#that's quite the suggestion there auto fill | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dianawinchester03 · 11 days

Text

Season 1, Episode 22 - Devils Trap

Series Masterlist

Y/N’s POV

My heart dropped when I saw the fearful expression on Deans face. My mind running to the worst that could possibly happen. Dean hung up the phone, a stoic look on his face. "They've got dad" He tells us, panic taking us all over. "Meg?" Sam asks stunned, anger building in him. "What'd she say?" I ask, taking a deep breath as I try to calm myself down.

"I just told you guys" Dean says firmly, his face growing red with panic. "Okay.....okay" He takes a deep breath, running a hand over his face. Dean then goes over to the nightstand, picking up the Colt. He then shoves it in the back of his pants. "What are you doing, Dean?" Sam asks him confused as Dean picks up his bag. "We gotta go" Dean says urgently, packing up all our stuff.

"Why?" I further question as Dean throws on his jacket, "Because the demon knows we're in Salvation. Alright? It knows we've got the Colt. It's got Dad and it's probably coming for us next" Dean says, trying to control his breathing. "Good. We've still got three bullets left. Let it come!" Sam says. "Listen, tough guy, we're not ready!" Dean snaps at his brother.

"Okay?! We don't know how many of them are out there. Now, we're no good to anybody dead!" He further exclaims, buttoning up his shirt. I sigh, nodding in agreement. He takes my jacket and hands it to me, I quickly take it and throw it on. "We're leaving. Now!" Dean bellows, his tone filled with authority.

Third Person POV

The Impala and Harley rush down the stretch. Y/N has her headphones jacked in her ears, on a call with the boys who're in the car as they drive. "I'm telling you guys, we could've taken them" Sam says a bit irritated. "What we need is a plan." Dean responds firmly. "Now they're probably keeping John alive. We just gotta figure out where. They'll wanna trade him for the gun" Y/N blurs from over the speaker phone.

Sam shakes his head, huffing. "What?" Dean groans at Sam's expressions. "Guys, if that were true...why didn't Meg mention a trade?" Sam points out, his mind swirling with images at his possibly dead father. Dean couldn't think of an answer, "Dad...he might be-" Sam goes to state the obvious but Dean and Y/N cut him off. "Don't!" They growl in unison.

"Look, I don't wanna believe it anymore than either of you...but if he is, all the more reason to kill this damn thing. We still have the Colt. We can still finish the job." Sam states firmly. "Screw the job, Sam!" Dean snaps angrily. "Dean, I'm just trying to do what he'd want. He would want us to keep going!" Sam argues.

"Jesus, would you quit talking about him like he's dead already, Sam!?" Y/N pipes up irritated from over the phone. "Thank you!" Dean yells in agreement. "Listen to me, everything stops until we get him back. Do you understand me? Everything!" Dean orders in a tone of authority. Sam just sighs, bowing his head. He nods sadly, "So how do we find him?" Sam asks softly.

"Maybe we go to Lincoln. Start at the warehouse where he was taken" Dean suggests. "Come on, Dean. You really think these demons are gonna leave a trail?" Sam scoffs. It dawns on him, "You're right. We need help" Dean agrees. Sam is surprised but goes with it.

________________________________

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

The Impala and Harley drive into the familiar yard, a broken sign overhead stating, 'Singer Auto Self Service'.

Bobby takes up two flasks, "Here you go" He hands Dean one. Dean takes it and examines it, "What is this, holy water?" He asks Bobby, "That one is. This is whiskey" Bobby smirks, taking a sip from his flask. Dean cocks his eyebrow in amusement. "You still got a liver, Bobby?" Y/N jokes. "Partially, still waiting on my transplant" He retorts jokingly, handing it to her.

She takes it smiling, taking a swig from it. "Bobby, thanks. Thanks for everything" Y/N says gratefully. Looking over at Sam, who's by Bobby's desk doing research, "To tell you the truth, we weren't sure if we should come" Dean says honestly sighing. "Nonsense, your daddy needs help" Bobby reassures him. "Yeah, but last time we saw you. I mean, you did threaten to blast him full of buckshot." Y/N points out.

"Cocked the shotgun and everything" Dean snorts as Y/N shakes her head smiling at the memory. Bobby sighs, "Yeah, well, what can I say? John and F/N got that effect on people" Bobby says. "Yeah, I guess they do" Y/N sighs her heart panging at the mention of her father. Bobby looks over at her sympathetically. "None of that matters now, sweetheart." Resting a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry about your father, y/n/n" Bobby says sincerely. Tears well up in her eyes again but she fights it off. Giving him a tearful smile, "Yeah. Me too." She sighs. Bobby gives her a small smile, then taking his hand off her shoulder. "All that matters now is that you boys get your father back." Bobby says firmly.

"So did you really shatter does car windows with your mind, kid?" Bobby asks her curiously, cocking his eyebrow. Dean looks over at her concerned but she shrugs. "I think so. All I know is, when I saw-" She begins but stops, her heart begins to pain. She clear her throat. Dean and Bobby's faces gloss over with sympathy at this, "Its okay, you don't gotta-" Dean goes to assure her but she cuts him off.

"It's fine, we gotta talk about it at some point" She says firmly. Dean nods and she turns back to Bobby. "When I saw wh-...what happened, I felt a power literally surge through me. I imagined Kate being away from Dad. I can't put it into words, but next thing I knew. She was flying through the air into a car. And after....after dad was gone. I wanted to punch everything in sight and it happened again" She explains sadly. Looking down, she tries to not allow the tears to flow.

Dean and Bobby share a look of pity at this, "Maybe it's gotta do with your mom. F/N always said your momma was a powerful woman, she could do those things and more" Bobby suggests gently. "I don't know" Y/N sighs, looking down. She chuckles dryly, "It's funny. He always wished I was like mom, he even admitted to hating the fact that I was so much like him." She huffs, shaking her head.

"But then him dying is what somehow brought out whatever powers mom gave me. It's a fucked up circle" She looks down, sniffling back tears. "Your father didn't hate you, Princess" Dean assures her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "I know" She sighs. "We'll figure it out kiddo, I promise." Bobby assures her with a small smile, patting her on her shoulder. She nods, offering feigning a small smile.

"Bobby, this book...I've never seen anything like it" Sam says amazed. Bobby walks over, taking a seat on the table. "Key of Solomon? It's the real deal alright" Bobby responds. "And these—uh. These protective circles, they really work?" Sam asks him, pointing to the printing of a protective circle symbol in the book. Y/N peers over the table to take a look at the book. "Hell, yeah. You get a demon in one, they're trapped. Powerless. It's like a satanic roach motel" Bobby explains, making Sam and Y/N chuckle at the simile.

"Man knows his stuff" Dean says proudly, walking over to them. "I'll tell you something else too. This is some serious crap you kids stepped in" Bobby states. "Oh yeah? How's that?" Y/N asks curiously, crossing her arms over her chest. "Normal year. I hear of...say, three demonic possessions. Maybe four, tops" He ballparks. "Yeah?" Dean urges him to further explain.

"This year. I heard of 27 so far." Their eyebrows raise at the skyrocketing number. "You get what I'm saying? More and more demons are walking among us. A lot more" Bobby points out lowly. "Do you know why?" Sam asks. "No, but I know it's something big. Storms coming" Bobby shakes his head. "And you kids and your daddies...you are smack in the middle of it" He finishes. The three young hunters share a look of terror.

Y/N began to feel that heat rising in her body, now creeping up to the back of her neck. Her breath hitches as the pain grows. Suddenly, Bobby's dog begins barking loudly out of nowhere. "Rumsfeld" Bobby mutters in concern, getting up from the table quickly to go check by the window. "Ow!" Y/N yelps in pain, clutching her neck. Sam jumps up from his chair at this.

"You okay, Princess?" Dean asks her concerned, placing a hand on her lower back. Bobby opens the peepers to see Rumsfeld chain was broken, "What is it?" Sam asks Bobby. "Something's wrong" Bobby says urgently. That's when his door was kicked in, broken down by Meg. She strolls in, a angry look on her face as the four hunters look at her in shock. Dean clutching his flask of holy water.

"No more crap, okay?" Meg says angrily, Dean narrows his eyes at her. Undoing the cork on the flask to throw the water at her but she waves her hand in the air. Sending Dean flying into a stack of books, "You bitch!" Y/N growls as she and Sam shield Bobby, keeping him behind them protectively. "I want the Colt, Sam. The real colt. Right now" Meg orders in a low tone, moving slowly towards them.

"We don't have it on us. We buried it" Sam lies quickly, both him and Y/N shielding Bobby closely, moving back as Meg moves closer. "Didn't I say. No more crap?" Meg says irritated. "I swear, after everything I heard about you Winchesters and L/Ns. I gotta tell you, I'm a little underwhelmed" She chuckles ironically, still moving closer as they move backwards.

"First Johnny tired to pawn off a fake gun and then he leaves the real gun with you three chuckleheads" She mocks them. "Lackluster, man" She scoffs. "I mean, did you really think I wouldn't find you?" She smirks cockily. Dean then emerges from the behind her. "Actually, we were counting on it" He says smugly.

Meg turns around, cocking her eyebrow. Dean then looks up to the ceiling, Megs eyes follow his gaze to see a Devils Trap engraved into the ceiling. Megs cocky grin drops, "Gotcha bitch" Y/N snaps back, a smirk on her face. They then got a chair and bounded Meg to it, tying her hands and her feet. Sam, Dean and Y/N sat across from her on the table, outside of the trap.

"You know, if you wanted to tie me up, all you had to do was ask" Meg says in a coy tone. They glare at her, not responding. Bobby emerges from the living room with a canister of salt in his hands. "I salted the doors and windows. If there are any demons out there, they ain't getting" He informs them. Dean nods, getting up to stand infront of Meg.

"Where's our father, Meg?" He asks her firmly. "You didn't ask very nice" She smirks. "Where's our father, bitch" Dean smirks back. "Jeez, you kiss your mother with that mouth?" She retorts in a snide tone, feigning a fake gasp. "Oh I forgot, you don't" She smirks. Deans nostrils flare at this, "Hey, you think this is a fucking game?! Where is he?! What did you do to him?!" He shouts fueled with rage, getting in her face, pressing his hands on the chair handles.

"He died screaming. I killed him myself" She says proudly. A dark look on her face. Tears well up in Sam and Y/N's eyes at this, pure fury in Deans. He backhands her harshly at the side of her face. Her head snapping to the side, She gasps, looking up at him with a smile. "That's kind of a turn on, you hitting a girl" She smirks. "You're no girl" Dean grits his teeth at her but she just smiles widely.

Bobby's realizes something and gets up, "Dean" He calls out to him, ushering the three young hunters into the living room. Dean gives her one last glare before going into the living room. "You okay?" Y/N asks him concerned. "She's lying. He's not dead" Dean says firmly. Y/N sighs, understanding how this could all he stressful for the boys. "Dean, you gotta be careful with her. Don't hurt her" Bobby warns him.

They look at him confused. "Why?" He asks Bobby. "Because she really is a girl, that's why" Bobby says. "What're you talking about?" Sam asks confused. "She's possessed. That's a human possessed by a demon. Can't you tell?" Bobby states lowly as if it's obvious. They look back at Meg stunned. A dark smirk on her face. "You're trying to tell us there's an innocent girl trapped somewhere in there?" Y/N asks, pointing to Meg.

Bobby nods as Dean looks back at Meg, "That's actually good news" He breaths out relieved. Bobby then gave Sam a book with a exorcism incantation. The three younger hunters step closer to Meg, Sam with the book in his hands. "You gonna read me a story?" Meg says smugly. Dean glares at her with hatred along with Y/N. "Something like that. Hit it, Sam" Dean orders Sam, a smug smile on his face.

Sam then begins to recite the incantation in Latin. Meg huffs, "An exorcism? Are you serious?" She shakes her head cockily. "We're going for it, baby. Head spinning, projectile vomiting. The whole nine yards" Y/N retorts in a snide tone, referencing the movie. Meg then grunts in pain, shaking slightly. Sam stops the recital as she breathes heavily, looking over at Dean and Y/N.

"I'm gonna kill you" Meg grits her teeth at Sam. Then turning back to Dean and Y/N. "I'm gonna rip the bones from you body" She threatens menacingly. "No, you're gonna burn in hell. Unless you tell us where are dad it" Dean shakes with anger, but Meg smirks. "Well, at least you'll get a nice tan" He snaps back, looking back up at Sam. Indicating for him to continue. Sam then begins to recite the incantation again, Meg shaking with pain.

Huffing and grunting, "He begged for his life with tears in his eyes" She taunts the boys, grunting in pain. "He begged to see his sons and y/n one last time. That's when I slit his throat" Meg continues to taunt them, gritting her teeth in pain. They all look at each other nervously. Flames of fury in Deans eyes and he leans down towards Megs face, "For your sake, I hope you're lying. Because is it's true, I swear to God. I will March into hell and slaughter every single one of you. So help me god" Dean growls at her, shaking with anger.

And by the sounds of it. That was a promise he was gonna keep. She just smirks at them as Sam continues to chant the incantation. Wind builds in the room, pages from open books flipping on their own. Meg grips onto the chair, shaking and grunting. "Where is he?" Y/N asks her angrily, getting down to her level.

"You just won't take dead for an answer, can't you?" Meg grunts painfully. "Where is he?!" Dean yells. "Dead!" Meg yells back. "No he's not!! He's not dead, he can't be!!" Dean screams back, tears building up in his eyes. Sam looks on at the interaction, looking at his brother and y/n in concern. "What're you looking at? Keep reading" Y/N snaps at him.

Sam shakily starts reciting the incantation again. Meg shakes again in pain, the chair begins to move around on its own in the circle as she screams. "He will be!!" Meg yells. This catches their attention. "Wait! What?!" Dean puts his hand out, stopping Sam from reciting the exorcism. "He's not dead" Meg breathes heavily. "But he will be after what we do to him" She snaps back snidely.

"And how do we know you're telling the truth?" Y/N asks. "You don't" Meg smirks. "Sam!" Dean and Y/N yell, indicating for Sam to continue. "A building, okay?! A building in Jefferson City" Meg blurts out. "Missouri?! Where?! Give me an address!" Dean demands. "I don't know!" Meg cries. "And the demon. The one we're looking for. Where is it?" Sam asks. "I don't know, I swear!" Meg pleads.

"That's everything. That's all I know" She breathes heavily. Dean and Y/N clench their jaws angrily as they look at her. "Finish it" Dean orders Sam firmly. Him and Y/N pacing menacingly around Megs chair. "What? I told you the truth!" Meg yells betrayed. "I don't care!" Dean shouts back. "You bitch, you promised" She narrows her eyes at Y/N. "I lied!" Y/N shouts in her face, leaning down. A look of hatred being exchanged between the two.

"Sam" Y/N looks back up at Sam. Sam hesitates. He doesn't move or say anything, "Sam!" Dean nudges his brother. "Read" He orders. "Maybe we could still use her. Find out where the demon is" Sam suggests. "She doesn't know" Dean says. "She lied!" Sam argues. "Sam, there's an innocent girl trapped somewhere in there and we've gotta help her" Y/N argues back.

Bobby emerges from behind them. "You're gonna kill her" Bobby tells them. "What?" Dean and Y/N ask in confusion. "You said she fell from a building." Bobby points out, looking back at Meg with pity. "That girls body is broken. The only thing keeping her alive is that demon inside" He tells them lowly. "You exorcise it, the girl is gonna die" Bobby explains.

"Listen to me, both of you. We are not gonna leave her like that!" Dean insists. "She is a human being" Bobby defends. "And we're gonna out her out of her misery" Y/N retorts. Bobby's face drops, Dean then turns to his brother. "Sam, finish it" He orders Sam. Sam looks over at Bobby and then back to Meg, who's still in pain.

He then looks back to his brother and y/n. "Please. Finish it, Sam" Y/N pleads. Sam sighs, looking back down at the book. He begins chanting in Latin again. Meg begins to shake, her eyes turning black as she groans. When Sam finishes the recital, Meg screams, throwing her head upwards, a large black cloud of smoke escaping from her mouth as she screams.

They look on in horror as this happens, her head falling back down when it's over. Blood then begins to leak out of her nose, dripping into the ground. She raises her head slowly as she bleeds from her mouth. Groaning in pain, "She still alive" Y/N gasps. Bobby runs out of the room. "Call 911. Get some waters and blankets" Dean tells him. Y/N leans down and begins to untie her hands gently.

Along with Sam and Dean. "Thank you" Meg says gratefully, straining herself to speak. "Shh. Shhh. Just take it easy, alright hun" Y/N says gently. "Come on, let's get her down" Y/N says to Dean. On three, the two lift Meg up gently. Meg crying and grunting in pain. When she touches Meg, something surges through her body. It's almost as if she could feel the pain Meg was feeling, but not physically, she could feel it in her soul. Tears begin to well at her eyes when this happens.

They rest her gently on the ground, Y/N lays her head on her lap. "I gotcha. I gotcha. It's okay. It's okay.." Y/N says gently as Meg gasps, more blood dripping through her nose and mouth. "A year" Meg says weakly. "What?" Sam asks gently. "It's been a year" Meg responds again, her voice straining. "Shhh, shhh" Y/N shushes her gently, pushing Meg's hair away from her face. "Take it easy" Sam gives her a gentle smile.

"I've been awake for some of it" Meg says weakly, taking a deep breath. When she says this, a thought crosses Deans mind. "I couldn't move my own body" She admits, the three hunters look at each other in terror. "And things looked- It- it's a nightmare" She groans. "Was it telling us the truth about our dad?" Dean asks her. Sam and Y/N look at Dean in disbelief.

"Dean" Y/N says in a warning tone. "We need to know" Dean defends. "Yes." Meg croaks weakly. "But it wants you to know....they want you to come for him" Meg tells him. Dean nods slightly, relief washing through his body. "If Dad's still alive, none of that matters" He responds. Bobby comes walking back into the room with water and some blankets.

He hands Dean the water, they slowly raise Meg up a bit, holding the glass to give her a sip. She chokes slightly, coughing. "Where is the demon we're looking for?" Sam asks Meg. "Not there. Other ones. Awful ones" She responds, breathing heavily. "Where are they keeping John?" Y/N asks her. "B-by the riv- River" Meg stutters, blood spluttering out of her mouth. "S-sunrise" She stutters again. "Sunrise? What does that mean?" Dean asks her.

But she doesn't answer, Y/N's feels her pulse. Her heart dropping, "What does that mean?" Dean asks her again, more urgently this time. "Dean..." Y/N whispers, looking back up at Dean. "She's gone" She tells him, Deans face dropping as they hold the dead girl in their hands.

Still at Bobbys house, "You better hurry to and beat it before the paramedics get here" Bobby tells them. "What're you gonna tell them?" Y/N asks him concerned. "You think you guys invented lying to the cops? I'll figure something out" Bobby scoffs sarcastically. "Here, take this" He hands Sam the Key of Solomon book. "Thanks" Sam says gratefully, taking the book.

"Thanks for everything" Dean thanks Bobby gratefully. "Be care, alright?" Y/N pats Bobby on his shoulder. "You kids just go find John. And when you do, you bring him around, would you?" He tells them genuinely. "I won't even try to shoot him this time" He chuckles, they crack a small smile before nodding.

They make their way to the door, opening it to make their way out. Dean turns back and gives Bobby one last grateful look before locking the door behind him.

________________________________

The Impala and Harley are parked by some train tracks. Dean and Y/N by the truck, cocking up weapons as Sam is leaning over the roof of the car, reading the book Bobby gave him. "You two been quiet" Sam points out, breaking the silence. Y/N and Dean look up at him, "Just getting ready" Dean responds dryly.

"He's gonna be fine, guys" Sam assures them but they don't answer. "He will be" Y/N says softly to Dean. He looks down at Y/N with a stoic expression, his face softening when he sees the genuine gentle smile on her face. "Let's hope so" Dean sighs, shaking his head. Sam sighs, turning a page in the book. He finds a symbol that could help them, taking out a pen he wipes the dust off of the Impala trunk lid and begins drawing.

Deans gaze snaps over to him, "Dude, what are you drawing on my car?" Dean asks him irritated. "It's called a devil's trap. Demons can't get through it or inside it." Sam responds calmly. "So?" Dean scoffs as Sam goes over to the other side of the trunk to draw one. "Basically turns the trunk into a lockbox." Sam responds again.

Dean wipes the symbol a bit, looking up at Sam annoyed. "So?" He scoffs again, irritated. "So we have a place to hide the Colt while we go get Dad" Sam states as if it's obvious. "What're you talking about? We're bringing the Colt with us" Dean says. "Can't. Dean. We only got three bullets left. We can't just use them on any demons. We gotta use them on the demon" Sam points out.

Dean looks like he's about to punch something. "No, we have to save your dad, Sam" Y/N pipes in. "We gonna need all the help we can't get" Dean spits angrily going over to Sam. Y/N notices the look on Deans face and puts her body between the two, just incase Dean tries to get aggressive. Sam sighs, closing the book. "Guys, you know how pissed Dad would be if we used all the bullets? He wouldn't want us to bring the gun" Sam puts it plainly.

"I don't care, Sam! I don't care what Dad wants! Since when do you care what Dad wants?!" Dean yells angrily. Y/N jumps slightly as his raise of voice, looking between the two boys nervously. "We wanna kill this demon! You used to want that too!" Sam retorts loudly, gesturing between him and Y/N. "Hell, I mean you're the one who came and got me at school!" Sam further argues, this makes Dean chuckle dryly as he continues.

"You're the one who dragged me back into this, Dean! I'm just trying to finish it!" Sam yells getting closer to Dean. "You're a selfish bastard you know that!?" Dean bellows getting closer to Sam, Y/N's had enough at this point. "Okay! That's enough!" Y/N snaps, placing her hands on their chests, she pushes them apart roughly. The two men's gazes snap down at her surprised.

"You're brothers, man! Your father is missing. So instead of turning on each other, keep your heads in the damn game and let's go find John and kill that son of a bitch demon who ruined our lives, god dammit!" She lectures angrily, her voice cracking. They both sigh, their heads dropped in shame. Both nodding. "She's right" Sam sighs. Y/N turns to Dean, "Sam's also right, they're expecting up to bring this gun. They get the gun, they will kill us all" Y/N explains.

"That Colt is our only leverage and you know it, Dean. We cannot bring that gun. We can't." Sam further stresses. "Fine" Dean says plainly. "We're serious, Dean!" Y/N snaps seriously. "I said fine, Y/N!" He snaps back. Taking the gun out from his jacket, he takes it and rests it inside the trunk. Sam goes over and locks the trunk, not before mouthing a quiet "Thank you" to Y/N. She nods back, mouthing "You're welcome" to him as they hop in the Impala and Y/N hops on the Harley.

________________________________

They walk along side the river bank, Dean has his bag sling against his shoulder as they walk. Dean notices something and stops Sam and Y/N, "Hey, hey. I think I know what Meg meant by 'sunrise' ". He tells them, nodding to the buildings across the road. A sign in-front with some kids and adults playing in the yard, 'Sunrise Apartments'.

"Jesus. That's pretty smart" Y/N mutters kinda impressed. "I mean, if these demons can possess people, they can possess almost anyone inside" She points out. The boys nod in agreement, "Yeah, and make anybody attack us" Sam adds sighing in defeat. "Yeah, so we can't kill them. A building full of human shields." Dean says. "They probably know exactly what we look like too. They could look like anybody" Sam says.

"Man, this sucks out loud" Y/N groans. "Yeah, tell me about it" Sam sighs. "Alright, so how the hell are we gonna get in?" Sam asks, an idea flashes across Deans mine. "Pull the fire alarm. Get out all the civilians" He suggests. "Okay, but then the city responds in what, seven minutes?" Y/N points out. "Seven minutes exactly" Dean confirms. "It's the best we got" Sam says shrugging.

The three share a look, discuss a foolproof plan and Sam crosses the street.

Sam opens the gate leading to the building, making sure there's no one around. He inches to the fire alarm but moves quickly when he sees someone coming. He walks up, waiting for the person to leave and then walks back, quickly pulling the fire alarm. The bell rings throughout the entire building,

Approximately seven minutes after, the apartment is swarming with firefighters. People rushing out of the building. Dean and Y/N approach a firefighter, pretending to be concerned civilians. "Hey, what—? What's happening? Is it a fire?" Y/N feigns a panicked tone whilst talking to the firefighter. "We're figuring that out now, ma'am. You and your boyfriend just stay back" The firefighter says calmly, ushering them out of the way.

"Well, we've got a Yorkie upstairs. And he pees when he's nervous" Dean tries to explain, lying in a panicked tone as the firefighter ushers them back. "Sir, ma'am. You have to stay back" The firefighter says calmly, ushering them away from the truck while Sam, who's behind them, sneaks behind the fire truck. He makes sure no one's around and begins picking the lock.

Sam, Dean and Y/N are upstairs now. Dressed in firefighter gear. Their helmets and masks over their heads to conceal their identity. Dean scans each apartment door with the EMF as they walk through the halls. "I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up" Dean admits as he scans door. "You never told me that" Sam says shocked.

"I knew. He only told me because I told him I wanted to be a musici- Ughh!" Y/N begins to say but she whimpers in pain when the burning feeling in her body returns when they approach apartment 33. The boys look over at her in concern, "What wrong, princess?" Dean asks her gently. Placing a hand on her lower back. "It's definitely in there" She says gritting her teeth in pain.

The EMF meter then starts going off red like crazy at the same time. They all look at each other in concern. Dean then knocks the door harshly, "This is the fire department. We need you to evacuate the premises!" He shouts loudly through the door. They give each other a nod when they hear the lock from the door being undone.

Y/N kicks it in harshly as soon as it's opened, a woman screams when she's knocked off her feet. They instantly begin to spray her and the man inside of the room with the holy water they had in their spray guns they stole from the truck. Both the woman and man screaming in pain from the water. Dean grabs the woman who's tossing trying to fight Dean off but screaming from the holy water.

As Sam punches the man. Incapacitating him, Y/N opens the closet door and Sam tosses the man in. Knocking over a clothes rack. She locks it back so he can't escape, "DEAN!" She yells for him to toss the woman in also. She opens the door quickly and Dean tosses the woman in. Him and Y/N bar the door with their bodies as Sam rushes over to his duffle he tossed on the floor.

"Hurry up!! Hurry up!!" They yell for Sam to do quickly as the two demons bang relentlessly at the door. Sam pulls out the salt, he the. runs to them and makes a half salt circle around them in-front of the door. The banging then stops, they all pant for breath as they pull off their helmets, stripping off their gear.

Sam picks up his duffle after they strip their gear off, "Come on" Y/N says quickly, creeping over softly to the room. They follow behind and open the door slowly to see John Winchester sprawled across a bed, unconscious, looking beaten to hell. Tied to the frame. "Dad" Dean says quietly, his heart hurting from the sight.

They rush over to John as Sam looks on. Y/N puts her ear to John's nose to check on his breathing and checks him pulse. The burning feeling returns when she does this but she assumes it's from the demons from earlier. Dean and Sam look at her fearfully but she nods. "He's still breathing. But his pulse is weak" She informs them.

"Dad, wake up!" Dean shakes his father's body. "Dad!" He yells. Dean takes out his knife boots quickly to cut off the ties but a thought runs across Y/N and Sam's minds and they stop him. "Wait. Wait!" They say urgently. "What?!" They ask them confused. "He could possessed for all we know" Sam says. "Are you two nuts?!" Dean stresses, Y/N stops him. "Dean" She says gently. "We gotta be sure" She adds.

"Are you getting that pain you get when demons are around?" Sam asks her. "Yeah, a bit. But it could just but the other demons from the closet." She tells him nodding. Sam then pulls out the holy water from his bag, unscrewing the cork. Dean looks pained as Sam throws the holy water on John's unconscious body. John has no reaction to this but he moans softly from pain.

"Sam?" John whispers lightly, looking up at the kids in shock. The light from the window shining on his bloody face. "Why are you splashing water on me?" John asks confused. Sam looks over at Dean and Y/N, they all smile lightly from relief, "Dad, you know?" Dean asks John concerned. "They been drugging me" John croaks. "Where's the Colt?" He asks them.

"Don't worry, Mr. Winchester. It's safe" Y/N assured him. "Good kids" John says softly in pain. "And how many times have I told you, sweetheart. It's John" John says firmly with a chuckle. Y/N smiles a bit, "Sorry, John" She chuckles lightly, as Dean cuts John out of the ties. Y/N helps Dean lift John up but he's too heavy, "Goddammit, what have you been eating" She groans, John weighing her down.

John laughs a bit painfully, "That good stuff from the diner" He chuckles as Sam comes over to help. "Here, take this. Let me" Sam says, handing her his duffel to help Dean lift John to his feet. She takes at, switching positions with Sam. "Fuck!" Y/N groans, the pain increasing in her body. Sam and Dean go to walk out of the room with John. "Don't!" Y/N stops them but it's too late.

A firefighter and man knock the door in. Their eyes black. "Come on. Get back back!!" She yells at them, fearful looks on their faces. They rush in with John on their shoulders as Y/N quickly locks the door, as soon as she does this. An axe comes knocking through the top of the door in the middle. She takes the salt out of Sam's bag as the boys open the window to go down the fire escape.

She makes a salt line quickly on the floor infront of the door, "Y/N, let's go!" Dean shouts for her, she tosses him the bag and jumps through the window. Not before making a salt line at the door. They all make their way down the ladder, Y/N last. Dean helps John down down as the drop is steep, gripping him at his waist.

John grunts when he jumps down, Sam following behind and Y/N last. Y/N walks ahead, making sure no one is around as Sam and Dean hold John up. When she looks to her right, she's tackled to the ground by a demon. Stunned by the attack, the demon hands a right hook in her face. "No!" Sam and Dean yell fearfully.

They quickly place John on the ground, rushing over to pull the demon off of Y/N. Dean lands a harsh kick across his face but one look and the demon sends Sam flying back over to John, into the wall. A nasty cracking sound in Sams right side break as he lands on the floor with a hard thump. The demon then sends Dean flying into a car windshield, similar to what Y/N did with Kate.

Y/N is still dazzled by the attack, Y/N spits some blood out onto the ground, so the demon takes his time, landing multiple punches across her face. Bleeding through her nose and mouth, she tries to fight back by the demon is too strong. The burning feeling in her body increasing. "Get off of her you bastard!" Sam yells, nursing his bruised rib, ready to charge at the demon again but he's cut short.

That's when a bullet goes flying straight through the demons left temple and out his right. It falls to the ground besides Y/N, a black smoke oozing out of the bullet wound. Sam watches on in shock to see Dean wielding the Colt, Dean rushes over to Y/N "Y/N? Princess?? Come on" He says gently, helping her to her feet. She gasps for air, winded from the attack as they look down at the dead demon.

Sam looks at his brother with disbelief. "Come on. Come on. We gotta get out of here. Sam, get dad!" Dean orders Sam. Holding up Y/N, he hoists her up and lifts her up bridal style. She looks back the dead demon, on the floor with blood oozing out of his temples, stunned at what just happened.

________________________________

Later that night, they're all now at a cabin hiding out. Sam and Y/N are lining up the windows with salt. Dean comes out of the bedroom after putting John to bed. "How is he?" Sam asks his brother. "He just needed a little rest, that's all" Dean replies dryly, wiping his hands. "How're you, sweetheart?" He asks Y/N concerned, taking a seat at the table. She looks over at him, her eye bruised with a busted lip.

"I'll survive" She sighs deeply. Deans heart drops painfully at her beautifully bruised face. "Hey, you guys don't think we were followed here, do you?" Sam asks them. "I don't know. I don't think so" Y/N responds shrugging. "I mean, we couldn't have found a more out-of-the-way place to hole up" Dean adds. "Yeah" Sam and Y/N sighs in agreement.

Y/N gives Sam a look that says, 'Beat it' but he looks at her confused. Looking back between her and Dean, he now realizes the tension. Nodding understandably, "I'm uh- I'm gonna go check the back door. See if we salted it" Sam clears his throat, looking between Y/N and Dean before excusing himself awkwardly to check the back doors which he has already salted.

After Sam walks off, Y/N nervously walks over to Dean who's sat at a chair by the dining table. "Hey, uh...Dean. You um-" She begins, scoffing a bit painfully. Dean looks over at her with a concerned expression when she settles next to him. "You saved my life back there" She says softly. "So I guess you're glad I brought the gun, huh?" He retorts jokingly but she rolls her eyes.

"Charming, I'm trying to thank you here" She turns her head away, huffing a little irritated. Dean smirks slightly. He then places his hand gently on the side of her face to turn it back to him. Her (e/c) eyes pierce his emerald orbs, her once agonized face contorting to pained one when he brushes his thumb gently on her swollen eye. "You're welcome" He whispers back, mesmerized by her beauty.

She allows her eyes to flutter shut, slightly rubbing her cheek against his hand. Feeling comforted by his touch. Her heart is pumping out of her chest. She then rests her hand against his. "Y/N?" He says quietly, "Yeah?" She responds, opening his eyes. "You know that guy I shot? There was a person in there" Dean says, his tone filled with shame and guilt.

"You didn't have a choice, Dean" She assures him softly. He sighs, removing his hand gently from her face. She winces from the loss of contact, "Yeah I know. That's not what bothers me." He admits. She's a bit confused by this, "Then what does?" She asks curiously. "Killing that guy, killing Meg...I didn't hesitate. I didn't even flinch." He says shaking his head.

She gives him an encouraging look for him to continue, "I mean, for you, Sam or Dad, the things I'm willing to do or kill, it's just...uh..It scares me sometimes" Dean admits, his voice dropping, his eyes glued to the floor. "Dean..." She says gently, placing a hand on his thigh comfortingly. His eyes flicker back to her with a pained expression, his eyes glancing down to her lips.

Her breath hitches when she notices this, her eyes glancing down to his. The tension is so thick, a knife might break if you try to cut it. Dean licks his lips and Y/N does the same, the two begin to inch their lips towards each other but, "It shouldn't. You did good" John says encouragingly as he emerges through the room door. Dean and Y/N pull back quickly from each other, startled as John look at them with raised eyebrows.

They clear their throats awkwardly as Y/N is trying not to turn beet red in the face. "You're not mad?" Dean asks his father. "For what?" John asks him. "Using a bullet" Dean states as if it's obvious. "Mad?" John scoffs. "I'm proud of you" He says smiling.. "You know. Sam, Y/N and I, we can get pretty obsessed. But you— You...you watch out for our families. You always have." John says genuinely.

Dean and Y/N share a look at this. A bit surprised by Johns calm demeanor. "Thanks" Dean says gratefully. Still a bit uneasy. Y/N cocks her eyebrow suspiciously at John but then the lights then begin to flicker in the cabin and they all look at each other nervously. John moves to the window as Sam emerges from the back. "What's going on?" He asks fearfully.

"It found us. It's here" John tells them quickly. "The demon" Sam mutters fearfully. "Sam, Y/N. Lines of salt. Infront of every window, every door" John orders them. "We already did it" Y/N tells him. "Well, check it. Okay?" He says firmly. "Okay" Sam and Y/N responds. Doing exactly as John says. Leaving Dean with his father in the room. "Dean, you got the gun?" He asks his son. "Yeah" Dean responds, still unease.

"Give it to me" John orders. "Dad, Y/N tried to shoot the demon at Salvation and it vanished" Dean informs him. "This is me, I won't miss" John further presses. "Now, the gun. Hurry!" John insists, his hand out for Dean to give him the gun. Deans face drops, looking down at the Colt in his hand and back up at John. He notices the hesitation on Deans face, "Son, please" John pleads as Dean glares at him.

Dean backs away from John, realization finally dawning on him. "Give me the gun, what are you doing Dean?" John huffs irritated. "He'd be furious" Dean states. "What?" John spits annoyed. "That I wasted a bullet. He wouldn't be proud of me. He'd tear me a new one" Deans voice cracks painfully when he says that. He then raises the gun and cocks in John's direction.

"You're not my dad" Dean grits his teeth angrily, clenching his jaw. 'John' stares into the barrel of the Colt in horror. "Dean, it's me". 'John' pleads. "I know my dad better than anyone. You ain't him" Dean snaps. "What the hell has gotten into you?" His father says angrily. "I could say the same thing. Stay back" Dean orders. Y/N and Sam emerge from the back, horror etched on their faces when they stumble upon Dean aiming the Colt at 'John'.

"Dean. What the hell's going on?" Sam asks stunned as they look between the father and son nervously. "Your brother's lost his mind". 'John' scoffs. "He's not dad" Dean states roughly. "What?" Y/N asks in disbelief at the fact that her suspicions might have been right from the start. "I think he's possessed. I think he's been possessed since we rescued him" Dean growls. "Don't listen to him, Sammy and y/n/n". 'John' cuts in, raising his voice.

"Dean, how do you know?" Y/N asks Dean in a low tone. "He's- he's different" Dean stutters. "You know, we don't have time for this. Sam, Y/N. You wanna kill this demon, you gotta trust me". 'John' says angrily. Sam and Y/N look between him and Dean. "Sam. Y/N. Please" He pleads. Without hesitation, Sam and Y/N step behind Dean, taking his side. "No...no" Sam says, shaking his head.

Y/N narrows her eyes at 'John', who huff shaking his head. "Fine, if you three are so sure. Go ahead. Kill me" He whispers painfully, tears welling up in his eyes. His head drops to the ground as Dean looks at his father with tears in his eyes. "I thought so" John says in a deep voice, now looking back up at the three hunters with yellow glowing eyes, a dark smirk on his face.

Their eyes widen in horror, Sam and Y/N go to attack but a force throws them against the wall harshly in a flash, then doing the same to Dean. Which results in the gun falling out of his grip and onto the floor in-front of the demon. They all grunt in pain, gasping for air as the demon possessing John Winchester, takes up the Colt. "What a pain in the ass this thing's been" The demon wearing John chuckles as he examines the gun in his hand.

He then looks over at Sam and Y/N. "It's you, isn't it?" Sam groans painfully as his father looks back at him, a smirk on his face. Eyes still glowing yellow. "We've been looking for you a long time" Y/N grits her teeth angrily, groaning from the force crushing her. "Well, you found me" John responds cockily. "But the holy water..." Sam points out, groaning in pain.

"You think something like that works on something like me?" John scoffs. He then moves close to Y/N, a curious look on his face. "Though I gotta say, I'm surprised Little Miss Jennifer Love Hewitt here felt me possessing John" He smirks, leaning in closer to her. She grimaces as he moves slowly, pressing his lips to her ear. She whimpers in disgust at this.

"Get off of her you son of a bitch!!" Dean bellows angrily, groaning in pain. "You're more powerful than I thought, sweetheart" He whispers lowly as she squirms in repulsion. "I'm gonna kill you!" Y/N growls angrily as the force thuds her against the wall. The demon pulls away with a amused expression, "Oh, that would be a neat trick." He chuckles arrogantly.

"In fact. Here" He smirks, putting the gun down infront of them on a table. "Make the gun float to you, psychic hottie" The demon mocks her. She glares at him as he turns to Sam. Her eyes attached to the gun. "What about you, psychic boy? Got any juice in ya?". 'John' smirks at Sam darkly. Sam groans as the force presses him more into the wall.

Y/N's eyes are still focused on the gun as 'John' chuckles, walking over to Dean. "You know, this is fun. I could've killed you a hundred times today, but this- This was worth the wait" He lets out a breath, staring out the window next to Dean as Dean grimaces from the pain. He turns to Dean with yellow eyes, "Your dad, he's in here with me. Trapped inside of his own meat suit" The demon says proudly.

"He says hi, by the way. Oh and he is pissed about you using that bullet to save your little girlfriend" The demon smirks. He then leans in with a nasty smirk on his face, his eyes flicker to Y/N and back to Dean, "I gotta admit. I would too. She's a hot little thing" He wolf whistles lowly, chuckling darkly. Dean tries to rip out of the grip to maul him, grunting. Y/N's stomach churns, "Please don't say that with John's mouth!" She groans in absolute disgust.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU, YOU SICK FUCK!" Dean growls enraged. "John's gonna tear you apart. He's gonna taste the iron in your blood" The demon adds menacingly. Deans face contorts to a pained expression, "Let him go. Or I swear to God-" Dean growls. "What? What are you and God gonna do?" The demon cuts him off snarkily. "You see, as far as I'm concerned, this is justic." He walks closer to Dean as he glares at him.

"You know that little exorcism of yours? That was my daughter." The demons grits his teeth at him. "Who, Meg?" Dean questions. "The one in the alley....that was my boy. You understand?" He says lowly. "You gotta be kidding me" Dean scoffs, grimacing in pain. "What? You're the only one that can have a family? You destroyed my children. How would you feel if I killed your family?" The demon asks rhetorically.

Sam, Dean and Y/N's eyes twitch angrily at this but Y/N still has her eyes trained on that gun. Trying anyhow to move it, focusing for that power she felt that night to come back. It moves a bit on the table and she gasps lightly, Sam notices this too, his mouth slightly agape. "Oh, that's right. I forgot, I did" The demon says humorously with a smirk. Dean glares deadly daggers at him. "Still, two wrongs don't make a right" The demon says with a smile.

"You son of a bitch" Dean mutters enraged. "I wanna know why. Why did you do it?" Sam grunts. The demon turns to him, "You mean, why did I kill Mommy, Auntie M/N and pretty little Jess?" The demon retorts. "Yeah" Sam grunts in response. He then turns back to Dean, "You know, I never told you this, but Dam was gonna ask her to marry him. Been shopping for rings and everything" He continues to taunt them as he walks back towards Sam.

"You wanna know why?" He gets in Sams face. "Because they got in the way" He puts it simple in a dark tone. "In the way of what?" Sam growls. "My plans for you and y/n/n, Sammy. And all the children like you two" The demon smirks and Sam glares at him. Y/N's jaw clenches angrily at this, her eyes still trained on the gun. "Listen, you mind just getting this over with, huh? Because I really can't stand the monologuing" Dean groans, his tone sarcastic.

The demon laughs and turns back to him, "Funny. But that's all plan of your m.o. isn't it? Masks all that nasty pain. Masks the truth" The demon taunts Dean further, getting face to face with Dean. He clenched his jaw and narrows his eyes at the demon wearing his fathers meatsuit. "Oh, yeah. What's that?" He asks sarcastically. "You know, you fight and you fight for this family, but the truth is...they don't need you. Not like you need them" The demon spits.

"Sam, he's clearly Johns favorite." He tells Dean who glares at him angrily. "And y/n..." John scoffs a laugh, his hands on his hips as he shakes his head. "That piss-poor of an excuse kiss you were about to lay on her, come on man. She'll never see you the way you see her. It's pathetic. Her father would've never accepted you and neither would she" He laughs even louder, his shoulders shakily.

"Fuck you!" Dean retorts enraged, his nostrils flaring. Y/N's gaze breaks from the gun at this, her eyes wide with anger and shock. She grits her teeth at John. "That girl could flatten you like a pancake if she wanted to, son." The demon laughs maniacally. "Even when Sam and John fought. Or when Y/N and F/N butted heads, it's more concern than they've ever shown you." The demon pesters him further.

Dean smirks lightly, "I'll bet you're real proud of your kids too, huh?" He asks ironically. "Oh, wait, I forgot. I wasted em" His tone is low, a dark look in Deans eyes as he smiles smugly. The demon backs up, his demeanor still calm. His yellow eyes light up a bit and Dean screams loudly in pain. "DEAN!" Sam and Y/N scream. "No! Stop!" Y/N pleads, her heart aching as Dean screams.

Blood begins to ooze from his chest as wounds form. "Dad! Dad! Don't you let it kill me!" Dean pleads for his father to fight through the possession. He begins to fade, bleeding from his mouth. "Dean!!" Sam and Y/N scream painfully. "Please! If you let the three of them go! I'll do whatever you want!" Y/N offers pleadingly. The demon stops his attack on Deans chest and turns to Y/N with an amused grin. Deans head drops, falling in and out of consciousness.

"And what can you give me?" He asks curiously. "Loyalty. Respect. The works. Oh, and it'll hurt them a lot more than just killing them" Y/N says in an enticing tone, gritting her teeth. "Y/N are you fucking stupid?!" Sam bellows. "Shut up!" The demon snaps at him, then turning back to her. "You said I'm more powerful then you thought right? Imagine what I'd be if I train under you" She whispers enticingly.

The boys are terrified at her offer. Refusing to believe she'd betray them like that, just to save them. "Is that a promise?" The demon smirks. Y/N smirks back when she sees the gun move again on the table. "Not a chance in hell, bitch" She snarks angrily. Using her mind, the gun flies into her hand and she breaks out of the demons hold, swiftly pistol whipping John's face. His eyes flicker back to John's regular eyes for a bit. Y/N cocks the gun at the demon.

"You kill me, you kill Johnny. And Dean would never forgive you for that" His eyes are now yellow again. A dark smirk on his face. "I know" She growls, aiming for his knee. She shoots him in his kneecap. John falls to the ground as the bullet would looks as if lightening and black smoke is coming out of it. Similar to the way it killed that demon Dean shot earlier.

The hold the demon had on Sam and Dean breaks, their backs sliding off of the walls. Dean falls to the floor, gasping for air as he chokes on his blood as Sam falls to his knees. They rush over to Dean. "Dean. Dean!" Sam runs over to his brother. "Oh god, charming. You lost a lot of blood" Y/N gasps, handing the Colt to Sam.

She places her hands on his face, her heart breaking at the sight of Dean in pain. "Where's dad?" He asks her weakly, grunting in pain. "He's right here, sweetie. He's right here" She assured him, nodding through the tears in her eyes. "Go check on him. Go check on him" Dean breathes out. Sam does so, getting up from besides Dean.

He walks over to his unconscious father. "Dad? Dad?" He calls out to him. John eyes open in a flash, "Sammy! It's still alive. It's inside me. I can feel it" John grunts, Sam's eyes widen in horror. Y/N's head snaps in the direction of Sam and John, her eyes wide as she cradles Dean in her arms. "Just shoot me. You shoot me. You shoot me in the heart, son!" John orders him. Sam cocks the hun tearfully.

"Do it now!" John screams. "Sam, don't do you it. Don't you do it!" Dean yells. "Sam, you gotta hurry. I can't hold onto it much longer!" John pleads grunting, Sam is hesitant to shoot. "Just shoot me, son. Shoot me!" John yells, Sams nostrils flare, choking back his tears as he shakes anxiously. Not able to make that choice, "Son, I'm begging you, we can end this, here and now. Sammy!!" John bellows.

"Sam, no!" Y/N pleads shaking her head. Knowing that if Sam did this, it'll haunt both boys forever. "You do this! Sammy!!!" John grits his teeth, pleading with his son to listen to him for once. But Sam lowers the gun, John screams as the black smoke rushes out of his mouth. Sam looking on in horror as the black smoke drifts into the floorboards of the cabin.

Dean and Y/N sigh in relief as John falls to the floor unconscious. Alive but unconscious.

________________________________

Sam is driving the Impala down the road, Dean in the back and John in shotgun as Y/N drives her Harley side by side the Imapla. Dean groans in pain, the blood still on his mouth. "Look, just hold on, all right? The hospitals only 10 minutes away" Sam assures them. "I'm surprised at you, Sammy. Why didn't you kill it?" John asks him angrily.

"Had it been, y/n/n. She probably would've followed orders" John adds. "No she wouldn't have" Dean pipes up from the back seat, grunting. John sighs, "I thought we all saw eye to eye on this. Killing this demon comes first. Before me, before everything," John says firmly. Sam looks at his brother pained in the rearview mirror. "No, sir. Not before everything" Sam responds firmly.

"Look, we still got the Colt. We still have the one bullet left. We should start over, alright? I mean we already found the demon once-" Sam goes to say but is cut off when a truck comes barreling into the passenger side of the Impala head first. Y/N's eyes widen in terror when she hears the crash, her head turns but her reflexes weren't quick enough to speed up and dodge the car.

It came barreling right into her as the car is pushed away by the truck. The truck controlled by the possessed driver. Her body rolls, bones breaking with snarly sounds. Luckily she had her helmet on, “Dean..” Is the last thing she croaks as she falls unconscious at the last thud to her helmet she received from the bike itself. The car was completely trashed along with her bike. Sam, Dean and John, in bleeding messes. Along with Y/N, unconscious, battered and broken.

________________________________

Authors Note: And with that, Season 1 has come to an end🥹Bitter sweet moment for me I must say. I am so excited for season 2!!! I am apart of the John Winchester hate club so I don't feel too bad about this😂But boy are we in for a ride for the next few episodes, much love and appreciation to everyone reading. I hope everyone enjoyed and is having an amazing weekend🫶This chapter is edited by the way, safe safe sweeties MWAH 💋

Tag list:

@hjgdhghoe @rach5ive @tiggytaylor

Xoxo

26 notes · View notes

jake-whatthefisgoingon-kiszka · 9 days

Text

Part 3!! I had a good time writing this chapter as well, and it’s another doozy. Hope you enjoy!

Pairings: Jake Kiszka X Danny Wagner ***slash

Warnings and tags: 18+ only please!! Adult themes including: very brief mention of past partner death, very brief mention of marriage problems, some crying, some insecurity, my sad attempt at flirting, very slight suggestive talk, dad Jake AU, uncle Danny

Word count: 5.5k

Mondays were hard for everybody, but this particular Monday seemed to be kicking Jake in the ass.

First he spilled coffee all over his pants so he had to change after already being a little behind on getting up and getting both himself and Luna ready. That made them end up at the back of the line for drop off at the elementary.

He was speeding over to the office after getting her to school. Normally it wouldn’t matter so much if he came in a little late, but someone had the bright idea of scheduling a meeting at nine am on a Monday and he still needed to go over a few things with his team before it started.

They had a big fundraiser coming up soon that he’d spent nearly six months preparing for. One of the local orchestras had offered to put on a concert and donate the ticket sales to the foundation. The event wasn’t going to be too big, but they had managed to secure a guest singer, a couple of soloist, and even a live band to agree to play afterwards while they had drinks and hors d'oeuvres.

Jake was excited about this particular fundraiser because the sales and any extra donations were going to go to giving students private music lessons, a program he’d been working on launching for quite a while now.

Though Jake had been working for the foundation for a few years already, this was the first project he’d put so much of himself into, feeling particularly strongly about the accessibility of musical education for children as a passionate musician with a child himself.

Even after his wife’s passing, Jake’s home was still filled with music to share with his daughter. His record collection specifically ranged anywhere from dusty old vinyls he had inherited from his parents house, to mint condition collectibles and limited editions he probably never would have found without his connections. His prized possessions however, were the first pressings of his and June’s album when it first came out.

The few copies they’d kept for themselves stayed tucked safely away on the corner of the highest shelf where they sat untouched since her passing, Jake still too tender to hear her voice again. Someday though he knew Luna would want to listen to them, and he only prayed he would have himself prepared enough by then.

By the time the meeting was over Jake decided to head back out for an early lunch. With the rush to get out the door this morning he hadn’t packed anything to eat so he decided to treat himself at his favorite restaurant- a spot he didn’t frequent too often since it was in what he considered to be a sketchier part of town.

Since it was just him he didn’t mind making the drive over, at least that was until his dashboard suddenly lit up with about three different warning lights. Of course he would be having car trouble today of all days.

With an annoyed huff Jake pulled over to the side of the road, leaving his car running because he was too scared that if he turned it off now he wouldn’t be able to get it back on. Being a little unfamiliar with his surroundings he pulled out his phone and googled where the nearest service shop was, finding one simply called Rudy’s Custom Auto just up the road he’d hoped would do the trick quickly and without charging too much.

His car managed to make it to the mechanic in one piece- though the sputtering of the engine misfiring was about to give him a heart attack.

The shop was nothing more than two bays behind old garage doors with a small office attached to the side. One of the bays was already occupied by an old body truck stripped of all its paint and covered in multiple patches of bondo. Jake pulled up to the next bay and waited a moment for someone to come out.

When nobody came he braved turning off his car, gripping the keys tightly in his palm as he slowly tread into the open garage. Once he stuck his head in he saw a pair of dirty work boots on the other side of the truck, but the dated stereo system that sat on top the workbench on the far wall kept the person at work from hearing Jake arrive. Jake cleared his throat and called out above the sound of Steely Dan playing loudly, “hello? Are you open?”

“You scared the shit out of me!” The person inside answered him, then their boots started to make their way around the front of the truck.

Jake stood awkwardly at the threshold of the doorway, waiting to see what kind of character worked at a place like this, but oddly enough he felt like he’d heard their voice from somewhere.

“What can I do for you?” They asked with their back towards Jake as they paused to turn down the stereo. Finally he turned around and a huge smile spread across his face when they both realized who it was. Danny was just as shocked to see Jake here as he was, but he also looked really excited.

“You work here?” Jake asked, thinking it was a stupid question as soon as it slipped out. Of course Danny worked here, he was standing inside the shop in a pair of navy dickies covered in oil and white dust with a just as dirty white t-shirt (this one without any modifications to it) tucked into his waistband and tightly stretched across his chest and arms.

“Off and on. Rudy’s a friend of mine he lets me do some body work when I need a job”.

“Oh,” Jake looked around the shop aimlessly, mostly just trying to keep from staring at the tattoo he now knew peaked out just underneath Danny’s sleeve. “There’s umm… something wrong with my car. Could you take a look at it?”

“Well, I’m not much of a mechanic but Rudy is out on lunch right now. For you though I could do some digging around and see if I can’t at least figure out what your problem is”.

Jake knew Danny was giving him special service as he lifted the hood and bent over into the engine. He never once thought having an admirer would come with many perks, but as he stood with his arms folded loosely across his chest as Danny checked hoses and looked for leaks the frustration towards the whole situation started to wear away. By some strange stroke of fate the car he so tediously took care of, nearly never missing an oil change, happened to break down in the same neighborhood he had no idea Danny worked in.

“Hey! Don’t break it any more!” Jake hollered, stepping up next to Danny to see what all the banging around he was doing was.

“I think I might know what it is” Danny popped his head back out, startling Jake as he suddenly came face to face with the other man. Another shock came when Danny grabbed his hand and shoved it down into the engine. “Feel that?”

Jake wanted to rip his hand away, all he could feel right now was the residual heat from the parts around his forearm, his fingers blindly searching for what Danny may be talking about, and the way his chest pressed against his shoulder as they both leaned over so Jake’s shorter arm could reach. Finally he felt the warm liquid and realized the smell he got a whiff of was gasoline.

“Must have a leak in your fuel injectors” Danny backed away, letting Jake pull his own hand out and offered him a rag from his back pocket to wipe it off with. “Gonna be a bitch to get replaced. Let me call Rudy see if he has any spare parts otherwise he can pick some up on his way back”.

Jake wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, not being too familiar with the inner workings of an engine himself, but he figured he should probably start making some calls of his own starting with work. After letting them know he probably wasn’t going to make it back from lunch Danny came walking out of the shop again.

“Good news, he can get the parts and he’s on his way back. Bad news, I could only sweet talk him down to a couple hundred bucks”.

“Right! Of course that’s fine, let me just-” Jake bent over back into his front seat, bracing himself on the cushion with one arm as he searched the console for his wallet. After a few seconds of not finding it he was struck with the realization that he’d had his wallet in his pants this morning. The ones he spilt coffee all over. “Fuck” he grumbled to himself, backing out of the car to see Danny looking away quickly. Was he staring?

“Well actually, I think I left my wallet at home. This Rudy guy doesn’t take ApplePay does he?”

Danny chuckled and shook his head, “no, this is not the kind of place for that. Don’t worry I’ve got you”.

“Oh no, I couldn’t ask you to do that” Jake tried to quickly figure out how he could get the money before Rudy returned. Maybe he could call Josh to swing by his house and get his wallet, or bring some cash. Fuck how long was this going to take anyways? He might have to ask Josh to pick up Luna from school too.

While Jake’s mind was racing Danny turned around and walked back into the shop to get back to work on the sanding he was doing before Jake happened to show up.

“Let me see what my brother is up to right now, he might be able to bring me some cash. How much exactly is it?” Jake followed Danny inside this time, not paying much attention to where he was going as he pulled his phone out.

Abruptly he was stopped when Danny’s hands wrapped around his forearms and pulled him out of the way before Jake could walk into a tool box sitting in the middle of the floor. He looked around the inside of the shop now, seeing the entire place was quite a disheveled mess. Tools were everywhere between the ground and the workbench, and oil pans that looked like they’d been used one too many times were piled into the corner of the second bay. It was like navigating a minefield to get somewhere he could stand and wait.

“I said don’t worry about it” Danny replied once he had Jake situated in a safe place. “Besides there are plenty of ways you can pay me back”. Danny gave Jake a flirtatious wink from where he sat back on his rolling stool on the other side of the truck.

“Excuse me?” Jake scoffed, too astounded by Danny’s suggestive response to focus on making the phone call now.

“Yeah, like a date” Danny continued as he picked up his scrap of sandpaper and started to go over his most recent bondo covered spot.

“A date?” Jake blinked a few times, wondering if he’d heard him right since the radio was still playing quietly in the background. “You want me to take you on a date?”

“Well I was going to say let me take you on a date” Danny chuckled again, keeping his eyes focused on his work, “but if you want to take me out I’m not at all opposed to that either”.

“I- I mean- ” Jake was stumbling over his words, in utter disbelief and embarrassed by his lack of composure right now. He didn’t understand what had gotten into him.

“What? Are you not into guys or something?” Danny let his eyes flicker back over to Jake this time, catching a slight blush creep into his cheeks.

“No, that’s not it…” Jake replied sheepishly. It was true, from a young age he didn’t put much thought into sexuality or gender for that matter. He was always more attracted to the person and how deep of a connection he could make rather than just what was on the surface. Though he’d never actually dated someone of the same sex before, it was never out of the question for him.

“Then what is it?”

The sound of Danny’s sanding stopped as he waited patiently for a response. He had a suspicion he knew where Jake’s reservations were rooted from, having already heard a few details, but he hoped Jake would feel comfortable enough to tell him himself.

“Dates have been hard for me,” Jake began, fiddling with the rim of his phone case to distract himself from mentally screaming stop shut up if you tell him he will only pity you- “since my wife died a few years ago”.

“I know,” Danny replied without hesitation, making Jake realize- of course he knew, his sister was one of Jake’s closest friends, “and I’d respect your boundaries if you said it was still too soon”.

Jake leaned against the work bench behind him and let his head fall backwards, huffing a breath out through his nose, staring up at the ceiling as he thought for a moment. His eyes felt dry and prickly, but he absolutely could not tear up right now. No he’d told himself a long time ago that he was done with that.

Danny seemed to be one step ahead of him on this, already understanding what he was getting himself into when asking Jake for a date. “What if I said it wasn’t too soon?”

“Hmm?” Danny didn’t quite make out his question, either because it was being directed towards the ceiling instead of him, or maybe because Jake was actually only asking himself.

“It’s not too soon” he rephrased as he looked back over at Danny again, a little more resolve in his demeanor. “Are you free this Friday night?”

Danny’s face lit up in a smile, having thought there for a moment Jake was going to officially tell him to fuck off. “I can be”.

A cocky reply, Jake thought, smirking himself a little. “Alright then. Friday night, I’ve got an event to go to. You can come”.

“An event? For your job?” Danny questioned in return as he once again got back to work. “Doesn’t sound like much of a date to me”.

“Look, do you want to come or not?”

“No, no, I’ll be there,” he assured him quickly, “thanks for inviting me”.

It’s not really like I had much of a choice. The truth was he could have declined, could have told Danny to shove it and stormed out of the shop to wait in his car for Rudy to return. He didn’t though, and there was possibly even a part of him who was excited he’d invited Danny.

Originally he was supposed to be going with Josh, but then his brother had something come up that weekend that he couldn’t get out of. Josh’s partner booked them a little mini vacation not realizing the dates conflicted with Jake’s concert, and the hotel and airfare were nonrefundable.

Jake promised him he didn’t mind, ‘It’s just going to be a local group playing a few songs, nothing too special. You guys go have fun’. He was more anxious about it than he’d led onto Josh though. At least now he wouldn’t be going alone and he’d have something to distract him if he got too nervous- Danny being easily very distracting.

“What are you even doing? You’ve been sanding the same spot this entire time” Jake tentatively stepped a little closer until Danny waved him over.

“I may not know too much about engines, but I know a lot about the body” Danny replied with a smugish half smile that made Jake roll his eyes. “Come here, you have to get right up close to see what I’m talking about”.

Jake moved to stand next to Danny, leaning over slightly as he stared at the white blob on the fender of the truck. Danny stood up and got behind him, barely grabbing at his waist as he positioned Jake to get the right angle. Jake’s body stiffened and froze, unused to being freely touched so often without any warning.

“You see how smooth it looks?” Danny muttered behind his ear making the hairs on the back of Jake’s neck stand up. “Run your hand across it now”. Jake did as he was told and placed his palm on the cold metal, feeling a small ripple as he swiped it slowly over the surface.

“You see sometimes things look perfect from the outside, but when you get your hands on it you find tiny little flaws. I’m a perfectionist, I’ve got to get every little dent and scratch out. Sometimes that takes days of just filling and sanding it back down until I run my hand across and it’s smooth as can be”.

“Doesn’t it get annoying?” Jake asked, thinking about how long and tedious that process must be.

“I’m very patient” Danny shrugged, letting go and sitting back on his stool.

Jake couldn’t help but let his mind wander in this moment as he watched Danny from just a foot away now. He wondered what Danny might think if he ever got an up close look at him. Sure maybe from the outside he looked put together, just like this fender solid and sturdy, but once he got his hands on him he’d be able to feel all his flaws- the cuts that dug deep into his very being and had scarred over.

Only about ten minutes later Rudy returned and Danny took a break from what he was doing to help get Jake’s car back in good working order. Thankfully they were done just in time for him to get to the school and pick up his daughter without having to call in reinforcements.

“Wait, could I get your number?” Danny stopped Jake before he could drive off, hoping but also confident that their fix worked. “So we can coordinate the date?”

Jake looked over Danny’s shoulder, seeing his boss tossing more tools around, not even bothering to clean up and not paying attention to what his employee was doing- clearly harassing customers. He gave him his number anyway, finding a text presumably from Danny when he got home. Just a simple wink face emoji.

Before he could save the number in his contact list though, Luna called for his help in the kitchen and he dropped his phone off on the bar. Completely forgetting about the little message left on read.

It wasn’t until Thursday night after he’d gotten off the phone with Josh that he received another text from the unknown number.

What should I be wearing tomorrow?

10:34PM

Jake waited a moment to reply, he’d just about concluded that maybe Danny had forgotten about the ‘date’ because he hadn’t heard from him since leaving Rudy’s shop Monday afternoon. When Danny didn’t show up to Wednesday’s soccer practice either Jake was a little discouraged, but he told himself to get over it. He walked Emma home and her mom looked like she’d had a rough day so Jake didn’t bother asking about her brother's whereabouts. Should he really care anyways?

Something nice but not too formal

10:48PM

No jeans and a crop top

10:49PM

Crop top?

11:00PM

Wait, that’s my favorite shirt

11:00PM

Good to know. Don’t wear it.

11:02PM

Ok I won’t, but you remember it?

11:02PM

Jake panicked for a second as he read the text. Why did he have to bring it up? Stupid mistake.

Danny continued to text while Jake stumbled for a reply, writing something out then thinking it sounded stupid and erasing it, knowing Danny was probably watching him type.

Did Luna see the video I sent her? Of the soccer ball slime? I thought she’d like that one

11:05PM

If Jake didn’t already feel awkward about bringing up the crop top, now he felt even sillier about having thought Danny had sent that video to him. Of course it was meant for Luna.

He debated not responding, just closing the messages app on his phone and going to sleep, but he knew that would be rude- a little white lie might be better.

Yes, she liked it

11:08PM

I’m glad, sorry I wasn’t at practice this week

11:09PM

Danny didn’t offer a reason why he was absent, but at least he’d thought to apologize. Not that he had to, it’s not like Jake was hoping to see him there or anything. Again he didn’t know what to say; it was getting late Danny had to know he was probably in bed right? Before he could reply again another text came in.

I’ll let you get to sleep. I’m excited to see you tomorrow. Good night Jake

11:11PM

Good night

11:12PM

Friday was a frenzy, hustling around between the office, the venue where the orchestra and band were getting to practice with the soloists for the last time before the show, and then home to get Luna ready to stay at Emma’s house while he was out.

The air was heavy at the venue when Jake left, some issues with sound they were able to get a tech to fix, and some tiny adjustments to the breaks in the program had everyone tense and on edge. Jake knew it was just pre show nerves though and he had full faith that the night was going to go over well.

The confidence in his peers didn’t exactly extend to himself however, as he held his breath when he rang the doorbell, Luna standing at his side excitedly.

“Daddy you’re going to a party?” She asked, ever curious about what he was up to.

“I’m going to a work party” he explained to her again, having already told her she was going alone to play at Emma’s house tonight for just a couple of hours.

“Will there be presents and cake there?”

“No presents, but there might be some cake. Do you want me to save you some?”

“Me and Emma?” She asked, grabbing his hand and looking up at her Dad with a pleading smile.

“Of course, I’ll bring you both some” he returned the smile down at her until the front door opened and she bounced inside off to find her friend.

“Thank you for watching her tonight” Jake told Emma’s mom as he waited around for Danny to show. He’d text him when he was on the way, offering a ride since he was coming over anyways.

“Of course any time” she kept the door open, also aware who Jake was waiting on. The silence was a bit uncomfortable, how much did she know about them anyways? The two seemed to be close, but he worried if she thought it was a little strange her friend and her brother were going out together.

“I know someone who gives piano lessons will be there tonight. I can ask them if they have any space for Emma” Jake offered, just to fill the time.

“Oh, that would be nice. We’ve got a lot going on right now though so we might wait until next year”.

“No worries, I can just get her contact information. Has Michael been having to stay late again?” He didn’t want to pry too much, but after a couple of years of knowing them he could tell there seemed to be some new unresolved tension coming from the household.

She sighed and shook her head, obviously frustrated but biting her tongue. He realized there might be a little more to her irritation than just her husband working late, but before she could break and spill her worries Danny finally emerged from the hallway.

“Sorry for making you wait, I was ironing my shirt”.

Jake’s eyebrows shot up when he saw Danny in the doorway, the light from inside the house casting his long shadow across the porch Jake stood on. He was wearing a dark colored button up with a diamond pattern, the sleeves rolled a quarter of the way up his arms with subtle gold chains across his wrists and neck. “Is this okay?” He did a little spin, holding his arms out so Jake could get a good look at his outfit.

“Yeah it’s great. You look great” Jake cleared his throat and adjusted the collar of his own shirt, glancing over to see Danny’s sister watching them with amusement in her eyes.

“Well you two have fun. Jake don’t worry about hurrying home we’ve got the kids”.

Jake nodded and Danny gave his sister a quick side hug before joining Jake on the porch. She shut the door behind him and Danny gave Jake a big eager smile.

“You look great too. I like this” he ran his thumb across the lapel of Jake’s suede coat he’d chosen for the night, already knowing it got cold at the venue they were going to. “I like these too” Danny’s fingers moved next to one of the necklaces that sat against Jake’s chest, picking up the circular charm and examining it.

“Thanks, they were a gift” Jake replied, trying to remain as still as possible and keep his breathing steady.

“Well, shall we?” Danny gently laid the pendant back down and retreated, clasping his hands behind his back like he was reminding himself to behave.

The ride over was nice. They talked about music finding out they had similar taste, Jake leaning more towards blues and Danny towards folk but both sharing a passion for the classics of old rock n roll.

When they arrived at the event Jake had plenty of people to greet and thank for being there. He worried Danny might feel out of place or get bored, but every time he glanced over to him Danny was lit up with a smile and conversing with those around him. Soon it was time to take their seats; Jake showed Danny where they would be at the back of the room, and waited by the stage for his quick speech before the concert started.

Jake held the mic tightly in his hands, not having felt that weight in his grip in years. He’d always had a bit of stage fright, but getting up in front of a crowd with June had never been less than amazing and he tuned into the memory of that feeling when he stepped in front of the audience tonight.

“First of all I’d just like to thank everyone for taking the time out of their weekend to be here with us. For those of you I don’t know, my name is Jacob Kiszka and I work for the foundation who put on this event. All of our ticket sales from tonight are going towards our new program that offers students free private music lessons. I really hope you enjoy the performance. Over the past six months I’ve been overseeing this project, I've gotten the opportunity to know some of these brilliant musical minds and promise they have some treats in store for you. Again, thank you so much for coming and after the show please feel free to check out the live band and refreshments we will have in the conference room next door”.

The crowd clapped for him as he exited the small stage and scurried off to rejoin Danny at their seats. They had the last row reserved to themselves, and with the venue not being close to full there wasn’t even anyone sitting anywhere near them.

As soon as he plopped down next to Danny the lights dimmed, getting darker where they were compared to the stage lights that focused their intensity on the musicians down below and the first song on the program began.

Jake’s focus stayed on the stage, but he felt Danny shift closer to him and whisper into his ear. “You did a good job”.

Just as easily as he’d leaned over, Danny sat back in his seat and enjoyed the performance, letting Jake do the same. Despite any hiccups they’d had earlier, the soloists were flawless, the transitions between pieces seamless, and the audience was loving every minute of it, clapping enthusiastically after each final note.

“Isn’t she amazing?” Jake asked Danny when his favorite performer finished by far the hardest song of the night, The Habanera from Carmen. It was her idea to include it in the program, and although Jake worried it might be too difficult for an intermediate orchestra, he was blown away by their hard work and dedication to the art.

“I actually can't believe I just heard that in real life” Danny’s mouth was agape, his eyes glittering with sheer delight.

Jake’s smile faded as he observed Danny watching the performance now, but it wasn’t because he was upset or anything. Quite the opposite, he was suddenly being filled with an overwhelming sense of relief and reassurance. He expected Danny might like it otherwise he wouldn’t have invited him. Even if he didn’t that would have been ok, but Danny seemed to be genuinely appreciative of his time here and that made Jake even happier he’d come.

Feeling like he was being watched, Danny looked over and made eye contact with Jake who was sitting on the edge of his seat. A shiver broke through undeather his coat when Danny’s eyes took him in next, looking him up and down through hooded lids and finally settling on his hands in his lap.

Internally Jake was screaming at himself to move, say something, do anything, but on the outside he was as calm as ever when Danny reached over and grabbed one of his hands, intertwining their fingers together and giving it a squeeze. Jake let out a shaky breath as his eyes fell to his lap, hoping Danny could not feel his heart pounding in his wrist.

“Jake…” Danny muttered his name in the dark, swiping his thumb over the back of Jake’s hand making him look back up again, only he didn’t look him in the eye this time. Jake found himself staring at Danny’s lips, hoping he’d be the braver of the two again.

Before either of them could make the next move though their moment was cut short when Jake heard someone else start speaking over the microphone.

“This last piece was not included on the programs, it is a special thanks to our Director Jake for all the hard work he’s put in. We hope you’ve all had a great night and be safe”.

Jake snapped his head back towards the stage, shocked and completely unaware of this secret addition to the performance. He gripped Danny’s hand tighter when the song began to play and he instantly recognized it as a rendition of one of his own.

The singer started in after the acoustic guitar opening, and Jake was taken aback when he heard his late wife's lyrics bleeding through the speakers for the first time in over three years.

He could feel the sting but he didn’t even register the tears rolling down his cheeks until Danny sat forward as well. “Hey, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just-” he felt his voice crack, his face and chest burning hot as he shook his hand free from Danny’s and excused himself.

Jake went out into the hallway to collect himself, furiously wiping at his cheeks until they were rubbed red and drying his palms on his pants. Thankfully he was alone, until he heard the sound of the door behind him allowing someone else out.

“I’m sorry, that just caught me off guard” Jake’s knee jerk reaction was to apologize, suck it up, and walk back in with his head held high. All of that flew out the window though when Danny silently came from behind him and wrapped his arms around Jake’s shoulders, pulling his back against his chest and resting his chin on the top of Jake’s head.

More tears began to pool along his lash line when Jake reciprocated the touch by wrapping his hands around Danny’s forearms and pulling them tighter around his shaking frame.

“Don’t apologize. You’re allowed to feel every emotion coming to you right now” Danny muttered behind him.

Jake shook his head and nuzzled his face into the forearms folded across his chest, waiting for the moment to pass before he popped his head back up and inhaled sharply.

“Ok, I’m going to go to the restroom. People will be coming out soon. Will you wait for me in the conference room?”

“Yeah, I can do that”. Danny released his hold and took a few steps back to give Jake some space now. Though as he watched Jake cover his mouth with the back of his hand and walk away, he wished he’d let him follow.

Tags: @lyndz2names @gracev0609 @lipstickitty @sanguinebats @kultavalo

A/N: So there really is a program called Austin Soundwaves that does offer free private music lessons for children in that area. I was able to go to one of their concerts and the performer really did start belting Carmen, it was awesome. Support your local musicians 👏

#greta van fic #greta van fleet #danny wagner #jake kiszka #janny gvf

15 notes · View notes

havens-profiction-hideaway · 5 days

Text

In the light of the sun and the coolness of the morning dew, the angel steps outside the confines of safety and peers into the outside world. It has calmed, although only for now. Xe sees the innocents in the distance that thrive in their own safety, however xe also sees the monsters and titans of this new world roaming dangerously close to the safety of xir home. The Ruins outside has always been a sore sight for those without protection from it. One’s definition of safety may not match xir own, and xe knew that to be true. But it would provide nonetheless. That was xir mission.

As the angel finished xir reflection, xe noticed a poor soul nearing xir home. It was time for xem to return, and await the possible newcomer at the end of xir cleverly disguised gate. For xe, too, hoped to become home for them, even if they don’t quite see xir Haven just yet.

- Ⅴ - ⅩⅥ - ⅯⅯⅩⅩⅣ -

Welcome to Haven’s Profiction Hideaway!

HPH is a 13+ profiction discord server that promotes itself to be a safe haven for all. The angel welcomes all who are looking for sanctuary amongst the chaos of social media and fandom, while keeping out those who may pose harm to that safety. The server is not strictly for those who identify as profiction, but for anyone who aligns with being against harassment over fiction.

Our Hideaway contains the following:

⋗ A “gateway” / social media based verification system to defend against raiders and other people that may pose a threat to our community.

⋗ 100% adult-run mod team to ensure proper moderation throughout the entire server.

⋗ Community events such as Game Nights, Secret Santa, and Server-Wide Events.

⋗ Reaction roles, such as body age and pronoun roles, to better help get to know you and fellow community members!

⋗ A black and squicks list, as well as respective channels to discuss topics on the provided lists without necessary spoiler tagging.

⋗ Auto channel roles accessible after verification to access and equally avoid sections of the server (blacklist, squicks, and discourse channels respectively).

⋗ Channels for art, headcanons, and writing, as well as a space to ramble on about things such as hyperfixations!

⋗ Forums dedicated to aesthetics to share your favorite visually pleasing gifs and images.

⋗ Voice channels for hanging out, listening to music, playing games, streaming, and more!

⋗ System/Plural Friendly, with dedicated system/plural category, channels, and bots Pluralkit & Tupperbox! We are endo-friendly, and always will be!

⋗ Kin category for all your kinning needs, including channels for canon calls and kin assigning

⋗ 18+ locked nsfw and gore areas, accessible either individually or all under our single “Choose Not To Tag” role nodding to the beloved AO3

⋗ A suggestion form that can be filled out to suggest channels, roles, emojis, events, and general other improvements to the server.

⋗ An FAQ to answer early on questions new members may have

⋗ and a lot more!

We’re excited to see you! If you wish to join us, the link will be placed here: [Link]

⋗ If the link above doesn’t work, or you have any issues with Double Counter upon entry, feel free to message @karmatic-retribution directly!

Safe Travels!

#profic #proship #profiction #anti-harassment #antihara #profic server #proship server #profiction server #hph server #server promo

12 notes · View notes

supersources · 2 years

Text

interview with the vampire (2022): episode 4, the ruthless pursuit of blood with all a child's demanding.

tw: murder, death, blood, strong language, all vampire / horror things.

* i can't tell you that... i can't tell you that either.

* your doctor has been consulted and has given consent.

* would you follow me to the reading room?

* quite the house plant.

* the interior designer hired was a sentimentalist.

* please, wear gloves when handling the material.

* we suggest you begin on the left.

* their blood is bitter, it almost makes you feel sick to drink it.

* i tried to be good.

* i closed my eyes and waited for the fire to take me too.

* he was beautiful, strong, and fast and he carried me like i was made of feathers.

* i guessed i was in heaven, so i waited for the pain to go away and for my mama to join me.

* she's going cold, what do we do?

* i don't know where to bite, her body is all charred.

* she's just a kid.

* and she'll be what? a lap dog?

* you were ready to abandon our home, now you want a third.

* i just need her not to die.

* and then i tasted it, and right away i felt as strong as a street car.

* i realized what what i thought was heaven was just a nice room.

* you got some of your own i can have?

* so, this is my new house?

* i heard your cry for help. we can hear people's thought.

* prove it. what am i thinking now?

* so you can hear my thoughts, but he can't? does that make him the dumb one?

* if he makes you, he can't hear your thoughts anymore.

* he relies on my words to understand me, just like a human.

* i'm not a human no more, am i?

* well, i can see where this is going.

* you'll do it too, in time, my little milkweed. i'll teach you. but not if we're going to have family secrets?

* are we a family?

* but with no secrets.

* they had nice clothes, a nice auto-carriage, and a funny way of being nice to each other.

* so, i'm supposed to kill him?

* i'm not sure how i feel about that pleated skirt.

* looks like she takes after me...

* you're not a girl, you're a devil!

* you have to stop while they're alive.

* who is it she takes after?

* confusion, regret, euphoria... you'll wake up feeling a lot of things. guilt... a bad taste in your mouth from the cop which again you should never choose.

* what did i just say?

* don't eat cops.

* you gotta listen to your elders when they're talking.

* hungry? you just ate a man twice your size.

* i'm so hungry... i think i'm gonna die. is that how vampires die? of starvation?

* some sleep is what she needs.

* sedation is what she needs.

* you suck them like frog legs and burn them like trash.

* i gotta go to bed when the rest of the world wakes up.

* have you seen my slippers?

* must every night end like this?

* y'all get tired before i do.

* why does she talk to the book?

* the sun goes up, we go down. that's never gonna change.

* keeping you safe, little waif.

* the book is my friend.

* the book is her friend.

* the book is a book.

* put the pen down.

* when i'm tired, i'm not so kind.

* and where are all the vampires at?

* she's gonna pass real soon. we're trying to accustom her to the thought of... going home to god.

* it's so soft!

* it's just me, my pen, my brain, my heart, and the blood of the street car conductor i drained after he got off work. thank you, street car driver. i hope they got more of you at your company to fill in for you.

* don't shush me.

* i missed you.

* you missed me?

* he doesn't give good answers to questions, sits on the truth like it's his chair or something. i thought we weren't supposed to keep secrets.

* sometimes, old people don't like talking much about the past. sometimes, you gotta be careful where you dig, you understand?

* how does it work, love between two men?

* you ever liked girls?

* i don't know how you do that... you can't like the taste.

* it's not just what you eat. you can kill quick and painless, or you can get extravagant.

* there've been times when i've gone too far myself.

* some killing has consequences.

* i used to get a little caught up in human affairs.

* how does muhammad feel about vampires?

* how is your reading coming along?

* i interrupted, you were praying.

* i have my own room now.

* still, you wouldn't believe how time flies when you got people to eat and money to spend.

* we do like mortals do. we fight, we eat, we laugh, we sleep, we love!

* never seen a dead one look so peaceful... do you know what her last words were?

* who are you here with, honey?

* you have a kid?

* we need to talk about the house.

* over the cold body of our mama. i was wondering why i got the invite this time.

* well, good we got each other's backs... make you proud, you hear?

* the smell is awful.

* wakes were invented in places where it snowed.

* i'll have the papers drawn up.

* now, here's a treat. i think you're ready for. this is what the meat calls a 'lovers lane', and by my estimation no blood is sweeter. young people, swollen with passion, denied spirits by this senseless prohibition, park along this lonely stretch to contemplate that most mysterious of mathematical equations: how one plus one... becomes one.

* you've been too sheltered, my belladonnic beauty.

* did you just crawl out of the swamp or something?

* there's something back there, something evil!

* she's a prodigious killer, why you wanna limit her is beyond comprehension.

* i jumped a girl in between speakeasies, i wear it better though.

* don't do something he would do.

* happy hunting!

* i'm sorry, i got so scared i almost fainted. i thought the flowers might bring me back a bit.

* i'm glad you're back.

* i just wanted to say thank you for driving me home.

* i had to make sure you wouldn't faint again.

* i wanna know what his laugh sounds like when it's all the way.

* i'm surprised your fancy parents even let you out at night.

* they know i can take care of myself.

* you almost got trampled by a horse.

* no running in the house!

* i finally got a few secrets of my own.

* are you blocking me?

* do you not like it?

* i guess you're probably used to having ice cream any time you want.

* so, is this what you always do for a first date? take a girl out for some ice cream?

* no way you're older than me.

* everyone in my family looks young for their age.

* i'm tired of waiting!

* you don't even look like a girl... you're an angel.

* it's easy to get carried away when you're young and in love.

* stop squirming and watch. remember this, his face as it melts. this is why we never get close to mortals. because sooner or later, they end up dead.

* i had a daughter.

* the oh-so-delicate balance of our oh-so-delicate household was shattered.

* and what should i have done? tucked his body into the coffin with her?

* it's funnier when you fight in french.

#rp meme #rp starters #rp prompts #sentence starters #inbox meme #inbox starters #rp ask meme #starter prompt #roleplay starters #roleplay prompts #sentence meme #askbox meme #askbox prompt #ask meme #sentence prompts #mine: prompts.

221 notes · View notes

that-one-anxious-mango · 1 year

Note

For the Drabble event would you be willing to do the first I love you? I love your writing.

As We Grow

Summary: About how Austin and his best girl said those magical three letter words to one another. Plus the origin of their famous catch phrase.

Contents: MAXIMUM FLUFF. Mentions of past trauma. Gooey feelings. Sleepy Magnus. Crying. Awesome Austin (per usual)

A/N: Hi Beautiful Humans! How are you all? Ugh I missed you! Alas, I’ve been trapped in the claws of college. BUT, since I’m on break and writing up a storm I will try and get out as much as I can while I’m off, and also write some things I can put on auto fill when things get crazy.

I hope you all are having a wonderful holiday. To the Anon who suggested this sorry about the wait babe. AND to any one else who requested something I’m working on it babes. BARE WITH ME.

Any who please enjoy the fic!

P.S Everyone feel free to PLEASE comment and reblog. Also send me letters with ideas and prompts. Love hearing from you all! Much Love! *hugs*

_______

You were sitting on your couch writing in your black leather planner, in it was your to-do list of all the mundane things that needed to be done in the upcoming week.

It had proven to be quite effective and useful in helping you to manage the events and such that went on in your semi-chaotic life.

And as old as you felt admitting that you had a planner in the first place, you felt even more old due to your current choice of outfit and music.

Sitting in your large house pink house dress with matching pink house slippers. Your hair was wrapped up in a silk headscarf and clear kitten framed glasses adorned your face.

In the background, the R & B station on Spotify played Saving all my love from the Whitney Houston album, while the scent of lavender and eucalyptus essential oils filled the air.

It was Sunday which meant self-care and a little bit of life management. Today you'd woken up and gotten brunch with Phoebe, Alex, Alana, and Beatrice. After you and a eager Magnus went to the Totem to go and browse, which you ended up buying a book for yourself and bought two books for Austin. Then you treated yourself to a nice hot shower and a full head to toe skin care routine.

And now you were where you were.

Earlier in the day Austin had texted you to let you know that he probably wasn't going to be able to come over to watch re-runs of Grey's Anatomy while eating take out Thai-food like the two of you had originally planned. And even though you were disappointed a bit.

You understood.

Every since the two of you had started dating about three months ago, you understood that there were some days and times that you unfortunately may not hear from Austin due to him immersing himself into his work and preparation for Elvis. It's something he'd been upfront about in the beginning of your relationship, about how the process of him doing this role wouldn't exactly mean it would be a cakewalk for you guys. But within being a creative yourself mixed with the rather intense feelings you felt for Austin, you decided that you'd be in this for the long haul as long as you could be.

In the middle of Wednesday's list you heard the buzzer ring.

Frowning in confusion you got up, being followed by the patters of your scary purple onesie dressed guard dog, Magnus.

You weren't expecting anyone.

Going to the intercom you pressed the button speaking, " Yes? "

" Delivery for the most beautiful girl in the world." The voice familiar voice hummed through the box. The bright smile that invaded your face was wide and the involuntary skips that your heart did paired well with the warmth that filled you body.

Deciding to be a tease you replied, " I'm sorry but I think you have the wrong place. Have you tried apartment 3A. The young lady that lives there is quite beautiful and very stylish so it seems." You joked referring to your downstairs neighbor, Gladys Reed, who was a older lady that you'd befriended after a creepy encounter with another neighbor of yours. She was sweet and always looked out for you. She also always complimented you and Austin whenever she seen the two of you.

And you know what they say about an elder approving of a couple.

It's good luck.

" Well. As beautiful as she is and as nice as that vintage Chanel may look, between me and you I think I you got her beat, baby. All seven days a week and twenty four hours in the day." He chuckled back, " Now let me up so I can see that beautiful face."

Giggling to yourself in glee, a short, " Okay." Squeaked out, hitting the button that allowed Austin in.

It was only a matter of seconds before the knock on the door came and you ripped it open practically launching yourself into Austin's arms who was quick to sit down whatever was in his hands and happily catch you, securing his hands under your ass to hold you up. You both spoke quick little hi and hellos before you sealed your lips on his.

A fat wet kiss was placed on his lips followed by the depth he poured into it and the move to push the two of you up against a nearby wall, while he let his tongue nudged at the bottom of your lip until you let him in. Tiny moans could now be heard from you that resulted in the grip he had to your ass tightening.

With the door still wide open you could feel things heating up in many different places. Only the small thunderous barks and incessant feeling of paws hitting yours and Austin's legs pulled the two of you away.

Separating you smiled down at Magnus along with Austin who greeted him, cheeks red with embarrassment, " Hey Mags. Sorry man didn't see you there. What's up." He offered slowly setting you back down. Earning a enthused bark of a response, Austin laughed before turning his attention back to you.

" Well I guess you really are trying to compete with Miss Gladys. Huh, baby." He commented as his eyes raked you up and down.

Truth be told he thought you looked quite good. Like someone's fine wife...or mother. The last half of his thought made his chest flutter, because if things kept going the way they were he could see all those things down the line for you two.

Instantly beginning to feel self conscious you quickly offered to go and change into something more age appropriate and appealing. But your efforts were halted, " Uh uh, no. You seem cozy and comfortable, babe. Which makes me feel comfortable and cozy. You look good." He reassured leaning down to peck your lips before smirking, " Sexy even. Besides, long time ago I used to have a thing for older woman, so this might be doing it for me a little bit." He wiggled his eyebrows at your causing the two of you to begin a laughing.

Cheeks heating up you had to remember the spark of curiosity you had when he came in, so you asked, " So, Mr. Delivery man what'd you bring me? "

Looking at you he motioned with his head to follow his gaze to the wall by door and down. And when you looked you seen the pretty medium sized plant in a brown pot with a nicely tied pink ribbon around it sitting on the floor.

Your face scrunched in thoughts and nerves, " Babe, what is this? You know that I don't have a green thumb. At all." You reminded.

And it was true, every plant you'd gotten over you lifetime had always ended up the same way. Dead.

Even the Cacti you'd tried to take care of had found themselves being welcomed into the glory place where all the rest of your plants rested, otherwise known as the trash.

Like you literally watered a cactus like once...maybe twice a month. So it astonishing to you how you managed to keep a puppy alive ... and not a plant.

" This..", Austin went over and scooped up the plant in hands bringing it over to you, " is our love fern." He stated holding it out.

Taking it cautiously, you bafflingly looked between the nice sized plant and Austin sheepishly smiling," Our..love...fern." You parroted looking at the amused face Austin held.

He nodded, " Yeah, baby. It's our love fern. I got it because you said you wanted one last week when we were watching that Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson movie." He reminded you of the little comment you'd made when the two of you had been snuggled up watching How to lose a guy in ten days.

Then light bulb went off in your head and your eyes widen in playful disbelief, " BABE! I WAS JOKING! You didn't have to actually go out and bring a poor plant back here to practically sentence to death." " You gawked at him laughing.

" We'll I'm not. There are two reasons why I bought this lovely thing . First, because although I know that you, my love. Are no Mother Nature, I have a pretty good track record of being able to keep plants alive. And I figured that if you have it here at your place, then I'll have a absolute reason and responsibility to come and see you and Magnus at least twice a week. Plus I'll teach you how to care for it when I'm not here, honey." He explained glancing over to the puppy who was enjoying himself on the couch happily lounging on your abandoned blanket.

When your eyes met his again you noticed how serious his face had turned. They captured yours in trance making sure there was no where else for you to look, " And the second and most important reason I bought the plant is because.." He started, using a hand to grab both of yours. He secured them ontop of his own hands that rested on the pot. You unconsciously squeezed them making sure that you had a firm clutch as the two of you held up the pot together.

" I also bought this plant because, I love you. I love you Y/N L/N. So much. That's something I've been wanting to tell you since I met you three months ago. And as this plant will surely grow everyday...so will the love that you and I have for each other. " He paused, " That's if you feel the same way of course." His eyes looked hopeful and pleading at the same time. Like his whole entire being was resting on what'd you say next.

And unbeknownst to you....it kinda did.

By now the waterline in your eyes was threatening to spill and this overwhelming mixture of joy and fear overtook your body all at once. Joyful that the man that you did in-fact love, loved you too. But fearful that while, yes, he did love you, for how long? How long would he love and enjoy you before he decided that he was done and ready to leave like so many other people in your life had.

Pulling you out of your thoughts Austin had moved to take the plant out of both your hands and set it down on the floor next to you. Moving in closer he held your face in his hands gently lifting your head positioned to the floor, up to look at him.

As soon as your eyes locked the tears started flowing and you couldn't hold it anymore, " I love you too Austin. I-I really do." You almost whispered, the worry on his face seemed to only half melt when he seen that you weren't done with your proclamation, " But I'm scared. " You confessed.

His voice was soft in concern, " Scared of what, baby?"

His attentive tone made you feel even worst and you began crying a bit harder causing him to coo pulling you into his chest, resting his chin lightly on your head while soothingly rubbing your back. " You're okay, mama. You're alright. Just Breathe." He affirmed helping you along.

It seemed like the two of you stayed like that, forever in the moment.

Him basking in the feeling of you against him, and you relishing in the music that was the beat of his heart. You had slowed your breathing down to match it.

It wasn't until you had pulled it together and found the strength to just be honest and say what you needed to say, " I'm afraid that you'll love me for as long as you want and then leave me once you get however and whatever you need. Or find somebody new. I'm not saying that you would do something like that, Austin. But you're not the first person to say those three words to me, and then utter the other two. Good bye."

Sighing, he hated hearing that this was even a doubt in your mind. Not because he was offended or he thought you didn't trust him, but because it made him upset that people in your past hadn't had the courage or god given common sense to take care and cherish you, like he planned to.

So in comfort he posed his own question, " What if you decided to do the same thing? If you find some other guys that could fulfill your needs of cuddles, tacos, and bookkeeping? Huh? What would happen then?" He asked.

Without hesitation you went, " Austin I would never, ever, EVER. Leave you for someone else you know that." You sniffled.

Tenderly pulling you closer he responded, " And just how you would never, I would never. I know that others haven't treated you the way they should have. But baby I am here to stay as long as you want me. And if that just so happens to be forever. Then dammit, you better believe I'll love you forever and always. " He stopped chuckling a bit, " Hell, I might just follow you into the beyond, baby. And love on you there."

His comments laugh. He made you feel so at peace and loved. You felt warm inside and outside of your body.

Pulling away you went to look at his face which his instinctively reached out and wiped some stray tears off of your face, offering a somber smile, " Well okay then. Let's do it. I'll love you Austin Butler. Forever, always and beyond." You affirmed smiling.

Nodding in excitement he said, " And I too will love you Y/N Y/L/N. Forever, Always and Beyond. No matter what." He concluded swooping you in for a kiss that tasted salty by the mixture of your tears and some of his. The two of you had kissed plenty of times now, but with each kiss still came that gooey feeling. And you never wanted to let it go anywhere.

Minutes whirled by you two being wrapped in each other before Austin was picking up the plant to try and help you find the best place for it.

Deciding that it'd thrive best in your bedroom window where it was in line of direct sunlight and your eyesight. You now lied snuggled up with Austin's arms securely wrapped around your body while he big spooned, and felt the little movements Magnus made in his sleep from his position at the foot of your bed.

Together the two of you watched the sun say it's goodnight and moon say hello when Austin made a comment in your ear, " Now, baby. No matter what happens. You have absolutely got to remember to help keep our love fern alive. I mean it, now. Don’t let our love fern die." He warned kissing the shell of your ear.

Just then a corny reference to the movie popped in your head and you couldn't resist, " But, honey. What if it decides it wants to go to sleep? " You teased.

Chuckling along he responded with a, " Absolutely not."

---------

* Reference from Movie :) *

#austin butler x reader #daysofourlove #austin butler fluff #austin butler fic #austin butler imagine #austin butler x black! reader #austin butler fanfic #mangoasks #mango answers #austin butler x black reader

104 notes · View notes

writingplotbunnies · 3 months

Text

Best Served Cold (5/?)

Pairing: Jax Teller x OFC

Summary: Sophie shows up to her first SAMCRO party complete with fighting and a conversation with Gemma.

Word Count: ~4400

Warnings: angst, illegal activity, possessive behavior, sexual content, canon typical violence

A/N: This is my first SOA fic, so let me know what you think. This is a multipart fic, so let me know if you want added to the taglist.

Later, Sophie stood in front of her bed, hands on her hips, glaring down at the rather small pile of clothes scattered across the mattress. She’d never been good at picking an outfit, doing her hair, finding out if her complexion allowed for warm or cool tones in her makeup. That had been Olivia's job. Over the years, she’d simply do whatever it was her sister had told her. Like adding layers to her hair, and texturizing the ends - whatever the hell that meant. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to look good because she did, especially tonight, it was that the Corps didn’t care, and anytime she’d been forced to dress up, well they provided a uniform for that, too. Raking her hands through her hair, Sophie wished she knew someone in this town she could call for help. Jax would likely make some suggestion about not wearing anything, which, while flattering, wouldn’t exactly be a practical solution to her current dilemma.

“Maybe if I close my eyes and point…”

She needed a dog. At least then talking to herself wouldn’t make her feel quite as crazy. But, she talked to herself a lot. Wasn’t anything else to do when she was staked out in the middle of nowhere waiting for her target to finally decide to show up.

Growling in frustration, she snagged a pair of skinny jeans Olivia had given her for Christmas a couple of years ago, and a burgundy racerback tank top with a screen-printed dandelion on it. Once dressed, she slid on her well-worn black, low-heel ankle boots. Glancing at herself in the bathroom mirror, she figured it looked good enough. Never quite the smoky eye her sister always managed to paint on her face with perfection, but she didn’t look like she’d just been sucker punched either, so she took the win.

Stopping at the couch, Sophie pulled her ankle holster from her duffel before lifting her foot onto the arm of the couch and attaching it. She didn’t want a repeat of earlier if one of the other Sons or whoever else she met at the party hugged the wrong side of her body. Tucking her phone and ID into her back pocket, she grabbed her keys and locked up behind her.

Sliding into her car, Sophie took a deep breath. She wanted to make a good impression. After Jax had dropped her back at the station, she’d done a lot of thinking. Maybe it wasn’t forever, this thing with Jax, but she wanted to do her part to make it last - see what it could be. Just because she’d never had roots, at least, not as an adult, didn’t mean she didn’t want some.

Pulling into the TM lot, Sophie took a moment to take in the whole scene. A far cry from the quiet, but busy auto shop, the place had transformed into a veritable den of debauchery. It kinda reminded her of a few mid-deployment parties she and the teams had set up when they needed to blow off some steam. Excitement thrummed through her veins at the prospect of letting off some steam and having a good time. It had been this part of the MC life that she found most surprising when it came to Olivia. They’d done their share of partying together, but her sister had always been the more reserved of the two. Not a wallflower, but not the cannonball into the swimming pool with a Roman candle in her hand type either. Hers had been a quieter chaos. Maybe that’s why Olivia had been drawn to Drifter - the balance.

Shaking herself from thoughts of the past, she slid from the car, tucked her keys into her front pocket and walked towards the madness. Fire-filled drum barrels were scattered around outside. Women half naked stood, or sat, with a court of men around them. One leggy blonde had her arms wrapped around a young man who seemed content to do nothing more than suck her tits while she ground herself against him. Off to the left, shirtless men threw punches at each other inside a boxing ring while some of the others, beer bottles dangling from their fingers cheered them on from the sidelines. She noticed some money exchanging hands.

Glancing around, she tried to locate Jax. She spied who she thought were Tig and Chibs sitting over at some picnic tables. Since they were the only other two faces she recognized, she moved towards them, careful to weave through the small packs of bodies.

“Hiya, love,” Chibs called when he caught sight of her.

Tig grinned up at her. “Hello, beautiful.”

Sophie smiled, but looked behind her. “I kept my car parked far away from your perv eyes, Tig. No more flirting with my baby. She’s too young for you.”

Chibs laughed and knocked his shoulder against Tig’s. “Got you by the balls.”

“I wish,” Tig mumbled under his breath.

She sat on the table next to Tig and gave a friendly pat on his shoulder. “Sorry to disappoint you.”

He gave her a flirty look. “I’m sure you can find a way to make it up to me.”

Sophie laughed. “Keep dreaming, man.”

“Aye,” Chibs said, voice a bit sharp as he glanced down at Tig. “You know how this works.”

Tig nodded. “Yeah, man. I got it.”

Chibs shook his head before necking his beer and taking a long swallow. “Not me you’ve gotta be worrying about now is it?”

Clearly looking for a way to change the mood, Tig looked at a young blond man sitting near them. “Prospect, get the lady a drink and be quick about it.”

The blond looked at her shyly and offered her a smile. “What’s your poison?”

“Rum and coke, or a beer.”

“Go on,” Chibs called as the prospect stood from the table. “Be quick about it.”

She laughed as he scurried into the clubhouse. “I’d say be nice to the poor boy, but something tells me he’s used to a little hazing around here.”

“It’s good for them.”

They all turned to watch the fight, and the kid brought her a drink more quickly than she expected. Taking a sip, she nearly coughed. Sophie had expected a strong drink, but it was like they’d filled the Dixie cup with rum and walked a can of Coke next to it. Rum with an essence of Coke. Now that she knew, she took a smaller sip from her cup as she continued to watch the two in the ring duke it out. The bald one had decent form. He had a wildness in his eyes that commanded her attention.

Sophie slid from the table, and wandered through the crowd to get a closer look at the fight. She’d always enjoyed the boxing matches the Navy boys engaged in during cruising days. For a few moments, she stood among the other spectators sipping her rum with a splash of Coke and watching the exchange of punches. Both men had grins on their faces.

“Hey, sexy,” a voice slurred in her ear. His hand wrapped around her waist, fingers inching up her torso, just shy of her breast. “Run inside and get me another beer.”

Ignoring him, Sophie moved out of his grip, figuring he’d wander off to easier, more willing entertainment. She continued to watch the fight. Not taking the hint, the drunk guy behind her reached out, grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him.

“Listen, bitch, go get me another beer or get lost.”

Looking him over, she noticed the kutte, but there weren’t any patches on it. He had dark hair and a stupid-looking face, or maybe that was just the expression on it. The kutte looked the same as the one the blond guy, the prospect, who’d been sent off to get her a drink wore. Seemed prospects were lower in the chain than guys like Chibs and Tig. Not that it would make any difference for her personally, but she wanted to avoid making Jax’s life more difficult if it could be avoided.

Shaking his grip loose, she moved through the crowd back towards the table. Just as it came within view, the majority of the crowd behind them, the idiot grabbed Sophie’s ass.

“Don’t walk away from me, sweetheart. I wanna have a good time tonight.”

Eyes at her hairline, Sophie spun around to face him. “The fuck did you just say to me, asshole?”

“You heard me. Croweaters do as they’re fucking told around here.”

Sophie rolled her shoulders. “Look, go find someone willing. No isn’t exactly a complicated word - means no.”

When he reached forward again, Sophie’s patience was shot. She landed a right hook across his cheek, feeling her knuckle split on one of his teeth. Sucking a breath in through her teeth, she cursed. It hurt like a son of a bitch, but seeing the way the idiot’s face snapped to the side made it worth it.

“Go find Jax,” she heard Chibs tell someone.

Her moment of distraction cost her. The guy backhanded her with enough force for her head to whip to the side.

“Bastard!”

Sophie spat on the ground. What kind of an idiot slapped someone in the middle of a fistfight?

Before she could return the favor, arms wrapped around her torso, pulling her back. Across from her, a lumberjack-looking guy with a beanie on his head had his arms wrapped around the idiot who thought no meant please touch me more.

“Alright, lass, leave him be.”

Thrashing in his hold, Sophie wanted nothing more than to cover her hands in his blood. “Let me go. Bastard needs to be taught a fucking lesson about respecting boundaries.”

“Aye,” Chibs agreed. “That he does, but not by you. You got your shot.”

She stopped struggling only to whirl around and poke her finger into his chest.

“That love tap I gave him?”

Sophie knew she was screaming, knew she was likely making a scene, but she couldn’t stop herself.

“Bastard grabbed my arm, then my ass, and took a grab at my breast all without my permission. He’s lucky I haven’t ripped his fucking balls off and shoved them up his ass.”

She watched Chibs’ face darken the more she spoke, but before either of them could say anything else Jax, closely followed by Tig, came jogging up to the group.

“What the fuck?” Jax asked, eyes moving between Sophie and the guy.

“Don’t know exactly what happened, man,” the lumberjack-looking man spoke. “But, your girl landed one hell of a punch on Shepard’s face before he backhanded her.”

She watched Jax’s jaw work as he closed in on the guy who’d slapped her. “That right? You do that to her face?”

“Never seen her around here before. Wanted a new piece of ass tonight.”

Sophie started struggling in Chib’s arms again, and managed to slip his grip. Faster than Jax could stop her, she’d lunged forward and punched Shepard in the face and then the kidney.

“Sophie!” Jax pulled her back. “Come on, stop.”

He pulled her a few feet from the group, pressed her back against the wall and glared at her.

“I’m not apologizing for beating the shit out of that fucking creep.”

Jax shook his head, small grin on his face. “No one’s asking you to.”

Sophie opened her mouth, but closed it. It hadn’t been the response she expected.

Jax grabbed her chin and tilted her head to the side, noting the red mark on her cheek.

“He do that to your face?”

She nodded. “Asshole didn’t even have the decency to punch me. Little bitch slaps like a fucking girl.”

Jax pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek.

Sophie released a deep breath. “Look, I know there are rules or whatever for the girls at these things, and I tried to get him to stop. If he’d just been drunk and handsy and left when I said no, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. But he followed me. I moved away, walked back to where Chibs and Tig were sitting, but he kept following me. No one touches me without my permission, Jax. No one.”

He nodded. “No one should be touching you. I’m gonna go deal with that, and you’re going to stay with Chibs and Opie while I deal with it.”

“Jax - ”

He narrowed his eyes. “I’m gonna deal with it, Sophie.”

Searching his face, she saw the tension in his shoulders, the way his jaw ticked. She nodded. “Make him bleed.”

With a smile, Jax pulled back from where he’d crowded Sophie into the wall. “As you wish, darlin’.”

Taking her hand, Jax led them back over to the table. By now, the boxers in the ring had stopped, and a large crowd gathered to where Opie still had Shepard restrained.

“Jax?” Tig asked, a hopeful expression on his face.

Jax pulled Sophie closer to him, arm wrapped around her in a clearly possessive gesture.

“He’s gonna pay for that bruise on my girl’s face.”

“You’re choosing some croweater over me?” Shepard asked, voice incredulous.

Jax tightened his grip on Sophie in warning. She forced herself to relax knowing he needed to handle this himself. Later, she’d have him explain the hierarchy of this whole thing to her.

“She look like a croweater to you?” Tig asked, sounding actually curious. “Does she act like one? Use your brain, man.”

Shaking his head, Jax glanced up at Opie. “Tape him up.” Turning to Tig, he grinned. “Take bets, boys.”

Grinning like the Cheshire Cat, Tig placed a hand on his chest. “Love you, man.”

Chibs handed Sophie a roll of tape. “Get him ready, lass.”

Nodding, she turned to Jax and pointed to the picnic table. “Sit.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She swatted at his arm. “I’m not an officer, but I might let you salute me later.”

As Jax tugged his shirt over his head, she swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. He caught her watching and winked.

“What the hell’s going on?”

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw an older man with a gray beard and a cigar in his mouth walking over to them. “I’m teaching the prospect a lesson about touching things that don’t belong to him.”

Sophie wanted to snort because honestly, who the fuck said shit like that? Still, she enjoyed the way Jax’s voice went low and deep. She focused on wrapping his hands, making sure the tape would do its job to protect his hands.

“Clay, this is Sophie, Sophie, this is Clay.”

She smiled over her shoulder at him. “I’d shake your hand, but they’re a bit busy at the moment, but it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

She heard Clay’s deep chuckle behind her. “Likewise.”

“What’s going on?”

Sophie recognized Gemma’s voice.

“Jax is gonna teach the prospects a little bit of a lesson tonight.”

Even with her back to the woman, Sophie could feel the deep frown on Gemma’s face. Sophie finished wrapping Jax’s hands. Pulling back a bit she motioned for him to hold his hands out.

“Test it.”

She watched the way his hands moved as he flexed his hands. Nodding, she smoothed her fingers across the edges of the tape.

“Looks good.”

“You’ve done this before.”

Sophie winked. “Once or twice.”

Standing from the table, he walked over to the ring, Sophie on his heels. Before entering the ring, he turned and wrapped Sophie into his arms and kissed her like it was his dying wish. When he released her, she staggered back a couple of steps before she felt a gentle hand against her back.

Glazing over her shoulder she smiled at Opie as he steadied her.

“He likes you.”

Sophie nodded. “You got that impression, too?”

“Yeah, it’s good to see him happy.”

The bald guy who’d been fighting earlier in the night entered the ring and gestured for both fighters to approach.

“Let the ass-kicking begin.”

He’d barely moved out of the way before Jax lunged at Shepard. She wanted to wince at the sound his fist made against the man’s face, but she couldn’t muster enough sympathy for it. Jax fought like a man possessed. Unlike the earlier fight, this was clearly not for entertainment. Seemed as though Jax decided to work out a few of his demons on Shepard. After a brutal combination of hits, Shepard managed to knock Jax back with a lucky southpaw. Sophie saw the grin on Jax’s face. Watched the sweat slide down his torso, noted the small cut on his eyebrow. Most of Shepard’s face was littered with bruising, and small cuts. Both men had blood on the tape on their hands. When Jax had Shepard on the mats, she grew concerned. He’d clearly won the fight, but if he kept going -

“He’s gonna kill him.”

“Happy won’t let that happen,” Opie responded.

Sophie startled, not realizing she’d spoken out loud. Instead, she nodded dumbly, eyes fixed on the fight. It wasn’t that she held Shepard’s life as sacred or anything, but she didn't want Jax to commit murder in front of this many witnesses. Just when she was going to step in and put an end to it, she saw Happy pull Jax off the now unmoving body beneath him. She couldn't make out what he said, but he whispered something in Jax’s ear that had him relaxing.

Around her, the crowd went wild with cheers, and many slapped Jax on the back as he left the ring, swagger in his step. She grinned as he closed in on her.

“Hey, champ.”

He smiled at her before turning to Clay, face serious. “He’s out. I’ll never vote that piece of shit into my club.”

Clay took a puff from the cigar in his mouth before nodding, a pleased sort of pride in his eyes as he looked at Jax. “Whatever you say, VP.”

Jax nodded.

Clay looked at Sophie, something unreadable in his eyes. “Get him cleaned up.”

Sophie nodded, knowing something important had just transpired, but without understanding the rules, she didn’t know exactly what. Whatever it was, she thought it was good. Jax swung his arm across Sophie’s shoulders and led them into the clubhouse. They maneuvered around couples in various states of sex before moving down a hallway in the back. He led her into a room that smelled like him, and looked as though no one had ever taught him how to clean.

“Sit.”

“You like giving me orders.”

Sophie grinned. “Occupational habit.”

She walked into the adjoining bathroom and soaked a washcloth in warm water before coming back into the room. As she’d asked, Jax sat on the bed, eyes hooded as he watched her move towards him. He spread his knees in invitation. Grinning, she moved to stand in front of him, and he brought his hands to rest on her hips. Letting him enjoy the feel of her body beneath his hands, she began to wipe the blood from his face. He hissed when she pressed against the cut at his eyebrow, but didn’t make a move to stop her. Quickly clearing the rest of the blood and the sweat from his face, she threw the towel to the ground before sinking her hands into his hair and tilting his head back. Unsure who moved first, their lips crashed together as his hands moved to lift her onto his lap.

Sophie moaned into his mouth, loving the way his arms felt wrapped around her. Again, she thought this was all too fast, but when his fingers snuck under the hem of her shirt and began to lift it from her body, she quickly pushed the thought from her mind. Even if it was too fast, too soon - it was also too late. Might as well enjoy it before the other shoe dropped. Breaking apart so Jax could pull her shirt over her head, Sophie looked down at him, loved knowing she’d put that look on his face - the one that told her she was the only thing in the world that mattered to him in that moment. Before he could pull her bra off, she took his hands in hers.

Kissing his tape-covered knuckles, she met his eyes. “Let me.”

He nodded. Keeping her eyes on his, she slid from the bed onto the floor to kneel in front of him. She saw the way Jax’s throat worked as he swallowed, eyes dark with desire. Carefully, Sophie began to unwind the tape from his left hand. When it was free of tape, Jax moved to touch her, but she held a hand out, mock frown on her face. He pouted but offered her his right hand. She removed the tape more quickly this time.

“You should ice them. Tape did a good job, but you really went to town on his face. Nothing’s gonna keep you from swelling and being sore tomorrow.”

“Later.”

“Jax - ”

“Later.”

He hauled her up onto the bed and moved them towards the headboard, settling her against his body. Jax’s fingers teased up the exposed skin of her spine.

“Not packing?”

Sophie chuckled. “Always. Ankle holster. I was kinda hoping this blonde biker would want to wrap his arms around me. Didn’t want anything getting in the way.”

Jax kissed her. She reveled in the feel of his skin against hers. The sweat on his torso cool between their bodies as she writhed on top of him. As his fingers once more reached for the clasp on her bra, a knock at the door drew them apart.

“Zip it up,” Opie called through the door. “Bobby’s here. Clay wants you outside.”

She felt Jax’s sigh as he threw his head back against the pillow. She muffled a laugh against his chest before pressing a kiss to his skin.

“Gotta do what the boss says.”

“Clay can fuck off.”

Sophie laughed. “Come on. You and I both know they’ll just send someone else, and Tig doesn’t seem like the knock politely type.”

Jax groaned. “Picked up on that?”

Sophie slanted him a look. “Yeah, he’s real subtle.”

Figuring he’d not get up on his own, she rolled from the bed and looked around for her shirt. Glancing over at Jax, he stood from the bed and ran a hand through his hair as he walked into the bathroom. She realized he didn’t have a shirt with him.

“You keep spare clothes here?”

“Yeah. Should be a clean shirt in the dresser.”

She opened the drawers until she found the right one; she pulled out a white shirt with SAMCRO screen printed on it. Pulling it to her nose, she sniffed it just to be sure. It smelled like him, and, thankfully, it also smelled clean. When he came out, she tossed it at him and ignored how domestic the whole moment felt. Too much. Too soon. Too easy.

“You coming?” Jax asked as he stood at the door.

Sophie picked up her shirt. “I’ll meet you out there.” She paused and pointed at him. “Someone got blood on my shirt.”

“Just grab one of mine, babe.”

“Thanks. I’m still gonna see if I can get the blood out of this one. Go on. I’ll be fine.”

Jax nodded. He stepped to her and kissed her gently before leaving the room. Sophie sighed and shook her head. Had Olivia felt like this? In the early days with Michael, had she been this overwhelmed? They’d met while Sophie had been deployed, and when she made it home, they were already pretty established. Even though Michael understood Olivia had been holding back, waiting for Sophie to meet him. He’d joked about being more nervous meeting her than he had been their parents. She’d just grinned because while her parents could be intimidating, Sophie could’ve killed him and he’d never have heard the bullet.

Making her way into the bathroom, she glanced down at the shirt. It was a lost cause, and she hated washing blood out of things. Better just to burn it and move on, but she also hated shopping for clothes - especially without Olivia here to go with her, or more specifically to make her go at all.

“Fuck it.”

Sophie tossed the shirt in the trash can she saw under the sink before walking back to the dresser. She pulled another one of Jax’s shirts from the drawer. This one was dark blue with SONS screen printed across the front. Sliding it over her head, she sucked in a deep breath, loving the way the shirt smelled. After all the posturing outside, she should feel something she thought. Some sort of feminist bullshit about belonging to a man, but she didn’t because the feeling didn’t suck.

Closing the door behind her, she walked down the hallway towards the main room of the clubhouse. She saw Gemma at the bar. Sophie watched her eyes widen ever so slightly before her lips pursed into a thin line. Maybe wearing Jax’s shirt wasn’t such a good idea. It wouldn't have been the first time she’d wandered around with someone else’s blood staining her clothes.

“Still haven’t worked out what you’re doing here,” Gemma began as she pulled the tops off of two beers.

Sophie took the hint and moved to the counter. Taking the offered beer, she saluted with the neck before taking a swallow.

“You’re clearly not one of them - ” Gemma gestured to the various women scattered around the room having what appeared to be a good time with the available men. “Even without his crow you act like his Old Lady and you don’t even know it.”

Setting the beer down, Sophie met Gemma’s gaze. “I’m not gonna sit here and insult you by pretending I understood the details of what you just told me, but I know a hierarchy when I see one. Regardless of what position I do or don’t hold on it - no one has a free pass to my body unless I want them to. That’s not what I came here for.”

“Seemed just fine with my son having a free pass to your body.”

Sophie smirked. “He’s got good hands.”

Gemma smirked. “I think you’ll be just fine, but you might want to avoid punching any more guys in kuttes.”

Sophie held her hands out. “So long as they keep their hands to themselves, we have no problems.”

“This club,” Gemma said. “It’s Jackson’s life. It’s in his blood.”

Sophie frowned. “I know. But, it’s been like a week. Don’t be picking out China patterns just yet. What I feel for him it’s intense, but it’s also new.”

Gemma lit a cigarette. “Does it scare you?”

“Of course it does. Scares the shit out of me,” Sophie answered. “It’s real.”

Part 6

Master List

#sons of anarchy #sons of anarchy fanfic #sons of anarchy fanfiction #soa fanfiction #jax teller #jax teller x oc

12 notes · View notes

wip · 1 year

Note

Hi,

I’ve been noticing that there’s an issue with the iOS app’s text editor that causes the “read more” tab to (for lack of a better phrase) gobble up paragraphs at the end of long posts. Essentially, you have to forego the cut and leave long posts fully visible, otherwise you risk losing large chunks of your post — or you have to use desktop Tumblr exclusively, which isn’t an option for everyone.

On top of the missing paragraphs, the cursor will start blinking outside the designated writing area. The auto-fill suggestions above the iOS keyboard indicate that words are definitely being typed; they’re just invisible.

I know quite a few other people have been having this problem. I submitted a help request a few weeks ago but haven’t heard anything since. Is this something Tumblr is aware of/working on?

Answer: Hey there, @eoieopda!

Thanks for getting in touch with this. Good news! This bug that you rightly describe has now been fixed, and it will be in the next release of the iOS app, 28.7, we believe, coming soon! Keep your eyes peeled, and thanks for your patience here.

Love,

— Cyle

#bugs #posting #editor #iOS

51 notes · View notes

maridotnet-art-process · 2 years

Text

Day 26: Chat Blanc

Welcome! Enjoy the nighttime photograph and auto-generated collages ;) Because I am a perfectionist and also sometimes insane, I drew like 12 different thumbnails of this piece before I had one I liked. I really reallyyy wanted a horror movie-esque vibe to this, where Marinette knows she’s being stalked, but isn’t looking in the right place yet, but WE can see Chat Blanc. (I’ve been irrevocably affected by @shameboree‘s bad vibes AU, if it didn’t show.) It was hard to succinctly invoke that though, with such limited space and detail.

I was talking to my sister about it, and she suggested the use of a compact mirror or something to reveal Blanc to Mari, which wasn’t quite what I went with, but once the idea of a mirror as a reveal device was in my head I could NOT let it go. Unfortunately mirrors make things everything 10x more complicated, and I couldn’t figure out a good setup. I finally brute-forced my way through the problem of composition by setting up my phone in the shower caddy and taking some reference pictures. This was also the stage where the idea of smearing the lipstick came in; since there needed to be a reason behind her using the mirror, I decided she was applying makeup, and I thought lipstick would be a striking and symbolic option. It would also show how quickly she had startled and turned!

And then sketching! I used a light blue for the sketch because I wanted the whole image to be very chilling and unfriendly from the outset. I was having a really tricky time nailing down marinette’s expression in the sketch, so I drew a couple references on the facing page to refer to as I was inking it.

Next was inking. I started with the main figures, added the surroundings outside the mirror, filled in the second figure, and finished with other background details. Once again, I left the mouth and eyes for later, in case I needed to adjust the expressions to a changed mood in the piece.

I colored Marinette first, because she’s the key figure. I chose red for her shirt because in the show, red seems to be symbolic of Marinette’s deeper self, past the secrets and lies she tells. I also wanted her to be vivid and colorful, the only living thing in the room. Everything else needed to be cool, threatening, and unfriendly; any warmer colors, or colors that weren’t blue-based, I chose to be organic - ie, a color that could come from a human body. (Because it’s just a little gross and creepy that way imo!) Almost immediately, I decided it was TOO Ladybug-red, so I dimmed it a little with some blue and brown. I wanted the truest reds to be her mouth and the rose. The window curtain was white as a decoy Chat Blanc to catch her attention, and also because my bedroom curtain is sheer and white, so I had an easy reference on hand haha. I made the shower curtain blue to keep the overall color scheme cold.

Then, I just kept adding layers of shadows and color until I liked it! I don’t usually use such blue shadows, because it tends to layer with warm skin tones in a green way, which I don’t love, but I combined it with a dark violet for Marinette’s skin, and blue everywhere else. I kept adding more and more ink shadows, because I wanted them to be kinda dense and threatening.

Final piece

If you read all of this, thank you! :))) xoxoxo

#mari.net art #art process #chat blanc

49 notes · View notes

dreaminginthedeepsouth · 8 months

Text

John Deering, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

September 27, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

Exactly a week ago, Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News reported that Republican House leaders were talking about moving the government funding debate away from spending levels—their original complaint—to border security. “[T]he vast majority of House R[epublican]s,” Sherman wrote, “would rather fight on border policy than spending.”

True to form, party leaders today began to insist that we are barreling toward a shutdown because of President Joe Biden’s policies on the southern border. House speaker Kevin McCarthy says he wants to meet with Biden to “cut a deal.”

But, of course, McCarthy already cut a deal with Biden, back in May, that provided a clear roadmap for this year’s funding. McCarthy is refusing to honor that deal.

The Republicans’ willingness to invent a new reason for their threatened government shutdown suggests it was never about principle so much as about power. They are quite aware that the cuts the extremists are proposing before they will agree to fund the government are unpopular, so they have manufactured another reason for the shutdown that they hope will be more palatable to the country.

At any point, McCarthy could agree to work with the Democrats to pass the 12 appropriations bills that will fund the government. Last night, by a vote of 77–19, the Senate illustrated how that could be done by passing a bipartisan continuing resolution to fund the government through November 17 and to provide additional funding for Ukraine.

Today, McCarthy told Republican House members that he would not bring the Senate’s measure up for a vote. Instead, he will continue to court the extremists, who spent the day posturing. At the motion of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), for example, they voted to reduce Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s salary to $1 a year. They went on to pass a number of similarly extreme measures that will never make it through the Senate.

House minority leader Representative Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) accused Republicans of using the threat of a shutdown “to jam your right-wing ideology down the throats of the American people.” The bills they were advancing, he said, had “zero chance of becoming law…. And they’re filled with extreme policy poison pills.”

For all that McCarthy is trying to pin the blame for a shutdown on the Democrats, it is the House Republicans who are refusing to perform the most basic of government procedures: fund the government for the next year. When Republicans have shut down the government in the past, the American people blamed them for it, and today Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) called out his House colleagues, clearly trying to isolate them, likely hoping to keep them from tainting the whole party in the eyes of voters before the 2024 election.

McConnell called out his colleagues on their new switch to complain about border security: “A vote against a standard short-term funding measure is a vote against paying over $1 billion in salary for Border Patrol and ICE agents working to track down lethal fentanyl and tame our open borders. Shutting down the government isn’t an effective way to make a point,” he said.

The 2024 election was also on former president Trump’s mind today. He was in Michigan tonight to try to draw attention away from the Republican primary debate that he refused to attend. But while President Biden yesterday visited the United Auto Workers picket line, Trump visited a non-union shop and talked about a future “fueled by American energy” and “built by highly skilled American hands and high-wage American labor.” As Craig Mauger of the Detroit News noted, however, “his address was short on specifics for how he would accomplish the goals.”

Trump told the crowd to get the UAW to support him, but the UAW doesn’t represent the workforce where he was speaking. Mauger noted that one woman holding a “union members for Trump” sign acknowledged she wasn’t a union member, while a man with a sign that said “auto workers for Trump” said he wasn’t an autoworker. The plant where Trump was speaking employs about 150 people, but 400–500 Trump supporters were there for his speech.

Yesterday, UAW president Shawn Fain said, “I find it odd he’s going to go to a non-union business to talk to union workers. I don’t think he gets it.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#Heather Cox Richardson #Letters From An American #UAW #strike #Government shutdown #2024 election #corrupt GOP #US House of Representatives

2 notes · View notes

automeris-io-moth · 2 years

Text

Good is the town, well grown the children.

Our parents well knew why the frilly socks and white long skirt they dressed us in returned stained of dirt and the green hue of wet grass. And they pretended each time annoyance and tiredness for our carelessness, and still, they washed the clothes hours later, when the scraps and scratches had been cleaned and bandaged, and we were sitting, worn out, in someone's parent's livingroom.

They said, later in life, those were other times, simpler times, safer times, and the youngling playing outside, close to the forests, hills and empty streets, were a regular sight among the townsfolk. Before the outsiders came, mom told me once at the dinner table, and brought with them costumes alien to the rest, and messed, in their ignorance, with things they knew nothing of.

Lilian Pratchett -who I refused to call anything other than Lilly-, the girl next door, with bright honey eyes and light brown hair, believed wholeheartedly what the older folk spoke about the ‘intruders’, they were contaminating the town, trying to make it like their big cities, smelling of rot and smoke, taking down the shrines in the forest, and forcing the paper transactions -money, I understood- in businesses.

Don’t get close to them, she always used to say, guarding, as my mom and dad once suggested, grabbing my hand and running off someone’s house, the hills, The Fortress with the rest of the children, or behind the market, her favourite spot, filled with ill-eyed merchants frowning at the colourful bills the outsider tried always to pay with.

We were fourteen when she asked me out for the first time, a school dance taking place in the old garden with the beheaded statues. It was our transition, all said, being a part of the community and taking responsibilities we only really witnessed before.

Some of the outsider’s kids joined in as well, the ones closer to the rest of us, the ones that had assimilated the community the most, and there, dressed in white, long gowns and crowns of wood sticks, we held hands at the entrance, her and me, the daughter of the chief -her mother- , and the one of the priest -my father-, welcoming everyone inside, standing at the gates.

My heart, of course, beated fast inside my chest, and I was way more worried about my hands sweating than I was about all the rituals about to happen.

Two years later, when we were sixteen, our families got together, and she asked, formally, my parents for permission to date me. Courage was, in the town, one of the most desired traits anyone could have, and I denied it not, it was certainly enticing, besides committing, and her standing there, in her white shirt and brown pants, formal and, for once, with her hair somewhat fixed, in front of the most antipatic man in town, was, what I thought the greatest most admirable act of courage there was. I was exaggerating, it grew more obvious as I got older, but the excitement of first love was something I could do little about.

Lilly was the smartest, the most courageous, the kindest to her people and the most loyal. The most loyal my parents always told me, when she arrived with flowers at my doorstep, after the disappearance of the news school teacher brought by the outside government. I was not stupid, not was I naive, I knew she would die for the safekeeping of the town and the people, she was the daughter of the chief, I was the daughter of the priest.

That pattern seemed to repeat quite a bit throughout our life.

When an auto parts factory opened, given all the empty space we got in the skirts of the town, and more and more people began coming from the cities, the atmosphere tensed, everyone was on edge as the houses were rented out by strangers, and the men of white helmets stood near the forests with planes and pencils in their hands.

To be fair, I did try to warn them, the ruthlessness ran deep within the culture, the limits were blurred when it came to strangers, and I knew it far too well. Still, it wouldn't matter, they were fixed on staying and at the end of the day, they were not my people, and I would not side with them when push came to shove.

I cared little for them, for good or bad, they were not home.

I worried, if a bit, about some of the nicest one, the ones who didn’t look us up and down when we walked hand in hand in the streets. You ask for too little, Lilly said, you are too kind to people who don’t deserve it. And I was, perhaps.

One day, when we were seventeen, a young couple, just married, stopped us in the street, the man was the director of operations in the plant, and his wife was trying to open a bakery for outsiders, though she didn’t figure that out. They told us about the outsider’s religion, all those crosses and black books made sense after that, and I was so very interested, academically.

Weeks later I was heartbroken, when they invited me over for tea, just me, and told me all the technicalities I wished not to know.

And when I told Lilly, that very evening, cuddled up under a pine, close to the lake, where the air smelled like fresh water and the night sounded like the quick stepping of hares and the buzzing of fireflies, she frowned.

The outsider’s religion is corrupt, she said, and I believed it. She was so warm in the late night’s wind, her skin felt so soft and the sound of her voice made me feel so at home, that for a being who looked for good to prohibit such joy to me was terribly absurd.

The gods had blessed us, I was sure, the paths always opened our ways, and the tranquillity followed along when we went, that could not be something cursed what brought such joy, not only to us but to everyone else around town.

At eighteen, when I stepped up for the gatekeeper of the forests, and teacher of the youths, three quarters of the outsider’s population had left, everyday trucks and cars moved to the highway, and soon enough, the factorie stopped working.

When she proposed, soon after that, the town was clean of strangers, the younger ones had made their choice, and some, oddly enough, stayed. It was a dowry of sorts, she told me, a promise for a brighter future for our people, and she looked so very marvellous in one knee, forgetful as always, with one or two spots of blood on her right shoe, but beaming with the handcrafted ring offered in her hand.

She was the most loyal, my father told me, courageous, and kind, to her people.

She was ruthless, of course, she was too clever for her own good, and I adored it all.

When we got married, finally, at twenty, the town expanded, if only a little to the west, where a dying town barely stood. The clock had to match the ring in price, and I was very excited to comply.

—

This piece is relatively new, and it's one of my favourites so far.

I have to add, in addition to fantasy, a topic that I find very interesting is cults, and I think they give (speaking of fiction) a very interesting twist to classic horror/thriller.

I hope you like it! :)

#villain x villain #cults #writing wip #my writing #writing snippet #lgbtq #lgbt #wlw #thriller #writing #short story #halloween #spooktober

4 notes · View notes

asiajokervn · 2 years

Text

The Huckster Ads of Early “Popular Mechanics”

Weird, revealing, and incredibly fun to read

When I’m bored and worried about falling into a Twitter hole, there’s one thing that can always divert my attention.

Going over to the Internet Archive and perusing the incredibly weird ads of early-20th-century Popular Mechanics.

What, you haven’t already discovered this yourself?

You’re in for a treat. Popular Mechanics was a curious beast back in those days. Like the name suggests, it included tons of stories about inventors around the world, and stuff they were getting up to. So in the April 1920 issue, for example, you had articles like these …

A ceiling lamp that lets you yank a fixture downwards to be reading lamp (legit good idea: I’d buy something like that from Ikea today); an “odd baby carriage” that seems indescribably unsafe; and a device for playing solitaire upright in bed, which is actually kind of cool.

There was also plenty of news about the frontiers of science, including — again from that same issue, this piece …

… a full-on investigation of whether radio inventor Guglielmo Marconi has discovered that Mars has been sending Morse-style signals to Earth, complete with thoughts from Thomas Edison on the viability of constructing a mammoth array of lights to send a signal back.

So the content was, in some respects, much like the techy-engineering stuff you’d see today in Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, Wired or the myriad of online science/engineering sites. A little heavy on the credulous paranormal at times, as with this 1923 piece on spirit photography (“Remarkable Demonstration in Broad Daylight before the Editors of This Magazine”)

But the truly delightful stuff wasn’t in the actual articles, interesting as they may be.

No, the mesmerizing stuff is the ads.

By and large, they are an absolute carnival of hucksterism. Enforcement of truth in advertising was still pretty skimpy back then; the FDA was only established in 1906 after journalistic outcries against the hawking of bogus health remedies in periodicals.

The categories of puffery are quite interesting, though, because they betray the anxieties and dreams of Popular Mechanics readers. One of the big tropes was …

MEN! Climb the manly corporate ladder with correspondence courses

Easily half the ads in these issues are for correspondence courses. It was clearly a big thing back then, maybe loosely comparable to the boom in MOOCs and coding bootcamps a few years ago.

In each case, the pitch is the same: You’re a schlub, doing an unskilled job, waiting in line with the other losers for a day’s work. But there’s a world where you could have high-demand skills! Just write for this easy correspondence course and the pay is yours!

They had it for every conceivable field …

The auto and electrical industries were huge and growing, so that makes sense. I am less sure if there was a booming need for taxidermy, but maybe there was? I am too lazy to research this.

There’s a ton of gender mania going on here. These ads all address “MEN!”, hammering home the abject shame of not being a manly provider. Indeed, if you think a lot of American men today are having a total nervous breakdown about not having enough man-itude — witness Alex Jones shilling up to $800,000 a day selling “Super Male Vitality” drops and crap like that — consider this ad …

Quite on top of this gibbering anxiety over masculinity, the class-shame going on in these ads is radioactive indeed. The ads continually hammer home the message that if you’re not climbing the ladder with a helpful and affordable correspondence course, you are a complete zero. This ad from 1908 says it all …

“Side by side they sit; — one filling an important position in the world — the other poorly paid and discontented.”

I wonder how much money these scammy courses made off these ads? A fair amount, I’m guessing. They certainly spent enough on their ads to keep Popular Mechanics afloat for decades.

On top of the He-man job fetish, there were ads that even more straightforwardly mocked guys for not being guy enough …

“How Do You Look in a Bathing Suit?”

When I was a kid in the 1970s, I saw all those ads in comic books for the Charles Atlas bodybuilding system — “The Insult That Made A Man Out of ‘Mac’”, in which a slender gentleman is threatened by a bigger oaf at a beach, humiliated in front of his girlfriend, and he uses Atlas’ system to bulk up and then kick the crap out of the oaf, to the delight of the ladies. I had figured this ad was old, but not that old; like from the 60s?

Nope! Wrong! Atlas was running ads like that in the 30s, and as you can see from this 1923 ad, the industry of negging dudes for having unmanly bodies goes way back.

The copy on that ad above is hilariously straightforward. “A fine protector you would make, when you can’t even fight your own battles. What are you going to do? She is going to find you out.”

She is going to find you out.

Or consider this one …

I have to say, I’m half-charmed by the literary quality of the bodyshaming here. Dude has read his Ivanhoe! And assumes the nebbishy reader of Popular Mechanics has too!

This ad also contains the age-old contention — which wouldn’t be out of place in a rambling, seven-hour YouTube jeremiad by Jordan Peterson today — that the modern world is making us too soft. (“Our indulgence in worldly pleasures has made us a race of anaemic, flat-chested dyspeptics.” Dyspeptics!!) Extra points for the blind-item, faux-sociological quotes from a random woman, too: “The men I meet today are so weak-kneed they can barely stand up straight.”

Various sundry remedies

But enough about jobs and dudes.

Snake-oil salesmen were out in full force in the ad-pages of early Popular Mechanics. There were a lot of claims for “electrical” cures …

… though a big subset of the electrical-cure genre was the vibrator, which — unlike those other forms of faux-science above— actually had a genuine use …

The sheer breadth of quack remedies was pretty impressive. Whatever you wanted to fix, there was someone offering a gizmo or book of instructions on how to tackle it — poor eyesight, bad memory, generalized pain …

Get passive income — from patents!

The passive-income dream is very old indeed, it appears.

Most issues of older Popular Mechanics devoted several full pages of ads to offering patent-registration schemes, lawyers, and agencies. Live by the fruit of your mind! “Your ideas may bring you a fortune if properly introduced.”

Here’s a few from just one single issue in 1908 …

Gizmos, gizmos, gizmos

And perhaps unsurprisingly, there were a lot of tech gadgets being hawked back then …

I dig the “Adjusto-Lite” brand name, and that ad copy cracks up me up: Read, write, study, work, and — crucially — shave anywhere.

That ad for converting a bike into a motorcycle is pretty rad, and reminds me of the kits one sees today for converting a bike to an ebike. And lastly, that ad for the radium flashlight is bittersweet: Radium really did seem like a magical substance — incredibly bright for months or years in the dark, so they put radium on watch faces and anything else that had to illuminate. Alas, it took them several years to figure out it was radioactively poisoning the people who used these products, to say nothing of the folks who assembled them.

You could also turn a Luger pistol into a rifle …

Okay, I’ll stop now. But seriously, if you’re ever bored — or just looking to “rewild your attention”, as I’ve written about in the past — go to Archive.org and pick an old magazine from back then (like Popular Science or Popular Mechanics), or just type “magazine” and a year like 1897, and start poking around in those old publications. They’re fascinating.

#asiajoker

2 notes · View notes

skvaderarts · 2 years

Text

Petrichor Chapter 4: Resplendent

Master list will be coming next week. I will update all chapters with links. Thank you!

Chapter 4: Resplendent

Note: Sorry for any mistakes that I missed. I was working on something else while I was editing this, so I might have missed a few things. I typed most of this on my phone, and auto-correct can be horrendous. Thanks, Google! I plan to go over it again sometime in the future, but I didn't want to delay the release. Thanks for your patience guys! Hope to see you in the comments!

(-~-)

The cafe that Kayro had suggested had been only a short distance from the office. Once they'd arrived, the atmosphere had immediately become apparent. The rich smell of brown sugar and coffee, the lush sweetness of baked goods, and the pleasing aroma of various meats such as the chicken that they were putting in the chicken noodle soup and the ham that sat on the back counter, attendants carving slices off for sandwiches and croissants. The front counter was filled with brownies and bagels and donuts and various breakfast sandwiches, several of which were covered in brown sugar and nuts, and all of which smelled utterly mouth-watering. There was even baklava on the countertop.

If not for the city flow of people, the young devil hunter and his brother would have probably lingered in the doorway indefinitely, drunk on the smell of delectable food and overwhelmingly good-smelling coffees and teas if not for the fact that they suddenly became aware of the fact that they were blocking the entire doorway. They then stepped inside and allowed the door to close behind them, Kayro and Sirrus stepping in behind them.

"Judging by the looks on your faces I'd say the place is to your liking?" Kayro said with a small chuckle, closing his eyes as she shook his head and stepped towards the counter. He knew that he had done a good job, and it was obvious, and there was no way that they were going to deny how eager they were to eat something now. As if in response, Nero's stomach growled. If you hadn't been hungry before, he certainly was now. "I'm billing the food to my corporate account. Get whatever you like."

Nero and V looked at one another before nodding towards Kayro and heading over to join him at the counter. He had no idea what he had just signed himself up for. He was going to regret the day he spoke those words.

(-~-)

Brunch didn't take long. What did take long was for the cafe to make the sheer amount of food that they ordered.

Kayro ate considerably more than either of the young descendants of the dark knight Sparda thought that he would, but they still had him beat by at least double. Nero finished first and ran off to the bathroom while V simply ate quietly and hung out, listening to Sirrus and Kayro speak with one another. It was good to know that his friend had other people in his life, even if Sirrus did insist that he and his work partner went really quite as close as the two of them were. Apparently, despite the fact that they worked together, they didn't really spend much time together. It was an interesting prospect, but V had never really had a corporate job before so he couldn't really be sure whether that was typical or not.

Suddenly in the middle of his conversation, the man with the hark hair's phone suddenly began to ring. He pulled his phone from his pocket to check the number, and his pupils dilated slightly as he saw who was calling. Holding his phone up for Sirrus to see, he politely excused himself from a table and went to the front door, answering the phone as he did so. Sirrus watched him go and shook his head, unbothered, and seemingly amused in a way.

"I turn my phone off during lunch breaks. The idea of something like that is horrifying to him. Perhaps it's just a personality difference, but I can't say that I mind. Perhaps I could stand to take my work more seriously."

V took a final sip of his tea, setting the empty glass mug down on the table. He'd never seen one of these clear glass coffee mugs in person, and now that he had, he had a silent desire to get one. "I can hardly say that. You nearly died for your job a few days ago."

Sirrus glanced over at him, an almost tired look on his face. He looked like he could use a good nap, but it was clear that something was still on his mind regardless. "Oh, I definitely didn't do that for the job… "

Quiet silence all over them again as they both took in the ambiance. The quiet clattering of dishes and the low base of alternative jazz music filled the air as they simply enjoyed one another's company for a moment. Neither of them had really expected to get to do so again, at least at one point or another. It was strange being on the other side of that now and knowing that they could go forward. And to be honest, V wasn't sure where forward was anymore. He spent so long looking down the chasm that he couldn't see the other side anymore, let alone jump over it.

"He isn't like you, is he?" V said quietly as he finished the last of his food. It was a ham and cheese croissant of some kind, and although it was genuinely delicious, and although it was genuinely delicious it made him miss Magnolia's baking. He got the impression that she could probably make something even better than this if he asked her to. He never really had her cooking, but if her ability to bake mouth-watering treats was anything to go by, then he was sure he wasn't too off base. Strange. He hadn't realized how much he craved it until now. Was this what it was like to want home cooking? He'd never really had the opportunity to eat home cooking, especially growing up. That required having a home…

"No. Not quite. His abilities are nothing like mine. Kayro is more cursed than anything else. It's… complicated." Sirrus said, his mind clearly drifting and perhaps even lingering on a past memory that V had no prior knowledge of. He and Kayro clearly had a long and rich history that he wasn't privy to, and that made perfect sense, but it was also slightly fascinating the way that he didn't expect. He was genuinely intrigued. "He can explain it better than I can, but he doesn't like to speak of it. Understandably. And I choose to respect his privacy, especially in situations like these."

Now the young adjudicator truly had V's attention. He was adamant that he would not press either of the many further. It was something he knew he would come to learn in his own time if he needed to know it. But at the same time, it was fascinating to see his friend so… overwhelmed? Overcome? Were those even the proper verbs? "What he said to you back in that cave… It meant something to you. Was he right?"

"Yes but… No, he's quite right. It's something that I often forget because I don't share the same circumstance, but this is his pleasure as well as his livelihood. He requires employment to support himself, something that I cannot say for myself. And that responsibility looms over him like a frightful, unforgiving shadow, crushing him under its weight anytime he so much as thinks about it. I wish I could free him from that."

The two of them fell silent for a moment as Sirrus seemed to genuinely mourn the fact that he wasn't sure what to do to help Kayro. He was glad that this was something he personally didn't have to deal with, but he did wish that it was something others didn't have to contend with, either. Everyone he knew had so much potential. There was more to life, but occupation rarely allowed for it, and it very rarely made up for the time that it took that could not be reallotted. It was an awful balance that he felt utterly privileged to not have to experience in any real way himself, but also felt utterly guilty for at times. His carefree demeanor was partially a result of this, and that was not to say that he had never struggled. He most certainly had faced terrible adversity… but he most certainly had never struggled in that specific way, and he was utterly grateful for that.

"What I mean to say is that I sometimes forget that I am unique in my position. I rarely face consequences for speaking my mind, and those that I do face I can generally handle with ease. That is not something that most people are lucky enough to be able to do. It's the privilege of my social standing. People know who I am, and they don't challenge me. He's right about that. And he knows that that isn't the only reason they don't challenge me. But they do challenge him. He has a stigma to him. And It isn't helped by his social standing. It's all quite exhausting, but regardless, he does have a fair point. That isn't my entire reason for continued success, but it is a factor that I was born with as an advantage and disadvantage. I would be stupid to deny that." The man with the red hair stopped for a moment, seemingly considering his next words carefully, his eyes looking forward but their destination distant. This was clearly a touchy subject for him. The whole conversation had been. But whatever he was about to say now certainly was perhaps the tip of the iceberg. He was treading deep water now, and he had to be careful not to slip into the depths. "And… I believe that he knows that I took steps to ensure his continued employment after something unfortunate outside of his control nearly led to his termination. And I think we can both agree that my standing was the only reason that was even possible. They wouldn't even listen to him. And that massive gap between us is hard to bridge. He appreciates it… But it is a bit of a constant reminder when he sees me, I think. That is how we met, after all. I just hope he doesn't feel that he owes me. At times I think he does."

The young summoner nodded. That did make sense, unfortunately. He couldn't say that he knew enough about Kayro to be able to make a judgment call on his behalf, but he could understand how awkward it might be to be friends with someone who you knew ahead of social standing that overwhelmed your own personal accomplishments. But there was the risk that it would mitigate any attempts you made to actually lay claim to your own destiny. He was certain that he probably appreciated the help, but it probably was an eye-opening experience for the both of them. Sirrus for coming to grips with the fact that he had the standing to even do that for someone, and his friend with the idea that the only reason he might still have the career that meant so much to him was because of the influence of another person who he had never met. It was probably a bit much for both of them, to be honest. Their friendship had persevered in spite of it, or perhaps because of it, but perhaps at some point, they needed to speak on this? Just the two of them.

"... Perhaps we should head back," V said with a nod, considering his friend's revelation. He could see where Sirrus was coming from, but he didn't know enough about his past to tell how accurate that truly was. He understood the general sentiment, however. And as he stood up to stretch, leaving his plate on the table for a moment, he gave his friend a kind, sympathetic look. He knew that he did not desire pity, and that was not what he offered him at that moment, but he did want him to know that he felt for him. For both of them, in his own way. They're always situations between friends that led to silent discomfort, and even the best of friends struggled to address them, but this was quite the weight, wasn't it? A positive weight in some aspects, but a weight nonetheless. Sometimes the good deeds we sought to do truly did have unintentional hooks. And they held you and thrall long after their release.

Sirrus nodded, catching sight of both Kayro and Nero returning from their respective breaks. The young demon hunter had gone to the bathroom just a few moments prior to their conversation, and Kayro had stepped outside to answer a phone call from the office. They'd all finished eating in the interim, and it was perhaps time to head back to the manor. After all, they all had things they needed to get to work on. Nero had a family to check in on, Kayro and Sirrus If people work to file, and V… well, where would one even begin. He had an overwhelming amount of things to contend with now that he no longer had the threat of the Devil Prince on his shoulders. He could theoretically do whatever he wanted, but he had the sneaking suspicion that he wasn't sure what to do with that kind of freedom. There was their upcoming trip, that much was certain… But that didn't negate the personal journey and reckoning that he was still dealing with in a very real way. It could be sobering with how overwhelming it was at times.

"I agree… let's head back. These are all things we can talk about at other times. But I do thank you for lending me your ear. Perhaps we all just need someone to listen sometimes."

V looked over his shoulder at his friend as he turned to pick up the plate he'd been eating out of and put it on the stack in the middle of the table as the attendant had asked of them. Apparently, that was how they were able to tell when you were actually done eating. Clever. He saw the small smile on his friend's face and returned one, not entirely sure what he had done to earn that, but willing to just take the small victories where he could. He never really minded listening. It was just a change of pace from the rest of his life to have someone speak to him in the first place.

"Perhaps we all do, Sirrus. More than we realize."

(-~-)

You know what? I like this chapter. I love the moments when they just talk, you know? It's nice. Anyway, I'll see you guys on Friday! Hope to see you in the comment section, and I hope you've been having a good week so far!

#V #My OCs #My Post DMC5 OCs #DMC #DMCV #DMC5 #DMC Fic #My #Devil May Cry #Devil May Cry 5 #Devil May Cry V #My Post DMC5 AU #AU #My Post DMCV AU #My Post Devil May Cry 5 AU #My Post Devil May Cry V AU

2 notes · View notes