#because southern people can’t drive on ice

[crystaljellie]

I’m doing it I’m yapping.

Okay so my life series fantasy AU

Basically Joel and Jimmy were isekai’d into this fantasy world. Everyone else is already part of the world. Jimmy basically wake up with Grian standing over him (Grian is a parrot Avian in this as per usual) and Jimmy totally freaks out.

And all I know from there is that Jimmy and Grian overthrow Ren and Joel heads to the feywilds and meets Lizzie. Oh and flower husbands meet and kiss by a lake, I’m sure there will be angst I’m getting there

So now actually about the guys

Bdubs

Moss spirit

He lives in the forest and loves to cause chaos

But also he helps people get in an out of his forest because it’s dangerous at night

Being a moss spirit Bdubs body is basically just made up of moss

Bdubs and Grian have issues, and when I say issues Grian causes problems and Bdubs has to deal with the aftermath

BigB

BigB is a fae who lives outside of the fae wilds

He has a bakery in the main city of the kingdom Ren and Martyn rule

He frequently speaks to the royal order something something maybe suspicious things

He’s best friends with Tango who he met through Skizz

Etho

He’s an Arctic fox

He lives in the ice realms which are relatively near the southern realms which is where the kingdom is

Jimmy breaks into his house by accident at some point and Etho just is like

‘This guy is my kid now’

Jimmy has no idea how to escape forcibly assigned son

Scar

A desert elf (desert duo ref)

Scar used to live in the kingdom before moving to the desert realms with Grian (they’re boyfriends)

Scar is a falcon tamer, usually he just tames regular falcons but was called into the city square to deal with a particularly pesky boy which is how he meet Grian

He also still has a wheelchair but it has like magic powers, Scar used his desert elf powers to make it so his wheelchair can drive across sand.

Grian

A Parrot Avian

HE CAUSES PROBLEMS ON PURPOSE

He has little bird legs and he likes to fly onto Scars falcon brace

And he takes shiny things from shops in the kingdom

He’s the one who recommended Scar go back to the desert

Impulse

A Sun Imp

There are lots of different types of Imp’s

Depends which realm they were born it

Impulse was born in the sun realm

Martyn

He’s a wood elf

And he and Ren have issues

Ren and Martyn learn to stop tyrannic ruling

I’m gonna get the watchers involved somehow

He’s being given instructions and visions

He tries to follow them but it only leads to dead ends

Or death

Lizzie

She’s a Fae

And the High Queen of the fae

So she lives in the feywilds

Do her people lowkey kidnap Joel?

Yes but that’s a separate issue

Mumbo

He’s a vampire :3

But instead of drinking your blood he’s more like

Sunburns…

And can’t enter a building without permission

Sometimes you’ll just see Mumbo walking around with an umbrella

Everyone knows he’s a vampire

Sometimes they offer him blood he always says no though he thinks it’s rude of him

Skizz

Skizz is an angel

But he’s also the most unlucky person in the world

He was the first person to buy from Tangos shop and they became good friends because of that

Skizz is aware of the watchers due to his angel origins

Scott

Scott is actually a star born

But he disguises himself as a Sea elf

He lives in solitude behind a waterfall in a flower meadow

He has long elf ears and coral in his hair that looks like it’s arranged slightly like a flower crown

Starborns have the ability to take the magical abilities of their surroundings or their friends, so Scott has magical powers relating to water and flowers, but this can change based on his surroundings in which he can gain additional powers (Water and Flower related powers will not change because he’s lived in the meadow for so long)

Something with him and Acho (his brother) having an argument, causing them to split from each other and adorn disguises heading down to the over realm

Scott has spoken to the royal counsel before but they do not like each other which is why he did not choose to live in the city, He is courteous with them but only really visits the city to speak with Impulse who he made friends with while living in the city.

Starborns being a rarer and more hunted but also very powerful species and kept track of by the royal order so he was mainly there to fill out paperwork

Tango

Tango is a fireborn

Fireborn do not have parents they spawn from fire and are only found in the Nether realms (Not to be confused for the Nether World) At the age of 16 Fireborn creatures will leave the Nether realms to find a home for themselves. The only fireborn who reside pass the age of sixteen are those who are unable to leave or caretakers of fireborn young.

So when Tango was 16 he left to the southern arms to set up a mechanics shop

When Tango gets angry his fire hair goes blue

Tango also had a mechanical arm :3

Pearl

Pearl is a lunar moth

She and Grian are siblings

They cause problems together I love them

I sadly don’t have much for anyone else right now :(

I’m working on it, but they’re my sillies and I can’t wait to make this a fic it’ll be so fun

#life series #trafficblr #flower husbands #scott smajor #tangotek #skizzleman #bdubs #bdoubleo100 #bigbst4tz2 #ethoslab #goodtimeswithscar #grian #impulse sv #martyn inthelittlewood #lizzie ldshadowlady #mumbo jumbo #pearlescentmoon #jimmy solidarity #joel smallishbeans #renthedog #fantasy au #treebark #life series au #life series fantasy au

[coochiequeens]

If men can’t be dedicated enough to science to go for a few months without harassing, assaulting or exposing women to porn maybe they are the ones who should be discouraged from entering Antarctica.

For almost as long as the continent has been known of, Antarctica, a wild, white expanse of ice shelves, glaciers and mountainous ridges at the foot of the globe, has been the domain of men.

But images in the popular imagination of bearded men boldly heading into snowstorms could slowly be fading into the whiteness.

Today, women lead expeditions and research stations, make up large parts of support teams on the continent, and are active in leading policy conversations.

Reports uncovering sexual harassment and assault in overwhelmingly male environments, combined with a drive to recognise women’s contributions and efforts to overcome barriers to entry have all contributed to a gradual cultural change.

“We need to decide what kind of a future we want to see for Antarctica, and which people we want making decisions about that future,” said Dr Hanne Nielsen, a lecturer in Antarctic law and governance at the University of Tasmania.

“Then we can decide how we make sure that those people have – and retain – a seat at the table.”

Antarctica was first sighted in January 1820 by a Russian expedition to the far south, and the first women to visit the region did so with husbands working on whaling vessels during the first half of the 20th century.

“The human history of Antarctica is really quite recent, but the history of women being able to travel there is even more recent than that – but that didn’t mean that women didn’t want to travel to the far south of the globe,” said Dr Nielsen.

Predictably, attitudes to women’s participation lagged far behind.

When the Americans Edith Ronne and Jennie Darlington mooted the idea of staying on the continent over the winter of 1948 – which they eventually did – Darlington’s husband told her that “there are some things women don’t do … They don’t become pope or president – or go down to the Antarctic.”

The first woman to conduct scientific research in Antarctica was the Soviet geologist Maria Klenova in 1957, but her work did not immediately lead to more female scientists in the far south: many Antarctic programmes argued that women’s presence could prove disruptive.

In 1969, more than a decade after the US established a permanent presence on Antarctica, an all-women scientific team deployed there prompted a New York Times reporter to dub their work “an incursion” into the “largest male sanctuary remaining on this planet”.

Women have also been agents of sovereignty to assert territorial claims.

An Argentinian, Silvia Morello, then seven months pregnant, was flown to the country’s Esperanza Base and, on 7 January 1978, gave birth to a son, Emilio Palma, who became the first person to be born on Antarctica.

But for those women who wanted to study the continent, role models have been few and far between.

“When I was in school, science wasn’t really a career girls would think about,” said Catalina Silva, 23, a marine biology student at Chile’s Universidad Austral in Valdivia, where more than half of her 2018 intake were women.

“Marine biology didn’t seem achievable because you’d just see men in science. If you don’t see people like you in the places you want to reach, it’s hard to know where to aim.”

This summer season, she spent a month at Chile’s Escudero Base working as a lab assistant, sifting through seawater samples searching for isopods – the subject of her thesis.

The Chilean biologist Dr Leyla Cárdenas, 47, came to Antarctica for the first time 13 years ago and has returned to the continent several times to further her research on ecosystems in the far south.

In 2020, she was named the first ever female dean of her university’s science faculty, but says that stereotypes still persist for women studying the continent.

“Who’s going to cook? Women, of course. Who will carry the heavy kit? The men,” said Dr Cárdenas. “That’s how it’s always been, defined by gender roles.”

Before leaving Punta Arenas to work or stay at Chilean bases, every member of each expedition must complete an induction on harassment protocols and awareness.

Even so, this year two support staff members were sent home following incidents.

While women’s experiences of harassment and assault in remote Antarctic research stations have long been known, two damning reports published at the end of last year threw the issues into stark relief.

In October 2022, the US National Science Foundation (NSF) said it was “appalled by the reports of sexual harassment, assaults, and stalking”highlighted by its study; and a report into diversity, equity and inclusion within the Australian Antarctic Program described a “culture of widespread, low-level sexual harassment that permeates stations”.

That macho culture was typified by the ceiling of a hut at Australia’s Mawson Station which had been plastered with nearly 100 pornographic images.

Both reports make for harrowing reading.

In the NSF’s document, 95% of the women interviewed knew someone who had experienced assault or harassment within the Antarctic programme. One interviewee was quoted as saying that “[sexual assault and sexual harassment] are just facts of life [here], just like the fact that Antarctica is cold and the wind blows.”

Among a series of incidents highlighted, one male supervisor reportedly attempted to break into female colleagues’ rooms using his master keys. One woman was so frightened she carried a hammer around base with her.

Following the publication of the NSF report, the organisation says it created a single, confidential point of contact for victims, increased on-ice support services, put listening sessions in place and enhanced physical security measures.

Nevertheless, diversity and inclusion still have a long way to go on Antarctica.

With such high turnover of scientific and support staff in every summer cohort, the female population of Antarctica at any given time is difficult to judge.

However, one 2016 study found that 60% of early-career polar researchers are women. Retaining them in the field is another matter.

“I think it is important not only to increase the number of women working in Antarctica, but also the number from different geographic, linguistic or disciplinary backgrounds,” said Dr Nielsen.

“The more perspectives you have the richer that conversation can be – and the more likely we are to be able to respond to the huge challenges facing the polar regions.”

#Women in science #Men setting back science by excluding other scientists based on sex #Maria Klenova #Dr Layla Cardenas #Australia’s Manson Station

[oceanblueeyesoul]

Hi!! Could I have a male PJO & Marauders match-up pls? Thank you so much in advance! 💖

LOOKS: I'm a mixed race Latina with long dark hair, brown doe eyes, pale-olive skin w/ a light dusting of freckles, & a curvy, top-heavy hourglass figure! 

STYLE: Baddie/Bombshell + Pastel Grunge!

DIALECT: I sound like a pretty typical Valley Girl that makes people tend to underestimate me (💀) but occasionally, a subtle Southern drawl slips out!

MBTI: INFP

GODLY PARENT: Aphrodite Areia ~ aka the Dark Feminine aspect of Aphrodite! Not many ppl know that she was a warrior goddess too, not just the patroness of Love & Beauty. Ppl do terrible things for love sometimes & the intensity + seductive aspects of it can be dangerous. Aphrodite was born of the sea but the sea is not just beautiful but deadly & unpredictable as well!

DEMIGOD GIFTS/ABILITIES: Charmspeak (people & animals alike tend to gravitate towards me!), Empathic Manipulation, Strong Swimmer (Aphrodite was born of the sea after all!)

WEAPON: I’d definitely use a mortuary sword while riding on a pegasus tbh

PERSONALITY: I'm told I’m the personification of the Subversive Bimbo trope (like Harley Quinn from DC Comics) bc ppl tend to underestimate me since I come off v sweet & bubbly until I’m given a reason not to be BUT I have a sharp temper so give me a reason & I will be the first to lash out. When I get mad, I don’t hold back & my sarcasm becomes VICIOUS but as long as you don’t piss me off, you won’t be on the other end of it. 

People on my good side say I’m affectionate, vivacious, feisty, sweet, friendly, intuitive, sensitive, idealistic, impulsive, snarky/funny, & smart! 

People on my bad side say I’m a fiery, stubborn, opinionated, temperamental hellcat lol. I can go from 0 to 100 real quick & God help the person who disrespects my S/O bc I would go to WAR for him. He is my ultimate Achilles Heel bc I would sacrifice myself for him in an instant. 

I might be a bit of a Nihilist lol…And when I’m convinced of something, I can be hella stubborn & will go to bat for it, for better or worse.

I love really hard & I’m Fiercely protective of those I care about but my intense love for them can make me reckless.

I'm a sweet lil firecracker lol, both fiery & feminine (my winged eyeliner is my warpaint lol).

TLDR: I’m told I'm sort of a "good girl gone bad" type, both sweet sugar & rebellious spice. 🤭

LOVE LANGUAGES: Words of Affirmation + Physical Touch 

ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Good

ENNEAGRAM TYPE: Counterphobic 6

HP HOUSE: Slytherdor (aka Justice, by any means necessary)

PATRONUS: Swan (Delicate-seeming but fierce & protective!)

LIKES: Animals of all kinds, True Crime, All Forms of PDA (I LOVE AFFECTION!!!), Dark humor, Comic books, Singing/Musical Theatre, Astrology, Psychology, Writing, Genealogy, Fun Facts, Iced coffee (can’t live without it tbh).

DISLIKES: Bigots, Animal Abusers, Driving, Obnoxious or Pretentious People, Womanizers, People who are indifferent to others, waking up early

Thank you so much in advance, lovely!! 💖

Hi there, sweetie! I really hope you like this a lot!

PJO Matchup

Your PJO soulmate is...

FRANK ZHANG!

He would definitely be petting all animals in the zoo for you because he wants you to be happy with the animals and himself too.

He would absolutely love fun facts as well because he thought the fun facts are really knowledge but also fun at the same time.

He would be a very good driver and he would drive at any place you wanted to go to at any time.

Chaotic Good x Chaotic Good sweethearts!

Hufflepuff x Slytherdor lovebirds!

INFP x INFP soulmates!

Cancer x Capricorn intertwined lovers!

Harry Potter (Marauders Era) Matchup

Your Harry Potter (Marauders Era) soulmate is...

REMUS LUPIN!

He would appreciate your courage to stand up for people who are mean to him because he is a werewolf and also he is mostly the only one who gets to calm you down when people are pushing your buttons a lot.

He would definitely be interested in astrology a lot actually so he is thankful for your help when it comes to finding out about which zodiac signs placements he does have in his birthchart.

The two of you would definitely have coffee dates together and you guys would always order the same iced coffee drink together because both of you loves the taste of the iced coffee drink.

Lawful Good x Chaotic Good lovebirds!

Gryffindor x Slytherdor soulmates!

INFJ x INFP intertwined lovers!

Pisces x Capricorn sweethearts!

#oceanblueeyesoul #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo matchups #matchups #frank zhang #frank zhang x reader #harry potter #harry potter matchups #remus lupin #remus lupin x reader #mauraders

[snowblossomreads]

New Year New Boo

Summary: In where [Y/n] and David ring in the New Year with each other. (Continuation of Rickmas Prompt 14 Icy Roads)

Pairing: David Friedman x Detective!FemReader

Tag(s)/Warning(s): age gap, worries about said age gap, workplace romance (kinda?), confessions, kissing, mostly fluff, folks being in love and junk

Word Count: 4k

A/N: This crush I have on Alan's southern accent is something serious guys 🥴🥴it's just so cute and charming to me when he used it in this movie and Something the Lord Made (an equally fantastic movie!). Bonus points for it being easy for me to write the syntax and stuff for it bc again i'm a southern girl. ANYWAYS here is this cute little part two! Let me know if you enjoyed it (i'm thirsty for comments yall lolol)

A/N: AASDFASFH and i know Rickmas is over but you know what every day is Rickmas if you believe😭🤣😂 and I wanted to give these two some closure lol (and i'm in love with this character)

“Um miss ma’am someone is looking real cute in that lil’ outfit! ‘Bout to go see your man I assume?”

“Well firstly thank you because it is cute right?” [Y/n] chirped, turning carefully to show her outfit off to her friend who wolf whistled playfully at her. “But secondly you assume wrong because he isn’t my man.”

“Shoot not yet he isn’t, with that outfit on if he ain’t kissin’ you when it strikes midnight he might need to get his eyes checked.”

“Cassie!”

“I’m just saying,” she giggled, throwing her hands up and pushing herself off the couch to approach [Y/n] who was smoothing her clothes down with her arm that wasn’t in a sling. “I bet there’s a line of young cuties at the department tryna get with you. But oh no you picked yourself an old man that’s already done gone and broke some of your bones!”

“It’s not like he was tryin’ to do it on purpose!” [Y/n] corrected her approaching friend with a sharp glare and a pout. “Lord knows we didn’t have any business chasin’ anyone around when the roads were iced up like that. And plus.”

Walking up to the mirror that was hanging onto the back of her doorway to make sure her outfit and hair were still put together, she turned back to Cassie who still wore a light hearted grin.

“If those guys really wanted to get with me Cass, they’ve had more than enough chances to say somethin’ and they haven’t so I’m not about to sweat something like that.”

“That’s fair though you probably just intimidate them hon, with what being the top of your class at the academy and just two years after that becoming a detective? You know some men can’t handle a badass lady.”

“Well, that’s their loss because-.”

About to dismiss her friend not really caring if the men she worked with found her intimidating or not, a knock at the door had both of them looking up in its direction. Cassie’s face immediately lit up as she looked at [Y/n].

“Ooooh is that him?” She whispered yelled, excited about meeting the man that her friend had been talking about nonstop since the little confession that had been made to him weeks ago. “You didn’t tell me he was pickin’ you up and you got me standin’ around with my pajamas on like somebody’s grandma!” 

Rolling her eyes, [Y/n] watched as her friend ran to grab a throw blanket that was lying bunched up on the couch and wrap it around herself to hide the pajamas that she was wearing.

“Yes that’s him and yes he’s pickin’ me up I can't drive right now remember ? That’s why I dragged you over in the first place.” [Y/n] hissed nodding her head towards her arm in a sling before continuing, “now calm down you’re actin’ like he’s here to pick you up and I don’t need you scarin’ him off.”

“Pff oh yeah scare him off, I’m not the one runnin’ people off the road,” Cassie scoffed as [Y/n] threw one last look that said ‘hush it’ before going to unbolt the locks on the door. 

Opening the door, she already knew her cheeks were going to be hurting by the end of the night by the wide smile that found itself plastered on her face when she came face to face with the older man.

Dressed up with black dress pants and a tan button-up dress shirt that was accompanied with a dark blue tie that had some white pattern on it she couldn’t help but ogle at him for a second. 

It’s not like she had never seen him like this considering his normal work attire was similar but goodness gracious he was still handsome as ever.

And wait a second, where was the five o’clock shadow that he usually rocked? Did he shave just for this? A giddiness rose in her stomach as she tried to contain her excitement, barely able to get out her sentence.

“Dave, either you just left the office or you’re about to take me to Brennan’s for a very fancy New Year’s eve dinner.” 

“Then I guess we’re both ‘bout to be very disappointed,” he drawled, crossing his arms against his chest and leaning against the door frame with a smirk that had her grinning back at him.

“Because the only reservation we have is at la maison de David, which I have to say is lacking in the fancy decorations that Brennan’s has. Besides, Quarter’s probably already infested with drunk folks trying to ring in the New Year’s with alcohol poisionin’.”

“Well as long as I’m not doing the cooking, you won’t hear any complaints from me. And you're probably right about the Quarter. Best we avoid it as I don’t feel like gettin’ thrown up on by someone who had one too many of them hand grenades.”

“Good, glad we’re on the same page then partner.” His smirk never failed as he pushed himself upright and tentatively offered his hand to [Y/n] who gave him a bashful smile as she went to take it when,

“Ahem!”

A loud cough startled both of them, and had [Y/n] whipping around somehow forgetting that Cassie was still in the front room.

“Now I know you did not just forget that I was back here,” she said, blanket still wrapped around her as she waddled over to the door to get a glimpse of the visitor. “And here I thought you were gonna introduce me to your friend hon!”

“Shit-sorry Cass,” [Y/n] spoke as the heat of embarrassment filled her face while she moved aside a little so Cassie could meet David.

“David this is my friend Cassie. She's been comin’ by and stayin’ with me to help me out with this,” she nodded down to indicate her sling. “And Cassie, this is David, my literal partner in crime fighting.”

“Well hello, there detective! Cassie Thibodeaux’s the name. Well, Cassandra actually but the only person who uses it is my momma when she’s pissed or sister Alice at St.Mary’s,” she greeted cheerfully, thrusting her hand out to firmly shake David’s outstretched one. “Nice to finally meet the man that broke my poor girl’s bones!”

“Cass!”

The exasperation was clear in [Y/n]’s voice as Cassie turned around, a sly grin and a glint in her eyes that signaled she was up to no good on purpose. If there was one thing about her friend it was that she was going to say whatever whenever. A great quality to have until she was blabbing about the thing that [Y/n] didn’t want to be brought up again. 

He had already apologized and heck she probably wouldn’t be going on a date with him if it hadn’t happened. Wait, this was a date right?

Not that they were a couple or anything yet but she was going to his house for dinner on New Year’s Eve and he had said they could talk about what she had basically confessed to him weeks ago.

Before she could get too deep in thought about it, David’s voice pulled her back to reality as he chatted with Cassie who was laughing up a storm at what was being said.

“I really did feel bad when we got to the hospital but then she woke up the first thing she started doing was insulting the doctors and trying to rip things out of her.” He spoke recalling what had happened a while after the accident and how [Y/n] was getting annoyed at all the poking when all she wanted was to just go home. “Then she told me she was going to buy some training wheels for my old a-”

“Okay that’s enough!” [Y/n] squeaked, clapping her hands loudly to grab both of their attention as she was a bit mortified about what she had said to him while she had been in pain. “We really need to head out before traffic gets any worse than it is.”

“Alright alright I’ll stop and let you both go,” Cassie said backing up from the door as [Y/n] made her way past her friend and just outside of the door so that she was next to David. 

“I just wanted to be nosy and see who [Y/n] was about to ride off into the sunset with,” she continued to tease, causing another sigh to leave said woman even though she couldn’t help but smile at her friend who was being just plain silly. “But don't y’all get into too much trouble now and make sure you bring my girl home safe and sound detective no more broken bones!”

“Yes ma’am, no more broken bones though I can’t promise we won’t get into any trouble.” He replied before looking towards [Y/n] to ask, “ready?”

“Absolutely,” she replied instantly, shooting him a smile and then waving goodbye at her friend. “See you Cass I’ll text you and don’t burn my apartment down!”

“As David said, no promises but I’ll try, and you better!”

Shaking their heads and laughing at one another, Cassie, shut the door leaving both [Y/n] and David standing outside her apartment.

“Funny friend you got there,” he said, reaching his hand out again as he did earlier to take hers.

“Oh, you don’t even know the half of it, Friedman.” Was her response as she took his invitation letting him guide her and enjoying the warmth that radiated from his hand entwined with hers.

Dinner had been absolutely spectacular. Honestly way better than any restaurant considering they weren’t having to wait for a table or having to talk over the noise of other people’s conversations. And to add to it, the food was just mouth watering.

From the crawfish etouffee and grilled oysters that he had prepared to the tasty and not too sweet banana pudding that they had afterward to balance the salt out from the main course. Or that’s what they joked about at least.

All of it was just so good and she couldn’t help but feel sleepy and content as she reclined on his couch afterward with a glass of water to wash everything down.

“Now why didn't you tell me you could cook like that because that was just too good!” [Y/n] praised as David plopped down next to her sinking into the couch like she had to relax after the meal.

“Well thank you kindly [Y/n] but there are some things in life you gotta keep to yourself and my cookin’ is one of them,” he answered looking over to her and feeling amused at the sleepy smile on her face as she listened. “The last thing I need is to be volunteered up for the station's potluck because lord knows I won’t hear the end of it afterward.”

“I hear that, I don’t even know why we have to cook for it. It’s not like we don’t already do overtime on the reg but now they want us to do more stuff no thank you, that’s above my pay grade.”

His deep chuckle filled the room, drowning out the background noise of a New Year’s countdown party playing on the tv in front of them. In the same moment, she could feel herself being filled with a comforting warmth listening to his laugh and enjoying the rich sound of it.

“And here I thought you enjoyed stayin’ late at the office with me to finish up reports that some of your peers seem to have trouble gettin’ done.”

[Y/n]’s face scrunched up as if she had tasted something sour when he said that as the memory of many late nights at the station played in her head due to the stupidity of some of the people they had to work with. How hard really was it to transfer paper files onto the computer by someone’s last name?

“Unfortunately I’m not a fan of havin’ to organize other folks' stuff because they haven’t learned how to click a button or two,” she groused out before adding calmly, “but other than that I do have to admit the occasional late night investigative session with you is invigorating. It pays to have such a solid partner who knows what he’s doin’ so no complaints from me on that.”

“Really no complaints even though I broke your collarbone and almost killed you?”

“Hey, I didn’t say I liked your driving, only that you’re a good partner and I think we make quite a team.”

“Touche,” he nodded as a thoughtful expression crossed his features before, “but now that you mentioned it I think we should talk about that shouldn’t we? The whole partner thing.”

For a second she didn’t understand what he was alluding to as she cocked an eyebrow up a questioning expression on her features. Partner thing? What in the sweet baby Jesus was he talking about? Meeting his hazel eyes that seem to glitter mischievously along with the smirk that was slowly becoming wider. She pondered for a second before,

“Oh jeez, Friedman, are you bringing up what I think you’re bringing up?” [Y/n] sputtered out her face warming up at the sudden change of conversation as she gave him a wide eyed look. He didn’t at all seem phased by it, more like amused as she saw a twitch of his lips upward. Of course, he would find amusement in it. “What a segue if I’ve ever heard any! Is that really how you’re goin’ to start the conversation.”

A mock offended look crossed his features as he threw his hands up at her.

“What, I thought we were in agreement that we were gonna talk about it after you were no longer high as a kite and dyin'?” 

“I know but well shit,” she groaned, resting her good arm on her thigh and bending over a little to rest her chin in her palm. “Now that you got me all in the spotlight I’m not even sure what to say.”

“Well, how ‘bout I do you a favor [L/n] and start off with askin’ you what in the hell do you see in someone my age that you can’t find in one of those young boys at the station.”

“Considerin’ none of the station boys seem interested in me in the first place,'' she huffed out remembering something similar Cassie had said to her earlier, “I think it’s easy to understand why I like you so much seein’ that I’ve been partnered up with you for about two years. And I actually really enjoy workin’ with you. Even if it’s those dreaded late night shifts.”

“Somethin’ tells me those boys are more interested than you think, especially with how p-,” the word caught in his throat and [Y/n] was quick to turn her head to look at him with a questioning gaze. 

Catching her gaze and the hint of interest in them, he cleared his throat before continuing. “With how close in age some of y’all are and the way you do your job better than most of them I say you probably got a few more admirers than you think.”

Shrugging she scooted back con the couch and let her head fall back before lazily turning it to look at him.

“Even so, I just think you’re pretty great Dave,” she added, throwing a grin at him that had him reciprocating it with his own as he maneuvered himself so that he was resting one side of his face on the palm of his hand. “I know we put on a face and such when we go to work, but you’re one of the few people who’s the same sarcastic ass off duty as you are on, and pardon me it’s kinda sexy.”

“Only kinda? I think it’s probably one of my more redeeming qualities.” He quipped “Who doesn’t love a sarcastic asshole bursting in their office and accusing folks of a setup.”

“Ah and there Mr. Sarcastic is, glad you could join the party,” she laughed remembering him telling her that whole debacle with the one senator from a few years ago. “But the fact that you were right made it less assholish and again you definitely raised your sexy factor up by this much,” she teased, raising her hand up and showing the wide gap she made between her thumb and index finger.

“You know hearin’ you reference me and the word ‘sexy’ in one sentence is not somethin’ I put on my bingo card for this year.”

“What? Gonna report me to HR if I keep it up?”

“And get saddled up with some of the other guys in the station as a partner, no ma’am I prefer to be alive in the next six months.”

Raucous laughter broke out from both of them, their shoulders shaking from his fatalistic outlook of being partnered up with someone else. Honestly, she probably wouldn’t trade him in either with all the experience he had in the field, sans the car accident of course. 

He had been the best partner these past years whether it be on duty or off duty he had always been a phone call away if she needed him. And something about it just made her giddy about it even if those gestures potentially meant nothing. It was still sweet and it kinda made her fall in love even though she had tried to keep it shut away. 

“Don’t blame you one bit on that,” [Y/n] managed to say coming down from the little high as her stomach and cheeks ached from all the laughing that was happening. Wiping a tear out of her eye with her good arm, her smile never left as she looked back at the man who was calming down.

“But you know, the wild thing is even with all of that, your terrible drivin’, your sarcasm, and everything else, I still really really like you, and,'' biting the inside of her cheek she couldn’t help but feel the air leave her lungs as hazel eyes locked onto her with a softness that just made her heart squeeze. 

She really did like the older man regardless of the age chasm they had in between and it seemed to help her find some courage. So with that little fire in her, she sat upright again and faced him before asking,

“I was just curious ‘bout how you felt, and maybe, you know...we could be partners outside of work too?”

Other than the tv that was still going on in the background silence crept around them as she let the question sit between them. Even her breathing seemed to go silent as she gazed up at Dave who was holding her stare while the cogwheels in his brain seem to be turning. 

The silence felt like an eternity and she would have laughed at how cliche it all was if it wasn’t her own feelings on the line. So to say that the relief she felt was palpable when he spoke was an understatement.

“You know, if we got involved we would have to stop bein’ partners right?” He murmured scooting over towards [Y/n] and resting his arm along the top of the couch.

“I know I know and I’m sorry because I know it’s gonna be a shit ton of paperwork we’re gonna have to do. And of course the whole new partner thing,” she added on with a sigh more concerned about that part than the amount of red tape there was bound to be.

“Mhmmm that and you know folks are gonna have questions about this whole thing?”

“Oh believe me I’m aware. Should have heard Cassie playin’ twenty questions with me when I told her.” [Y/n] grumbled remembering the way her friend burst into her apartment a few weeks ago armed and ready with questions about what was happening.

“And knowin’ that everyone is gonna wanna be in your business when they eventually find out because you know folks are noisy ‘round here you’re alright with it?”

“Well-,” she paused mid sentence, noticing the warmth that radiated off him now that he was suddenly closer to her. It brought a demure smile to her face as she scooted herself toward him which had his eyes twinkling at the action. “We’ll cross that bridge when we cross it and plus they’re going to be in your business too.”

“You know my last relationship ended in divorce right?” He questioned as the warmth of breath tickled her skin causing goosebumps to prickle all over her arms.

She was very much aware that the last relationship he had ended in a divorce but there had been other circumstances that no longer existed. And well who was she to not take her chances with the man that she had ogled at more than appropriate during her time working with him? What could she say, she was young and in love. 

“Dave what's with the twenty questions yes I’m aware, you know that,” she responded lowly, tilting her head just enough to brush her nose against his and listening to the breath that he sucked in at the contact. Yet he didn’t flinch and he didn’t back away, and it had the butterflies in her stomach going wild. “And my last relationship was with some guy in college who just wanted to get with my roommate so we are both gonna be a little rusty.”

For a moment they just sat there, quietly, their foreheads touching and the sound of a countdown beginning to happen on tv and fireworks already going off outside.

“Dave?”

“You’re a pretty lil’ thing you know that right?” He confessed softly at the call of his name. As sudden as his words were, they had her beaming at him and gently brushing her nose against his again as she tried to look up at him through her eyelashes. “So you’ll have to excuse me because I’m still tryin’ wrap my head around the fact that my very young and very sweet partner actually enjoys my bitchin’ and sarcasm about folks. ”

“Well don’t say it like I’m that young Friedman makin’ it sound all weird and junk,” she snorted causing a deep chuckle to rumble through him, “and don’t take too long wrappin' your head ‘round it because yes I love it when you bitch people out and two from the sound of it,” motioning her head to the tv to signal the folks cheering on it, “we got fifteen seconds till New Year’s and I’m hopin’ to at least get a kiss to start it off right.”

“Think we be a good team outside work?” He asked quietly, lips just centimeters away from hers as the arm behind them went to gently wrap around her shoulders.

“Keep treating me as nicely as you always have for the past two years and we’ll be golden boo.”

“Don’t ever use that word again.”

“Can’t promise you I won’t,” she giggled, tilting her head up as they listened to the chants on tv.

“3, 2, 1!”

The sound of fireworks outside multiplied tenfold as she felt his hand cup the back of her head and his lips press so tenderly against hers. What was going on outside with the light show couldn’t compare to the bubbling and bursting in her chest that she felt as she melted into the kiss. Everything about it was so sweet, so warm, so loving and it was better than she could have ever imagined as he dragged away from her leaving her a bit breathless.

“Happy New Year Dave.”

She murmured softly, chest heaving as her eyes shimmered brightly and a smile lit up her face just as the fireworks outside lit the night sky up.

As sweet as the kiss was, an even sweeter and gentler smile appeared on his features as he leaned down once more, and against her lips he whispered,

“Happy New Year [Y/n].”

Before claiming them once more in one of the many kisses they would be sharing from then on.

Bonus:

Cass: Are you alive its 130?!?!?

[Y/n]: Whoops! sorry I am but dont wait up for me im stayin the night :) 

Cass: YEEEES BE SAFE USE PROTECTION!!!

[Y/n]: OMG GOODNIGHT I CANT WITH YOU

Cass: ;) ;) ;)  congrats girl new year new boo

[Y/n]: :) you’re the worst thanks maam happy new year <3

A/N:

That's all folks!!!!!! My last fic for the year and an apt one to for ringing in the new year! Can I just tell you guys how much I've enjoyed being in Alan Rickman fandom and creating content for it though??🥺🥺🥺

Everyone is just so talented and fun and I'm just really happy that I've been able to be super absorbed in it these past months bc idk about some of yall but this year almost took me out.😭😭😭 A lot of discouring things seemed to happen this year but the fandom kept a girl aflot so I'm forever thankful for you all!

I hope that next year is kinder to everyone and I hope that our fandom continues to grow even if the man this fandom is dedicated to is no longer with us (weeps) I hope he is looking down on us like 'these folks are wild but I admire the creativity ❤'. i appreciate all you thots (affectionally) and I hope you all go safely into the new year ❤❤❤

#david friedman x reader #alan rickman #blossom writes

[bllsbailey]

ICE Won't Honor Detainer on Illegal Alien Rapist in FL, So He's Walking Free

We’re in the middle of a ghastly game of whack-a-mole with illegal alien crime. These thugs are beating and shooting police officers, raping women, and beating them to death. The Laken Riley case in Georgia has captured national media attention, along with the heinous spin liberals are chucking out there to divert attention away from illegal immigrant crime. Riley’s killer, Jose Ibarra, an illegal alien from Venezuela, entered the US in 2022 and was arrested twice before he committed this brutal homicide. In Washington, DC, an illegal alien is responsible for the shooting death of a two-year-old.  

These tragedies were preventable, but current federal policy under Biden has immigration enforcement officers working with both hands tied behind their backs. Then, there are these cases where it's ICE who won't take violent illegal aliens accused of brutal crimes. There has been a breakdown in cooperation with ICE on detainers for illegals, especially in New York City. Still, this story out of Florida deals with a man, Juan Jose-Sebastian, 26, who was busted for driving without a license. It turns out he's wanted on rape charges in Washington. He’s scheduled to be released from jail in Martin County because both ICE and Washington State won't take him:

Talk about a total breakdown.

We’re in the middle of a crisis, and Joe Biden claims he can’t do anything to get operational control of the border, which is the first step in getting a handle on the surge of illegals at the southern border. That’s a flat-out lie, and the American people know it is. 

[atlanticcanada]

Freezing rain warning in place for Nova Scotia, PEI and southern New Brunswick

Moncton woke up to slush, ice and even more snow following Friday’s first real taste of winter.

“I think it’s pretty crazy,” said Jack Kenan, who was watching his sister play hockey Saturday morning. “It’s wet and gross outside. Not really safe for driving.”

New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are all being hit with some type of weather system, however, the conditions differ between provinces.

"We're still seeing rain in many areas of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, that's added up to some higher totals especially in the winter season when the ground is frozen,” said CTV Meteorologist Kalin Mitchell. “It gives us that risk of seeing things like hydroplaning conditions on the road and localized flooding."

Meantime, New Brunswick saw more of a snowy mixture Saturday. 

"Most of the storm has passed at this point so the real danger right now is what's been left behind,” explained Geoffrey Downey, the Emergency Measures Organization Spokesperson. “If the plow operators haven't had a chance to get to some roads, they're going to be pretty slushy and with the temperatures dropping, they're also going to become very icy."

As conditions continued Saturday, widespread closures and cancellations were seen. Moncton’s Public Library decided not to open, and a junior hockey game was postponed in Truro and in Summerside, a COVID-19 testing site closed at 10:30 this morning.

"Now the next thing that Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia will have to look out for is as we move through Saturday evening and Saturday night, temperatures are going to continue to fall,” said Mitchell. “They're going to be coming back towards the freezing mark and the rain is actually expected to turn to some freezing rain.”

Nova Scotia and P.E.I. have been in a freezing rain warning for all of Saturday. While there was no weather alert for New Brunswick on Saturday, D&S Snow Removal Services Inc. in Moncton say this latest storm hasn’t come without its own challenges.

"We salted earlier, in hopes that would be enough and that it might not snow,” said operations manager, Lisa Brush. “So you're doing both so it's a double whammy and this type of snow, though it might seem like not much for a business, it's very costly for a business so we might as well be doing two 20cm storms."

On Friday, D&S Snow Removal Services Inc. had full crews on the road, but with it now being the weekend, they were down to a skeletal crew for Saturday’s clean-up.

“We take care of 16 to 1,700 driveways and about 40 commercial properties in the Moncton North area,” she said.

The locally owned business has been around for almost 25 years and even though this winter has been fairly timid so far, Brush says there are concerns as the season pushes forward.

“For snow removal companies, this isn’t an easy winter at all because when we did go out, this will be our fifth day out, it’s not easy because it’s very costly, fuel has tripled, diesel, and the repairs…this is harder on our equipment when we have storms like these.”

Adding, “we can’t find the workers, we can’t find drivers. It’s rough because the guys that we need, and gals, they’re working on heavy equipment in the summertime, they’re laid off in the wintertime, so we want them, but they’re not making much money coming to work for us.”

She says it’s not an easy job for drivers and a lot of companies are facing the same issues.

“There are two companies in Moncton that did have to close their doors, so there are a couple of thousand people without snow removal right now, but we’re full,” she said.

As for the current system, it’s expected to stick around for a few more days.

“The freezing rain on the forecast for Sunday is expected to be most widespread for areas of Nova Scotia,” said Mitchell. “There is a risk that some light freezing rain could reach Prince Edward Island and southern areas of New Brunswick.”

“As we move into Monday, temperatures warm back up for both Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, both those provinces expected to switch back over to rain, where in New Brunswick it’s going to be a bit of an icy mix.”

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/er8ksIY

#new brunswick #prince edward island #nova scotia #news #politics #canada #CTVAtlantic

[alsjeblieft-zeg]

041 of 2023

Do you weigh less than 130 pounds?

How much is it in kilograms? 59 if I count well, so nope, I don’t weigh less. My weight is about 65 kilograms. Maybe 60 recently.

Do you straighten your hair every day?

It’s too short and I don’t see the point of doing it anyway.

What kind of car do you drive?

Renault Clio V. Pretty nice one, even though rather small.

Does the last person to put their arms around you mean anything?

Yeah, he’s a friend. Actually a good friend.

What’s your favorite kind of ice cream?

The one based on milk.

Do you wear earrings daily?

I wear jewelry in all my piercing, so also in my ears.

Do you prefer purple or green grapes?

Whatever is more sour.

When’s the last time you got your eyebrows waxed?

Never.

Have you ever been in a tanning bed?

No, I’m not into such things.

Did your last kiss mean anything to you?

I don’t kiss strangers.

How’s your hair right now?

On hair wax.

Have you ever wanted to go to Australia?

Once in my life, just to see how does the world look like on the southern hemisphere.

What’s your favorite fast food restaurant?

McDonald’s in France because they offer things that Belgium doesn’t.

When’s the last time you washed your hands?

Like, 10 minutes ago?

Who were you with the last time you were drunk and where were you?

Out with my friends in Brussels, half a year ago. Since then, I’m not allowed to drink alcohol at all.

What is one thing within the last year that if it had gone differently you feel might have changed things now?

I can’t think of anything, but I can think “the other way around” - if something didn’t happen, there wouldn’t be a negative change. Or wait, if I was brave enough to talk honestly to those two guys I like, maybe we would be friends today.

Have you ever witnessed someone getting the shit beat out of them courtesy of karma?

Someone rephrase this question please.

What is something that you associate with summer?

Long days, short nights that are brighter than usual, warm weather, thunderstorms, visiting my family.

Give me the capital of the state you’re in now, please.

I’m not in any state. I can give you the capital of the country I live in. Brussels, here you go.

Have you ever ran around outside completely naked?

Does anyone actually do it? Except for certain events?

When you’re hungry, does your stomach hurt?

Not that much. I’m rarely hungry anyway.

Would you say that you have a nice smile?

It’s kinda “one-sided”, given that half of my face was once paralysed. Now it’s not, but you can still see it’s uneven. Some people say it’s nice, though.

Have you ever walked in on your parents doing something kinky?

Thankfully not.

Do you use mouthwash?

I did when my lip piercings were fresh.

When’s the last time the fire alarm in your house went off?

It never did.

Can you be trusted with secrets?

Yeah, I can. I’m known for it.

Pill to make you braver or one to make you smarter?

Braver, definitely.

When was the last time you used a bar of soap?

I don’t remember. There’s a liquid soap everywhere in our house.

#survey #q&a survey #random survey

[oldgooddaysoldgooddays]

45

I forgot two of my favourite Taurus’s birthdays this month and instead remembered the birthday of the one who deserves it the least. But conversely, it’s a Taurus who would maybe forgive this slip of the mind the most. When I ask M what he’s doing this coming week he says “it’s my birthday on Tuesday”, and thank god this was as we were parting ways, so he didn’t have to watch the ensuing shame spiral that had me yelling at a man in a convertible Bentley who grazed the side of my body misreading a traffic signal. You shouldn’t be driving, I say, gesturing with my wrist support as the Velcro peels away M and I sit in the yard as people who didn’t check the opening times try to enter V’s gallery. The sun turns my face stiff and we talk through the changing interiors of Pizza Huts of Southern England. The salad bar and the bacon bits therein, the lamps, the ‘ice cream factory’ that was so rarely in good working order. You know the Pizza Hut advert archive is worth checking out, M says. We get into the redemptive quality of celebrity ad appearances - football player Gareth Southgate, after botching a key penalty in 1996’s Euro semi final, appears with a paper bag over his head ordering pizza as his cruel fellow diners slide the word “MISS” into every sentence. Chris Noth shilling for Peloton after his character dies post-workout in the Sex And The City reboot: “are you ready for another ride?“ he asks his much-younger female companion But what can Pizza Express do, I ask M, after the Prince Andrew / Epstein scandal when the royal named Pizza Express in Woking as his shaky alibi, proof that he didn’t have sex with then-teenager Virginia Roberts? Perhaps we could see him waiting at the entrance of a Pizza Express, before a young blonde girl, perhaps resembling Roberts, approaches him flirtatiously. “No”, he’d say, “you are too young. My family is inside waiting”. We see him enter the establishment and order the signature low calorie pizza (just a pizza with a giant hole in the middle, the hole is filled with salad) and survey his family fondly. “Pizza Express”, reads the slogan, “Because Epstein Didn’t Kill Himself” M brought me a gift from Venice, a perfectly sculpted Murano glass fly kept in a matchbox. This would later make the birthday-forgetting even harder to stomach. It’s scenarios like this where I give people paintings out of desperation, and then 6 years later they crop up at Phillips. Although maybe I could reason that the giant bag of sour cream pretzels I bought M a couple of months ago was gift enough - he was waxing lyrical about the tiny bags of sour cream pretzels they give out on transatlantic flights and how you never find those pretzels at sea level, so I sourced some. But I can’t just start calling pretzels a gift, even if they’re a little rarified. I think to take him for dinner in New York next week and realise that in our years-long friendship he and I have never shared a meal together. Why start now? I peruse Martine Rose, M’s favourite, and see someone I knew as a teenager modelling several shirts. He had written me last year asking if the music on Spotify under my name is mine. “It’s sounding spot on”, he said, maybe the most British compliment in the world. Does M want snakeskin loafers? Does anyone? In truth there is no act of e-commerce that pays proper tribute to M who has made every single Sunday in 2 years (bar a couple when he or I was out of the country) a bacchanal of coffee and pure joy. I have so few British friends these days it is a relief to share its specificities, our millennial depression. The fleeting importance of a tamagotchi. “Imagine a tamagotchi attached to the body”, he posits, “and you have to take care of it, feed it and stuff” “Isn’t that just…..your body?”, I ask “Shit”, he says

[moonchildmisadventures]

When school is out for a snow day

#teaching #teaching irl #teacher #teacher life #teacher problems #snow day #because southern people can’t drive on ice #the year without a santa claus #christmas movies #snow miser

[lmaoplsdontlookatme]

im so obsessed w dads friend bo this got out of hand and is way too long lmao 🥴 thank u @slasherrabbitmadness for letting me dabble w dilf bo 😭🖤🙏🏻

🚫 minors 🚫 sfw

It was the first time you’d visited the shitty little bar in the town where your dad lived, some back end swamp that gave you chills and you were both wondered and disgusted how people could live with so much heat and humidity. You’d been home on summer break from college, staying with your father rather than your mother and while you loved him more than anything, the mosquitoes and constant sweat on your brow was beginning to make you regret your stay.

That was until you found yourself at the only bar in your father’s town, dark and dusty and full of mean looking strangers and you’re sure you’re in a movie. The bartender does’t check your ID when you order yourself a vodka cranberry, but he tilts his head and stares at you long and hard enough that you blush. You’re tucked into the corner of the bar, silently watching its inhabitants while you drank iced vodka over iced vodka - your phone had no service here.

You’re three drinks deep when you buy a pack of cigarettes from the bartender and when you fish your wallet out to pay the rest of your tab to leave, there’s a smooth voice at your side and you give the speaker weary eyes - until you see him, that is. Taller than you, and clearly muscular under his clothes. He’s got a thick neck and a strong jaw and a dirty baseball cap over dark curls - his fingers are dark and covered in what you assume to be old, built up engine grease. A mechanic. He’s got a brow raised at you and you blink up dumbly at him, face heating.

“What?”

The older man’s lips curl into a grin that’s all teeth and your heart skips a beat as he dips down ever so slightly, just right into your personal space.

“Real loud in here, huh? Sorry, was askin if you’d mind if I bum one - left my wallet back in the truck.” He motions over his shoulder and you see his truck outside before giving a nod, offering the tall stranger the pack of cigarettes. His toothy grin shrinks into a side smile and you feel your knees go weak - his deft fingers quickly pack the cartridge before opening the plastic and tossing the garbage onto the bar. He takes a cigarette from your pack and lights it with a match from his pocket before offering it to you - you take it with a slow blink and watch as he lights his own before sliding you back the pack.

“Bo Sinclair. Mechanic for a couple towns over - I own a specialty shop so i’m here pretty often.” He’s got a thick southern drawl that makes your stomach clench and you have to tell yourself to breathe - why the fuck were you going nuts over some backwoods hillbilly? You blamed the vodka, though you knew that it wasn’t the case. Instead, you squeeze your legs together to quench the throb of your clit while you smoke. You offer your name quietly and he repeats it with a satisfied hum before motioning the bartender over. “Double whatever she was havin, and give me a couple of whiskeys too.” The bartender is friendlier with him - /BO/ - than he was with you and your drinks are served promptly and when you take the shot glass and the cool vodka cranberry, you glance up at Bo with drawn brows. “Owner and I know each other. My brother does some work for him now and then.” He finishes his sentence with a wink before tapping his shot glass against yours, urging you in.

It’s a few hours later when you’re thoroughly buzzed and gone through over a pack of cigarettes and your eyes are red and puffy from the weed offered to you and Bo just outside the bar that you find yourself giggling along side of the main road in town, fingers laced loosely with Bo’s as he lets out soft chuckles behind you, eyes dark as he takes in your form. You had every intention of leading Bo back to anywhere you could and fucking the brains out of him, but hesitated when you thought of your father’s small home.

“Hey. Wait. This is, uh. Weird.” Your voice is breathy and you have to stop to laugh, but then you steady yourself as Bo comes close to you, dropping his forehead down against yours and pushing you gently into the shadows of the buildings along the street. You swallow and reach up to wrap your arms around his neck and he’s there, hand instantly wrapped around you and lifting you and you’re being pressed against some sort of brick wall with Bo’s hands at your ass. He kisses you harshly and you moan against him, all teeth and tongue while your fingers wrap into the dark curls of his hair and Bo grinds up against you, already hard behind his pants. “Can’t, uh. Go back to mine. My house. It ain’t mine. My uh, my dad is there.” You’re breathy against him as he sucks harsh bruises into your neck and collar while you pant and whine against him. He bites down and you let out a cry, Bo’s hand shooting up to cover your mouth. He sucks in a harsh bruise that you’d have no possibility of hiding and you wonder for a moment if he was a high schooler in a man’s body because who else would leave this many hickies?

He lets you down after a long while and pulls you from the wall and Bo ducks for a moment and you only have a second to catch your breath before he’s lifting you and you’re slung over his shoulder, hands at his ass with your ass at the side of his face. He presses a harsh, bruising nip against your thigh that you’re sure would bruised and you’re being carried away through the dark streets. There’s a noise and Bo grunts and you’re being gently slung into the passenger seat of his truck, old leather still hot from the day earlier.

Bo slides into the seat next to you and while he’s sitting, you can see how hard and thick he is behind his jeans. He shifts his truck into gear and you jump and bounce and you’re on your belly against the bar seat of the truck, face against the rough fabric of Bo’s pants while you whine and groan around him, soaking the front of his pants as much as you could. He’s got a hand in your hair and he occasionally lifts it to shift gears - the ride is smooth and you can feel his eyes on the back of your head and you pant against his fabric hidden cock. You weren’t sure where you were going and the thought crosses your mind that you were totally about to be brutally murdered somewhere and when Bo’s hand tightens in your hair, you groan around him as your clit throbs between your legs and then you don’t care where you’re going, as long as Bo fucks you.

The drive feels like forever but it couldn’t be more than 15 minutes and suddenly the truck stops and Bo pulls you up for a harsh kiss before shoving you back to your side of the truck - you’re out of the door and Bo is at your side in seconds, his hand on the small of your back as he leads you up into his house. It’s big, two story, and there are multiple vehicles outside which leads you to believe that there are others than Bo staying at the house. You wonder briefly if he’s married with children and a sinful shiver runs down your spine. There’s no lock on the door and you follow Bo in quietly. The house is dark and you trip over the edge of a carpet, but Bo is there and he leads you upstairs with his fingers tight around your wrist.

As soon as his bedroom door is closed behind you, Bo’s attitude changes. He’s slower, calmer, a cheshire grin across his face. You’re panting, clit throbbing between your legs, limbs trembling as you sink to the floor and drop to your knees, staring up at Bo. “Wanna suck your cock. Please.” Your voice is low and Bo’s grin only widens at your words - he’s quick with his jeans, popping the button and flicking down his fly to shimmy them down his legs. He’s thick behind his underwear and you watch him rub over himself with dark eyes staring down at you, panting against the warm bedroom air. You reach up and tug Bo’s underwear down his thighs, letting out a slutty little moan as his cock comes free - he’s thick, thicker than anything you’ve had before, and he’s got enough length that you have to use two hands to jerk him off. Bo hisses above you as you press sloppy wet kisses along his shaft, lubing him up while you tug and massage at his balls with one hand, the other balled into a fist at your lap.

He doesn’t give you long to get used to him, not before he’s got his hands at the sides of your head with his own slammed back behind him into the door, hips tilted forward as he fucks your throat. You’re doing what you can to take it, both hands at his thighs while you choke and gag around him, drool and spit and pre puddling under the two of you. He’s fucking loud above you, airy chuckles and panting your name and you’re so surprised that he’s so expressive and it only turns you on, humming around Bo as he assaults your throat. That makes him stutter and you can see his thighs clench around you and his fingers tighten painfully in your hair as he chokes. He stays like this for only a few seconds before yanking your head back with a growl. You pop off of him as you choke, coughing painfully and spitting against his carpet. You’re given only a moment before Bo’s hands are under your arms and he’s lifting you like you’re a fucking child - you’re tossed back onto his bed and he lifts his hand to circle his finger, indicating for you to flip. You comply immediately, hands under you to open your own pants and you’re shimmying out of them when Bo is there behind you, face pressed into the ass of your underwear as he licks and nips at you from beneath the fabric. You whine and push back against him, using the leverage to get your knees under you and you find yourself face down in a stranger’s pillows that smelled like way too much Old Spice and there was so much warmth between your legs that you thought you might drown and die.

Bo’s fingers are there along with his tongue and he works your wet cunt open from behind, humming against you as you moan and writhe and pant into his bed, a hand behind you in his hair while the other grips the blankets desperately for something, anything. The thick fingers inside of you speed up and you press back against him and he sucks and licks at your clit and you cum harder than you remember ever having in your life, knees shaking as Bo fucks you through it, lapping your orgasm soaking around his fingers. He doesn’t break, only shifts his hand so he can slip a third finger inside of you and you stretch around him, delirious with sex as you push back against him with your sluttiest of moans. You can hear him behind you, panting and letting out small whispers of ‘fuck’ and ‘god damn’ and then suddenly it’s not enough as you clench and whine hard at Bo, shaming your hips and ass, inviting, begging him to fuck you.

He pulls back and is gone for a moment and you try to catch your breath, repositioning yourself on your knees with your ass up and hips spread, how you to like to be fucked deep and harsh. You hear plastic and he’s putting on a condom thankfully, though with this much heat in your belly it was hard to care if he had one or not.

“Look at you, just beggin for it. Fancy little city slut desperate to get fucked in my bed.” Bo’s tone is harsh and you moan loud at his words, his accent thicker in his lust and when he grabs your hips and pulls you back, you let out a small yelp in surprise. You’re expecting Bo to plunge into you, to be taken brutal and harsh but the head of his cock is at your cunt and you hold your breath as he slowly, slowly sinks in. He’s fucking thick and you gasp at the burn and stretch, eyes wide against the bed. He feels like he could split you in two on his cock alone and you press back into him suddenly, fulling seating yourself against his hips with his thick length buried deep in your pussy, deep enough to feel his throbbing head against your cervix. You moan, low and long around Bo and he picks up his pace then, drawing back with his cock nearly spilling out of you and then he’s back with a sharp snap of his hips - you cry out at the second assault in your belly and then he sets his rhythm, rolling his hips to snap harshly into you and pulling you back onto his cock with each thrust.

You don’t know how long you’re bent over and fucked like this, Bo groaning and brutal behind you, hips already marked with countless bruises in the shape of his fingers and you’re so sweaty, a pool under you where Bo fucks into you and you leak around him. You’re sobbing into his sheets, bouncing your hips back to meet him with each thrust and Bo gets louder as he spanks you harshly - on his fourth slap, he grabs your cheeks in a hard knead before picking up his pace, bucking into you and chasing his own pleasure, using your cunt like a fleshlight as he chases his own pleasure with your body. Onetwothree pumps and he pulls out of you with a slick sound and your knees collapse under you, a cry passed your lips from the sudden loss of contact and then Bo’s fingers are under your shoulder and you’re being flipped. You obediently sit up on your elbows and open your mouth with your tongue out, eyes locked on Bo’s and he yanks off the condom just in time to finish against your face - thick, warm ropes of cum that splash into your mouth, over your lips, across your neck and into your hair. You moan and lick him cum from your lips, hiding the wince at his bitter taste.

Bo falls asleep quickly afterwards, snoring and with an arm slung over your back. You lie awake and watch him in awe - he’s the first older man you’d ever slept with, and he fucked you better than boys your age did. You sigh and crawl out from under him, pulling your pants back up. The walk back to town and to your own car is long, a good hour, and you’re so sore when you get back to the bar that you slump against your car for a moment before settling in. You flip down your mirror and take a look at yourself and blush at the dark teeth marks and bruises littering high on your neck and down your collar. There’s no chance you’d be able to cover them and you sigh to your fate of having to explain to your father why you have hickies in your 20s.

The next morning you’re sore in places you didn’t know you could be sore - you rubbed your clit in the shower and came to the thought of an old hillbilly who probably wasn’t even that cute, you were only wearing beer goggles. Your dad doesn’t say anything about the bruises on your neck, but you see him shake his head out of the corner of your eyes. You’re red in embarrassment throughout the morning and when your dad suggests you get out of town rather than staying cooped up in the house, you gladly take his keys and drive the two of you to town, old truck chugging along. Your father didn’t like your car, said it was too small and hard for him to get in and out of, so you learned stick so you could drive him comfortably in his own truck.

The two of you eat at a diner that serves you greasy biscuits and gravy but their coffee is halfway decent so you sit with your father and enjoy a companionable silence. It’s broken by a loud, familiar voice and you furrow your brow as it comes closer and then he’s speaking your father’s name and his voice lights up as he stands.

“Well, Bo god damned Sinclair! I thought that was you, what other bastard is crazy enough to go muckin about dressed like that?” Your father’s voice is all smiles and he pulls Bo into a hug - he was dressed in all black as it he were coming from a funeral. “Hey, sorry, ain’t meanin to be rude. This here’s my daughter, come home from college for the summer.” You close your eyes and sigh through your nose because you’re surely in some kind of shitty romcom. Bo looks down at you and blinks, eyes widening only momentarily before his lips curl into the same cheshire grin he had when you fucked him. “Well how about that.” Bo reaches down and you shake his hand, his fingers squeezing yours tightly, and you see his eyes raking over your body, over his bruises and teeth marks left on your neck and collar and shoulders.

Your dad invites Bo to sit and he does so, eyes locked on yours with this big shit eating grin. You excuse yourself to the bathroom and when you come back, Bo’s made himself comfortable at your table with his own cup of coffee and a stack of pancakes. You wipe the sweat from your hands on your pants and return to the table and the mess you’d gotten yourself into.

#WHew #this is so long im so sorry #bo sinclair #bo sinclair x you #bo sinclair x reader #house of wax #afab reader #dads friend bo

[shemarmooresfedora]

hi baby congratulations on 300!!!🥳 i’m so glad to be here ! 💗🤍💗🤍✨⭐️

you know i’m obsessed w ur fics so, i am gently begging you to write something w prompts “can i paint your nails” “i’m going to steal this from you” and “people don’t compliment you enough” (sorry i forgot the numbers :( ) pleeeease? 🥺🥺

(sorry if it’s too much) thanks, i love u <3

It’s a Love Story

Summary: It’s senior skip day and you’re determined to pull your best friend of 10 years (and secret crush) out of his comfort zone.

Pairing: High School Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader (but imagine Spencer is 18 so he is the normal high school senior age)

Content/Warnings: fluff, swearing, bullying

Word Count: 1.9k

A/N: this fic is very self-indulgent because my senior skip day was yesterday! :)

Masterlist



“Hey, Spence! Wait up,” you jogged down the hall to catch up with him.

“Hey, Y/N. How’d your math test go?” Spencer asked.

“I’d rather not talk about it,” you groaned, “Thank you for trying to tutor me last night but I think I’m a lost cause at this point. It’s too late in the school year to care.”

“Did you know that ‘senioritis’ can actually be categorized as situational depression? In 2009, 22% of colleges decided to revoke some admissions offers after students began to slack off at the end of their senior year,” Spencer stated.

“Oh, trust me, genius, I may not be as smart as you but I’m not dumb enough to lose my scholarship to UCLA. I did the math out and even if I completely bombed this unit test, I can still maintain my A average,” you replied.

“I never said you weren’t smart, I was just warning you. I don’t want you to lose your spot at your dream school,” Spencer explained, “People don’t compliment you enough for all the hard work you put in to get accepted there.”

“Well, thanks for looking out for me, Spence,” you smiled, taking a seat in the back corner of the classroom.

Spencer sat right in front of you and turned around in his seat, “Do you have any homework?”

“Nope. My study hall is wide open just as expected. The teachers are losing just as much steam as the students,” you grinned, unzipping your backpack and pulling out nail polish.

“Can I paint your nails?” you asked.

“Y/N, don’t you think I get made fun of enough?” he whispered back.

“Girls love when guys paint their nails and if any guys try to give you shit, I’ll personally kick their ass. I took a self-defense course but I’ll use those moves I learned however I see fit,” you said.

“Fine,” Spencer relented, extending his hand out to you.

Spencer was honestly sold once you said that girls love it. That must include you, right?

“It’s purple too. Your favorite color,” you smiled, shaking the bottle up and then beginning to paint his nails.

Spencer thought it was cute that you picked up on his habit of sticking your tongue out of the corner of your mouth when you were concentrating.

“Isn’t it pretty?” you beamed as you worked on the second coat of polish.

“Yeah,” Spencer replied, not looking at his nails but the girl directly in front of him.

You gently blew air on his nails to dry them, “All done!”

-

“Well, well, well if it isn’t the teacher’s pet?” Brad, the captain of the football team, smirked as Spencer passed through the hallways after his math team practice ended.

“Wow, nail polish? And to think you couldn’t become any more of a loser?” he sneered as the jocks began to encircle around Spencer.

“Spence, there you are! I’ve been looking for you all over. Let’s go, we’re going to be late,” you walked right into the crowd of boys, paying no mind to them and grabbing Spencer’s hand, pulling him towards the exit.

“Don’t look back,” you whispered.

“You know one day your little girlfriend there is going to realize what a pathetic nerd you are. I’ll be ready to show her what a real man is,” Brad called after you.

“Oh yes, Brad, a real man goes to community college to hang on to the scraps of his mediocre football career that is his only reminder of when he peaked in high school,” you laughed.

“Y/N, he’s going to kill me for that,” Spencer groaned after you exited the building.

“Relax, we have three days left and then we won’t ever have to see that dick again,” you assured him.

“We have four days left,” Spencer corrected you.

“No, three because we’re not going in tomorrow,” you walked into the diner and took your seat in your usual booth, “It’s senior skip day.”

When Spencer didn’t respond, you looked up from your menu, “Spencer Reid, please do not tell me you were going to go in on senior skip day.”

“Why would I want to miss school?”

“Because you already know everything they could possibly teach you and you can spend the whole day with your best friend instead?” you fluttered your eyelashes to persuade him.

“I don’t want to go to the beach with all the popular kids. I’ll get shoved in the sand,” Spencer grabbed some of the fries that the waitress dropped off for you and popped them into his mouth.

“That is why we are going all the way to Santa Monica. We’ll just get up a little earlier and drive a little further but then we won’t run into anyone from our school,” you proposed.

“Fine but you’re driving,” Spencer huffed.

“Well, I’m certainly not letting the guy drive who hasn’t driven since he got his license just to prove he could pass,” you giggled.

“Why do I need to drive when my next-door neighbor can be my personal chauffeur?” he grinned.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll pick you up at 7 on the dot tomorrow.”

-

You honked outside of Spencer’s house. He came scrambling out with a big canvas tote bag, a tan sweater, and lilac swim shorts that ended at his mid-thigh.

“Get in, loser. We’re going to the beach,” you rolled down the window.

Spencer furrowed his brow for a second before opening the door.

“It’s just a reference to a popular movie. I wasn’t actually calling you a loser,” you assured him.

“My mom made us blueberry muffins for the ride,” Spencer pulled a ziploc bag out of the tote.

“Oh that is so sweet of her! Please tell her I said thank you. She must have been having a good night then,” you smiled, accepting one of the muffins from Spencer.

“Yes, she has been having a good week overall,” Spencer affirmed.

“That’s so great to hear. Okay, we’re stopping for coffee but then we’ll get on the highway.”

The opening notes of Love Story by Taylor Swift began to play on the radio.

“Oh my god! Turn it up!” you screamed.

Spencer grinned and turned the volume knob up.

“Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone. I'll be waiting, all there's left to do is run. You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess. It's a love story, baby, just say ‘yes’,” you sang.

-

You rolled down the windows as soon as you exited off the highway.

“Do you smell that, Spence?” you inhaled deeply, “Something about the salty air and sunshine just makes me feel alive.”

“You know it’s probably your increased exposure to the sunlight leading to an increase in vitamin D which can keep your energy levels up and enhance your mood,” Spencer stated.

“Well, whatever it is, I still love it,” you grinned.

You and Spencer made your way along the sandy coast. You parked in the beach parking lot and got out of the car, grabbing your mini cooler and chair.

Spencer grabbed the other chair and his tote and you headed down to the beach, walking a ways before settling on a spot in a less crowded area.

You took off your big t-shirt revealing your light blue bikini.

“Can we go in the water please?” you begged.

Spencer dug into his tote and tossed you a tube of sunscreen.

“Not until you put that on,” Spencer insisted.

“Fine,” you huffed.

“Sorry I don’t want you to be sunburnt for graduation,” he chuckled.

“Can you do my back?” you asked.

“I-um-yeah-yes I can do that,” Spencer scrambled to stand up from his beach chair.

His breath hitched in his throat as he applied the cool lotion to your back.

“All good,” he cleared his throat.

“Thanks, Spence! Do you need me to do your back or are you all set?” you asked.

“Nope, I’m all good. My mom did it before I left,” Spencer said.

“Can we go in the water now?” you pleaded.

Spencer gave a reluctant nod as you let out an excited squeal, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the tide.

You dove right into the cool waves, instantly relieving your body of the southern californian summer heat. Spencer was a bit more hesitant.

“It feels so good, Spence. Trust me,” you smoothed your wet hair back.

Spencer inhaled deeply and then sunk beneath the water as a wave passed by him.

“Yay! He’s actually having fun, people!” you cheered as he emerged from underneath the water.

Spencer playfully splashed water at you and you gasped.

“Oh Spencer Reid, you are so on,” you laughed, splashing water right back at him.

Spencer shielded it from his face with his hand and then started chasing after you. You shrieked in a giggle fit as he lifted you up in the water so you could no longer splash him.

“I surrender! I surrender!” you laughed along with him.

-

You and Spencer were walking on the basically deserted boardwalk by this time of night, licking your ice cream cones.

Spencer noticed you were shivering and pulled off his sweater, handing it to you.

“No, Spence. I can’t, then you’ll be cold,” you said.

“I really don’t mind,” Spencer insisted, wanting to have your scent on his sweater forever.

“Thank you,” you slipped it over your head, “I’m probably going to steal this from you because it’s super comfy.”

A reminder alert buzzed on your phone, “Oh shit. We have to sign up for tickets to go to prom by midnight,” you spoke.

Spencer shot you a guilty look.

“You’re not going?” you sighed defeatedly, trying your hardest not to tear up.

“Y/N, I don’t dance. I’ll make a fool of myself.”

“And I’ll be right by your side making a fool of myself too,” you urged, “Spence, it’s going to be no fun without you. I was going to ask you to officially be my date, you know? I had this whole complicated equation that I was going to have you solve and graph and the line spelled out ‘Prom?’. It’s stupid thinking back on it now, I won’t make you go.”

“I was going to ask you,” Spencer smiled softly, “but then I chickened out.”

“How about this? You give me one dance right now and then we’ll decide if we’re going or not,” you opened your phone and started playing Dancing by Mellow Fellow.

Spencer extended his hand and you accepted as he wrapped his other arm around your waist. You waltzed around the boardwalk in perfect sync as the neon lights from food stands and rides were shining down on you.

Spencer twirled you around and caught you in a dip. You let out a shaky exhale as you both stared into each other’s eyes.

“Can I kiss you?” he whispered.

“Please do. I’ve only been waiting 10 years for it since I moved in next door,” you smiled softly.

Spencer leaned down further and connected your lips. You pulled him even closer with your hands cupping his cheeks.

“I’ll go to prom with you under one condition,” he grinned, pulling away, “we go as boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“Absolutely,” you beamed and stood on your tippy-toes to give him another kiss that was long overdue.

A/N: i took a note out of my dear friend @samuel-de-champagne-problems ‘s book by naming the title after a Taylor Swift song

taglist (just ask to be added or removed!): @samuel-de-champagne-problems @g0lden-cth @spencerreid9 @averyhotchner @coldlilheart @k-k0129 @ickleronniekinsemotionalrange @harrystylesandthegoobs @cmily @rem-ariiana

#spencer reid fluff #spencer reid x you #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid #reid x reader #spencer x reader #cm fanfic #criminal minds #cm fic #dr spencer reid #spencer reid one shot

[lilsocksiswriting]

Synopsis: Stuck in her hot, dusty small town again for the summer, Y/N makes it her sole mission to peg  the loud and bright cattle rancher  Kyojuro Rengoku. Rengoku thinks it’s just downright adorable that Y/N thinks that she can top him.

Table of Contents

Chapter Two

Word Count: 3128

Tags: slight mentions of body shamming, suggestive  ice-cream, sexual footsie at bingo, hand job in the barm , fist fucking. 

Warnings: NSFW, No beta, Minors DNI

Atwood’s, the Wal-Mart of farm goods. Since you’re stuck home for another summer it meant helping with errands like getting dog food. You’re just about ready to give up and play that good southern girl you hate just to get someone to heave the 50-pound bag into your cart.  Every time you’ve tried the bag would bump the cart away and by this point, you’re halfway down the aisle.

“Here ma'am, allow me.”

A man takes the bag from you and lifts it into the cart like it was nothing. Said man is what people not from the south think cowboys look like. The sort of glamorized version seen in country music videos. A nice pair of fitted wranglers, a big belt buckle, and a plain colored tee haphazardly tucked into his pants. And of course, you can't forget about the big ole’ white cowboy hat. The one he wears had a thick band that matches the tones of yellow and red of his hair with the addition of a little orange to help with the imitation of flames.

The man, “Kyojuro Rengoku, but most people just call by Rengoku,” as so kindly introduced himself offers to help you load the bag into your car after you paid. You decline though, getting the bag in the cart had been a problem. Getting out wouldn’t.

Rengoku was nice and he was nice looking. It was just you never got too friendly with people from around your hometown. Why should you? They never got too close to you, never tried to be polite like Rengoku had unless they had to. Which you assume was the case with Rengoku Even now as an environmental sciences senior no one took an interest in you. You had long since accepted to fact that this town isolated itself from you and you isolated yourself from the town. Because of this, it wasn’t that hard to get over the fact that you’d probably never see Rengoku again.

Until you did the very next day.

You dusty little town held a few festivals throughout the summer. The first of which being the Summer Kick-Off, a blazing hot day full of grilled hot dogs, ice cream, blow-up water slides for the little ones, and bingo for the and the old ones. The only reason you agree to accompany your mother was for the ice cream that you had only ever been able to find at The Summer-Kick off and at a gas station in town. Usually, your father and mother would go together in one car and you'd take your own so that you wouldn't be stuck playing bingo, but since your father was still away heading a construction team of a new project you two rode together.

“Is that what you’re wearing?” she asks right before the two of you are set to leave.

“Yes.”  there's no hesitation in your voice as there would have been back before you started uni, a few hours drive away from here. You no longer were excessively overthinking what people might think of you showing so much skin or the way your thighs jiggled and stuck together in the summer heat.

"Well, it ain't a lot baby."

You roll your eyes at the exaggeration, but feel yourself becoming self-conscious and needing to explain yourself. "No, it's not and it's tittering on 90, today mom. Are we going or what?"

"Fine fine. You don't have to get snippy."

When Rengoku sees you step out of the car things slow down for him. He feels his heartbeat a little faster causing his ears to go hot under his hat. Holy hell you made him feel hotter than the heat. He’s seen in women in summer rompers, he’s seen women in less. But you made it look so different. So damn fine.  His eyes are gluer to you as hand through your hair and the other slips into the romper’s pocket.

It’s confidence! Rengoku realizes the difference in you. That’s it, that’s what makes him feel all giddy and hot.  He bet there were already a few people looking at you like the town Jezebel or wonder why on earth you’d wear something so ‘nice’ out to a little get-together like this. You didn’t look like you cared though. You weren’t weighed down like he was with expiations. You didn't seem to care about fitting in and it made you look ethereal to the cowboy.

Another woman walks around the car to meet you. You two exchange a few words then separate, her going towards the community center across the street and you to the pavilion. Rengoku recognizes the women from being over at his neighbor's so much. She was related to the Smiths in one way or another. She also had said she had a daughter a little younger them himself off at college on multiple occasions. You had to be that odd child of hers. What was it that made you so odd?

Rengoku acts in fact as you leave the pavilion, ice cream cone in hand.

“Howdy!” he falls in step beside you.

“Howdy, fancy seeing you here,” You greet back then quickly lick up the already melting once cream.

“Could say the same to you!  So how are those dogs- “

It wasn’t very frozen to begin with and you’re just a tad too slow.  A few cool drops land on your chest just below your collar bone, damnit. Hearing Rengoku get cut off makes you look away from the melted ice cream on your chest and to him. He's red, Like redder than just the heat. On top of that, he was trying so hard to keep his eyes from glancing down.  It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was up. He looked so cute and bothered. And just from some melted ice cream?

Rengoku looks down and he’s simultaneously happy and wishes he hadn't because it’s so easy to imagine those cream-colored droplets as something else. In fact, he is imagining them as something else. Any redder and you think that steam might start coming out of his ears, that or the poor thing will pass out from all the heat.

Maybe it was the fact he was obviously attracted to your body or that you had been so bored since coming home, but something makes you play into this. You swipe a finger over your chest collecting the melted ice cream and continue to look at him as you run a flat tongue over your finger.

You follow up with a, “Man it’ suer is a scorcher to today.”

“Suer is,” Rengoku agrees, his voice a little strained.

“Maybe we should have worn less them hmm?"

You leave Rengoku so shocked that he doesn’t have a chance to get the door for you and ends up following you into the community center like a lost puppy. You were flirting with him. That was flirting and he loved it. It made Rengoku feel giddy, happy, and he wants you to do it again.

The community center was just one large room with a stage. Plastic fold-out benches are line up in neat rows. Cloth coverings with sunflower patterns hanging off of their edges. little toddlers run around, and a few too old for the water slides but still too young to participate in town gossip sitting quietly on their phones. Your mother was in one of the groups of gossipers and you weren't looking to be included. After you two buy a few bingo cards you lead Rengoku to the end of one of the tables secluded from the rest.

“So have you ever played Bingo before?” you ask

Rengoku shakes his head setting down across for you. “No, but I’m sure it’s not that hard of a game!”

“I don’t know…” you trial off. “Takes a lot of concentrating.”

Both you and Rengoku set in a comfortable silence as a new game starts. You want Rengoku to get really into the game before you have your fun. This doesn't take long. a few numbers in and he's completely focusing on the card in front of him.

Rengoku doesn’t jump or even look up when he feels your foot tap against his ankle. He does smile and though and tell you, "That won't work on me Y/N"

“I know.”

Rengoku does tense up a little when you start to inch your foot further and further up his leg.  His concentration finally starts to weaver when you press the toe of your shoe into the crotch of his wranglers. It was hell. Hot and sinful hell. You’re applying just the right pressure. It felt good, but not good enough. He wanted more, even spread his legs apart to ask for such-But he needs to focus too.

“What was that number?”  Rengoku whips his head up towards the stage where man elder man was already calling out the next number.

“I told you this was a game all about concentration Rengoku~" you tease in a sing-song voice.

“Well, it would be a lot easy-mph!”  Rengoku quickly sucks in a breath as you press a little harder.

You looked so smug sitting there across from him, fishing off your ice cream and continue to play along as if you weren’t making him so fucking hard under the table.

“BINGO!”, the raspy voice of a chain smoker calls out.

Numbers are then compared, and you burst out in laughter because the number Rengoku had missed would have given him a bingo. You give him a break and remove your foot for the next few rounds. Rengoku's not sure to be glad or disappointed at this. The next few rounds pass by and neither of you gets another bingo.

When you see you, mom begins looking around the community center for you you take that as your cue to stand up and leave.  “Well, this has been fun Rengoku.”

“Do you think the fun's over?”

Rengoku's looking at you so damn confident in himself and that suddenly infuriates you because you hate cowboys like him. Going around thinking they're hot shit just because conventual attractive and well-liked in the community just because they’re what the community wants. You want to knock him down a peg.

Knock him down a peg… Pegging would default do that. You will peg a cowboy this summer, you decide then and there.

“Not by a longshot cowboy.”

On top of not knowing where to buy a strap on you also had no idea how to get in contact with Rengoku again. Luckily your mom comes in clutch when it came to the latter problem. As it turns out Rengoku had moved in just down the road, which in country lingo means a few miles down the long stretch of backroad you live on, about a year ago.

“If you could have stayed here longer for your holiday breaks, you’d know that.”

You don’t tell her that you can stay longer, you just never want to. Instead, you steer the conversation elsewhere and come to find out your mom had never baked him any homemade cookies as a housewarming present like she had whenever The Thomason’s moved in across the road. You dig into that. All it takes is a little teasing and a “What will he think if he finds out you didn’t give him the same welcoming experience?” for your mom to make you help her bake.

The baking wasn’t so bad. You actually do enjoy the process. It was your mom's little remarks that made the whole thing unenjoyable.

“This is so much fun just the two of us,” She begins then later adds, “Better than running around the woods huh?”

Your mother never understood why you're so infatuated with bugs and fungi. As a kid she called you a tomboy, always splashing about in mud puddle and giggling at the way beatles would stick to your arm hair. . You had more friends that were boys than girls and for a while this was ok.  But then came the teasing:

Do you like them? Ohhh she’s blushing!

Who is it? which one do you like

Is he your little boyfriend?

Does Y/N get a little boyfriend?

Then when you got old enough it was:

Y/N L/N don't you dare think about getting that nice shirt dirty you hear me

Y/N don't go off in the woods alone

Y/N I don't like you around all those boys

Boys only think of one thing at that age.

By the time the cookies came out of the oven, your mom had to start heading to one of your cosines baseball scrimmages. You act as nonchalant as you can as you tell her that you can drop them by in your way to go so something which you make up on the fly. She thanks you just before hurrying out the door.

Before you leave yourself, you change into something a little nicer with a deeper neckline, it seems to make the cowboy easily flustered. Rengoku’s house was at the end of a long driveway lined with pastures on both sides  It was small, but still nice and well kept. There was a truck parked out front, but when you knock on the front door no one answers. Across the wide gravel drive way is a barn with its door open.You’ll try there and if he’s not in the barn then at least you know where he lived now. You’re sure you can think of another neighborly reason to come over.

Rengoku is in the barn and holy fuck. He has his back to you, it’s shirtless and sweaty.  His jeans are hanging low, they're a worn-out pair with no belt. You stand there a few moments watching the way his back muscles flex as he grabs a hay bale with thickly gloved hands and heaves it onto a neat row that lines the barn wall. You ingrain this scene into your memory for the next time you need the company of your vibe before bed. This man literally looks like he stepped right off the pages of those romance novels you granny used to pick up from the Dollar Tree.

“Howdy!” you call out making those broad shoulders tense up.

Rengoku turns around and when he sees you standing there in a cute little sundress with a tuba ware of something in your hands he relaxes. A big smile stretches across his face happy to see you again.

“Well, howdy YN! What brings you out today?” he asks leaning an elbow against the line of hay bales he's stacked up.

“it would appear that mom never gave you the full welcome to the neighborhood experience,” you hold up the tuba aware which you then set down on a hay bale.  “You look like you’ve been working hard."

“Yes ma'am!"

A few steps are all it takes to have Rengoku trapped between you and his row of hay bales. He looks a little surprised at the initiative you've taken but doesn't say anything, just breathes slowly, in and out. You place a bare hand on his chest and look up at him with your best I'm-in-charge-here smile.

You're fingers trail down over his skin, along his hairy sternum, over his stomach. "You look like you've been working so hard. Don't you think you should take a break?" down the blond patch of hair under his navel, then hooking them in the hem of his pants and pulling. "Let me give you a little reward?"

Rengoku's even breathing gets caught in his throat as he nods at that but that's not enough for you.

"You got to use your words for me baby boy."

Fuck, you were good. "I-i do wanna reward, please."

you draw your eyes down, working unbuttoning his jeans, and shimmy everything down over his hips to easily get his cock free. Rengoku's big.  his cock is hot and heavy in the palm of your hand and it takes no time at all to get him fully erect. Rengoku braces his hands on the hay bales behind him as you work for your hand up and down it. Once you had a good rhythm going you look back up at him with that same coy smile as before. You coo and complement how big he feels in your hand, how cute his face is all slacked jawed and flush.

Then suddenly you stop pumping. You settle your hand in a loose fist around the base of his cock. You say, "Now, be a good boy and ask nicely."

Rengoku blinks once, then twice. Then he chuckles. A deep sound comes from the chest. 

"You are so fucking adorable like ya know that darling."

what.

Rengoku moves his hips, starts to fuck your fist in shallow thrusts. He bites one of the fingers of his gloves between his teeth so that he can rip it off his hand and spit it away. 

Wait. 

Rengoku cups your cheek softly with his bar hand as his thrusts grow more intense. "Do you want me to beg? want me to say things like 'please let me cum, I've been such a good boy'. Darling that surprised look on your face to more than enough to get me there."

Oh fuck.

And to his words Rengoku cums. You can feel it. the way his dick pulses as globs of cum weep from the tip and over your fist. oh my god, you didn't even see him cum and you still feel yourself getting wet. You frown at this two-toned little shit. 

"Here let me get you a rag to wipe off. This makes us even right?"

"This isn't over cowboy," your determination echos off the barn walls

Rengoku can't stop smiling at you, can't even muster a challenging look because he feels so damn happy. "Not by a longshot."

Rengoku forgets about the last of the hay bales. he can do them tomorrow, He doesn't want you to leave just yet. He wants to know more about you so he invites you inside. Nothing sexual, he swears. He just wants to get to know his competition. 

He's delighted when you tell him that you're an environmental science major. his little brother just started uni for ranch management.  Rengoku wants to know all about what you like to study and you a little taken aback by his interest. He might be the first person to be genuinely interested to hear you stammer on about fungi and bugs. Rengoku listens to you talk about how easy it is for a certain type of fungi to grow  from cow shit with a light in his face that makes your chest feel warm.

#kimetsu no yaiba #rengoku kyoujurou #rengoku #kimetsu no yaiba rengoku #kyojurou x reader #rengoku x reader #demon slayer kyojuro #rengoku kyojuro x reader #privet stacks

[crowdedimagines]

Worse Days - Aaron Hotchner

The faint dripping of water pulls me back to reality. The same sploosh happening over and over. Minute after minute. I pull my eyes open blinking, forcing them to focus. The swaying back and forth, left to right, doesn’t help ease the dizziness I feel.

“Looks like your girl is finally up.”

I look around, searching for the source of the voice.

“Wake up, sunshine!” He finally sits in front of me, taking my head in his hand. His fingers are coarse and strong. He forces me to look him in the eyes, his grip tight on my cheeks. He tilts my head to the tripod over his shoulder. The red light on the camera blinks back at me.

“Smile for the camera.”

This is not at all how today was supposed to go…

Twenty-Two Hours Ago.

“Alright, we’re looking at four women, murdered and found on the beach in Miami. All from different classes and backgrounds, but similar age groups” JJ hands us each our files.

“He takes them for three days, before brutally dismembering them. The morning of the fourth day, the woman is always found.”

“He takes risks. Each of these women were taken from high traffic areas.” I comment.

“There’s more.” Garcia suddenly takes over.

“He also sends a live feed to the family of the victim.” She reluctantly pulls it up on the TV, a live feed of the women pleading for their lives. Saying their goodbyes.

“He’s definitely a sexual sadist. He finds pleasure in knowing that families are watching their loved ones last moments.” I clear my throat, pulling my eyes away from the screen.

“That’s what he gets off on.” Derek agrees. “He likes knowing that there’s people in distress on the other end of the camera.”

“Wheels up in thirty.” Hotchner simply says before excusing us all.

As soon as we land we start the process to find the unsub. It begins with all of us splitting up and going to the scenes where the bodies were found. All of them were ditched on the beach, early morning before anyone was out.

We get nothing from the populated beaches other than sand in our shoes.

We sit down and look at the profile and determine the man is bold and try to analyze the footage we have from the previous victims. Penelope is trying to find any identifying marks from the videos to see where they come from. Based on the way he treats the bodies, we’ve determined he’s likely a white male in his early thirties. 

“It looks like they’re on a boat.” I say, we’ve been watching the videos on an endless loop. Trying to catch any new details. 

“The camera is steady.” Morgan argues, looking at the TV now too.

“But look at her hair, it’s moving when she’s not. It’s like the rocking of a boat.”

“It’s possible considering he’s ditching them on the beach.” Reid comments. 

“That’s why no one sees him dragging a body all across the beach. He already had them on a boat.” Ross puzzles together. 

“The most recent body was found this morning, that means he’s going to take his next victim tonight.” Morgan says.

“We should visit where each of the women were taken. Try and get an understanding of how he was able to do so in such populated areas.” Hoctchner announces, “Prentiss and Morgan, go to the grocery store where Hannah Lane was taken, Y/n and Spencer, go to the parking garage where Amy Bryant was abducted and Rossi and I will go to the last two locations.”

We all nod and go off in our separate directions. Spencer and I get in the car and drive to the parking garage where Amy was taken. We drive around until we reach the second level and get out.

“Even for a parking garage, it’s bold. It’s packed with cars on this level. Anyone could show up at any time.” I look around.

“You’re right, they could.” A voice calls out behind me before everything goes dark.

Present time.

“Morgan, you owe me twenty bucks. I told you it was a boat.” I stretch out my neck that has a kink from hanging loosely while sitting up in the chair for so long. It feels heavy, like I’ve been in this position a long time.

The man in front of me rolls his eyes, huffing loudly.

“You picked the wrong girl if you were counting on me melting like puddy in your hands. You forget that I know exactly what you want. You want the tears and the begging.”

“Trust me. You’ll get to that point.” He smirks. “They all do.”

He leaves the room, loudly pulling the door shut behind him as he goes.

“I promise, it’s not as bad as it looks.” I plead with the camera, knowing that my team is on the other side of it. I can only imagine what they’re all feeling. We’ve had close calls with team members, it’s not any easier to be in their position right now. You feel helpless. 

“Definitely on a boat, but I think we’re just at a marina or a pier. I can hear seagulls, we aren’t rocking that much.”

I lean forward as best as I can while still being tied to a chair. There’s a small window along the ceiling allowing me to see blue skies.

“It might be a ship. I’m above sea level, I can see the sky.” I try to give the team as much information as I can possibly gather. Anything could help.

“Sorry that’s about all I have right now to help.” I look around the bare room for any other details that could help, “I think I have a concussion, and maybe a cracked rib. I can’t take a deep breath.”

Suddenly the man comes back in, just as quickly as he left, he takes the camera in his hands.

“That’s all of your Y/n time today. You should get to trying to find me, because I am going to have a lot of fun in the meantime.”

Back with the team at the Miami police department...

The feed cuts out leaving the team in silence and shock.

“There’s nothing we could’ve done. We couldn’t have known-”

“We could have waited.

Spencer looks down at the ice pack in his lap. As if the guilt wasn’t eating away at him enough before. He also received a concussion. Only he woke up on the ground, relatively nothing compared to the person he was sent out with.

“There was no way for us to know that the unsub was going to come back to visit the last scene of the crime.” Emily defends. She can see the pure anger in Aaron’s eyes. Completely unwavering, and only focused on getting Y/n back to the team.

“But that’s the thing. He wouldn’t, that’s not in his MO. He moves on to his next target. Once he kills these women he feels nothing, it’s all in the buildup, he feels nothing at the scene of the crime.” Rossi says, thinking out loud.

“Y/n helped JJ talk to the press. The unsub could have seen her then. It’s likely that he would follow the case, especially once it was announced that the FBI had joined the case.” Spencer rapidly explains.

“She’s the right age, she fits his type.” Rossi nods.

“So, he sees her as more of a challenge. He’s escalated. He knows that she is a higher risk person to take.” Emily comments. 

“Y/n, said she’s on a boat.” Morgan says, bringing up the clue that Y/n gave them before the feed cut out. 

“We’re in southern Florida, there’s thousands of boats within just a hundred miles of us.” JJ sighs, looking around to the group around her.

“Four thousand, seven hundred and fifty-two within 75 miles of here.” Spencer pipes up.

Hotchner cuts him a look. Still trying to find anyone to blame, but himself. He’s the one who sent her in to that parking garage. 

“Garcia, can you locate her based on the feed the unsub has sent us?” Aaron asks, looking at the plain black screen, hoping to see it come back on so he can see the girl behind the camera. 

“No sir, he’s using a different routing server, just like he did with all of his previous victims.”

“Y/n is not a victim.”

---

It takes some time while the team continues to try and work out locations and who the unsub could even be. He wasn’t afraid to show his face on camera, which makes things a little more difficult. He has no record, making Garcia’s life a little harder. 

The TV in the conference room lets out a crackle before the familiar room comes into their view. Everyone sets down what they had been working on and halts all conversation. It’s been several hours since we’ve seen anything from him. Y/n has been gone for eleven hours at this point.

“Welcome back to the show!” The unsub grins. 

He moves out of the way to finally put Y/n in the frame. She’s hunched over, she doesn’t look as good as she did before. It’s evident that things have changed off camera. 

“His name is Nick.” Y/n mutters, picking up her head as best as she can. “He’s five ten and approximately a hundred ninety pounds.” 

“Don’t you learn to shut up?” Nick pulls back on the hair at the back of her head. In doing so it reveals new bruises that have taken home on her. 

“Baby, we talked about this. No more sharing with them, or else you know what happens.” Nick brushes her hair out of her face now. 

“This is his dads boat.” Y/n looks at the man who has taken her with spite in her eyes. It seems in his hours spent with her, he hasn’t learned that Y/n doesn’t like to be told what to do. And that she’s tougher than she looks. 

He lands a sharp fist into the side of her head and takes a step back. He lets himself take a deep breath, trying to gain control. He doesn’t want to kill her yet, that would be over too soon. Now he can step closer again, he lets one hand wrap around her throat, halting any oxygen of reaching her lungs.

He waits for Y/n to start to struggle in her chair before he lets up. 

“You just don’t like to learn, that’s okay. I’ll fix you.” Nick takes her hand, which is still tied to the arms of the chair she’s sat in. He pulls her pointer finger with care, before sharply pushing it straight up, breaking it. 

“Garcia-” Y/n picks up her head struggling to fight against his hands, she’s coughing now still trying to gain her breath back, “You don’t need to see this. Please. Turn it off.”

“Of course, Y/n is the one being tortured and she’s worried about other people.” Morgan turns away, himself unable to watch this continue. Listening to Y/n’s screams and shouts are going to be enough to stick with him. Rossi forces himself to watch the girl he’s grown so close to since joining the team, brutally tortured in front of him. 

Everyone on this team has love for this girl. She’s managed to worm her way into everyone’s life in some way or another. Y/n always knows exactly what each person needs, and she meets it. She holds the team together when they’re all falling apart. If anything were to happen to her, it would destroy them all. 

Especially Aaron. As reluctant as he would be to admit it, this girl has wormed her way into his heart. Different to everyone else on the team, though. He saw her beauty and kindness. It was hard to him to imagine a woman ever entering his life like Haley did, but Y/n did it with such grace, and without even trying. Y/n helped him out with Jack when he needed it, and made them meals when Aaron just needed to catch a break. She didn’t even need a thank you, it was just part of her.

Without even trying, Y/n became his person and all he can think now is that he never got the chance to tell her, never even got the chance to thank her, and that he won’t let happen.  He wants to see Y/n’s face in person, not bruised and bloody through the screen on the wall. He needs to get out to save her.

“Garcia, does that help you narrow your search.” Hotchner asks their tech who is still on speaker. 

“We’ve got twenty-two Nicks with boats in the Miami area.” She explains. 

“What about Nicks who have wealthy fathers? Or boats that weren’t originally in their name.” Spencer asks. 

“That leaves me with one. Nick Hoffman.” Garcia cheers, “Sunset Harbour on 1928 Sunset Harbour Drive” 

The team takes off without a second thought, quickly trying to save their girl. They manage to get there in record time and find the boat with success. Y/n was right, it’s more like a ship with its size. 

“Morgan, Rossi, work your way around the main levels and then below. Emily and I will lead the upper level.” 

The team takes off to clear the boat. It took a few empty rooms until Emily finally opens the door to where they are. Nick holds a knife to Y/n’s throat. He’s essentially using her as a shield, ducking behind her. 

“If you take one more step in here, I will slit her throat.” Nick shouts. 

“We don’t want that to happen.” Emily negotiates, Hotch finally stepping into the room. 

“Hey! I told you guys not to move!” He presses the blade down tight against Y/n’s neck while she lets out a shudder. 

“Let her go.” Hotch declares. 

“I want a deal.” Nick grovels. 

“Men like you don’t get deals.” Emily says, her eyes trained on him and all of his movements. 

“Not even for your precious Y/n’s life?” He grins, looking down at the girl below him now. 

“Go to hell.” She mutters as best she can., 

“Maybe killing you would be worth it.” He smirks, “Then we could go out together.” 

“I’ve got better plans.” Y/n throws her head back into Nick’s disorienting him enough that Hotch has a clear shot, and he takes it. Nick’s body falls and Emily kicks his knife out of reach.

“Get me out of this chair.” Y/n shakes, squirming to get out of the spot she’s been constrained to. “Get me out of here, please.” 

Hotch and Emily both holster their weapons and rush to help her. They quickly untie her and when her legs fail her, Hotch scoops her up. He quickly walks her down the stairs and doesn’t stop once he reaches the dock, he takes her all the way up to the ambulance. 

Without hesitation, Hotch gets in with her. There isn’t anything that could keep him from leaving her now. 

“Wow, that was a dramatic ending, huh?” Y/n grins. 

“You can’t seriously be cracking jokes about this now.” He sighs. 

“I mean come on, aren’t you going to even ask how I figured out his name was Nick? I figured it out when he ow-” 

Y/n cuts herself off when the paramedic starts feeling her ribs to see which are cracked and if any are broken.

“Y/n, we can talk about this later.” Aaron smiles. 

“Am I hallucinating? Is it the lack of oxygen, because you’re smiling.” Y/n comments, finally turning to look at her boss who has a smile that she knows he saves for Jack. 

“You’re back. That’s reason to smile.” 

They make it to the hospital to find out that Y/n has a concussion, one broken rib and three cracked ribs, and one broken finger. Not to mention the trauma to the trachea. 

“The gangs all here.” Y/n smiles, noticing Garcia has flown down to join the group. Everyone has been gathered in the room since everything settled down, “What are you doing here?” 

“Y/n, you were kidnapped.” Garcia states, still in shock, “You could’ve died.” 

Tears fill Penelope’s eyes and Y/n opens her arms from her hospital bed for a hug, which she easily accepts. 

“Ehh, I knew you guys would find me.” Y/n grins. “I’m fine Pen, I’m getting discharged in the morning and we can all go home.” 

“Yes, speaking of, we should all get some rest. Especially Y/n.”

Slowly, the rest of the team clears out, giving hugs on their way. 

“Not taking your own orders?” Y/n asks, noticing her boss making himself comfortable on the small couch in her hospital room. 

“I don’t think I could leave if I tried.” Aaron admits. 

“And why’s that?” Y/n asks, carefully turning to lay on her side to face him. 

“Because I love you.” He confesses, “I have for a while now, and it’s alright if you don’t feel the same, or if my position with this team makes you uncomfortable. I just don’t think I can go any longer without you at least knowing.”

“You love me?” Y/n asks, her voice cracking. Aaron finally has the courage to look over and she has tears in her eyes. 

“Yes.” He clears his throat, “The way you have become a part of my life, and Jack’s for that matter. You bring so much light with you everywhere you go, even after a day like you’ve had today. You manage to still be the brightest person I have ever met.”

“Please don’t make me get out of bed to kiss you, because I think I would crack another rib.” Y/n sighs. 

Hotch lets out a soft chuckle before getting up from his spot. 

“Only if you promise to go to bed after this, you need rest.” 

“Promise.” 

He leans down to connect their lips, it’s soft. Y/n can tell that he’s being gentle with her. She reaches up a hand to thread them through Aaron’s short hair, using it to her advantage to hold him there and pull him a little closer. They pull away eventually, Y/n stealing one more peck before fully letting go of him.

“Ok, maybe I’ve had worse days.” 

---

AHHHHHH my first time writing for criminal minds! i hope you guys liked it! 🥺

#aaron hotch fanfiction #aaron hotchner imagine #aaron hotchner x y/n #aaron hotch x reader #aaron hotch imagine #aaron hotchner #criminal minds imagine #criminal minds x reader #criminal minds #agent hotchner #hotch

[silhouetteofacedar]

When We Drive, Ch. 7: Domestic Disputes, a Highway Reverie, and Nachos

Previous Chapter - AO3 - MSR, rated M

Interstate 15, San Diego County, California

3:02 PM PST

March 1, 1999

Scully is mad at him.

She’s stiff in the passenger seat of their stupid undercover minivan, fiddling with a loose thread on her robin’s egg blue sweater set. She looks beautiful in that color, and he almost wants to tell her, but her mood is so sour that he does’t feel like it. She’d probably just snap at him again.

He got to spend six days being fake-married to Scully, and not once did they get to enjoy any of the perks of the arrangement. It was a long shot, but Mulder is nothing if not a believer in improbable odds. They spent all of one night in the same bed, but Scully banished Mulder to the couch the next morning after he casually mentioned the fact that she snored. She’d insisted it was allergies due to the premature springlike weather in Southern California, but if it bothered him so goddamn much, he was welcome to take the sofa in the living room from then on.

It was all downhill from there.

“I can feel you thinking,” he says, squinting against the glare of the sun bouncing off the bleached concrete of the highway. They’re in a dense block of traffic, inching along under a parched blue sky.

“Hmph,” she replies.

“You’ve been acting kinda prickly lately-”

“Oh have I,” she states, sour amusement in her voice.

“-And I was hesitant to ask you about it while we were on a case, but now that it’s wrapped up… are you okay?”

She lets out a sharp, humorless laugh. “I’m fine. I’m always fine, Mulder, haven’t you heard?”

God, she’s spoiling for a fight, and he’s not sure he has the energy for it right now. “Sorry I asked,” he mutters.

“Not a mistake you’ll make twice,” Scully says under her breath, and he feels heat spike up his back.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he retorts, and he can practically feel the rotation of her eyes in their sockets.

“Do you really want to get into this now?” she asks.

Mulder flings a hand out, gesturing to the vehicles surrounding them. “We’re in a frankly spectacular traffic jam,” he says, “Might as well make use of the time. You have, quite literally, a captive audience.”

She sighs, suddenly sounding tired. “Jesus, are we that pathetic, Mulder? We can’t have an honest conversation unless we’re forced, or under circumstances we can’t easily escape.”

He doesn’t respond, just scratches his bicep under the cuff of his itchy pastel polo shirt and waits for her to gather her words. He knows Scully’s patterns by now, and gives her a tried-and-true nineteen seconds of silence before she continues.

Right on time. “I feel… I feel that lately, there’s an imbalance between us. As partners,” she says. “Maybe it’s always been this way, and I just never took notice of it; but I am acutely aware now that things aren’t right.”

“What things, exactly?” Mulder asks, his tone carefully neutral.

“It’s a matter of trust,” Scully clarifies.

“I trust you,” he says earnestly. He can see Scully’s lips tighten into a thin line.

“It’s not you trusting me,” she says softly. “It’s me wondering if I can trust you. Wondering if you’ll trust the wrong people, and endanger us both.”

Here we go again, he thinks. “Is this about Diana? Scully, I don’t understand. This case had nothing to do with her; she is literally thousands of miles away, and you’re still letting her influence you.”

As soon as he said the words he wanted to scoop them up and shove them back down his own throat. The irritation coming off of Scully has heated up to full-blown anger, and he braces himself for a collision.

“Letting her influence me? Are you fucking serious, Mulder? She’s been leading you around like a dog on a leash, despite information that multiple sources have provided you-”

“It’s not that simple, Scully,” he counters weakly.

“Of course it’s not. Because it’s personal,” she says, and he feels the words stick in his chest like a dart.

“Scully-” he begins, but she holds out a hand to stop him.

“Don’t you dare,” she says in a tight whisper, “Try to pin that shit on me. After all we’ve been through, after - after things we almost did, I thought…” She shakes her head, abandons her sentence. “Don’t insult me, Mulder.”

Things we almost did?

A cold sweat breaks over his skin, and he’s not in the car; he’s in the hallway outside his apartment door, her face in his hands, warm breath mingling between them. He’s curled up in her arms on the spongy forest floor somewhere in the depths of Florida, lulled to sleep by her soft raspy voice. He’s waking up next to her in a scant full bed in Kroner, Kansas, an arm flung across her waist in sleep; pulling her in closer because he can, just this once.

He told her in Bermuda, and she thought he was just high on painkillers. He dug her out of the ice in Antarctica, pulled a tube out of her throat, restarted her heart and filled her lungs with his own breath.

After everything she’s seen, how can she still not believe?

The car behind them honks frantically.

“Mulder, we’re moving again,” Scully prompts him.

He shakes himself out of his daze and steps on the gas. “I don’t know what to say, Scully,” he says softly. “But I don’t want us to go on like this. I agree with you, about things not being right. But I’m too tired to tally up our transgressions against each other, and I’m pretty sure my pile of wrongdoings in this partnership dwarfs yours.”

“That’s just it,” Scully says. “I don’t want to measure, and I certainly don’t want you to flay yourself on my behalf, Mulder. It’s not helpful.”

“Then what do you want?” he asks, glancing at her. “I don’t mean that in a combative way. I’m genuinely asking.”

“Just… hear me,” she says, voice thin and tired. “Please just hear me. Have my back. Be my partner. That’s all.”

Mulder reaches out and lays a hand on hers, squeezing so gently he barely feels it himself. His hands return to the steering wheel a second later, and the moment passes by like a roadside landmark at seventy miles per hour.

“You want Taco Bell?” Mulder asks, gesturing to the next offramp. “Nachos BellGrande, on me.”

“Taco Bell isn’t real food,” Scully points out. “I’m honestly surprised you don’t have an X-File dedicated to the chain.”

“I don’t yet,” Mulder replies, hazarding a grin at her.

They stop anyway.

#my fic #txf fic #msr #xfiles #when we drive #Arcadia #mulder and scully fight then go to taco bell #that’s it that’s the chapter

[honey-dewey]

Buckle Bunny

Pairing: Jack ‘Whiskey’ Daniels/Reader

Word Count: 2,582

Warnings: None

Permanent Taglist: @phoenixhalliwell

You were bribed (AKA you lost a bet) into going to a local rodeo and being a Buckle Bunny. Unbeknownst to you, a mildly bored Jack Daniels is waiting in the crowd. Unbeknownst to Jack, the buckle bunny he’s smooth talking is a whole lot more than meets the eye. 

“I am not wearing this!” You shouted, flinging the hat at your laughing best friend. “I am wearing my own hat.” 

Elle, still doubled over with laughter, took the shitty hat from you, gesturing to Harmony to pass over your actual cowboy hat. You settled the brown hat on your head, sighing. 

About a month ago, Elle had made a stupid bet with you, who could stomach one of Harmony’s ridiculously frilly pink drinks the longest. You’d puked first, and therefore lost the bet. Elle’s reward? She demanded you attend your next rodeo as a buckle bunny. 

“I hate you,” you growled, wiggling in your tiny shorts. “This is embarrassing! I am competing today.” 

“I told you that you can absolutely put on real clothes when you compete,” Elle said, handing you your boots. “But until then, I want you to get some numbers! Find you a nice sugar daddy or something.” 

You reached behind you to smack a squealing Elle, Harmony almost falling off the bed with how much she was laughing. 

“We’re gonna be late,” Harmony said finally, standing and saving Elle from your wrath. “Come on.” 

The drive to the rodeo was quiet, with you sulking in the backseat. Buckle bunnies were often the bane of your existence, and now you had to pretend to be one. 

The rodeo was, as expected, crowded. The fair was also in town, and between the rides and the rodeo, there were hundreds of people gathered in what was once an empty field. 

“Just find a hot cowboy and go flirt relentlessly!” Elle said as she walked off to find the funnel cake. “Have fun!” 

You gave her a middle finger, tried to pull your shorts down yet again, and headed off. 

Wandering was easy. The fair and rodeo were your playground, and you knew every corner of the space, from the rigged games to the mildly unstable Ferris wheel. 

“Well hey there little lady,” a voice drawled beside you as you finally decided to grab something to eat. “What’s a pretty thing like you doin’ all the way out here?” 

Resisting the urge to gag, you turned, seeing an unfairly attractive man raising his eyebrows at you. He was stupidly good looking and dressed like a southerner, but not a full blooded cowboy. The hat looked authentic enough though. 

“Oh,” you said, trying to act ditzy. “Just wanted to see what the commotion was. It’s so hot!” 

The man grinned, taking off his sunglasses and revealing blazingly amazing brown eyes. In the sun, they looked whiskey gold. “Well, I’m Jack.” 

You gave him your name, looking wistfully at the food truck. “I’m gonna grab a drink. You want somethin’?” 

Jack shrugged. “Might as well.” 

You two stood beside each other as the line moved up, until you were ordering your good luck charm, a shamrock green cup of shaved ice. It was margarita and spearmint flavored, aptly nicknamed the Mojito, despite not having a drop of alcohol. 

Jack took a minute, but finally ordered a plain cherry cup of shaved ice. He beat you to the register, winking as he paid. 

“I could’ve paid,” you pouted, taking a bite of your shaved ice and immediately feeling a reprieve from the blistering heat. 

“You could’ve,” Jack agreed. “But you didn’t.” 

Snorting in a likely unflattering way, you led Jack towards the rodeo portion of the field. “So. What’re you here for, cowboy?” 

Jack smiled. “The rodeo, of course. Got the day off of work. Figured I’d relax the way my dad used to.”

You smiled. Jack was surprisingly more likable than you’d expected. You and him found a spot in the mostly empty bleachers around the rodeo ring and just talked. The metal of the bleachers burned your thighs, but you ignored it in favor of staring at Jack. 

He was gentle with you, happily explaining rodeo terms you’d known since before you could walk. You pretended to be entirely clueless, keeping up the buckle bunny act. You’d almost told him about the dare, but then the thought of him seeing the supposedly dumb bunny getting a nearly perfect saddle bronc score was too good to pass up. 

When an announcer called all the competitors to the tent, you jumped up, checking your watch. “Oh goodness, is that the time? My daddy’s gonna kill me!” 

Jack chuckled, standing as well. “Sure you can’t stay? The show’s about to start.” 

You shook your head. “Sorry cowboy, daddy’s super strict. See you!” You planted a kiss on his cheek and winked as you walked away. 

Jogging to the competitor’s tent, you immediately checked in and detoured to the bathroom. Putting on proper pants, a button down shirt, a shamrock green vest, your belt and leg covers, and your spurs, you rushed out to join the other competitors, nodding to men you’d competed with all your life. This wasn’t a real competition, it was mostly just for fun and entertainment, so you weren’t worried about the competitors being nasty. In fact, some of them grinned and clapped your back in greeting, as if you’d been the best of friends for years. 

Turning your attention to the blathering announcer, you tuned in just as he announced the saddle bronc. You were second to last, with only five people before you. 

Those five people went and were judged loosely, and then they were leading you to the horse you’d be riding. It wasn’t your horse, no, your horse was waiting for the timed events. Saddle bronc was the only roughstock event you rode, and boy was it worth the risk. 

Situating your spurs above the chestnut horse’s shoulders, you gripped the bronc rein tied to the horse’s bridle with one hand and secured your hat one last time with the other. 

Just like that, a buzzer was sounding, and you were off, jolting around wildly as the chestnut tried to throw you off. But between your hand and your thighs, you weren’t going anywhere. The chestnut kept kicking, and you moved with him, back and forth and back and forth like a wave, your free hand occasionally touching your hat to keep it on your head, but it mostly stayed free, helping keep the balance. Your spurs dug into the chestnut’s shoulders and neck, just enough pressure to piss him off and keep him kicking, but not too much, lest you actually hurt the horse. 

The chestnut whirled around, trying to throw you. You’d never ridden this horse before, but he was definitely a bucking horse, and knew as much about the job as you did.

Eventually, you were thrown from the chestnut’s back, hitting the dirt and rolling away from the horse so he didn’t hurt you. 

You stood once it was safe, hearing cheers as you swept your hat from your head and bowed deeply, a triumphant grin on your face. 

“And for competitor 6, a score of 90!” 

It wasn’t your best, but you were extremely happy, bowing to the judges and walking off to go wait for the final competitor. As you waited, you looked over the events list. For the timed events, steer wrestling would be first, after the roughstock events finished. You didn’t compete in steer wrestling. Not because you couldn’t, but because, like the remaining two roughstock events, they were too rough on your body. You’d stick to the other events, thank you very much. 

When the final competitor finished, they called everyone out to assess scores. A 90 was damn close to perfect, and if you were paying attention correctly, you’d won. 

The small podium was painted with the traditional one, two, and three, and the announcer, a cowboy with a real buckle bunny by his side, began to announce scores. 

Third place was a valiant 75. The buckle bunny placed the medal around his neck, grinning widely. 

Second place was a damn good 85. He clapped your back as he jogged off to take his prize. 

“In first place, competitor 6, with a score of 90!” 

You walked to the podium, stepping up above the number one, bowing slightly so the buckle bunny could slip the medal around your neck. As you waved to the crowd, you put on your most natural smile and scanned the crowd for Jack, but it was too late. You were leaving to go wait out the rest of the events you weren’t in, unable to spot your mystery man. 

Alone in the stables, you stroked down Lilac’s nose, humming to yourself. Lilac was your rodeo girl, speedy as hell and perfect when paired with you. She nudged into your shoulder, and you didn’t know it was a warning until you heard a voice behind you. 

“And so it seems I was fooled.” 

You turned, seeing Jack leaning against a wall. 

“Shouldn’t you be watching the rodeo?” You asked. “I mean, that’s got to be more interesting than talking to a fake bunny.” 

Jack shrugged. “Yeah, but I ain’t here to talk to a fake bunny. I’m here for the real rodeo rider. That was impressive. How long have you been competing?” 

“Since I was able to ride,” you admitted. “My dad used to put on fake competitions for me to practice in when I was six. Been doing rodeo events ever since.” 

“Huh.” Jack drew closer. “Are you the bettin’ kind?” 

Smirking, you took a step closer to him, so you were basically chest to chest. “That depends. What’re the stakes?” 

“My phone number.” 

You were definitely interested. “What must I do to obtain said number?” 

Flicking the brim of your hat, Jack began to walk away, calling out over his shoulder, “Win the rest of your events.” 

You snorted. Even without something as interesting as Jack’s prize on the line, you’d still probably win your events. 

That didn’t stop you from being nervous. By the time they were calling the barrel racers out, you were a ball of anxiety. Lilac nudged into you, snorting as you stroked her nose. 

You were set to go second out of the five competing, watching the competitor before you grab a decent score. Swinging up into Lilac’s saddle, you took a deep breath. Decent was good. Perfect was better. 

The buzzer went off, and so did Lilac. Swinging immediately to the right barrel, you kept control, turning her in a hairpin turn, your knee just barely grazing the barrel. It remained upright, and you moved on. Lilac was going top speed, tightly turning the next barrel, you atop her, sure this time would break your personal best. 

The third barrel was the final one, and it was perfection. You cued perfectly, Lilac turned perfectly, and then it was over. 

“Competitor 2 with a time of 15.7 seconds!” 

You laughed, adrenaline and joy coursing through you. Your personal best had been stubbornly stuck at 16.1 for months, but this had just shattered it. 

In the end, you won the event, immediately moving on to the tie down. The last event. 

You were first, Lilac nervously prancing behind the barrier as they brought out a calf. You’d been told all your life tie down events were cruel, and you agreed to a certain degree. But the way this rodeo did it, you were secure in the knowledge that the calf wasn’t getting hurt today. Not without severe consequences. 

The countdown began, and you fiddled with your lasso. It was a familiar feeling, and you adjusted it just right, hearing the countdown reach zero. The calf took off, and two seconds after it, so did you. 

Your first throw of the lasso was successful, grabbing the calf as you sprung off Lilac and felt her back up, giving you a tighter rope. You moved forward, grabbing the calf and flanking it in one swift movement. You took the end of the lasso and tied an expertly precise and incredibly fast three bone cross, securing the calf and hopefully, your win. 

Your time was called. A 9.3. Not a personal best, but pretty damn close considering your best was an even 9 seconds. 

The next few riders averaged around a 10, with someone nabbing a neat 9.5 that made your heart pound. And then, the final competitor. 

Your blood chilled. Jack, atop a beautiful black horse, sat behind the barrier, adjusting his lasso. Leaning against the fence, you didn’t even blink as his calf raced out, and right behind the calf, him. 

Suddenly, your original speculation of him being southern but not a cowboy was gone. He was picture perfect in that saddle, the lasso in his hands moving as if it were alive. He was good. Too good. 

As he walked away from the calf, the announcer called his time, and your heart almost stopped. 

He’d scored a 9.2. 

He’d bested you by a tenth of a second. 

Accepting your second place medal was hard. Standing next to Jack, you felt a bit bad for feeling so jealous. Jealousy wasn’t your color, so maybe that wasn’t it. Maybe you were just disappointed. 

After the show, you packed up your three medals, two golds and a silver, and gave Lilac a pat as you handed her off to the stable hands. Leaving the stable, you looked around for Elle and Harmony, eager to get some funnel cake and play around with the horribly rigged games before the fireworks. 

“Hello darlin’.” 

The drawl made you turn. Jack grinned at you from the barn, and you walked over to him. 

“Congrats,” you said, nodding to his gold medal. “That was impressive riding.” 

“All part of the job,” Jack said, shrugging it off. “Anyway, I believe you earned your prize.” 

You were shocked. “I didn’t, actually. I got silver. You won the last event.” 

Jack smiled. “Ah, but two golds beats one, doesn’t it?” 

He pulled out a pen, and you let him scrawl his number onto your hand. As he pocketed the pen, he tipped his hat to you and turned in the direction of a woman with short hair and a neat white button up who was apparently waiting for him. “By the way, green looks good on you!” 

Jack walked away, making a ‘call me’ gesture as he disappeared into the crowd. 

“What was that?” Elle yelled as he jumped on you from behind. “He was cute!” 

Harmony was a bit nicer, squealing and grabbing your hand. “Jack Daniels,” she read. “Oh hell no, that is not his actual name!” 

You yanked you hand back, smiling and taking a picture of the number, just in case. “I want funnel cake.” 

Promptly ignoring all the questions for the rest of the night, you tried not to think about the number until you fell onto your bed, hat securely tossed onto your lamp. 

Finally, you called the number. 

“Jack Daniels, what can I do for you?” 

“Jack?” 

“Bunny!” 

You sighed. “Do not call me that.” 

Jack chuckled. “Struck a nerve?” 

“Just a small one.” You rolled over, trying to think of what to say. “So, I’ve got another rodeo soon.” 

“Oh?” 

You nodded, despite it being pointless. “Yeah. I’m a judge, and I’m allowed to bring a date.” 

Jack paused. “Bunny, are you asking me on a date?” 

“Maybe.” 

Another pause, and then Jack laughed. “Consider it done bunny. On one condition.” 

You smiled. “You never call me bunny ever again?” 

“Nah,” Jack said. “Wear somethin’ green.” 

Feeling giddy, you eagerly nodded. “Consider it done Mr. Daniels.”

#kingsman the golden circle #kingsman #agent whiskey #jack 'whiskey' daniels #agent whiskey x reader #agent whiskey x you #Pedro Pascal #My writing

[slapshot-to-the-heart]

road less travelled - m. tkachuk

I was throwing together a list of ideas yesterday, and this one stuck out to me for some reason. So I started writing, thankfully had a pretty free weekend, and finished today! It was a fun piece to right, I hope you all enjoy it! As always, I read all my tags, so reblogs are a writer’s best friend! You’re also more than welcome to come into my inbox and yell at me if that’s more your speed.

word count: 4.5k+

March 18 (thurs)

Elsie couldn’t believe she had gotten herself in this situation again. Every time she woke up in his bed she swore it was the last time, but one drunken mistake turned into another, which turned into a threepeat, and now she wasn’t so sure it had been a mistake in the first place. There was just something about Matthew Tkachuk, something so intoxicating that she was able to ignore the every fiber of her being that was screaming at her to stop this, stop things before it turned sour. Stop it before her brother found out. 

It had been easy enough to keep things from Johnny when they first started hooking up; they’d meet at a crowded bar, somewhere where the cover of anonymity was all but guaranteed, or a late-night text, a few words by the other communicating everything they needed to know. He was lonely. And Elsie Gaudreau was the only one who could help. It had been easy enough to keep things from Johnny at the start, but then they started texting before 11 PM, and then they decided they were exclusive, and then, Matty decided that it was about time that they put a label on it. And suddenly it wasn’t so easy to keep their secret anymore. 

The team knew that he was seeing someone, but much to everyone’s surprise, he had said precious little about their relationship. He called her Leigh in the locker room, or out with the boys — her grandmother’s middle name, one he felt toed the line as well as possible between complete fabrication and some semblance of the truth — and they knew the couple had been together for a few months, that she made him laugh, and that he was more into her than they had seen him act with anyone in recent memory. She didn’t come to events because she was shy, Matthew said, and he didn’t want to subject her to the kind of spotlight he knew she might be scrutinized under the moment they went public. He wasn’t lying when he said she’d been to games — Elsie usually made it to a few a month, usually on Johnny’s invitation — but left out the part where she wore the number 13 in the stands instead of 19, or where she caught a ride home with her brother after media availability instead of her boyfriend, the man she’d been sleeping with for the past five months. 

“Leaving already?” Matty mumbled, slinging one arm over her waist as Elsie tried to sit up. 

She twisted over, kissing him softly. His stubble tickled her cheek. “Got class, remember?” Of course he remembered. Class was the whole reason she was in Alberta; most of it, at least. She had done her undergrad in astrophysics at Wellesley in Massachusetts, and when the time had come for her to decide where to do her graduate studies, Johnny had been all too quick to offer up Calgary. “It’s a great program!” he had said. And it was, but Elsie also had her doubts that her brother knew much about astronomy beyond the ability to find the Great Dipper on a clear day. They had always been close, even when he went to go play in Dubuque when she was 13, but their time together had naturally been more than a little limited ever since he turned pro. So when the opportunity arose for them to be in the same city full-time for the first time in a decade, he was jumping at the prospect of being able to look after his younger sister again. And, especially after he offered to pay her tuition, she wasn’t about to say no. International fees didn’t come cheap. 

Matty groaned, pawing at her hand as she got up from the bed, throwing the covers back over him. “Do you have to go?” he whined. 

Elsie rolled her eyes. “It’s an 8 AM, and it’s,” she glanced at her watch, “already 7. I’d love to stay in bed with you, babe, but I’ve still got to eat and get dressed and grab all my stuff. Plus, it’s at least fifteen minutes to drive and find a place to park, so I’ve got to build that in too.”

“I still think it’s dumb that they make you pay to park at your own school. You’re already paying tuition, plus you TA that one course, so it’s not like you’re doing nothing for them,” he said.

“It’s dumb,” she agreed.

Matthew clicked his tongue. “It’s highway robbery, is what it is, Els.”

She laughed, bending over the bed to run a hand through his curls. She loved those curls. “Be that as it may, Matty dear, I’ve still got to get there on time. Experimental space physics waits for no man.” 

He pouted. “Fine.”

Elsie shot him a sympathetic look. “I’ll try to swing by after my classes let out, how does that sound?”

“Can’t. Johnny and some of the guys are going to be over after morning skate, we’re going out to lunch then they’re coming back here. I’ll call you if they don’t stay too late?” he proposed, looking over at her. 

She gave a tight smile. “Works for me.”

---

Matthew couldn’t believe he had managed to keep things from Johnny for as long as he had. As pretty much anyone could tell you, he was the world’s worst secret-keeper off the ice, and even more so when it came to his friends. And every time Johnny would lean over to him in the locker room, showing him a picture Elsie had posted on Instagram, or recount a story from the intro astronomy class she TA’d, he had to bite his lip and pretend like he hadn’t been the one to take the picture, or he hadn’t been the first to hear about the kid who didn’t believe you couldn’t see the Southern Cross from Alberta. As much as Matthew hated it, he knew that part of what made his relationship with Elsie so exhilarating was the illicit nature of the whole thing. Something about sneaking around with your best friend’s little sister made everything that much more exciting. 

The first time they hooked up hadn’t been a mistake, but it hadn’t been planned in any possible sense of the word. Elsie had moved to Calgary in August, a few weeks before everyone had stated trickling back into Alberta for training camp. Matthew was pretty sure it was mostly Johnny not wanting her to only be surrounded by “space nerds” — his words, not Matty’s, because while he had endless admiration for his sister’s dedication and academic skill, he understood approximateky 0.2% of what she was studying — all day, so by late September or so, she had established herself as a core member of the Flames’ “going-out” group. Which led to one particular night at a bar in October, with Johnny having already headed home thanks to an early breakfast with his fiancée and most of the rest of the group leaving around midnight. And it was a Friday, so Elsie had let herself have a few more drinks than usual; the team didn’t have practice until noon, so Matthew let himself shrug off any worry of a hangover. And Matty and Elsie already knew each other, so they got to talking, then they got to drinking, then they got to kissing. And then Elsie cancelled her Uber to get into Matthew’s, and before she knew it they were stumbling through his doorway, her fingers tangled in his curls and her legs wrapped around his waist as he walked her back to his bedroom.

There were a few people who knew the truth, and only a few people. Matthew had Brady and his mom. His logic being, as soon as Brady knew he was even vaguely interested in someone, he never took no for an answer and would have annoyed her name out of him regardless of whether or not he was being particularly forthcoming with any personal information. His mom because if he needed any advice, if he needed someone to turn to that wasn’t the incredibly vague commentary he gave the boys in the locker room, he wanted to have someone there who wouldn’t judge him and would have his best interests at heart. Okay, scratch that. Chantal definitely judged him, lifting her eyebrows over FaceTime as he called to break the news. She knew Elsie from the one trip with Johnny she’d made out to St. Louis and the times the Tkachuks had travelled up to Canada to visit the boys, and as much as she told Matthew that keeping it a secret was just about the worst thing he could do to his friend, she couldn’t say she was exactly surprised he had fallen for Elsie. 

Elsie had Ines, her best friend from college. It was easier with her, much more straightforward with a lot fewer of the conflicts of interest she felt she got with talking with anyone in the “hockey world.” Ines knew hockey, she obviously had met Johnny and some of the other boys before. Wellesley was only a twenty-five minute drive away from the Boston city center, so the one time a year the Bruins played Calgary at home she’d go with Elsie. But Ines was compassionate, objective, and one of the smartest people Elsie had ever met in her life. She didn’t have any stake in the matter that wasn’t named Elsie Gaudreau, and she wasn’t about to mince her words because she was afraid of what Matty — or Johnny for that matter — would think. So there were people who knew, but the list was very short and, at least for the time being, they wanted to keep it that way.

For anyone on the outside looking in, who didn’t know them as well, they might have said that it was a long time coming. “It” being Matthew and Elsie’s relationship. And, if she was being honest, Elsie might have agreed. She knew Matty since he joined the team; he and her brother were thick as thieves from the beginning, and he’d visited them on the East Coast pretty much every summer since his rookie year. Visited Johnny. Not her. Johnny had made it crystal-clear from the beginning that under no circumstances was their relationship ever allowed to proceed beyond friendly. 

And it didn’t. For four years, almost, it didn’t. Sure, Elsie may have carried a torch for him from the moment they were introduced, but she was far too concerned about Matty’s physical and mental well-being to pursue anything. Even if, once or twice, she could have sworn that he felt something too. But then she moved to Calgary for grad school, and Johnny started bringing her out with the boys, and she finally got to see him in his element, really in his element. She got to see Alternate Captain Matthew Tkachuk, the one who’d go to the ends of the earth for his team, who would score goals and drop gloves and do whatever needed to be done whenever it needed to be done. And it didn’t hurt that Matty looked hot as fuck whenever he got into fights, his curls flying as he stuffed his helmet under an arm, skating over to the penalty box. It only hurt that she had let herself fall for him.

March 22 (mon)

Johnny was over at Matthew’s apartment; he had come over under a pretense of going over some tape from their last road trip, but it had quickly devolved into a very heated game of Super Smash Bros before the pair took a break for dinner. “Dude, your laundry’s in the way,” Johnny said as he made his way to the bathroom, Matthew staring at the half-cooked pot of pasta on his stove. 

“It’s clean, you can just dump it in my room,” he called down the hall. He didn’t hear the tell-tale click of the bathroom door, so he looked down the hallway, only to be greeted by a site he hoped he’d never have to see. 

A conspiratorial grin on his face, Johnny held a black, lacy pair of panties between two fingers. His sister’s panties. The half-second it took for Matthew to reach, jumping forward and grabbing them out of his hands, unfortunately wasn’t enough. He held them behind his back, almost as if he was hoping that if Johnny couldn’t see them, they weren’t really there. 

“Leigh’s?” he asked, raising one eyebrow. 

Matthew rubbed his temples with the hand that wasn’t holding the panties. “Yeah. Just...Pretend you never saw those, okay?” 

Johnny rolled his eyes. “Who would I tell? The boys? They wouldn’t care. You? You already know. Elsie?” Matthew froze. “She’d just slap me and get mad at invading your privacy.”

“And you are,” Matthew mumbles, stuffing the panties into his back pocket. 

Johnny’s brow furrowed; he leaned up against the doorframe. “Seriously, though, Chucky. What’s going on with you and this girl? You know everyone respects your decision to keep things quiet and private, but I’m your best friend on the team.” The look on his face betrayed the hurt he felt inside. “I would have thought you’d say something, to me at least.”

Matthew let out a deep breath. How was he going to talk his way out of this one? “I know, and I feel bad that it seems like I’ve been keeping things from you.” But he was keeping things. Very important things. “I think with Leigh and I, we just want to take things slow, make sure what we have is real. And I think it is,” he said, hazarding a glance at his friend. “I don’t know if it’s love, yet, but I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way about a girl before. But we both agree that we need to know before we open it up to the opinions of the rest of the world, before she gets shoved into the public eye. And she understands what that’s like better than most, but it’s still not fair.” 

Johnny’s ears perked. “Better than most?” Matthew froze. “What is she, like an Instagram model or something?” 

He smirked, pushing him with one hand. “No, she’s not.” 

Johnny realized quickly that he wasn’t going to be getting any more information out of Matthew anytime soon, so much to his chagrin, he dropped it. Johnny left Matthew’s apartment that night with a weird taste in his mouth, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was. And he didn’t like that. 

April 3 (sat) 

Everyone was at Gio’s house, one of his quarterly team barbecues that had quickly become one of Matthew’s favorite things as soon as he joined the team. By “everyone,” that meant the players and their families, kids, partners, parents if they were in town. Johnny hadn’t invited Elsie — he assumed she’d be getting ready for finals, which was true, but Matthew knew she could have spared an afternoon — and Matthew couldn’t think of a way to invite her himself without arousing suspicion, so she was back in her downtown apartment while the boys were busy grilling up an inhuman amount of meat for dinner.

After everyone ate and the dishwasher had been loaded, someone decided to light the fire pit, and the conversation turned to relationships. For once, Matty didn’t tune out.“It’s the little things, you know?” Gio said, tipping back his beer. “When I see Lauren in my jersey at the games, or when she’s fallen asleep on the couch waiting for us to get back from a road trip. Makes you realize that what really matters isn’t so much how many goals you score or how big a contract you have. It boils down to the quality of people in your life, and we’ve got some good ones.” 

“It’s the same thing with Leigh and I,” Matthew said. His words caused everyone to listen. There were precious few times Matthew willingly volunteered information about his relationship, and as much as his teammates genuinely did respect their penchant for privacy, that didn’t mean they wanted any fewer details. “Sometimes when she stays over and doesn’t have anywhere to be the next day, I’ll walk out to the kitchen and she’ll just be dancing around the stove, making pancakes and singing along to a Fleetwood Mac song. Usually takes her a minute or two to notice me.” 

The guys laughed, and Matty took a long pull of his beer. He wasn’t really risking anything by saying that. Plenty of people liked Fleetwood Mac. “And she’s got this little scar behind her right ear, got it from falling out of a tree as a kid. She always tries to cover it up, but I like it better when she lets it show.” Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was Matty’s frustration about not being able to say anything about the woman he was falling in love with finally coming to a head, that made him say something he maybe shouldn’t have. 

He realized, as he hesitantly met Johnny’s eyes, and could see the gears in his head turning, that he definitely shouldn’t have said anything. Johnny was looking in between his beer and Matthew, then Matthew and his beer, then his hands and Matthew’s, which were tapping nervously on the arm of his deck chair. And then he started to put things together. The orange blossom soap at Matthew’s apartment — Elsie’s favorite scents were citrus. Fleetwood Mac was one of her favorite bands. Their maternal grandma’s middle name was Leigh. And the scar. He remembered the day she got it, falling off an oak tree in their backyard in New Jersey, running into the house to get their mom and then in the car to the emergency room with a six-year-old Elsie who needed four stitches from the accident. And with an extremely uncomfortable feeling, he realized that that more likely than not, that meant the pair of panties he had picked up that one afternoon in Matthew’s apartment had been hers. He wanted to throw up. 

Matthew was sweating as Johnny finally looked him in the eyes, realizing that the secret he and Elsie had tried so hard to keep for so long wasn’t going to be a secret much longer. “Matthew,” he began, his voice dangerously low. Matthew winced. He couldn’t remember the last time Johnny had called him by his first name. “Her name’s not Leigh, is it.” He said it like a statement, because, well, it was. He knew the answer, he just needed to hear it from someone other than himself, that the one thing he had asked of his best friend had apparently proven too much. 

Matthew shook his head slowly. “No.” Everyone else’s eyes flitted between the pair, Markstrom and Gio and Andersson and everyone else very clearly confused. 

“Something going on here?” Gio asked carefully. 

“Tell them what her name is, Matthew.” Matthew squeezed his eyes shut. If he didn’t see everyone’s reactions, everyone’s disappointed faces, maybe they wouldn’t happen. 

“Elsie.” 

“Elsie what?” he prompted. 

“Elsie Gaudreau,” Matthew finished. You could have heard a pin drop, the backyard was so silent.

 “Dude, you’re dating his sister?” Noah asked. 

Matthew nodded, one hand still tightly gripping his bottle. 

“How long?” Johnny asked, looking him straight in the eyes. 

“Just under six months,” Matthew admitted. 

He sucked a breath in. “You’ve been dating my sister for six fucking months and nobody ever thought to maybe, I don’t know, tell me?”

“It didn’t start as dating, we were just—” 

Johnny cut him off. “I can see where that’s going, and I don’t want to fucking hear it, Matthew. This was the one thing I asked you to not do. You’re a fucking All-Star NHL player, Matt. You could have any girl you wanted, you could wheel half of Calgary and I wouldn’t care as long as everyone was into it. But my little sister? The one person I told you years ago was off-limits? You had to fall for Elsie?” 

“I—” Matthew stammered as he set his drink down. “I didn’t expect anything to happen. Neither of us did. But then it did, and I fell for her, and for some ungodly reason she’s decided to stay with me, and I don’t know, Johnny,” he finished weakly. “I felt terrible about keeping it from you, and for what it’s worth, Elsie does too. I feel awful about how you found out, you deserved better than this. But I won’t apologize for my feelings.”

Johnny scoffed, standing up and grabbing his keys. “She deserves better.”

April 4 (sun)

The first thing Matthew did the next day was go over to Elsie’s house. He had already called her the night before to tell her what happened; even if he didn’t, she had the numbers of half the guys on the team and more than one had texted her to check in after seeing how Johnny left things. When he opened the door, Elsie wasn’t doing well, to put it mildly. She was sitting on her couch, wrapped up in a blanket with a barely-touched mug of tea on the coffee table in front of her. She gave him a weak smile as he walked over. “Hey.”

He bent down, kissing the top of her head. “Hey, Els. How are you doing?”

“Not great.” At least she didn’t try to hide, not like it would have been any use with Matthew. He could read her almost as well as her own parents could. “I tried to call him last night and this morning, sent a few texts, just trying to explain. Asking to talk. But he hasn’t responded to anything, I called my mom and she said she hasn’t heard anything either.”

Matthew sat on the couch beside her. “He hasn’t talked to Gio either.”

She rested her head on his shoulder; his fingers carded through the soft hair at the base of her neck. “I feel like it’s my fault,” Elsie said despondently. Coming in between her brother and one of his best friends was the last thing she would have wanted, and she was starting to feel like everything was falling apart because of her. “It never would have happened if I wasn’t there,” she mumbled into Matty’s shoulder. 

Matthew immediately shook his head. “No, no, don’t say things like that, babe. It’s not your fault, don’t put all the blame on you. Everyone dropped the ball on this one, and you shouldn’t have to take responsibility for how your brother decided to react.”

They were jolted out of their relative peace by a frantic knocking on the door. Elsie furrowed her brow. “I’m not expecting anyone?” she questioned as she threw the blanket off of her lap, She opened the door to see Johnny, staring bashfully down at his hands, an apologetic look on his face. 

“I’m sorry,” he said. 

Elsie raised her eyebrows. “You should be.” After a moment, she stood aside to let him in the door.

He scratched the back of his neck, avoiding Matthew’s eyes. “I talked to Mom, she kind of chewed me out about the whole thing. Not talking to you when you called or texted, the way I kind of blew up at you yesterday,” he nodded at Matthew, “but mostly the leaving. Neither of you deserved that. You deserved to have a chance to sit down, explain yourselves, and have an adult conversation.” A flash of regret shot through his eyes, which steeled again as soon as he saw Matthew’s arms around Elsie, who had returned to the couch. “But that doesn’t mean I like it. I’m still pissed that you went behind my back, and that you two decided to do the one thing I asked you not to do, and how you blindsided me—”

“You’re not my dad, Johnny. You don’t get to decide how I live my life,” Elsie said sharply.

He screwed his eyes shut. “I know, but I love you and I don’t want anything bad to happen to you, and—”

“No more ‘ands.’ I know you don’t like it, Johnny. You’ve made that much very clear,” Elsie said in frustration. “Pretty much everyone knows that if you could make a list of guys you wanted to date your little sister, Matthew Tkachuk would be in last place. But just think,” she paused, looking up at her brother. “Think about all the things you said to look for in a guy when I started getting old enough to date. Divorce who Matty is from your feelings about us being together. You always gave me three things. Someone who cares about me. Someone who respects me. And someone who’s honest.” Johnny nodded, his hands in his pockets. “Matty is all of that and more, Johnny. He treats me better than anyone I’ve ever been with, and I love him. And that’s what you’ve always wanted for me. Nothing more and nothing less.” 

Johnny leaned up against the bookshelf. “I guess you’re right.” 

Elsie cracked a tiny grin. “I’m sorry, what was that?” 

He groaned in response. “Don’t make me say it again, I’m not going to.” She shrugged. He looked between her and Matthew, sighing. “I overreacted, and I’m sorry about that. If you love him,” Elsie smiled, “and he cares about you,” Matthew frantically nodded, “then there’s really nothing more I could ask for. I think it just hurt that you two felt like you couldn’t come to me as soon as things progressed, as soon as you got together.” 

“We were afraid you’d react like you did,” Elsie said, reaching over to grab Matty’s hand. “We never wanted to hurt you, and I might only be speaking for myself, but I think I was worried you’d try to come between us, or say something about the relationship, or…” She trailed off. “I don’t know. Sure, you shouldn’t have reacted that way, but you’re not the only one to blame. We shouldn’t have kept things from you, or from Mom and Dad for that matter.” 

Johnny laughed. “Honestly? I’m pretty sure Mom called it from the beginning.” Elsie frowned. “What do you mean?” “You know when Matty came over to Jersey in the summer when you guys were about 20, and we all took that vacation on the beach?” She nodded. “There was one time when she saw you together, running into the ocean together. You were laughing as hard as I’ve ever seen you, Matthew was splashing water back at you, and you kept trying to tackle him into the waves. Mom, Dad, and I were back up on the beach. She just looked at you two, looked at me, and smiled.” 

Matthew rubbed his thumb over the back of Elsie’s hand. “You think she knew?” he asked curiously. 

Johnny nodded. “I think she knew even before you guys figured it out for yourselves.”

“How could she tell?” Elsie asked. 

Johnny gave a soft smile, looking over towards the couple. “You’ve never been a good liar, Elsie. And you can’t hide love.”

#hockey imagines #hockey smut #hockey writing #hockey imagine #hockey #nhl imagines #nhl imagine #nhl smut #nhl writing #nhl #Matthew Tkachuk #matthew tkachuk writing #rat king