot Brothers. and their plans to prove it’s not vansh and to get riddhima thrown out. i’ll pass.

but this one’s face tho. cutest. 

same, aryan. mera bhi yehiiiii reaction hai. taareeef karoon kya uskiiiii, jissne, tumhe banaaya!

some rando has come and is like hi, i’m your new lawyer; your old one appointed me before he left. no doubt he’s been sent by kabir.

V’s face: chutiya samajh rakha hai kya???? that’s not how this shit works.

v is like you’re here about my will and lmao riddhima’s all happy thinking oh vihaan has started my work already. SIS TILL NOW WHAT HAS HE DONE ACC TO YOUR PLAN? TELL ME ONE (1) THING THAT HE’S DONE LIKE YOU SAID.

yadda yadda yadda lawyer is like the property cannot be transferred for a few months. because Reasons. sure. sounds legit.

kabir is ecstatic. needs to learn to hide his MWAHAHAHAHAHA MERA CHAAL KAAM KAR GAYA FACE better if he wants to win at this game. he’s up against poker face all india/tellywood champion.

fb to kabir bribe/threatening lawyer. zero surprise.

V telling dadi idc about all this, meri asli daulat toh aap hai. lmao he really just does not give the other grandkids a chance to be #1 in dadi’s books.

ishani is pakka sure this is vansh bhai itselfffffffffff. and lmao angre’s suspicious face. they’re legit like:

V trying to negotiate salary increase (10% per month!!!!!!!!) and riddhima’s like bhakkkkkkk, sabzi mandi laga rakhi hai kya maine? yeh faltu ki bargaining nahi chalegi yahaan, jo karna hai karlo.

ishani’s back with bhai’s favvvvvvvvv chocolate cake and.... OH NO HE WAS SO FUCKING RUDE TO HERRRRRRRRRRRRR. riddhima ko sabak sikhaane ke liye ishani ko kyun sunaaaa rahe hoooo!?!?!?!!?

anyway riddhima tried to sametofy that raita by apologizing to ishani and.......... that went as well as expected.

kabir and aryan watching and lootofying mazze.

lmaooooo aryan tubelight ko situation samajh hi nahi aaya and kabir is just like

lmao have you seen a more pitying look????

angsty piano playing time.

lmaooooooooo she’s like “jahaan vansh banna tha, wahaan bann nahi paaye, yahaan yeh karke kya kya fayyda hai?” which......... troo. i really like this give-no-fucks version of riddhima who says what’s on her mind, instead of just doing lengthy internal monologues of stupidity. 

as,kjdlkasjd;lksjd;lkjsa;ldkjsa;lk she’s like vansh never yelled at anyone if it wasn’t a big deal. to which V is reacting just the way i am rn.......

‘lmao reallllllllly??? i don’t remember it like that.’

more lecture and yeah, i relate to him.

ishani over here crying to angre about bachpan se leke aaj tak vansh bhai ne kabhi nahi daanta. which again i’m like?????????? i have literally only seen V1.0 yelling at ishani for some bs or the other. literally never has he shown her any pyaar; the most he’s ever mellowed at her was when he gruffly told her sunny’s “truth” and made her understand that the wedding with angre would be good for her. nostalgia comes with some reallllll rose tinted glasses huh, ki everyone’s whitewashing asshole!vansh this way.

soft ship gently chugging along!

anyway angre has a plan and ishani like so help me god imma murder this fucker if he’s not vansh. there’s my girl!!!!!

this one is driving a hardddddddd bargain and wow, really going to town on that piano. riddhima doesn’t find it shady at allllllllllllllllll that he’s an equally good piano player as vansh huh? zerooooo thoughts about that.

“gunaah karne waale se bada gunehgaar hota hai gunaah sehne waala.” bhai waaah, isske victim complex ko mera salaam, ki bechaara is ONLY GETTING 5 CRORES, BOOOOOO HOOOOO.

“jabse tumse yeh deal kii haina, badi gandiiiii waali feeling aa rahi hai!” lmaoooooo yeah sureee, i can see how torturous it is, to be paid OBSCENELY to......... play yourself.

“mujhe teen guna chahiye. i want triple.”

BITCH WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF 3X SLKJDFSLKJFLDK 15 CRORES I KNOW TERA HI PAISA HAI BUT HADH HAI BHAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII?!?!? YOU SOUNDING A LOT LIKE THIS GUY:

oh boy ishani and angre have entered hearing about “triple”.

badi safaai se he said OH I MEANT IMMA BAKE A TRIPLE LAYER CHOCOLATE CAKE FOR YOU TO SAY SORRY.

softttttttttttttttttttt siblingssssssss. baaaaabies.

but hubs and wifey have come with some stress relief for bhai, lol.

lmao riddhima’s reactionnnnnnnnn.

lo ji yeh bhi aa gaya rang mein bhang daalne. wants to make things interesting via bet. some realllllll high stakes shit. good lord, don’t be gross and bet riddhima or something, maharabharat style.

aaaaaand it’s on!

no point screaming in your mind, riddhima. should have sent him to basketball camp before you recruited him.

"bohut mazaa aayega!!!!” lmaooooooo seeeeee, i told y’all. all this big baby legit wants is someone to playyy with himmmmm. have you ever seen him look THISSSSS HAPPY EVERRRRRR??????????

——————————————————————— 

07.12.20

lmao @ his purposely bad dribbling.

stressing Dollar Biwi out some more by saying he hasn’t even watched the game on tv.

unffffff. Chehra Appreciation Break. these go out to my girl @nawaazishein​ (she knows exaaaaaaaactly why.)

riddhima is like when you pick teams, pick me, and kabir is here to talk smack and say everyone’s gonna find outtttttt nowwww.

ok great, whole fam’s here. there’s a chalkboard set up for the score and everythinggggg. coz as per usual, no one else has nothing else to do. not even catch up on their podcasts or play some candy crush or nothing. they just wanna watch these two grownass men having a pissing contest.

V wins the toss but aryan’s bitch ass lies and says kabir won it. K selects riddhima first.

he knew that kabir’s dumb ass would do exactly that. besides, he’s seen riddhima play. she sucks ass at it. best if she brings down K’s team from the inside, lol.

V’s picks: useless!chacha, angre. K’s pick: aryan. rules established, ki after every 10 points, rival team se player will be out.

all i can think of rn is that everyone went and changed and riddhima’s gonna play in her sari and heels?!?!?!?!!!?!?

game faces on!

lol such bball captain and his gf head cheerleader vibes. CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh god are we supposed to sit and listen to chachi’s commentary?!?!!?!?

please note i’m literally only watching this ep to see the boys’ shirts move and expose chest and abs. 

riddhima gets the ball and is standing there in one place dribbling so that V can easily intercept and he’s just..........

............. imitating a frilled dragon or some shit?????

kabir just took the ball from her and scored.

first basket he made and he’s already telling vansh to give up. dude, hadh hoti hai overconfidence ki.

V like haar-jeet ka faisla end mein hota hai. i would say i’ve already won, getting to see this much sweaty neck and chest, mmmmhmmmmmm.

SCOREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! i mean, yeah V scored a point in the game or whateverrrrrrrr, BUT **I** GOT TO SEE SOME TUMMY WHEN HE JUMPED UP!!!!!

lol idk what the sassy finger wave was for, but i liked watching it.

THIS DUMBASS. SOMEONE PLEASE JUST PUT HER OUT OF HER MISERY.

aryan’s out.

AND I SCORE AGAIN!!!!! ouff, the things i have to resort to coz they don’t gimme tellywood men shirtless anymore.

useless!chacha’s out.

askljdlkjlkdjlsakjdlsakjdlsdjlaskjdlj bechaara kabir.

“you. out, please!”

sureeeeeely he will not pull the kkhh move in front of the whole fam??????/ will he?????????

look at his face, ki awwwwww, how cute that she’s trying.

riddhima is so stupid, if she scored all these points, why didn’t she pick V to leave the game instead of angre!?!?!?!!?!?

BITCH DID THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“isski har harkat vansh se kyun milti hai?????” idk sis, take a wiiiiiiiiiild guess. if it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck........... MAYBE THE FUCKING 6 FOOT 2″ DUCK LOOMING IN FRONT OF YOU AND RUNNING HIS HANDS ALL OVER YOU IS YOUR FUCKING HUSBAND??????

the way he’s smiling is practically challenging her to figure it out.

she’s still like nope, not him. just a coincidence. while she mulls on that brain fart, imma stare at rrahul’s chest some more.

of course.

YOUR WHOLEASS FAMILY IS STANDING THERE WATCHING THIS OMG I’M DYING OF SECONDHAND EMBARRASSMENTTTTTTTT FUCKING TAKE IT TO YOUR ROOM YOU WEIRDOS

“yeh bonus hai. free of charge. just for your pretty face!”

this dumbass is also hung up ki how overnight he became good at playing basketball. abbe oh gobar ganesh why can’t you just accept it’s him?!!?!?!?

aryan’s like dude, it’s him. i’ve seen him play. this is him.

but there must be somethinggggggg unique about vansh’s style right????

ahaaaa, ambidextrous.

kabir legit threw something like that looks like a clown’s nose. i guess he just carries that around full time coz he’s a 🤡🤡🤡

blah blah we already knew this from the precap. i’m just fwding to when he plays with the left and wins.

lmao V’s faaaaaaaaace. when kabir finally gets his day of reckoning, vansh is really nottttttt gonna hold back.

never seen ppl THIS happy to see a left handed person, lol.

“vihaan vansh ki tarah left hand se khel sakta hai??????”

CUTESTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lmaoooooooooo his face is like jo toota nahi tha, woh bhi tod ke rakh degi.

lolllllllllllllllllllllllllllll. asshole.

uh huh honeyyyyyyyyy. did the Vansh Move.

asking how you did all this when i never told you these facts about vansh?

“tum zaroorat se zyaada sochti ho, Sweetheart.”

DUN DUN DUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“kya aisa humne pehle kabhi nahi kiya? kya yeh pal humaari zindagi mein kabhi bhi nahi aaya, riddhima?” he said her name The Vansh Way, not The Vihaan Way!!!!!!!

“tum mere......”

“haan riddhima, yeh tumhara veham nahi hai. main vihaan nahi, vansh hoon. tumhara vansh.”

haaaaaaye bechaari. at this point i’m feeling quite bad for her. it’s not her fault she’s so stupid. ab hai toh hai. kya kar sakte hain. bedagarkkkkkk ho tera, vansh. may you die of blue balls for fucking with her simple mind this way.

i just did my homework reallllllllllly well, it seems. so my 3x payment is totally worth it. god i wish that pool was full, so that i could dunk his head into it and hold it there for a few minutes.

THIS ASSHOLE DOESN’T EVEN FEEL A LITTLE BIT BAD FOR WHAT HE’S DOING. LIKE, THODAAAA TOH HE SHOULD FEEL.

and then he turns around and looks at her like this!?!?!?!!?!?!? OUFFFF. FUCK YOU MANNNNNN.

blah blah talk about how now everyone must be convinced (except kabir) but yeah, i’m just here for The Face.

JFC SIS. AT THIS POINT YOU JUST NEED TO PULL A KHUSHI KUMARI GUPTA SINGH RAIZADA AND YANK A FEW HAIRS OUT FROM HIM AND ISHANI AND SEND IT FOR A DNA TEST.

shhhhhhhhhh, koi hai. yup. and not at all an excuse to get touchy touchy with wifey and give her some more mindfucky clues as to who you are.

someone’s watching us, we gotta sort out the property shit realllll quickkkkkkkkk.

he has An Idea, it seems. oh boy.

[nomadical]

@wexarethewalkingxdead​ || semi-plotted starter || tagging: rick grimes

Boots came to a halt the second he heard someone entering the shop he’d taken up residence in for the past few evenings. Some apothecary that just kinda felt good to be in. He hasn’t seen a place like this in years. Most of them were raided. When people got desperate enough to know what was inside them. 

This one, though? This one was relatively untouched. Except a few looters taking some of the clothing from the racks out front. A few oils here and there but it must’ve been looked past due to the dust on the walls and the overly rusted sign out front that didn’t seem overly appealing to anyone who didn’t know what they were looking for.

But if you knew? And you inhaled the right way? You could still smell the old books and dozens of oils that’ve long since soaked into the floorboards from where they mixed them behind the counter. Or root through the shelves and find items to help sleep, ward off infection, and help with an ache and a pain or two. All those were gathered into his bags days ago but he stuck around.  Maybe that was a big mistake..

Should’ve continued on. Sticking in a place for long was never a good idea. Unless it was behind the walls at Hilltop and even then? Those got suffocating after a string of days looking at weatherworn metal and hearing the same voices, seeing the same faces and feeling locked in.

His bags were tucked away in the quiet. Floorboards that he could pull up (must’ve hid their money here back when money mattered) and a well worn rug overtop of them to cover up his stash. A stool sat on top of that. Knife gripped in his hand, he moved away from his spot and caught sight of a pair of legs moving by and took cover--bullets would make this fight uneven seeing as he had none--and his head rested back against the door to the cabinet underneath the counter.

--He’d wait this one out. Stay put. And with any luck? Whoever this was? Would move right on.

[apenapaperandadoofus]

college au (spicy)

Yoosung x MC? 👀

Oop I see you there nonny :0

MM college AU (Yoosung x MC) nsfw-ish wink wonk

Warnings: uhhh lote of fluff and also sum drinking so uh yeah (idk if I should put it as a warning but there ya go anyway, just in case!)

You bitterly congratulated yourself as you looked at the text message you just received from your classmate.

Basically you had overslept, playing games too late at night(or should we say morning? You went to sleep at 4am and your class was at 7!) You didn't hear your alarm and basically missed your first day of class!

To be fair, you had planned on going to sleep at 12, but all of a sudden this bastard stole your loot and you wanted v e n g e a n c e

Sadly you weren't able to find the guy and had to cool off by playing a few rounds of LOLOL and just massacring the enemy team. Still, you swore to get back that amazing item you had just received.

The thing was, the first day of class, your professor had actually given everyone a group project! Yes, he was one of those teachers -_-

Since you hadn't been there you weren't able to group with your friend, and you had gotten paired up with people you didn't really know. You weren't super good at making friends, so you were getting a bit nervous, and you also didn't want to loose the whole percentage of the work, since you did have to get good grades!

A few weeks later, the group (who had already made a group chat a few days after you missed class, there were a total of five people with you included) and you all decided to meet at the coffee shop near the campus to talk about the project. It was due in two days, and you already had most of your part of the work done thankfully! We stan being responsible (a/n says the procastination queen LMFAO SORRY)

When you made it to the coffee shop, you only saw a total of two people there. One of them was a plain looking dude, with brown hair wearing some purple glasses, and the other one was a blonde boy who immediately made you think of a golden retriever! The two guys looked up at you, with the blonde one immediately standing up and introducing himself.

"Hi! Uhm, my name is Yoosung! Yoosung Kim! Nice to meet you!"

Oh my goodness he's adorable... though where have I heard that name before...?

You introduced yourself and told him your name, replying that it was nice to meet him too!

As you sat down beside him, you couldn't help but sneak glances in his directions. He was very very cute, his purple eyes looking all happy and excited all the time. Yet sometimes you could see a hint of.... hopelessness. You wondered why.

It turned out, that the other group members had suddenly called in sick, or said they had a family emergency. Not only that, but the plain guy with glasses gave you both an usb and mumbled that he actually had to go somewhere else today, but that he had his part of the presentation done and was in the usb.

Of course that did not make any of you happy at all. Yoosung looked as if he was about to either cry or punch someone, maybe both, and you werw mad that your teammates were so useless. But you tried to stay positive, I mean hey, now you get to spend time with the cute guy alone!

The two of you seemed to be the only ones to have done any work, the glasses dude's presentation was....let's just say wrong information and a white background with a yellow sans font. No I'm not joking.

"AGHHH this is impossible! How are we going to get all this work done in two days!? This is three people's part of the project, and it's not exactly short! Were gonna be here all afternoon!" Yoosung sobbed, as he covered his face and laid his head on the table.

"H-hey it's alright! We can uh...we can do it! I'm sure it won't take that long!"

It did take that long.

In face, it was 3am when you finished and had to leave the place because it was closing, so you had to go to your room and finish it there.

As soon as you were done, you both let out a tired victory yell and you fell back on your bed.

"Oh,hey Y/N, could I borrow your computer for a second? I just gotta check something that can't really wait..."

"Sure!" You gave him a thumbs up and rolled on your side to face Yoosung who was probably checking his emails.

You were not prepared for the scream that he suddenly let out.

"YOOSUNG!? IS EVERYTHING ALRIGHT!?"

He flinched when he heard your voice and slowly got up from the chair, pointing a finger shakily in your direction.

"Y-you....y-y-you a-are....TortillasRock320?"

You immediately sat up upon hearing the username you had made when you were 13 suddenly being said. Then you nodded. "How...how do you know me...?"

Yoosung's face became paler and you could see him start fidgeting a little before he pointed at himself.

"S-Supeman...Y-Yoosung...."

You immediately let out a gasp, shocking the poor boy and you stood up. "YOU!! YOU STOLE ALL MY LOOT IN LOLOL!"

"IMSOSORRYIDIDNTMEANTOITWASANACCIDENTITRIEDGIVINGITBACKBUTYOUATTACKEDMEANDTHENIJUSTPANICKEDANDLOGGEDOFF."

"I...ugh....dammit. it just had to be you didn't it?" You rubbed your temples and then Yoosung looked up from the ground.

"U-uhm...I could give it back...and uh...maybe get you some food?"

"Food isn't gonna cut it, as much as I love it."

"W-well how about we go and eat in a few days f-for now and then uh...we couldddd....think of something else!" He looked at you with a big smile and who could say no to that face?

So you exchanged phone numbers. It was just meant to try and see whenever the two of you could meet up for some food, but then it became into LOLOL discussions, and just talks about everything and anything. He talked a out his family, his friends, and his struggled with school, with you eventually telling him about your struggles as well. Before you knew it, the two fo you were speaking every single day, at any hour, and you had found out so much about each other. Not only that, but you had eventually become attracted to him.

Finally, vacations came! And the two of you decided to celebrate it by going to a bar with your friends! But then the two of you left because there was too many people, so you bought some beer and went to a nearby internet cafe to play....you guessed it! LOLOL

The two of you had such an AMAZING time, taking shots everyone one of you got killed, or destroyed a tower, or killed one of the dragons, or....well eventually it was just you two drinking and playing.

When you were done it was about 1am, and the cafe closed so you decided to go to Yoosung's place to maybe play there. But then, as the two of you drunkenly made it up the elevator, you suddenly remembered that Yoosung owed you from stealing your loot!

"Hic! Y-Yoosung...l-listen to me y-you brat. You oweeee me a wishhhh."

"Huh?.....oh wait...yeah I d-do right? Bec- hic! Becauzeee I stole your loot last t-time right??"

"I k-know what I want. L-lets just go to y-your apartment first....hic!" You smiled evilly as you thought about what you would do.

You grabbed Yoosung's hand, and he led you towards his place. After laughing and fumbling with his keys for a solid 2 minutes, Yoosung managed to open his door! He mockingly bowed and said "Y-you firstttt~" which made you courtesy and giggle replying "Wh-what a gentleman!"

You waited for Yoosung to close the door, and then he turned around to look at you with a big smile on his face.

"S-sooo Y/N! What...what do you want me t-to do?" He asked.

You made your way towards him and smirked. Then before Yoosung could reply he let out a help as you grabbed him by the hair and made him kneel in front of you, in all fours. "Yoosung. I want you to be my....servant for a day. I want you to do anything I ask you to."

Yoosung gulped and shyly looked up at you, his entire face red. "I...I should? Anything?"

You chuckled. "Yes. You owe me remember? That was a pretty rare item, the one you stole for me. So you should....pay...for what you've done, don't you think so?" He slowly nodded and you pet his head. "Good boy~ Now how about we start by....you taking your clothes off."

Yoosung's eyes widened, but you tightened your grip on his hair and he slowly started undoing his shirt buttons. Then he looked up at you again. "U-uhm...Wh-what else should I do...?"

"Mmm how about you take your pants off now? And do it quickly Yoosung, we don't have all day."

He nodded and took his pants off, kneeling in the ground only in his boxers, and then, in the heat of the moment (you don't exactly knew what took over you) you pressed your foot between his legs, making Yoosung let out a surprised gasp.

"Oho~ You like this don't you? You're hard." You chuckled and pressed harder between his legs, and Yoosung let out a moan.

"I'm...ngh! S-sorry, I d-don't really understand why it's...it's like that uhm.. I'm sorry."

You chuckled and knelt beside Yoosung, cupping his face in your hands. "Yoosung you don't need to apologize. It must feel hot down there...how about we make you feel good?"

Yoosung became even redder, but he looked to the side and covered his mouth with the back of his hand, shyly nodding at you to continue.

You smiled and took Yoosung's underwear off, his member already hard, and slowly, you started licking the tip making Yoosung moan.

"MNGHHH! Y-Y/N!!!"

"Mhmm? What ish it Yoosung? Mmph..." You replied, looking up at him while having his member in your mouth.

"Y-you're....s-sucking...it! Ah! I- I'm....if you do it with your tongue like that...I'm going to...-mmmgh!".

He's adorable, you thought, as you sucked harder and harder. Soon, Yoosung reached his climax, and you mischievously smirked. "I'm glad you enjoyed it...now how about we go to the main course? I deserve to feel good too, you know?" You said, as you took your jeans and underwear off.

"H-huh?! N-no, wait I just ca-AHHHHN~"

Yoosung gasped as you slowly took him in, straddling him. You tangled your fingers in his hair while Yoosung gripped your hips, his hands trembling.

"I'm....I'm moving now, ok Yoosung?"

Yoosung moaned as you started grinding your hips against him, your hips moving quickly up and down on their own. You laughed and leaned your head back, making Yoosung look confusedly up at you.

"You're just so adorable Yoosung!....I really like you, you know?"

Yoosung stared at you, and then he quickly grabbed your head and pulled you in for a rough kiss.

"I...mhm...I've liked you...too...mmm...for a very...very long time...Y/N." He whispered between kisses. "Agh! Y-you suddenly tightened up, down there....mhm it...it feels really good." He said as he looked at you, his eyes teary and full of lust.

Goddamn this man.

"Yoosung...I...I like you too!" You felt your face heat up a bit, and Yoosung quickly pulled away to look at you. Then, he tightened his grip on your hips and quickly started moving up and down

"Y-Yoosung!!!! Y-you're moving t-too fast! Mhm!!! I can't!! Too fast! Too fast!"

"Y/N...Y/N...." He whispered, burying his face in the crook of your neck, as his thrust became faster and harder.

"I'm going to...." You gasped.

"M-me too! Let's...let's do it...together!"

You pulled Yoosung in for a kiss and the two of you moaned as you both reached your climax.

The two of you held each other for a bit, until Yoosung got cold and he carried you to his bed. The two of you kissed each other for a bit, before falling asleep.

The next morning you found Yoosung on the corner of his room, his ears all red while he hugged his knees.

"Uhm....Yoosung! Mor...ning...?"

He flinched as he heard you and then he slowly looked up. Before you could ask him what in the diddly darn heck his ass was doing in there, he got up and bowed.

"I'm so sorry!!! I'm sorry about, about yesterday I was drunk, and then I just got really excited and kept going even after you said it was too fast, and I also said all that weird stuff and I'm just, I'm really really sorry!!"

You were taken aback for a minute before you smiled and made your way towards him, making him look up at you. "Yoosung...you don't have to apologize for anything. I know we....we were a bit uh...well we were really drunk but... I still stand by everything I said yesterday. I do like you. I...I like everything about you Yoosung."

His face became red, bue eventually Yoosung slowly and shyly smiled at you. "You...you really do?"

"Yessir."

"Heh....I'm...I'm so happy Y/N...I really like you too!"

He cupped your cheek and the two of you slowly got closer and closer until your lips were touching in a chaste kiss. When you finished Yoosung chuckled, still red in the face. "So uhmm...does that mean we're a...couple now?"

You smiled and poked his cheek. "Yup! And there's no going back after this, you hear me?"

"Y-yes! Of course I'd never think of it!"

"Good! Now how about we go back to bed...and have a little fun hmm?~"

Yoosung smiled and pulled you towards him, smiling. "That doesn't sound too bad...and we're on vacation right now, so I don't see any reason we shouldn't stay in bed and do...that all day."

You laughed and Yoosung picked you up bridal style, gently throwing you in his bed and pinning you down.

The two of you officially became a couple that day! Yayyy!

Also btw you got an A- in the assignment so good work fellas ;)

The end!

[rileychaser]

Yesterday I had one of the strangest days of my life, and not in the normal way. I'm writing it out in order to release it into the world and get it away from me.

Let's start with some context. Saturday was my wife's birthday, we went out and had a great time just us. Sunday we were supposed to go over a friend's house to help set up some DnD stuff, but we were socially exhausted from the day before. And yes, we were alone on Saturday, but still we put in a lot of mental effort in stores and restaurants. Anyway so we texted and said my wife was hungover and we weren't going to make it. Acceptable exaggeration of the truth. We did drink, but we were fine. It's a case of too polite and too anxious to say "we don't want to hang out today." (working on it) Then we did things around the house, like putting up boxes and unpacking. Nice night, we had a good day.

Cut to Monday. In the morning, I'm driving to work and some guy in this big truck is tailgating me. We are in two-lane traffic in a little town with turn offs on each side for each lane. I'm in the left lane. I'm going five over the speed limit, as fast as the car in front and the car beside me. This guy starts flashing his lights at me. I don't think anything of it, but he does it again. I can't switch lanes, there are cars beside me and I can't speed up, there are cars in front of me. I have no idea what this guy wants me to do. He cuts into the other lane and proceeds to do the same to the car beside me. I can't see in the truck because it's jacked up and I'm in a little car. He's swerving in traffic, I guess trying to get around people. This goes on for about a mile, then he makes a right turn and that's it. Why tailgate in the left lane if you're making a right turn? Whatever.

Next I'm at PT (Physical Training, or Mandatory workout for the military) we are running a 5k. I chose to do my 5k on the track. This track is 3/4 of a mile. 2 laps is 1.5 mi, which is the run we do for our yearly test. So I run my first two laps as fast as I can to see my run time. A little over 14min, I'm getting better, still need more training. The next two laps I do poorly because I gased myself, but I finish them. After I am talking to my friend Pete, who's house I was supposed to go to yesterday. He asks me about my wife's birthday and what kind of drinks we had, just being a friendly guy. For some reasons my lie is horrible, I'm stumbling over my words, can't get my story straight, just bad lying. I'm normally a great liar when it comes to harmless lies to spare people's feelings or curving my own anxiety. That lie, total crap. Then we all talk about the air quality on base and how we need to not run when it's at a certain level. PT over.

I go to work and eat breakfast, watch some TikTok videos the go to take a shower. I work at a firestation so I'm in their women's bathroom. The intercoms goes off, the one they use to announce emergencies, only this time it's a jumbled gargled mess. Weird. I don't think anything of it. The it dings again and I think their going to announce trouble with the intercoms. Nope. It's a jumbled gargled mess again. Weird. I finish showering and I go to the mechanics bay and start my day. My Airmen is practically coughing up a lung so I send him to medical. (he's fine btw, it was the 5k in bad air, not COVID) Hes gone for the day. I spend my morning figuring out a problem with a truck, normal. However I call about a test I need to take at another building, the lady that gives the test, Ms. V isn't their, the guy Mr. L tells me come in at 1010, she will be back around then.

Context. When you in-process a base you see the security person, Ms. V is the security person. When I got here, six months ago, it was Ms. S, who was talking about training Ms C to be the new security person. Ms S has long black hair. Two weeks ago I go up to the office for a different reason, I'm talking to a different person and I swear I see Ms. S at her desk. Doesn't matter, I wasn't there to see her, but I think about how I thought she was moving. Passing thought that doesn't really register.

This Monday I go up to the office Mr L tells me to take a seat Ms. V will be here soon. I sit, I take out my phone, I start scrolling. 15min later a women with died blonde hair comes hobbling in, I say hobbling because she has one of those boots you wear when you break your foot but you can still walk on it. She comes in, she looks at me and I look at her. Never seen this lady. She says, "you looking for me" in my head I'm like no, but Mr. L looks at me like that's the one, so I say "yes". I follow her into the office. This is a completely new person then who I in-processed with and a completely new person from two weeks ago. But the office is covered in personal items so she has to have been there for a while. I ignore it. My brain probably filled in Ms S in her seat two weeks ago because that's what I remember seeing. I take the test and move on.

Lunch is normal, Tiktok and chicken sandwiches. After I start working on the truck problem. The intercoms goes off and it reminds me of this morning so I ask my coworker if he heard that weird sound this morning. He says he didn't hear it. I insist that it happen twice and he says he didn't hear it. He's the only on there so he's the only one to ask and he didn't hear it.

Then I need to take the trash out so I load it all in the truck. We don't have the proper recycling bins at our shop so we bring it to the main shop to dispose of properly. Also, I need to pick up a part. I go into material control and I start talking with TSgt T about performance reports. They are due in 45 days and neither of us has really started. So we talk about SSgt A who has all EPRs and can help us out on how to write ours. (each base has a different writing style. It's real dumb) so I say I'll ask SSgt A for help.

Back at the shop. I strat an email, but I use an old email and hit reply deleting all the old stuff and what I think is all other recipients. I type out. "hey can you send me some old FARM EPRs so I can figure out how they want it written here) then I but send. Then the email comes to my inbox. Strange. My coworker says, Why'd you send this to me. What? Turns out I buy reply to everyone I work with. Shitty. I recall the email. It's really no big deal and I know it. But what a huge embarrassment. And I feel the anxiety creep up. We joke about it. No one even calls or ask about it, so its a stupid private mistakes that anyone who saw the email will know it was a mistake. It was a legitimate email with a real work question so it's no big deal. No one even cares but me. I spend the rest of my day as an anxious mess because it who I am.

I get home. Have a good laugh and talk it through with my wife and it's over. We order Tai and watch a show. We go to bed.

But I'm still awake. So I start talking to her about my strange day. And I tell her that I haven't felt myself all day, like I was off and maybe wasn't me somehow. This is called disassociation and I know this. Then she tells me a freaky story of some girl with a weird experience and how people think she may have went to another dimension. And that's why I feel like now I may have been in another dimension yesterday and that's why weird shit was happening and I didn't return until i got home. Or maybe I never returned.

That's all.

[strawberry-skies-xx]

white

W H U M P   A D V E N T   2 0 2 0

day 1-3 | hypothermia/out in the cold | @whump-advent-calendar​

summary: Hiccup swears under his breath, then shivers and grimaces. Note to self: never decide to use the cover of snow for an attack, he thinks bitterly, looking around frantically for somewhere to hide, any direction to go that wouldn’t be putting himself right in the Hunters’ path. He isn’t even sure what direction they’re coming from.

word count: 2792

tags: hiccup/astrid, hypothermia, hurt hiccup, hurt/comfort, happy ending

main masterlist | story on ao3 | next entry >>

Stupid. This is the worst plan Hiccup had ever come up with, and that’s in a long history of “worst” plans that usually ended up working out very well.

This one, however, had gone wrong, and it had gone very wrong, and it didn’t seem to be looking better.

It didn’t seem to be looking anything, really, because Hiccup can’t see. The snow falls thickly, obscuring everything from view. Underneath his feet - his freezing feet, his metal leg is ice cold and the only thing stopping it from transferring it to his actual leg is the wood between his leg and the prosthetic, and even that is cold - the snow rises to just below knee height, hindering his movements. He has no fur coat, nothing but his leather armor and his one boot, both of which the cold is sinking quickly into.

The only good thing about this is that if he can’t see, the Hunters can’t either, and that buys him some time.

If the cold doesn’t kill me first, he thinks morbidly, shivering with his arms wrapped around himself.

Toothless was somewhere; Hiccup had lost him when they’d both gone down, crashing into a thick copse of trees and getting separated when they landed. He’d searched for several minutes, following the sound of Toothless’s roars, but the snow was far too thick to see in and he’d realized he was nowhere near his dragon. So now, he is walking simply to find somewhere to get warm - he’s no use to Toothless dead.

The trees had ended behind him, and all Hiccup can see is endless white - white snow, gray-white sky, white falling snow, white snow-covered hills in the distance, white snow-covered trees in front of the hills. He’s getting rather sick of the color, and is imagining red and orange flames, violet plasma blasts, anything warm that he can think of. It’s really not helping very much.

He can feel himself slowing, mind getting fuzzy and legs dragging slower and slower through the snow, and he knows this is the beginning of hypothermia. He has no idea how long he’s been out here, the world being suspended in an eternal state of dull gray sunlight and falling snow, but apparently it’s long enough for the cold to start really affecting him. He has to keep going, though - if he stops now, there’s no doubt that he’ll die, but he might find a cave he can shelter in.

And then he hears a stick snap, and the voices come from off to his right.

“I saw the Haddock boy go down with that dragon of his.”

“We can barely see out here. He could’ve flown off already and we’d be freezing our asses off for nothing.”

“Viggo would give us a reward if we captured him, though. He’s said so himself.”

There’s a distant grumble, and then a reluctant, “Fine. We’ll keep searching.”

Hiccup swears under his breath, then shivers and grimaces. Note to self: never decide to use the cover of snow for an attack, he thinks bitterly, looking around frantically for somewhere to hide, any direction to go that wouldn’t be putting himself right in the Hunters’ path. He isn’t even sure what direction they’re coming from.

It’s all white, endless gods-damned white. Hiccup groans in frustration. “Think, Hiccup, think,” he mutters under his breath, but his thoughts are fuzzy and it’s hard to make his mouth move. He’s already forgetting the words that the Hunters said, that they’re even after him - he swears again. His hypothermia is worse than he thought, he thinks briefly, with effort, before that thought disappears and he shivers.

He picks a direction and runs as fast as he can in the thick snow. He’s helped only by the fact that one of his legs is metal - if both feet were freezing and affected by hypothermia like one is, he’s sure he would’ve been even slower. As it is, he feels like he isn’t running at all, and it’s far too much effort to keep the thought of run in his mind long enough to keep going. He’s lucky he doesn’t pick the direction the Hunters are in.

The voices echo behind him, getting fainter. Hiccup keeps running, dragging his feet through the heavy snow, forcing himself to remember the reason he’s doing this, that he has to.

The minutes drag on; his mind gets fuzzier. Run.

He forgets why he’s running, barely moves fast enough to be considered a proper walk, but he has to run.

An indeterminable amount of time passes like this, Hiccup’s mind and body slowing until he feels like he’s about to collapse and the final thought of run finally slips away from him. He’s surrounded by white, now, as he keeps moving for no reason at all, and he’s so, so cold. His whole body is ice, though he’s stopped shivering and has his arms still wrapped around himself, though it’s useless at this point.

He wonders why he doesn’t just stop and collapse, why he keeps going. It seems like a good idea, to just sink into the cold and the darkness threatening to overtake him. He’d be warmer in the darkness, he thinks, wouldn’t have to keep going through his overwhelming exhaustion.

He almost does - feels himself slow until he almost stops, feels his legs almost give out - until he sees something moving in the white, something dark. Whatever part of his mind is still coherent forces him to keep going, walking towards the black shape until he breaks through the snow and stumbles into a cave.

He falls, using too much effort to walk through the snow and not slowing his momentum fast enough when the snow abruptly ends. The stone is cold against his skin - but he can’t feel it, anyway, his entire body is numb. Something in him is satisfied at the fact that he found the cave, though he can’t remember why, and he relaxes right on the ground.

The darkness is welcoming, even in the cave. Hiccup feels a little warmer, sheltered from the snow, and he’s so tired. He just goes limp where he lays, a few feet in the cave, and lets exhaustion overtake him, unconsciousness rising quickly to drag him down.

Toothless whines as he and Astrid walk through the storm, tail flicking. He looks up at Astrid when Stormfly stops, losing Hiccup’s scent in the deep snow, and gives a quiet, worried whimper.

Astrid frowns, shivering in her fur coat and putting a hand on Toothless’s scales. “We’ll find him, Toothless,” she says, reassuring him as well as herself. They’ve been searching for hours, the Riders following her and Toothless and keeping warm by the heat of their dragons - and now, even the dragons are getting cold.

Toothless whines and sniffs at the snow, pawing at it and then looking up into the dense snowfall. All the tracks Hiccup might have made have been covered by the snow, and they don’t even know if he was captured by Hunters before he made it to a cave - or before he… well. She’s not going to think about that.

Stormfly chirps and makes her own low whining noise, feet shifting in the snow as she sniffs at it and comes up with nothing. Astrid wants to cry, her hope slowly dying as they keep searching and Stormfly loses the faint scent of Hiccup’s trail. It’s been hours, she thinks despairingly. She doesn’t know how long he could’ve survived on his own - which means he’s either captured by Hunters or- or-

No. Hiccup isn’t- that. He’s the most stubborn person she knows, he’s not gone. He’s not gone.

Her hands curl into fists and she feels spiteful anger rise in her. She starts walking, forcefully moving through the snow. Toothless follows reluctantly behind her, giving a curious whine.

“Uh, Astrid? Where are you going? Stormfly lost the scent,” Tuffnut says confusedly from behind her.

Astrid glares at the snow and keeps going. “We’re obviously going in the right direction. We need to find Hiccup, so I’m going to keep searching. You can stay behind if you want,” she replies - a little too harsh, but she’s worried and she lashes out when she’s worried. Especially when there’s the possibility that Hiccup is- is dying. Not already- not that yet, but dying. He’s not gone. She would’ve felt it.

After a moment, she hears the dragons huff and the other Riders follow behind her, fanning out a little to search in every direction. They’re reluctant to go far, for fear of losing each other like they lost Hiccup, but they at least look all around them.

It seems like forever that they’re searching when Stormfly perks up, chirping and running lightly on the snow. Toothless follows a bit slower, and Astrid struggles to keep up with them. “Guys! Stormfly found something!” she calls back to the other Riders.

In a few minutes, Astrid stumbles onto stone when the snow abruptly ends and she’s covered by the roof of a cave. Toothless whines and nudges at something in the dark, circling around it. Stormfly opens her mouth and holds a low flame, dimly illuminating the cave.

Orange light plays over Hiccup’s unconscious form right by Astrid’s feet, and she gasps when she sees him. A thin layer of snow covers his feet and legs from when the wind changed direction, and his lips are a worrying shade of blue. She crouches down and brushes off the snow from his legs - his prosthetic foot is ice cold, and his armor is cold as well. Even his skin is cold, as she takes his hand and squeezes it.

Blood rushes into his hand when she does, coloring the pale skin a light red. Toothless whimpers and nuzzles underneath his hand, pressing his body up against him and curling around. Hiccup doesn’t respond; Astrid shoves down the panic and presses her fingers to his throat, feeling for a pulse.

It’s slow, far too slow for it to be normal, but eventually she hears a thud-thud beneath her fingers and she almost sobs in relief. He’s alive, he’s alive, she thinks desperately to herself to calm the panic.

Toothless nudges his nose under Hiccup’s body and Astrid nods, standing up. “You’re right, Toothless,” she says. She unclips Toothless’s saddle to get better heat from his scales and helps him drape Hiccup over his back, laying him on his back down Toothless’s body. She leads him further into the cave so Toothless can lay down carefully, keeping Hiccup on him.

She turns to the other Riders. “Does anyone have a light?”

Snotlout holds his lantern out and she takes it, setting it down in the middle of the area she’s designated. “Alright. Hookfang and Barf and Belch,” she turns to the dragons, who give answering noises, realizing how bad the situation is, “can you put your wings up to block the wind?”

Hookfang growls and rumbles, stepping back a little and onto his hind legs, spreading his wings to cover the entire length of the cave. Barf and Belch look at each other, then follow Hookfang’s lead, moving in front of him and raising their wings a bit lower to cover the open bottom edges of Hookfang’s wingspan over the cave.

Astrid smiles at them in thanks and looks around at their little area. It’s a small cave in the first place, and she doesn’t want to have to heat up too big of an area.

She walks over to Hiccup, picking up his hands and raising them. “Stormfly?”

Stormfly chirps and walks over, opening her mouth and holding another low flame. She puts herself near Hiccup’s hands, enough to feel the heat, and Astrid rubs his skin a little as she holds them, feeling warmth slowly return.

The other Riders have sat down against the far wall of the cave. Astrid turns away from Stormfly, letting go of Hiccup’s hands. Stormfly starts moving her mouth up and down Hiccup’s body, close enough for him to feel the heat, like a fire, but far enough it won’t burn him.

“Fishlegs, can you stand guard with Meatlug and tell us if anyone is coming? We shouldn’t have to be here long, not with Stormfly and Toothless warming Hiccup up, but we can’t leave and fly in the cold with him like this.”

Fishlegs nods, glancing over at Hiccup. There’s a dark, determined look in his eyes when he walks away, Barf and Belch folding their wing in to allow him to pass. Astrid turns to Snotlout and the twins when she’s finished, then glances at Hiccup.

Suddenly, there’s nothing to do. She can’t do anything else to help Hiccup, and the cave is as heated up as it can be with one lantern and two dragons blocking the wind and wayward drifting snow. It makes her feel a little lost, a little helpless, and she paces with the feeling. She hates feeling helpless, even if she knows she did everything she could to help Hiccup by the glances she gives up at Toothless and Stormfly every few minutes.

It’s a long, torturous hour that they wait, Astrid growing more restless and Snotlout and the twins’ bored antics only agitating her further. Even their antics have an edge of desperation to them, an edge of too-much-distraction that comes when the thoughts of something worse is beating at the edges, threatening to take over. The dragons shift restlessly too, Stormfly taking a break from holding a flame to guard the cave while Hookfang moves his head slowly up and down above Hiccup’s body, fire held in his mouth. Toothless whimpers concernedly, head twisting back to look at Hiccup.

Finally, they hear him stir. Toothless’s head snaps back instantly, and Hookfang leans back, still holding a flame in his mouth. Astrid, Snotlout, and the twins all go silent, looking up.

“Hiccup?” Snotlout asks tentatively, the first real sign he’s shown that he’s as scared for Hiccup as Astrid is.

There’s a cough, then a pained groan, and Hiccup’s head lifts. Toothless warbles and whines, trying to nudge at Hiccup without knocking him off his back and failing.

Hookfang steps back, letting Astrid rush over to Hiccup as he tries rolling onto his side and help him down without falling. He lands unsteadily on his feet, and Astrid helps hold him up as he leans against her.

“Hiccup, how are you feeling?” she asks when he’s quiet, simply staring at the ground.

“Not…” he stops, and she waits. He holds up one hand, slowly flexing his still-cold fingers, and tries again. “Not… terrible,” he gets out, as if it was difficult to say.

She nods. “Okay, do you think you can fly Toothless? I’m sorry, but we really need to get out of here. We’re still in Hunter territory.”

She hates doing this, but he’ll be able to warm up for longer at the Edge, and there will be no threat of the Hunters finding them. The sooner they fly back, the better Hiccup will be in the long run.

He nods slowly, again after a long pause. “Yeah,” he says slowly, voice slightly slurred. She frowns in concern, but walks him over to the wall where he sits down and turns back to start strapping Toothless’s saddle back on.

She finishes a few minutes later, helping Hiccup back onto Toothless. He can barely sit up, and she frowns deeper. “Hiccup, what if I ride with you? That’ll keep you warmer. Stormfly can fly on her own.”

Hiccup’s brow furrows for a moment and then he nods, his eyes drifting shut. Astrid climbs behind him, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him back against her chest. He leans against her, almost limp in her arms, and Toothless stands up, looking back with a concerned whimper.

“He’ll be fine, Toothless,” Astrid says, and smiles when Hiccup’s hand twitches, rubbing back and forth on Toothless’s scales.

The other Riders have already gone to their dragons, Snotlout extinguishing his lantern, and Fishlegs has gotten the message too. They all turn and take off into the still falling snow, barely able to see but warm with their dragons and Hookfang on fire in the middle of them, relying on their dragons’ innate sense of direction.

It’s a while before Astrid notices Hiccup has fallen asleep against her, foot locked into holding the prosthetic tailfin in place. He’s breathing steadily and still with cold skin, but it’s not ice cold like before and his pulse is stronger. She smiles, feeling the final edges of panic recede and a calm peace fall over her, pulling Hiccup closer to her.

He’s okay. He’s alive. They’ll all be okay.

next entry >>

[vegetacide]

TaG: Bloodlines (Part 7.. )

Veg • notables: Any errors in this are strictly my own

Ty to @gumnut-logic and @scribbles97 for the brainstorming help and the encouragement.

Previous: Part 1 | Part 2 Bit 1 & Bit 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

Rating and General warning: Mature content head. If you are not a fan of medical issues of a female nature in relation to pregnancy please proceed with caution.

Characters: Virgil, Kayo, (V/K)  Jeff, Scott and Grandma.

Location: TaG-verse AU | Tracy Island

E N J O Y

8-8-8

Part 7 Kesalahan

The quiet tinny sound of music and a steady bass beat were the first things Kayo noticed as she started to drift in the land between wakefulness and sleep.

Grogginess sat heavily on her achy body but the comforting scents of home;  a pleasant mix of the sea and her husband’s aftershave, greeted her waking mind.

Opening her eyes just enough to peer through her lashes she was surprised to find the room still heavily shadowed with the exception of the table lamp set on low across from the foot of the bed.   

Its soft light spilled gently into the room and played over the form of her husband.   Casting a juxtaposition of shadows and light across his stubbled jaw and the little dent in his chin she loved so much.  

She wondered briefly who their child would take after.  Her husband’s strong handsome features or her Malay curves and angles.  Either way, she thought as she shifted her hand to cup the swell of her belly,  she would love the child with all she was worth. 

There was no way she was going to let this little go through the beginning of its life like she had.   Running and hiding from a mad man bent on destruction. 

Pushing those thoughts aside she turned her mind back to Virgil.  

He’d pulled up one of the arm chairs from their small sitting room to the side of the bed.  His bare foot was perched up on the side of the bed while he tinkered on a data pad that was resting on an upraised knee.   

He was awake, for that she was certain as he’d dawned a pair of headphones and he’s head was bobbing to whatever musical composition he was generating.   

Intent on whatever it was he was doing, Kayo just watched him.  Enjoying the play of light through his tousled hair and the way he nibbled his lower lip when he was concentrating.  A trait he swore he didn’t do.

It was a good five minutes before he looked up,  his brow shooting up into his hairline when he noticed she was awake. 

Setting the data pad down,  he pulled the headphones from his head.  It was obvious he’d been doing whatever it was he was doing for some time but the banded, depression the headphones had left across the top of his head.  

He smiled at her,  checking the time on the bedside chronometer and dragged a hand over his face as he stretched his shoulders out with a pop.   

“Hey,”  There was a huskiness to his voice that had she been in better shape would have curled her toes.  

“Hey”  She whispered back.  “What are you working on?”  

Virgil shrugged, glancing down at the pad.  “Nothing much,  just passing the time.”  

“Can I hear it?”  

“It’s not done and really it’s just fiddling.”  

“You don’t have to sit vigil.”  She said, holding her hand to him and hoping he would take it. “Doctor Coxley said I would be fine in a couple weeks.”   

“Yes, I do.”  His reply was matter of fact. “And he did but had I been watching you better we wouldn’t be here now.” 

“Virgil…”  Kayo sighed in exasperation, pushing herself up with some effort  so she could see him better.  She wasn’t going to have this conversation lying down like an invalid

Virgil came to her aid,  sliding his arm across her back and holding her steady as he propped her pillows up.  

“Thanks.”  She said, laying her hand on his cheek before he could turn away.  She wanted him to kiss her but she wasn’t sure if they were there yet.   

He put his hand over hers,  turning into her palm but he pulled away a moment later and sat on the edge of the bed.  

“You need anything?”  It was asked as a distraction and Kayo knew it well.  She’d used this trick a few times herself over the years.  

“Virgil,  look at me.”  

He did, reluctantly.  The fidgeting of his fingers against his knees as if he was running through scales told her he was uncomfortable and wanted to be discussing anything but this.  

“You’re not to take it all on yourself.  I am just as much to blame, if not more so for this.”  Kayo pointed at herself,  circle her index finger around all of her and then some.   

“I was the one that messed up with my pill five months ago.  I was the one that was pushing myself to do too much.  I was the one that withheld things from you.”

“Which you apologized for.”  He stated. “And five months ago I messed up just as much as you did.  I’m the one with the medical training and I gave you those antibiotics.”  

Kayo nodded, and fiddled with the edge of the sheets at her waist. “You did but at the time,  neither one of us was thinking very straight. Other things seemed more … pressing.”

That comment got a chuckle out of Virgil.  “Ya,  was kind of reckless of us. If Scott ever found out…”  

She smiled and nudged his backside with her covered knee.  “Who said he doesn’t know. He might be just too embarrassed to say anything to us.”  

He peered back at her over his shoulder,  a thick brow arched in curiosity. “What makes you say that?”

She only had to say one thing.  “Biometrics.”  

Virgil groaned and dropped his face into his hands.  “That would actually explain a lot.” 

“How so?”

Virgil pursed his lips in thought.  “Odd little comments that seemed to say more than they did.  The odd awkward silence.”  he gave a shrug.  “Like something was on the tip of the tongue but then the words never came..”

They sat in companionable silence for a moment.  Kayo, languishing among her pillows and soft sheets.  Virgil’s warmth comforting and lolling her mind.  

She caught herself,  not wanting to fall back asleep just yet.   Enjoying this quiet moment as their bridge to each other healed.  

“What time is it?”

“Late or early.  Depends on which you prefer.”  He rolled his shoulders,  bracing his hands on his knees as if to get up. “Little after 4am. You’ve been asleep for about 5 hours.”  

“I’ve done nothing but sleep since we left Auckland.” 

“You needed it.”  He replied, scrubbing a hand down his face. 

“And so do you.”

“I’m okay.  Grandma will be up in a bit. She’s keeping taps on your vitals for the Doc.” 

She’d figured as much.  If not Grandma than her husband would be but considering how tired he looked it was probably a good idea that Sally was doing it.  

Stretching, he got to his feet.   Grimacing as his shoulder popped in the process, he rubbed at it absently. Obviously the way he had been sitting hadn’t agreed with the old injury and it was bothering him again. 

“Come to bed.”  Hand out, she reached for him.  “You need to get some sleep and by the way you keep massaging your shoulder it looks like your body agrees with me.” 

He hesitated a moment but ultimately the call to sleep won out.  

Grabbing the edge of his shirt,  he tugged it over his head.  Discording it lazily on the floor by the foot of their bed,  a mere four feet from the laundry shoot..Kayo resisted the urge to scold.   Men truly were lazy creatures, though Virgil for the most part picked up after himself there were times that she was reminded of that fact. 

His jeans followed and she rolled her eyes as they too ended up on the floor though the view more than made up for it.  She’d always been a sucker for abs and Virgil’s were … well, words could not describe or do them any justice. 

A thick brow arched at her as he came around to the other side of the bed.  “That is not going to help either of us.”  He pointed out, slipping under the covers and opening his arm to her.

She took the invitation with ease, snuggling into his embrace and settling her head on his broad chest.  “The next two weeks are going to suck.”

His chuckle rumbled through his chest and kissed her brow.  “You’re telling me..”

Scott read over the intel reports from security again and gave up three words in.  He’d already gone over it several times and each time he came up with the same conclusion.

It was quiet on all fronts.  Their unscheduled trip to the mainland had been completely unnoticed.  Not one word of sightings of the famed Tracy Clan in any of the usual media outlets.  Not even one captured image.... Nothing.  

He knew John and Eos cast a wide net when it came to protecting the family’s privacy but usually there was something out there.  A comment on one of the social media platforms,  a blip from the military junkies that loved to watch what sort of aircraft came in and out of various GDF bases despite the numerous no trespassing signs. And a personal jet with civilian tags would have garnered at least one comment somewhere… but there was nothing.  

Sighing, he dumped the reports on the desk and flopped into his seat.   He was being paranoid but when it came to the safety of his family what choice did he have. Looking for things in the shadows when it was a bright and cheery day had been a habit born out of necessity over the years.  And now that the Hood was at large… that habit had grown tenfold.  

The main reason for that was sitting in the lowered lounge going over stock reports and grumbling at some inventory issues at one of Tracy Industries aeronautical plants on the other side of the globe. 

The others were tucked away upstairs resting, he hoped.  Though knowing his brother’s penchant for worrying that was an unlikely case.   Kayo on the other hand had been sleeping on and off since returning to the island late last night so at least that was a blessing.  

Rubbing at his eyes again he contemplated tossing the whole lot at Penny and seeing what she could make of it.  

If he was being over the top,  she would let him know in her polite aristocratic way but he knew she had her hands full at the moment with Kayo being out of action and having to compensate for the deficiency in man power. 

Usually this sort of thing was Kayo’s domain. She was an expert at reading the nuances of what was between the lines.. Or in this case; wasn’t.  Seeing the patterns in the ebb and flow of people. Finding what was out of place or suspicious in a sea of normalcy.  

Being five months pregnant and now with complications put a wrench in that resource though and Scott didn’t dare take any of this to her,  she didn’t need the stress and he didn’t need Virgil coming for his head.  

When the Bear was in full on protective mode of his mate.. Well lets just say the ferociousness of it could even unnerved Scott.  

Most of the mundane day to day tasks Scott had redelegated out among the TI security team. A group of well trained ex-forces members that Kayo had personally hand picked and vetted.   

They were a trustworthy lot that had been with them for several years and had never let them down. Trained,  retrained,  drilled and put through their paces on a regular, they never complained and were well compensated for all their hard work.     

Kayo was a very hands on person,  taking on a lot of the nitty gritty daily duties that could easily be dispersed among the people at her disposal. It allowed her on one hand to get her finger on the pulse of what was going on around her and by extension her family.  On the other hand by doing so she freed up her staff to focus on the more important task of protection. 

Thinking about protection, he was probably going to have to call someone up from the ranks that they could bring to the island.  The security system’s here were in depth but there had to be someone they could use for the interim to maintain everything.. That was a job that he would have to prioritize over the next couple of days and another thing to add to his growing list. 

 His father cursing, roused Scott from his thoughts.  “Issues?”  He asked, in need of distraction as he came around the desk. 

“Just eye strain and stupidity.  I may need to make an appearance at the office to handle this personally.”

“Dad, I don’t think..” 

Jeff waved him off one handed. “I know.  I know but I may not have a choice.  The board is being unreasonably ornery with the current project projections and if the inventory issues aren’t sorted soon there is a real possibility of a delay on production…”

“This sounds rather familiar…”  Scott groused. “You could always have legal look into the contract, see what wiggle room we have.”

“I’ve got Tom working on that now.  It’s not something that is going to bankrupt us by any stretch of the imagination. It’s just a pain in the backside. “

“And the timing …”

“Exactly,”  His Father yawned, stretching out on the couch. “ It’s the  last thing we need at the moment.”

“What’s the last thing we need?”  Came a feminine voice from the other side of the room. 

Father and son turned as one and blinked.  

“Good Heavens,  Kayo you should be resting.” 

Kayo rolled her eyes and came further into the room.   She was dressed simply in a pair of yoga pants and a Denver Tech sweater obviously belonging to Virgil considering how it dwarfed her petite frame. 

She was pale but looked rested.  An air of calm surrounded her with no evidence of the fear that had been present the previous day.  She looked settled and the relief of it had some of the tension leaving Scott.  

Hair hair was down,  curling over and around her shoulders and by the whiff of jasmine he could pick up from where he was freshly from the shower. 

Scott looked past her expecting the large frame of his brother to be shadowing her.

“I convinced him to get some sleep.”  She said, catching the direction of Scott’s gaze.  “It was either that or I was going to sic Grandma on him. 

She toddled over to the lounge and Scott offered his hand to help her down the stairs. The look she shot him would have sent most people running for the hills but he wasn’t put off by it in the slightest.   

There was a silent war for but a moment until he arched a brow at her and she conceded.   Taking his proffered hand and alighting down the stairs with ease.   

“You shouldn’t be on your feet.”  Jeff spoke up, stepping to the side to offer her the closest couch. 

Her hand settled on the swell of her belly and she smiled with exasperation at Jeff. “I wanted to stretch my legs.  I’m not used to sitting around.“

Jeff smiled back in sympathy and took her elbow, urging her to take a seat.  

Kayo complied,  easing back in the soft leather with a mild wince of discomfort.  

Zeroing in on the flash of pain, Scott crouched before her.  “You alright?”

“Just a little round ligament pain. It will pass.”  

“You sure?”  His eyes darted up to his Father’s and Jeff reached for him comms.  

“Most definitely besides,” She held up her wrist, a band like that of a watch encircling it.  “Grandma has me wired up for monitoring. I am not to take it off even to shower so there is no hiding for me until this little stowaway decides it’s time to come out.” 

The hand cupped over her small rounded belly did a gentle sweep back and forth, Kayo seemingly unaware she was even doing it as she glanced at all the data pads on the table.  

So much love for the little one that hadn’t been planned. 

Scott was still in awe of the whole situation. So much had happened in the last eight months.  

They’d gotten their father back from the dead of space after eight long years. Whole and mostly healthy though there would be long term medical issues to contend with

The relationship that Kayo and Virgil had been trying to keep under wraps from the rest of them had been found out due to a nosy reporter when they’d been on scheduled leave. Luckily with the help of Eos and John the rumours had been smothered. 

They’d had a private wedding on the beach shortly after that.  Just the direct family,  and closest friends in attendance.

And not two months after that, they’d found out the couple was pregnant when the whole family thought the relationship was on the rocks. 

So much to process and Scott still had trouble wrapping his head around it. 

“So what’s this I heard when I came in?”

Crap,  Scott had hoped that had slipped her mind and he scrambled for an appropriate response.  One that wouldn’t raise her suspicions.  His father stepped in though before he could formulate a plan.

“It’s nothing to worry about.  Just some concerns with the board in the U.S.  I got it handled.”

“You sure?  I don’t mind looking into it if you need me too.”

Jeff shook his head.  “It’s alright.  I have legal doing the leg work already.  They can handle it.

“Really, it wouldn’t take me anytime at all if you need to go in person to set up a detail.”  She stated and shifted as  if to get back to her feet. 

“I beg your pardon” Came the voice of the family Matriarch that had off three of them freezing.  ‘Tanusha Kyrano Tracy, the last thing you should be doing at the moment is working. “

Sally Tracy whooshed into the room like a woman on a mission and beelined straight for Kayo.  “And secondly to that, you better not have been walking around the island unaccompanied, young lady.  You’ve barely been back on the island twenty four hours and you’re already getting into mischief. 

Kayo’s mouth snapped shut and she looked thoroughly chest fallen.   

“I know you hate not being able to help out but really right now you need to look after yourself and that baby. “  The retired doctor plucked a random tablet off the table, swiped whatever was on the screen away and pulled up the med-reader.  

Kayo’s bio-signs flickered across the screen,  Red lines blipping out a steady beat as O2 saturation levels and blood pressure blinked in the corner. 

Grandma didn’t need to say anymore on the subject as all the proof she needed was right there on the screen. Those blood pressure readings were far from Kayo’s normal levels and creeping towards preeclampsia just like they had been not even a day prior.

Grandma tutted and handed the data pad to her son.  There was a sternness in her gaze as she perched on the couch next to Kayo and patted her knee.  “I want both of you healthy and hearty,  you still have another twenty two more weeks before that little one should make an appearance.  The faster we get on top of this the better it will be in the long run.”

Their Grandmother softened when she saw that her message was getting through and she let up in the lecturing.   

“But since you’re up we might as well get you some food After which we can go for a little walk around the pool for some fresh air.” 

There was a mute nod in response and Kayo was assisted back to her feet. Grandma took her arm and smiled, looking rather pleased that she’d managed to wrangle the security specialist   

“Oh and luckily for you,  we are going to be having a visitor on the island soon.  Doctor Coxley suggested we consult a nutritionist that specializes in pregnancies so Lady Penelope is looking into some for us.”  

“Lucky for all of us.”  Jeff muttered and blinked when he realized he’d said that out loud.   

Grandma shot him a look while Scott coughed to hide his chuckle.    

8-8-8 

TBC

NEXT

[what-is-your-plan-today]

Riding High Ch 18: Sugar

Chapter Summary: It’s July, and Fliss’ birthday…

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words.!!!

Chapter Pairings:  Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

A/N: Ok, so I know you’ve all been on edge since He-who-shall-not-be-named was released on parole and I hope this chapter doesn’t disappoint. We’ll be gearing up for a bit of a rough time over the next few chapters for Friss so buckle up…

Also, I noticed yesterday that Tumblr seems to be swallowing huge chunks of my work on SSB…so I’m going to try and publish this in one, but if it doesn’t work I’ll split it over 2 parts.

Chapter Song:   Shogun by George Ezra

Series Masterlist // Main Masterlist

“And we got two in the front, two in the back, sailing along and we don’t look back”

July 2018

“So now what?” Mary looked at Fliss as the two of them sat side by side at the table, both looking at the laptop in front of them.

“Ok, so see these spaces here…” Fliss said, pointing to 2 empty squares dotted in the unpublished Internet Page and then to the larger space at the top “Now we need to add the photos…”

They were working on a project of sorts for Sandybrook’s website. They’d decided to give Monty his own little weekly blog for the summer called “The Life of Monty” which Mary had eagerly said she wanted to write, something for her to do over the break. “Ooh, ok!” Mary nodded “I already know which ones I want to use!” “Yeah?” Fliss looked at her.

“Yeah…ok so I want that one that has me, you and Monty in…you know the one that Frank likes where we are both laughing.” Fliss smiled “Ok, we can use that one.” “And then the other one is the one where Monty had the Party Hat on because it was his birthday.” “Good choice.” Fliss smiled “And what about the one across the top.” “The one of him in the pasture.” Mary said after a moment “Where he is looking up and pulling the funny face, you know with all his teeth out?”

Fliss grinned “Yeah, it looks like he is smiling.” Mary nodded eagerly “Yup.” “Ok…” Fliss said, and with a move of the mouse she set to work selecting the photos, ensuring that they were positioned and sized right for the frames. She couldn’t help but smile at the one of her and Mary. Mary was looking at the camera, laughing a lot whilst Fliss was, in turn, watching her and laughing too. Frank had been trying to take the photo of the 2 of them but Bill had been stood behind him, pulling stupid faces which had reduced Mary to tears, and her giggles had then set Fliss off. Frank said he adored the photo, that much in-fact it was now the screen-saver on his phone.

Fliss clicked save and then looked at Mary. “Wanna give it a final read over, check if you want to add anything else?”

Mary nodded.

“Ok, you do that I’m gonna start dinner.” “What are we having?” Mary looked at her.

“Carbonara. That ok?”

Mary grinned her approval as Fliss stood up, dropped a kiss to Mary’s head and walked into the kitchen.

It wasn’t long before Frank came home and greeted Mary before he headed into the kitchen area. He wrapped his arms round Fliss from behind, dropping a kiss to her neck.

“Good day?” he asked and she hmmed in agreement.

“Not bad…are you filthy, as usual?”

He chuckled as he let her go and moved to the fridge. She stopped what she was doing and turned to face him as he reached in for the water jug. He was, as always, covered in grime from his work and Fliss bit her lip. There was definitely something about seeing him in his dirty work jeans and grubby T-shirts that got her blood pumping.

“Stop it.” he said, giving her a look, knowing full well what she was thinking. She shrugged and with a grin turned back to the food.

“Oh, erm, wanted to check…are you if we use photos of Mary for her blog on the website?” Fliss asked, turning back to him.

“Of course I am.” he said, frowning “Why wouldn’t I be?” “It’s a public sight.” Fliss shrugged “Just wanted to check that’s all.” “It’s fine.” Frank said, placing a kiss to her cheek “I think it’s a really good idea anyway, give her something to do and practice her writing. Like Bonnie said, she’s sharp on the numbers but could do with honing up her English a little bit. She’s too logical, this should give her something to be creative with and keep her occupied over the break.”

And you…he refrained from adding. In the week following the notification that parole had been granted, John had been released. And this had set Fliss on edge. One night after she had snapped at Frank, causing a full scale argument over the fact he had bought the wrong type of salad dressing, she’d broken down and confessed that she wasn’t sleeping properly and this was causing stupid things, like Ranch v French dressing, to tip her over the edge.

The day after her spectacular salad dressing related melt down, Greg, who had already requested details of the terms of his release, came over and the 3 of them gone through, in detail what it meant realistically for Fliss.

“Basically it’s as good as you could hope for.” Greg explained “He is forbidden from contacting you or any of your family in any way, via any means. He is State-bound to Massachusetts, specifically the Boston area. He’s tagged, and on a curfew between the hours of 7pm and 7am. And moreover the authorities here are following the UK’s lead as well and trialling these new GPS tracking tags, which they’ve deemed him eligible for. So at any time, any place, they’ll be able to lock onto his whereabouts…”

“So if he does breach his conditions…” Fliss started and Greg nodded “They’ll be on him like a shot.” he said, with a gentle smile “Look, I know this is shit…but you really do have nothing to worry about. One breach and he’s back inside. And when he reaches the end of his parole, we’ll file for an injunction with the same conditions. Keep him away from you.”

Since the conversation with Greg, Fliss had calmed down somewhat but still, in week following her confession she didn’t spend a night away from Frank, seemingly coping better with the fact that she was around him, and even when he wasn’t there, the fact she was in his apartment gave her some safety and comfort.

So he’d asked her to move in permanently 3 days ago. Which he was still waiting for an answer on.

“What you thinking?” her voice broke through his thoughts.

“Honestly?”

“Always.” she nodded.

“When you’re gonna give me an answer to that question I asked you a few days back.” She took a deep breath and looked down at the floor before she looked up at him, a soft smile on her face.

“Are you sure you want me here, full time, and you’re not just asking because-“

“Lissy…” he cut her off, shaking his head “I’d have asked you move in here the day I did if I’d thought you’d have said yes. I’d love you to come live with us. And I know Mary would too…” “Ok, that’s blackmail.” she narrowed his eyes at the fact he’d dropped Mary into the equation and he grinned. “Is it working?”

She bit her lip and nodded “Yeah, ok, I’d love to…” “Yeah?” he said, a huge smile spreading across his face, warmth flooding his chest.

“Yeah…” she nodded, and grinned as he wrapped his arms around her, pressing a kiss to her lips.

“Gross…” Mary mumbled as she walked past the pair of them to the fridge, retrieving a juice box. . Frank broke away to look at her as she stabbed the straw into the hole at the top.

“Better get over it Stack.” he smirked. “Fliss just agreed to come live with us.” “Really?” her eyes widened and she grinned as Fliss nodded. Mary moved over to the pair of them and wrapped her arms around them both, Frank’s hand falling to the back of her head as she looked up at him. “Does that mean I don’t need to eat any more of your cooking, like ever again?”

Frank rolled his eyes and glanced at Fliss who was chuckling slightly “Trust me Mary…” she said, grinning “I’ve no intention of eating his cooking either.”

***** Of course Verity and Bill were over the moon when Fliss told them she was moving into Frank’s, and the next week or so they all spent doing various runs with the things she decided she needed to take. Everything else she would be leaving in the annex to either throw or store at a later date.  

Considering the amount of time they spent together, it wasn’t a huge change for them, it just meant that the comfortable routine they adopted when they were together became a daily one, and it suited the pair of them just fine. Frank also surprised Fliss by getting her a vanity unit which she had made a passing comment about, making space for it in their room.

After 3 weeks it had become the new normal for them. They shared chores, shared Activity Club runs, grocery shopping,  bills…Frank had tried to object to that one but Fliss had put her foot down insisting that if she was living there she was paying her way so he’d caved in the end and agreed. Fliss felt happy, safe, secure, loved...and Frank was over the moon simply knowing he had her to come home to every night.

One particular evening, a few days before her Birthday they were due to meet Evelyn for dinner as she was in town again to visit Mary, but Fliss was running ridiculously late, and as a consequence was in a total flap

“Fuck, fuck…” she groaned, jumping out of the jeep and calling Thor to her. “Come on buddy…”

She hurried across the lawns and threw the door to the apartment open, Thor shooting in before her.  

“I’m so sorry I’m late…” she instantly began apologising  as she walked into the living area and groaned loudly “The last lesson overran and then one of the waterers broke in the livery barn, flooded Horatio’s stable…” “It’s ok, calm down…” Frank chuckled, dropping a kiss to her cheek. “How did it break?”

“He’s been scratching his arse on it.” she said, rubbing at her temple “He broke it off the wall. We turned the supply off but I had to sort his bed before I left, then call his owner to tell her…” she groaned “Fucking nightmare.” “Want me to take a look at it?”

Fliss shook her head “Dad’s gonna do it tomorrow, keep him busy. He always moans at me for asking you and not…” she trailed off as she spotted Evelyn who was sat on one of the chairs in the living room. “Oh, Evelyn…hi. Sorry, I didn’t realise you were coming here…I thought…”

“We were…” Frank explained “But Mary wasn’t feeling too good so I suggested to Mother she come here instead.” “Oh, no, is she ok?” Fliss asked.

“Too much sun I think, she’s been running around at the Activities Camp all day and hardly drunk anything, despite the lecture you gave her. She’s had some water and gone for a nap. She’ll be fine when it’s time for dinner.”

“I thought seeing as we can’t go out I’d treat you to take out.” Evelyn spoke, standing up. Fliss eyed her for a moment before she shrugged.

“I can make something.” she said, and Frank shook his head.

“No, Lissy…” “I can do chicken with that pear and blue cheese salad you and Mary liked.” Fliss said, “Surely that’s gonna be better for her than a take out if she’s feeling shitty?”

Frank looked at her and then to his mother “That ok with you?” “Sure, that sounds good.” Evelyn nodded “but only if it’s no trouble.” “It’s fine.” Fliss nodded “Let me go take a shower and then I’ll get started ok?” Frank nodded and dropped a kiss to her cheek before she headed off to the bathroom. Thor made his way into the living room and took his usual place on the rug, flopping down as he looked up at Evelyn as she followed Frank over to the kitchen area. He pulled a bottle of white wine out of the fridge and held it up.

“Sancerre?” Evelyn arched an eyebrow. “And a pretty good one too…” “Fliss’ choice, not mine.” he said, “I assume that means you’d like a glass.” “I don’t want to put you out Frank.” she said, and he shook his head.

“You’re here now so…” he said “Oh, we normally eat outside but I’m not sure if Mary’s-”

“What, in open view of everyone?” Evelyn asked, horrified “It’s hardly-“ She stopped dead as Frank shot her a look, and held her hands up. “Point taken…”

Frank poured her a glass then got a beer for himself and leaned back against the counter as his Mother nodded appreciatively at the wine.

“So, pear and blue cheese…” she said and Frank looked at her “You hated cheese as a child.” “Well, I like it now.” he shrugged “And Mary loves that salad so…” “It’s not a dish I would normally associate with a child to be honest.” Evelyn mused.

“Well, I think we can both agree Mary isn’t a particularly standard child so…”

At that point Fred sauntered into the kitchen, straight to his food bowl. Evelyn eyed him, before she turned to Frank and smiled “I already took a Benadryl…” He snorted and a few seconds later Mary appeared.

“Hi Grandmother. Fliss said you were here.” “You feeling ok?” Frank asked as she walked over to him. He swung her up and she rest her head on his shoulder, nodding. “Want some more water?” “Fliss told me to ask for the elec…erm…the electo-” “Electrolytes” he said, nodding. “Not a bad shout…”

He set her on the counter and then reached into the cabinet to the right of the sink where they kept the medical supplies and pulled a sachet from the box. Grabbing a glass he pulled the Filter jug out of the fridge and made her the drink before he handed it to her. “Take it slow ok?” She nodded and took it from him with a thanks, sipping at it carefully, pulling a face. “What flavour is that?” “It says orange.” he answered, looking at the packet.

“Well it’s wrong. That’s disgusting.” “It’s good for you, so stop complaining.”  he said, tossing the empty sachet into the trash.

To his surprise he heard his mother chuckling and he turned to look at her.  “I remember giving you something similar when you came home with sunstroke from playing Baseball all afternoon. You spat it out and told me you’d rather die than drink it.” Frank gave a huff and then turned to Mary who was grinning ear to ear “Don’t even think about it.” he pointed at her.

She shrugged and then took another mouthful, grimacing as she drank. “Please can I get down?” Frank obliged and watched as she headed off to the sofa, Thor jumping up besides her, settling his head in her lap.

“Go and talk to her.” Frank looked at his mother “That’s why you’re here, to spend time with her. Not me.”

Evelyn nodded, and for a moment Frank thought he saw a flicker of emotion in the woman’s eyes, but as quick as it had flashed across her face it was gone and she turned and made her way into the sofa. Frank leaned on the edge of the archway which led into the living area and watched as she sat down in the chair she had occupied previously before he heard the door to the bathroom open again, signalling Fliss was out of the shower. He moved to start taking the different things they needed to make dinner out of the fridge and turned on the oven before he seasoned the chicken breasts just as she had shown him with salt, pepper, chilli and a squeeze of lime. He dropped it onto a tray, placed it in the oven and was washing his hands when Fliss walked dressed casually in a pair of shorts and a fading Guns N Roses tank top. She was barefoot and her damp hair was piled up on her head in a haphazard bun. This was Frank’s favourite way to see her. Completely relaxed and at home.

“Chicken’s in.” he said as he turned to the fridge and then poured her a glass of wine.

“Thank you.” she smiled, taking a sip.

“Can I show Evelyn around?” Mary asked, and Frank turned to her.

“Finished your drink?” “Yeah.” “Ok then yes, of course you can.” She stood up and Evelyn followed, giving the pair of them a smile as she passed by the kitchen area of the open plan living space

“Oh, Felicity.” “Fliss, please.” Fliss nodded to her as she turned back to what she was doing.

“Fliss, sorry, but could I be awkward?” Evelyn asked.

“No doubt you can.” Fliss mumbled between gritted teeth and Frank smirked to himself before she tuned to look at Evelyn.

“Could I ask for my salad dressing on the side?”

“That’s fine.” Fliss nodded “I’ll make you a separate bowl.” “Thank you, that’s very kind.” Evelyn smiled before she headed out after Mary.

“If she doesn’t eat this, then she’s gonna be wearing it.” Fliss looked at Frank who let out a laugh as he chopped up the slices of cucumber.

“Now that I would pay to see.” “I’ll do it for free.” Fliss narrowed her eyes.

Frank chuckled again as they continued to make their food. After about 10 minutes or so, just as they were dropping the salad bowls onto the table, Evelyn and Mary re-appeared.

“You’ve made a nice home, certainly considering the area anyway.” Evelyn said, as Frank invited her to sit at the table before he headed back to grab the bottle of wine, a beer for himself and more water for Mary.

Fliss rolled her eyes” The area is fine, and Frank did it all, not me. Well, him and my dad. I only moved in a few weeks ago.”

“Yes, he does speak very highly of your parents.” “Well they love him.” Fliss shrugged “But then again what’s not to love.”

Evelyn looked at Fliss for a moment as Frank made his way back to the table, and they all settled down and began to eat. As she had been at Mary’s birthday, his mother was polite, nodding appreciatively at the food, joining in the conversation and she sat with Mary once they’d finished so Mary could show he the latest installation of Monty’s blog. After another bottle of wine and a few more beers, Frank realised it was getting quite late and then told Mary she needed to be getting ready for bed. Evelyn took this as her queue to call for her driver, which Frank was pleased about as it saved him having to ask her to leave.

Mary headed for a shower and the three adults made small talk until she reappeared in her pyjamas just as Evelyn’s driver called to announce his arrival. She bid Mary goodnight and then Frank made to walk her down to her car when the woman surprised him and looked at Fliss.

“Could you…I’d like to speak to you.” Fliss looked at Frank before she shrugged “Yeah, sure…” Frank frowned, but didn’t object. He looked at his mother and nodded “Let me know when you want to see her again.”

“I was actually wondering if she could come to Boston for a few days.” Evelyn said and Frank took a deep breath. “Obviously, when it’s convenient.” “Maybe.” He nodded “Goodbye Evelyn.” “Yes, I’ll call you.” she nodded and then the two women headed out of the apartment. Fliss stuck her hands in her pockets as they walked.

“I’m glad he took my advice.” Evelyn broke the silence “Regarding you, I mean…”

“Yeah he told me what you said to him.” Fliss gave a snort “Gotta say I was surprised after I’d unleashed quite a nasty verbal tirade on you…” “Well I think all things considered at the time I deserved it.”  Evelyn shrugged “And I’m not surprised you hate me so-“

“I don’t hate you Evelyn.” Fliss cut her off, shaking her head “I hate what you did to Frank and Mary, and honestly? I still don’t understand it.”

“I thought I was doing the right thing.” “But how?” Fliss pressed “How was tearing a girl away from the only father figure she has ever known, the man that has cared for her and loved her since she was 6 months old the right thing?”

Evelyn shook her head “I know Frank and I made an assumption-” “No, you knew Frank.” Fliss looked at her, “It was, what? Almost 8 years since you saw him last when you turned up…and how long was it before he left Boston since you actually had a conversation with him? I just…” Fliss trailed off and looked down at her feet before she glanced back at Frank’s mother “it baffles me how someone can be so callous towards their own child, that’s all.”

Fliss watched as Evelyn stopped and looked at her “What do you want me to say?” “An apology might not go amiss…” “I did that with his birthday card, paying the fees…” “Money doesn’t make it ok Evelyn.” Fliss sighed, “And a card isn’t the same as saying it to his face…” she scratched at her head “If you want to try and salvage something from this mess, have some form of relationship with your son…” “What makes you think-“ “Because I saw you this evening, at various points, watching him…you might be able to keep your face straight but they eyes don’t lie” Fliss said gently. Evelyn looked down at the ground as Fliss continued. “I suggest you start with a verbal apology, a very open and honest discussion, because that’s when you get the best out of Frank. On a face-to-face level, when he isn’t being lied or talked down to”

“You really do know him exceptionally well don’t you?” Evelyn smiled.

“Well, we’ve had enough of our own discussions recently with everything that’s been going on so…” “Right, your ex-husband.” “How do you-“ Fliss sighed, “Mary?” “No, actually, she never said a word. I looked you up.”

“Course you did.” Fliss groaned.

“I was curious about your family.” Evelyn shrugged “You have quite the back story.” “Yeah well, its history.” she said “And long may it stay that way.”

“Well I hope for all your sakes it does.” Evelyn shook her head “Nothing I can’t stand less than a man that deems it acceptable to do that. Lord knows I pushed Preston the extremes at times but he never once raised a hand to me…or his voice now that I think about it. He preferred to argue on a cerebral level...”

“Very like Frank.” Fliss smiled.

“Yes, the two are exceptionally similar.” Evelyn said as they reached the car. “Thank you for dinner Fliss, it was a very enjoyable evening.” Fliss smiled and then as Evelyn opened the car door the woman turned back to her “Just think about what I said Evelyn. You can’t turn the clock back but it’s how you go forward from here that matters.”

Evelyn nodded, and with that she climbed in the car and shut the door. Fliss watched them drive off before she turned and headed back towards the apartment. “You ok?” Frank asked, turning to look over the back of the sofa as she walked into the living area.

“Yeah, fine.” Fliss smiled. “Mary in bed?”

“She’s reading” Frank nodded “Told her you’d pop in and say goodnight.” Fliss yawned as she slid her arms round his shoulders from behind “I’ll go now, then I think I’ll get in bed myself. I’m whacked.” Frank smiled and turned his head to give her a kiss “I’m just gonna finish watching this and then I’ll be with you.” “What is it?” Fliss asked, turning her attention to the TV.

“A documentary on whales, funnily enough.” Frank said, “You’d enjoy it…” “You’re such an old man” she teased and he scoffed.

“Not what you were saying last night.”

Fliss laughed “Well you keep yourself in good shape, what can I say.” With that she kissed his cheek and headed down the hall.

After bidding goodnight to Mary and Thor, who seemed very happy to remain in Mary’s room with Fred, she changed for bed and slipped into the sheets, stretching out before she got herself comfortable. She was dozing, drifting in and out of a light sleep when she felt Frank climb into bed behind her, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her to his chest.

“Finish whale watching?” she asked as he dropped a kiss to her shoulder.

“Yeah.” he said gently. “So you gonna tell me what my mother wanted?” “Nothing much…” Fliss said, and she turned in his arms so she was facing him. “She was actually quite contrite.”

“Course she was…” “No, I mean it, I think she’s genuinely sorry.” Fliss said, her hand gently tracing shapes on his bicep “Maybe you should give her a chance to apologise properly.”

“That must have been one hell of a talk.” Frank snorted “You were all for dumping salad on her head before!”

“We had a very honest discussion, I got a few things off my chest.” Fliss shrugged “And, well, like it or not she’s still your mum Frank.” “No, she’s my mother.” he corrected her “Your mom is a mom.”

“Was your dad a dad or a father?” “He was a dad.” Frank said, “Most definitely.”

“Do you remember much about him?” she asked.

“Little bits.” he said, his hand tucking her hair behind her ear. “Mostly about stuff we did. Baseball, football, when he taught me how to ride a bike. All the fun stuff you do with kids really.” he took a deep breath.

“What did he do?” “He was a Surgeon” Frank said “Neurology.” “Really?” Fliss looked up at Frank as he nodded “Well that’s pretty cool!”

“Yeah.” Frank nodded “I wanted to be just like him when I was a kid. I sometimes wonder if I idolise him a bit more because he’s dead you know but…” “Have you ever asked your mother what he was like? You know, since he died?” “Once or twice.” Frank replied “For all of Evelyn’s faults she did love Dad. She gave up her own career and research partnership she had with Cambridge in London to move to Boston when she met him. Then they had me. I think she resented me a little bit at first because me and dad were so close, and then when Diane came along that was it, Daddy’s girl...”

“No longer his main woman.” Fliss smiled.

“Something like that. You know, I do wonder at times why on Earth she had us.” Frank snorted “if we were such inconveniences…” “It can’t all have been bad.” “Well we wanted for nothing. In fact, we were both very spoilt. And yeah, we had Birthday parties, fun, vacations, trips…but when dad died…I dunno, it kinda went to rat-shit.” “It must have been hard for Evelyn you know, losing him when you were both so young.”

“Yeah.” Frank sighed “I’ve no doubt it was. I remember the police coming round and breaking the news about the accident…only time I’ve ever seen her break down.”

“You know before, she said that you remind her of your dad.” Fliss looked at him.

“Yeah she’s told me the same, last time I saw her in fact. Probably why she doesn’t particularly enjoy being around me that much.” “I think she enjoys it a lot more than she lets on.”  Fliss shrugged “And besides, I enjoy being around you. And so do my parents…so…”

Frank gave her a soft smile before she leaned up and gave him a kiss.

“I know…” he said, as she snuggled into his chest “And that’s all I care about.” ******

Friday rolled around and with it came Fliss’ birthday. Frank was pretty sure Mary was more excited than Fliss to give her the gifts they had bought, and with good reason. Fliss beamed as she opened her various packages from them both, which included a bottle of her favourite perfume, a pale blue and white striped sleeveless button down which Frank had thought was quite nautical so very apt and a box of British chocolate. Bonnie had also stopped round the night before to give her a bottle of her favourite gin and a huge bag of sweets which she declared she was hiding from Frank as she didn’t trust him not to eat them.

Frank then handed her the envelope with her main present in and she opened it, her mouth dropping open as she looked at the Broadway Tickets.

“Lion King?” she said, looking up at him. “We’re going to see the Lion King?” He nodded, smiling “I know you wanted to go so…” “Oh my God…thank you!” she practically squealed throwing her arms round his neck, kissing his cheek.

“You’re welcome.” he smiled, winking at Mary over his shoulder. She gave him the thumbs up. Fliss turned back to look at the pile of presents arranged on the coffee table before Mary handed her another smaller wrapped one.

“This is from me…and Fred…and Thor.” she added and Fliss smiled, unwrapping the small black box. She opened it, and a small card fell out which she picked up and read out loud.

“We hope you enjoy your “Precious Paws” hand-made resin beads…” she trailed off, and glanced down at the charms in more detail. One was green speckled with gold and the other was blue speckled with silver.

“The green one has some of Heidi’s tail hair in it…” Mary pointed as Fliss gently took it from the box to examine it in more detail, clearly seeing where the hair was wound through the resin of the bead “And the Blue one has Thor’s in.”

“I…” Fliss felt herself choke up “Mary these are beautiful, where did you…” “Joanne told me about them.” Mary said, and Frank smiled at her “And then Frank helped me order them…” “They’re not officially Pandora but the woman said when we emailed her they’d fit the standard bracelet.” He said as she turned her head to look at him, her eyes shining.

“Thank you both, so much…” she turned to Mary and wrapped her up in a hug before she did the same to Frank, giving him a soft kiss “Love you.” “Happy birthday Sweetheart.” he smiled, hugging her again.

As Fliss had booked the day off, so had Frank so the three of them along with Thor and Fred spent the afternoon after visiting Fliss’ mum and dad on one of the boats belonging to Paul, the owner of the shop Frank worked in. Frank had deliberately chosen one of the smaller ones so they could access the small stretch of sand just off St Pete’s beach that they all loved. It was quieter than the main beach as it wasn’t reachable unless you waded or sailed over and they spent the afternoon on the beach with a few beers and a picnic, before they headed home. Mary crashed out on the way back, her head lolling on Fliss’s lap as she sat at the front of the boat, her bare feet resting on the bar in front of her, simply watching the dolphins. Thor was barking at them like mad, wagging his tail and then suddenly he shot to the bow of the boat, placing both his paws up on the metal, threatening to throw himself overboard. Frank’s hand shot out to grab his collar.

“Dumbass…” he yanked him back, and turned to Fliss “Does this mutt have a brain in his head?”

“Don’t’ talk about my baby like that…” she narrowed her eyes at Frank as she covered Thor’s ears with her hands as he sat by her feet, tail thumping on the floor. “Fred does his share of stupid shit too, like getting his head stuck in cereal boxes.”

Frank rolled his eyes “At least Fred knows not to jump in the ocean.”

“That’s because he has no sense of adventure.” Fliss shot back, causing Frank to snort. Standing up, Fliss gently moved Mary, so that she was led flat down before she stretched and moved next to Frank who tossed his arm over her shoulder.

“Had a good day?” he asked and she grinned, nodding.

“The best.” she smiled “I love it when you bring me out sailing.” “I’m driving.” he turned to face her, grinning. “You’re sailing.”

“Whatever” he mumbled as his lips pressed to hers. She snaked her arms around his neck as his slid round her back, pulling her closer to him as he kissed her deeply his tongue sliding against hers.

“You can unwrap your last present when we get home…” he said, grinning like a school boy as he rest his forehead head against hers.

“Yeah?” she asked, arching an eyebrow

“I’d let you unwrap it now but…” he nodded to Mary and she snorted.

“You know we’ve not actually done that.” she mused. “Sex on a boat I mean…” Frank let out a laugh “You harbouring a bit of a sailing kink?” “More of a sailor kink” she shot back and he shook his head, giving her another quick kiss before he turned his attention back to the boat as he guided it back into the Marina.

He made good on his promise once they got back, loved on his girl. Once in the shower and then again later on when he woke up as Fliss had done the same to use the bathroom. Frank knew he would never get tired of hearing the soft cries of his names and the various encouragements she gave him when she begged him not to stop or told him how good he was making her feel. As he tumbled right over that edge, behind her 3rd, or was it 4th orgasm, he’d lost count, his fingers tightened slightly on her hips as his head tipped back in ecstasy. He lay still, panting as she collapsed onto his chest, his hands stroking up and down her spine as she lifted her head, grinning as she caught his lips in a soft kiss before falling down onto the mattress next to him. She looked at him, her eyes flashing in the soft light that was sneaking into the room through the crack in the curtains, a look of pure love on her face, as if he had hung the moon and the stars in the sky, and it was enough to choke him up slightly. He still wasn’t sure he was worthy of her unadulterated adoration, but damned it, he’d try constantly to be the best version of himself if it kept her by his side.

He didn’t wake the next morning when Fliss’ alarm went off. Instead he woke to a gentle kiss to his cheek and as he roused himself the smell of freshly brewed coffee hit his senses. Blinking he smiled softly as Fliss placed a mug on his night stand.

“What time is it?” Frank asked.

“Just gone 7. I’ve got an early appointment with the Ariat rep at the stables, remember?” “Oh, yeah…” he said, rubbing his eyes.

“You told me to wake you before I left.”

“Yeah, I don’t know why I did that…” he moaned and she chuckled.

“You gonna bring Mary up later?”

“Yeah, I’ll leave he with you for the afternoon if that’s ok? Need to clean the boat and get it back.” “Course it is.” she smiled. With that she bent over to kiss him again and in a shot Frank’s arms were round her waist and she was flat on her back on the bed, laughing as he caged her with his arms.

“Frank…” she whined, as he kissed her softly “I can’t, I’m gonna be late as it is…” “One more kiss, come one…” he pleaded, and she relented as he pressed his lips to hers before she eventually pulled away and shoved on his chest. With a pout he moved allowing her to stand and she shook her head at him.

“You’ll be the death of me Frank Adler.” she said, straightening her top and he eyed her figure up as she did so and gave a shrug.

“What a way to go…” he smirked and with that she reached down, grabbed one of the various scatter cushions that lived on the bed during the day, and smacked him straight on the face with it.

He and Mary shared a lazy morning before they both dressed and headed out going via the bakery at the end of the high street to pick up a coffee and some Danishes for a late breakfast for Fliss as he knew she’d have left without eating any, she always did when she was out earlier than them. As he pulled up, Mary was out of the truck before he had stopped, something which he was fed up of telling her off for.

Frank walked into Fliss’ office where he placed the bag of food on the desk, along with the cardboard carrier which contained their coffee and gave her cheek a kiss. Mary shot into the tack room, grabbed her little box of brushes and shot off to go and see Monty.

“Bye then…” he said sarcastically, and she completely ignored him. He snorted, shaking his head as Fliss laughed.

“Busy morning?” he asked and Fliss nodded.

“I’ll say.” she nodded to the bag “Saturday’s always are…aww, you bring me breakfast?”

“If 11 am counts as breakfast” he snorted and Fliss laughed as she continued sifting through the pile of envelopes on her desk. There was one that contained a few clearly hand delivered cards, he could tell by the shape and the fact they had no post marks, and then another small pile that had arrived in the post. “Bill, bill…oh…” She stopped at a bigger envelope. “A card?”

Frank shrugged. She turned it over, ripped open the envelope and pulled out a white card with simple block writing on the front in multi-colours. With a frown she opened it and scanned the greeting, before her eyes grew wide and she threw it down onto the desk.

“Lissy?” Frank frowned, and he looked at her as she shook her head, taking a deep breath, before she swallowed and turned to face him. “Honey, what is it?” “It’s…” she swallowed, her eyes wide “That card…it’s…it’s from John.”

Frank’s face grew harsh as he grabbed the card and read the greeting. It was 3 words long. 3 simple words, but even he knew from what she’d told him about the name John used to call her, that it was from him. Happy Birthday Sugar. “Fucker.” Frank growled, tossing the card back onto the desk as Fliss turned to him and he wrapped her in his arms, letting her simply press her face into his chest. He rubbed his hand gently up and down her back as her breathing evened out and she stepped back. “You ok?” “Yeah…” she said, “Do me a favour and get rid of it.” “Don’t you wanna call the police?” he frowned.

“They’re not going to do anything about a card.” she shook her head

“He’s broken his parole…” “And they can’t prove its him.” she sighed “They’re not gonna DNA test or whatever on that…” “Fliss…”

“No, Frank…just…” she shook her head. “Please, do what I ask and rip it up, burn it, whatever, I just…get rid of it”

“Ok, ok…” he appeased and she nodded, before she looked to the doorway and hastily her face rearranged into a smile.

“Hi Steph!” she greeted. Frank turned to see a dark haired woman dressed in riding gear, Fliss’ next client. “DJ is ready, get Jo to get you on and I’ll be out in a moment.” The woman smiled and headed off down the yard. Fliss looked at Frank.

“I didn’t think about the fact this place was so easy to find.” she shook her head “The webpage…” Frank sighed, it was something if truth be told he hadn’t considered either “Look, the worst he can do is send you shit.” he said, almost trying to convince himself as well “He can’t set foot out of Mass…he’s clearly doing this to try and upset you so…” “Well he can fuck off and die.” Fliss said venomously, “Ass hole…a fucking birthday card? He’s clearly losing his touch.” With that she gave his cheek a peck and grabbed a Danish out of the bag before she picked up her coffee. “This lesson is only half an hour so as soon as I’m done Mary can ride Monty and then she can do her jobs and stuff. You go and clear the boat from yesterday or whatever it is you were planning on doing and I’ll give you a call later ok?”

“Sure.” he nodded.

“Love you.” she smiled at him, before she left the room.

Frank watched her go before he looked at the card. She’d asked him to get rid of it…but something was telling him not to. He pondered it for a moment before he tucked the offending item back into the envelope and then curled it up so it would fit in his back pocket, before he headed out to the jeep, pulling his phone free as he walked.

“S’up Man?” Greg greeted him as he opened his truck door threw the envelope onto the passenger seat.

“I need some advice.” Frank spoke quietly, glancing over to where Fliss was now stood in the middle of the paddock, the women on the large grey horse was walking around her in a circle. “Can we meet?”