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fairykazu · 7 months

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top six things i hate about you ft. scaramouche

cw: angst, hurt/comfort, modern au, it goes from hs to college (in the order of the reasons) | mlist

if anyone knows you, they'll know the list, the list of top five things you hate about the infamous straight-a, cocky student named scaramouche raiden. you and he go way back when he was used to be called kunikuzushi... well, actually, when he went by kabukimono. scaramouche is his new brand now. you hate how he was a sweetheart to a "badass" delinquent, hanging with the group that named itself, the "fatui". whatever that means, you just hate the aftermath of your former best friend, scaramouche.

the list might be petty but hey, it's definitely a list. the list officially started from in middle school when he began to mix with the bad crowd. his saccharine voice that used to talk sweetly to you as you two were best friends changed into something that could only be described as egotistic. whatever group he's in then, it made him think that he's the shit. when really, he was the shittiest friend in eighth grade. only a sweetheart when you two were alone but the rudest boy you'll ever meet in front of his buddies.

number one: you hate the way he talks.

scaramouche talks in such a condescending voice, it sounds too whiny and it's so annoying when he's near your ear. he always acts like he knows better than you and sometimes, you wish someone would put him in his place for the satisfying look of defeat adorned on his face.

you remember once when he saw you lose an academic event against him. after putting up his thankful facade with the staff and the audience, he walked up to you. your friends were comforting you, saying that you got second place. yes, second place to scaramouche. he said your name as one of your friends, kokomi, gave him a dirty look and the other ignored him, averting their attention to you. you looked in his way and he said something like "you snooze you lose" or something so elementary to you. regardless of if it was or not, it still pissed you off.

number two: his smile

you couldn't even classify his smile as a smile when it's always been a smirk. like he was a doll and the only face mold he has only been a smirk. you wish you could remember when he smiled so brightly you used to engrave it into your brain and dream of scaramouche being yours. alas, he's an asshole who's only emote is to laugh like his brain has been removed and chuckle like a manic or smirk whenever something oh-so-great has happened to him.

number three: the way he stares

you two somehow managed to be in the same two classes together each year. it's like he pays the school to sit near you too. this one time in class, miss linyang's liyuean history class, each table was a set of two and had to be coed. you were paired up with a tablemate named kazuha kaedehara. he was very cute as you could remember. but everytime you and kazuha had interacted, you could feel daggers being stared behind you. each time you turned around, it was scaramouche and he turned to his own tablemate, haypasia, pretending to be doing classwork.

during the second semester of history, you were paired up with another student, chongyun, who was a bit quiet but had amazing work ethic. each time you two was working together, chongyun would always look terrified and guess who was behind you two....

scaramouche.

it's actually so sickening how he manages to annoy you. always stuck in your head, rent free. when you brought this up to kokomi, she laughed at you a little and asked a question that annoyed you just a little.

"name, don't you think these points are petty? are you sure it's out of pure hatred?"

you and kokomi were sitting in your bedroom while you debriefed midway through the list. she sipped on her tea quietly as you paused. are this pure hate or... wait? why are you second guessing yourself? kokomi doesn't know what happened to the two of you and why is she even asking that question? "pfft, kokomi, of course, it's a tad-"

kokomi placed her tea down on the nightstand and raised a brow.

"- petty to list these as actual reasons to hate him. but i'm defintely sure these are out of pure... uhm, hatred. nothing else."

"if you say so."

number four: you hate it when he lies

before the identity changes, you remember how his mother lost her twin sister, miss makoto. how that situation of his life has been flipped upside down and how that affected how he treated you. not pinning this hatred on his mother, of course. but you wish things were different.

or at least, there could been a universe you two were still buddy-buddy despite it all. when you asked him what happened, he told you everything was fine in a sweetish voice, so you believed him. even though, you knew it was a lie. you tried to coax the truth out of him, but he never broke it to you.

only when you asked his stepmother, yae miko, she told you the truth out and plain. however, she only told you because she believed you were his girlfriend, and you deserved the reason why he started to ghost you. but you two?

it kind of makes you laugh a little that she believed you two were together. kind of stupid, isn't it? by the time you found out, it was too late. scaramouche ghosted you for a newer crowd and it was fine. you didn't really need him anyway.

number five: you hate it when he's not around

as much you didn't want it to, your routine wasn't the same without him. his presence lingered in the school hallways, in your house, near your bed and next to you. you could only live off of glimpses of him in school and sometimes looking at your archived posts on instagram. sometimes when the thoughts get to you, you go through series of denial again. but you managed to stop yourself from actually sending a text to scaramouche or contacting ever.

you settled for less of him in your life because that's what he has given you. but was it worth it? you don't want to second guess it because if you do, regret would seep into you and linger in your brain until you rot to death.

well, kokomi was right. none of these are out of hatred. there isn't just five reasons you hate him, there's a sixth which was:

number six: you hate it that you don't actually hate him, just miss him

school was over and the summer has started, maybe, it's time to get over this. your group of friends suggested that you should get out more often. during the school year, you were swamped with your job at the cat's tail, studying and responsibilities were piled up. eventually you did fell for their nagging and had a one day off, you spent it with kokomi, yelan and kaeya. in the mall, debriefing sessions and just overall, quality time. however, yelan brought up the fact she was invited to a party hosted by the infamous itto. but you knew if it was hosted by itto, it's likely to seen scaramouche again. not like you couldn't handle it, it's just that... yeah, you couldn't handle seeing his face again. in the tevyat uni, you could because it was school. but out of school, it's over.

yelan saw the look of your face fall as she sighed, "name, you need to get out more. just because the one who could not be named is going to be there doesn't mean you shouldn't know."

kaeya agreed with yelan, "why are you letting a man get in way in fun?" you knew this is how your friends were going to gang up on you. kokomi added, "and we haven't seen you outside of your dorms or even videocalls. please, name, we could have so much fun at the party."

you replied, "just give me three reasons to go." the three of them made eye contact with each other just before blabbering out reasons why you should go.

"you could stop stalking him on instagram!"

"okay, low blow, yelan." you huffed.

"you could finally pull a guy!"

"hanging out with us, the gang???"

"talking to people face to face instead of text to text?" "you keep reposting sad shit on tiktok, it's not healthy to surround yourself with that negativity."

you won't lie some of these things do hurt to hear and they're right. you should go out. it doesn't help being depressed everyday when you only got two months of the summer left. "alright alright. i'll come."

they celebrate with a cheer as you were thinking if you would regret this decision.

you already regret it and the emotion settled on your shoulder. you're at the party, in a corner, and somehow, your friends who preached being by your side disappeared into the crowd who was raving to the music. you were left alone, holding a red solo cup. since it was actually shinbou and yelan's house, not itto's, you knew your way around the house. you saw people making out half-hazardly in the hallways, you winced at the sight of that as you made it out to upstairs, near yelan's beloved koi fish tank. a familiar face saw you, you nearly flinched at the indigo eyes but alas, it wasn't him. it was venti, already tipsy, holding an empty bottle in hand.

"aha! name, i knew you would be there." he said, walking to you, holding onto your shoulder for balance. "c'mere, do you wanna play a party game? you don't have to, of course, but you look a little bored here, standing near..." he paused to look at the pinky and blue colored fish and a white pearlescent fish. "mimi and gojo. woah, how sad was yelan when she was watching jjk?"

venti wasn't a bad person but you knew he was heavily associated with scaramouche. you didn't really want to see him even though your friends encouraged him to face him because he's just a man or something. you ignored the offer for the game and replied with a short answer, "yeah, she was really sad about the anime."

he nodded as he took a tiny swing of the bottle before realizing the bottle was actually empty. he changed the subject back to the game, "anywoo, are you joining us in seven minutes in heaven? or speculating?"

you knew that he wouldn't give up on the offer. he's quite stubborn. you gave in, "the latter."

"alright, follow me." he gave you a cheeky smile.

you saw familiar faces like kazuha and he waved at you. you smiled back. the rest of the people sitting in the circle didn't look familiar to you. venti laughed, "whoops, guys, this is name and name, this is xiao, the star twins, aether and lumine, yoimiya, nilou, albedo and so-and-so!" he placed the green tinted bottle down in the center of the circle, "we are playing spin the bottle."

you glanced at each person in the circle. xiao looked like he was forced to be there. lumine looked indifferent to the situation while aether was giggly... tipsy? you weren't sure why venti said so-and-so but you're sure scaramouche wouldn't play a game like this. after a couple of rounds, only some of the people came out disheveled while the others were just getting to know each other. you feel like this game might be a set up, but you brushed it aside. feeling the fomo get to you, you joined the game. venti cheered as you laugh a little. it was your turn to spin, and you landed on...

the guy venti called so and so. something is wrong, you thought, as venti pushed you two into a random room together and locked it from the inside. you flickered the lights on and the other person in the room looked in your direction. you two were on the opposite sides, the gap between you guys could be compared with the sun and planet uranus. you couldn't make it out who it was in the room with you as he wore clothes that covered any features of him. you just know who it is from the bottom of your heart, "scaramouche."

he chuckled just the way you hate it. how it gets stuck in your head and forever played in your head, how it picked at you. how irritating. "took you long enough, name."

"you're not the type to play this game." you replied, your voice was not warm like it was before outside of this room. it was cold like when you lashed out on him long time ago. he doesn't reply for a while until he took off his mask and retorted, "how would you know? we haven't talked in a while."

"'a while'? it was highschool. that's more than just a while."

he huffed, "whatever."

"'whatever'!" you mimicked his voice. "you're the same guy in highschool."

you noticed how your words pricked at him. you saw the look on his face before, he's riled up. you've seen this face on him before but never as expressive as this. he grunted, "i've changed." you let out a sarcastic laugh, "yeah right."

the room was silent. you were sure these seven minutes might go on for decades now. you were waiting for the time to be over. he broke the ice, "you know what? why are you always pissed to see me?"

"what?"

"you think i'm stupid? why do you always annoyed when our eyes meet or whatever."

"you seriously don't remember?" you're in disbelief. how does this asshole not remember anything? is this how he lives life blissfully.

he rolled his eyes as you clenched your fist. you will knock out his eyes out first before he utters some bullshit excuse. "i remember that you betrayed me first."

his sentence made you confused. betrayed him first? what kind of drugs is he on? baffled, you questioned,

"what?"

he doesn't even flinch but just looked at you with the same face you gave him earlier, "you broke the promise."

"well, you ghosted me and never explained why!" you replied. the gap between you and the indigo haired male slowly got lessen. he opened his mouth until he noticed that you were agitated. he closed it and inhaled. "okay, i'll tell you why i did that and i'll tell you about he promise. don't try to figure out what it is. it was pretty stupid."

"your... emotions aren't stupid, scaramouche."

"it's fine. i ghosted you because i didn't want you to see me at my weakest and i thought you deserved better than me."

"i don't understand."

"i didn't understand it either but i guess... nevermind."

"what???" he changed the subject before you could interject. "the promise was to be together. i guess, you didn't break the promise. i did. i'm sorry for what i did. i think..."

"you think?" you motioned with your hand to tell him to get to the point.

"i think i have feelings for you, name."

"wait what?" were you really getting a confession from your ex best friend right now? if he was really someone you hated, then why were you flustered? "repeat that again?"

"i have feelings for you." you reached for the phone in your backpocket and asked him to repeat it. he saw your phone and refused to tell it again. you wanted to laugh. but you couldn't. your feelings are all over the place and even though, you knew in your heart, you like him back. that kokomi was right. you never hated him and only said so to protect yourself. you couldn't bring yourself to forgive him.

"as much as i accept your feelings, i can't." you noticed how scaramouche looked like a sad, wet cat. "but if we become friends again and iiff one thing leads to another." he interuppted you and smiled. but not in his weird smirking way but in his sweet way, "i understand."

"okay."

the sweet moment between you two ended as soon as venti knocked on the door, "that's very sweet that you two finally made up but get out, it's been longer than seven minutes!"

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im-a-marvel-ous-hoe · 6 months

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Baby, It’s Cold Outside | Bucky Barnes (8th Day of 🎄)

(Credits to the owner of this pic!)

Here’s a brand new story for y’all! I hope you enjoy! 🩵

Christmas Masterlist <- check out my other holiday fics!

~~~~

“Do you think it’ll let up soon?”

I stood next to the window, holding a blanket against my body as I watched what was supposed to be light flurries turn into fat snow hitting the pavement. Soon all I could see were pure white lines, the wind outside making the snow zoom at an angle. I felt Bucky’s presence behind me, his body heat almost making me want to turn around and let him keep me warm.

“It’s uh.. lookin’ pretty bad out there, isn’t it?”

I nodded and sighed. “I should probably leave before it gets even worse..”

It was supposed to be a brief visit. I came over to his place to see him and drop off his favorite hoodie that he let me borrow a little while back.. but then he asked me if I wanted to grab a cup of hot chocolate and I couldn’t say no. That hot cocoa led to us watching a couple movies while snacking on whatever junk food he had. Before we knew it, the sun went down and the snow caved me inside Bucky’s apartment.

“You want to leave in that?” He asked while opening up his blinds even more to showcase how bad it’s getting outside. “You can’t even see the pathway to walk to your car. How are you gonna drive?”

“I’m a big girl, I’m sure I can figure it out. It’s just snow.” I walked over to his couch and slid off the blanket, shivering as soon as the air hit my skin. It’s been really nice and warm since I’ve been here and the thought of having to go out in the cold made me wish I had paid better attention to the weather outside. I folded up the blanket nice and neat and laid it on the cushion.

I wanted to prolong me leaving for as much as I could, but I knew I probably overstayed my welcome three hours ago and he might want some time to be alone. I know I would if a guest came over unexpectedly and couldn’t get the hint I wanted them gone.

He slowly stalked closer to me, his head bowed down and I turned to look at him. “Y/N, you’d freeze out there. The snow is piling up by the minute, I’m sure you’d get pneumonia and I wouldn’t be able to – ”

I lifted my hand up to his face and placed a single finger on his lips to silence him. “Nat and Wanda are probably wondering where I am. We were supposed to have a girls night and I’m like twenty minutes away from the apartment.”

He stayed silent for a moment, his body still and his cheeks were blushed. The initial shock of me shutting him up started to wear off as he sighed. He reached up and grabbed my hand in his and he inspected my fingers. I could feel his breath against me as he placed a soft quick kiss on the top of my knuckles. I instantly felt get warmer.

“Doll, your hands are cold.”

My knees wanted to buckle right then and there. I felt like I shouldn't say anything, this moment seemed too intimate and I didn’t want to break out of this bubble. Something about the way his gaze stayed concentrated on my cold fingers made my heart flutter. I longed to feel his lips against them again.. or other places.

“Maybe you just run hot.. I’m not calling you hot, it's just you’re so warm.. I – I mean, not to say that you’re not hot. You’re very easy on the eyes and..”

Oh God, what the fuck am I doing?!

“What I mean to say is – ” He laughed and brought our hands to rest on each of our sides, him refusing to let go and said, “Need me to change the subject?”

“Yes please.”

My stupid mouth just had to make a comment.

He noticed a strand of my hair seeming out of place from my messy ponytail and he reached his hand up to move it out of my flustered face and place it behind my ears.

This man is makin’ me melt like a popsicle on the fourth of July. I felt like I was warm enough to even brace the snow storm outside and walk it back home.

“You know, I.. I actually have an extra room that you could stay in, if you wanted..” I parted my mouth open in surprise as he continued. “I could let you borrow a couple of my clothes to sleep in so you’re comfortable.”

I smiled and slowly shook my head. “That’s very kind of you, Buck, but I can’t impose on you like that.”

“Trust me, it’s no bother to me at all. We could have a night dedicated to just us and watch movies until the sun came up if we wanted to.” I tilted my head and felt warmth spread across my face.

I didn’t want to feel like Bucky had to offer up a room to me because he felt bad, but I really didn’t want to drive back in this storm and freeze the whole way there. I bet if I was to even call a cab, which I probably wouldn’t because I have a working car, they would go out of their way to pick me up. Plus, I don’t really want to spend money on gas anyway.

“I just don’t want anything to happen to you. It’s bad out there and I know if you’re with me, you’ll at least be safe. I don’t have to go to bed wondering if you made it home when there’s a perfectly open space for you here.”

I stood there, debating back and forth and back and forth in my mind as I tried to think of what’s the best option…

“What do you think your neighbors will think when they wake up and see that my car is still parked outside?”

“I hope they’re smart enough to know that I couldn’t let someone as pretty as you leave in a snow storm.” I tried to brush over the fact that he called me pretty and hoped that my face didn’t give away the fact that I liked it.

“And if they’re not smart enough?”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“At least there will be plenty implied.” He chuckled. “But honestly, I couldn’t give two shits about what they think of who stays at my place. It’s my place.” He smiled. “C’mon, doll.. it can be just for tonight, if you wanted to.”

I glanced back at the blanket on the couch I folded neatly earlier and wished I was cuddled up against it again. Our cups of hot chocolate still remained on top of his coffee table, both completely empty next to crumbs left from pastries and plates with half eaten food. The movie on his TV paused and I realized he was still waiting for an answer.

“... Shall we heat up some more hot chocolate then?” His smile widened at my decision as I continued. “It’s gonna be a long night, Buck and it looks like we’re stuck together until further notice.”

“There’s no one else I’d rather be snowed in with.”

“After all, it is cold outside and you’re a literal heater. It was getting harder and harder to say ‘no’ to that.”

“If that’s what got you to stay, then I guess I can’t be too upset. It gives me a reason to cuddle up to you and keep you safe. I’d say this is a win – win, if you ask me.”

~~~~

I hope y’all liked it! Please let me know your thoughts! Likes, comments and reblogs are very much appreciated!

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky x reader #bucky barnes imagine #bucky imagine #bucky barnes christmas #marvel blog #marvel christmas

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queen-seren · 30 days

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A Laurance Zvahl Character Study

Just a fun Laurance study I slapped together of his life before becoming a Shadow Knight, the final section being a sort of a optional ending, as I thought up the scene and really wanted to include it.

Please enjoy!

Dissension

“Do you have a dream?”

It’s dark, nothing but the cold light of the moon peeking through the pulled back curtains along each of the windows lining the large room. The slow, rhythmic breathing of the other sleeping children is the only sound that fills the silence that lurks between me and my bedmate.

I tread that fine line just on the cusp of sleep, yet my mind entirely too busy to finally catch some shut eye.

“We all do.” I whisper in response, peeking my eyes open to peer at the girl next to me, her name entirely lost to time. I can hardly make out her face, only a lone, disjointed voice in the depths of my memory. There are too many orphans to keep track of, so many that we often share beds to accommodate.

The younger ones don’t mind it so much, thinking it to be an eternal slumber party. Little are they aware of how sick you can start to feel of it the more the time goes by. But, whatever. It's likely they’ll be adopted long before they can feel the discomfort—the restlessness of it all begin to seep in. Before the grounds of the orphanage engrave themselves on the back of your palm, like a branding that never quite leaves.

This girl is young, easy enough to tell by the way she slurs her words and that sweet, high pitch of her voice. I can’t help but wonder what’s kept her awake this long.

“But, do you?”

“Of course I do.” I answer easily, knowing too well what to say. “What’s yours?”

“Mine?”

“Yes. Yours.”

“I… I want a family.”

Isn’t that always the case? Ask any orphan around the place, and surely enough you can piece together their answers, just to find that their wants meet back in the same place where it all began. A longing for what was taken from them so young—a lone call in the dark starless night. A frightening notion that we will always be alone.

She’ll likely find her family soon. And if she doesn’t, then she’s welcome to join the club. She’ll find she’s met with whispered gossip amongst the workers, and worry that is useless in meaning. He seems so grown for his age. Do you think he’ll be here until he’s an adult? All in good nature, I’m sure. Doesn’t seem to sting anyless, though.

“You have one right here.” The words find me, spoken so often on my tongue that I’m beginning to imagine they have a flavour—something bittersweet. No matter how many times I say it, I struggle to believe it myself. Perhaps, that's merely a testament to my selfish way of life.

“You really think so?”

Clever girl. She sees right through me.

“Of course.” I turn on my side to face her properly, just barely able to make out the curve of her large, doll-like eyes in the dark. I reach out a hand, estimating where the top of her head is before I pat gently at her hair. “We’re all family here.”

“What about your dream?” Sleep seems to overtake her words, exhaustion finally catching up to her.

I pause—sucking in a deep breath through my nose, slow and steady. The truth sits itself in the palette of my mouth, stuck, never able to quite find the right words to capture every emotion that locks itself away in the facade of a warm expression and a stupid smirk.

Even if it's only a small girl asking it of me, likely to forget my response by morning.

“What I want..?” I repeat softly, as if to remind myself what the word dream entails. To be an orphan is to be a dreamer, the two seem to go hand in hand. A dream is nothing more than a want that seems so out of reach, that you feel the need to kiss it into shooting stars, and hope Irene herself hears it.

I want a family too.

“I want you to sleep.” I chuckle, tugging the girl into a warm embrace, hoping to lull her off. She doesn’t fight it much, snuggling up and getting comfortable before murmuring out one final time as her breathing slows.

“I hope… You find one too.”

I spend the night staring at the wall behind her—sleepless. Rolling her words over in my head again and again, as if there were another way to read them.

There isn’t.

By morning, I find myself being adopted.

—

“Cadenza! Don’t just run off like that!”

The summer heat of Meteli is sweltering, sun glaring down on my shoulders as I pant, attempting to catch up to the girl who is so fond of scurrying about. The air is always thick when the heat picks up, a trait that comes with the village being situated in the marsh. The adults tend to complain the most, no good solution in place to the stench that tends to radiate off of the murky waters, and the cry of the cicadas at night when summer hits its peak—but the children can’t be bothered, taking the first chance they can to sink into the cool waters of the river hidden just down a cobblestone pathway behind the village.

“It’s not my fault you’re too slow, Laurance!” She giggles, hands grabbing at her dress, tugging it upwards as her feet dip into the running water. From behind, she’s nothing but a head of fiery red hair, curly and frizzy amongst the humid weather.

“You’re older than me, you know?” I whine, sweeping back brown hair doused in sweat. “I’ve been training all day too.”

“You’re really becoming a guard?” By now, she’s found herself a spot to sit, keeping her dress perfectly dry with her feet submerged underneath the waters. Irene forbids she ever get her clothes dirty.

A wooden sword fills the scabbard at my side, just having started training as a guard. An idea that still perplexes me. As if picking up a blade was nothing more than a thoughtless task, perhaps I really am just bored. I had started practising on my own in secret, having snatched up a sword from the rack in Joh’s home, thinking he’d never notice one gone from the plethora he’d amassed. Still, to trick a Lord was a difficult task. To trick your own father, an even greater one. It didn’t take long before he caught me swinging at nothing in a small clearing in the forest, arms too weak and wobbly to properly hold the sword I had chosen.

Of course—a few slaps on the wrist were expected.

"A real sword?" My adoptive father questioned incredulously, and all I could do was sheepishly grin back up at him before I received nothing more than an admonishing sigh. “Boy, tell me. Why do you swing this sword?” Joh held the polished blade in his own hands, keeping it from my reach as he towered over me. He gripped it with a practised hand, always ready to pick it up and fight, to defend himself. Yet, his posture was always relaxed—too relaxed. Perhaps, that was what made him most intimidating.

To grow the son of a Lord, I had learned two things.

One, the role of a Lord is vital to the village. They are who keep the village alive, and running. Without a Lord, a week is all it would take for a village to descend into disarray.

Two, the role of a Lord is minacious. Nothing more than sitting cattle should they let their guard down. Lords tend to cycle in and out rather quickly, never staying the same for too long in smaller villages that dot the outskirts on the eastern coast of Ru’an. A Lord’s life is always in danger.

“I want to protect everyone,” I answered with what I thought he’d want to hear.

“You cannot protect everyone if you are a guard. Who will you point your sword on then?”

“I…” Warmth bloomed across my face as I glanced away from his gaze. The truth was simple, yet it seemed too selfish to speak aloud. Yet, my adoptive fathers gaze burned into me, neither of us would leave before he received that answer.

“Who is it you wish to protect?” Joh questioned once more in a sharp and steel-edged manner that I’ve only ever seen him use with the trained guards straight out of the academy, bowing their knees and requesting to become his soldier.

“Um…” I sputtered, “Innocent people?”

There was a moment of pause—and it was times like those where I could never quite read what was going through his head. His gaze lingered on me, as if to peel away at me, to unveil my truths and lay them bare himself. For I was an orphaned child, trust would never come easily. Even to the man I called father. The truth would always find itself stuck between my teeth, thicker than the sweet taffy that Cadenza snuck from her fathers home and shared with me.

Joh knew this.

“Try again.”

“Huh?”

“Your answer isn’t sufficient enough.”

“But I—!”

“Then come back to me when you have a better one.” Joh turned his back, blade in hand as he began his march back down the path he came. With a pause, and his back facing me, he spoke once more. “For now, use the training swords in the guard house.”

Not sufficient enough…?

I struggled for a few moments to wrap my head around the implications of his remark. Mulling over his question, I began to frown. Swept beneath a rug—not good enough. It irked me, made my blood boil beneath my skin as his words ran me for loops, as if spoken in a foreign tongue.

“—rance… Laurance!”

Cadenza’s calls tear me from the thoughts I hadn’t realised I had gotten entirely lost in. She glares at me, expectantly—Cadenza hates being ignored. Perhaps, it came with her upbringing, cherished and coddled by Hayden. Of course, the reason she sought out my company of all people was due to our similarities. Her and I both orphaned and adopted, many of the other children would never understand the severance it brought with it. That thick, heavy feeling that plagues us at night, urging us that we ought to grip our blankets tighter should we wake up in another bed by morning.

“What were you asking?”

“Seriously? I asked if you’re really becoming a guard.” She frowns at me, and perhaps a part of that frown is her worrying over my safety. She really should look after herself—a flower of a young girl. She’s likely to be sought after endlessly once she’s of age.

I shrug, kicking off my own leather shoes as I approach the river bed. “Probably.” I respond, sinking my feet into the cold water, holding back a shiver that dares to creep up my spine. “Then I’ll be able to protect you.”

“So romantic, Laurance.” She rolls her eyes, but a smile dances on her lips. “The ladies will surely love you if you keep that up.” She’s clearly teasing, but it pulls a bright smile onto my face, unsure how else to respond.

“I’ll be a heartbreaker before you know it.” I continue the bit, hands dipping into the water and launching some at her—only for her to shriek as it hits her.

“Ugh! My dress!” She moans, thoroughly drenched as she hastily stands from her spot to follow him deeper into the river. Clumsily, mind you. Almost slipping on the rocky stones beneath their feet. “You’re such a ladies man!” She returns the favour, dousing me generously.

This version of Cadenza is my favourite. Broken free from her expectations of a dainty little girl, staying docile and pretty in hopes to find her place in the home that Hayden has provided her. She seems to forget just how much the man cherishes her, losing this spark whenever she roams the village. Happy, free and feral. It's a look that suits her. I can only hope that she will one day learn to embrace this side of herself.

I laugh and laugh. Soaking from head to toe, the wind is cool against my skin, but the sun is burning overhead. Her laughter reaches my ears as well as I toss more water in her direction. I never want this moment to end.

Joh's remark from earlier lingers.

“Boy, tell me. Why do you swing this sword?”

A reason? Yes, I suppose everyone has a reason for what they do. I must as well.

It's later that night that I approach Joh, having finally understood his question. He seems to know what I’ll say—a newfound resolve found in the stride of my walk as I enter the Lord's house.

He asks again.

“What do you wish to protect?”

I answer something along the lines.

Moments like these.

I wish to protect this family of mine.

—

“Easy now…”

A low sound rumbles in the beast's throat, wounded and abandoned in the forest behind Joh's home. Its eyes dark as coal but deadly, ready to bite my head off my shoulders dare I take a step too close.

Alas, this is no ordinary beast. Anyone would only need one glance to know this creature is otherworldly, covered in golden scales. With its long snout that holds sharp teeth, baring them in my direction. But, the trail of blue blood dotting the grass up to its spot is indication enough that it's injured. It seeps from one of its large wings, left unfolded against its side, likely stinging with an aching pain at every unnecessary movement.

A wyvern.

It's said that none have been spotted for hundreds of years, yet here is one in my own father's backyard.

Its black, beady eyes burn holes into me as I slowly take a step closer, and then another—gently, gently, gently so as to not scare it. As if approaching a wounded dog, although, this creature would do much more than any dog could ever.

“Let me help you.” I speak in the softest tone I can muster, wondering if it even understands my words. I reach into my satchel, pulling out the lunch Cadenza had handed me earlier, chiding me for practising all day without any food on me. It's a sandwich, not much really, but it's a peace offering I give, holding it out to the wyvern with a steady hand.

It observes me for a second, the low trill of its growl dying out for a moment as its large eyes stare down at my hand.

Until it turns its snout to my lunch.

“No good?” I chuckle, wrapping the sandwich back up and placing it back in my bag. Still, even without the food, its demeanour has shifted. It seems a bit calmer, sniffing at the wound on its wing before snapping its attention back to me the moment I attempt to take another step closer. My heart crashes against my ribs, nervous down to the tips of my fingers where they buzz with life.

For a moment, I’m reminded of the time Cadenza chastised me for being oh so horrible at dealing with stray cats around the village.

“Like this,” She had sighed, taking my hand herself and holding it out towards the cat. “It will come to you when it's ready.” I had stared at her for a few moments, her own eyes trained on the cat in front of us. And yet, before I knew it, I felt a small tickle against my skin as it had begun to rub its face against my hand.

I wondered, if perhaps, I too were like a stray cat in her eyes. If she had used such tactics when drawing me in and tearing away at the walls I had placed between myself and everyone else once I had been adopted. Always a hot head, I was stubborn, lonely—afraid. Perhaps she saw a bit of me in every stray she beckoned, and even a bit of herself as well.

I find myself absentmindedly following her advice once more, reaching out my hand with a twinge of hesitance. Realistically, I’m nothing more than prey in this moment, pinned down beneath the heavy, deep black of its eyes. Pits in its skull, as vast as the space between stars that splatter the night sky—attempting to drag me in. Still, I dare not look away. Our eyes meet, still as the surface of a lake, hard as crystalline diamond.

I suck in a deep breath, and wait.

It waits too.

We wait and wait until my arm begins to grow tired, and I find myself wanting to laugh at how foolish I surely look. And it's only when I close my eyes for the slightest of moments, the glare of the sun becoming a bit too overwhelming, do I feel cold scales brush against the skin of my palm.

my heart reaches my throat, thrumming wildly as the beast presses its snout further into my palm, quiet—submissive. At least, that's what I assume until I open my eyes to meet its gaze once more, audacious and cautious. Ever so familiar, it's a look I once held in my own eyes—still do.

Wordlessly, it speaks to me—snagging onto a bit of my soul.

You and I are the same.

His name is Ungrth.

—

Sasha sinks into the magma before my own eyes, her face frozen in an indescribable agony that surely rips across her entire body, burning her down to the bone—and then some.

All I can do is stare for a few baffled moments, the sword at my side so new I can still hear the rhythmic clang of the blacksmith hammering it down into a blade. The air of The Nether is impossible to breathe, sweltering heat practically melting my armour off. My heart pounds against the drums of my ears, head on the verge of bursting.

I’m petrified.

As if it were my own life flashing before my eyes, my mind wanders. It wanders and wonders, back to a time where Sasha had slapped me across the back the moment I had returned to Meteli from the guard academy, dragging me into my first night shift with her down by the docks.

“Are you ready?” She questioned, her eyes trained on the lone moon. Its light fit her complexion nicely, she had always been a beauty of the village. Hair as pale as porcelain, eyes as deep as obsidian. Steady, calm, but ever elusive.

"For what?" I responded.

She looked at me, knowingly with a gentle smile. She knew I had the answer, competent as I was. So, she refused to respond, instead, holding her hand out for a moment towards the moon, a golden band adorning her ring finger. A pledge of love.

She would marry her fiance soon.

Her question resonated once more in my head as I stared down at the calm waters.

Are you ready?

Or, perhaps.

Are you willing to put your life at stake?

“Go!” She cries at me, her voice mangled and raw—attempting to rouse me from my stupor. It takes Ulrich grabbing me by the arm and dragging me away from the sight before my legs find feeling once more and sputter to a momentary stop.

“No! We can’t just—”

“She’s gone.” He reasons sharply and pulls at me until I give, not an ounce of emotion in his voice. Yet the set of his face says a thousand words. He had watched her grow as a young girl. He would be the first to break the news to her fiance.

Sasha’s groans of agony reach the cusp of my ears, and the purple firmament of the portal barely brushes my nose. Ulrich tugs me past the film, and I snap my head back to glance at her one final time.

A figure cloaked in red stares down at her writhing form, nothing but a head of black hair from what my eyes see.

Until the world yawns back into existence.

—

“You want me to dye your hair?”

The wound of Joh’s death still lingers in the pit of my chest, festering and bubbling into an unending black maw that drains and drains. I feel an ache in the same spot the arrow had pierced him, as if the tip had shattered and taken root in the centre of my own heart.

It’s my fault.

“Yeah, just… Do whatever you want with it.” I glance up at Cadenza, sitting down on my bed. Surely, she sees the bags under my eyes, yet she says nothing, only looking at me similarly as she did the day we returned from The Nether without Sasha. She reaches into her own deerskin purse, pulling out a small wooden comb she’s kept on her as long as we’ve known each other—a keepsake from her mother's vanity before she was orphaned.

She sits herself down on the bed next to me, reaching for my unabashedly dishevelled hair. I haven’t brushed it since—

“Do you want to cut it?” Cadenza hums, beginning to work her way through the knots in my hair. It's moments like these where she feels like the mother I’ve never had. Yet, it's bold to call her such with no point of reference—so instead she remains my sister, even if not by blood. She has no qualms in the matter.

“No…” My eyes trail down to where my hair ends at top of my chest, I hardly remember why I grew it out so long in the first place. It must have been cut last on the day I left for the guard academy. Joh had sat me down with a pair of scissors and snipped it off himself. One of the few moments I can recall him being something of a true father.

The memories ache like bruised skin, a feeling not unfamiliar, stinging more the further I press on them.

We sit in silence for a few moments, nothing but the sound of her comb, occasionally catching on a knot where she gently tugs at it until it comes free.

“So, what will you do?”

“I told you, do whatever you—”

“Not that. You know that’s not what I’m talking about.”

I bite at my bottom lip, brows setting in harsh lines against my forehead.

“It's not your fault.”

But, her reassurance means nothing. Not when I had sworn to protect him. The Lord of Meteli. The man who had adopted me. My father.

“Then who am I meant to blame?” My voice catches with emotion, agony—longing. A wish to turn back time that will never be fulfilled. “I’m not fit to be anyone's guard. Not even yours.”

“Nonsense.” Her hand pauses for a moment, and her tone finds a sternness she rarely takes with me, “You are one of the most capable guards in this land, Laurance. But, you are only human.”

Only human…

“Must I become something inhumane then to finally feel like I’m enough again?” The weight of my words fracture me like glass, scattered down to the depths of my soul. Yet, they are better spoken and set free than left to decay me any further.

“No, Laurance…” I can hear the frown in her voice as she reaches to hug me close to her chest from behind. Cadenza doesn’t say anything else for a long while, but I somehow know the sentiment that echoes in her mind.

You will always be enough for me.

—

Aphmau… Aph-ma-u… The name seems to linger on my tongue as she walks towards Hayden's home. Something about it is uncanny, in the same sense that water does not flow upwards, nor does your reflection wear a different expression than your own.

She seems ambitious enough, beautiful in a way I can’t quite place. It's not the slope of her nose, nor the shape of her eyes that draws me in. No, not even the plump of her lips. It's her entirety that's alluring in a way I almost want to describe as otherworldly—unnatural. All this I’m aware of, yet I have fallen still.

Enough so to make a blundering fool of myself with nothing but un-noteworthy words of grandiose and corny invitations to dinner. It is all I know to do, a familiar face I’ve adorned when speaking to women of the village. No one likes someone who is too pushy. It's the best I can do to avoid their machinations.

I want to study her, want to know what draws me towards her like no one else ever has. Peel away at her for as long as she allows me to—which doesn’t seem to be very much—just so I can find the root of this feeling festering in my chest. For her countenance is entirely ordinary, yet I have become a moth to a flame—for she is like the sun.

She returns the next day, tension high in the village, my own mind spinning circles around the disappearance of Cadenza. I cannot move from my post, fearing Kenmur and Hayden may rip each other's heads off should I leave, already at eachothers throats attempting to claim the position of Lord—Cadenza’s absence only adding fuel to their fire. So, Aphmau is something of a godsend when she agrees to search for Cadenza in my place.

One of many favours I will be indebted to her for.

—

Okay, okay…This isn’t good.

Scratch that.

This is awful.

The smell of The Nether, charred and burnt—brings back enough memories to turn my stomach—yet the urgency of the moment wills me to push forward. Now is no time to freeze up, not like last time.

I just need to get Cadenza and leave.

Sasha…Sasha, she’s alive somehow. Or is alive even the right word to use? I saw her with my own two eyes in Pheonix Drop. Yet, mere moments ago I had passed the spot she had sunken into the magma on that fateful day. Tried my best not to stare at it, a battle both in front and behind us, Aphmau’s voice beckoning for my help (she hardly even needed me), but I stuttered only for a moment to glance.

Surely enough, there was nothing to see but bubbling lava.

“Go, Aphmau! You need to leave!” I urge her—the spectre of The Shadow Lord pounding against the barrier Castor had quickly scrambled together.

“What?! I can't leave you here, Laurance!”

“Take Cadenza and leave! Now!”

Castor, of course, grabs Aphmau by the arm and begins to drag her down the stairs in which we came, Cadenza in hand. I just need to buy them some time, and then I’ll make an escape—surely.

I wonder how Sasha felt in her final moments as the lot of us sprinted to the portal, leaving her behind. She was already gone, I know, but I’ve spent nights mulling over the image. Her figure haunts me in my darkest dreams, cold, dead, ghastly fingers gripping at my shoulder, alongside Joh. A reminder of the weight on my back. The duty I serve.

So, this is the least I can do, right? The highest honour a guard can receive is to sacrifice themself. Well, that's what I was always told at the academy. Battered and bruised every morning and every night, they’d remind me what I’m fighting for. What they believed I was fighting for. The guard academy never questioned its students why they were there, everyone had a reason. All they assumed is that you’d chase honour just as the rest do. To a guard, there is nothing more important. Whether or not I fully agree with it… Whatever, surely now isn’t the time to dwell on it.

I can hardly breathe by the time I escape the fortress, the heat cooking me from the inside out. A group of mindless Shadow Knights skirt along my heels as I push past what my body deems capable in a full sprint towards the portal, and soon enough it comes into sight.

I made it. I—freeze to a halt at the sight of another man by the portal. His eyes are a striking green, much like my own, and I can almost make out something of an apology in them as he reaches to tamper with the purple warp that would guide me back home.

“What are you…”

It shatters. It shatters into a million pieces, as if it were the thinnest glass tempered. The portal lays there bare and empty, my exit gone.

Something within me fractures—slowly, at first. So slow, until I begin to feel the gaps between myself as if they were beneath my own fingertips, hardly noticing that I’ve been dragged off away from the portal, back into the fortress.

…

It’s difficult to piece together the moments of lucidity from that point on. I taste nothing but blood in the back of my throat, as pain finds its way onto every inch of my skin, stinging—burning. They bleed me out onto the warm, deep red floors of the fortress, and my mind begins to wonder where my blood ends and the ground begins in flash seconds of clarity. It's a miracle my heart still beats.

The fractures widen.

Sasha visits me in the prison alongside another man, my eyes bleary and mind disjointed. I can’t piece together how long I’ve been here for, how long they’ve tormented me.

“Just get it over with, Gene.” She glares at the man next to her, Gene, and he smirks.

“What? Can’t stand to see him this way, Sasha? Feeling sentimental?”

“No.” She retorts, jangling a key in her hand which presumably will open the door to my cell. “His blood is stinking up the place.”

“Do it yourself then.”

She scowls, unlocking the door to the cell and waltzing in. I’d move if possible, but more bones in my body are broken than I can still count. So, I simply stare at her. Watch her every move with sluggish eyes. Whisper her name in a broken plea. As if she were the Lady Irene herself—I beg for salvation.

She doesn’t seem to hear it, or perhaps, she doesn’t care to.

She pulls me up from my slump by the hair, taking a moment to glance me up and down before a bemused smirk finds her lips.

“You look awful.” It’s difficult to tell whether she’s talking about the orange hair, or the countless gashes across my skin.

I muster enough energy to spit blood at her face, leading her to recoil and drop me back onto the floor. My mind howls, yet my lips barely twitch.

“What? Wanted to look a little bit more like Cadenza?” She snickers in disgust, wiping my blood and spit from her cheek before digging her shoe into an open wound on my thigh. “Mommy can’t save you now, Laurance.”

No matter if this woman wears her face, this isn't the Sasha I once knew.

Further and further apart, the space between the shards reflect back a darkness in me I never knew.

"Shall we proceed then?" Gene questions from behind her, and Sasha takes a step to the side, generously lifting her foot off my wound, to allow him passage. "Looks like you won't hold out much longer if we just leave you here."

He crouches down to meet my gaze, and what I had assumed were black pits for eyes reveal themselves to be a deep, cerulean blue. For a moment, bleeding in sepia, I imagine myself back by the docks in Meteli. The fresh air, and the scent of salt wafting along the wind and through my hair. Reminded of the cool stream of the riverbed, Cadenza's figure perched along the grass, toes dipped in the water. I take in a deep breath—suffocated by the heavy, hot atmosphere of The Nether.

"Let me ask you, Laurance, why did you become a guard?" Gene questions, a menacing, blood tinged greatsword in his hand. The tip of the blade rests against my chest, right above my heart.

Every nerve in my body lurches, begging me to move. I can't.

"What's it… To you?" I muster out, voice hoarse, throat torn and dry.

"Just thought a reminder would be nice."

I stare at him for a few moments, perplexed. Until something about my gaze is so hilarious that he can't stop himself from laughing.

"Oh, no, not for me." He grins, "You're the one that's going to need it."

It's nothing but a moment of sharp pressure against my skin before the blade wedges itself into the centre of my heart.

And it stops.

What was once whole now shatters, two sides of one mirror—split apart. A few lone pieces scatter off into the abyss, memories and fondness that will never return, forever lost. The nothingness seeps in to fill the gaps, and the world itself is rendered to an absolute—agonising, euphoric and finite. The corporeal slips away, and the mind splinters down to the soul. A severance so deep that it cuts through the ligaments, separating the body from the spirit. All to make room for a new found darkness in the hollow space where the heart lies caged between the ribs.

And it starts.

Your body feels wrong. Every inch of your skin, every bone beneath. Every cell in your blood, every beat of your own chest. Its rhythm is wrong—you are wrong.

“Do you have a dream?”

So, so many. Yet they’re nothing but blank canvases once you glance back at them.

“Boy, tell me. Why do you swing this sword?”

You… You can't seem to remember.

"Are you ready?"

Have you ever been? Knowing this would be your fate, what answer would you have given her then?

“Must I become something inhumane then to finally feel like I’m enough again?”

How ironic to think back to that in such a moment. You have always been the nostalgic sort. But, most cruelly, a lone voice swims in the pits of your mind, so familiar, so soothing. Her voice that of a swan song. She sings her response which you never heard to begin with.

"You will always be enough for me."

Cadenza is safe, far far away from The Nether. For that, you may at least be proud of yourself.

Ah, right… That is why you swing your sword. To keep her smiling in every shining memory. Protecting your loved ones, a task you deemed to be ever so noble as a small child. To covet those moments, safely locked away in the soft spot of your heart.

Cadenza… Aphmau… The prospect of her alluring beauty somehow a guiding light in your disembodied mind. A lone dove in the darkness, a white, pure feather. Ethereal, delicate—intangible.

She would be prettiest pierced by the edge of your own blade.

Rest.

For this is only the beginning of your neverending strife.

—

(Time passes.

So much time passes.

You hardly recognize the person you started as before the entire journey began.

The world has shifted fifteen years. The trails you ran along as an orphaned boy now grown over and forgotten, the river you played in now dry, only its husk remaining. The town you once called home now a desolate ghost—an inconsolable wasteland of your once cherished memories.

Yet, you struggle to cherish them the same as you once had all those years ago.

So when Aphmau (Irene bless her lost soul) approaches you, asking for your advice in this war as she had done so before, you no longer have the words that will solve her issues. Not a single solution finds your tongue—for you are a wanderer, a mere rabid dog, leashed by devotion, just itching to bite.

The gaps you feel within yourself never seem to close up, no matter what you do.

All you can tell her is that you have no clue what this war will bring, and what devastation it will cause, but that it can only end in bloodshed.

Anxious, always on the tips of her toes, and eyes constantly over her own shoulder, her weariness begins to bleed in. She's exhausted, she dares not admit it—yet her eyes will never lie to you.

She asks you why war seems to always follow her.

You tell her that war will always wage, no matter where she goes or where she looks. Should she eradicate every threat that taints this land, there are other wars to worry of.

"Where?" She questions.

However, her face shifts in a painful understanding before you can even utter a word.

She seems to have found the answer herself.)

#laurance zvahl #mcd laurance #aphmau mcd #aphmau #minecraft diaries #aphverse #cadenza mcd

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doubleredweek · 10 months

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JayRoy Week 2023

It's official!

This is the master post for every thing JayRoy Week 2023.

Schedule:

Submissions aug 29-sep 15

Voting sep 18-sep 27

JayRoy Week oct 24-oct 30 (with oct 31 as a bonus day)

You can find the link to the prompts here.

Rules:

- Tag all entries with ‘JayRoyWeek23’. And @doubleredweek! So we can find and reblog your works! Always feel free to send an ask if we missed it!

- Side-Pairings and other partners are okay but the focus must be on the relationship between Jason and Roy (romantic and platonic are okay!)

- Use a ‘Read More’ when posting whole works on Tumblr. Late entries are absolutely welcome, for all of our events! Just send us an ask if we miss it!

- Tag appropriately! If you put warnings on it for Ao3 then warn for it on here, improperly tagged things will not be reblogged.

- Cross-posting is fine! If you put a story on Ao3, add it to the JayRoyWeek2023 collection and send us a link/post on here to reblog, or drop the link in the ask/submit so we can share!

- Have fun and be kind! We will not tolerate any sort of hate or harassment towards the mods, the participants, or the works created for this week. Anyone and everyone is allowed to participate in this ship-friendly, censorship-free event! Utilize your back button and block button on things you do not like. Anyone found in violation of this rule will be auto-blocked and banned from the event.

[Additional Information & FAQ under the read more]

Ad. Info:

- The work does not have to be a written fic, if you want to approach these prompts from any other creative angle, go for it! The event has been designed with fanfics and fanart in mind, but go wild with your creativity! (We do not allow content with photographs of real people.)

- Works should be new- we’re trying to celebrate JayRoy and create new content for it!

- Works can be part of a series, but not new chapters on a story not made for the event.

- No min or max word count, go crazy with it!

- SFW, NSFW and dark themes are allowed, as long as you tag them.

- Please self-post your work in our AO3 collection: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/JayRoy_Week_2023

- While this week focuses on the relationship between Jason Todd and Roy Harper, we encourage the inclusion of ships or other characters. Our simple ask is that the content submitted is:

A) Brand new

B) Centered around JayRoy / RoyJay

C) Tagged appropriately

FAQ:

When is JayRoy Week happening?

23 October 2023 - 31 October 2023

When will the Official Prompts be posted?

• We hope to have them out by the end of September.

How many prompts will be posted for each day?

• Three

Do I have to include all the prompts in my work?

• Not at all! Feel free to combine them or to only pick one. We simply ask that you note on your work which Day/Prompt you’re creating for.

Is there a certain structure I have to follow with the prompts?

• The prompts are up for interpretation! Create whatever sparks your inspiration, so long as your work is mainly about JayRoy.

Am I allowed to create anything?

• You can create fanfic, fanart, comics, mood boards, playlists, aesthetics, headcanons, meta, dolls - almost anything you can think of.

• The EXCEPTION: You may NOT take photography of human subjects (including in cosplay) as we have no way of verifying the age and consent of human subjects. Want to take photographs of your Legos or action figures? No prob!

• ALSO: While this is a censorship-free event, using live or photographic/videographic references of minors for artwork is STRICTLY FORBIDDEN. If we discover that this has happened, you will be reported to the appropriate authorities. The mods of this event stand firmly against child abuse and exploitation.

Can I have poly and multi ships?

• Yes! All manner of ships are welcome here, so long as your overall work is JayRoy-centric. You can write Kori/Jason/Roy,or whatever poly ships that you like!

Do I have to make something for every single day?

• Not at all! You’re free to crank out all seven days, or only pick and choose which days you create for. So long as you have fun, it’s all good! No need for stress.

What type of content is allowed and what isn’t?

• There is no restriction for this event! Anything goes for this particular week. You can use any canon, part of canon, or AU centric plots for your work.

How do I participate?

• There is no sign up needed! You make whatever it is you want for the prompts, add the work to the AO3 collection, and/or tag us on Tumblr @doubleredweek, with #JayRoyWeek2023 and whatever day the submission is relevant for!

Any additional questions can be answered in asks! Thank you for reading!

#jayroy #royjay #JayRoyWeek2023 #dc fan event

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bengiyo · 9 months

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Laws of Attraction Ep 8 (Finale) Stray Thoughts

Last week, we met the best character in the entire show: Nawin. He is gay, unhinged, violent, and so sexy he doesn't wear shirts or underwear in pink suits. He is Chan's ex, and sheltered Chan and Tin. Meanwhile, Thantai is stupid and is posting boyfriend vids on IG while on the run. We also learned that his mom died giving birth to him. Nawin's house in an architectural nightmare. Tin broke the bed after being left there handcuffed by Chan so he can try to blackmail Thatthep. Let's finish this.

Rose is getting ready for whatever they have planned while Maya streams nearby. This has me thinking about criminals who get caught because of their wives' YouTube channels.

Nawin was mooning over Chan until Tin reminded him that he was dumped and now they're in a boxing ring. Amazing.

Nawin, you were the best character. Thank you for your brief time with us.

Okay, the Tin-Thee team up was fun.

They are live streaming this meeting on Maya's channel. Incredible. Perfect show.

Thatthep pulled out that smartphone flashlight so fast.

Chan, are you really worried about Nawin hitting Tin right now?

Now I know I did not spend seven weeks with this show to watch a gay bleed out in his lover's arms.

Oh good. Armed lesbians are here.

Chan is the only smart person in an action drama ever. He was wearing a bulletproof vest, even though he still took a shot to the arm.

Thantai escaping the plane because he was so annoying is exactly on brand. You were so right @ginnymoonbeam.

Love that Chan did all this to guarantee Thatthep's downfall.

Of course Chan is an annoying patient.

Galaxia is back and she's still teasing Tin!

With the genre constraints around sex, I like that the show continues to tease that the couples of this show are having a great time with each other.

Okay, I'm a bougie TV person. If you are seeing me, please don't ever leave a sticky note on any of my TVs.

I'm glad that this show is going for marriage equality as well. A lot of folks who will never watch other BL are probably going to watch this. It's a big deal.

Chan is so gay. I love him.

Yes, I have also watched lesbians tackle gays when they announced their wedding date.

I love Nawin. "If you hurt him I'll hurt you! Wait! Yes! Hurt him so he and I can get back together!" Best character ever.

This show is great. Thatthep threatens Chan one more time and the next scene is him being murdered in prison, the news report downplaying it, and then a smash cut to the wedding photos.

Man, I still don't feel for Thantai much.

I'm missing my grandmothers again.

Of course Chan's chest is out at this wedding.

Nawin is so upset about their wedding that he had to put a shirt on.

Oh lord we got another biter.

I do love Silvy's voice.

Okay, I cried at seeing Tonkhao's dolls getting their own seat. I'm so glad this show never forgot about her or used her death as a joke.

Jam and Film, and all of their friends, had so much fun making this.

Maya and Rose got married, too!!!

Chan wasn't disbarred, and is back to being dramatic for cameras!

Look at Tin having reasonable expectations of Chan.

Final Verdict: 9, Highly Recommended. This was so much fun. I thoroughly enjoyed One31 making another lakorn. With Jam and Film as romantic leads. Every week I got to cackle at the unhinged gay antics of this show and got to enjoy some great performances along the way. Go into this with the right genre expectations and you'll have a blast.

#laws of attraction #thai bl #thai drama #bl series #Ben watches

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fandom-chic · 2 years

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Happy Little Family: Chapter 2

Summary: When Vought asks the unthinkable, you are forced to play house with certified psychopath Soldier Boy. Your life (and dignity) may be at stake, but something about him draws you in.

Pairing: Soldier Boy x Y/N

Chapter 1

You place a cardboard box filled with some of your greatest possessions on your new wood floor with an oomph. Soldier Boy said he would carry some of your boxes for you but in the name of feminism and hating his guts, you decided to carry your crap. Besides, there was an elevator, so what was there to complain about? You take your hand to your forehead and wipe off the light sheen of sweat forming on your brow as you hear footsteps enter the doorway.

“Looking tired there,” Ben says, carrying a small box of things while Vought employees followed in a perfect line with his items. “Like you could use some help.”

You glare over in his direction, “I told you I am fine and do not need your, or should I say, Vought’s help getting my shit from point A to point B.” He chuckles as he places his box on the granite countertop of your kitchen.

“Whatever you say, sweetheart.” At that, he throws his arms up to feign defeat before heading back to grab another hilariously small box. One would think that with his absurd amount of strength, he would be able to carry more than a vase from the moving van. In your brief minute of silence, you take in the surroundings of your new home (or prison).

To say it was beautiful was an understatement. With windows instead of walls, brand new hardwood floors, and granite everything, you must admit that this might be the nicest apartment you have ever stepped into. You give yourself a mini tour, noting that the lone bedroom was already set up with no other place to make your room. Great. At least you got your own bathroom.

You sign before heading out the door to haul more boxes inside. After a few hours, the apartment somewhat resembled your old apartment. With pictures of your life scattered around and your favorite throw pillows littering the couch, it was indistinguishably yours. You think that with an apartment like this, maybe this situation will not be absolutely miserable. Your thoughts quickly come to a halt as you feel an arm wrap around your waist.

“Better than your shit apartment, right?” He says, pulling you in. You go rigid.

“Sure.” You say to change the subject. He can sense it.

“You’re treating this like you’re under house arrest.”

“Who says I’m not.” You look at him to see his nostrils enlarge and his lip twitch.

“Lighten the fuck up, doll. You act like you’re some martyr when you’re really walking away from this shit with millions of dollars.” He takes his arm off of you and points his finger into your chest. “And that money can leave in a second if I want it to, and so will your job.” You gulp and nod, evading his glare. He smirks and walks away.

You feel your legs bring you to your couch, and you collapse. There was no way you were going into the bedroom with him. No fucking way. Curling up on your side, you feel a tear run down your cheek. You were helpless.

You feel like it all couldn’t get worse until you hear your phone ring. You walk to your landline and pick it up.

“Hello?”

“(Y/N)?” You did not recognize the voice.

“Yes, who is this?”

“Katie, I am your PR manager.” You sigh.

“Got it; what’s up, Katie?” You could almost feel her grin from this side of the phone.

“Tonight is the night to unveil the new power couple, Soldier Boy and (Y/N). Girl next door turned lover of the world’s most powerful hero.”

“Tonight?” You stutter.

“Of course! I got you two reservations to Per Se in Columbus Circle for 7:00. Hottest restaurant in the city. Your dress was laid out on the bed by your movers today. Looking forward to the headlines tomorrow.” At that, the dial tone starts playing. You sigh and trudge to the bedroom.

As you open the door, you cannot help but hear grunting. Your eyes are so transfixed on the elegance of your new bedroom that it takes you a minute to notice Ben on the bed, pleasuring himself, to say the least.

“Fuck, dude!” You scream and avert your gaze.

“What, you want to join in?” He says. His voice reminds you of poison.

“Hell no! Do that shit somewhere else.” You demand as you finally hear the noises stop.

“This is my fucking bedroom; where else would you want me to do it?” He had a point there. It was his room.

“I-I… the bathroom! We have two of them.” You stutter, looking back at him to see him roll his eyes.

“You’re high fucking maintenance. If I were you, I would chill the fuck out and enjoy the experience. I mean,” His gaze darkens, “Every woman in America wishes they were walking into this sight.”

You couldn’t deny that he had a point there. Although your despise for this man could be felt from miles away, you could not deny that this man was beautiful. His long locks cascaded onto his cheeks like they were styled in such a manner. His arms were so strong looking that he could break you in half without breaking a sweat. You could not help your eyes from traveling across his chest to his abs to a bit lower down. You feel your eyebrows raise and your fingers tingle as you imagine what it could be like to maybe one day-

“Fine.” You get yourself out of your trance, “I’ll chill the fuck out. I’ll start that by letting you know we have a date tonight. Per Se. 7:00.” You walk over to the bed and take a seat next to him, your dress dangling off the edge. You face him, your noses almost touching. “And I’ll show you why every man in America will want to very soon fuck Soldier Boy’s new girlfriend.” At that, you swipe the dress and rush into the bathroom. Before shutting the door, you look back and notice a cheeky grin on his face.

It took you not too long to get ready. The dress fits you nicely. It was a long slinky black dress with a slit up the side. Your makeup was simple but striking, and your hair had a slight curl. You had to admit, you looked pretty damn hot. You walk out and see it is 6:45.

“He is going to be late.” You mutter to yourself. Walking over to the fridge to see if there was anything alcoholic to consume. Seconds after that thought was finished, you see Ben enter the kitchen dressed as dapper as could be. You were not only stunned by the fact that he was on time but by how… normal he looked. Without the goofy super suit, he looked like a handsome stranger you would stumble upon on a night out.

“You look great.” You feel yourself say. He smirks.

“You sound surprised.”

“I’ve never seen you wear anything but that super suit, and well…” You blush, thinking back to your rendezvous this afternoon. You are surprised to hear him laugh.

“I do own more clothes than just the costume, you know?” Was he flirting? His eyes then flicker across you. You could see in his gaze his thoughts were not so different from yours. Especially when you noticed his eyes stop on your chest, lingering there for a minute longer than expected.

“We should get going.” You say. He looks at you and nods before you both exit.

The restaurant was nicer than any you had ever stepped into. As you two stepped in, you could sense every head turn to look at your date. Mouths gaped, and eyes followed as the host led you to your table. The table was located right in the window. It seemed almost too obvious that this date was staged. As you two take a seat, Soldier Boy looks back and admires the fan's stares.

“You’re loving this.” You say, he turns toward you.

“Who wouldn’t? I’m basically a God to these cocksuckers.” Of course, he responds like that. Unsure how to answer, your head goes into the menu. Everything looked amazing; however, thoughts of your future employment stuck in the back of your mind. You had to make this date look good.

“So… tell me about yourself.” You say awkwardly. He snorted sarcastically.

“Is that what you’re asking?” You shrug.

“This is the first date, and I don’t know you.” He looks surprised at that.

“Have you not seen my movie?” You shake your head. He rolls his eyes, ready to relay a monologue you’re sure he’s said many times, “I was a poor kid from Philly. I realized I had powers at a young age, and from there, I was a hero to Southern Philly. Fighting crime and making the streets a little safer. I was then picked up by Vought, fought Hitler, and became America’s favorite hero.” He chuckled to himself, and you could not help but stare in awe.

“Wow, that is quite a backstory.”

“Want to know a secret?” He raises his eyebrows as the waiter puts two salads in front of you both. “It’s all bullshit.”

“What?” You question.

“I was born filthy fucking rich to a Dad who hated my guts. Got whatever the fuck I wanted, and he gave zero shits about how much of an asshole I was. So I joined Mr. Vought’s experiment. He still didn’t care, and now I’m Soldier Boy.” He shoves a leaf in his mouth. “Does that answer your question?”

“I guess it does.” You twirl an onion on your fork. “Doesn’t surprise me, though.”

“Whatcha mean?” He asks.

“You’re too much of an asshole for that first story to be remotely true.” You could see his knuckles clench around his fork. You were nervous about his next move before you noticed a flash. You look out the voyeuristic window to see paparazzi surrounding the restaurant. Ben smiles and waves, and you give an awkward grin.

“Smile for the cameras, sweetheart. It’s your fucking job.” He whispers under his breath. His words force a smile across your face as you wave. At that, you feel Ben start to rise from his chair.

“Where are you going?”

“We’re leaving.” He says, grabbing his coat. “They got their pictures. We leave.” He drops a couple of hundred dollars on the table and starts to walk out. You follow behind him before you notice him grab your hand. You look down and notice his fingers lace with yours. Before you could ask questions, cameras were flashing in your face. You had seen this in the movies, but it was way more overwhelming in real life. You feel yourself instinctively grab Ben’s arm. Instead of pulling away, he pulls you in his arms and shields you from the flashes. Weirdly enough, you feel safe. You both speed walk to your car that is waiting patiently for you. As you both are about to enter the car, you feel an arm grab your arm and yank. You stumble away from Ben.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” A man says to you. He was obviously with the media. “You are a nobody, and you’re with fucking Soldier Boy? Whose dick did you suck to get this gig?” You gawked at her in disbelief, and your legs froze.

“Hey, what the fuck is wrong with you?” Before you could acknowledge who was saying that, Ben steps in front of you, facing your defamer.

“You’re with a fucking slut.” The man says, getting right back in Ben’s face. Before you regain your legs and begin to move toward the car, you hear a fist make contact with someone’s cheek. Your eyes widen, and the cameraman hits the ground. Before you can react, you are ushered into the car and driven away. The first few minutes are deadly silent.

“You didn’t have to do that.” You whisper.

“I did, though; that asshole grabbed you and threatened you. No one does that to any girl of mine.” He grumbles.

“I’m not even your girl.” He faces you.

“As far as the world is concerned, you are, and I have to protect what is mine.” You feel a blush rise on your cheeks. The silence remains for two more beats.

“Thank you.” You place a hand on top of his.

“It’s what I do.” He says. You look away from him to let yourself smile.

Taglist: @globetrotter28 @bowlegsandbiceps @bxdbxtxh15

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twistedwonderlandfantasies · 10 months

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(Repost)

Leona Kingscholar as Your Sugar Daddy 🦁🧡☀️💛💰

Fem!reader

Out of all the boys Leona is like the most careless one when it comes to money i mean Ruggie can testify, dude just flippantly throws his wallet around anywhere and DOES NOT care (can't relate me and the poor people gang r crying aka me and Ruggie) so i can just imagine with his attitude and rich background he would love to see u in that sexy rich shit. ok remember to drink water bye 😘 ✌️

Song- Qveen Herby Sugar Daddy

🧡💛🧡💛🧡💛🧡💛🧡💛🧡💛🧡

- expect random boxes of gifts at your door that Ruggie delivers (this poor guy never catches a break). Beautifully packaged with luxurious ribbons and designer gift bags. When you open it up expect to find fine jewelry (gold, diamonds, pearls, whatever) or a silk dress. Heels? Bags? You name it. The price? Don’t even ask. He wants to see you dolled up at 8, so be ready.

-Besides the gifts, if you two are out somewhere and something catches your eye, it will show up in your room later. Broke your headphones and saw a pair you liked? Boom, yours. Saw you looking at your favorite snack that was on sale, buys you like 10 bags of it.

- If you’re into teddy bears and roses, will also occasionally send those. He will take note of your favorite flowers and soft plushies and specifically send you that. Don’t forget the chocolates! He loves when you run up to him later and talk about how beautiful your bouquet is.

-just spoils you absolutely rotten at this point.

- Dinner with Leona will make you dizzy. If he wants to impress, dude will pay for the best wine at a restaurant without even looking twice at the price. And the restaurant itself has a months long waitlist to even get in, so it's PRESTIGIOUS. French wine? Italian wine? Oh you like the stuff from Spain, sure thing. And yes, the food is served by a personal chef, full course meal of foods you’ve never even seen before. He would ofc have the audacity to say if something tastes awful, meanwhile you’re trying to figure out how to even eat the plate of food in front of you that looks like a piece of ART.

- Leona enjoys the speed. He doesn’t have a nice car— he has nice cars. Newest models of whatever brand you can think of: Mercedes, Lambo’s, even a Ferrari. Loves seeing you try and drive a car that costs more than both your kidneys as your hands shake even holding the keys. “Leona…. I think my fingerprints might damage the wheel…” “don’t be ridiculous. Come on, let me see what you can do.”

- Vacations are the BEST. I’m talking Bahamas, tropics, Fiji, cruise ships and private plane rides to some island that their family literally OWNS. Need a vacation outfit? Shopping spree~ Leona will 100% be seeing everything you wear, including Bikinis or swimwear. Will also buy you the things he likes and convince you to wear them. If you especially love traveling he will frequently plan get-aways for just the two of you.

- If you like getting your hair or nails done, he will always pay for it. He loves seeing you take care of yourself. This includes massages, facials, whatever the hell you want. You always being in top condition makes him feel confident, especially the looks you might get from others where he can then grab you by the waist and let them know this fine piece of work is his.

💛🧡💛🧡💛🧡💛🧡💛🧡💛🧡💛

NSFW

- He enjoys a personal show. I'm talking about throwing bills at you for a lap dance, pole dance, he’d even pay you to play with yourself while he watches. The conditions? He has to control you. If he says do something again, you do it. You finish when he tells you. He picks the lingerie, he gets to rip it off. Leona is ruthless and dominating; his gaze alone is enough to intimidate you into following his every order without question out of fear of what might happen if you disobey. If you are, however, in a bold enough mood to talk back expect no gifts that month, and a painful disciplinary session. “Sit on me like that again… mmm yes good girl. Why aren’t you shaking your ass yet? Want to get spanked again? Tsk.”

- You lost count of how many times you’ve had to give the sucky suck (IM SORRY). I think it might be Leona’s favorite activity, watching you devour his massive cock as he pulls on your hair to force you to take more until you're gagging and tears are forming at your eyes. The way your lips kiss his length, your fingers playing with him; having you literally kneel before this man in submission awakens a primal instinct that drives him feral. Payday’s usually follow in a sore jaw and cum stained face.

- He more rarely gives gifts in person, usually in exchange for something *ahem.* If it’s a particularly valuable or expensive item he wants to see your reaction and saves it for when you two are alone in company. So the things you receive directly from him usually end with a hot and steamy thank you. “Put it on, I want to see it on you while I fuck that pretty body of yours.”

#leona x reader #leona kingscholar #savannaclaw #disney twisted #twst #twst x reader #disney twst #twisted wonderland #disney twist #leona smut #twsted wonderland #twst wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #leona x y/n

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starseneyes · 1 year

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Chenford - Lucy Chen / Tim Bradford - The Rookie - Season 5 - Ep 10

"The List" Or, as I like to call it, "Lucy has the giggles".

Y'all, this one SLAYED me, and I can't wait to jump in with you!

SPOILER ALERT: This Meta will spoil every delicious second of this episode and reference past material from the show (and will majorly spoil the end of the film Serenity. Sorry about that). Please proceed with extreme caution... or don't, if you are ready to be spoiled.

Shall we? Let's get things started!

Fashion Barbie Runway Show

Look, I had a couple Barbies growing up. And while they weren't my favorite toys, I understood the draw of dressing up your handsome Ken doll and fashionable Barbie in fun outfits. And, let's be honest, Barbie always had more variety than Ken.

So, it seems fitting that Lucy and Tim are struggling to choose the perfect outfit for their last first date ever.

Yes, I said it. Tim and Lucy are on an Endgame path, and they are completely aware of it.

Anyway, we see Lucy pull up every significant outfit she's ever worn around Tim (special shout out to the costume department for keeping those around and not selling them off, yet). There's the double date dress, the dance dress, and later the green dress from Lopez's wedding. It's a feast for Chenfordians.

SIDE NOTE: And we have to talk about Tim's bedroom. The crew put a lot of thought into it. Remember, Tim's been married before, and got to keep all the furniture. So, everything matches in tasteful, boring beige (as compared to Lucy's flamboyant, color-filled apartment).

I love that Tim has slippers. I don't know why that detail made me so happy (and the clothes sticking a little haphazardly out of his laundry basket in the closet), but those details help paint a side of the man we've never really seen before. Domestic Tim.

Tim's going through a smattering of the exact. same. shirt. in seventeen colors. And, look, I'll give him props that he has some variety in color to match whatever his date's wearing, but it's terribly on-brand to me for Tim to find the shirt that works and run with it.

Plus, this MUSIC!? "I was overthinking. Are we linking?" Tim and Lucy are definitely overthinking.

Side Note: I am LOVING how they are both tossing the discards on the bed rather than re-hanging them. Because they are so indecisive that they can't bring themselves to completely rule something out, even if they tell themselves that's not the one.

And Tim with the store-bought hangers that he never replaced? Because he probably thinks they're, "Perfectly fine hangers"? I was rolling.

Tim's finally had enough and he picks up the phone to dial Lucy.

Watch. Lucy's. Face.

Girlfriend knows she is taking forever to pick her outfit. She opts for the lie.

"Hi. I'm almost there." "No. No, you're not."

Look. At. Her. FACE! Look at that glee on her face. Because he knows her. She doesn't have to lie to him and worry what he'll think or how he'll react.

"No. I'm not. Sorry. Um, are you?" "No! Uh, look, does this restaurant have a dress code?"

See that twinkle in Lucy's eyes? It's the same twinkle when she laid hands on Tim's radio a few episodes back when he was newly single and she was about to be. Lucy's quickly cooking up a plan.

"Uh, no. I mean, you could wear cargo shorts, if you wanted."

Evil, evil girl. But, oh, how I love this. We're seconds into their first conversation of the night, and they are establishing right away that Tim and Lucy are still Tim and Lucy.

Yes, they're adding a layer to their relationship, but the underpinnings that have been so painstakingly stitched together over the past five-ish seasons remain.

"Really?" "Yeah, I mean, what does it matter as long as your comfortable?" "Nice try." *giggles*

Did. You. Hear. Her. GIGGLES?!

I know I'm pausing a lot on this Meta (and we're about a minute seven into screentime), but that's because this is so insanely delicious that I can't help myself.

I'm the girl who watched in agony hoping for Janeway and Chakotay to have an open-ended end to their romance only for the show to hook him up with 7of9 at the eleventh hour. Besides Mulder and Scully, that was my first major ship. And, to be honest, both left me with some serious trust issues.

So, I went into this episode hoping I would be wrong about so many things. And, folks, I was wrong about so many things. But, we'll get to that later.

Right now, our girl Lucy Chen is giggling because she tried a "gotcha" and he called her on it. And she is so relaxed in this moment that she can embrace the giggle without worrying about any of the boundaries.

Though there are physical boundaries in place (we'll get to those later), the emotional boundaries have completely come down. They're flirting. They're teasing. And it's all out in the open (at least between them) without restraint.

This is unhinged, untied, undone Tim and Lucy from an emotional standpoint. And it's f'ing beautiful.

Also, can we talk about Tim Bradford? I mean, we've seen him happy in relationships, before, but have we ever seen him beaming like this? I don't think so.

"That was clearly a test, and you should know better than to test the master."

Lucy's face is pure, "Yup, that's my boyfriend. He thinks he's so fly" and I am here for it!

Also, Tim in Gold Toe Socks?! I'm fairly sure that's what he's wearing, and that little detail of having super durable, super comfortable socks is so bloody Tim. We don't usually get to see his socks, and I LOVE these little details.

"What are you wearing?" "Yeah, uh, I don't know, yet. But I do have a lot of outfits that I am not going to wear. So..." "Look, well, we are running low on time. Traffic's getting ugly."

Oh, Los Angeles, how I detest your traffic. I once flew into LAX and my ride was two miles away when I called them from the street. Two miles.

One hour later they picked me up. I kid you not. Los Angeles traffic is some of the worst I've ever seen. I remember we went into the office (one of my clients) and it was a ten mile trip that took almost two hours. I am not built for LA traffic, and Tim's line sent a shudder of remembrance down my spine.

Lucy, my lady, it's time to pick a damn dress.

"Yeah, totally. I, it's silly, I just need to make a decision... Ah, yes! The green dress. It is decided."

It was the dress she wore the first time he asked her to save a dance... the first time she had the flicker that he was interested in her as anything other than a fellow officer and former boot. This dress holds significance between them, and it'd be lovely to rewrite its history so it's no longer the dress she wore when Jackson was murdered, but the dress she wore the first time she went out on a date with Tim Bradford.

"Great. Well, I'll see you soon."

He's imagining her in that dress. Remembering her in that dress. He couldn't help himself, even back then. He'd drank in every move of her hips, every hug of fabric against her skin as it swished toward her.

You can see that smile, again. The dazzler. He's dazzled by her, and they aren't even in the same room. That's the power this woman has over him. And he's done resisting its pull.

"Okay. Bye."

She hangs up on him and the music is soft, gentle, hopeful.

Then... nope. She yeets another dress onto the pile and we're back to square one.

The Most Romantic Restaurant in Town

Look, I don't know if this was the director or the script, but sweeping in on all those couples, and the flower arrangements, and the hanging, but dimmed lights? This is a couple's place. This isn't where you take your work friend for dinner. This is where you take your future wife.

And Tim's brought his future wife. But, oh, the boy is feeling awkward now that they're finally out together. Tim sneaks a look at Lucy and she chuckles. She can feel his unease.

"It's good bread." "Yeah. It's such a nice assortment."

Y'all. The Rookie team... we see you! We see you calling out the fan-created Crumb-o-Meter that made my first episodes watching this bloody ship all the more delicious. If you wanted us to know you're stalking our psychotic, borderline-obsessive *ahem* tweets and posts... message received. We'll keep up the good work!

But, seriously, in this moment the awkwardness is on point.

Transitions in life are tough. I'll be honest that with most of my boyfriends, I dove in. With Ernie, he asked to kiss me and we dated for two months (before he dumped me on my birthday over the phone the week of prom). With Sean, he said there was something between us and kissed me in his kitchen. That relationship lasted two weeks because he was moving away.

And before the summer ended, I was locking lips with Travis—whom I'd just met—and I dated him for over a year before realizing we had absolutely nothing in common and I was a stooge for jumping in without taking stock of the situation, first.

So when I met Matthew in the middle of my breakup with Travis... I wanted to do it differently. We spent the summer getting to know one another as friends. I took a romantic relationship completely off the table. Through emails (yes, email), AIM messages (I know... totally dating us), and group dates, I got to know him better and better. We had a budding friendship by the time we finally started dating.

Not the three or so years of Lucy and Tim, but I knew there was something different about my relationship with Matthew from the go. We took everything slower. And I'm so glad we did. It gave me time to savor every second.

Lucy and Tim both know that this is different, and there's a level of awkwardness there as two friends attempt the transition.

"Why is this so weird? We've eaten together literally hundreds of times." "Because our other meals only ever had the promise of being shot at afterwards, you know, not naked time."

I have to be honest with y'all, I did not see Tim saying that. This line leaked early via a journalist with an advance copy (so saying that it "leaked" isn't exactly true since it's the journalist's job to hype up the fanbase). But the journalist didn't attribute the line to either of them. I was shocked to find this came from Tim.

But in the face of the awkwardness they're feeling, it makes sense that he would be searching for words and land on the least romantic ones, God bless him. (Yes, this might seem like a variant on "God bless his heart" but, trust me, in the South they are two very different things. I truly feel for the guy!)

"Naked time? Please, I mean, we've seen plenty of naked people after we ate." "That's not what I-" "No. No. No. I know. I know. I know. I feel like I might... I might just need you to reset your expectations a little bit. You're not going to see me naked for... a while."

I have to stop this here for a couple of reasons. One, Lucy touches Tim's arm when she's saying, "I know". We watched in 5x08 where she struggled not to touch him when they were sitting together outside. Here, on their date, she isn't shying away from that. There's an ease between them, even as they're discussing what might be considered a delicate topic.

Two, I love the way that Tim smiles with her after "a while". There's an ease to it. I can see him having some naked time expectations after she bloody invited him in when they were both seeing other people. But he's listening to her, and he's accepting what she wants wholeheartedly, without question.

So, I don't think Tim was unreasonable in his thought process, originally. However, what I love about this is what happens next.

Also, I love the way that Tim reacts the same way he did to Chris saying he wanted Tim's thoughts—surprised, but ready to listen. It's those little details of this reset that mean so much to me.

"I mean, I don't want to rush into that. I wanna take things slow... go on this date, maybe a second date, have our first real kiss. I just don't think we should jump into bed together just because we know each other so well. Right? I mean, do you?" "No, I... Agreed."

I'm puddling on the floor right now. Y'all, you don't know what consent means to me. I have too many stories for this Meta (y'all'd be running away from me so fast because I wouldn't get to the Chenford for another six pages or so if I got started). But, as a victim of abuse, this is so important to me.

Lucy is setting the expectations here for her and Tim. And he's accepting and agreeing to them without question. This is how it should be, people.

Also, Lucy starts with telling Tim that he's not going to see her naked for a while, but she's also simultaneously telling him that someday he will. This isn't a short-term thing for either of them, and she's making that abundantly clear.

The one thing about Tim is that he knows about all of Lucy's previous relationships (save Nolan) that have happened during her time as an Officer. He knows that with Emmett it was all physical, basically. With Chris, they were "great together" but there was no substance. He's seen how she treats relationships, and, honestly, she hasn't done it with the greatest care or eye toward longevity.

In this speech, Lucy isn't only defining parameters for their physical/sexual relationship. She's also subtly communicating to Tim that she wants to put care into this relationship. She wants to build it up together, the same way they have their friendship. Lucy is telling Tim, "I'm in this for the long haul".

Watch his face just before he says, "Agreed". It's about more than just agreeing to what she's saying, and offering her that much-needed affirmation. It's about making their first major decision together as a couple.

She didn't have to ask him to chime in. Her body is her body and her choice. But she wanted to know that they were on the same page, and he had the opportunity to show her that he is.

In a long-term relationship, communication is the most important binder. Romance is great, but sometimes when you have flames coming out of your ears, you're not that interested in stolen kisses. Passion is great, but when you're cowering on the floor, breaking in half over tragedy, it won't get you anywhere.

Solid communication is the most essential building block to a relationship that lasts. And in this scene, Lucy has told Tim that's what she wants with him, and he knows enough to realize what she's saying beneath the words.

Lucy's face is filled with the same consternation as it was on "it's not worth the risk". She's worried how Tim's going to react. And both times, he reassures her.

It's so brief, so brief, but watch Lucy's eyes after he agrees (and this is all Melissa O'Neil). She's relieved.

As soon as they started talking to one another instead of making small talk, they returned to what has made them great all along—their foundation of understanding one another deeply, and not being afraid to call the other out, or reset the expectations.

Watch the awkwardness evaporate with that… It's the lack of communication that put them on edge. Well, almost all the awkwardness.

"Are you worried someone from the station's gonna walk in?" "What?" "You are!" "No, I-" "Wow." "What are the odds?"

I love this so much. Lucy's calling Tim out, and he's actually a little embarrassed. It's adorable. Tim and Lucy have completely gotten over the awkwardness.

Just in time for... I'm sorry. Are you for real? Seriously? I was just enjoying this adorable couple and y'all couldn't wait for the guests to leave for the night before having it out in the kitchen? Yes, the kitchen is a volatile place, but these two are dating here! Ya know?

Fine. Fine. Have your bloody knife fight. But did anyone else notice how Tim really really didn't want to get involved? He kept hoping for an outcome that wouldn't require them, but the second that dude grabbed the knife, Tim whipped out the gun and badge while Lucy went for a cloth napkin for the wound.

Truly, these two are a power couple, already!

"What are the chances someone from the station walks in now?"

And, too fast for real life (but perfect timing for the joke), the blue and red lights catch Tim and Lucy... red and blue handed.

Look, these two have got to stop racking up reports with both of their names on it when they're not supposed to be together. First Lucy's apartment when Chris was bleeding out, now the restaurant attack.

What on earth will Angela have to say to Timothy now!? (please, please let us find out, soon!)

And what is with these two and knife-attacks-to-the-arms ruining their moments? It's not a good trend.

But can we talk about Lucy's dress? YOWZA! When she stood up and I saw all the amazing back cut outs in addition to the front, I just thought, "Wow, Melissa O'Neil is FIT" and "Lucy looks incredible on this date".

Tim's no slouch, either! The patterned shirt he went with was the best thing in his closet we saw, and I'd kill to have a stomach as flat as Eric Winter's. Well, not kill. I don't want to be arrested while commenting on a cop show. That'd be a little too on the nose.

Before We Move On: I have seen a lot of feedback on the interwebs of people accusing Lucy of inconsistency between 5x01's "Do you want to come in?" and 5x10's "I want to take this slow."

First off, a human being can change their mind about a situation at any time and it not be considered a character flaw or "out of character".

Some nights I'll tell my husband, "As soon as the kids go to bed, you are mine" but by the time the kids go down, I'm too tired to move, let alone engage in "naked time". Does my husband accuse me of being an inconsistent character? Hell, no!

Listen, you can always change your mind about wanting or not wanting sex. We need to get rid of the mindset that if you were hot and bothered one time you're supposed to be permanently hot and bothered, or you're a tease or something. It's an insane way to interpret the situation.

Secondly (yes, I'm finally getting back to the Chenford), Lucy in 5x01 didn't know Tim was emotionally invested. She knew he was physically attracted to her, and she decided to take a leap in the moment. To live in that moment based on the information available.

Even when she's confessing in 5x08 that she's afraid of leaving her "safe" relationship for Tim because it could ruin the most important relationship in her life, she didn't know how he felt.

Yes, she is the one who shut down that talk in 5x01, but that's because she was assuming instead of listening and letting him finish. And assumption is when these two get in trouble (see "naked time" above).

So, in the fullness of her new knowledge, Lucy has made a different decision. She knows that this is endgame as much as he does (though I think he's still so surprised to see Lucy so at ease with all of it considering her history of keeping guys at arms-length after her ex cheated on her while she was living with him).

And it's perfectly okay to change your mind. Lucy changed her mind. Tim amended his expectations to match her wishes because when he does make love with her, he wants her to give herself fully with no trace of anxiety or fear holding her back. He wants her to feel completely cherished, and loved, and he'll wait until the moment she is ready. That is the magic of the moment.

Lucy Chen said, "Not, yet" and Tim said, "Understood. I'm not going anywhere" without saying so many words.

Tim went in with the knowledge that she twice jumped him (girl can be thirsty/assertive), and that she once invited him in.

It was definitely a possibility that they were getting naked after this romantic dinner. He was looking forward to peeling that skin-tight dress right off of her.

But the second she said that wasn't the plan, he rolled with it. And that's sexy as hell.

"This is not strange. Coworkers eat together. It's a thing." "At the most romantic restaurant in town?" "Right."

Our intrepid duo is scrambling. Lucy was making fun of Tim's paranoia over them being caught together, and within thirty seconds they were caught together.

And now it's the fallout. Before, there was no obligation to tell anyone anything or come up with a cover story. Now, they have a choice to make.

And I need to shout out to the director and DP for the staging of this scene. I love Tim and Lucy in their little spot, slightly removed from everyone else, and the sweeping shots where the noise picks up of the chatter of their fellow officers.

The fact that they have Tim and Lucy backed against the wall (heh) means that nobody can cross behind them, and the camera's positioned so we don't have people crossing in front of them. It allows us to focus on them singularly as a pair versus everyone else in the mosh-pit of police work.

"Well, I mean, we could come clean."

Watch Tim's face. It's not that Lucy's had to hide her previous relationships (besides Nolan... and I keep hoping Tim knew something at the time and didn't say anything because he doesn't want to talk about personal stuff in the Shop). But, Lucy's not one to bring dates to events and whatnot.

They've been on one half-date that was interrupted by an assault that resulted in an arrest. And Lucy's talking about letting everyone know that they are officially a couple. That's huge.

Tim can't believe what he's hearing. And even if it's not the right decision right now, it says something to him about how Lucy sees this... that she's not letting one botched date get in the way of them. She's not going anywhere. For goodness sake, she was the first to make them a "we" here!

But... still... there are some issues with coming clean.

"Are you ready for that? Are you ready for Smitty's commentary on us dating or the "ohs" every time we walk into the roll call room together?" "Or, we could lie."

Oh, honey, no. Look, you're a killer UC. We know that. But, when it comes to the people you know and love, you are a terrible liar.

My mind immediately flashes back to Season 1. "You're good at a lot of things. Lying isn't one of them." "You think I'm good at things? Can I get that in writing?"

Like, Lucy, honey. Nooooo. Let Tim do the lying for the both of you. He lied to himself for ages about how he felt. He's a much better liar.

And, to clarify, I understand why they feel they need to lie right now, and it's their relationship. But Lucy shouldn't be the one talking when they do it.

"Uh, yeah, we were there, uh, investigating a tip and then this whole other crime popped off." "Yeah, Lucy's C.I. was convinced they were dealing drugs." "What?" "What?" "Nothing."

Maybe neither of you is good at lying. Yikes.

"Boss wants to see you. Have a safe one."

Oh, Nolan, you don't even realize how scared these two are of walking into that office.

And, I must say that I was wrong, again. Look, folks, I admit when I'm wrong. It's hardwired into who I am because of how I grew up. When this scene dropped, I thought something might be missing, but now I see it was the way they edited the two shot to alternating one-shots that made me think I was missing something.

So, The Rookie, 2. Rachel 0. (and I'm going to lose again, at the end. Stay tuned!)

Tim holds the door for Lucy as they make the transition. I saw on Twitter that Eric Winter insisted on this, and looking back at their relationship, there have been several other instances where Tim has held the door for Lucy. So, this is absolutely in character, and I love that EW insisted upon it. Those little details make the character.

"I think you know how I feel about coworkers dating."

Yikes, Grey! Not even letting them settle into their stances before ripping the band-aid off. And, yes, I'm creating this commentary based on my first time watching the pan-and-scan version of this scene from Twitter.

Because, Rachel was not prepared.

Tim and Lucy glance at one another. Here we go.

"When I started, no one thought much of it. But things have changed. We're more aware of how power dynamics can skew things. Even the most innocent of relationships can be a distraction."

Watch Tim's hand slip off his watch as he fidgets. Tim can be very controlled, and very good at hiding his emotions. But I don't think he was ready for this conversation this soon. Lucy resettles over and over, pressing her lips together as the listens.

And this two-shot is so much better than the split screen they had to do for Instagram formatting. I love seeing the two of them together, united, but mirroring one another's positions while facing Grey—the authority figure behind the desk.

Right now, there's an inequality between Grey's position and theirs. Tim and Lucy are unable to sit and he is permitted to sit and lord over them, like royalty. Grey is the final word, and he's staring down at two very nervous officers.

"Hey, trust me, I get it. We spent 12 hours a day together. Feelings are bound to develop."

Tim looks over to Lucy. She feels his gaze and looks back.

"But we can't afford even the hint of impropriety." "We couldn't agree more."

"We". There it is, again. Some people put a lot of weight into this, wondering if Lucy is afraid that Tim is going to break it off. But I don't think that was ever the issue.

They both know eventually they won't be able to work together as they have... it's impossible. But they want this to last as long as it can.

Tim is saying "we" couldn't agree more. Not "I". Lucy doesn't have to worry about him giving up on her. But I think she knows he's willing to do whatever it takes for something he believes in—and he believes in them.

"Good. Look, I don't want to be the old guy interfering with peoples lives, especially their love life, but this whole Aaron and Celina situation has me worried." "The Aaron and Celina situation."

Tim's surprised face is adorable, but Lucy rolls with it fairly well. They turn to look out at Aaron and Celina. As they do, the camera shifts to a three shot, Grey now standing behind them. They're on a more level playing field, here, flowing with the scene.

Gosh, I love Robert Bella's style as a director. He really lets the camera breathe with the script. I haven't been this excited about a television director since Robert Duncan McNeil started working on Chuck after debuting as a director on Star Trek: Voyager.

Lucy sneaks a glance at Tim, trying to gauge his response before they turn around. He finally meets her eyes with a quick, "Well, that was close" look as they turn back to face Grey.

And, look, I think Grey is on to them. He's not a fool. But, he's also outlining a lot of thoughts in this scene, if we try to see it as him sending them a message.

He's not saying don't date. But he does remind them of the power imbalance (Tim's her SO and a Sergeant). Yet, he calls out the need for Aaron to establish his reputation and for Celina to get through her Probationary period without distractions.

Tim and Lucy will have to deal with their power imbalance.

"Oh, the irony." "Are you gonna talk to Aaron?" "About his love life? Can't wait." "When are you gonna talk to Celina?" "I can't tell her not to date a cop. That is so hypocritical. Oh, I'm gonna get Nolan to do it." "That's cheating." *giggle*

This whole exchange makes me so happy. Here are Tim and Lucy operating as a duo, tasked with a job, and Lucy finds a way to get out of the uncomfortable situation. Tim's "That's cheating" hearkens back to every bet they've ever made.

The subtitles have Lucy saying "mm-hmm", but I swear the first time I heard it (first thirty times I re-watched the scene), it was a giggle. I'm going with giggle.

Because this is the episode where Lucy has the giggles.

"You and Celina dating?"

And Tim, with the subtlety of a Rams fan at a 49er's bar on game-day, reminds us why there's no personal talk in the Shop. Tim's really bad at it.

I'm not going to transcribe Aaron's full response, but I love the way it set Tim on edge. I've talked, before, about how Eric Winter is one of those actors who acts through his fingers and toes. Bruce Willis is one of those, too. Just watch his feet in the early scenes of Die Hard. It's beautiful.

So, when Aaron starts talking about direct reports in a not so subtle hint that he knows all about those types of relationships, Tim gets nervous. It's not that he's afraid of being found out. But the more he's reminded of their biggest issue—one of them will have to leave.

And, don't get me wrong, the show'll probably find a way to work around that by taking Tim out of her chain-of-command but keeping him largely tied to the established team. But right now, Tim's fidgeting on the wheel.

And I swear when I watched it live I thought I heard the engine speeding up with Tim's anxiety.

"Remember this morning when dating in secret was our biggest problem?" "That feels like a million years ago."

Excuse me, ma'am, but isn't your camera on your chest recording everything you say!? I've always been worried about what they say near cameras, but Lucy's throwing caution RIGHT out.

"Did you talk to Aaron?" "Yeah." "And?" "He neither confirmed nor denied." "But?" "But he pointed out that it wouldn't be problematic because he's not her superior and doesn't fall in her chain of command." "Oh."

I get why they don't want to face it. Right now, they only see that as a separation. Those 12 hours a day where they've gotten to know one another, and have been able to see one another, and check on one another, and keep tabs on the other's welfare... gone.

It's a lot to lose even if they get to keep each other.

"Are you sure about this?" "I'm sure he's gonna kill her if we don't do something. Where's my distraction?" "It's ready and waiting."

I can hear Lucy in my head, "I don't like Plan B." But she understands that this is what needs to be done, and that this is their job. Sometimes, they have to put themselves in harm's way, and that a tragic occupational hazard.

But I love how this illustrates that they can still work together, even with the new layer to their relationship. Tim and Lucy are still Tim and Lucy.

"That's the signal."

And the trust that Lucy would be the one to hear the signal, and get everyone else ready to go. They've worked side-by-side for years. They have a natural rhythm there that's been earned. I totally understand why they don't want to lose that.

But it's inevitable... that day is coming. And neither can face it just yet.

"We both can't get out at the same time." "Okay, then you go first." "There's only room for one of us to be a hero, here, and I outrank you." "Sir, with all due respect, Lucy will kill me if I let you die, so I'm dead either way." "Get out of the Shop, Aaron!"

We've seen Aaron comment on the Tim/Lucy thing directly and indirectly, but this is flashing neon lights compared to those other times. He's basically saying, "She will literally murder for you, and I know it, and I don't want it to be me."

And I have to stop to applaud Aaron's ingenuity in finding a way to save Tim, too. Tim accepts his fate. He's military-trained, and he's a seasoned cop who understands the risks he takes every day.

But it wasn't his day to die, my friends. Not today.

"Well, I'm glad you didn't die."

This. Transition! I'm salivating over that transition from one scene to the next, through the glass. I'll admit, I'm a big fan of scenes that overlap and allow us to trade from one conversation to the next. It has always made me feel more like the world was real, and we were walking through it rather than bouncing around through non-stop scene-shifts.

No, you can't do this all the time. It'd become tired out. But, I love the choice, here. Again, I don't know if it was the writer, the director, or someone else who saw the opportunity and seized it, but I'm so glad they did!

"You owe me a redo on our date." "It's what gave me the will to live."

He's needling her. He's so needling her and it's so adorable. I know they have a lot of incredible scenes in this episode, but this one gave me all the feels.

This is secret dating era at its finest. Walking side-by-side and speaking words just for the other while knowing there's so much more going on under the surface. And I am here for it!

I love how he looks at her, waiting to see if he's going to get a reaction. Oh, she gives him a reaction!

"In my mind, I'm hitting you right now." "That's good to know."

Heart. Exploding. The cuteness!

PAUSE: Before we get to the end scene, can we talk about Nyla and James choosing Angela and Wesley to raise their daughter!? As soon as the conversation came up I was screaming at the television, "Pick Angela and Wesley!" And I'm so glad they did.

The power couples of The Rookie really got to show up and show out this week, and I wanted to acknowledge these four, too, even if they're not the focus of our Meta.

"I've been falling apart these days," says the music as we transition to a crane shot, establishing twinkle lights in trees (and those hanging bulb-style ones that I've been coveting for my new backyard ever since we moved in).

We sweep past the... is that a food truck!? Was I actually right about one thing in this bloody episode!? My only prediction that came true was that Tim and Lucy would try to have their date, things would go wrong, and they'd end up at a food truck. I'll take the win since everything else's been a loss for me, predictions-wise.

The Rookie 2, Rachel 1.

We sweep over to Tim and Lucy in the most casually-intimate (it's a thing) position with those high stools. Tim's got his let completely wrapped on the other side of Lucy's, and one of hers is crossed with a foot on his chair.

They don't wear fashionable clothes. Lucy's hair isn't styled. The conditions are less structured and more beautifully chaotic, like the twinkle lights dangling just shy of perfection—but no less perfect in that imperfection.

Tim and Lucy are at ease.

This is the heart of Tim and Lucy's transition. Before, they were trying to do it without all the information on the table, and within the confines of what they thought they needed.

Instead, they've found themselves in metal chairs exposed to the elements, facing the less-than-romantic view of a parking lot, and they couldn't be happier.

I must observe that they don't eat or drink a thing during this scene. The props are simply props, and I always find it fascinating when a scene calls for actual eating versus the implication of eating.

"Streets of Vietnam." *giggle* "That's where we ended up."

For some reason, the caption says "Treats of Vietnam" even though Eric Winter clearly emphasizes the "S" on "Streets".

But, if you're following along and hard of hearing or deaf, I wanted to make that clarification. His words, indeed, do match the signage on the food truck.

And Lucy is giggling, again.

"So, I guess this is our official first date." "Mmm, last night was. For sure. I mean, it's a better story for the grandkids."

Watch. Tim's. Face. He dated Ashley for ages before finding out she had no interest in marriage or kids—two things that mean a lot to him.

And Lucy, beautiful Lucy, is telling him on their second date that she can't wait to share this story with their grandkids.

And I've seen people say, "Oh, what happened to taking it slow?" Welp, you can be in an emotional place separate from a physical place, and that's just fine. She wants to savor every second of this.

This relationship is full of "last firsts". Last first date. Last first kiss. Last first time sleeping together.

If you knew that going into a relationship, wouldn't you want to savor every second? Really live in the moments to form lasting memories rather than rushing through?

"We've got grandkids, now." *giggle* "Nice."

Ooooh, the giggling has got me in a chokehold!

And I'm floored by the confidence Lucy has with Tim. Before, we saw so much hesitation from her in taking big steps, especially with Chris. Hell, I don't know that I recall her ever calling him her "boyfriend".

With Tim, none of that exists. Yes, they had some butterflies to get through in the beginning. But part of what makes this relationship work is how it has been earned and built.

They didn't start day one of their Rookie/TO relationship making moony-eyes at one another. They built layers over time, like the most beautiful crepe tower cake.

Yes, I know it's a weird metaphor, but I like baking shows. And the best part about a crepe tower cake is that you make each crepe one at a time before binding it to the others to form a stack. And sometimes the crepes aren't the prettiest. You might burn one a little. But it still goes into the stack, and it still helps build a beautiful finished product.

Tim and Lucy have built this relationship bit by bit. That's why everything rings true so effortlessly, now.

"Do not break into that car."

I. Started. CACKLING. Much as the cold open had me in stitches, this is the line that slays me every time. Crochety, worn-out Tim comes out on that line.

It's like, "Look, do you see this stunningly gorgeous, amazing, tough-as-nails woman beside me? I'd like to have one date, just ONE where I'm not pulling out cuffs for work purposes".

"Hey, moron!"

Foley artist, I love you. Or if it was recorded audio at the scene, I love whoever did that because even the SOUND of the metal clanging as the perp retreats had me in stitches. This was such a beautiful moment for so many reasons.

First of all, Tim is always going to be Tim. Thank God. I abhor when shows destroy the characters the second they get in a relationship (no, I'm not naming names... Metas make you squeel and laugh. We don't need the negativity, here).

Second, Tim just made the choice to be a man instead of a cop in this moment. Now, if it was a dangerous criminal, I'm sure Tim would have done something, as he did on their first date. But, for Tim "Supercop" Bradford to choose the girl... it's such a huge metaphor for what's coming.

Tim's job has seemed like the most important thing for so long, especially since he finally went after Sergeant, and continues to work despite being eligible for Retirement. But some things matter more.

Friends, Lucy matters more.

"You know, he's just going to break into a car in a different neighborhood." "Well, then some other cop can arrest him."

Pause. Just pause right here and look at Tim's face as he gazes upon Lucy. That twinkle is back in his eyes. And, yes, I'm aware it's probably studio lights set up for this shot. Don't ruin my magic!!

But Tim Bradford is finally looking into the eyes of a woman who will love him as much as he will love her. She will call him on his bullshit, care for his wounds, follow him into the fire, and stand by his side through whatever life throws at them.

They both knew that when they took this leap, they could never, ever go back. It's a constant plunge into the unknown, and with every level deeper they go, it only cements their bond.

Tim and Lucy were never going to work as friends-with-benefits, or a casual thing. They're Endgame. And they both know it.

He reaches for her face with his left hand. The same hand that wanted to hold her face the first time they kissed, but hesitated. He's telegraphing his moves and giving her space to pull back, to tell him to stop, to let him know she's not ready.

But Lucy is ready for this next step.

His right hand resting somewhere between her knee and thigh, the other hand tangling in her hair as he gently tugs her toward him, he leans in for their last first kiss—together.

And Lucy smiles before their lips touch, because this is so damn sweet. This is the beginning of yet another phase for them. And as they share that beautiful moment, we fade to black.

And here we have the last thing I was wrong about—the episode didn't end with Lucy covered in blood.

Look, I called the kiss (so I hope that balances things out a little), but I have a lot of ship trauma. For goodness sake, look at Wash and Zoe from Firefly/Serenity. He wasn't a leaf on the wind... he was a corkboard for the world's largest push-pin.

So, I was pleasantly surprised we faded out to black with our favorite couple intact and happy.

One thing that The Rookie has done really well with its core relationships is allowing them to face issues as a couple.

Nyla and James were rockstars at the bank, but they also worked through the very real issue of who should care for their child in the event of their death. That's something all parents grapple with.

And then Wesley and Angela working through the conversations of when (and whether) to add children to their family. I suffer from infertility, so all three of our children were planned for, prayed for, and provided by nice doctors with catheters and egg timers (I wish I was joking about that last part).

So whatever Tim and Lucy are going to face, I have confidence that they will face it together. They aren't going to suddenly stop communicating, break up, and date other people. This is Season 5B and as of yet, there's no assurance of a Season 6. It's the perfect time to cement them as a couple, explore the obstacles they overcome, and allow the fans to bask in the breadsticks (double breadsticks according to the Roll-o-Meter).

Because, y'all, we ATE.

As always, thank you for reading. This one was a lot of fun to watch and write. And, special shout out to my husband who let me squirrel away for the hour (which is right at our kids' bedtime) so I could squeal in real-time!

See y'all on the next!

#Chenford #Tim x Lucy #Lucy x Tim #Tim Bradford #Lucy Chen #The Rookie #Eric Winter #Melissa O'Neil #Chenford Meta #The Rookie Meta

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