#and caleb is just yelling like 'HEY! LEAVE IT ALONE' as the guard is just hissing and spitting like with rabies

[cassandrajoybellbittner]

All It Took Was One Look - Chapter 18

*Warning Adult Content*

Aiden

"So are you done with... you know what?" Liam whispered in ear as we were sitting on the gym bleachers.

It was PE the last period of the day and his class had to share our teacher because theirs was on maternity leave.

So Liam was going to be in my class for the rest of the semester.

I didn't know how I felt about it, he just made me nervous.

But I knew after yesterday he was going to be a cool ally, what with the whole Aiden against the school thing.

"I... I don't know," I answered truthfully.

He knew my problem and he made it clear he wasn't going to stop trying to help so why lie to him.

"You're doing well though, you've been clean since Saturday I can see it in your eyes. There much clearer and you're not yelling at people to 'suck your balls' and whatnot," he joked and I nodded, letting out an embarrassing laugh.

"I did that?" I asked him and he nodded.

"Yes and it would have been funny under different circumstance. I just want you healthy Aiden. And taking drugs is going to hurt you one day and I can't have that," he told me a sincere look in his eyes.

I looked over at him surprised that he cared so much.

"Promise me you won't do it anymore," he begged with his beautiful eyes.

I didn't answer him instead I turned to look around the gym watching everyone talking or playing basketball.

The teacher had given us a free day so I decided to relax.

Liam bent back on his elbow watching me, I could feel his eyes on my back.

"Liam," some guy called him from the court.

"Come join us man."

Liam hesitated for a second before getting up and headed over.

I watched them pass him the ball and he took off... dodging the others with inhuman reflexes and speed.

I watched in awe as he swept the floor with them all.

He high fived some tall black guy. I laughed when our PE teacher joined in cracking jokes with the guys.

The game progressed and things were getting heated and I mean in both ways.

A groan slipped from my lips as I saw Liam snatch his shirt off along with a couple others but they were nothing compared to him.

He was like a god out there... a muscular Adonis with sweaty delectable abs and biceps and I was drooling over his prominent V-line just before it disappeared into his shorts.

This is torture. UGH.

"Well you look like you're really in this game," I jumped from the voice.

Snapping my head to the side I looked up to find a very pretty girl with dyed red hair standing over me.

Her genuine looking smile lowered my guard a bit.

"Yeah," I muttered.

She laughed and sat next to me and held out her hand.

"I'm Robin and your Aiden right?" I nodded slowly and shook her hand.

"That's me."

She flashed me a pair of impressive pearly whites.

"I'm kind of new here," she confessed. "But I have heard all about you."

"That's... that's great," I stuttered and she laughed again... she sure was happy.

"Don't worry I love that you're gay," she stated.

My eyes widened at her.

"Really?" I asked and she nodded enthusiastically.

"Hell yeah, it so nice to have a fellow gay around here," she said shocking the hell out of me.

"Y-you're....?"

"Loud and proud," her big brown eyes gazing at me excitedly.

"Girls all day," she said slapping my shoulder.

I smiled at her feeling a weight being lifted off my shoulders.

'I'm not alone.'

"Actually my brothers gay as well, the parental have no idea how I ended up being a lesbian and my brother gay. But hey it's whatever," she ranted all bubbly and happy, you couldn't not smile and be a little happy when your around her.

"Who's your brother?" I asked.

"Caleb," she said pointing her finger over to a group of scene kids and skater boys talking.

"He's the one that looks like the emo in the group... yep that's my twin."

I nodded as I looked at the guy with dark brown hair that hung in his face, he wore semi black skinny jeans with a gray band t-shirt.

He was pretty cute.

"Alright everyone get changed," the coach yelled wiping the sweat from his face with his shirt.

"Well I'll see you tomorrow," Robin said skipping over towards her brother.

"Yeah," I said but I doubt she could hear me.

Making my way down the bleachers I headed towards the lockers when a damp arm draped over my shoulder.

"You should have joined us Aiden," Liam said smiling down at me and I shook my head.

"So you guy could have wiped the floor with me? No thank you."

I get enough of that at home.

"Oh... come on, we would have been easy on you," he teased of breath as he tightening his arm around my neck pulling me into his chest playfully.

Little did he know I was going to burst from every seam just being in this position with him?

Chuckling I pushed away from him reluctantly as we walked into the locker rooms.

Heading over to my locker I changed my shorts since I never took my shirt off.

I wouldn't want to, not with Liam there to witness all the fading bruises.

Brent hadn't touched me since I first got these and I was hoping it stayed that way.

I just kept my distance from him like he was the plague.

My lip was healing as well... I got hell from Jay about it along with my mom.

Liam left his shirt off and stuffed everything in his bag for football practice. He was just going to head straight there.

"So are you going to be there for my first game?" he asked out of the blue. I looked up at him in surprise.

"Y-you want me to be there?" I stuttered.

He nodded stuffing the last of his stuff in his bag before giving me all his attention.

His amazing hazel eyes trapped me hostage, I felt like a dear caught in head lights. His handsome face softened.

"I mean if you don't want to go it cool, I'm not forcing you or anything," he said sounding a little dejected.

I shook out of my daze and quickly answered him back.

"No... I mean, I-I'll... I'll be there," I said failing at hiding my excitement.

"Cool," he said throwing his bag over his shoulder.

"You coming," he gestured for the door.

I looked around a noticed everyone was gone now. Slowly I nodded and followed him out.

"So who was that girl you were talking to? I've seen her around before, I hear she's kind of weird," he said as we walked to my locker.

"Her named Robin, she is a little weird but I like weird," I told him looking up to see him turned towards me and a wide smile on his face. I frowned a little embarrassed.

"What?"

He shook his head.

"Nothing," he said quietly that smile still on his face.

"Okay..."

Once at my locker I noticed a new batch of offensive words. I just sigh and put in my combination.

"Who the fuck keeps doing this," Liam hissed as he glared at my locker and I just shrugged.

"It doesn't matter," I tell him like it was no big deal even though it hurt to see.

He growled, like an actually growl and I stare up at him in shock.

"Are you okay?" I asked watching him with a frown.

"This is bullshit..." he snarled his eyes piercing into mine intensely.

There was that feeling again, I could feel his anger like a heat wave and out of instinct I stepped closer to him placing my hand on his stomach.

The tingles came rushing into my fingers as they touched his bare abs.

I forgot he wasn't wearing a shirt but I never took them off, my gaze never moved from his.

"Liam," I said softly and he visibly started to calm.

He sighed deeply as he closed his eyes and we stayed like that for a while and because the halls were empty I felt comfortable doing it.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked him.

Opening his eyes I noticed they were yellow, I gasped as he quickly pulled me into his arms and hugged me.

I was a little stunned before I hugged him back.

A crazy current of electricity started throughout my entire body.

I loved it... it felt so good that I let out a little moan.

His arm tightened as I felt his breath on my neck sending me spiraling into frenzy.

My heart was beating at an erratic pace. I felt his lips meet the base of my neck and I shivered in pleasure.

What was he doing to me?

Without thinking I gave him access by tilting my head to the side and held him closer.

"Liam," I whimpered his name as my breathing became irregular.

All too soon he moved away from me he looked startled and breathing hard.

Backing up a little more, he picked his bag up.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly before rushed off down the hall.

I watched him practically run away from me and my body was demanding that I stop him but couldn't bring myself to do it.

I probably freaked him out with my stupid moans and whimpers.

Turning back to my locker I grabbed my stuff.

'Way to go, Aiden' I though slamming my locker shut.

[peach-the-owl]

Child of the Nein

When you first meet (Mighty Nein & Child!Reader) Part 1

This popped into my head one day and I don’t think I‘ve seen anyone else do something like this so I thought: Hey why not? You know because a child in a group of adventurers couldn’t possibly go wrong

Also they may not be 100% accurate to their back story but I kept them as close as I could

Jester

Jester weaved her way through the streets of Nicodranas until she had reached the edge of the port side city. Looking now at the necklace upon her, lost in thought, her bittersweet thoughts of home quickly interrupted however by rustling bushes nearby. Thinking one of the guards had found her she readied herself to run, only to freeze when a child looking no older then 8 comes tumbling out of it.

You pick yourself up off the ground and brush off some dirt, you then look up to see a pretty blue lady in front of you. She seemed nice, and it’d be rude not to say hello to her. "Hello, pretty blue lady." You give her a wave and a smile, which is happily returned by them.

"Hello! What's a cute little kid like you doing here all alone?" She kneels down and pokes your nose when asking, causing you to giggle.

"I’m exploring!" You state eagerly.

"Oh, I see. Where’s your momma and papa?" You look around before giving a shrug. "Do you have a momma and papa?" You shrug again, not knowing how to answer.

"Hey what’s that?" You ask pointing to the pendent on her waist. This caused her eyes to brighten more.

"This is my symbol of the Traveler, have you ever heard of him?" You shake your head and lean in closer to hear more. "Well he’s a really cool guy and can do really amazing things."

"Wow! That sounds awesome! Oh, I’m (y/n) by the way!" You say, realizing you forgot to introduce yourself.

"I’m Jester." Jester holds her hand out for you to shake, which you eagerly do.

"So Jester, what are you doing here all alone?" You ask, mimicking her earlier question. You see Jesters smile drop a little.

"I made a really powerful man reeallly angry, but he was also a big jerk so he had it coming, *sigh* but to stay safe I have leave home."

"Can I come! I love adventuring and exploring, it’ll be sooooo much fun with someone else too!" You bounce on your feet and look at her expectantly. Jester did like the sound of having someone to travel with and an opportunity to talk more about the Traveler, and by the looks of things you didn’t have anyone else with you (which is a little sad for someone still so young).

"Of course you can!" Jaester agreed, having you around seemed like fun not to mention you reminded Jester of herself when she was young and couldn’t wait to introduce you to the ways of the Traveler and all the mischief you two would make. What could possibly go wrong?

Nott

Being the young runt in a clan of goblins made things hard for you, being seen as weak and useless lead to them constantly bullying and pushing you around. One day while forced to help carry some of the heavy equipment for the torturer you had slipped up causing everything you carried to crash to the ground. You try to ignore the yelling and ridicule from the torturer but you could feel the tears pricking your eyes which lead to more yelling, you slowly pick yourself up and start going to grab the equipment. It’s then you notice the stares of the assistant on you, you duck your head down lower and continue about your prior job.

Nott watched from a safe distance as her "boss" yelled at the smaller goblin, she knew better then to intervene. Still she couldn’t help but feel some pity for the little one as she understood what it’s like to be bullied for being different, and she’d be lying if she didn’t admit to feeling her maternal instinct kick in for the child. When the torturer finally left Nott decided to make her move, carefully approaching them.

"It's no fun being bullied around is it." Her shrill voice causes you to stumble a bit. After a brief moment of pause you you slowly shake your head. "Do you even like it here?" You didn’t know what she was getting at, nonetheless you shake your head again. After a longer pause you figured the more one-sided conversation was done so you once again go back to heaving the equipment along.

"What if we could leave?" Now she had your full attention.

"H-how do we do that?" You voice came out quiet and scratchy, due to hardly using it.

"I’m not sure yet but I’ll figure something out."

"Ok… but why-why help me? I’m not very big or strong, I’d probably just hold you back." You look into her big yellow eyes in search of an answer, unsure if you could actually trust them.

"I used to feel the same, still do sometimes, but I think since we both don’t like it here we can help each other out." Being young the logic seemed sound enough for you.

"Alright, let's do it." You wanted to shout with excitement but kept you voice down not wanting to redraw the attention of the torturer.

"I’m…… Nott, that’s N-O-T-T." Nott gave you a faint smile, you stare at her with a confused expression which she catches onto. "Oh that’s right, you don’t know how to spell do you. That’s alright, can you tell me your name?"

"I don’t got one. They just call me runt because that’s what I am." You look down to the ground, suddenly finding it more interesting as you shuffle your feet about. Nott pondered on this for a moment before lighting up with an idea.

"How about I call you (y/n), has a good ring to it don’t you think?" The name sounded a little strange to you but in a good way, definatly not a traditional goblin name, still you liked it all the same. Giving Nott a nod and your first real toothy smile in awhile (hey that rhymed), you both decided to sneakily think of ways to free yourselves from the clan. What could possibly go wrong?

Caleb

The people here in Vergesson Sanatorium said you were psychotic. Being 5 you didn’t know what that meant, all you can remember is watching as the "pretty colours danced" and now you where here in this big boring building. They say it’s for your own good, that it’s the only place you’ll get the help and care you need. Again you didn’t quite understand what that was supposed to mean, you had asked if you could go home once but they said that this was your home now and it would have to be until you were older and fully recovered. Everything they said just left you confused and with more questions; why couldn’t you go home, what were you even recovering from, and many more all of which you never got the answer to. There were other people "like you" here but many of them didn’t seem much fun or up for a chat leaving you bored to wits end, but that all changed (when the fire nation attacked) when you bumped into someone while roaming around. You crane your neck up to see a man with messy reddish hair, next to him laying on the ground was a guard, you could recognize that uniform anywhere. The man then turns to look at you with a glare, you stare into his eyes for a moment before pointing to the guard.

"Is he sleeping?" It seemed like an odd question but you had always been a curious soul. The man looks between you and the guard, his glare having now turned into a deadpanned expression.

"Ja, he is." Is his responce to you before he starts walking away, you take this as a sign and follow him. Not without noticing a small red puddle by the guard as you pass them, however you just thought he must’ve had too much tomato juice before taking a nap. Continuing through the winding halls of the sanatorium you realize you’ve never been to this area yet.

"Where are we going?" You pipe up, causing the man to halt his movement in surprise so wrapped up in his objective he didn’t realize you had been following him.

"I am leaving." He put a big emphasis on the I hoping you take the hint, you didn’t.

"Can I come? Please it’s so boring here, everything’s the same, I wanna go outside and-"

"Stop!" You stop and look at him, his eyes calculating you, not that you would’ve caught onto that. After a moment of your little staring contest he mumbles something you can’t quite catch, other then the words "small" and "useful". "Very well," he says loud enough for you to hear now, "you may come along but you must listen and do exactly as I say, understand."

"Yeah, ok!" You couldn’t contain your enthusiasm, practically bouncing around, finally you could leave this boring place and go somewhere more exciting. You would’ve run to give this man a hug but he held up his hand, once again stopping you.

"First rule, none of this… over excitement. Second rule, stay as quiet as possible, we don’t want to attract any attention." You immediately stop and give a slight nod to show him you were listening, just like he’d asked. After what felt like hours of wandering to you, you finally find yourself back in the colourful outside world, it’s also at this time you realized you never gave this man your name.

"I just remembered that I forgot to tell you my name's (y/n). What’s yours?" You look to him expectantly, waiting for him to tell you his name. He turns to you, a slight annoyed expression on his face. Opening his mouth to say something he hesitates.

"My name… is… not important right now." He says, carefully picking his choice of words. "First we must focus on leaving the area undetected, and remember to stay quiet." You give a quiet "oh yeah" before following his lead and sneaking off. At last you were free from the sanatorium, with a strange and scruffy man… What could possibly go wrong?

Caduceus

You pushed through the thick vegetation that surrounded the area going as fast as your legs could carry you. You can hear your mothers words repeating in your head; "My child, you must hurry! Go! Seek help at the Blooming Grove!" You’d heard of the place before, from others in your clan, but never visited it yourself. None of that mattered at the moment as you continued to traverse through the sharp, thorny vines, giving little thought to the various cuts you were receiving. Finally after days of running and hiding you see a graveyard, and based upon what you were told it matched the description of the Blooming Grove. You only take a few steps forward before your knees buckle under you, the exhaustion of tireless travel and the various wounds having finally crept up on you to take their toll. You pass out soon after.

Another day of tending to the graves of the departed had become a pleasant routine for Caduceus, however he did have to admit it felt lonesome since the last of his family had left to seek a cure for the blight that plagued the area. The sound of a soft thud draws him away from his thoughts, he looks over his shoulder but doesn’t see anything at first. Slowly he makes his way over to the source of the sound and scans the area, surprised to find a rather young firbolg laying unconscious a few feet from the entrance of the temple. He scans the area again but finds no one else in the immediate vicinity, as he makes his way closer to the child he soon notices the many cuts and bruises that litter their body. It's as if some maternal instinct kicked in as Caduceus carefully gathers the child into his arms and brings them into the temple without a second thought. He gently lays them on one of his sisters beds and begins treating their wounds, patching up the smaller cuts with bandage and using his magic to heal the more concerning gashes that covered the youngling.

You slowly creak your eyes open and immediately notice your new surroundings, you also couldn’t help but notice the bandages that now coverered your arms and legs. "Good to see you’re finally awake." You shift you’re attention to the door where the pink haired firbolg stands with what looks to be a fresh kettle of tea. "I’m Caduceus." He says gently, seeing the slight confusion on your face.

"Ummm… hi. I’m (y/n)." Despite everything you find it hard to form words, settling on the awkward greeting. He laughs softly before setting down the kettle and pouring a cup of tea, the gentle aroma wafting around you. He silently offers you a cup which you happily accept, the awkwardness of earlier quickly melting away.

"So tell me (y/n), what are you doing here all alone?" He gives you a concerned look, you shuffle in place, trying to find the right words to use.

"My… my home got raided by a tribe of forest giants, my family tried to settle things calmly but they wouldn’t listen. My momma told me to look for help at the Blooming Grove, and from what I was told this seems to be the place." The was a long pause once you finished your story, the silence feeling suffocating the longer it went on.

"I’m sorry that happened to you, and while you did find your way here I… I’ve been the only one here for the last 5 maybe 6 years now." The information slowly sinks in and as it does your ears flatten and your tail wraps around your legs, curling yourself into a ball. Tears well up in your eyes at the thought of everything you did being for nothing, only when you felt Caduceus' hand gently place itself on your back did you snap back to reality and redirect your attention onto him. "It’s not all bad if you think about it."

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"You’re still alive and you were able to make through the dangers of the forest and find your way here without ever having been here before. I don’t think that’s just some coincidence, I believe you were guided here for a reason, that somehow someday you and I will have a greater role to fulfill."

"You really think so?" You rub the tears from your eyes a bit and give him a rather adorable doe eyed stare. He gives you a kind smile and nods. His words defiantly helped you feel a little better, and the both of you now had each other for company until destiny decided to call you elsewhere. What could possibly go wrong?

Part 2 will be out soon-ish (hopefully) with the rest of the Mighty Nein I didn’t feature here (obviously)

#just a child making friends with their new guardian #what could possibly go wrong #critical role #critical role & reader #mighty nein #the mighty nein #mighty nein & reader #jester lavorre #jester & reader #nott the brave #nott & reader #caleb widogast #caleb & reader #caduceus clay #caduceus & reader #fjord #fjord stone #fjord & reader #beauregard lionett #beauregard & reader #yasha nydoorin #yasha & reader #mollymauk tealeaf #mollymauk & reader #nothing romantic here

[spoiler1001]

The group decided to travel by cart to the capital. It gave the group time to prepare and to settle before facing him. It took a couple weeks, but they could do it. They had the dome and rooms in inns. The group watched Molly, making sure that he had recovered. Molly stayed close to Caleb. Yasha saw them and smile. 

Caleb pulled Molly away from the group the first night of the trip, out of earshot from the others.

"Caleb is something wrong?"

"I know how you feel about others crowding you, but the others would like some piece of mind." Caleb pulled out an intricate bracelet. "This will, not quite protect you, you can do that much on your own." He chuckled. "If worst comes to worse, you are given a fighting chance to come back." 

 Molly took the silver chain with gentle hands. "It's gorgeous." 

 "It was made from my parents wedding bands." Caleb whispered, latching it around his wrists. "They had it made, before- before. For someone I loved as they loved each other." Molly placed his hands over Caleb's. "A quick trip to Pumat took care of the rest."

 "I'll treasure this. Thank you." Molly smiled.

Caleb just nodded and led them both back to the group. The rest of the travel was very quiet. Caleb had practice hiding his smile, but Molly was beaming the entire way. Snow started to fall as they reached Rexxentrum. It was a beautiful sight, with Molly and Jester almost playing in it, but their mood died down when they saw the walls. Molly grabbed Caleb's hand and squeezed. The snow turned icy and the cold was almost burning. Caleb shivered, his lips turning blue. Molly had to hold Caleb closer to him.

 "Are we ready to do what needs to be done?" Fjord asked. Everyone nodded. "Let's do it."

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Getting an audience with the king was easy. Getting an audience alone with the king was an impossible task. Jester begged and looked at the guards with big eyes. It didn't work.

The king refused to listen, even as they raised issues about the cult. Molly started leading the group out.

"Its pointless, you know." A voice rang out. Molly looked up and was eye level with Trent Ikithon.

"You're just an old man, what you've done will be revealed." Caleb sneered.

"I've been told that many times. That is all just empty promises." Trent chuckled.

Molly hissed and bared his teeth.

 "So dramatic. It is your magic that the cult is using as of late." Trent smiled. "I'm surprised you got this far without anyone questioning that. "My associates would like to thank you in person, but that would be a bloody affair, so for now, GUARDS!" The last word was shouted, contrasting deeply with the calm whisper from before. The group found themselves surrounded by sharp spears. 

 "You taught it to them."  Jester yelled. 

 "With his blood. Let's see what more of it will do." Trent grinned as Molly felt a point dig into his spine. 

Molly snarled and grabbed a small dagger strapped to his thigh. The blade in his back dug in a little deeper. Molly took a deep breath, letting the magic heat up the blade digging into his back, setting the whole weapon on fire. The guards stabbed the group, with another blade stabbing through Molly's-oh.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Caleb knew the magic would save Molly, but the sight of seeing him impaled ripped into his soul. He screamed in pure fury. "You've condemned yourself decades ago, but your fate is sealed." A wave of magic glowed throughout the room, launching the attackers back. Molly was gasping,  the blood loss getting to his head, but he was grabbing at the thing lodged into him. 

Caleb watched Caduceus grab Molly, magic closing the wound, launching the spear straight out and right at Trent, who responded by trying to flash away, stopped by Caleb. Trent glared and tried the spell again, stopping to look at the spear now sticking straight out of his thigh. "Damn you."

 "Feelings mutual." Molly growled, slicing his hands, from the tip of his middle finger to the top of his wrists. The blood dripped into the ground, moving to a teleportation sigil, causing the group to melt into the blood, forming at a safe place, the one given by the queen.

When they arrived back to the safe house, Molly collapsed into Caduceus's grip. "Hey, we made it."

Caleb was about to smile and laugh, but he felt the grass phasing through his hand. Molly blinked as he looked over at the others, being pulled back into the sigil. Molly jumped away from Caduceus and grabbed at Caleb, but the group was gone, leaving Caduceus and Molly staring at a bloody spot on their front yard.

#molly lives #widomauk #caleb widogast #mollymauk tealeaf

[dead-by-deathslinger]

concept: caleb being big scary protective bf over s/o bc a new survivor or killer is a creep and doesn’t know what ‘no’ means

not even gonna lie here- this was hella fun to write! Please enjoy uvu

Caleb Quinn (Deathslinger) x Reader || “You called death to your door the instant you done me wrong.”

You shiver softly as the cool wind of Shelter Woods surprises you. You had been so used to seeing Caleb in the warmth of Glenvale, that you barely seemed to remember what the cold felt like. You look about the area around you…there were no signs of any Jigsaw boxes, which meant that you were safe from the clutches of the pig. You weren’t feeling tired much, so there would be no nightmares. You get started on a generator close to you. You smile to yourself, knowing that this would be an easy, and hopefully painless match. After a bit of repairing and other gens popping, you hear a familiar gunshot. This only reassured you more that this would be a breeze. However, you began to feel a weight come to your chest as one of your teammates neared you. You had kinda kept you and Caleb’s relationship on the down low for some time, but you made sure that you knew you weren’t single and for the taking. This person however, didn’t catch that.

“Well hey there cutie, working on a generator? That’s funny, cuz I was just about to do the same thing.” They grin. Their flirting game was just…horrendous to say the least. Especially compared to what you were used to. You knew that they knew you hated being called corny pet names. Especially if it wasn’t coming from your sweet cowboy. “Just shut yer yap, and lets get this done.” You grumble. From spending a lot of time now around Caleb you had begun to slightly pick up on his way of speaking. “What are you, that new cowboy that’s been around?” Your fellow survivor chuckles. If you both weren’t trying to get this gen done, you’d bolt out of the situation as soon as possible. “Well I beg yer pardon.” They tease, softly snickering to themselves. You two shortly finished the generator and you quickly made your way away from them to the next closest generator. Unluckily for you…they followed right behind.

You just wanted Caleb all in this moment, just him to swoop in and save you. But he sounded quite the distance away from where you were. You sit on one of the wooden window sills to catch your breath from the bit of running.. Your new generator partner was close behind you, a lustful smirk on their face upon seeing you. You hated that look. “What?” You spat, not in the mood to be toyed with. “Oh nothing…” They pause, you can see the cogs turning in their brain. “I was just thinking about how…the killers occupied with the others, gen’s don’t take that long to deal with… we’re alone~” They slowly approach you with lustful eyes. You hop down from the window sill before they get any closer. “I-i’m fine, really.” You try and stand up for yourself but, that was something that Caleb had yet to help you with. Before you could push them away, they backed you into a corner, forcefully and passionately kissing you. You shove them off, wiping your mouth disgusted. “Get off of me creep!” You yell, hoping that Caleb wasn’t too far now. 

They wrap their arms around your waist, “C’mon babes! We don’t really have any better time to learn more about each other.” They coo, biting at your ear, you try and push away but they had tightened their grip around you. You struggle to pull away, “I said get off!” You now holler, hearing nearby footsteps. They kiss at your neck as you’re left there helpless. You feel tears well in your eyes as you’re unable to push them off…that is until you catch sight of your boy. You’d smile but you weren’t feeling up to it right now. The creep still clinging to you, lifts their head with a bit of a concerned look, “You hear something?” they seem to whisper. Caleb lifts his gun to their head, clicking back the safety. “I’m gonna give you till counta three. You unhand ‘em, or I blow yer brains in…right here.” His voice is low and threatening, his eyes seemed to be overflowing with rage. The survivor freezes, almost immediately unhanding you. You see all the color leave their face as they’re met with Caleb Quinn, the Deathslinger. 

He steps forward, towering over them with harsh, white, glowing eyes. “You should be lucky I don’t down ‘yer arse right here. Right now.” A taste of his Irish shows through as this usually tended to happen when he was overly furious about something. Caleb studies their face for a moment before he lets out a low chuckle, “Why the long face? Ya ain’t got nothin’ ta fear right now. But till then, fear me. Cuz if I catch ya like this again, you can bet on ‘yer life you’ll be nothin’ but a bloody corpse.” You hold in a snicker as you can see that Caleb meant that, and for sure that this creeper was listening now. “Now get.” He says lowly, poking them with the harpoon end of his gun. They scamper off, rather quickly now, as they knew not to mess with you anymore.

 Caleb looks down to you now, scanning your body to make sure they hadn’t hurt you at all. “I’m sorry I didn’t get over here sooner sunshine, I-” He’s quickly cut off by you hugging him tighter than ever. He gently rubs your back with his free hand, gently kissing the top of your head. You try to hold back tears, but fail as you sniffle a bit. He was always there for you, no matter what he’d be willing to protect you. “I love you Caleb..” You say rather quickly, but you had meant it. This catches him a bit off guard as his eyes widen some, a faint blush coming to his cheeks. “I love you too, darlin’.” He smiles a bit, now pulling away from the hug. “I promise I won’t let nothin’ bad ever happen to ya. Understand?” You wipe your eyes and nod with a smile, “Of course…” you sniffle. “Now I gotta job ta do so…you just wait by one of them exit gates and I promise, you’ll be the only one outta here alive after this.” He deviously smirks. You tip his hat forward a bit, quickly kissing the tip of his nose. “Go get ‘em for me Quinny.” You giggle as he gives a confident nod, heading off to show the rest of your crew why you should never mess with a cowboy.

#deathslinger #the deathslinger #dbd #dead by daylight #dead by daylight x reader #caleb quinn x reader #yeehaw #caleb quinn #deathslinger x reader

[mercycjones]

Moving In

INVOLVED: Mercedes Jones, Christopher Jones, Samuel Evans  LOCATION: University of Miami; Miami, Florida TIME FRAME: - NOTES: Samuel tries to pursue Mercedes on move-in day, again. 

Samuel handed down the last box from the back of his powder blue Ford 1976 pickup truck before jumping down from the tailgate, landing beside his best friend. “I don’t know why you didn’t bring that shit when you moved in over a month ago.” He said, struggling to get the tailgate to close. He pulled up on it for a few minutes before turning to his preoccupied friend. “You mind!” he fussed.  “You know this thing takes two people to get it back in place.” 

Montray stood idly by gazing lovingly at every woman his eye could follow. The campus was bursting at the seams with returning upperclassmen.  “I could have but then I couldn’t have you chauffeuring me around town.” He said, mockingly blowing a fake kiss at Samuel. “This is going to be one hell of a year.  Bro did you see Janet?” Montray looked over at his friend and sucked his teeth. Setting the box down the shoulder in stand at the ready beside Samuel.  “This truck is trash man.”

Samuel chuckled, “the pleasure was mine. After all this little trip got me your sister’s number.” He said easily, not bothering to look at his friend. Every other minute Samuel glanced toward the entrance to the house expectantly. “Yeah, I saw her. Touched her too. And I have plans to touch her again tonight.” Sam’s jaw clenched, “Fuck you. Don’t talk about my  baby. On the count of three, 1, 2, 3,” He rattled off,  putting all his muscle into lifting the gate. 

Montray‘s head jerked toward Samuel. “Man, nix that shit.  My sister is off limits. You hear me?” he said, but followed Samuel’s line of sight, shaking his head at his friend's stares towards the dorm. “What are you looking for Evans?” He asked face sporting a shit eating smirk. “Man you are a greedy motherfucker.  You know that’s why Mercedes ain’t fucking with you…” The laugh came out loud echoing the square.  “I forgot how sensitive you are about this piece of shit.” He said, adding his weight to Samuel’s, finally getting the truck’s gate to slam close. 

“I know bitch.  A man gotta eat.” Samuel said, licking his chops. He sucked his teeth dismissing Montray’s assessment. “Mercedes who?” He asked dismissively, with another quick look towards the dorm entrance. “Keep talking shit. I’m going to remember that the next time your ass needs a ride.”

Climbing out of the large black Escalade, Mercedes pulled her backpack onto her shoulders closing the car door thereafter. She allowed her brother to take the lead, opening the trunk of the truck and grabbing her large suitcase and duffle bag out of it. She placed one bag over the other before she pulled her book bag down to retrieve her dorm room key. “Aren’t you glad I packed light this time?” she joked with the taller boy. 

Christopher looked at Mercedes, an eyebrow raised as he turned his eyes back to the other three storage bins she had in the trunk. “Yeah” he said sarcastically  “you have saved me so much work” he said as he pulled the bins out of the trunk and stacked them up on the sidewalk. 

“I hardly doubt this could be classified as light” Caleb said as he grabbed Christopher’s duffle bag from inside of the family car. He looked to the parking spots nearby, seeing his wife tucked safely inside. “This process has gotten old, quickly” he said in a husky voice. “It would be much easier if the both of you let your mother and I get you two an apartment here” he said exasperatedly. 

Mercedes scrunched her nose at her brother, and even offered their father a chuckle. “I am getting better with packing” she noted as she looked at the welcoming packet they gave everyone year after year. “My room is on the third floor, 304” she told her brother with a smile. “Dad” she said giving him a knowing look “we are fine” she said speaking for her and Christopher as she often did. “It adds to the college experience” she said offering the older man a smile before she tucked her packet away and added her room key to her chain. “Next time, I’ll pack even lighter so that Chris and I can travel alone, and you and Mom won’t have to come all this way” she told him. 

Montray continued to laugh, slipping forward as the gate slammed shut. “You’re full of it. Mercedes WHO?” He mocked in a high pitched voice, righting himself, he brushed dirt from his chest.  “I can’t believe you are still on her. Evans, Evans, Evans… Has it ever occurred to you that the woman doesn’t care for white dudes?  That girl is a full grown cornbread feed sister. She is trying to date a Malik, a Jermoine, dare I say it?  A Montray.  I love you like a brother but dude.  She shot you down repeatedly last year.  She just ain’t into your type.” He said reaching down to pick up the box. “It’s time for you to stand aside and let another dude shoot his shot. Besides I have told you time and time again. A white man can’t handle that kind of ASS.” He said, body trembling with the thought of it. 

The thought had actually occurred to Samuel, maybe he wasn’t her cup of tea.  Nevertheless he didn't admit defeat, not today.  Which was evident by how presently, Montray was tap dancing on a nerve that he didn’t know was so sensitive.  He chucked his friend off, grabbing two heavy duffle bags from the pavement.  “I’m every woman’s type” he corrected moving towards the dorms. “Beside you assume too much..” Samuel paused letting a black SUV pull in front of the building, then continued up the walk.  Call it a sick sense of just dumb luck.  Back turned the faint smell of familiar perfume drew his eyes back over his shoulder. He squinted for a second, an indescribable feeling in the pit of his stomach.  “Speak of the devil and he shall appear.” He moved quickly to the side dropping Montray’s bags to the pavement.  “I’ll be right back.”  He brushed his hand over his shirt and pants, and adjusted his hat.  He strolled calmly back towards the entrance. Taking the time to nod casually toward the odd person as he went. Aligning with her brother, he turned back pedaling as some random girl reminded him to call her. Hands over his heart, “I got you.” He said, bumping into Christopher almost falling over.  

Christopher looked up and nodded his head “yeah dad, we are cool” he cosigned as he looked to his little sister. “Next time, we will get it done ourselves” he breathed huskily as he hoisted the bin up. 

Caleb gave the younger girl a displeased look before he nodded his head, grabbing a bin he hoisted it up and moved to rest it to the side, helping essentially. “I’ll be right back” he told the two as he moved towards his wife. 

Mercedes chuckled at Caleb and she watched the men work holding onto the handle of the luggage bag. “Okay” she said to their father as he walked off. 

Christopher nodded his head at Caleb, he looked to see the one Samuel Evans, bumping into his large frame. “Evans” he breathed before he looked at his sister knowingly. “It’s okay” he told the man kindly as he moved around him, towards the stack. 

Mercedes looked at Samuel as he all but fell into her brother, the pair swapped glances as he turned the man’s helpful hand down. She smirked to herself knowingly before she turned her back to him, “I’m going to go up Chris” she called back over her shoulder as she moved towards the entrance with her duffle and suitcase. 

“What the…” Montray sputtered as Sam dropped his bags and rushed off.  Moving to stand guard over his things he saw what, or rather who had grabbed the man’s attention. 

Shaking his hand reached for his bag sliding the strap over his shoulder. “Damn, a new fool.”  Struggling now with his things Montray headed towards the elevators. 

Samuel spun, righting himself missing the totes by only a heartbeat, “excuse me.” He rushed out before smiling broadly at the siblings.  He hadn’t managed to say another word before Mercedes put her back to him and scurried off. He grinned, watching her retreat for a second. Chuckling, he yelled out, “Thank you Ms. Jones.”  Pointing for approval at a tote, “Hey man. Nice to see you again” he said conversationally, to Christopher.  “Let me give you a hand.” He shoulder the tote and used his long legs to catch Mercedes.

Christopher looked at the man “yeah” he said with a slight head gesture at the apology. “Uh yeah” he said, in reply “good to see you to” he man of few words tossed out. Christopher wasn’t blind or dumb, every time Samuel gave his sister that look he knew where his eyes most likely landed. And he didn’t really like it that much. He swore on the life of his nonexistent children that he’d always protect his sister from any man that gave her that look again. As he pressed the issue he watched him, a small growl leaving his lips. He looked back at his parents before he picked up a bin lifting it and moving behind the two. 

Mercedes hummed happily as she moved inside the massive building. Once inside she breezed past some other students, making her way towards the elevator. She adjusted the backpack on her back and she stopped in front of the metal doors, pressing the up button. Looking down the hall, she saw Samuel again and seemingly looked past him on purpose before she waved at another familiar face.

Motherfuck… Mercedes was playing his game better than him.  Samuel thought, moving into the lobby, trying to catch the woman. Honestly, he knew she was in the building but had no clue where her room was.  Though, holding her things for ransom was an intriguing idea. He mused, steadily gaining ground on the woman.  He saw her wave and smile almost betrayed him. But game peeps game and he glanced back over his shoulder to see some random girl, waving in Mercedes direction. 

Gordon’s huge form worked like a wall as he moved through the denison.  And with Josh in toe, together, they damn near created their own ecosystem. Even on his job, Gordon spotted the fair haired quarterback, immediately.  Pointing  towards Samuel, he raised an eyebrow at the tote the man carried up the hall. “That’s Montray’s?”’ 

Samuel shook “No! It’s Mercedes.  Josh, go find Tray and help him with his shit.  I left him over by the drink machines.”  He said, throwing his head to the right as he continued to move forward, passing by the men.  Turning he backpedaled for a second. Gordon, that’s Chris see if he could use help with some more of Mercedes’ stuff.” He ordered, nodding at Mercedes' brother. 

 Gordon and Josh nodded compliance and moved off to respective targets.  Gordon jogged over to Christopher. Have a vague notion of who the man was because the bin he carried as identical to the one Samuel had. “Samuel said you might need a hand?” 

Samuel made it to the elevator and sat the tote down on the pavement.  “Woman you see me.” He said, standing to straighten his shirt. “You could have at least said hello before giving me the cold shoulder.”   

Christopher trotted behind both Samuel and Mercedes, damn Sam made carrying this heavy ass shit look easy. Why did his sister have a habit of bringing all of her best and newest outfits to school each year he didn’t know. Seeing, whatever his name was, George? Or something. He nodded “yeah, it’s two more of these out there” he huffed finally sitting the bin down in front of himself and catching his breath. “I’ll wait for you, I know the room number,” he told the guy. 

Mercedes watched Theresa as she scurried to the destination she was pursuing her heart thumping in her chest just at the thought. When Samuel spoke she finally looked at him “hello Samuel Evans” she said without much care in her voice. “I see you convinced Christopher to let you help” she mused looking at her things. The elevator doors opened and she moved inside of them, placing her finger on the open button to actually give him time to get on. “Though I’m sure you have something else, or someone rather, you could be tending to…” she said finally looking into his green eyes, brow raised. 

“Alright. I’ll be right back.” Gordon nodded moving out the doors. He bent to lifting the two stacked bins testing the weight.  Deciding one trip was better than two he lifted the bins with a small grunt and walked them steadily back to where the man was waiting. 

Samuel’s mouth dropped in mock shocked delight… “So, you do remember me.  And my government name too. Progress.” He told the woman rubbing his hand together.  “Convinced?” He questioned, careful to keep his eyes off the giggling girls that exited the elevator, as he took up the bin again,  “It looks like you brought everything you owned back with you.  The man needed some assistance. Wait  -I know you weren’t going to make that man carry all this stuff up by himself? Ms. Jones... “ He playfully scolded, moving into the elevator.  Her hazel eyes met his and there it was again.  That stirring of something that made him keep pursuing  this girl, despite her numerous rejections. He cleared his throat and leaned back against the elevator wall. Her words were clear. No doubt he could be anywhere else, but in fact he was exactly where he wanted to be, in this moment.  He smiled broadly and licked his lips, shaking his head,  no, to her very loaded question.  

Christopher nodded his head, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand as he took a look around.

“UM’s most prized possession? Oh how I wish I could forget…” she rebuttal. “Christopher is a strong young man, he could’ve handled it” she told him pressing the 3rd floor button and looking off. His head shake caused her to roll her eyes “I have no doubt there’s a few more giggles who’d love to have you, carry, their things up” she said, her voice very assured in her statement. She hummed, eyeing him in their close proximity before the doors slid open and she walked off the metal box pulling her luggage with her. She moved for 304 and used the key to turn the lock opening it up. “You can sit it by the door, au revior” she spoke fluently, dismissing him. 

Gordon moved on towards the elevator, scared to stop once he started moving.  “What floor is it chief?” He yelled back at Christopher, moving past the man. 

“Jokes…. I like that in a woman. It keeps me guessing.”  Samuel told the short woman, making a serious statement in the most unserious tone. “Wow…” Samuel shook his head mournfully, hefting the tote, feeling the weight of it for the first time. “That’s messed up,” He grinned then looked over at the girl.  “You sound jealous.” Chuckling, “Yeah, but I don’t want to carry their things” He said, following her out of the elevator “I want to carry yours.” She pointed to a spot near the closet, then tried to dismiss him in what he assumed was french. “This is nice.” Samuel set the box down, rubbing the sweat away from his palms on his jeans. He moved deeper into the dorm room, he fingered the single desk, then took a second to pier out the window, before turning back to face Mercedes.  “So, you have this whole room to yourself? Lucky you.” He said, wondering how much this room cost. 

Christopher watched the boy bypass him with two bins, his brows stitched. “3” he said as he picked his back up and followed behind the guy. “That isn’t heavy?” He asked curiously. 

“Jealous?” Mercedes asked the word leaving her tongue, seeping like poison of out a fresh wound. “No, I believe it is you who’s the comedian” she said. As Samuel made himself at home, looking around her new spot. “There’s no luck involved, I have to pay to stay in this singular room” she reminded as she rolled the luggage to the spot she desired and pulled her backpack off her back. She sat the bag down on the empty desk and moved to turn on a light. She fell quiet as she examined the door room for herself taking it in, ignoring Samuel’s still obvious presences. 

Gordon grunted, “Shoot yeah. What’s she got in these things.” He quickly sat the bins down by the elevator.  Breathing hard.  “How many more does she have?”

Samuel folded his arms in front of himself, “What's funny?  That man sees a woman he likes and wants to get to know her.  I thought that was some tale as old as time shit.” He rebuttal raising an eyebrow,  “Okay, then, I guess blessed is proper wording.” He dropped his arms,  “Hmm” he looked down at his feet, then back up to the woman with a small smile on his face.  “I thought we had at least moved past idle ignore Mercedes. Damn, I texted you at least once a week the whole break.” 

Christopher chuckled a bit “clothes, shoes” he said with a headshake. “Sorry” he told him as he put his bin down and pressed the up button. “This is it” he told him with a smile, “thanks for the help” he added as the doors open. 

“It’s only funny if you are one of many women, I guess” Mercedes said back to him with a shrug. She sighed loudly, licking her lips and folding her arms as she looked at him. “And I saw each one,” she said, licking her lips again and she looked away from him. “I don’t know what you want, I am sure whatever it is I can’t give it to you. So why don’t you just stop?” She breathed. “You’ve never seen me with anyone anyway, I am just here for a medical degree” she emphasized. 

Samuel stopped and turned green, eyes shining.  “I want to get to know you. That’s easy to see.” He finished, nodding as he  moved on, grabbing the handle of the door. “A question, why do you think I chase women?” He asked, stopping once more, he raised an eyebrow.    

“Because you can” Mercedes said simply “why do any man do what they do?” She said bitterly. She swallowed down her bitterness and backed away from the boy a little. She didn’t know why he played this game of cat and mouse, he only wanted one thing. They both knew that. And she wasn’t buying what he was trying to sell so diligently. 

Samuel frowned, licking his lips as the mood in the room changed in an instant. He pulled the door open and stepped out into the hallway.  Adding more space between him and the woman. He held the door open, his large body taking up most of the space in the doorway, gazing at the woman, feeling again some weird ass need to make her comfortable. “I don’t chase women.” He said in a low calm tone. “I like women and most of the time they like me back.” He stood up tall, “I’m not trying to chase you Mercedes.  I am trying…” He looked from side to side checking the hall for anyone that might over hear the dopey shit he was about to say.  “You’re a good girl.” he said looking back to the woman. “I’m trying to court you.” He rubbed his chin, “I better go.” 

Mercedes watched him out of the corner of her eyes and she shifted on her feet. Watching him leave, but of course he stopped to speak once more to her. Expressing his feelings directly and she looked up slowly, she almost believed him but he couldn’t be telling the truth. It wouldn’t make sense, she was nothing and no one special. 

#samcedes rp #thread #thread: moving in

[conceptstage]

Survival is a Talent {Part One}

AO3

“What is it?” Beau asked, frowning down at the swaddled creature in the crook of her elbow.

Caleb stood beside her, nervously scratching his arm as he watched it squirm. “I believe, Beauregard, that that is a half-elf baby.”

“I know what it is,” she hissed.

“Then why did you as-”

“I don’t know!” The baby’s face screwed up in distress at the shouting and Beau cursed as her little lip started to wiggle. “Fuck, what do I do? What- Shh, shh, don’t cry. I’m sorry, I won’t yell.” She started bouncing quickly, rising up on the tips of her toes and then falling back down sharply. The baby had the dark purple skin of a drow and the slightly pointed little ears of a half elf. She was wearing a cloth diaper and was wrapped in a beige and red plaid blanket that was fastened closed by an elegant hair clip.

“Wait, wait, wait-” Jester said, reaching out to grab Beau’s shoulders and hold her down. “Slower, slow. Can I hold her?”

Beau practically shoved the baby into Jester’s arms. “Please.” When she was baby free, she threw up her hands and turned away to pace along the alleyway.

Jester grinned and lifted the girl up above her head. “Hello, little baby! Hello, are you having a good-” The baby burped and spit up landed with a splash right on Jester’s face. She sighed and closed her eyes to keep it from getting in and held the baby out to where she’d last seen Caleb. “Okay. I’m done now.”

Caleb hesitated but took the baby and looked back at the others who were keeping their distance. He cleared his throat and looked down into the baby’s wide brown eyes as she gummed at her own fist. He thought of the dead drow woman laying nearby, presumably the mother. “Ah. Hallo. Do you know where we can find your next of kin?” 

Beau groaned. “Oh my god…” she mumbled. “Does anyone in this fucking group know how to take care of a baby? Caduceus? You had siblings, right?”

“Older siblings. I’ve never been this close to a baby before. But I could give it my best shot.”

Beau instead looked at Fjord, who shrugged, then Jester, who was cleaning off her face and muttering angrily to herself, then to Nott. A lightbulb went off in her head. “Nott! You’re, like, a mother or something, right?”

“I’m not ‘like’ a mother or something. I am a mother.”

Beau snatched the child from Caleb’s grip and held her towards Nott. “Here.”

Nott gave the child a critical glance. “She’s… so much bigger than Luc was at this age. I don’t know if I can hold her.”

“Don’t say that, you’re gonna give her body issues,” Beau chided. “Look, just sit down or something and we’ll put her in your lap while we go get supplies and try to figure out where she came from.”

Nott sighed but sat down on the ground with her back against the stone wall of their house. Caduceus had heard the crying from the dining room while they were all eating breakfast and had come to investigate. The woman was dead when they arrived.

“I bet that she’s from a border town,” Jester said, her voice taking on a dreamy tone. “She was out picking flowers one day when she came across an injured human man who was escaping bandits in the mountains. She took him back to her little cottage and they fell in love even though they knew they shouldn’t. The made love in the moonlight and he left to go back home to take care of his sick mother but he promised to come back for her when he could but then she discovered that she was pregnant! She came to the city for medical attention but when the nurses saw that it was a half human baby they grew violent and called the guards. She ran for her child’s life and has been in hiding ever since, but tonight she was found and chased down until she was shot dead in the back!”

“Natural causes,” Caduceus said, checking the woman’s body over. “She died from pneumonia.”

Jester pouted and crossed her arms. It wasn’t nearly as romantic.

“Is the baby sick?” Beau asked, pausing as she tried to situate her into Nott’s lap. She was more than half nott’s size, almost two feet in length.

Caduceus frowned and shook his head. “I don’t believe they had enough contact for it to transfer. This isn’t the baby’s mother. She’s been dead for two days and moved here.”

Beau frowned and stood up while Nott struggled to hold the baby’s giant head up off the ground. The baby started to cry again and wiggled violently and Fjord rushed to keep her from falling down hard.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Beau asked. “Was this staged? Someone dragged her here and dropped the baby beside her... why? What do they want?”

Caduceus frowned and looked solemnly back at the baby. “So that we would find her and take care of her. Maybe they assumed we’d think this woman was the mother.  I suspect, if we investigate this woman we’ll find she had no family or anyone who would miss her body. No one who would be willing to take ‘her daughter’,” his finger quotes were clunky and odd looking. “-off our hands.”

“So this is just a convoluted way for someone to abandon their baby?”

“They wanted us specifically to find it though?” Caleb asked, moving over to check the woman for clues. “Because it is half human?”

“I suspect half human children aren’t common in these parts. The baby looks drow but it will have the metabolism closer to that of a human and will need specialized care that a drow unfamiliar with them would be unable to properly provide. We have humans in our group and the rest of us are very familiar with humans and their anatomy, they probably hoped we’d know what to do.”

“We don’t though!” Beau exclaimed. “We don’t know what to do!” She turned to look at Caleb with wide, scared eyes. “What do we do?”

“We need food,” Nott said. Beau and Caleb spun around to look at her as she gently leaned the baby back and forth. “She hasn’t been here long, she’s not cold, but it’s better to have it ready than scramble for it when the time comes.”

“We can mash up some carrots?”

Nott nodded. “We can do some vegetables. She can probably handle stuff like rice, maybe some plain, soft beans. And diapers. Not for eating, for the other end.”

Beau nodded and walked over to pick up the baby and hold her at arm's length. “Alright. Some of us should stay at the house with her and get her set up. We have some milk in the ice box but we’ll need more supplies. The rest of us will go shopping and then try to find her mom.” 

Jester turned to Fjord and found that there was some moisture gathering at the corners of his eyes. “You alright?” she asked, quietly as everyone moved out of the alley.

Fjord cleared his throat and nodded. “I-I’m fine. It’s just… they left her.”

Jester gave him a small smile and put her hand on his arm. “But now she’s with us just like you are. We’ll take care of her until she finds her family again.” She gave him a bright smile and started skipping after the others.

Fjord heard Beau call out from around the corner. “Hey Nott, how do I hold this thing!”

Jester gasped. “Don’t call her a ‘thing’, Beau! She’s a beautiful, perfect little ange- ah! Don’t give her to me! Ew, she’s got spit up all over mouth.”

Fjord sighed and started to follow.

-

Essek stared at the baby with a curious frown. “A half drow child,” he mumbled. “How unusual.”

Nott had volunteered to watch the baby and Fjord had drawn the short straw so they were both stuck at the house, Nott with the baby in her lap and Fjord pacing across the room. “So you have no idea who she could belong to?” They had called Essek over before Jester left because there was a dead body behind their house and they needed a grown up to deal with it.

Essek hummed. “Not a clue. You said the scene you found was staged?”

Fjord nodded, chewing on his fingernail. “Beau thinks it was someone’s convoluted way of abandoning her and throwing us off their trail.”

Essek looked thoughtful. “I am inclined to agree with her, though I would appreciate it if you did not tell her so.”

Nott nodded sagely. “Yeah, we get it, we won’t tell her.”

“What can you tell us about the woman?” Fjord asked. 

Essek frowned and crossed his arms, idly tapping his finger on the inside of his elbow as he pondered. “I did not recognize her but I have a group of guards coming over to collect her body. If she’s a few days dead, I imagine that she was stolen from a morgue. I’ll have someone go around and inquire about any morgues missing a body. My suspicion though?” He sighed. “There is no report with the guard’s office about a missing body. Either the leader of the morgue is incompetant and doesn’t realize the body is gone or she never made it to a morgue in the first place.”

Fjord frowned. “Then how did the real mother find her?”

Essek considered this for a moment. “Perhaps she merely stumbled across the body by chance. Perhaps she knew the woman somehow. Speculation at this point is useless, we do not have enough information.” He seemed about to turn to the door and leave, but paused and looked back at them. “Will you all be okay with taking care of the girl until we get this settled? I have no other people familiar enough with her needs that I could trust such a sensitive matter too. I will have someone begin working on finding her a suitable home but for now…” he trailed off, staring at the half-elf in Nott’s lap as she snored quietly.

“Of course,” Fjord said, nodding.

Essek nodded back and then continued towards the door. “I have much to do, I will contact you with my findings. Farewell.” Then he left them alone in the dining room of their house. There was a ruckus at the door. “Oh, Jester. How.. lovely to see you,” Nott heard Essek say dryly.

“Hi, Essek,” but she didn’t stop to bother him today and ran right for the dining room, squealing when she saw them sitting there. “We got things for the wittle baby!”

Caduceus followed her in with a small, tranquil smile and held up a burlap bag. “Diapers and milk.”

Jester gasped. “And I found her the cutiest little purple dress and I just really, really hope she doesn’t puke all over it right away.”

Nott sighed and held the baby out to Caduceus, who took her extremely carefully into his arms. “I’ll set up a diaper change station. Fjord, go get me one of your clean shirts that you don’t mind never seeing again.”

Fjord blinked and uncrossed his arms. “For… For what?”

“For cleaning up poop.”

Fjord winced. “What? Why my shirts?”

“Because you spent the entire time they were gone complaining right in my ear. Shirts, now.” Fjord groaned and sulked out of the room while Nott started pulling the diapers out of the bag. “Where are Caleb and Beau?”

“Sleuthing,” Caduceus said. “Beau said that they were going to see what they could find out about this dead woman and see if anyone knew about a half elf baby being born in town.” Nott frowned but let it go, instead focusing on find a clean enough surface to work with.

“We should name her,” Jester said, rocking back and forth on her feet at a safe distance from the baby's vomit hole.

Caduceus was holding her gently in the crook of his arm, bouncing her and swaying slowly back and forth like Nott had shown him before. “She’s several months old, I suspect she already has a name.”

“Yes, but we don’t know it and she can’t tell us. So maybe we can give her a temporary name, like a nickname. Something cute like… Matilda or Calla Lily or Sunshine.”

“Matilda is nice,” Nott said, laying the baby down on the table and undoing her clothes to change her diaper. 

Fjord was frowning as he walked back into the room. “Matilda? No way.”

Jester gasped at him. “What’s wrong with Matilda?”

Fjord handed his shirts over to Nott reluctantly. “It’s an old lady name. Seeing a kid with an old lady name is just… off putting.”

Jester pouted. “Well, I think Matilda is lovely. Do you have any ideas?”

“He has a silent ‘J’ in his name,” Nott interjected. “He shouldn’t have any naming rights at all.”

Fjord and Nott started to bicker and Jester blocked them out, turning to Caduceus so that she could make faces at the baby. “What do you think, Caduceus?” 

Caduceus didn’t answer right away but he looked thoughtful. “Suvi. She was left alone in a heartless, deadly world but she is a survivor. Suvi for short.”

“Oh, Suvi is perfect! I love it so much!” She grinned and let the baby grab her finger. “Hi there baby Suvi! We’re going to take such very, very good care of you until we find your family. I promise.”

Suvi just stared up at her with big, dark eyes and gave a little cough, shooting spit up down her bare chest and Jester’s hand.

“Oh, why does this keep happening!” Jester exclaimed, rushing over to the wash basin.

Nott finished laying out one of Fjord’s shirts on the table and then made grabby hands towards the baby. “Here, sit her down. Diaper change. I’ll show you all how to do it, but then we’ll take turns, alright? I’m not being saddled with this by myself. And I’m not doing any fucking blow outs, so you just need to draw straws or something.”

Fjord blinked at her incomprehensibly. “What’s a blow out?”

Nott snorted. “You’ll know it when you see it.”

-

Beau was getting antsy. She was sitting in the chair of the guard’s station, chewing anxiously on her cheek and tapping her foot. “Why the fuck won’t anyone talk to us,” she hissed.

Caleb sighed, tapping his fingers against his knees. “Maybe it was a bad idea for just the two humans to do this?” he suggested, watching two of the guards across the room looked at them with disdain and talk quietly with one another. “We cannot get any information if the people here are too suspicious to speak to us.”

“Goddamn it,” Beau hissed, probably a little too loudly. “Prejudice blows.”

It was perhaps the understatement of a lifetime but Caleb just shrugged in agreement. Caleb looked up when the front door opened and he sat up straight when Essek walked inside. “Ah, Essek!” he called, clearing his throat and getting swiftly to his feet.

Essek looked over at them and smiled softly. “Ah, Caleb, Beauregard. I assume that you’re here for the same reason that I am?”

Beau hopped to her feet and marched over to him, tension in every line of her body but Essek didn’t seem bothered. The guards nearby all reached for their weapons, though none of them drew yet. “We’re here to see missing persons reports from the last few weeks but these clowns keep giving us the runaround. We even flashed our badges but they won’t listen.” She snapped her head around to glare at the guard at the desk who had been telling her ‘Just five more minutes’ for the last hour and a half. “A woman is dead and there’s a baby without a family and these fuckers don’t even care cause we’re human. Fuck all of you!” Caleb put a hand on her shoulder, maybe to hold her back, maybe to calm her down, and squeezed. She growled under her breath from the effort it took to keep from yelling some more and just relaxed beside him. 

Caleb sighed and cleared his throat. “Beau is just a little high strung. She is really worried about the baby.” Beau sneered and crossed her arms but didn’t speak. “Do you think you would be able to assist us?”

Essek just smiled, seemingly unbothered by Beau’s outburst. “Of course. I'm here to ask if any of the local morgues were missing bodies, I didn’t think to check missing persons, that’s a good idea. I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you, Essek,” Caleb sighed.

Beau was still fuming when they both walked back over to their chairs and Essek was lead inside a door across the room. “I’m not worried about the baby,” Beau said quietly. “I just want to get her out of our hair. We’ve got more important things to worry about.”

Caleb pat her shoulder placatingly. “Of course.”

#critical role #critical role fic #beauregard #caleb widogast #jester lavorre #nott the brave #fjord #caduceus clay #Empire Kids #disaster siblings

[annoyinglyjovialbird]

Voltron: Next Generation

Dangerous Clashes: III

Word Count: 3245

AN: A little longer chapter today since its my birthday. Thanks!

Whether it was smart or dumb, the guards delivered the armor to Kova's makeshift cell. She spent a few minutes looking it over, then started working. The bodysuit was like a second skin, completely different than the street clothes she wore before.

The tech on the suit was older than anything she had ever seen, but that was the privilege of attending the intergalactic hub on Earth. We mean the Garrison if you're lost.

She was attempting to use a paperclip as a pair of pliers on the location tracker when the door reopened. Ezrid, or Vhix, stood in the doorframe. Kova spared him a glance before returning to her work. 

"Are you not going to say anything?" Vhix asked, crossing his arms behind his back. 

"Should I?" Kova glanced at him again, noting the scowl that crossed his face. 

"You should be grateful for everything we've given you." He hissed. "Most prisoners rot in the cells below, never seeing their home planets again."

"Ooh, how scary." Kova mocked him. "I should be grateful for being put in a janitor's closet. That's rich."

"What are you doing to the suit?" Vhix asked, noticing her position. He was about to cross the boundary. He was about to trigger the explosion before she was ready. 

"NO!" She yelled. "Stay away from me!" Vhix stepped back, shocked at being yelled at. "I don't want you anywhere near me!" Vhix found his voice, fixing his dark blue cape.

"Aren't you overreacting, Kyla?" He smiled, talking in the tone you would talk to most children with. She stood up from her place on the floor to at least be eye-level with him. 

"I'm not the one our parents chased across the galaxy." She cocked her head. "Am I overreacting?" Vhix had no words. He only looked on with wide eyes. Almost like he didn't know what her parents had done. Without another word the door closed, leaving Kova alone once again. 

She had to finish the suit.

Right. Now. 

——————

"Cake, cover me!" Caleb yelled over the intercoms. 

"You got it!" Cake yelled back, moving his controls. The Coeus had taken another hit. This time, there was a small platoon of ships striking. The Red and Yellow Lions were deployed, against Shiro's orders. The Lions were taking heavy hits, but at least there was no attention at the Coeus. 

The Red Lion was zipping past the cruisers, all their shots missing. The Red Lion was fighting its pilot, but Caleb was having none of it. The Yellow Lion, as the densest lion material-wise, was ramming into the cruisers head-on. 

Liz and Kenny were readying the Coeus for defense, while Allie cowered in a corner. She would have to come out eventually, but for now, she was staying put. 

The Yellow Lion zoomed past the cruisers, either ramming itself through them or leaving them alone for later pickings. 

A communication link request was sent to the Coeus, which Liz immediately refused without looking at it. She glanced at Allie, who was covering her pointy ears with her hands, hoping to silence the gunfire. 

"Can you guys stop playing and knock them out already?" Liz yelled over the intercom to the boys, who weren't quick to respond. The Red Lion was drawing fire towards the enemy ships while Cake used their distraction and fear to ram them down. In the end, all but one of the ships were destroyed. 

Seeing the last cruiser fly away, the Red and Yellow lions released a deafening roar and returned to the Coeus. The Coeus had activated their particle barrier and it would be up for the next few hours until it deactivated itself. 

"Now that that's taken care of," Caleb said. The screen on the bridge appeared, showing the paladins inside their respective lions. "What's next?" 

"We're going to have to double-check every point we travel to if we're going to make another jump."

"Ugh, seriously?" Cake complained. "That will take way longer than whatever we were doing before!" 

"Well, its the only thing we've got right now." Liz was at the head of the bridge, Kova's place, typing away. Kova's console, as it turned out, was the only console with complete access to all files and consoles onboard. 

"Griffin's right," Caleb spoke, leading the Red Lion to fly underneath the Coeus. "If we want to avoid another encounter like that, we're going to have to be more careful."

"But that will take ages!" Cake groaned, rolling his eyes. 

"It's better than not doing anything," Caleb said. 

"Right, 'cause we're still looking for Kova while trying to keep the Coeus intact." Neither Liz nor Caleb were amused by Cake's comment. "Easy enough."

"Speaking of Kova, Griffin, how are we doing?" 

"The tracking is still activated, and it shows we're about one full jump away from reaching her." Liz looked away from the camera and console for a minute, staring at something off-screen. She turned back with a sigh. "I have to take care of something now, but all systems are stable and shield will deactivate in a few hours. Until then, just hang on tight." The connection between the Coeus and the Red and Yellow Paladins was cut, and Cake and Caleb were now left alone with only each other to talk to. 

Where do we even begin with these two? Cake and Caleb were on different teams since they started as cadets at the Garrison. Kova and Caleb had similar leadership tactics, but they weren't on the same level. Caleb was maybe a few months behind Kova's level of understanding. At nine years old, she repaired a major issue on the Achlys. An issue the top engineers couldn't figure out. Kova was the only thing Caleb and Cake had in common. Beyond that, there was nothing. Cake was half-Balmeran. Caleb was completely human. Cake was raised by his biological parents. Caleb was adopted by the Shiroganes at three years old. Cake lived on Earth after ten years old. Caleb hadn't even been to space. 

"This might seem like a weird question, and you don't have to answer," Cake began. Caleb raised an eyebrow. "But didn't Keith have a dog?"

"I, uh, don't know, actually," Caleb said. "Dad and Uncle Lance used to stories, but I don't know if they ever mentioned pets."

"Really? I could've sworn my dad mentioned a dog."

"Huh." Caleb sat back in his chair. If there was a dog, why wasn't it ever mentioned again? "Maybe we could ask Keith about it."

"Maybe." Cake agreed. "Hey, uh, where are you?" 

"Under." /Please say it/, Caleb thought. Kova always switched her words and Cyrus copied her. No one did it. 

"Under /where/?" Caleb erupted in laughter, while Cake looked around confused. /Then/ he realized the joke. 

"Ha ha, okay, very funny, Caleb." Cake said sarcastically. 

Onboard the Coeus, Keith and Shiro were sequestered away in Shiro's office. While Caleb and Cake disobeyed orders, Shiro was getting Keith up to speed on everything they had been doing. 

"The Fire of Purification was terminated as a threat years ago." Shiro had activated a holoscreen, showing the progression board the team had been working on. They were at the beginning of the current threats when Keith spoke. "I killed Sendak!" 

"I know." Shiro took a seat across the desk from Keith. "It seems that some of their former members resurfaced with a vengeance, and began recruiting."

"The Fire of Purification wanted to wipe out every species in the universe if it meant conserving the Galra." 

"And that mission changed with the times." Shiro leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. "The Fire we're fighting today was led by a half-Galra and is currently being led by a different one."

"The one that might've taken your daughter." Shiro's eyes widened a little, shock written on his face. As quickly as it came, it left. 

"Yes. Her status is the reason for the bounty on her head."

"She's half-Galra?"

"Yes, but that's not the only thing." Shiro turned off the holoscreen progression and removed it from his desk. Taking out the tablet Kova had given him when they began this crazy journey, Shiro logged into the Garrison's database. "The students have given her the nickname 'Jax'." Shiro turned the tablet to show Keith the screen. A picture of Kova was on it. Her eyes were like steel, and her features were cut from stone. Her uniform jacket was crisp, and her hair was pulled away from her face in a bun. That was all that could be seen. Shiro turned the screen away from Keith and swiped to view the next picture. It was Kova's log. Her entire school history was there for the men to see. 

"Why do they call her that?" 

"Her teachers would call her a jack of all trades, then it became Jack. To be fair, most instructors thought she was a boy when they heard about her capabilities. Eventually, the student body would call Jack, then Jax. It stuck."

"Teachers? Instructors? Like, she had multiple people teaching her?" Keith was astounded. Even he didn't require that much instruction, and he was considered the best pilot of his generation. 

"Programming, engineering, piloting, was offered private instruction with Commander Holt but declined, and still had time to spend with Lance and our family. Before we left Earth, she was being scouted as an instructor by other schools." 

"With someone like that," Keith began. 

"She could win wars if she stood on the front lines." Shiro finished Keith's sentence. "Caleb is capable of it, too, but he isn't as hyper detailed as Kova." 

"So the Fire wants your daughter, Kova, on their side?"

"More than anything." Keith sat back in his chair, staring into the void. Shiro turned off and put away the tablet while Keith contemplated everything. 

"What are we waiting for, then?" Keith said, standing from his chair. A hand rested on his hip with an iconic smile on his face. "Let's get her back." 

—————

"C'mon, c'mon!" Kova muttered under her breath. "Change color, you stupid light!" She stood on the dirty mattress in the furthest corner of the room. The garbage bag that held her street clothes was propped against the wall closest to the emergency toilet. The dark gray armor fit Kova almost perfectly, but if she wasn't careful, there could be an opening. Her hair was tied in a braided bun at the back of her head, her helmet screen open. She was trying to change the color of the insignia on her chest plate, but for whatever reason, it didn't. The top of the insignia was blue and the bottom was the original purple.

The sewer was emptying, and her window of opportunity was going with it. Let's all say it now: NO ONE CARES ABOUT THE COLOR OF YOUR STUPID LIGHT!

Heavy footsteps rang through the room. The metal grate was horrible like that. The steps became heavier, the metal groaned louder, and Kova's heart raced faster as they approached her room. 

"Screw this!" She finally exclaimed, throwing the paperclip aside, grabbed her plastic bag, and stood at the mouth of the gaping hole. The footsteps had stopped just outside her door. Indistinguishable words were being exchanged between the guards and the newcomer, but Kova wouldn't be around to see it. First went the bag, making a disgusting brown splash on the sewer walls. It was carried only a few feet from the weak current before coming to a standstill. Activating her helmet screen to completely cover her face, Kova took a deep breath. 

May Allura give her strength. 

She jumped feet first into the hole. The brown, maybe green liquid splashed under her feet, but there was no time to consider what it could or couldn't be. As soon as her boots made contact with the bottom of the pipe, Kova ran, grabbing the plastic bag on the way. 

In her now empty room, the door opened to reveal the maniac himself with his second-in-command in tow. 

"Where is she?" Yorak asked, staring at the empty room.

"Let me see," Vhix said, pushing past Yorak into the room. His step into the room triggered the boxes of yeast the guards had brought Kova to fall into the buckets of peroxide and dish soap at their feet. As the yeast fell into the buckets, the white foam quickly overfilled the buckets, spilling onto the floor. The metal grate didn't allow the foam to stay very long, but the results were worth it. Vhix was quickly overwhelmed by the foam, slipping on the metal grate. Yorak was fuming, his expression dark. He turned his stone-cold eyes to the guard at his right. The guard, for what it's worth, was rusting their armor at the glare. 

"Search the ship," Yorak growled, whipping his head to meet the stare of the second guard. "If she isn't found, it's your lives." Vhix had somehow stood and walked away from the foam. Thankfully for him, yeast doesn't stain. The guards ran down the hallways like their lives depended on it, because they did. 

"I told you we should have kept her in a prison cell," Vhix muttered, trailing foam. Yorak sighed, staring at the mess Kova had caused. 

"If we did, she would've discovered our plans before she was ready." Yorak stalked away from the room, heading for the bridge. Vhix strode after him, still trailing foam. 

"She isn't going to switch sides so easily." Vhix shook his shoulders, then aggressively shook his cape. "She's been taught to be a paragon of power."

"As am I." Yorak turned to meet Vhix's eyes. Vhix was one of few to meet the stone-cold gaze of the Emperor and not shake in fear. The others were either dead or changed. 

Down below, Kova ran, drifted, and jumped over pipes, large lumps of something, and tight corners. She simply followed the current. Kova's sloshed steps grew faster as voices grew louder overhead. The desire to live was starting to become her. Out of some misfortune, there was no exit to the sewer. At least, no exit she could use. The water escape through a small vent at the bottom of a wall. 

Kova looked up at the metal grate, searching for a means of escape. Another hole was torn into the metal grate directly above the sewer. Another emergency toilet. Tossing her bag through the hole, Kova jumped to grab hold of the edge. The sharp, torn metal pierced her skin through the bodysuit, but it did not break. 

She was in yet another janitor's closet, but it was worth it. If the map on the wall is correct, she's about ten feet from the closest exit.

Activating the helmet's shade, Kova walked straight for the doors that led to her freedom. The door opened up, four armed soldiers running past her without a glance in her direction. Quick as can be, she slipped through the doors. 

The room was a loading bay, stocked with wooden crates and small cruisers. If she could hotwire one, it would make her escape all the better. 

"Hey! You!" A voice yelled from above Kova's head. It didn't sound like either Yorak or Vhix, so at least she was safe. "What are you doing here? This ward is restricted to—" Kova turned to face the man yelling at her. He noticed the blue on Kova's insignia. The light is pretty hard to miss. The man yelling at her stared at the faceless armored soldier with surprise, then anger. "Hey! I found the runaway!" 

With a salute, Kova booked it to the doors. The man, completely caught off-guard, panicked, climbed the railing, and jumped to the floor twenty feet below. He didn't chase after her. At least, not immediately. 

Three armor-clad soldiers marched in, holding their weapons up. Kova had made it to the wall on the other, the door that should lead outside. One of the soldiers had fired on her, hitting the door three feet from Kova's head. She ignored it, searching for the control switch. It required a password to open it. Another blast was fired, only inches from her face. 

Kova turned to see the firing squad. They wouldn't kill her. Of course, they wouldn't. That's a death wish waiting to happen. Yorak and Vhix still want her alive. 

One of the soldiers aimed at the wall next to Kova, hoping to ricochet a blast to knock her out without completely damaging her. The soldier's stance wavered, the gun along with it. Kova held her hands up in surrender, but the soldiers made no moves to apprehend her. Not until they were sure they wouldn't be attacked. The soldier's finger was prepared to pull the trigger. It wouldn't take much, just a little push. 

The entire ship took a blow, and everyone took a fall. Kova held onto the frame of the door closest to the control panel. She connected her armpiece to the control panel, uploaded her code, and the door opened. As the oxygen was being sucked into the nothingness of space, some of the lighter boxes were being thrown out as well. Kova hoped it was food so they could slow down their pursuit. As the suction pulled everything, Kova braced herself and threw herself out into the nothingness. 

Curled into a small ball, she spun until she wasn't sure which way was up and down. Is there even an up and down in space? Kova had been pulled so far away from the ship, she could see what had caused the blast. 

The Coeus had come to the rescue, firing heavy blasts to the side of the enemy ship. A particle barrier had been activated, glowing orange. Two figures were dancing in front of the barrier. It took Kova a tick to realize they weren't just any figures. It was the Lions. 

Red sped past the entire length of the enemy ship, firing on the windows of their bridge. Yellow was clawing the side Red had left unscathed. Escape pods began to leave the ship, and Red noticed. It took after them, preparing to fire again when a small blast hit their snout. Red turned its head to look for the culprit. 

Kova fired again. She was so glad the arm piece had a laser, or she would have been a goner. 

Red was hit again between the eyes. Forgetting its original prey, it flew towards the source of the blasts. 

As Red got closer, Kova hung onto her bag for dear life. She was floating into nothingness. She didn't want to be like Keith! Lost for ten years until the new generation of Voltron came to find her. They haven't even formed Voltron!

Red stopped before Kova, staring at her figure. What was wrong? Didn't he recognize her? Then she remembered she still had the shade on. Deactivating it, she stared at Red again. Red opened its mouth, and Kova floated into it. The depressurization left Kova lying on the bottom of Red's mouth staring at the top of it. Eventually, she stood and joined Caleb in the pilot seat. He was updating the Coeus on the mission. 

Kova placed a hand on his shoulder, to which Caleb lay his own over it. They shared a look, and Caleb turned Red around to return to the Coeus. Kova slept in Red's cockpit until the barrier deactivated a few hours later. 

#voltron: next generation #keith kogane #takashi shirogane #igf coeus #yorak #vhix #fire of purification #kovalia shirogane #caleb shirogane #red lion #yellow lion #voltron galra #voltron altean

[shirtlesssammy]

1x16: Shadow

Previously on Supernatural:

Sam and Dean are hard at work looking for their dad.

Now:

Down an empty city street, a lone woman walks into a dark, foggy alley. A sudden wind storm sweeps through the area and shadows dance across building walls. The woman starts running (and like, seriously, I don’t care how late at night this is, there’s no one else around??) and makes it back to her apartment, sets the alarm and locks the door. Whew, she’s safe, or at least that’s what the music is telling me. She then plays messages on her ANSWERING MACHINE. Lol, sometimes I laugh at how old this show is. 

Anyway, a shadow creeps along the wall and SPLAT, we have a cold open victim after all. 

One Week Later

Sam and Dean, professional cosplayers, are dressed as alarm system employees today. Dean is a tad incredulous they have to play dress-up (but secretly LOVES it, let’s admit it.) 

He ribs Sam a little bit about a play he did in high school (Dean’s such a supportive brother to go watch that. Poor Sam can’t act himself out of an alternate universe where he IS an actor.) They enter the victim’s apartment. The landlord tells them their company sucks. The windows were locked, the door was bolted, and the alarm system was still on. Hmm. Everything was in order, but Meredith. She was in pieces all over the floor. 

The brothers start looking around the apartment. Dean previously spoke with the police (and ofc he’d hit it off with a Sagittarius) and reveals that the victim was missing her heart. They speculate about what they’re dealing with until Dean sees a pattern in the blood splatter on the floor (My sweet, smart son). He starts laying tape to form the pattern. It forms a symbol that neither brother recognizes.  

Later, at a bar, Dean is busy talking up the bartender when Sam wanders in with notes from the case. Dean checks in, and normally at this stage in the game I am eye-rolling hard at overcompensating Dean, but he is SO proud about getting the bartender’s number. (Like, why Dean? You’re an A+ charmer and you look like Jensen Ackles.) 

Honestly, though, Dean was doing the job. He gathered a heck of a lot of info on Meredith. They have another victim but there doesn’t appear to be a connection, except with how they died. 

Suddenly, Sam takes off. He finds his old travel buddy, Meg. WHAT A CRAZY COINCIDENCE. (Also, <insert old WB joke here>)  She yells at Dean for making Sam do things he doesn’t want to do. Look at Dean’s face when he looks at Sam! Guh. Then he pulls the classic Dean move and makes light of the comment and walks away to get a beer. AND then he looks back at Sam again as he’s walking away. This gives Sam and Meg some time to talk and Sam gets her digits. 

Later, when Sam and Dean are leaving the bar, Dean asks about Meg. Sam doesn’t really know her and finds it weird to have run into her again. Dean wants to know more about the shit talk Sam was spreading about him but Sam is trying to talk about how weird it is to run into Meg again. He tasks Dean with learning more about Meg Masters and the symbol at the victim’s apartment. Sam is going to watch Meg, and Dean finds this infinitely funny. 

Later, Dean calls Sam, who’s outside Meg’s apartment, to tell him that she checks out. He encourages Sam to ask her out. And at the end of the day, I can’t help but love Dean’s way of helping Sam. Maybe it’s not the most understanding but he really wants to help Sam move on and heal. Anyway, he also learned about the symbol. It’s a Zoroastrian demon sigil. Sam wonders how Dean learned all this, and Dean makes it clear that HE READS TOO. 

For Science:

But Dean realizes that he’s not performing enough and tells Sam that he asked a friend of John’s. All the same, Dean says that from the info he (NOT CALEB) gathered, the demon has to be summoned and that means someone is controlling it. Anyway, Dean gets gross and Sam hangs up on him. Then Sam gets gross and watches Meg change through her window. 

Meg leaves her apartment and Sam follows her to an old warehouse. Once inside, he finds that she’s set up a nice little summoning altar. She talks to someone/thing in a chalice. She’ll await their arrival. 

Sam sneaks out of the elevator shaft he was hiding in. He sees the altar and is literally like, “What the hell?”

“Dude, I gotta talk to you,” is how these two giant nerds simultaneously greet each other back at the hotel.

Sam fills Dean in on Meg. She’s the one who’s been summoning the daeva. Dean reveals his own new intel. His police contact got him the victims’ files: they’re both originally from Lawrence, Kansas. Dean calls their dad and tells them they might be close to the thing that killed their mom. (“That’s where everything started.” Crying noise. Crying noise.) Before they head out to the warehouse, Sam dumps a big bag of weapons on the bed.

Sam is like me packing for a trip at 2 a.m. Uh, idk, maybe I’ll need this? Better pack it just in case. Holy water, ritual books, and just about every weapon he can think of. “I’m not sure what to expect, so I guess we should just expect everything?” I feel you, Sammy.

Then the boys talk about how NOT nervous they are - how totally chill they feel about possibly confronting the thing that killed their mom. If they succeed, Sam would go back to school. Dean, though? He’s in the life for good. “There’s always gonna be somethin’ to hunt.” Sam asks Dean if there’s anything he wants for himself (crying intensifies) and Dean bursts out that he doesn’t want Sam to bail on him again. “You and me and dad. I want us to be together again.” Oh, Dean Bean. 

On that fun note, let’s go kick some ass! Sam and Dean climb back up the warehouse elevator shaft. Meg stands on one side of the room facing a wall and muttering incantations (as one does). They creep into the room while she chants and take up defensive positions. Without even turning around, she calls them out. “Hiding’s a bit childish, don’t you think?” (Meg, the proper word to tell them to stop hiding is olly-olly-oxen-free.) She tells them that she was waiting for them. It WAS a trap! She commands the daeva to attack.

The daeva slices the hell out of Sam’s face and hurls the boys across the room, knocking them out. They wake up a little while later, trussed up to beams. 

Sam tries to unravel why Meg targeted the two victims. It turns out their deaths were meaningless; killing people from Lawrence was simply bait for her Winchester trap. Dean tries to cut through the villain monologue and find out why they’re still alive, but Meg tells him that the trap she set isn’t for them…it’s for their dad. “He has one weakness,” Meg says. “He lets his guard down around his boys. Lets his emotions cloud his judgment.” BOOM. Cue the feelings.

Meg lets her snarky demon flag fly around Sam. She taunts him about watching her, wanting her. Meg starts to kiss Sam (gross gross yuck gross) until she hears a snick of a blade as Dean tries to break free. She tosses away Dean’s knife and goes back to Sam, who head butts her, revealing his own released hands. 

On Dean’s direction, Sam topples the altar, freeing the daeva. The daeva goes after Meg, dragging her to the window and tossing her to the ground below.

Back at their hotel, they open the door to find a mysterious shadow. It’s their dad! It’s Hugchester time.

Dean apologizes for not spotting the trap and John tells them that a) he knew it was a trap so no worries and b) he was in town as well. HEY John, thanks for warning your kids. John reveals that he’s working on a way to kill the yellow-eyed demon for good. But he’s (tosses hair back dramatically) got to do it ALONE.

It’s Hugchester time AGAIN, when suddenly John gets hurled across the room. The daeva’s back in Daeva’s Revenge: Part Two: The Wreckoning. The daeva proceeds to wreck the hotel room, and toss Dean and Sam around as well. Outside, Meg approaches with a daeva sigil necklace. It’s looking bad for our heroes, when Sam lights a flare to chase away the shadows (including the daeva). 

They all stumble from the room, bruised and bloodied, and make their way to the Impala.

They’re about to head out together when Dean tells them that John can’t go with them. Meg was right - John’s vulnerable when he’s around his sons. Sam begs John not to leave but John’s already got both feet out the proverbial door. They give each other the worst sort of goodbye hug - a manly pat on the shoulder, and then John takes off in his truck. 

Meg watches them leave town. It’s not over, boys. Not by a long shot.

________________________________

Only the Shadow Quotes:

You think credit card fraud is easy? 

I came, I saw, I conquered. Oh, and I met what’s-his-name, something Michael Murray at a bar.

Maybe you’re thinkin’ a little too much with your upstairs brain, huh?

What’s the significance of Lawrence? 

What if this whole thing was over tonight? Man, I’d sleep for a month. Go back to school—be a person again.

Things will never be the way they were before.

Dad’s vulnerable when he’s with us. He’s stronger without us around.

Alright, you little pervert

You don’t have the corner on paper chasing around here.

________________________________

Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive!

#spn recap #spn rewatch #spn 1x16 #shadow #dean winchester #sam winchester #meg masters #john winchester #supernatural season 1

[princessamericachavez]

Fjorester Week | Day 1 | AU

“So, tell me again, why am I here?” Beau grumbles, before shoving a fistful of corn chips into her mouth.

Fjord lets out a heavy sigh, glaring at his best friend from the mirror.

“Because you love me and won’t leave me to go face my neighbor’s housewarming party on my own?”

“I don’t love you that much, big guy.”

“C’mon, what’s so bad about it? It’s a party. We’ll work on your people skills.”

“If your people skills are so damn good,” Beau shoots back, “why do you need me to wingman at all?”

“Because I don’t know anyone else there, and there’s gonna be free booze. Also, I already kinda put my foot in my mouth with this girl before, would really appreciate some help to avoid doing it again.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Beauregard sits up on the couch, grinning. “Mister Perfect put his foot in his mouth.”

Fjord turns away from the mirror to ignore the blush crawling up his face and gives his gym buddy a half-hearted glare.

“Oh, c’mon. If you tell me, I’ll go.”

“It’s not a big deal. She’s just... very enthusiastic. I went by the other day to pick up a package that’d been dropped at her place while I was out and she was very nice and she kept asking if I wanted to go in for a cup of coffee or water or something.”

“She was hitting on you, so what? Girls do that all the time, Fjord.”

“They don’t. Thing is... I panicked,” Fjord mumbles rubbing the back of his neck. “I think I yelled something like ‘thanks, I don’t drink water,’ and I ran away. It’s a miracle that she even invited me over today.”

“Oh my god, dude!” Beau chuckles, jumping to her fit. She brushes off the chip crumbs from her shirt and tightens her messy bun over her head. “This girl makes you stupid. I’m so coming with you to see it in person.”

“Thanks, Beau. Appreciate the support,” Fjord deadpans.

Well, at least that’s something.

Before Fjord gets a second to gather his thoughts, Beauregard knocks on the door. Even through the thick wood and the faraway music, he can hear the clacking of heels rushing to the door that swings completely open to reveal the party’s hostess. His next-door neighbor.

Jester is pretty in a way Fjord’s never seen before. Sure, there’s conventional pretty like the girls from tv, and there are hot women in magazine ads, and there are beautiful women in the street’s every day... but something about this girl just throws him off balance. It might be the blue streaks on her short dark hair, or her nearly violet eyes, or her tan skin covered in freckles like a clear starry night out at sea. Or it might just be the way she beams at him as soon as she sees him awkwardly standing at her door, holding a bottle of wine and a grumpy college student.

“Fjord! You came!” She exclaims, and he’s shocked by how genuinely glad she sounds.

“Uh, hi, Jester. This is my friend, Beauregard.”

“Friends call me Beau, actually.”

“Oh! Can I be your friend?! Can I call you Beau?”

“Uh- sure.”

“Perfect! Come in! Come in!” Jester grabs them both by the hands and pulls them into her house with a strength that doesn’t seem to match her tiny size. 

The inside of Jester’s apartment is different than what he expected, and somehow exactly what he should’ve imagined. Sure, it’s very pink and colorful, and lively, but there’s a refined style in the decoration that screams money and taste. It might be the same size as his place, but it feels far more welcoming and cozy.

“Come on! I wanna introduce you to some friends!”

Jester hasn’t let go of either of them. She pulls them along towards the living room, where four other individuals are sitting around and talking. Fjord thinks it’s the weirdest mix of people he’s ever seen in his life. One of them has long purple hair and hippy clothes —real hippy and not whatever hipster stuff kids buy in Urban Outfitters— and he’s giving a card reading to a man with shaggy red hair and an unkempt beard. They both sit on the floor, being watched closely by two women: one tall and muscular, with dark makeup framing her eyes, and one short and scrappy that keeps taking long swings of her flask.

“Hey, everyone! This is Fjord!” Jester has no qualms interrupting their reading. “Fjord, this is everyone.”

“Oh, hey, Caleb,” Beau’s voice catches him off guard before he can even say hello. “What are you doing here?”

“Beauregard,” the redhead murmurs with a heavy German accent as he stands up. “I am here with my friend Nott. She’s a friend of Jester’s.”

“You are my friend too, Caleb!” Jester complains.

“Cool. I’m here with Fjord,” Beau says, pointing at him with a thumb. “Fjord, this is Caleb and that is his not-sister but not-girlfriend, Nott.”

Fjord shakes Caleb’s hand, as he tries really hard not say out loud that Nott sounds like a fake name. The more he looks at the short woman, the more he realizes he might not want to know the answer to that question after all.

Jester introduces the other two people: Molly and Yasha. From the second the woman stands up and comes to shyly shake their hands, Fjord knows Beauregard is a goner. He shouldn’t be surprised when, five minutes later, she’s disappeared from his side to go follow Yasha and her purple-haired friend elsewhere. And so, he is all alone with Jester.

“You know, you look very handsome, Fjord,” she says, as casually as one would comment on the weather. “I mean, I always thought you were handsome, but you look even better today.”

“Oh- uh- hum... thanks, Jester,” he manages to get out, thankful for once that his friend isn’t here to laugh at his flailing. 

“You want something to drink?” Jester asks, and without waiting for an answer she grabs him by the hand again and leads him across the apartment towards a table filled with bottles and sodas.

As they walk, Fjord’s eyes trail down to her small frame. She’s wearing a sundress with a sunflower pattern, the thin straps of which leave her neck and shoulders mostly uncovered. He can’t help but stare at the sunkissed skin and the trail of freckles that makes its way across her shoulder blades.

“What would you like to drink, Fjord?”

“I don’t know, what are you having?”

“A chocolate shake,” Jester shrugs. She says it casually but he can see the spark of satisfaction that crosses her face when he reacts with confusion. “Oh, I don’t like the taste of alcohol very much. I mean, I’ve had some before, but it’s really not fun to me. I like sweet things better. Also, it’s very funny when you are sober and all your friends are being drunk and stupid, really.”

Fjord lets out a loud chuckle. “Yeah, I bet it is. I’ll have a beer then.” Nothing too strong that will make him join the drunk and stupid team.

Speaking of. He turns around and sees Beauregard and Molly already arguing loudly with each other about... something. Music, as far as he can guess by the way they gesture to the vinyl collection in the corner. Jester is watching too, smiling.

“I’m so sorry about that,” he sighs.

“It looks like they are having fun,” Jester shrugs, handing him a beer. “Molly argues a lot with people. That’s how you know he likes them.”

“A’right,” he nods taking a sip. Jester slurps her milkshake and Fjord almost stares at her until he kicks himself into making conversation. “So, Jester, whatcha do for a living.”

“Oh, I’m a doctor.”

“You are?” Fjord’s eyebrows arch, maybe a little too much. He can see a hint of offense cross her eyes. “I mean, sorry, you don’t look the way I expect doctors to look.”

“Why? Because I’m too young?”

“Too pretty,” he corrects, without thinking. “I- I mean- most doctors are, you know, cranky old men.”

“They really are,” Jester giggles. “I’m actually finishing my residency now, and then I will start my specialization.”

“On what?”

“Cardiology. I’m all about the heart,” she says giving him a wink.

“I’m sure you are,” he ducks his head to hide the blush that crawls up his face.

“Come, I’ll show you the house,” Jester gestures for him to follow down the hallway.

Fjord stops by a big framed picture of a movie star. He recognizes the seductive smile, the dangerous curves, the long flow red hair, the old-Hollywood air that no other actress seems to have any more.

“The Ruby of the Sea. You must really like her movies,” he points out, taking another sip of beer.

“I’ve watched all of them!” Jester grins. “She’s my mom.”

“Marion Lavorre is your mother?!” Fjord all but screams. Jester shushes him immediately. “Sorry,” he lowers his voice. “I just didn’t even know she had a daughter.”

“Oh, yeah, well... I wasn’t out very much, you know? My mom was trying to keep me away from all the paparazzi and stuff when I was little, so I spent most of my time with private tutors at home.”

Fjord isn’t sure how to respond to that. He’s not sure if he's jealous of the having a mother part, or saddened by the loneliness she describes.

“It was nice, you know,” Jester goes on, and he can tell by her tone she’s nervous as if she needed to fill the silence to justify her own past. He knows the feeling. “I had a lot of great teachers. I learned how to paint. I made most of the art in this apartment.”

“That’s very impressive, Jester. You’re quite an artist.”

“Thank you!” She grins.

“So why’d you move all the way to the east coast, then? Isn’t your mom in L.A.?”

“Well... it’s a bit of a complicated story, you know? If I told you I’d have to kill you.”

Fjord lets out a hearty laugh at that. 

“Hey, Jester, we are about to leave for the gig, you coming?” Molly announces a while later.

Fjord blinks at him, waking up from the past several hours where he’s enjoyed Jester’s non-stop stream of words. Time’s flown by and when he looks at his clock he realizes it’s past one in the morning.

“Of course we are coming! Fjord, you are coming, right? Molly is a DJ downtown and he’s very very good. Yasha works security in the club, too. It’s going to be so much fun!”

“Of course we are coming,” Beau gives Fjord’s arm a painful squeeze.

“Actually, I- Uh. I’ve got work tomorrow morning and-”

“Dude, you’re killing me.”

“Okay, okay, fine. I guess Beau will kill me if I say no.”

“I will.”

“Yes!” Jester jumps, clapping. “C’mon, everybody! We’re leaving!”

For the third time in the night, Jester grabs Fjord’s hand and pulls him along towards the entrance. 

Fjord meets a lot of interesting people at the club. Most of them he can’t quite put a name to, but he can tell everyone is happy to see Jester. He wonders, idly, if he should worry at all about the many guys tripping over themselves, trying to keep up with jester’s energy, but she holds on to his arm the whole time and keeps sending him smiles sweet as candy.

The only guy she actually seems to pay attention to, a friend from medical school who was apparently covering for her tonight. He looks nothing like a doctor either, tall, lanky and with a mohawk of long pink hair. He’s drinking something that doesn’t smell like tea and smoking something that doesn’t smell like cigarettes. But he’s nice.

Not nice enough that Fjord isn’t delighted when Jester pulls him away to a quiet corner.

“What?” He chuckles.

“I wanna show you something,” she whispers. If he didn’t know she’s been having chocolate milk all night long, he’d suspect her to be drunk. “Do you still wanna know why I came all the way here?”

“Yeah,” he breathes, entranced by the way her eyes sparkle.

With a tilt of her head, she leads him towards a back door. He follows closely. Of course, he does. At this point, he doesn’t know that he can do anything else. They exit to a narrow back alley, Jester pushes him against a wall and for a second he thinks he’s about to get a very welcomed make out session... but then she turns him around and makes him face the club’s back wall. 

There, on the brick wall, there’s a graffiti. It’s big, colorful, filled with sunflowers, jellyfish, a few little dicks hidden here and there. The signature reads: The Little Sapphire. 

“Woah, that’s-”

“Mine.”

“Wait. Wait. Wait. You mean to tell me you are Sapphire?!”

“I am! You see, one of my private tutors, he was an artist, and he told me people called him the Traveler.”

“The Traveler? People say that he’s the new Bansky.”

“Oh, Fjord, c’mon! He’s so much better than Bansky! He’s the best!”

“And he’s your teacher?”

“He is! Well. He was. Until I made this one thing in L.A... I had no idea that it was one of the big mob houses! It got all of the paparazzi attention and they got found out by the cops... So now these guys want me dead and I had to come here to lay low for a little while.”

“Mobsters.”

“Yep.”

“They... want you dead.”

“Kinda, yes.”

Fjord frowns again, feeling his chest knot. He looks at his tiny sunshine neighbor, imagines her in any sort of danger, and feels an old kind of fury burning in his veins.

“So,” Jester sing songs.

“So?”

“Are you gonna tell me what you are doing here? I mean, you are all mysterious. I see you come in and out every day, you work nine to five but then you spend all night out. What’s your story, Fjord?”

Deep breath. Fjord thinks about his past, about the orphanage, about Vandran. He thinks about his nightly search across New York, asking about a Texan sailor gone missing months ago under mysterious circumstances. He thinks about the Serpent mafia and all the danger he would put her in if he shared that with her.

All the danger he would put her in if he shared anything with her. All of the things already clouding his mind...

“I could tell you, but I’d have to kill you,” he grins, leaning closer. 

He can feel Jester stand on her tiptoes, her breath brushing his mouth.

“Hey, Jester! Come back in here! We are singing happy birthday!” Nott shouts from the backdoor.

“Coming!” She shouts back, pulls Fjord back and presses a chaste kiss to his lips. “You get the rest of that when you tell me your story,” she whispers, then runs away and back into the Nein club. 

Fjord stands there in the dark street while his brain tries to process what just happened. 

Oh, fuck him, he’s going to tell her everything. How could he not?

#fjorester #fjoresterweek #fjord #jester lavorre #critical role #sofia's nonsense

[the-caleb-landry-jones-blog]

For your weekend pleasure, it just came to my mind to reblog this fanfiction story that was submitted to us last year! For those who haven´t read it yet: enjoy!! For those who write: we want more!! 

Nightswimming

It was a burning hot August afternoon in L.A., the sun twinkling on the heated tarmac of Sunset Boulevard. I had been in town for almost a week now, and attending business meetings and visiting sites over the last five days had worn me out. Thank god, I could board my plane tomorrow and go home!

I had virtually done no sightseeing during my business trip this time, but I had been to L.A. before and knew the city a little. On my last afternoon, I wanted to finally do some shopping. Some vintage records maybe at Amoeba Music? I had to take a look and strolled through the door, feeling the coolness of the AC on my sweaty skin, my eyes, coming from the bright sunlight outside, only slowly adjusting to the dimmed lights in the shop.

I slowly strolled through the aisles, casually pulling out a record here and there to take a closer look, when a group of guys struck me, one of them catching my eye immediately. Now that couldn´t be, could it? But I was pretty sure it was Caleb standing there with a group of friends, discussing some old Bob Dylan record. His hair was longer now, put into an unkempt men bun, some red strands tucked behind his ear, his grey shirt too big and worn out.

I felt like someone hit me on the head. Hard. What was I supposed to do? Stand there and stare? Approach him? Talk to him? No, I couldn´t do that… Otherwise: people say he´s nice to fans… Now or never I thought, and the likeliness that I would hate myself for the rest of my life if I´d let this change pass suddenly seemed to weight heavier than my fear.

Before I could have second thoughts, I felt my shaky legs walking straight over to him. What was I supposed to say? I wasn´t prepared, not the slightest! So, I was surprised when I heard myself talk with a somewhat unfamiliar, trembling voice:

“Hey! Sorry to interrupt… Ahm… You are Caleb Landry Jones, right? I ahm, I wanted to say something clever, but it´s totally gone now, so…” - I laughed nervously.

“I, I guess that I only wanted to say, ahm, how much I admire your work, your ability to totally dissolve in your characters…It´s soo amazing!” - Oh dear, was this the best I could come up with? I felt my face turn red and hot with embarrassment. How could I just have done that?? What kind of idiot says something like that?? Stupid, stupid… But to my surprise, he looked a little embarrassed himself, his eyes pinned on the floor, a slight smile on his lips.

“Oh thank you, that´s very kind of you.” - He mumbled with an utter sobriety, his voice quiet and gentle. “So you like the Chili Peppers?”

“W - what?” - I stammered. How could he know? He nodded to the record I clenched in my hands, which I had totally forgotten.

“Oh, oh, yeah, love´ em” -  I managed to press out.

“The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, hmm? The only studio album to feature all four founding members.”  - he said, now his eyes firmly pinned on the colorful cover.

“It´s thirty years old by now, can you imagine?” - I replied. “I thought I use the chance to look for some vintage stuff while I´m in town.”

“Oh yeah, it´s a great place here”, he said, his eyes now moving over the shelves and finally locking mine. “So, where you´re from?”

“XXX.” - I answered. “I´m only here for a few days. Business trip…”

“What´s up Caleb, come on!” - a guy from his group yelled from behind, obviously, they were ready to leave the shop, but he didn´t react to it at all.

“So, wanna take a picture?” - he asked, and it somehow sounded “business”. That´s what all the girls ask him for. Those damn other girls flashed through my mind.

“Ah, nope, thanks! I´m not the selfie taker, really…” - I answered.

He gave me a surprised look, and I instantly regretted my answer. How impolite and gruffly this must have sounded! I must have completely lost my mind by now…

”Well, it´s not like, I mean…!” - I stammered -  “I just want this moment for myself, not showing around a picture of it later, bragging…It’s, it’s so very special to me…”

“Man, let´s go!” -  some other guy from his group yelled, and this time Caleb raised his arm to signalize them he´s coming.

“Ok, ahm, nice to meet you, so, enjoy the rest of your trip!” - he said and I could not quite read his face. Was he hurt by my response or bugged by his friends?

“Nice to meet you, too!” - I said hastily, cause he was already turned around halfway.

Oh, what a bummer, I was thinking by myself as he was walking away towards the exit. I turned around, too. How did I just manage to make such an utter, complete fool of myself?? I should´ve said nothing. Not approach him. Not stammer around this nonsense. When has this been a good idea? Never! I was caught up in these kinds of thoughts, when felt someone walk up behind me.

“Hey!”

I turned around. It was him again, and now he seemed somewhat sheepish.

“I was thinking… Tomorrow night some friends of mine play at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go and… Maybe you wanna come? They are quite decent…”

What the fuck was happening here? I was completely caught off guard. His eyes were again pinned fiercely on the floor in front of me.

“Sure, yeah!” - was all I could manage to say.

“Ok!” - that was all he replied before he turned around again and joined his friends, but he had a little grin on his face now, the one I love so much.

“What the hell did just happen?”, I thought. I must have stood still for minutes right in the middle of this busy record store, my sweaty finger still clenched around the old record, trying to process what just had happened. Did Caleb just invite me to a concert? Was he fucking around with me? Was I supposed to go to that club? My return flight was scheduled for tomorrow morning, so I couldn´t… I could re-schedule… That´s ridiculous…The thoughts shot through my head like crazy, and I think I never felt this agitated before.

The following night came and went, with zero sleep. I couldn´t take my mind off what happened, not even for a second. I needed to make a decision. “Act like a grown woman, board this fucking plane today”, a voice in my head screamed. “You are only making a fool of yourself! At best he was trying to be polite when inviting you, nothing more!” -  What was I expecting? Probably he had already forgotten about the whole encounter. Likely, even.

My plane would leave soon; I had to make a decision. I grabbed my phone and called the travel agency to re-schedule my flight to the afternoon of the following day, and then I wrote my boss a mail with outrageous explanations why I had to stay another day. I regretted it immediately, but it was too late now. So I would go to that damn club. I spent the rest of the day in my hotel room, thinking about this mess, thinking about what to wear, what to do… In the course of the last 24 hours, so it seemed to me, I had become a wretched, insecure teenager again, and I hated to feel this way. Like I was 15 again and my mum drives me to the concert of our school band, with whose drummer I was madly in love back then. The thought of it made me grin bitterly, as I sat in the taxi to the club, dressed as casually as possible with a shirt, jeans and sneakers. Don’t make a big thing of it!, I told myself.

The club on the corner of Sunset Blvd. and North Clark St. was already crowded when I made my way in. A band I didn´t know played Alternative Rock on the stage. It was dark, much too loud and I felt unbelievably cramped, yet so alone. I didn´t belong here, it was evident. Ok, get yourself a beer, stay a few minutes and then leave, if Caleb is even here, you´ll not gonna find him anyway… I thought, let go! You tried!. Somehow this felt consoling and I slowly made my way to the bar.

I must have waited there for some minutes when I felt an arm casually touching mine. My first reaction was to step back to let the person pass, but when I turn around, I saw it was Caleb standing close by my side. Holding a cup in his hand, he wore the same shirt as the day before, and his hair seemed even more tousled. Regardless he looked adorable.

“You came!”  - he said with a big, somewhat cocky smile.

He was definitely drunk or high or both. His speech seemed even more slurred than usual, and I realized it would be hella hard to understand him over the noise. But he seemed much more laid-back than the day before.

“Wanna drink something?” he asked.

I nodded and he seemed to ask something pointing at his cup, which I did not quite hear over the music. I nodded anyway, and he went off, only to come back a minute later with a second cup he handed to me.

“Thank you!” I tried to scream over the noise and he indicated at toast.

Jesus, I needed alcohol now! Lots of it! I drank a big swig, to find out it was an incredibly strong Jacky Cola, and I started to cough immediately. Caleb looked on with an amused, cocky smirk. It was senseless to hold a big conversation, except for shouting some vanities at each other, so for a while, we just stood next to each other and watched the show.

It was a strange feeling, but I started to relax a little. Maybe it was the booze I felt burning in my chest, that made me tipsy much too fast, especially since I couldn´t bring myself to eat anything since our encounter the day before. But maybe it was also him occasionally looking at me out of the corners of his eyes, smiling.

Suddenly a brunette girl flung her arms around his neck, greeting him effusively. Is that his girlfriend? My heart almost stopped for a moment. They exchanged some words I could not understand over the music, and seemed so familiar with each other. Again, I asked myself what the heck I was doing here. Shall I excuse myself and leave, before this was getting even more embarrassing? I started to feel uncomfortable again. He might have sensed that, cause after a few more words to her, he gestured I should follow him outside.

We made our way through the crowd, and I thought I´d recognized one or two of his friends from the record store, grinning stupidly at me. Probably they see him picking up girls like that all the time and feel pity for me…Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my heart. On the sidewalk outside the club, Caleb lit himself a cigarette and offered one to me, too.

“Soo” -  he started - “didn´t ask for your name yesterday…”-

“It´s XXX”, I replied.

“Well, XXX, how´s life in XXX?”  - he asked, leaning his back on the wall of the building, pulling deeply on his cigarette. So he remembered what it told him the day before, and I couldn´t stop myself from smirking. We stood there talking for a while, when some very drunk guys approached him, bawling:

“Ehhh, yooo, Jonesyyyy!” - clapping on his shoulder and trying to hug him. He looked visibly uncomfortable, stating calmly:

“Hey man, I don´t know you!” and trying to get away from the grip.

“Jonesyyyy…”, they continued brawled incomprehensible words, not indicating that they want to leave anytime soon. The fuss attracted the bystanders in front of the club, and only then they seemed to realize who was standing next to them. Some looked over, some pulled out their mobile phones to take pictures. Caleb rolled his eyes.

“Let´s get out here!” -  he said, pulling me around the corner, away from the crowd. “I´m so sorry”-  I replied - “some people have no respect!”. He shrugged.

“Where would you like to go now?”  - he asked.

“I don´t know, someplace quieter, I guess. I really love the Griffith Observatory, but I guess it´s closed now…” -  I answered.

“Doesn´t matter, let´s go there - he replied.

Obviously, he had parked his car only a few steps down the next street, cause after walking for about a minute, he stopped by an old, brownish Chevy and fumbled in his pocket for the car keys.

“He wants to drive? He really shouldn´t!” - flashed through my head, but I held my tongue. The heck with it! I did so many unreasonable things lately, why not get in a car with a drunk, too?

He opened me the door on the passenger’s side and I got in. I could instantly tell he smoked in that car, and not only tobacco. His mug shot crossed my mind, speeding and possession of drugs… Just what the heck was I doing?

He started the engine and off we went to the canyons, our hair blowing in the still hot breeze coming in through the open windows. He did drive fast, but not so much that a felt unsafe. I had been afraid of awkward silence, but we kept talking during the whole ride up the hills. Our families, his dogs, our love for Kubrick and guitar music were just some of the topics we touched. The question that weighed most heavily on my heart, if he had a girlfriend, was the one I couldn´t bring myself to ask. Perhaps I was afraid to ruin the atmosphere, but perhaps I was afraid of the answer, too.

He stopped at the now empty parking lot in front of the Observatory. Do they have guards on patrol here at night? - was another question that crossed my mind briefly, but I didn´t say anything, as I didn´t want him to think I was the sissy that I am.

It was dark and although a few cars came down the road as we drove up, no soul seemed to on the premises now. We strolled past the majestic building to the terrace overlooking the brightly lit city and sat on a wall. It was a breathtaking view, and sitting here next to Caleb was nothing short of mesmerizing.

“It´s so beautiful”  - I sighed.

“It is” - he agreed softly, lighting another cigarette.

We sat there for a while not saying anything, and suddenly it didn´t feel awkward at all, rather appropriate, somehow. We sat close, out shoulders casually touching another, but neither of us made a move. Did I pressure him by wanting to go to a so obviously romantic place? Was this too clichéd? I couldn´t get this new thought out of my head now. Oh god, maybe it had been a mistake…

Suddenly, as if he read my mind, he turned to me and asked;

“Wanna go for a swim?”

“Now?” - it was well past midnight. “Where?” -  I replied.

“Lake Hollywood, it´s a reservoir in the hills to the West.”

“And everyone is free to go there for a swim at night?”

He chuckled  - “Not exactly, we might have to climb a fence or so…”

Once again I couldn´t believe that I said: “Ok, then, let´s do it!”.

About 15 minutes later we arrived at a dusty kind of turning basin.

“Gotta walk from here” - Caleb stated.

He grabbed an old woolen plaid and a flashlight out of the trunk and started walking towards the barbed wire fence. Once again I couldn´t believe what I was doing. He has obviously been here before, with God knows whom, and what he was going to do was clearly against the law.

“Don´t be a sissy tonight” - I reminded myself and followed him. He threw the plaid over the fence and climbed it in no time. Oh, he did that before, I was sure.

“C´mon!” -  he shouted after jumping down the fence on the other side onto the dusty ground. Hesitantly I started to climb.

“I´ll catch ya!”  - he said, and my already racing heart beat even faster. This can very well end with a sprained ankle or worse, it crossed my mind quickly, but I tried not to dissemble. I crossed the fence and let myself slide down on the other side slowly. About halfway, I suddenly felt his arms around my hips carrying me down the rest of the way and softly putting me on the ground. His arms felt stronger than I had expected. For a short moment, he remained in this position, and I wished I could have read his face, but it was too dark where we stood.

“See, wasn´t that difficult, hm? Now be careful, terrain´s a lil rough!”  - he said softly and after lifting his arms from my hips he took my hand. For a moment I was taken aback by the sensation of my hand in his. He gently pulled me forward, lighting the uneven ground with the flashlight. I could see the premise slope down to the narrow sandy shoreline of the lake about 30 yards in front of us when we approached the last stony terrace on our way down.

He jumped down first, then reaching up to me. I grabbed his hand but must have miscalculated the height of the stone, and the shine of the flashlight in his hand was rather pointed upwards, so I couldn´t see the ground. I headed down the terrace, half jumping, half stumbling, and probably I would have fallen if Caleb wouldn´t have caught me. We collided rather hard, as I clenched onto his shoulders while he tried to stop my fall by grabbing my hips.

This was the closest we had gotten so far, and for a moment my face touched the naked skin of his neck. The faint mixture of smoke and sweat, well, of just him, was intoxicating. My heart started racing so fast that I thought my legs would give way. To my surprise, he remained in this position this time, showing no intention to let go. Neither of us said a word. I slowly lifted my head from his neck and he let his forehead sink onto mine, his eyes closed, our noses gently touching each other. He lifted one hand and placed it on my cheek, slowly caressing it. It felt surreal, but at the same time strangely profound. Suddenly I realized that pressed so close together, he must feel my heart racing like crazy, and I felt a rush of blood to my cheeks.

Isn´t that embarrassing? I mused for a second, but as I slowly traced down my hand over his chest, I felt his heart beat just the same. In a flash of boldness, not knowing whether this was pure adrenalin or sheer idiocy clouding my judgment, I let my lips touch his. Tenderly, hesitant at first, not knowing how he would react. His lips were softer than I had imagined, I faintly tasted cigarettes, Jacky and a trace of salty sweat on his upper lip. He did not seem surprised nor did he pull away the slightest. On the contrary, after a few seconds, he pulled me closer and let his tongue slip into my mouth his one hand still on my cheek, the other on my hip.

That was all it took for me. I felt my underpants getting soaking wet embarrassingly fast. I could feel him gripping my hips tighter after a few seconds, and I felt his erection through his pants on my stomach. Once more, my head started to spin, this time worse than before. This couldn´t be happening for real. Suddenly I was afraid of my own boldness and pulled away from him.

“Didn´t you wanna swim?” - I said, trying to sound playful, but was well aware how shaky my voice must have sounded. Again, it was hard to read his expression in the darkness, but his eyes were pinned on me firmly. I needed to cool down. This was going so fast…

I started to take off my shoes, jeans and shirt, and in another move, I thought I wasn´t capable of, also my underwear, and headed into the lake. The water felt ice cold on my heated body. I needed to come to my senses again. I was just taking a plunge, when I heard Caleb jumping into the lake with a big splash, surfacing from the water after a few moment just inches away from me.

This time, he wasn´t hesitant. He pulled me close vigorously and let his tongue slide into my mouth again. I felt that he was completely naked now, too, and the sensation of his wet skin pressed against mine was the most gorgeous feeling I could have ever imagined. Despite the cold of the water, I felt him getting hard again instantly. His kiss became more and more demanding and his hands slipped down and firmly grabbed my butt cheeks, pressing my body even closer to his. The sensation of it left me completely breathless. His breathing was heavy, too, and for a moment, he pulled away, as if to catch his breath. He didn´t say a word, but he looked at me half appetent, half inquiring as if he wanted to make sure I´m fine with what happened next.

He must have read my face again, because he grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the water, towards the lakeshore. He had already spread out the woolen plaid on the ground, and before I even realized it, we were both lying on it, I on my back and he on top of me. All the sensations were overwhelming I wished I could have stopped the time then and there.

The still warm breeze on my wet skin, the scratchy plaid, faintly smelling of weed and his old car, between my body and the soil, some smaller rocks stinging in my back, the chirping of the crickets nearby…Once again our eyes locked and I brushed strands of his wet hair out of his face while my legs entangled his hips. He stabilized his body above me with one arm; his other hand firmly entangled in my hair and let his member slide inside me with one smooth move, effortlessly.

Instantly a soft moan escaped his mouth and he pressed his forehead against mine, his eyes closed, kissing me voraciously. His moves picked up pace before I even could process the sensation of feeling him inside of me. It was dazzling, surreal somehow, but felt so naturally right in the same moment. Also, I tried to suppress it, I couldn´t help moaning at each of his thrusts that steadily got deeper and more relentless. The intensity of the feeling was compelling. He could have torn me apart, I wouldn´t have minded. I never wanted this sensation to stop.

His breathing was even heavier now and he buried his head deep in my neck, his hips moving back and forth even more insatiable. Moments later I could feel his whole body trembled when he came inside me with a muffled groan that came from deep down. He stayed in this position for a while, not pulling out of me, and rested his forehead and nose against mine, eyes still closed.

The feeling of having him, all of him, so close to me was so overwhelming in that moment, that it was almost painful. I let my hands wander through his hair and down his back to his butt. Neither of us said a word, when he finally rolled his body over and was now lying close by my side, his arm tightly wrapped around me. I rested my head on his chest, feeling his soft skin, and his heart still racing.

After a few moments of remaining like that, Caleb started to fumble with his free hand inside the pocket of his jeans that lay next to him and lit a cigarette.

“Want a draw now?” - he asked, still a little out of breath.

“Sure!”

He drew on it deeply, then handed me the cigarette and I lifted my head a little not to burn him with it.

“So you come here often?” - I asked before handing the cigarette back to him. I immediately regretted the question, because it made my jealousy and unsettledness so apparent. I might as well have asked him if he bangs girls here regularly, and I suddenly felt pathetic for asking.

An amused smirk flit across his face for a second, like he knew what I was thinking, and he took another deep draw before answering:

“I´ve been here with my brother a couple of times when he visited me this summer.”

“He still lives back in Texas?”

“Hmm… In Princeton with our parents.”  

“You miss home sometimes?”

“I miss our dogs…” - he said musing, and after another draw, he continued - “yeah, I miss my folks, too. People here are different. I just can´t relate sometimes…”

“But you have friends here!”  

“There´s a difference between not being alone and not being lonely” - he answered, putting out the cigarette in the grass. I put my head back on his shoulder, wrapping one arm around his hip, and he kissed my forehead, letting his cheek rest on it.

Did he feel like he doesn´t belong? Did he feel lonely? Those thoughts had never occurred to me before. But now they felt like a million needles sticking in my heart. We lay there in silence, watching the night sky for quite a while. I listened to his heartbeat, that was calm now, his breathing peaceful. His eyes were closed, his cheek still resting on my head, and I wondered if he might have dozed off.

The thought that this situation, this night would inevitably end started to feel like a heavy stone on my heart. I wanted this to last forever. I brushed out some strands of his drying hair gently out of his face and started to let my hand wander down from the cheek to his chest and stomach slowly, caressing every inch of his soft, snow white skin. Was he still dozing or just laying still, taking in the sensation? He neither moved nor made a sound. I decided to go for it, my hand tracing his landing strip down to his pubic area. He let out a quiet humming, which I interpreted as approval. I traced the outline of his member softly, before taking it in my hand more firmly, slowly moving up and down. Again, he was hard in no time. I lifted my head a little and my lips met his, but I pulled away quickly, kissing his neck instead and moving slowly further down his chest and stomach, not stopping the movement of my hand around his member. He raised his head a little to watch me, his breathing became faster again, as I traced down his landing strip with my tongue.

Finally, my tongue reached his member and I let it slip gently over its tip before I took it deep in my mouth. I tasted myself on it as I gently started sucking it, never stopping to move up and down with my other hand. Caleb let his head fall back on the plaid with a deep moan, his one hand firmly gripping the woolen fabric, the other entangling in my hair again. I could have done this forever, teasing him with my tongue, listening to the sound of his muffled moans, but I wanted to feel him inside of me again. I straightened up and lowered myself on his member.

Again I was so wet he entered me smoothly. I started to move slowly back and forth when our eyes met. Normally I would have felt ashamed and exposed, but with Caleb it was different. Our eyes locked and he watched every one of my moves, his cheeks flushed, his breathing labored, while he let his hands run over my upper body caressing it gently.

Finally, he sat up and our lips met again. His kiss was passionate, yet softer this time. Slower, more considerate, in the rhythm my hips moved on him, while he wrapped his arms around me. I buried both of my hands in his red curls, again overwhelmed by the feeling of him being so close. A wave of emotions flooded my body as he dug his fingernails into my hips, trying to press them even closer to his, and finally released himself into me while looking me straight in the eyes. We remained a while in this position, our foreheads rested against each other, his hands caressing my cheeks.

“Dawn´s coming”, he said after some time, and only then I realized that it indeed got lucid around us. Was there a hint of sadness in his voice, or was it only me wanting to hear it?

“We should pack up, yeah.” - I said, trying not let him know about the desperation that overcame me.

“I gonna drive you to your hotel, maybe you can even get some hours of sleep before your plane leaves.” - he said, casually, while we both got dressed again.

The pain in my heart only grew stronger. I didn´t want this night to end. I didn´t want to leave his side ever again. How pathetic was that? What was I even thinking? That I would be able to play cool? That I would get anything more than a badly shattered heart? He could have so many girls, why would he choose me for anything more than… this? The thoughts flew through my head as we made our way back to his car.

We didn´t talk much on the ride back, maybe he was in thoughts, maybe he was just tired, it was hard to figure out. I kept thinking all the time how to tell him what I felt without making a complete fool of myself. The time was running out, I knew that, and I started to feel utterly hopeless. I made a mistake. I had the most amazing night in my life but the price for it would be an awful pain. I felt tears boiling up, but I didn´t want Caleb to see me cry, so I swallowed hard. Still, I knew I couldn´t keep them down much longer. I stared out of the passenger seat window to avoid his gaze, but I felt him looking over to me a couple of times. Yet he said nothing.

Finally, he stopped the car in a small alley next to my hotel. That´s it, I thought. Get out of the car before he sees you crying. Get away from here and try to continue your life the best you could. Try to forget… no, that was impossible, and I knew it.

“Hey…” - his voice was soft and sounded somehow worried. He leaned towards me and gently ran his hand through my hair and down my cheek. “You ok?”

I forced myself to smile and nodded: “Sure!”  - I love you so much, I wanna be with you forever, I… all those things I wanted to tell him, but couldn´t. Leave now, it will only get worse, the voice in my head screamed, you are wretched, don´t let him see!

“It was beautiful” - he said quietly, bringing his head close to mine, “thank you”.

His voice sounded a bit shaky and he looked me straight in the eyes after placing a last soft kiss on my lips. In his eyes, I saw sincereness and sorrow. He knew it would never work out, he knew it was unfair to make promises he couldn´t keep. He was right after all.

“Goodbye”, I said, trying to get out of his car before the tears blurred my vision. I closed the door hasty and crossed the alley, hurrying to the entrance of the hotel. I didn´t hear him starting the car, he must have sat there for a while. Through my tears, I saw the sun rising, the beginning of another hot August day in LA.

#fan fic #fanfiction #caleb landry jones #submission

[bespangeled]

Buffy and the SITs - lead up to Empty Places

I’ve been reading some more Empty Places meta, and I want to examine the statement by Faith that gets echoed as truth - that Buffy didn’t even know the girls’ names. That is a freakin weird interpretation of what we actually see - So - here is how Buffy and the potentials interacted:

Bring On The Night - So - the potentials show up in episode 10 - Spike has already been taken by the First, and the house is in shambles. Buffy drops everything to bring the girls into her home.  Annabelle runs off while Buffy is at work - Buffy goes off to find her body.  She gets beaten to a bloody pulp by an uber-vamp twice - and Giles tells everyone that he has no idea what to do because his only plan was Buffy. At the end of the episode she tells everyone that they are going to go after the first and give them an apocalypse.

Showtime - a new potential arrives at night and Buffy is there to greet her and protect her. Buffy is concerned about finding a way to make sure the First can’t attack potentials as they arrive. In this episode they discuss the trigger in front of the potentials when Andrew bring up rescuing Spike. First/Eve does everything possible to ruin morale until Willow gets word from the coven that leads to the discovery the real Eve is dead. To imporve morale Buffy puts on a Thunder dome performance, killing an Uber-vamp. She then rescues Spike.

Potential - Buffy and Spike are in the graveyard training potentials in trusting their instincts. Next scene is Buffy in the basement listening to the potentials worry until she gets their attention. Long scene - while Dawn watches - Buffy gets their attention, gives a short speech, answers questions (calling each girl by name) and then gives an even longer speech trying to quell their fears but also give them a realistic view of what they are up against. Willow does a spell to find the new slayer, and hey think it is Dawn. Meanwhile Spike and Buffy take the potentials to the demon bar, then they take the potentials to a crypt - Buffy gives them a long lesson on vampires, and then fights a vampire in front of them giving them tips. Finally they lock them in a crypt with weapons while monitoring from outside. After the whole Amanda reveal Buffy call the potentials down to the basement to work with them some more.

The Killer In Me - Potentials go walk-about with Giles

First Date - Buffy and Giles walk through the graveyard with potentials until Spike jumps Giles. Buffy goes to work - Woods invites her out. Xander meets a girl and invites her out.. Giles brings in a new potential who doesn’t speak English - shows the new girl torture porn ubervamp drawings which Anya take from him -  gets upset that Buffy and Xander are both going out on dates. A group that includes Amanda and Kennedy decides to record Andrew talking to the First. No other potentials - at the end of the episode Giles goes ballistic that Buffy and Xander are joking about their dates. No other potentials shown.

Get It Done - Buffy is in the backyard overseeing a training session, watching Kennedy lead the girls through their paces when Wood arrives. Kennedy gets upset at Chloe, calls her a maggot and orders her to fall and do push ups, then gets excited at her new power saying “Did you see me - I love this job!”.  Chloe commits suicide - the First/Chloe reveals that Buffy was worried some of the girls would die and she had no way to protect them. Buffy buries Chloe next to Eve - then calls a meeting. She says that Chloe was stupid and weak, and asks if anyone else wants to be the next body. She tells the girls the the First is fucking with their minds and it’s winning, and that they need to fight it to survive. Kennedy yells at Buffy saying Willow has more power - but Buffy replies Willow is afraid to use her power. She also yells at Xander, Anya, and Spike. After that, the only potential who is there is Kennedy, and that’s more as Willow’s girlfriend.

Buffy gets a lot of flak over her attitude toward Chloe and the girls, but the fact is that she has to build them into an army. She can’t have an encounter group session because she has no reassurance to give once the potential have all expressed their fears and doubts. The fact is that the potentials can stay and fight, or run off and be killed like all the others who have died.

Story Teller - episode built with unreliable narrator

LMPTM - Giles attempts to break Spike’s trigger - when it doe not happen in less than 10 minutes he gives up and agrees to take Buffy out to divert her while Wood kills Spike. Potentials are limited to a handful surprised that Spike has a trigger (even though they were told about it shortly after they arrived) Buffy realizes what Giles did even though she trusted him, and closes the door on him.

Dirty Girls - Caleb and Faith arrive. Caleb nearly kills a fleeing potential. Buffy goes to work again - hey someone has to feed that horde of girls. The potentials interact with Andrew. Buffy tells Wood that she’s worried about going into battle with the potentials - he suggests it is time to test them. Buffy goes to the hospital to talk to Shannon. She is told about Caleb, and that he claims to have something of hers. Buffy decides to go after it - time to stop reacting and act. Giles, Spike and Willow express reservations but Buffy stands firm. She selects a group of potentials who are the strongest to go to battle - leaves Willow to protect the rest - and leaves Giles behind to help the girls who still need a teacher. Buffy and Faith do recon - and come in to hear Xander praising Buffy and telling the girls she has earned their trust. They go into battle - Caleb and the bringers defeat them easily, killing to potentials and half blinding Xander. With the background of Caleb’s narration, Buffy walks among the injured and then goes out alone, completely devestated.

Empty Places - Anya gives a lecture to the Potentials. Xander and Willow are at the hospital - Faith Dawn and Giles do research. At the hospital, Buffy talks with Willow and xander but says she can’t stay. She goes to school and gets a severe beating by Caleb, leaving her unconscious. Giles sends Spike on a mission and then tells Faith she can take the girls out to the Bronze to party. Giles uses his time alone with Buffy to feel her out - but she is still not receptive to his wisdom and he gets angry at her. At the bar, the girls drink and dance with Faith, then fight some First powered-cops who try to arrest Faith for being a fugitive. Buffy comes in as the confrontation ends and sends the girls home. She and Faith argue. Buffy says the girls need to be kept safe - Faith replies that the girls need to get down and dirty because how else will they ever learn. When Buffy walks away, Faith taunts Buffy about not keeping the girls at the vineyard safe, about letting Molly and Amanda be killed. Buffy punches her.

Buffy tries to talk the SIT's into going back to the vineyard. She tells them that if there wasn't something important there, they wouldn't be guarding it. Faith asks why they should go in without proof. Faith says she's not going back without proof. Buffy asks Faith who's side she's on. Wood says he believes Faith had the floor. Giles says Faith has a point. It's a big risk to take. Buffy says that's what she does, she makes big decisions. Buffy asks if they don't trust her. Giles says that's not the issue, and she doesn't trust them. Everyone starts to turn on Buffy. Even Willow. Anya asks Buffy if she thinks she's better than all of them. If because she came into the world with all these powers she thinks she's better than them. But what if she isn't. She has the powers but she never earned them. The SIT's accuse her of being reckless. Xander says he doesn't want to go back, the price he paid was too high. Buffy says this isn't a democracy, she's the boss. Kennedy says that Faith is a slayer too, maybe they should take a vote and see if Faith should lead for awhile. Faith says this isn't what she wanted. Buffy verbally attacks Faith for taking the SIT's out and winning them over by getting them drunk and baking cookies with them. Faith counters with, and doing unimportant things like learning their names. Faith says she doesn't want to lead but she's not so sure Buffy's thinking the right way anymore. Buffy says Faith just wants to take over her job. Faith says she just wants to beat the bad guys. Dawn comes over and tells Buffy she loves her, and they have to be together on this, and Buffy has to leave (taken from Buffyworld summary)

So virtually every time the SITs and Buffy are together she is working with them, training them, encouraging them. Yet I read arguments that Buffy really didn’t know their names and that she should not have been so harsh and demanding (while she tried to save their lives).

Giles throws away Buffy’s trust by taking her out and stalling her - pretending they are patrolling in order to give Wood time to kill Spike. Buffy no longer trusts him. Wood encourages Buffy to take the girls into battle - Giles, Spike and Willow object. Buffy goes anyway, clearly showing she can’t trust Giles. Then Giles objects that Buffy no longer trusts anyone. Faith is voted in as the new leader and Giles gets a slayer who looks up to him and wants his advice.

Faith comes into a new situation knowing nothing, works well with Buffy at first - and then gets upset when Buffy objects to Faith taking the girls out and brawling - taunting Buffy with not protecting girls that dies. She is voted into leadership by SITs who are either traumatized by the battle, or entranced by the Slayer who doesn’t try to train them, and lets them party instead. Wood - who tried to kill Spike and was told by Buffy she wouldn’t protect hi if he tried again - adds fuel to the fire by rebuffing Buffy (okay - bad word choice) whe she tries to speak.

Willow and Xander turn against her because they no longer trust her. Dawn tells her she has to leave.

I just needed to get this one out of my system because I keep reading that  Buffy never interacted with the slayers, was always harsh with them and didn’t even know their names. I needed to actually look up, and then list their interactions.

I still can’t wrap my mind around any reason why kicking Buffy out was deserved or a smart tactic. I wrote this for me but i would love to read specific instances where Buffy did things that were wrong, showing why they had to boot her out of her role as General, and then kick her out when she got hurt, and angry.

This freakin thing took me hours to write...someone? Anyone?

[conceptstage]

Speak Easy

AO3

Beau died alone.

That’s almost the worst part of it. For all that she loved her privacy, she hated being alone.

“I’d say she’s been dead for three days,” Caduceus said, looking into her dark eyes. “Dehydration. They locked her down here when she wouldn’t give them the information they wanted and left her to die.” He picked up her hand and noted the deep lacerations on her knuckles. They were different from the other interrogation injuries on her body. These were self inflicted from trying to fight her way out.

He looked back at the cell door where the others were gathered. Jester had her hands pressed over her face so that she didn’t have to see Beau’s prone body laying heavily on the stones. Nott stood by her side with a hand on her elbow in comfort, looking up at her with tears on her cheeks. Caleb was on her other side, his face blank and unable to look away. Only Fjord walked away, running his hand through his hair and anxiously licking his lips. Yasha stared ahead at the wall, her face unreadable.

“Can we do anything?” Nott asked. “Is it too late for a spell?”

“It’s not too late, we have time and options. Reviving her now is much more difficult than using Revivify. We’ll need significantly more diamonds than we have right now and three offerings.”

“Offerings? What kind of offerings?” Caleb asked, stepping around Jester and kneeling beside Beau and Caduceus.

“We need to convince Beau’s soul to come back. These offerings are our way of showing that she’s still needed on this plane, that it’s not her time to leave yet. Objects with meaning to her are good, though words work as well.”

“Words?”

Caduceus nodded. “Tell her how much she means to you.” He sighed and used two fingers to close her eyes. “Coming back will not be easy on her either. She’ll need a lot of rest and there may be adverse effects on her mental state.”

“What, like Molly? Will she not remember anything?” Yasha asked, her voice quiet.

Caduceus shook his head. “Not like that. She dehydrated alone, in a small, dark cell after days of torture. I’d be shocked if anyone came back from that without some level of trauma.”

Caleb cursed in Zemnian under his breath and stood swiftly to his feet, pushing his way out the door to pace in the hall. “She should have just told them where I was. She should have just answered them and made it easier on herself.”

Fjord sighed and leaned against the wall. “You know she’d never do that. She’s too goddamn-”

Fjord cut himself off when the man that they had tied up in the hall chuckled. He was in his underwear and secured with his arms behind him but he smirked like a man with the upper hand. “So the bitch croaked. Good riddance.”

No one saw Jester move but they heard her cry of rage. “Aggggh!” she screamed in anger and pain as she marched over to him and punched him across the face. Her fist was lined with crystals of ice and the tears streaming down her face froze in place. He crashed to the ground and Jester stomped down on his chest. Caleb heard the bones crack under her heel from across the hallway.

“Jester-” he exclaimed.

Fjord rushed over and put a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, we need to question him.”

“We have Speak With Dead!” she said, kicking him again, this time in the stomach.

Yasha stepped forward and lifted her up off the ground. She kicked and struggled but Yasha held her fast and moved her away. “I know, Jester,” she said quietly. “If anyone here understands how you feel, it’s me. But Beau wouldn’t want you to kill someone in cold blood like this. You know that.”

Ice started to spread across Jester’s cheeks and up into her hair. The skin that Yasha was touching felt like frigid water but she held on. “It hurts so much!” Jester yelled, her entire body relaxing in Yasha’s arms with a sob.

“I know, Jester. I know. I’m sorry.”

Caduceus stepped out of the cell and gave Jester a calm smile. “Let’s get her out of here and we can start working on bringing her back, alright?”

The ice started drifting off of Jesters skin, gathering at Yasha’ feet like snow, and she nodded. “Yeah,” she mumbled, her voice wet and strained. She could see Beau’s body over Caduceus’ shoulder, her face more peaceful that it had ever been in life. “Yeah, let’s take her home.”

They appeared in the library in a flash of light. The Transportation Circle was still glowing as they set to work at their various tasks. Yasha carried Beau up to the room she and Jester shared and Caduceus followed.

“Okay,” Jester said, turning out her coin purse on the desk. “We need at least 500 gold worth of diamonds. We have 25 gold worth right now.”

Caleb and Nott gathered around her, also turning out their coin purses. “We will need more than 500 gold. This many diamonds, this rushed? There will be markups.”

“We’ll pay it,” Nott asserted and he nodded.

“I know, I just wanted to be prepared.”

Fjord started marching the prisoner to the war room for questioning. “Caleb, you gonna join me?”

“In a moment,” he said, absentmindedly, as he counted out coins. “100 platinum. That should be more than enough. Do you know where to go?”

Jester bit her lip. “I know one jewelry shop but I don’t know if they’ll have enough.”

“Maybe she’ll know where we can get more?” Nott suggested.

“Maybe. Let’s hurry.”

They all left the library together, Caleb heading for the war room once they hit the hallway and Jester and Nott for the door. Nott opened the door to leave but Jester froze in the foyer. “Can I… Can I go see her really quick?”

Nott smiled and nodded. “I’ll wait here.”

Jester hurried up the stairs to their room and threw open the door. Caduceus was sitting in a chair beside the bed but he smiled and stood up when she stepped into the room. Jester looked around and spotted Yasha standing guard in the corner to her left. “Can I... talk to her? Alone?”

Yasha and Caduceus exchanged a look and he nodded, stepping passed her into the the hall with Yasha behind. Jester shut the door quietly behind them. She sighed and looked over Beau’s body in the flickering torch light. She sat beside her and almost reached out to touch her but paused. She’d been putting this off. She hadn’t touched her at all in the cell because she knew that if she felt Beau’s cold, lifeless skin, it’d be real.

She took a deep breath and wrapped her fingers around Beau’s wrist. She knew that there wouldn’t be a pulse but tears welled up in the corners of her eyes anyway. She sniffled and tried to think of something to say, but any words just got caught in her throat. Instead, she brought Beau’s hand to her mouth and gently kissed the backs of her scarred, torn knuckles. She tried to talk again but nearly choked on the words when there was a knock on the door.

“Jester?” Caduceus said gently through the wood. “I don’t mean to rush you, but the longer she stays like this the harder it will be for her to readjust when she comes back.”

Jester cleared her throat and stood , reluctantly releasing Beau’s hand to fall back to her side. “I’m going to bring you back,” she whispered. “I promise.”

She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and hurried back down meet Nott at the front door.

“Out of business?!” Nott exclaimed, reading the sign on the jewelry shop door. Jester tried to peek in the windows but the building was empty. “Where the fuck are we supposed to find diamonds now?”

Jester frowned as she looked around. “Essik might know,” she said, catching Nott’s eyes. “I could call him.”

Nott frowned. “I don’t know… who knows if he would be willing to help us revive someone? I don't know what their religion says about that sort of thing.”

“Maybe I won’t tell him right away what it’s for?”

“You’re asking for a very specific amount of diamonds. He’s going to figure it out, he’s not stupid.”

Jester pouted and crossed her arms. “Then you figure out what to do!”

Nott crossed her arms and started pacing around in front of the door. “Fine! Call him then! But be… vague.”

Jester nodded and quickly cast Sending. “Hello, Shadowhand Essik,” she started, counting her words on her fingers. “This is Jester. We have a bit of an emergency and were wondering if you could come meet us somewhere in town.”

Nott gave her a thumbs up and Jester nodded, waiting silently for the response.

‘Certainly. I’ll meet you at the Dim’s Inn in ten minutes.’

“Dim’s Inn,” Jester said, starting in that direction. They walked through town to the Inn where they first stayed when they arrived and got a secluded table near the back. The cartending was giving them curious looks but didn’t bother them. They only had to wait a few minutes for Essik to arrive and glide to their table.

He gave them a diplomatic smile and took a seat across the table for them. “What emergency? Is someone hurt?”

Jester and Nott exchanged a glance. “We need diamonds.” A look of understanding crossed Essik’s face but Jester hurriedly continued. “We don’t expect them for free or anything!” She pulled out the purse of platinums. “That’s twice what the diamonds are worth. The jewelry store that we were going to buy from is closed and we dont- we weren’t sure- we need-”

“Dear Jester,” Essik said. “Breathe, you’re going to hyperventilate. Your friend would not be pleased to come back and find you this way. I will certainly help you acquire the necessary diamonds.”

Jester took a breath in through her nose so deeply that her back arched, then she let it out slowly through her mouth. “Th-Thank you… Thanks.”

He looked thoughtful for a moment, then got to his feet. “Come then. Beauregard is not the patient sort, is she?”

Caleb stood to the side and just watched Fjord work. “Where is Trent?” he asked, his voice low. The man looked away and didn’t answer. Fjord reached for his hand and bent his pointer finger back painfully. “You fond of this finger? Feel keen on using it again someday? Answer me. We knew that he was at the interrogation site with the monk. Where did he go from there?” The man still didn’t answer. Fjord pushed harder in his finger until it cracked and popped. The man started grinding his teeth. “One last chance, friend.”

“Fuck you.”

Fjord shoved the finger back violently and felt it break under his thumb. The man started to scream and squirm in his chair. “See, this is the kind of shit that happens when we ask nicely and you spit it back in our face. Let’s try again.” He started pushing back the next finger in line. “Where is Trent?”

“I don't know!” he exclaimed. “He didn’t talk to me! He didn’t talk to anybody but the girl! He showed up, forced his way into the interrogation room and dealt with her alone for a few hours and then he fucked off. She was nearly dead when he left, we had to use clerics to keep her alive so we could ask her more questions.”

Fjord and Caleb exchanged a glance. Caleb nodded. He was telling the truth as far as Caleb could tell. Something occurred to him then and he felt sick to his stomach. “You have this under control?” he asked, starting towards the door. “There’s something I need to check.”

“I’ve got this,” Fjord said, shoving the second finger back hard. Caleb shut the door to block out the screams.

Caleb walked to Beau’s room and knocked on the closed door. It opened and he stepped inside, giving Yasha a brief nod. “Yasha, could I speak to Caduceus for a moment?” he asked, moving to sit on Jester’s bed.

Caduceus barely looked up from where he laying out the various incense he’d need to pull this off. “What can I help you with, Caleb?” he asked when they were alone.

“Would Speak With Dead interfere with a Raise Dead spell?”

Caduceus froze and and stared at Caleb until his match started licking at his fingertips. He shook it to put it out. “It shouldn't. You want to Speak with Beau?”

“Not if you think it’s going to keep her from being revived.”

“Why not just wait for her to brought back to ask your questions?”

Caleb hesitated and started twisting his hands in his lap. “Trauma. You said that there would be trauma related to her torture. What I know of trauma is that it can sometimes cause… memory gaps. People forget their harrowing experiences in order to deal with them. I have certain gaps in my own memory for the same reason. It’s possible that she may know of Trent’s designs and if she wakes, traumatized-”

“She could forget what she knows.” Caduceus was quiet for a moment. “It shouldn’t cause a problem with the spell. I can’t see why it would. But you must understand… there are ethical questions to consider.”

“I won’t ask her anything that I know for a fact she wouldn’t answer if she were alive. All I want to know is about what Trent might have told her when he had her in a room alone.”

Caduceus hesitated but then nodded. “If you’re sure. I can do it.”

“I’m not sure. But do it anyway.”

The incense was already lit and filling the room with smoke, so Caduceus just quickly cast the spell. The smoke from the burners started to move towards Beau’s body and her chest rose like she was breathing it in. There was only a beat of time before she started to rise up into a sitting position, her eyes still closed and her arms still slack at her side.

Caduceus and Caleb exchanged a glance. Caleb licked his lips nervously and cleared his throat. “I am sorry about this Beauregard,” he whispered. “What happened when Trent Ikithon came to see you?”

Her eyes snapped open and stared at him blankly. “Tell me where to find Bren. Fuck you.” Her head snapped to the side violently as if she’d been slapped. It wasn’t exactly her voice speaking to them, and for that he was thankful. The voice was deep and smoky. She suddenly laughed and Caleb shivered at the foreboding sound. “Do your worse, old man. You’ll have to kill me first.” Her head snapped the other way. “Tell me now! Or I will lock you away and throw away the key! Never! They’re going to kill you, you fucking piece of shit!” Beau's hands suddenly flew up to her own throat and the sounds of choking turned Caleb’s stomach.

“Stop!” The voice stopped abruptly and the eyes turned back to meet his, her hands falling into her lap like weights. Caleb’s hands shook as he brushed them through his hair, pushing his curls out of his face. He let out the breath he’d been holding and his voice quivered when he spoke. “Did he tell you where he was going to go after he left?”

The next words out of the body’s mouth were muffled like they’d been heard through a door. “Put her in holding and forget about her. Send someone by in a couple of weeks to clean up the mess. I’m heading to the Shadowed Garden to meet with the Mistress, if you learn anything send it to me there.”

“Where is the Shadowed Garden? Did anyone give you any clues?”

“I hate the place. Always so fucking rainy and you can’t see shit in that fog. How is it always so goddamn fucking foggy? I’m glad I’m not going this time. Someone pick up her legs, help me carry her down to holding. Yeah, yeah, I’m coming. Oh shit- she was faking! Someone stop her before she gets out! Agh-” Beau’s purpling mouth snapped shut.

Caleb and Caduceus shared another look. “Someplace that is constantly foggy and rainy…” Caleb mumbled. “And who is the Mistress, did anyone talk about the Mistress?”

“Have you ever seen the Mistress? Once. From afar. What did she look like? … Everything. She looked like everything.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Caleb grumbled. He sighed and shook his head. “That’s all. Can you end the spell early?”

Before Caduceus would answer, Beau did. Caleb jumped at the unexpected noise. “No.” Her eyes fell closed once more and the smoke left her body like an exhalation. Caleb rushed forward to hold her shoulders and slowly lower her to the bed.

Caleb sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. “Caduceus… I will tell Beau of this when she wakes up. If she gets angry, I don’t want you to be in the crossfire. She will decide how to tell everyone what we learned. Until then, let’s keep this between the three of us.”

Caduceus nodded and started fixing the blanket the covered Beau. “Agreed.” He was quiet for a moment and Caleb didn’t move to leave. “She fought so hard,” he muttered. “Even when she knew she was going to die.”

Caleb rose to his feet. “Especially when she knew she was going to die.” Then he left the room.

Jester rushed in through the front door, holding a sack of diamonds with Nott close on her heels. Essik arrived a moment later, because he was too dignified to rush.

“Everyone! Everyone we’re ready!” she called at the top of her voice. She hurried up the stairs and nearly crashed into Fjord in the hallway. “Fjord! Everyone to my room, we have the diamonds!”

He nodded and stepped aside to let her run by. He nodded to Essik as the man stepped up beside him. “Shadowhand,” he muttered in greeting.

“Mr. Tough.”

Fjord opened his mouth to retort but decided it wasn’t worth it and just cleared his throat. “We have a prisoner you may be interested in. Once this is over.”

Caleb met Jester at the door to the bedroom and pushed the door open. “We’re good to go? Shall we do this?”

He looked at Caduceus, who was looking at Jester. “Are we?” he asked her.

Jester took a deep breath and nodded, moving over to stand at Beau’s bedside. She dumped the diamonds out on her stomach and chest. “Who brought offerings?” she asked, gently brushing some hair out of Beau’s face.

“Me,” Nott said first, shimmying her way to the front of he pack while she rooted around in her pocket. She pulled out the jade bracelet that Beau had given her shortly after they left Zadash and sat it beside her hip. “You don’t get to keep it,” she told Beau. “It’s important to me because it was the first gift anybody ever gave this little goblin girl. You can use it for a while though.” She sniffled and wiped her nose as she stepped away.

Jester nodded. “I’ll be offering something for her too.” But she didn’t make a move for her pockets. “One more person?”

“I-” Caleb started, then he nervously cleared his throat. “I have something I would like to say to her.”

Jester took a deep breath and started doing idly stretches like she was gearing up to exert herself. “Then I think we’re ready.” She waved her hands over Beau’s body and her fingers started to glow. The diamonds shattered into dust and started floating up above Beau’s body.

Nott picked up her bracelet and sat it on Beau’s stomach where the diamonds used to rest. “Come back. Please,” she whispered.

Jester looked at Caleb next and he nodded, stepping forward to stand beside her. “You are…” he had to pause when his voice shook. “You are my sister. Not in blood, but it every way that matters, you are my sister. And I need you right now. The world is dark and cruel and lonely but… it is a little bit brighter with you around.” He reached out and took her hand and Nott laid hers over top of his, squeezing comfortingly when he caught her eye.

“My turn…” Jester mumbled. She leaned forward until her face was right beside Beau’s face and kissed her cheek. “Beau, we can’t do this without you.” And she didn’t just mean taking on Trent. She meant everything, all of it. Everything that came with living in this world, but she wasn’t sure how to say it in a way that made sense. She trusted that Beau knew what she meant anyway. “I love you, so much. Please come home?”

She reached out and laid her hand over Nott’s and Caleb’s. Fjord was next to take their joined hands and then Caduceus laid his large, furry hand on top. “Come on, Kiddo,” he whispered, smiling softly. Yasha was last, wrapping her fingers around Beau’s wrist supportively and saying more with her touch than she ever could with words.

They all watched her in silence as their heart beats pounded against their chests. For a moment, there was no movement and Caleb was terrified that Speaking to her had interfered with the resurrection.

But then her back arched off the bed and she sucked in a deep breath. She threw herself over, ripping her hand free to cough and spit over the side of the bed. “Water,” she gasped, before tumbling heavily towards the floor.

Yasha and Jester both swept forward to catch her before she hit the ground and laid her back on the bed, crying with joy as she strained to breathe.

“I’ll fetch the water,” Essik said, giving them a kind smile. “Then I’ll take the prisoner and my leave. I’ll inform the Queen that you’ll need a few day to recover before coming to you with any missions.”

Caleb nodded his thanks and then turned back to watch Beau’s pale, gray skin turn more vibrant and brown.

“Caleb… Caleb!”

Caleb hissed out in surprise as he woke and pressed himself up against the wall. “Wo- Du bist-!” he exclaimed.

“Hey, hey… It’s just me.”

He blinked in the darkness as everything started to become clear. “Beauregard? What are you doing up, you should be resting.”

“It’s too...” she hesitated. “Would you sit up, I feel like an idiot talking to you like this.” She stepped away from the bed, wobbling and catching herself on the post, and waited until he was sitting up on the mattress. “It’s too dark. In my room. I woke up from a dream and I thought I was… Well, in any case, it’s too dark.”

“Light a torch.”

“It’s not enough.”

He blinked at her tiredly. “Beau, I am happy to help you get through this, but I need you to tell me what I can do.”

She bit her lip and looked away. “How… How long would it take to teach me a spell? Is that possible, can I learn?”

He frowned, curious. “That depends on the spell. The more powerful the spell the longer it will take. If you learn multiple spells you will eventually need a spell book to remember them all.”

“Just one spell. A cantrip.”

He considered this. “A few hours?”

“But it’s possible?”

“Of course. What spell?”

She bit her lip like she was embarrassed. “Dancing lights.”

He tried to meet her eyes but she kept looking away. “That is a simple one. I could teach it to you tonight if you want. Why this spell?”

“No reason.”

Caleb sighed. “Beau… you have been through a terrible ordeal. There is no shame in afraid.”

“I’m not afraid, it’s just the dark. I haven’t been scared of the dark since I was a kid, I’m not a fucking baby. It’s just…” She took a deep breath in through her nose and let the sentence trail off. “I just want to learn dancing lights. Will you teach me or not?”

He pulled his spell book out from under his pillow and pat the bed beside him. “Come on. Sit down and we will get started.”

#critical role #critical role fic #beauregard #caleb widogast #jester lavorre #nott the brave #fjord #yasha #caduceus clay #torture #aftermath of torture #character death #temporary character death #disaster siblings #long post #read more

[the-caleb-landry-jones-blog]

More fanfiction!

For a nice start into the new week, here another fanfiction submission we got! Many thanks for it!! This one is quite long, and it´s also the first fanfiction, at least as far as we know, that´s about Caleb himself. It´s nsfw, but no worries, the author proved to our reasonable satisfaction that it´s purely fictional! Hope you enjoy

Nightswimming 

It was a burning hot August afternoon in L.A., the sun twinkling on the heated tarmac of Sunset Boulevard. I had been in town for almost a week now, and attending business meetings and visiting sites over the last five days had worn me out. Thank god, I could board my plane tomorrow and go home!

I had virtually done no sightseeing during my business trip this time, but I had been to L.A. before and knew the city a little. On my last afternoon, I wanted to finally do some shopping. Some vintage records maybe at Amoeba Music? I had to take a look and strolled through the door, feeling the coolness of the AC on my sweaty skin, my eyes, coming from the bright sunlight outside, only slowly adjusting to the dimmed lights in the shop.

I slowly strolled through the aisles, casually pulling out a record here and there to take a closer look, when a group of guys struck me, one of them catching my eye immediately. Now that couldn´t be, could it? But I was pretty sure it was Caleb standing there with a group of friends, discussing some old Bob Dylan record. His hair was longer now, put into an unkempt men bun, some red strands tucked behind his ear, his grey shirt too big and worn out.

I felt like someone hit me on the head. Hard. What was I supposed to do? Stand there and stare? Approach him? Talk to him? No, I couldn´t do that… Otherwise: people say he´s nice to fans… Now or never I thought, and the likeliness that I would hate myself for the rest of my life if I´d let this change pass suddenly seemed to weight heavier than my fear.

Before I could have second thoughts, I felt my shaky legs walking straight over to him. What was I supposed to say? I wasn´t prepared, not the slightest! So, I was surprised when I heard myself talk with a somewhat unfamiliar, trembling voice:

“Hey! Sorry to interrupt… Ahm… You are Caleb Landry Jones, right? I ahm, I wanted to say something clever, but it´s totally gone now, so…” - I laughed nervously.

“I, I guess that I only wanted to say, ahm, how much I admire your work, your ability to totally dissolve in your characters…It´s soo amazing!” - Oh dear, was this the best I could come up with? I felt my face turn red and hot with embarrassment. How could I just have done that?? What kind of idiot says something like that?? Stupid, stupid… But to my surprise, he looked a little embarrassed himself, his eyes pinned on the floor, a slight smile on his lips.

“Oh thank you, that´s very kind of you.” - He mumbled with an utter sobriety, his voice quiet and gentle. “So you like the Chili Peppers?”

 “W - what?” - I stammered. How could he know? He nodded to the record I clenched in my hands, which I had totally forgotten.

“Oh, oh, yeah, love´ em” -  I managed to press out.

“The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, hmm? The only studio album to feature all four founding members.”  - he said, now his eyes firmly pinned on the colorful cover.

“It´s thirty years old by now, can you imagine?” - I replied. “I thought I use the chance to look for some vintage stuff while I´m in town.”

“Oh yeah, it´s a great place here”, he said, his eyes now moving over the shelves and finally locking mine. “So, where you´re from?”

“XXX.” - I answered. “I´m only here for a few days. Business trip…”

“What´s up Caleb, come on!” - a guy from his group yelled from behind, obviously, they were ready to leave the shop, but he didn´t react to it at all.

“So, wanna take a picture?” - he asked, and it somehow sounded “business”. That´s what all the girls ask him for. Those damn other girls flashed through my mind.

“Ah, nope, thanks! I´m not the selfie taker, really…” - I answered.

He gave me a surprised look, and I instantly regretted my answer. How impolite and gruffly this must have sounded! I must have completely lost my mind by now…

”Well, it´s not like, I mean…!” - I stammered -  “I just want this moment for myself, not showing around a picture of it later, bragging…It’s, it’s so very special to me…”

“Man, let´s go!” -  some other guy from his group yelled, and this time Caleb raised his arm to signalize them he´s coming.

“Ok, ahm, nice to meet you, so, enjoy the rest of your trip!” - he said and I could not quite read his face. Was he hurt by my response or bugged by his friends?

“Nice to meet you, too!” - I said hastily, cause he was already turned around halfway.

Oh, what a bummer, I was thinking by myself as he was walking away towards the exit. I turned around, too. How did I just manage to make such an utter, complete fool of myself?? I should´ve said nothing. Not approach him. Not stammer around this nonsense. When has this been a good idea? Never! I was caught up in these kinds of thoughts, when felt someone walk up behind me.

“Hey!”

I turned around. It was him again, and now he seemed somewhat sheepish.

“I was thinking… Tomorrow night some friends of mine play at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go and… Maybe you wanna come? They are quite decent…”

What the fuck was happening here? I was completely caught off guard. His eyes were again pinned fiercely on the floor in front of me.

“Sure, yeah!” - was all I could manage to say.

“Ok!” - that was all he replied before he turned around again and joined his friends, but he had a little grin on his face now, the one I love so much.

“What the hell did just happen?”, I thought. I must have stood still for minutes right in the middle of this busy record store, my sweaty finger still clenched around the old record, trying to process what just had happened. Did Caleb just invite me to a concert? Was he fucking around with me? Was I supposed to go to that club? My return flight was scheduled for tomorrow morning, so I couldn´t… I could re-schedule… That´s ridiculous…The thoughts shot through my head like crazy, and I think I never felt this agitated before.

The following night came and went, with zero sleep. I couldn´t take my mind off what happened, not even for a second. I needed to make a decision. “Act like a grown woman, board this fucking plane today”, a voice in my head screamed. “You are only making a fool of yourself! At best he was trying to be polite when inviting you, nothing more!” -  What was I expecting? Probably he had already forgotten about the whole encounter. Likely, even.

My plane would leave soon; I had to make a decision. I grabbed my phone and called the travel agency to re-schedule my flight to the afternoon of the following day, and then I wrote my boss a mail with outrageous explanations why I had to stay another day. I regretted it immediately, but it was too late now. So I would go to that damn club. I spent the rest of the day in my hotel room, thinking about this mess, thinking about what to wear, what to do… In the course of the last 24 hours, so it seemed to me, I had become a wretched, insecure teenager again, and I hated to feel this way. Like I was 15 again and my mum drives me to the concert of our school band, with whose drummer I was madly in love back then. The thought of it made me grin bitterly, as I sat in the taxi to the club, dressed as casually as possible with a shirt, jeans and sneakers. Don’t make a big thing of it!, I told myself.

The club on the corner of Sunset Blvd. and North Clark St. was already crowded when I made my way in. A band I didn´t know played Alternative Rock on the stage. It was dark, much too loud and I felt unbelievably cramped, yet so alone. I didn´t belong here, it was evident. Ok, get yourself a beer, stay a few minutes and then leave, if Caleb is even here, you´ll not gonna find him anyway… I thought, let go! You tried!. Somehow this felt consoling and I slowly made my way to the bar.

I must have waited there for some minutes when I felt an arm casually touching mine. My first reaction was to step back to let the person pass, but when I turn around, I saw it was Caleb standing close by my side. Holding a cup in his hand, he wore the same shirt as the day before, and his hair seemed even more tousled. Regardless he looked adorable.

“You came!”  - he said with a big, somewhat cocky smile.

He was definitely drunk or high or both. His speech seemed even more slurred than usual, and I realized it would be hella hard to understand him over the noise. But he seemed much more laid-back than the day before.

“Wanna drink something?” he asked.

I nodded and he seemed to ask something pointing at his cup, which I did not quite hear over the music. I nodded anyway, and he went off, only to come back a minute later with a second cup he handed to me.

“Thank you!” I tried to scream over the noise and he indicated at toast.

Jesus, I needed alcohol now! Lots of it! I drank a big swig, to find out it was an incredibly strong Jacky Cola, and I started to cough immediately. Caleb looked on with an amused, cocky smirk. It was senseless to hold a big conversation, except for shouting some vanities at each other, so for a while, we just stood next to each other and watched the show.

It was a strange feeling, but I started to relax a little. Maybe it was the booze I felt burning in my chest, that made me tipsy much too fast, especially since I couldn´t bring myself to eat anything since our encounter the day before. But maybe it was also him occasionally looking at me out of the corners of his eyes, smiling.

Suddenly a brunette girl flung her arms around his neck, greeting him effusively. Is that his girlfriend? My heart almost stopped for a moment. They exchanged some words I could not understand over the music, and seemed so familiar with each other. Again, I asked myself what the heck I was doing here. Shall I excuse myself and leave, before this was getting even more embarrassing? I started to feel uncomfortable again. He might have sensed that, cause after a few more words to her, he gestured I should follow him outside.

We made our way through the crowd, and I thought I´d recognized one or two of his friends from the record store, grinning stupidly at me. Probably they see him picking up girls like that all the time and feel pity for me…Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my heart. On the sidewalk outside the club, Caleb lit himself a cigarette and offered one to me, too.

“Soo” -  he started - “didn´t ask for your name yesterday…”-

“It´s XXX”, I replied.

“Well, XXX, how´s life in XXX?”  - he asked, leaning his back on the wall of the building, pulling deeply on his cigarette. So he remembered what it told him the day before, and I couldn´t stop myself from smirking. We stood there talking for a while, when some very drunk guys approached him, bawling:

“Ehhh, yooo, Jonesyyyy!” - clapping on his shoulder and trying to hug him. He looked visibly uncomfortable, stating calmly:

“Hey man, I don´t know you!” and trying to get away from the grip.

“Jonesyyyy…”, they continued brawled incomprehensible words, not indicating that they want to leave anytime soon. The fuss attracted the bystanders in front of the club, and only then they seemed to realize who was standing next to them. Some looked over, some pulled out their mobile phones to take pictures. Caleb rolled his eyes.

“Let´s get out here!” -  he said, pulling me around the corner, away from the crowd. “I´m so sorry”-  I replied - “some people have no respect!”. He shrugged.

“Where would you like to go now?”  - he asked.

“I don´t know, someplace quieter, I guess. I really love the Griffith Observatory, but I guess it´s closed now…” -  I answered.

“Doesn´t matter, let´s go there - he replied.

Obviously, he had parked his car only a few steps down the next street, cause after walking for about a minute, he stopped by an old, brownish Chevy and fumbled in his pocket for the car keys.

“He wants to drive? He really shouldn´t!” - flashed through my head, but I held my tongue. The heck with it! I did so many unreasonable things lately, why not get in a car with a drunk, too?

He opened me the door on the passenger’s side and I got in. I could instantly tell he smoked in that car, and not only tobacco. His mug shot crossed my mind, speeding and possession of drugs… Just what the heck was I doing?

He started the engine and off we went to the canyons, our hair blowing in the still hot breeze coming in through the open windows. He did drive fast, but not so much that a felt unsafe. I had been afraid of awkward silence, but we kept talking during the whole ride up the hills. Our families, his dogs, our love for Kubrick and guitar music were just some of the topics we touched. The question that weighed most heavily on my heart, if he had a girlfriend, was the one I couldn´t bring myself to ask. Perhaps I was afraid to ruin the atmosphere, but perhaps I was afraid of the answer, too.

He stopped at the now empty parking lot in front of the Observatory. Do they have guards on patrol here at night? - was another question that crossed my mind briefly, but I didn´t say anything, as I didn´t want him to think I was the sissy that I am.

It was dark and although a few cars came down the road as we drove up, no soul seemed to on the premises now. We strolled past the majestic building to the terrace overlooking the brightly lit city and sat on a wall. It was a breathtaking view, and sitting here next to Caleb was nothing short of mesmerizing.

“It´s so beautiful”  - I sighed.

“It is” - he agreed softly, lighting another cigarette.

We sat there for a while not saying anything, and suddenly it didn´t feel awkward at all, rather appropriate, somehow. We sat close, out shoulders casually touching another, but neither of us made a move. Did I pressure him by wanting to go to a so obviously romantic place? Was this too clichéd? I couldn´t get this new thought out of my head now. Oh god, maybe it had been a mistake…

Suddenly, as if he read my mind, he turned to me and asked;

“Wanna go for a swim?”

“Now?” - it was well past midnight. “Where?” -  I replied.

“Lake Hollywood, it´s a reservoir in the hills to the West.”

“And everyone is free to go there for a swim at night?”

He chuckled  - “Not exactly, we might have to climb a fence or so…”

Once again I couldn´t believe that I said: “Ok, then, let´s do it!”.

About 15 minutes later we arrived at a dusty kind of turning basin.

“Gotta walk from here” - Caleb stated.

He grabbed an old woolen plaid and a flashlight out of the trunk and started walking towards the barbed wire fence. Once again I couldn´t believe what I was doing. He has obviously been here before, with God knows whom, and what he was going to do was clearly against the law.

“Don´t be a sissy tonight” - I reminded myself and followed him. He threw the plaid over the fence and climbed it in no time. Oh, he did that before, I was sure.

“C´mon!” -  he shouted after jumping down the fence on the other side onto the dusty ground. Hesitantly I started to climb.

“I´ll catch ya!”  - he said, and my already racing heart beat even faster. This can very well end with a sprained ankle or worse, it crossed my mind quickly, but I tried not to dissemble. I crossed the fence and let myself slide down on the other side slowly. About halfway, I suddenly felt his arms around my hips carrying me down the rest of the way and softly putting me on the ground. His arms felt stronger than I had expected. For a short moment, he remained in this position, and I wished I could have read his face, but it was too dark where we stood.

“See, wasn´t that difficult, hm? Now be careful, terrain´s a lil rough!”  - he said softly and after lifting his arms from my hips he took my hand. For a moment I was taken aback by the sensation of my hand in his. He gently pulled me forward, lighting the uneven ground with the flashlight. I could see the premise slope down to the narrow sandy shoreline of the lake about 30 yards in front of us when we approached the last stony terrace on our way down.

He jumped down first, then reaching up to me. I grabbed his hand but must have miscalculated the height of the stone, and the shine of the flashlight in his hand was rather pointed upwards, so I couldn´t see the ground. I headed down the terrace, half jumping, half stumbling, and probably I would have fallen if Caleb wouldn´t have caught me. We collided rather hard, as I clenched onto his shoulders while he tried to stop my fall by grabbing my hips.

This was the closest we had gotten so far, and for a moment my face touched the naked skin of his neck. The faint mixture of smoke and sweat, well, of just him, was intoxicating. My heart started racing so fast that I thought my legs would give way. To my surprise, he remained in this position this time, showing no intention to let go. Neither of us said a word. I slowly lifted my head from his neck and he let his forehead sink onto mine, his eyes closed, our noses gently touching each other. He lifted one hand and placed it on my cheek, slowly caressing it. It felt surreal, but at the same time strangely profound. Suddenly I realized that pressed so close together, he must feel my heart racing like crazy, and I felt a rush of blood to my cheeks.

Isn´t that embarrassing? I mused for a second, but as I slowly traced down my hand over his chest, I felt his heart beat just the same. In a flash of boldness, not knowing whether this was pure adrenalin or sheer idiocy clouding my judgment, I let my lips touch his. Tenderly, hesitant at first, not knowing how he would react. His lips were softer than I had imagined, I faintly tasted cigarettes, Jacky and a trace of salty sweat on his upper lip. He did not seem surprised nor did he pull away the slightest. On the contrary, after a few seconds, he pulled me closer and let his tongue slip into my mouth his one hand still on my cheek, the other on my hip.

That was all it took for me. I felt my underpants getting soaking wet embarrassingly fast. I could feel him gripping my hips tighter after a few seconds, and I felt his erection through his pants on my stomach. Once more, my head started to spin, this time worse than before. This couldn´t be happening for real. Suddenly I was afraid of my own boldness and pulled away from him.

“Didn´t you wanna swim?” - I said, trying to sound playful, but was well aware how shaky my voice must have sounded. Again, it was hard to read his expression in the darkness, but his eyes were pinned on me firmly. I needed to cool down. This was going so fast…

I started to take off my shoes, jeans and shirt, and in another move, I thought I wasn´t capable of, also my underwear, and headed into the lake. The water felt ice cold on my heated body. I needed to come to my senses again. I was just taking a plunge, when I heard Caleb jumping into the lake with a big splash, surfacing from the water after a few moment just inches away from me.

This time, he wasn´t hesitant. He pulled me close vigorously and let his tongue slide into my mouth again. I felt that he was completely naked now, too, and the sensation of his wet skin pressed against mine was the most gorgeous feeling I could have ever imagined. Despite the cold of the water, I felt him getting hard again instantly. His kiss became more and more demanding and his hands slipped down and firmly grabbed my butt cheeks, pressing my body even closer to his. The sensation of it left me completely breathless. His breathing was heavy, too, and for a moment, he pulled away, as if to catch his breath. He didn´t say a word, but he looked at me half appetent, half inquiring as if he wanted to make sure I´m fine with what happened next.

He must have read my face again, because he grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the water, towards the lakeshore. He had already spread out the woolen plaid on the ground, and before I even realized it, we were both lying on it, I on my back and he on top of me. All the sensations were overwhelming I wished I could have stopped the time then and there.

The still warm breeze on my wet skin, the scratchy plaid, faintly smelling of weed and his old car, between my body and the soil, some smaller rocks stinging in my back, the chirping of the crickets nearby…Once again our eyes locked and I brushed strands of his wet hair out of his face while my legs entangled his hips. He stabilized his body above me with one arm; his other hand firmly entangled in my hair and let his member slide inside me with one smooth move, effortlessly.

Instantly a soft moan escaped his mouth and he pressed his forehead against mine, his eyes closed, kissing me voraciously. His moves picked up pace before I even could process the sensation of feeling him inside of me. It was dazzling, surreal somehow, but felt so naturally right in the same moment. Also, I tried to suppress it, I couldn´t help moaning at each of his thrusts that steadily got deeper and more relentless. The intensity of the feeling was compelling. He could have torn me apart, I wouldn´t have minded. I never wanted this sensation to stop.

His breathing was even heavier now and he buried his head deep in my neck, his hips moving back and forth even more insatiable. Moments later I could feel his whole body trembled when he came inside me with a muffled groan that came from deep down. He stayed in this position for a while, not pulling out of me, and rested his forehead and nose against mine, eyes still closed.

The feeling of having him, all of him, so close to me was so overwhelming in that moment, that it was almost painful. I let my hands wander through his hair and down his back to his butt. Neither of us said a word, when he finally rolled his body over and was now lying close by my side, his arm tightly wrapped around me. I rested my head on his chest, feeling his soft skin, and his heart still racing.

After a few moments of remaining like that, Caleb started to fumble with his free hand inside the pocket of his jeans that lay next to him and lit a cigarette.

“Want a draw now?” - he asked, still a little out of breath.

“Sure!”

He drew on it deeply, then handed me the cigarette and I lifted my head a little not to burn him with it.

“So you come here often?” - I asked before handing the cigarette back to him. I immediately regretted the question, because it made my jealousy and unsettledness so apparent. I might as well have asked him if he bangs girls here regularly, and I suddenly felt pathetic for asking.

An amused smirk flit across his face for a second, like he knew what I was thinking, and he took another deep draw before answering:

“I´ve been here with my brother a couple of times when he visited me this summer.”

“He still lives back in Texas?”

“Hmm… In Princeton with our parents.”  

“You miss home sometimes?”

“I miss our dogs…” - he said musing, and after another draw, he continued - “yeah, I miss my folks, too. People here are different. I just can´t relate sometimes…”

“But you have friends here!”  

“There´s a difference between not being alone and not being lonely” - he answered, putting out the cigarette in the grass. I put my head back on his shoulder, wrapping one arm around his hip, and he kissed my forehead, letting his cheek rest on it.

Did he feel like he doesn´t belong? Did he feel lonely? Those thoughts had never occurred to me before. But now they felt like a million needles sticking in my heart. We lay there in silence, watching the night sky for quite a while. I listened to his heartbeat, that was calm now, his breathing peaceful. His eyes were closed, his cheek still resting on my head, and I wondered if he might have dozed off.

The thought that this situation, this night would inevitably end started to feel like a heavy stone on my heart. I wanted this to last forever. I brushed out some strands of his drying hair gently out of his face and started to let my hand wander down from the cheek to his chest and stomach slowly, caressing every inch of his soft, snow white skin. Was he still dozing or just laying still, taking in the sensation? He neither moved nor made a sound. I decided to go for it, my hand tracing his landing strip down to his pubic area. He let out a quiet humming, which I interpreted as approval. I traced the outline of his member softly, before taking it in my hand more firmly, slowly moving up and down. Again, he was hard in no time. I lifted my head a little and my lips met his, but I pulled away quickly, kissing his neck instead and moving slowly further down his chest and stomach, not stopping the movement of my hand around his member. He raised his head a little to watch me, his breathing became faster again, as I traced down his landing strip with my tongue.

Finally, my tongue reached his member and I let it slip gently over its tip before I took it deep in my mouth. I tasted myself on it as I gently started sucking it, never stopping to move up and down with my other hand. Caleb let his head fall back on the plaid with a deep moan, his one hand firmly gripping the woolen fabric, the other entangling in my hair again. I could have done this forever, teasing him with my tongue, listening to the sound of his muffled moans, but I wanted to feel him inside of me again. I straightened up and lowered myself on his member.

Again I was so wet he entered me smoothly. I started to move slowly back and forth when our eyes met. Normally I would have felt ashamed and exposed, but with Caleb it was different. Our eyes locked and he watched every one of my moves, his cheeks flushed, his breathing labored, while he let his hands run over my upper body caressing it gently.

Finally, he sat up and our lips met again. His kiss was passionate, yet softer this time. Slower, more considerate, in the rhythm my hips moved on him, while he wrapped his arms around me. I buried both of my hands in his red curls, again overwhelmed by the feeling of him being so close. A wave of emotions flooded my body as he dug his fingernails into my hips, trying to press them even closer to his, and finally released himself into me while looking me straight in the eyes. We remained a while in this position, our foreheads rested against each other, his hands caressing my cheeks.

“Dawn´s coming”, he said after some time, and only then I realized that it indeed got lucid around us. Was there a hint of sadness in his voice, or was it only me wanting to hear it?

“We should pack up, yeah.” - I said, trying not let him know about the desperation that overcame me.

“I gonna drive you to your hotel, maybe you can even get some hours of sleep before your plane leaves.” - he said, casually, while we both got dressed again.

The pain in my heart only grew stronger. I didn´t want this night to end. I didn´t want to leave his side ever again. How pathetic was that? What was I even thinking? That I would be able to play cool? That I would get anything more than a badly shattered heart? He could have so many girls, why would he choose me for anything more than… this? The thoughts flew through my head as we made our way back to his car.

We didn´t talk much on the ride back, maybe he was in thoughts, maybe he was just tired, it was hard to figure out. I kept thinking all the time how to tell him what I felt without making a complete fool of myself. The time was running out, I knew that, and I started to feel utterly hopeless. I made a mistake. I had the most amazing night in my life but the price for it would be an awful pain. I felt tears boiling up, but I didn´t want Caleb to see me cry, so I swallowed hard. Still, I knew I couldn´t keep them down much longer. I stared out of the passenger seat window to avoid his gaze, but I felt him looking over to me a couple of times. Yet he said nothing.

Finally, he stopped the car in a small alley next to my hotel. That´s it, I thought. Get out of the car before he sees you crying. Get away from here and try to continue your life the best you could. Try to forget… no, that was impossible, and I knew it.

“Hey…” - his voice was soft and sounded somehow worried. He leaned towards me and gently ran his hand through my hair and down my cheek. “You ok?”

I forced myself to smile and nodded: “Sure!”  - I love you so much, I wanna be with you forever, I… all those things I wanted to tell him, but couldn´t. Leave now, it will only get worse, the voice in my head screamed, you are wretched, don´t let him see!

“It was beautiful” - he said quietly, bringing his head close to mine, “thank you”.

His voice sounded a bit shaky and he looked me straight in the eyes after placing a last soft kiss on my lips. In his eyes, I saw sincereness and sorrow. He knew it would never work out, he knew it was unfair to make promises he couldn´t keep. He was right after all.

“Goodbye”, I said, trying to get out of his car before the tears blurred my vision. I closed the door hasty and crossed the alley, hurrying to the entrance of the hotel. I didn´t hear him starting the car, he must have sat there for a while. Through my tears, I saw the sun rising, the beginning of another hot August day in LA.

#Caleb Landry Jones #fanfic #fanfiction #submission