#and then spent a while mutually complaining with Casey | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sylvain-writes · 3 years

Text

Thanksgiving (Raphael x Casey)

Rated: T M/M, friends to lovers, love confessions, thanksgiving, Casey can cook, light angst and fluff, mutual pining

The couch groaned in protest as Raphael flopped himself upon it. "Ugh," he sighed, laying a hand over his stomach, "I don't think I can move."

"Seriously?" Casey followed him in from the kitchen, still holding a tea towel and raising his eyebrows in disbelief. "I spent all day in there cooking my ass off, but you- You, you don't think you can move? Unbelievable."

"Come sit down, will ya?"

"There's a mess in there. I cook, you clean, remember.? We had a deal, man."

"Yes, dear."

"Don't ‘yes dear’, ‘schmess dear’ me." Casey tossed the towel over his shoulder and sat down hard on Rapahel's extended legs. "You look like you're about to pass out."

"Leave the dishes, man. I'll get to them later. Right now I need a nap, seriously."

"That's fucked up, Raph."

"It ain't."

Casey squirmed on Raph's knees and Raphael scooted down to adjust their fit on the couch. It put Casey in his lap and Raph tried not to enjoy the pressure of him on his thighs. He and Casey were friends, nothing more. The way Casey stayed close these days. The way his eyes lingered on Raphael when they worked out. Those were just things Raph was imagining.

Raph had been acting strange around Casey and he knew it. Casey knew it. Hell, his brothers knew it, and he hadn't even brought Casey around them in weeks.

Maybe that was the problem. He’d stopped bringing Casey around the Lair. They'd been spending time at the apartment, they'd gone out to patrol together, they'd trained a bit together, but Raph stopped bringing Casey down to the sewers.

Part of the reason was because of his brothers' watchful eyes. They'd be able to see Raphael was being different with Casey now. But part of it was because Raph worried Casey didn't like it down there.

Casey was always one to speak his mind, and he poked fun of Raph's cluttered bedroom. He asked why, in a sewer full of empty spaces, Raph still shared a room with Mikey. He asked why they kept furniture made of old pizza boxes instead of upgrading to hand-me-down dumpster dives or stuff from second-hand shops.

And Raphael didn't want to answer. He didn't want to tell Casey that the room was cluttered because Raph had a problem letting things go. He was afraid to admit that out loud, because things weren't the only thing Raph was afraid to lose. He was afraid to lose people, too. Especially after losing his father. And Casey was high up on the list of people he didn't want to lose. But if Casey knew that, Raphael worried it would somehow scare him off.

Casey didn't like to be held down. Raphael could see that. Casey didn't keep much around. His apartment was sparse. His contact list was short. He was going to spend Thanksgiving alone because he didn't speak with his family anymore. How he could give up relationships with family, Raphael didn't understand. Casey didn't explain. And Raphael didn't ask.

Raph didn't want to say the reason he held Mikey close was because his little brother somehow kept him safe from nightmares. It was strange, the first night they slept apart. Well, sleep isn't the right word for it.

The first night they tried separate rooms, after puberty dictated they definitely needed some privacy, neither of the brothers got much sleep. Raphael tossed and turned, waking in cold sweats. When he started screaming in his dreams, it was Mikey who rushed to his bedside, and eased him awake with soft pets to his arm. They didn't bother trying to sleep apart after that. Mikey said he had trouble sleeping away from Raph as well, but Raphael always wondered if that was because Raphael had kept him awake or if Mikey really had been restless on his own.

And the reason their family kept old furniture they made themselves was because none of them could risk a trip to a second-hand store. Sure, it seemed like they made good for themselves. There was a pizza parlor that was friendly. They didn't ask questions about the big guys in strange trench coats and hats that ordered take out a few days a week. And there was the Chinese place that slipped them extra orange chicken whenever Mikey went to pick up their order. And the herbalist who definitely knew they were mutants, but kept their suspicions quiet, passed them satchels of tea along with the things they ordered.

If Casey knew these things, he wouldn't want to spend time with them. He wouldn't want to waste his time with some hoarder who still needed his baby brother to help him through nightmares like he was some little kid afraid of the dark. Monsters under the bed and all that. No matter that Casey and the guys knew first hand that monsters were real.

"What are you thinking about? Looks like it hurts."

Raphael didn't want to admit that it really did. His chest ached as he looked down at Casey in his lap. Casey who just wouldn't understand. Casey, the one person Raphael desperately wanted to be understood by. Instead of answering, Raphael turned and dumped Casey onto the floor.

The man landed on his feet but made a grunt of indignance at the affront. "You really gonna leave the mess for me?"

"Nah, I told ya. I'll get to it later."

Casey looked over his shoulder toward the kitchen and made a deep sigh. The sour look on his face did things to Raphael's stomach. Casey looked disappointed and hurt. Two things Raphael never wanted to be the cause of.

Raphael swung his legs over the couch and pushed himself to stand. "Alright alright, I'm up. I'm up." There wasn't that much to clean, Raph thought. But when he reached the small table in the kitchen, Raphael let out a long whistle. But he didn't complain.

Casey looked like he was gearing up for a fight, like he was waiting for Raphael to protest.

But Raphael didn't dare, and a part of him twisted sharp at the thought that Casey thought so little of him, that he'd really leave the mess after Casey put together such an impressive spread.

When it looked like Casey was going to help, when he reached for the ramekins of bread pudding, caked and crusty with the remnants of dessert, Raphael quickly grabbed them from the table.

"Said I'd do it," Raphael reminded him. But Casey didn't look convinced and that hurt. "Dude, come on."

Raphael carefully placed the ramekins in the sink, still impressed and surprised Casey had that kind of dishware in the apartment he could afford alone on a detective's salary. Raphael wondered if he should say something about the place. It was nice, if sparse. A modern ‘less is more’ kind of feel.

Raphael wasn’t sure he had ever mentioned he was happy for Casey getting the promotion. That he was proud of him. But that was stupid right? You couldn’t be proud of someone for something you had no part of, right?

Sensei was proud when the turtles succeeded because he trained them. Leo expressed pride when his brothers did well because he was the oldest and led them.

But Casey's older. He's independent. He's his own man and fully capable of surviving and thriving without some guy hanging on his every word and telling him how great he is all the time. So Raph kept the words to himself.

Instead, he took Casey by the shoulders, sat him on a stool at the short breakfast bar, and turned to grab the can of coffee from the counter.

Casey looked up at Raphael with a quirked eyebrow and a curled lip, and Raphael tried not to think of his confusion as something sweet. As something cute. He tried not to think about how much he’d like to kiss those lips and make them smile.

Raphael turned away from Casey wondering if he had any right to think he could make Casey smile with a kiss.

Maybe a sad one. A smile of pity and apology. A smile that said, Sorry, man. I like you and all. You’re a real pal. Just not like that.

Raphael peeled the lid off of the coffee tin and set a filter into the machine.

“Little early for a coffee break when ya haven’t even gotten started.”

Raphael could have made a joke, he could have scoffed, but he said, “It’s for you,” and his voice was so much softer than he had intended.

The energy in the room shifted just a bit and Raphael’s heart rate quickened. There were butterflies in his chest - and weren’t they supposed to be in his stomach? But, no, there was definitely discomfort in his chest and he wondered if he was going to have a fucking heart attack having let three words slip with that voice.

“Oh.” Casey said, and Raphael thought, no, it was Casey’s tone that was set to kill him. “Thanks.”

It was that little word that reminded Raphael it was the holiday for being grateful and he hadn’t told Casey how good everything was, how tasty and cozy and how thankful he was that he got some time away from his brothers. Thankful he had a hot meal with his best friend instead of cold pizza while his brothers argued over which remote they could play with - despite them having assigned controllers since they were kids.

Raphael struggled to find words that didn’t sound too… too… he wasn’t sure. Too desperate maybe. Too flowery or stupid.

He didn’t want Casey to think he was poking fun. Because today was impressive and clearly took hours to prepare. Forethought and recipes and care. Planning and trips to the grocery store with intent. Raph wanted to acknowledge that work, but if he did that, he worried Casey was gonna think he’s getting soft.

They didn't do ‘soft’. They argued and threw punches when things got too much. They joked and called each other out on bullshit. They poked fun at each other. But they never touched an insecurity once it was revealed. And they never pushed when the other wanted to be left alone.

And apparently they cooked now. Casey cooked. And Raph cleaned. Well, Raph was supposed to be cleaning.

Raph filled the reservoir with water and set the coffee to drip. He put out two mugs on the counter even though he couldn’t stand the taste of the dark roast Casey bought. And he finally turned to the table to grab dishes for scrubbing.

When he added the leftover sweet potato casserole to the half-empty dish of green beans, Raph let slip a small phrase of praise. “This stuff was real sweet.”

“Yeah, it uh, got marshmallow on top.”

“Oh.” Raphael said and too late realized that he shouldn’t have messed up the dish by nesting it inside the dirty dish of green beans. “You got those plastic box things?”

“Tupperware?”

“I guess.”

Casey slid off his stool and grabbed a set from the cabinet. It was neatly organized by shape and size. And Raphael knew that he and Casey would never fit like that. Raph was too messy. He had his own method of organization, but it had never been orderly like that. Even if he wanted to straighten up his room, he wouldn’t know where to start.

Raph took the container with a hum and spooned the slop into it. Popped on the top and set it aside. “Bet Leo would like it.”

“It wasn’t too sweet?”

“Nah. He, uh, likes that stuff. Always puts extra honey in tea and syrup on pancakes.”

“What about you? Did you like it?”

“It was alright.” Raph figured that probably wasn’t the best answer, but he didn’t want to lie. The sweet potatoes with marshmallow were too sweet for his taste. But the corn muffins were nice and fluffy, and they tasted enough like butter that he ate them all on their own. And the butternut squash soup Casey made for the first course left him wanting to lick the bowl.

But how could he tell him that without sounding like he didn’t appreciate everything else. “Everything was good, Case. You, uh, really outdone yourself, y’know?”

Raphael didn’t look at him. Didn’t see the flush upon Casey’s cheeks as he turned to rest his elbows on the counter. He didn’t notice the way Casey twiddled his thumbs and picked at his cuticles.

“Yeah?”

The dishes clattered in the sink and Raphael drizzled soap over the lot of them. The casseroles had to be hand washed in batches. The sink was too shallow and small to hold everything. And no dishwasher in the apartment. “Sure. Never had anything like that before.”

“The turkey was dry.”

Raphael shrugged his shoulders. He liked the turkey well enough. “It was fine.”

“The beans burned.”

The tops were a little crispy, but Raphael had actually enjoyed the combination of textures. “You watch a lot of cooking shows or something?”

“Huh?” Casey looked up from his hands and over his shoulder to where Raphael washed the dishes. Raph glanced at him with a question in his eyes.

“You cook real good. Do you watch that cooking channel?”

“Oh. No. The, um, the… there was classes.”

“Ya took cooking classes?” Raphael bit his tongue after he asked, knowing the question came out all wrong. He was impressed, surprised, but the way he said it sounded judgmental and he didn’t mean it that way at all.

“Wasn’t gonna live off take out,” Casey countered.

And Raph shrugged. That was fair. Casey knew that even Raphael couldn’t stand night after night of fast food.

Ever since he started getting invited to Casey’s for dinner, Raph looked forward to their meals. Raph just didn’t realize how much work went into things like this. Casey always had everything cleaned up and ready to reheat by the time Raph showed up. Granted, Raph usually showed up around 3 AM with a ravenous appetite and ate all of Casey’s leftovers, but Casey didn’t seem to mind. Today was the first time Raph saw Casey ‘in action’. Slaving away over the burners and checking on the oven. Timing everything just right so nothing went cold while the rest cooked. It was amazing, now that Raph was really thinking about it.

“You think you could teach me sometime?”

It wasn’t even about cooking down at the Lair. While that would be nice, Raph would probably be roped into making the same thing his brothers always ate. And that didn’t appeal to him. Not really. Not now that Raphael knew there were so many other flavors out there to be enjoyed.

Truthfully, Raph would have liked to repay Casey with a meal himself. Maybe trade off nights one day. If he ever got good enough to make something edible.

“Teach you to cook? I dunno if you could handle it man. Takes patience and attention to detail.”

“You don’t think I got patience?” Raphael had to laugh, but it was a sad thing.

He’d been waiting for Casey to notice him for months now. And as far as Raphael could see, Casey was just as clueless to Raphael’s feelings for him as he had ever been. So, Raph waited.

Maybe one day Casey would see him as more than a friend. Maybe not. But friendship was good. Friendship kept them close. Allowed Raph to keep Casey safe when he went out on some harebrained scheme or got it in his head to take on criminals by himself. Raphael could keep an eye on him. As long as they remained friends, Casey would never truly be alone.

Casey didn’t answer the question, so Raphael didn’t say anything more.

Raph cleaned the kitchen in quiet until the coffee maker gave one long annoying beep to announce it was done. Raphael rinsed his hands under the water and dried them on the towel tucked into the waistband of his slacks, before going over to pour Casey a cup.

When Raphael brought over the mug, filled to the top, no need to leave room for milk since Casey drinks it black, Raphael sees Casey watching him curiously.

“I could teach ya a few things, I guess.”

Raphael shrugged and the coffee sloshed dangerously toward the lip of the mug. He carefully set it down on the counter before looking up to meet Casey’s gaze. “The soup. That was my favorite.”

“There’s more in the pot,” Casey offered, standing up, “I could heat some up.”

“Dude, I meant what I said about being full. Everything was good. But, if I had to choose one thing. The soup. And maybe the muffins. So, a’right, two things, I guess.”

“...you’re a muffin man,” Casey teased, easing himself back onto the stool.

Raphael sneered. “Shut the fuck up, Jones.”

With that, the tension in the room broke and Casey went on to poke fun at Raphael as he washed the dishes. “Put your back into it, sweetheart. I wanna see my reflection in that glass.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll make it shine. Maybe then you’ll see you’ve had creamed spinach dryin’ on ya forehead for the past hour.”

“You asshole. Why didn’t you tell me?” Casey rubbed at his forehead, missing the smear, and Raphael bit back his chuckle.

“Green looks good on you.”

Casey’s eyes narrowed at that, and Raphael swallowed hard wondering if he said something wrong.

The intensity of Casey’s gaze made Raphael want to take a step back and a step forward, and he didn’t know upon which impulse to act. So instead he stood stock still.

When Casey took a step toward him, Raphael was grateful he didn't have to be the one to choose.

Raph lifted his hand to wipe the smear from Casey’s face, but Casey told him, “Leave it.” Told him, “I like a little green on me.”

Raphael couldn’t hold his gaze at that. “Shit, Jones. Ya can’t say shit like that when ya-” Raphael’s train of thought disappeared into fog when Casey grabbed him by the neck, pulled him forward for a kiss.

It was hard and fast, and over too soon. Casey pulled back, and Raphael held his eyes shut a little longer, wondering what he’d see when he opened them. Raph held his breath and Casey’s hand tightened around the back of his neck as they each waited for the other to make the next move.

Raphael’s green eyes opened slowly. “That all ya got?” And he took Casey’s face with both hands, dragging him into a searing kiss that knocked Casey off-balance in more ways than one.

#tmnt #raphael #casey jones #raphael x casey jones #rasey #i've been working on a different thanksgiving rasey fic but uh this happened also #better title later maybe

109 notes · View notes

geronimo-11 · 4 years

Note

john & casey for the ship thing? :3

Of course! Thank you so much for asking! :)

PRE-RELATIONSHIP

How did they first meet?

-Casey met John when she went in to work a shift at the Spread Eagle one night. He had been sending offers to buy her family’s house to her mother, who has early onset Alzheimers, and eventually started sending men over when he didn't get a response. He - unintentionally - scared Casey's mother to death and it pissed. Her. Off. So, when Mary-May told her who he was, Casey walked over to him and made sure he knew he and his men were entirely unwelcome at their house.

What was their first impression of each other?

-Casey thought John was a cocky jackass. John thought Casey was attractive, but also bold, stubborn, and even a bit naive.

Did any of their friends or family want them to get together?

-Yes and no. None of Casey's friends in the Resistance wanted them to get together. They knew that the two of them had had some weird fling before everything went to shit, but they all assumed Casey had put it behind her after Joseph's arrest. Jacob was against their relationship from the beginning. He didn’t want John and Casey involved in something that would end up in them both getting hurt. It would piss him off and break Joanna's heart. Joseph was a little too eager for Casey and John to get together. He knew there was something special about this new Deputy, and after his vision about John's death he was absolutely on board with his little brother being with someone who could love him and teach him how to love. Joanna didn't know anything about their relationship until Casey told her after the Reaping had started, and she was too shocked to really have an opinion.

Who felt romantic feelings first?

-John. He felt the first pull of attraction when she yelled at him in the Spread Eagle, and at first he just wanted to sleep with her. It's not until they get to know each other better that he realizes he may be feeling something more.

Did either of them try to resist their feelings?

-Casey does, because she has so many hang-ups about relationships in the first place, but also because of how complicated their relationship becomes after she tries to arrest his brother. She knows he's doing horrible things and that she shouldn't feel the way she does about him, but she also can't help it, either. John wants them to be together from the first instant Casey hints she may like him more than she originally let on, and he's very persistent about it.

If you had told one of them that the other would be their soulmate, what would they think?

-Casey would probably groan and complain about how of course her soulmate would be the greasiest, cockiest bastard to ever set foot in Montana. "He's probably grinning about it right now. Smug son of a bitch." John would probably be more accepting. He would probably be more intrigued at the fact he has a soulmate in the first place than who it is. The Duncan's told him he was too full of sin for God to ever give him something as sacred as a soulmate, so he's certainly not going to let her slip away now.

GENERAL

Who initiated the relationship, and how did it go?

-I would say John, because he initiated all of their flirting, but Casey's the one who finally caves and says "okay yeah let's do this". They weren't public about their relationship, it mainly consisted of Casey spending nights and weekends at John's ranch and the two of them meeting in town by "coincidence" and having lunch or dinner together. Casey knows how quickly gossip in a small town spreads, and if their relationship didn't work out she didn't want there to be too much talk about how or why it ended. For the most part their relationship went pretty well. Casey was impressed with how easily John handled all of her shit, and when he stuck around she found herself opening up to him more and more. They had a bit of a falling out when she decided to leave for training so she could apply to the Sheriff's Department, and when she comes back and sees what Eden's Gate has done to the county, she knows for sure there's no way they can just pick up where they left off.

Did they have an official first date? If so, what was it like?

-They don't technically have an "official" first date. John kind of corners Casey at the Spread Eagle one night -- she's not working, just hanging out -- and buys her dinner and a drink. It's the first night where they both sort of let their guard down and just talk.

What was their first kiss like?

-Intense, a little sloppy, and unexpected. It's during the Testy Festy and there's music playing, and Casey may have had one bourbon too many when she spots John trying to make his way through the mayhem. So she drags him over to dance. It's in the midst of trying to get John to actually dance with her that she realizes how blue his eyes are and hey, ya know what, he's actually really attractive, and she just... goes for it. It's a lot of pent up attraction mixed with alcohol.

Were they each other’s first anything (kiss, relationship, etc.)?

-I feel like Casey is probably John's first love. I don't think he ever dated when he was in high school, the Duncan's probably strongly discouraged anything that could possibly lead to sin, and after they died he never really wanted a relationship. Just fling after fling to try and fill the void. Casey is the first person he ever takes the time to get to know, and let's get to know him, outside of his brothers.

What’s their height difference? Age difference?

-Casey is about 5'6", John is around 5'10", and there's a six year age gap between them (Casey is 27 and John is 32).

What’s their relationship with each other’s families?

-John never really gets to know Casey's mother that well, and she probably wouldn't remember him if he tried. He has a strained relationship with Joanna. Since Jacob and Joseph have both talked about her a lot, he knows she took care of him and his brothers when they were little, but he was too young to remember any of that. All he knows is that to him, at least, she's a stranger. And she's a stranger who is trying to get too close, too fast.

Casey finds Joseph creepy, and has little desire to get to know him any better than she already does -- no matter what Joanna and John tell her. At first, she has a mutual respect for Jacob. She's not crazy about him and they've never had a conversation long enough for her to form a solid opinion, but he cares about Joanna and that means a lot to her. After she's spent some time going through his trials, though, it's a different story. She hates how smug and superior he sounds, and she'd love nothing better than to punch him in his stupid ginger face. As for Faith, Casey likes her most out of all of John's siblings. Maybe it's the fact they're not really related.

Who takes the lead in social situations?

-John, but Casey doesn't mind. She'd rather not deal with it in the first place, and he's a naturally social person, so it works out.

Who gets jealous easier?

-This would have to be John, again. Like I said, Casey is the first person outside of his brothers that he's willingly let get close. When he sees her with other people he gets scared she'll find someone else and he'll get left behind.

LOVE

Who said “I love you” first?

-John did. It's after Joseph's arrest and Casey goes to his ranch to tell him off, and as he's trying to convince her to stay it just slips out.

What are their primary love languages?

-John: Physical touch, words of affirmation, receiving gifts -Casey: Words of affirmation, acts of service, quality time

How often do they cuddle/engage in PDA?

-They don't cuddle very often because Casey just can't sit still long enough. She also isn't big on physical touch, which is one of John's top three love languages and a source of many arguments discussions. She’s not totally against touch ever, just not all the time. However, if she's had enough to drink or she's just in the mood, Casey has no problem with a little PDA. Especially after everyone finds out they're together, she has a habit of just grabbing John and kissing him wherever they are if she's feeling it. John doesn't complain, but other people do.

What are their favorite things to do together?

-They love to spend time in John's hangar, music playing in the background, Casey working on her bike and John working on his plane. They'll spend hours in there just talking.

Who’s better at comforting the other?

-Neither of them are very good at comforting people, but they both make an effort to be there when they know the other is having a particularly hard day. Casey tends to ramble and stroke John's hair/hug him in order to distract him, and John will sit and listen while Casey vents about whatever is bothering her.

Who’s more protective?

-I'd say they're pretty equal. Neither of them have a problem with acting on their emotions (John is more calculated but still prone to emotional outbursts as we've seen) and if they think the other is in physical danger, or even being disrespected, they're quick to step in.

Do they prefer verbal or physical affection?

-Casey prefers verbal affection while John prefers physical. They try and make sure the other feels wanted and loved regardless, but sometimes it's hard when John wants to cuddle and Casey just wants to talk.

What are some songs that apply to their relationship, in-universe or otherwise?

-I also have a playlist for them as well, so I'll try and stick to my top five songs from their playlist:

No Light, No Light by Florence + the Machine

Bitter Water by The Oh Hellos

It Will Come Back by Hozier

War of Hearts by Ruelle

Take Me to Church by Hozier

What kind of nicknames do they call each other?

-John uses the typical ones "My dear" and "Darling", but Casey doesn't really use nicknames. She might say "babe" or something, but she'll usually just call John by name.

DOMESTIC LIFE

If they get married, who proposes?

-John proposes in the bunker. They didn't have much in the way of rings, but after dinner in their room one night he just got down on one knee and asked her.

What’s the wedding like? Who attends?

-I don't even know if it could be considered a wedding, really. More a celebration with a very, very small ceremony. They have Joseph marry them, and Jacob, Joanna, and Faith are in attendance, but that's it.

How many kids do they have, if any? What are they like?

-They have one daughter named after Casey's mother, Marian "Mari" Seed. She's a bit of a spitfire and a daredevil like her mother, much to John's dismay, but she's more calculated about her actions, like John. Which, honestly, probably makes her stunts more dangerous than Casey's.

Do they have any pets?

-Pre-collapse Casey counted Boomer as hers. Post-collapse she just sort of feeds and takes care of whatever friendly animals come to their house, which drives John up the wall. He's not really a pet person.

Who’s the stricter parent?

-John, but only by a hair. It's mostly because he's trying to keep Mari from getting hurt or killing herself, and Casey's busy cheering on whatever stunt her daughter has come up with from the sideline. Any other time it's usually Casey.

Who kills the bugs in the house?

-Both of them, neither are really bothered by bugs.

How do they celebrate holidays?

-I'm just going to assume the rest of these will be happening post-collapse, so they celebrate as well as they can. Casey tries to scrounge together decorations, because holidays are important to her and John's never really had good experiences with holidays, and now they have Mari to think about. She does her best, with Joanna's help, to make every holiday at least a little fun.

Who’s more likely to convince the other to come back to sleep in the morning?

-John. He's not the type to sleep until noon, but Casey gets up too early in his opinion. Sometimes he just wants to lay in bed for a while and hold his wife, but it takes an awful lot of coaxing to do so.

Who’s the better cook?

-John, again. Not that Casey can't cook, John just happens to be better at it. She's more than willing to let him take the reigns, though.

#my ocs #oc asks #oc: casey rook #casey/john

4 notes · View notes

bountyofbeads · 4 years

Text

‘Angels’ in Hell: The Culture of Misogyny Inside Victoria’s Secret https://nyti.ms/31fz0BT

‘Angels’ in Hell: The Culture of Misogyny Inside Victoria’s Secret

A Times investigation found widespread bullying and harassment of employees and models. The company expresses “regret.”

By Jessica Silver-Greenberg, Katherine Rosman, Sapna Maheshwari and James B. Stewart | Published Feb. 1, 2020, 10:58 a.m. ET | New York Times | Posted February 1, 2020 |

Victoria’s Secret defined femininity for millions of women. Its catalog and fashion shows were popular touchstones. For models, landing a spot as an “Angel” all but guaranteed international stardom.

But inside the company, two powerful men presided over an entrenched culture of misogyny, bullying and harassment, according to interviews with more than 30 current and former executives, employees, contractors and models, as well as court filings and other documents.

Ed Razek, for decades one of the top executives at L Brands, the parent company of Victoria’s Secret, was the subject of repeated complaints about inappropriate conduct. He tried to kiss models. He asked them to sit on his lap. He touched one’s crotch ahead of the 2018 Victoria’s Secret fashion show.

Executives said they had alerted Leslie Wexner, the billionaire founder and chief executive of L Brands, about his deputy’s pattern of behavior. Some women who complained faced retaliation. One model, Andi Muise, said Victoria’s Secret had stopped hiring her for its fashion shows after she rebuffed Mr. Razek’s advances.

A number of the brand’s models agreed to pose nude, often without being paid, for a prominent Victoria’s Secret photographer who later used some pictures in an expensive coffee-table book — an arrangement that made L Brands executives uncomfortable about women feeling pressured to take their clothes off.

The atmosphere was set at the top. Mr. Razek, the chief marketing officer, was perceived as Mr. Wexner’s proxy, leaving many employees with the impression he was invincible, according to current and former employees. On multiple occasions, Mr. Wexner himself was heard demeaning women.

“What was most alarming to me, as someone who was always raised as an independent woman, was just how ingrained this behavior was,” said Casey Crowe Taylor, a former public relations employee at Victoria’s Secret who said she had witnessed Mr. Razek’s conduct. “This abuse was just laughed off and accepted as normal. It was almost like brainwashing. And anyone who tried to do anything about it wasn’t just ignored. They were punished.”

The interviews with the models and employees add to a picture of Victoria’s Secret as a troubled organization, an image that was already coming into focus last year when Mr. Wexner’s ties to the sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein became public. Mr. Epstein, who managed Mr. Wexner’s multibillion-dollar fortune, lured some young women by posing as a recruiter for Victoria’s Secret models.

L Brands, the publicly traded company that also owns Bath & Body Works, is on the brink of a high-stakes transition. The annual Victoria’s Secret fashion show has been canceled after nearly two decades on network TV. Mr. Razek, 71, stepped down from L Brands in August. And Mr. Wexner, 82, is exploring plans to retire and to sell the lingerie company, people familiar with the matter said.

As those plans progress, L Brands’ treatment of women is likely to come under even closer scrutiny.

In response to detailed questions from The New York Times, Tammy Roberts Myers, a spokeswoman for L Brands, provided a statement on behalf of the board’s independent directors. She said that the company “is intensely focused” on corporate governance, workplace and compliance practices and that it had “made significant strides.”

“We regret any instance where we did not achieve this objective and are fully committed to continuous improvement and complete accountability,” she said. The statement did not dispute any of The Times’s reporting.

Mr. Razek said in an email: “The accusations in this reporting are categorically untrue, misconstrued or taken out of context. I’ve been fortunate to work with countless, world-class models and gifted professionals and take great pride in the mutual respect we have for each other.” He declined to comment on a detailed list of allegations.

Thomas Davies, a spokesman for Mr. Wexner, declined to comment.

Fiery Explosions

Victoria’s Secret, which Mr. Wexner bought for $1 million in 1982 and turned into a lingerie powerhouse, is struggling.

The societal norms defining beauty and sexiness have been changing for years, with a greater value on a wide range of body types, skin colors and gender identities. Victoria’s Secret hasn’t kept pace. Some of its ad campaigns, for example, seem more like a stereotypical male fantasy — the director Michael Bay filmed a TV spot in which scantily clad models strutted in front of helicopters, motorcycles and fiery explosions — than a realistic encapsulation of what women want.

With its sales declining, Victoria’s Secret has been closing stores. Shares of L Brands have fallen more than 75 percent from their 2015 peak.

Six current and former executives said in interviews that when they tried to steer the company away from what one called its “porny” image, they were rebuffed. Three said they had been driven out of the company.

Criticism of Victoria’s Secret’s anachronistic marketing went viral in 2018 when Mr. Razek expressed no interest in casting plus-size and “transsexual” models in the fashion show.

Then, last summer, Mr. Epstein was charged with sex trafficking, and the festering business problems at Victoria’s Secret escalated into a public crisis.

Mr. Wexner and Mr. Epstein had been tight. The retail tycoon gave the financier carte blanche to manage his billions, elevating Mr. Epstein’s stature and affording him an opulent lifestyle. Mr. Wexner has said he and Mr. Epstein parted ways around 2007, the year after Florida prosecutors charged him with a sex crime.

On multiple occasions from 1995 through 2006, Mr. Epstein lied to aspiring models that he worked for Victoria’s Secret and could help them land gigs. He invited them for auditions, which at least twice ended with Mr. Epstein assaulting them, according to the women and court filings.

“I had spent all of my savings getting Victoria’s Secret lingerie to prepare for what I thought would be my audition,” a woman identified as Jane Doe said in a statement read aloud last summer in a federal court hearing in the Epstein case. “But instead it seemed like a casting call for prostitution. I felt like I was in hell.”

Three L Brands executives said Mr. Wexner was alerted in the mid-1990s about Mr. Epstein’s attempts to recruit women. The executives said there was no sign that Mr. Wexner had acted on the complaints.

After Mr. Epstein’s arrest last summer, L Brands said, it hired the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell to conduct “a thorough review” of the matter at the request of its board of directors. The exact focus of the review is unclear. Mr. Epstein committed suicide in jail in August while he awaited trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.

Davis Polk has worked for L Brands for years. Mr. Wexner’s wife, Abigail, previously worked at the firm. Dennis S. Hersch, a former L Brands board member and a financial adviser to the Wexners, was a longtime partner at Davis Polk. The law firm also has contributed money to Ohio State University’s Wexner Center for the Arts.

Employees interviewed for this article said Davis Polk had not contacted them.

A Davis Polk spokeswoman didn’t respond to requests for comment.

‘Someplace Sexy to Take You’

“With the exception of Les, I’ve been with L Brands longer than anyone,” Mr. Razek wrote to employees in August when he announced he was leaving the company he had joined in 1983.

Mr. Razek was instrumental in selecting the brand’s supermodels — known as “Angels” and bestowed with enormous, feathery wings — and in creating the company’s macho TV ads.

But his biggest legacy was the annual fashion show, which became a global cultural phenomenon.

“That’s really where he sunk his teeth into the business,” said Cynthia Fedus-Fields, the former chief executive of the Victoria’s Secret division responsible for its catalog. By 2000, she said, Mr. Razek had grown so powerful that “he spoke for Les.”

Sometimes Mr. Wexner spoke for himself.

In March, at a meeting at Victoria’s Secret headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, an employee asked Mr. Wexner what he thought about the retail industry’s embrace of different body types. He was dismissive.

“Nobody goes to a plastic surgeon and says, ‘Make me fat,’” Mr. Wexner replied, according to two attendees.

Mr. Razek often reminded models that their careers were in his hands, according to models and current and former executives who heard his remarks.

Alyssa Miller, who had been an occasional Victoria’s Secret model, described Mr. Razek as someone who exuded “toxic masculinity.” She summed up his attitude as: “I am the holder of the power. I can make you or break you.”

At castings, Mr. Razek sometimes asked models in their bras and underwear for their phone numbers, according to three people who witnessed his advances. He urged others to sit on his lap. Two models said he had asked them to have private dinners with him.

One was Ms. Muise. In 2007, after two years of wearing the coveted angel wings in the Victoria’s Secret runway show, the 19-year-old was invited to dinner with Mr. Razek. She was excited to cultivate a professional relationship with one of the fashion industry’s most powerful men, she said.

Mr. Razek picked her up in a chauffeured car. On the way to the restaurant, he tried to kiss her, she said. Ms. Muise rebuffed him; Mr. Razek persisted.

For months, he sent her intimate emails, which The Times reviewed. At one point he suggested they move in together in his house in Turks and Caicos. Another time, he urged Ms. Muise to help him find a home in the Dominican Republic for them to share.

“I need someplace sexy to take you!” he wrote.

Ms. Muise maintained a polite tone in her emails, trying to protect her career. When Mr. Razek asked her to come to his New York home for dinner, Ms. Muise said the prospect of dining alone with Mr. Razek made her uneasy; she skipped the dinner.

She soon learned that for the first time in four years, Victoria’s Secret had not picked her for its 2008 fashion show.

‘Forget the Panties’

In 2018, at a fitting ahead of the fashion show, the supermodel Bella Hadid was being measured for underwear that would meet broadcast standards. Mr. Razek sat on a couch, watching.

“Forget the panties,” he declared, according to three people who were there and a fourth who was told about it. The bigger question, he said, was whether the TV network would let Ms. Hadid walk “down the runway with those perfect titties.” (One witness remembered Mr. Razek using the word “breasts,” not “titties.”)

At the same fitting, Mr. Razek placed his hand on another model’s underwear-clad crotch, three people said.

An employee complained to the human resources department about Mr. Razek’s behavior, according to three people. The employee presented H.R. with a document last summer listing more than a dozen allegations about Mr. Razek, including his demeaning comments and inappropriate touching of women, according to a copy of the document reviewed by The Times.

It wasn’t the first H.R. complaint about him

At a photo shoot in June 2015, the company put out a buffet lunch for staff. Ms. Crowe Taylor, the public relations employee, went to get seconds. Mr. Razek intercepted her, she said. He blocked her path and looked her up and down. Then, with dozens of people watching and Ms. Crowe Taylor holding her empty plate, he tore into her, berating her about her weight and telling her to lay off the pasta and bread.

Ms. Crowe Taylor, who was 5-foot-10 and 140 pounds, fled to a bathroom and burst into tears. She said that she had complained to H.R. but that as far as she could tell, nothing happened. She quit weeks later.

In October, shortly after Mr. Razek had left the company, Monica Mitro, a top public-relations executive at Victoria’s Secret, lodged a harassment complaint against him with a former member of the L Brands board of directors, according to five people familiar with the matter. She told colleagues that she had gone to the former director because she didn’t trust the H.R. department.

The next day, the head of H.R. told Ms. Mitro that she was being placed on administrative leave, the people said. She recently reached a financial settlement with the company, they said.

Mr. Razek’s son, Scott, also worked at Victoria’s Secret. Sometime after the H.R. department was told about his mistreatment of a female colleague, he was transferred to Bath & Body Works, according to four people familiar with the matter. He didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The woman he mistreated later received a settlement from Victoria’s Secret, according to several current and former employees.

Mr. Wexner was seldom in New York, where much of the fashion show’s staff was based, leaving employees with the impression that Mr. Razek was his proxy. Mr. Razek flaunted that power, invoking Mr. Wexner’s name to get his way.

Even as complaints piled up, the elder Mr. Razek maintained Mr. Wexner’s support. In 2013, Mr. Wexner helped raise a $1.2 million fund in Mr. Razek’s name at Ohio State University’s cancer center.

‘A Voyeuristic Journey’

Russell James was one of Victoria’s Secret’s go-to photographers. The company at times paid him tens of thousands of dollars a day, according to draft contracts reviewed by The Times.

At the end of sessions with models, Mr. James sometimes asked if they would be photographed nude, according to models and L Brands executives. Mr. James was popular; he had a knack for making women feel comfortable. He also had a close relationship with Mr. Razek. The women often consented.

The nude photo shoots weren’t covered under the models’ contracts with Victoria’s Secret, which meant they weren’t paid for the extra work.

In the industry, “everyone is using their influence to get something,” said Ms. Miller, the model. “With Russell, it was getting girls to pose for his books or portrait series nude.”

In 2014, Mr. James published a glossy collectors’ book, “Angels,” which featured some of the nude photos. The women agreed to have their photos included in the book, according to Martin Singer, a lawyer for Mr. James.

Two versions of the books currently sell on Mr. James’s website for $1,800 and $3,600. Victoria’s Secret hosted a launch event for “Angels” during New York fashion week in 2014. Attendees included supermodels and the company’s chief executive at the time, Sharen Turney.

“This ample volume offers an unprecedented and personal view into James’s most intimate portrait sittings,” the book’s jacket says, noting that Mr. James met many of the women during his 15 years working for Victoria’s Secret. “Readers will be taken on a voyeuristic journey into a world of subtle provocation.”

At one point, a poster-size version of one of the book’s photos was displayed in a Victoria’s Secret store in Las Vegas. The model’s agent complained to Victoria’s Secret that his client’s photo was being used in the store without her consent. Mr. James also complained about it and asked for it to be removed, according to Mr. Singer. The company took down the photo.

In 2010, Alison Nix, a 22-year-old model who had worked occasionally with Victoria’s Secret, was invited to attend a weekend event to raise money for the nonprofit foundation run by Richard Branson’s Virgin Group. The venue was Mr. Branson’s private Necker Island in the Caribbean.

The live-streamed event, hosted by Mr. Branson and Mr. James, was billed as featuring “some of the world’s most stunning supermodels.”

Ms. Nix said her agent had told her that if she chose to go on the all-expenses-paid trip, she’d be expected to pose for nude beach photos shot by Mr. James. She said that was fine. She was left with the impression, she said, that “if Russell likes you, you could start working with Victoria’s Secret.”

Mr. Singer, the lawyer for Mr. James, said his client had no influence over whom Victoria’s Secret selected as models. He said models were not required to pose for photos, nude or otherwise. He said Mr. James had agreed to shoot the nude photos at Necker Island at the request of the models and their agents “as a favor and professional courtesy.”

Ms. Nix called Mr. Singer’s comments “absurd.”

She said that she and other models who attended the event were provided with copious amounts of alcohol and were expected to mingle with men, including Mr. Branson.

“We were shipped out there, and all these rich men were flirting with us,” she recalled. She said the models were asking themselves, “Are we here as high-end prostitutes or for charity?”

The last day on the island, Ms. Nix said, she and at least three other models lined up to have their nude photos shot by Mr. James.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Branson said he had “no knowledge of anyone being invited to the event for any reason” beside the charity fund-raiser.

Two photos of Ms. Nix from that weekend — one, in profile, with her breasts obscured but her bare bottom exposed — appeared near the middle of Mr. James’s “Angels” book, with her consent.

Ms. Nix never landed another modeling gig with Victoria’s Secret. Was she disappointed?

“To be honest, I didn’t expect much after the trip,” she said. “I could tell I wasn’t right for the brand.”

______

Emily Steel and Mike Baker contributed reporting. Susan Beachy contributed research.

*********

#u.s. news #sex criminals #sex trafficking #sex crimes #jeffrey epstein #epstein case #trump epstein #world news today #world news #international news #nyt > top stories #women's rights #womenfashion

4 notes · View notes