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winryofresembool · 3 years

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Things We Lost in the Fire, ch 18

aka Caleo uni au

Fic summary: Calypso starts studying at a new university, but to her annoyance her new flatmate is a loud mouthed mechanic who also likes to sneak his dog in whenever. But as she learns to know him better, she realizes they might have more in common than what she first thought. Eventually, even the darkest secrets come out…

Chapter summary: Leo's life is hard (but maybe there's some hope left).

A/N: Yay, time for a new chapter! I decided to make Friday my new posting day so that’s when the future updates will (hopefully) happen.

It's not time to resolve the previous drama quite yet but dw, that's coming! Meanwhile, I hope you'll enjoy this Leo centered chapter. It’s also time to bring Frank in!

Don't forget to let me know what you think! :)

Characters in this ch: Leo, Frank, Georgina, Jo, Emmie

Words: 1700+

Genre: romance & hurt/comfort

Warnings: none

previous chapter / next chapter / AO3

...

“Maldita sea!” Leo yelled at himself as his wrench flew at the wall, thankfully not causing damage to it. Nothing he tried to fix or build that day seemed to go right. He hadn’t been able to figure out a pretty basic seeming issue in someone’s phone, one of his own inventions had broken and even solving a physics problem that would usually have managed to distract him only felt frustrating.

There was a lot going on in Leo’s head. Well, he’d argue that he always had a lot going on there due to his ADHD, but this time his usual methods to calm himself down didn’t seem to work. He would probably have to quit studying the only field he was truly interested in. He couldn’t do his work. His flatmate for whom he may or may not have started slowly developing some very not flatmate appropriate feelings had apparently had a thing for his friend, which not only complicated Leo’s situation with Calypso but also with Percy. And his mother’s death anniversary was coming, which was always a hard time for him. Leo imagined she’d probably be so disappointed if she saw him now. ‘My son, a failure in every aspect of life’. No, Leo’s real mother had been way too nice to actually say something like that out loud, but he just knew she’d at least think that. And Jo, Emmie and Georgina were counting on him too.

After throwing the wrench, Leo decided to take a break because his hands had started shaking too much to continue working. Taking a deep breath, he leaned against his worktable, closed his eyes and started tapping a rhythm that he had memorized years ago. His mother had taught him Morse code when he was a kid, and this particular phrase was one she had used a lot when he had needed calming down. Written down, the code looked like this:

.. .-.. --- ...- . -.-- --- ..-

I l o v e y o u

He whispered it very quietly a couple of times before looking out from the window and saying aloud:

“Mom. I’m trying to be strong. I really am. But sometimes it just gets too fucking hard. Everything seemed to be fine. Really. My other family is great. I was studying something I actually cared about. My new flatmate… uh, she’s an interesting force of nature. But if she likes someone like Percy… I’d never have a chance. And all my career plans are about to run down to the sewers because I can’t use fire, in any way. Not because of what happened to you. Because of what I... I just feel lost.”

He took a deep breath and rubbed the corner of his eye dry quickly. Saying his thoughts aloud seemed to make him feel a little bit better, and he decided that maybe getting out of the flat and getting some exercise would help with the shakiness. To his relief Calypso wasn’t home either so he didn’t have to answer any awkward questions about why he looked like such a mess. Leo found himself jogging all the way to Waystation, which was several miles from his flat. As he reached the yard, he noticed Georgina with Festus, but even with her back to him he could sense something was wrong. Of course. There was always some way the day could get even worse.

“Hi, hermanita!” he started, trying to sound cheerful even though he didn’t think he was a very good actor. Georgie could probably see right through him. His suspicions were confirmed when Festus didn’t even run to greet him as he usually did. “What’s going on?”

“I tried to call you,” she said, hiding her worry badly. “Moms went to run some errands and something… something happened to him…”

“What do you mean? What exactly happened?” Leo insisted on knowing.

Georgina seemed to grow more and more upset each moment. “I… I gave him a bully stick… but I forgot to put it in a holder even though moms always say you should do that when you give him one because he always tries to swallow them so fast… And then he started feeling sick...”

To prove her point, Festus, who was laying on the ground, made a loud gagging sound. After that he tried to whine but even that didn’t sound like it usually did.

Leo’s ADHD kicked immediately in, in the form of him wanting to act fast.

“We’ll discuss this later, I need to borrow Jo’s car now that I can take him to the vet,” he exclaimed and ran inside the house to get the keys to the car from the spot Jo usually kept them. He picked them and Festus’ leash and ran back, telling Georgina to stay home to tell Jo and Emmie what happened when they’d return.

At least one thing went right that day: the emergency vet clinic was fairly quiet when Leo arrived there. Not long after that, the vet took Festus in. He had an intern with him; a young man who Leo suspected had his roots somewhere in East Asia. He had black, short hair, a bulky body and kind of child like face even though the intern was probably older than Leo. As the vet asked Leo some questions about what exactly had happened to Festus, the student wrote down some notes and occasionally added a short comment as well. When Leo was about to explain why exactly Festus had gotten issues with the bully stick, he heard the intern mutter something to himself.

“What was that?” Leo asked a bit more aggressively than he had planned, having already been stressed even before the issue with Festus had come up. He had to admit, though, that it had distracted him from the other issues.

“Nothing,” the intern quickly said, pretending to focus on his papers again.

Leo didn’t give up that easily. “I heard you, though. You were implying that I had somehow caused this.”

“Well, you did give him the bully stick, didn’t you?” the young man asked.

“I wasn’t even there when he got one!” Leo growled, starting to feel the frustrations from earlier that day flooding out of his system. “My… uh, little sister gave him one when our parents left to run some errands and he kept whining and wanted something to chew! It wasn’t her fault either, she’s a child and she didn’t know that could happen!”

“Mister Valdez, please calm down a bit,” the vet interrupted him, and Leo immediately shut up. “There’s no need to yell. Festus is going to be just fine; I’m going to give him some medicine and fluids to help with digesting the stick and we can watch how he’s doing overnight. And Frank, please don’t make assumptions like that about clients.”

“Yes, sir,” Frank said, to Leo’s surprise actually looking regretful. Then he turned to Leo. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“Nah, I kinda lost my cool there too…” Leo said, the frustration leaving when he saw Frank’s face.

“Kinda,” the intern said, attempting to joke about the situation.

“Yeah, sorry ‘bout that;” Leo rubbed the back of his neck.

After that the vet asked Leo a couple of more questions and did some more examinations on Festus while Frank helped him.

“Other than this stick issue, he seems like a healthy dog,” the vet complimented after the check up. “His fur and teeth look good. I think you’ve been taking good care of him.”

“Well, to be honest he lives more with my parents than me because they have a lot more space…” Leo said, “But yeah, we all try our best. Even Georgina, my sister.”

“I’m glad to hear that. It’s a good thing you got him here that fast so he’ll get the best possible treatment,” The vet said.

After that he wrote some notes on the computer and then dismissed Leo who scratched Festus from behind his ear and promised to come back soon to get him. As he was putting his jean jacket on in the lobby, the intern, Frank, approached him.

“About what happened earlier, I really am sorry. It isn’t like me to attack clients; you can even ask my boss about that. I just…”

“Chill, man,” Leo said. “I’ve heard this story before. People assume things about me because I look like a problem teenager. Truth to be told? You’re not entirely wrong. But things have changed. And trust me, Festus is my best friend and I’d do anything for him. I’m sure Georgie has learned her lesson too now.”

“Good to hear that,” Frank said and extended his arm to Leo. “Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow when you’re coming to get Festus.”

Leo nodded. “Yep, I have a feeling my whole family will want to join me. Anyway, I’m off now. Thanks for the help!”

“I’m glad we could help!” Frank told him before he started walking towards his car.

...

Jo and Emmie had already returned to Waystation when Leo got there.

“Is everything OK?” Emmie asked immediately. “We didn’t really get much out of Georgina… Just that something had happened to Festus and you took him to the vet.”

“Nah, it’s gonna be fine!” Leo reassured her. “He got some digestion issues because he gobbled a bully stick too fast but that’s being taken care of now. Georgie sure remembers to be more careful from now on, won’t ya, hermanita?” he addressed the young girl then.

“I will…” she promised, not even protesting about the nickname this time.

Once Leo had explained with more details what had happened at the vet and it became clear that Festus would be fine soon, the family moved to other matters. Unlike usually, Leo was happy with mostly listening to the others. The incident had reminded him that there were bigger matters than girl issues or his studies and he realized that those things didn’t feel quite as hard to overcome now as a few hours ago. Yes, he still needed to deal with them, and yes, his past would probably never stop entirely haunting him, but when he had people like this around him? It wouldn’t be impossible.

#caleo #leo valdez #calypso #heroes of olympus #trials of apollo #percy jackson and the olympians #my fics #caleo uni au

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wolfpawn · 4 years

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I Hate You, I Love You, Chapter 76

Chapter Summary - Tom and Danielle enjoy some time in the countryside once more, talking about something that has been on Tom's mind before celebrating Tom's birthday.

Previous Chapter

Rating - Mature (some chapters contain smut)

Triggers - references to Tom Hiddleston’s work with the #MeToo Movement. That chapter will be tagged accordingly.

authors Note - I have been working on this for the last 3 years, it is currently 180+ chapters long. This will be updated daily, so long as I can get time to do so, obviously

tags: @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog @jessibelle-nerdy-mum @nonsensicalobsessions @damalseer @hiddlesbitch1 @winterisakiller @fairlightswiftly @salempoe @wolfsmom1

If you wish to be tagged, please let me know.

Tom looked around the house, wondering where Danielle was, the fact that Mac was hiding under the table looking less than pleased caught his attention also. "Where is she?" The dog only gave a small groan in response. "Where is she gone?" His answer came a moment later when a loud engine roared and Mac's ears went up, his attention to the back garden as he did so. Tom walked out and watched as Danielle mowed the grass on the small patch of her garden that was green. It took only a moment before it was done. "A woman of many talents."

"And yet a master at none," She smiled looking over at him. "Come on, I am going to do your mum's while I'm at it."

"Okay?"

"Open the gate," Danielle instructed.

"Where is she gone?" He asked, doing as he was instructed, noting his mum's car was gone from her driveway.

"Shopping, she said she wants to grab a few bits in town."

"Don't you usually go with her?"

"If by that do you mean 'Danielle, you usually play chauffeur, why not today' then the answer is because I am doing this housework, and I want to get everything here sorted." she smiled, leaning up to kiss him. "So I was thinking…"

"Oh God," Tom chuckled as she swatted his arm. "What were you thinking, Darling?"

"A walk after lunch, you, me and a particular canine?"

"The woods?"

"Yep."

Tom wrapped his arms around her, "I think that is a wonderful idea." He leant down and kissed her. "I hate not being able to walk around with you in London."

"I do too, until you go out and are photographed going to Sainsbury's or going for a jog and am reminded that as soon as we are out, they will harass you again like they did when they were trying to get you to talk about Swift."

Tom's brow furrowed. "What about when they start harassing you, why would you be worried about when they are harassing me, I am used to it?"

"Well, I am working on me, so I know I am getting there, so I am worried about you," she explained before getting ready to mow Diana's lawn.

"I should do that." Tom edged forward towards the lawnmower.

"Do you know how?" Tom looked at her, insulted at her insinuation. "Okay," she backed off before turning to look at him again, "Don't forget to prime it though." She stated before going to get the bag to tidy the cut grass so that they could minimise the time it would take.

Tom looked at the lawnmower, wondering what she meant by priming it. After a few seconds of looking at the machine, he turned to see her looking at him expectantly. "I…"

"Never used a petrol one?"

"No, just electric." He admitted, relieved she was not using a ridiculing tone, but one of comprehension.

"Right, well, it is fairly simple." She dropped the bag down in a corner and walked over to him. "The primer is this red button under here," she bent down and showed him the button in question. "You push it three times to send petrol into the engine to start her up, then, you pull this lever here," She pulled a lever. "Keep it pulled, and you yank this rope back and it will start the motor." She explained, showing him by doing it. The motor roaring to life once more as she did so before she let go of the lever and it died again. "Now you try."

Tom slowly went through the steps she told him again and got it, for a moment, before leaving go of the lever. "What happened?"

"You let go, you kill it when you do that." She explained.

Tom smiled down at her. "How do you know all of this?"

"My dad told me to never depend on other people to do house chores, plumbing, electrics and tiling aside, every girl should know how to look after her house."

"I saw you fix mum's sink once." Tom corrected.

"That was cleaning the U-bend, that isn't plumbing, that is basic hygiene."

Tom leant down and kissed her again. "You are an incredible woman Danielle."

"Because I know how to use a lawnmower?" She stared at him as though he was mad.

"No, because you are so independent and strong." his smile fell slightly. "Can I ask you something?"

"You just did," she joked, before nodding slightly, noting his slight change of tone. "Sure, ask away."

"Would he have approved of me, your father?"

Danielle did not answer for a moment, not because she did not want to hurt Tom's feelings, but simply because she was assessing the question properly. "I think so."

"Really?"

"He would have joked about being thankful you're not a vet, he always was at me to never marry a vet, my life would be hell putting up with him. He would love how much respect you have for your mum, that would have been something he would focus on, and your sisters, that really mattered to him. That would have him approving in a second, hands down."

"My career?" that was where Danielle looked at him awkwardly. "Please, Elle, be honest."

"He would have worried. He didn't want me left raising a family by myself while my husband would be working as a vet, out a few times a night, or pretty much be a single mother in Springtime, so I can't imagine you going off for a few months would be something he would have been too pleased by, but that being said, my career isn't stationary either, I mean we are effectively in the same industry, so I think he would see that as a plus and badger me, and you too, to take jobs together."

"Do you think we ever will?"

"What, work on the same set?" Tom nodded. "Dunno, I mean there is a chance, but until I get a bit bigger, I am not sure, you are usually on big jobs, Marvel, Kong, that sort of thing, but who knows, the day might come."

"Would that bother you?"

"Yes, I mean how am I supposed to work if I have to try and function with your sexy ass nearby?" Danielle joked. "Before we make this public, if we were working together, yes, it would, because I would have to listen to every female and probably a man or two too, going on about how sexy you are; at least if it happens after, I can laugh at them saying I only got the job because of you and get to walk around knowing that for all their staring at your ass, I am the only one that gets to have it."

"Most definitely." Tom grinned.

"What about the other way around. How do you think you would feel me working close to you like that, barking orders at construction men and having directors angry that I am costing shooting hours because the set isn't to my standard?"

"Well I know you are a very meticulous woman of very high standards of quality in your life Ms Hughes, and regarding seeing you in action, telling those men what to do, I fear we would come to have an issue." He grinned.

"And what issue is that?" She asked, her brow raised.

"I would be very much inclined to find you the subject of daily lust that I would have to endure torturously before sating myself with you nightly."

"You are a fiend, Tom Hiddleston." She swatted his arm as she looked at him, her own lust rising at his words. "Now, enough dallying and mow the lawn, it will be your fortieth birthday before you are finished this, much less your next one if you keep trying to avoid housework."

Tom smiled as she walked around his mother's garden to pick up some plant debris as he did as she instructed and started the lawnmower.

"What about your mum?" Danielle looked at him as they walked through the woods, watching Mac sniff and mark nigh on every other tree. The leaves finally starting to consider coming out of their hibernation on the chilly but dry overcast February day. "Would she have approved?"

"Can I ask why this even matters?"

Tom's pace faltered slightly. "She wouldn't have?"

"No, I think she would, but why does it even matter, they are not here, they cannot have an opinion on this."

"Is it wrong for me to want to know if my partner's parents would like me?" Tom asked. "You know what my parents think of you."

"Your parents make it very clear what they think of people and to be honest, that's not a bad thing either."

"Elle?"

"Look, Mam would have thought you a gentleman, she would have fawned over you and dare I admit it, giggled like a schoolgirl at you saying you love things in the house and probably get smitten," she stated factually before looking at him again. "Now, why does this matter now?"

"Mum asked me yesterday was I going to Ireland for your grandmother's anniversary, I said no and mentioned what you said about your aunt not approving of me, which led to mum making a comment about her opinion not being the one that would have mattered, but your parents and she was sure they would have approved of me, but of course, we have no way to know that," Tom explained.

Danielle thought over his words for a moment, glad to understand why he had asked such a random question. "My aunt is a battle-axe. Literally, you could have two Oscars, four Golden Globes and a couple of Grammy's and she would think you not good enough for our family, she cost her daughter a marriage to a guy she really loved because of her notions. But Dad wasn't like her, they were from the same house but he was a farmer's son and he never forgot it. He earned more than his dad ever did, he had a bigger, nicer house, he had fancier things but he was a farmer's son and no way would he forget it. It doesn't matter if we had a dining room as well as a kitchen, it was the same food on fancier plates as my grandfather put it that was served. Bacon and cabbage, stew and all that, no fancy posh meals. I remember Mam served him some pizza once, he asked what the fuck squashed his quiche." she laughed, Tom quickly joined in. "My aunt acts as though they were landed gentry and not from 'knee-high in cow shit' as my dad used to say."

"I see where you got your love of swearing."

"Stop, Mam used to give out to him for swearing so much."

"Was she the rock of sense?"

Danielle looked at him bemusedly. "Tom, I swear, her way of saying 'stop swearing' was, and I swear this is the truth 'watch your fucking language'." Tom erupted in laughter at that, so much so that Mac stopped sniffing a plant and looked around at them.

"You're not serious, please tell me that's the truth," Tom begged.

Danielle raised her hand as though she was about to swear on a bible. "I solemnly swear, that is what she used to say. And dad used to give out to her for it then and blame her for my foul mouth, both using expletives in doing so and with Mam bearing arms with some form of kitchen utensil in her hand."

"That is brilliant." Tom chuckled.

"Yeah, so that is my parents."

"I wish I could have met them."

"Well, if you had, I would not have been in England, so you would not have known who they were." Danielle pointed out. "But yes, I wish you could have. Dad would have loved you, a fellow Jameson man. He'd have hammered the GAA into you though."

"Did he not like soccer and rugby?"

"Nah, he had no time for them 'foreign games'," she explained. "I mean he'd watch them yeah, on the telly, but not in an 'oh great, the soccer's on, stop what we are doing and pop it on' sort of way." She explained.

"So he didn’t follow a team?"

"Ireland in major tournaments, obviously, but his brother lived near Highbury as a young man, so Arsenal." Tom came to a halt. "What?"

"You had family in London?"

"Pretty much everyone in Ireland has someone who came over to work for a while."

"Where is he now?"

"New York."

"That's a far cry from a farm."

"Yeah, and the farce is he went all the way to America to marry a woman from Mayo." Danielle laughed.

"I am afraid that means nothing to me."

"Mayo is the county next to Galway, he went New York to marry a woman from seventy kilometres away," She explained, Tom laughed at that. "So yeah."

"Okay, that is very funny," Tom admitted. "So your parents, they would have been happy with me?"

"Well, since I am a short-arse, Dad would have been harping on about you giving any kids we have some height, important in a good hurler, and Mam would think you too thin."

"If it meant more food like yours I would have been happy enough." Tom chuckled, putting his arm around her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a little sad I never got to tell them about you, to get to bring you over and show them that I am actually able to get a decent guy, that's all they wanted."

"I'm sorry, Darling."

"Don't be, they'd tell me to cop on to myself and be happy."

"It's done?"

"It's done." She smiled, extending her hand to him.

Tom looked at it for a moment, Danielle was never one to be overly affectionate in public in any manner, he had heard her scoff at people who were overly affectionate, but considering that she had just spoken of her parents, he knew she felt somewhat vulnerable and took her hand in his, bringing hers to his lips. "Are you scared of being seen?"

"It's a woods, besides, I am more scared of losing you for something so stupid as not showing you how much I care about you."

Tom's eyes lit up at her admission, insisting on having his hand in close proximity to hers for the rest of the walk when he was not holding it, close enough for her to feel it occasionally brush against it as they did so.

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Thomas, Happy Birthday to you."

Tom hid his face in his hands as everyone sang to him, his mum holding his shoulders as Danielle laughed as Tom's face began to redden. "You know what to do," She joked, "You've had enough of these things by now."

"Sarah, Elle's calling you old," He joked.

"Oi!" Sarah swatted Danielle, who laughed more.

"I did not!"

"I am older than him," She pointed out.

"Crap," Danielle commented. "Sorry."

"No, you're not," Emma whispered in her ear with a big smile.

"Shh," she giggled back.

Tom watched as they acted as they always had before the conflict before Christmas. "Can I eat this now? Mum, as usual, you bake the best cake."

"After you blow out the candles," His niece's tone was scolding.

"Of course, how silly of me. Will you help?"

"Because everyone loves saliva covered cake." Danielle laughed.

"She is just trying to help." Tom admonished.

"I am talking about you spitting and dribbling, old man," Danielle commented, as his sisters, their husbands and his mother laughed, Tom rose to his feet. "Eep." Danielle used that moment to scarper around to the other side of the table.

"Are you sorry?" He demanded, trying to get her to go around the table towards him.

"Not really, no." Danielle laughed while remaining on the far side of the table.

"Actual children." Emma scoffed.

"The five-year-old is more mature than the two of you combined," Sarah added, but the smile on her face showed how elated she was for her brother to finally appear to be genuinely happy.

"He started it." Danielle pointed to Tom.

"How did I start it, you are the one calling me old."

"You spent your morning looking for grey hairs and checking your hairline." She laughed.

"Right," Tom thought strategically for a moment and used Jack as a barricade to keep Danielle pinned while he took the other direction.

"What, no." Danielle used her small height to her advantage and slipped through the Brother-in-law barricade and rushed for the door. "Woohoo."

"How is she nearly thirty, no really, how is that woman your best friend?" Jack asked Emma who was too busy doubled over laughing at Tom who was still seemingly trying to compute how Danielle had gotten out. A moment later, her phone went off. From where he as standing, Jack could see the message, which he read aloud. "I win, someone owes me cake."

Tom stormed out of the room and towards the sitting room, having not heard Danielle go upstairs. "Where are you?"

"Not here." She replied, her tone light.

Looking around the door, he saw her looking at him cautiously. "You are a terror," he grinned, looking down at her from his far taller frame. "I am going to have to get you for that."

"But then you won't get your present." She threatened.

"I told you not to get me anything, the breakaway for Christmas was enough." He scolded. Danielle bit her lips together. "What is it?"

"You don't have to."

"Elle?" She pulled out an envelope from her pocket, folded over from bring shoved in there. "What is it?"

She handed it to him. "It's not Rome, and I don't have a private jet." He gave her a look to tell her to cease talking like that. "I just thought, after our conversation the other day."

He opened the envelope to see a small piece of paper inside, which contained two dates for after the Kong tour. "Where is Shannon?"

"An airport."

"Where?"

"Clare, Ireland."

"You want to bring me home with you?"

"I have no one to really show you to, well my aunts and them are there, but since you asked about all of that."

Tom looked at the paper in his hand and thought about it, a small smile coming to his face. "It's better than Rome."

"Okay, there's no need to lie, it's not but it's home," Danielle smiled.

"No, Elle. It is where you are from, I get to see what moulded you, it is better." He confirmed. "I cannot wait to see it."

"You were in Ireland before."

"Yes, the other side of the country, I always wanted to see the part of the country that inspired the great scholars there."

"You're in for a treat with Connemara and all that so, but we also have to go to West Cork."

"What's there?"

"My mam's lot."

"What are they like?"

"Nice, country stock as well, there's just one issue..."

"What?" Tom asked worriedly.

"Remember those two brothers that won the silver medals in rowing for Ireland in the last Olympics?"

"Yes," Tom looked at her, elongating the word as he spoke. "They are from around there, aren't they?"

"About forty minutes from my Mams."

"Wait, does everyone there speak like that?"

"Not usually as strong, but broadly similar."

"Oh God, this will be hilarious." Tom chuckled.

"They won't have a clue what you are saying."

"The feeling, I can assure you, is going to be mutual," He smiled, kissing her. "I am going to get you for the old man comments."

"After cake?"

"After cake," He confirmed before kissing her again.

"Euch!" they turned to see a disgusted face of regretful curiosity before the Duchess fled the room again. "They're kissing."

#I Hate You I Love You #chapter 76 #tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston fic #wolfpawn

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tefanfics · 4 years

Text

Okay, I’m gonna share something special to me with y’all.

I do write outside of fan fiction. I have a character who I’ve been writing with for years. Her name is Rose Wesley (which yes that’s where the name comes from). My best friend and I created characters when we were like 10/11 and Rose and Ashe (her character) have been in the works for years.

So I’m going to share two short snippets with them.

1st short- The first is during World War II. Rose and Ashe were there to assist friends of theirs. But this short is focused on Rose and her soulmate. (Long story short: Rose is a vampire with a bit of witch blood- and a curse she’s unaware of yet- so her soulmate process is messed up causing him to come into her life and within two weeks, he’s dead.) Ashe Calliven is a werewolf. The two are fond of disguises to fight with the men early on.

2nd short- This one features Rose and her friend Vincent, a fellow vampire who served in WWII. Rose is the cause of Vincent and his sister being a vampire. This short takes place in 1998 in the local veterans bar in New Jersey where

———

War was messy and brutal. War was hungry and unforgiving. Its thirst for lives could never be quenched.

Standing inside a nurse’s ward, Rose adjusted the white cap on her head. She slid a Bobby pin in place to keep the cap still. She stared longingly outside outside, wishing she could put herself to better use than working as a nurse.

“Wesley, we need you.”

Rose looked over her shoulder and stepped back into the tent as a new wave of soldiers were carried in.

She spotted a familiar face sitting up on a table in the back of the ward. She gave a very small and subtle nod to Ashe as she watched another nurse patch up a bullet hole in Ashe’s arm.

Her attention was pulled to the ones who was injured far worse. She did as she was instructed, mending to the wounds that could be taken care of and trying to ignore the pleads of the men who couldn’t be saved.

As Rose busied herself with a set of soldiers, sewing up the holes from bullets, she could hear the commotion outside.

Bullets flying, men screaming and fighting, and the stench of blood hit her nose. Normally that amount of blood would’ve appealed to a vampire but not like this.

It grew quiet for just a few minutes before the next wave of injured and wounded were ushered in.

“This one!” Someone shouted. “He’s losing a lot of blood!”

Rose turned immediately, her eyes landing on the sergeant who was yelling. She looked to the soldier they had carried in and sat on whatever free space they could find.

Her gaze narrowed as she dropped the needle she was using to sew up one man. She could feel a tightness in her chest as she stepped away.

“Hey miss, you ain’t done, are ya?” The soldier asked with a cigarette in his mouth.

Rose waved him off as she approached the soldier who had just been laid down. Her eyes searched him as the gears began to turn. The sharp jaw, the hazel eyes that kept trying to flutter open and met with hers every so often, the brown hair now matted with blood.

“No,” she whispered. “No it can’t be.” Her hands began to shake as she put her hands over the huge wound in his stomach, pressing down to try and keep some of the blood in. “No, no, no.”

As other nurses began to surround Rose, her emotions started to take over. It was rare for her emotions to control her but this… this was different.

“I can save him,” she said almost too loudly. Another nurse shot her a look. “No I can save him!” She could feel her fangs threatening to poke out as she looked at the man again. “Cooper…”

At the name, Ashe’s head perked up. She jumped off the table and hurried over to the small group of people. She stood back enough so as not to be in the way but as soon as she looked at the man, she knew. Rose was right.

Rose.

Ashe looked up and caught sight of the look on Rose’s face. “Shit,” she muttered. She could hear Rose’s panic, the way she was losing control. She could see the change in her friend’s demeanor. She weaved through people and found Rose.

Rose felt hands on her shoulder as she began to her pulled backward.

“Let me save him!” She screamed as the tent flaps moved around her and she now stood outside. Her body was shaking as she tried to fight her way back inside but Ashe wouldn’t let her go.

“No!” Ashe cut her off. “No you can’t and you know it.”

If she was able to, tears would have been streaming down Rose’s cheeks. “I have to, Ashe. Let me go back.” The was a catch in her throat as she looked back inside. The flaps of the tent were positioned perfectly for Rose to see Cooper’s face. By now her fangs were protruding. “I can save him and he’ll live forever.”

“We don’t know that.” Ashe sighed as she kept a tight grip on her friend. “We don’t even know why he keeps dying or why he keeps coming back. We don’t know how he manages to find you every time. We know nothing, Rose. And we’ve talked about this- if you turn him and he dies-“

“He may never come back,” Rose finished in a whisper. “I didn’t even get to meet him this time…”

Ashe let out a quiet sigh, seeing the pain written across Rose’s face. “I know.”

She kept her gaze on Cooper. His head turned and for a millisecond, his eyes met hers and he managed the slightest of smiles before he went still. Life left his eyes. And once again, Rose was there to witness it.

——————————

“Vincent, you’ve stomached a lot of that already. Maybe time to drink something else to break it up.”

Vincent stared at the glass on the table before him. To the regular eye, it looked like a Bloody Mary. To Vincent and his friend, it was a mixture of absinthe and human blood.

He lifted the glass and swirled it a little, sighing before lifting it to his lips and swallowing another mouthful.

“S’alright, Rose. I’m a big boy. I can handle my liquor.”

Rose sighed, her eyes falling on the empty glass in front of her. “Wanna talk about?”

“What’s there to talk about?”

“Vincent, you’ve had the same nightmares for the last 55 years,” Rose answered leaning back in her chair, her arms crossed over her chest. She scanned the room, noting other veterans dotted in the bar. “This is as good a place as any.”

Vincent glared at Rose before polishing off his glass and groaning. “Fine.”

He grew quiet as Rose turned her attention back to him, noting his jacket covered in patches and dawned with his position from his days in the war. She had noticed the looks from other men. Vincent looked no older than 28 but he was bordering on 198.

“Well?” Another sigh escaped from Rose’s red lips. “Vinny, if anyone understands loss… Well you know the stories of Cooper.”

Vincent let his gaze flicker to Rose before standing up, swaying immediately. He ignored the look he knew he was getting for Rose as he approached the bar. “Another please,” he grunted as he stepped between barstools. He looked at the older man a few barstools down. He gave a nod of hello as he waited for the bartender to return.

“Playing dress up?” The man asked.

“‘Scuse me?” Vincent asked. There was a hint of a slur as he spoke, no doubt noticed by the man.

"You here wearing your old man's jacket, kid?"

Vincent smirked. "No, sir, it's mine,” he answered.

The man scoffed as he nudged the other guy beside him, threatening to laugh. "Yeah, sure, like you know what war is,” the man retaliated. “Your hands look pretty clean to me."

"And your face looks too damn blurred, sir."

"Seriously, kid, you can't just waltz into a place like this and play vet. It ain't a good look." The man took a swig of beer as he looked away.

Vincent accept his drink from the bartender but lingered. “I don't like games."

"Me neither. So why don't you get outta here before someone not as nice as me gets mad."

Rose listened carefully from her spot at the table. She could hear every word, every change in tone. And she could hear the slight aggravation in the older man’s voice now as she looked to the bar.

Vinny took a heavy drink of his blood and absinthe mixture. He turned his body to face the man and met his gaze. He stared long and hard until it was as if something clicked in his mind. “You…xl he muttered. "....some asshole threw up on another guy's shoes, and then tried to jump off the boat. Got his head blown off. He was dead before we even hit the beach.”

The older man set his beer bottle down almost too heavily, a loud clank echoing through the mostly quiet bar. His patience had grown thin with Vincent. "Oh yeah? Where was that?"

"Normandy, the day we hit the beach,” Vincent replied simply. “Why do you care?"

The man seemed to hesitate before answering. "It's funny cause I watched the same thing happen. A kid puked on my shoes,” he said. His voice grew softer as he carried on. “Same kid was the first to die on our boat. Guy that was sitting next to him looked like he was trying to help."

"I couldn't, though... He was already gone." Vincent’s voice sounded as though he was in a daydream. His mind began to replay that exact moment, over and over as if it wasn’t already embedded in his mind.

"You say that like you were there,” the man said as his gaze narrows.

"I'm telling you, Andrews, I was."

The man came close to spitting out his beer. "I don't remember telling you my name, kid,” he stammered, eyes wide as he looked Vincent over. Something about him seemed familiar but he could place it.

No more than a few seconds later, a mass of thuds came barreling down the steps in the corner of the bar. Ashe spotted who she was looking for and shook her head. "Vincent!” She called as she approached him. “There you are! Been looking for you all over."

The man perked up as his attention turned to the blonde. "He belong to you?"

Ashe offered a small smile, nodding as she put her arm over his shoulders."Yep. Come on, buddy. I know you miss your grandpa, but you don't need to be hanging around here." She threw a knowing glance at Rose as she spotted her, clenching her jaw.

"Please you're old enough to be my- ow, okay, fine,” Vincent groaned as he felt Ashe pinch him. Reluctantly he set his glass down and started to follow Ashe to the door.

“Go on, Vinny. I’ll be right there.” Ashe looked back to the man, giving him a sympathetic look. "Sorry if he bothered you sir, enjoy the rest of your night."

“Yeah…,” the man managed to get out as he shook his head. He went back to his beer and his friend beside him, still unable to shake off the feeling about Vincent.

Ashe pointed at Rose then to the door. “You? With me.”

Rose rolled her eyes as she slapped cash down on the table and left the table. As she began to walk toward the door, she cast a glance over her shoulder just in time to lock eyes with the man Vincent had talked to. She looked away but could hear his murmurs.

“She… She looks just like that nurse!” He said frantically to his buddy.

Rose could hear the other man leaning back on the barstool to steal a look. Just to appease his curiosity, she turned her head enough for the other man to get a look at her profile. “She does,” he answered, his voice lower. “Must be her granddaughter or something.”

Rose smirked as she pushed the door open and founded Ashe and Vincent around the corner. She noted the way Vincent was leaning against the wall, no doubt too drunk to stand on his own.

“What the hell was that?” Ashe asked, her eyebrows raised. “Vinny about spilled the secret to everyone in that bar. You didn’t think to stop him?”

Rose looked away. She knew she should’ve kept Vincent from going on but she hadn’t even tried. “A man can’t keep those kinds of memories built up,” she answered. “It’ll destroy him from the inside.”

Ashe shut her eyes as she let out a long sigh. She knew and she understood but it was the look in Rose’s eyes that made her agree. “I know.” She turned back to Vincent and took one of his arms, pulling it over her own shoulders. “Come on. Let’s get this meathead home.”

Rose stayed behind for a second, watching the two of them carry on as her own memories flooded back to her. She knew Ashe understood the same pain Vincent was feeling, the same regret and guilt. Ashe and Rose knew better than anyone what war did to a person.

—————

If you read all that, thank you. ❤️ and let me know if you’d be interested in reading more snippets. Also if I need to clear up anything or describe more...(Probably not more on here but my regular account.)

#creative writing #vampires #werewolves #writing #fantasy #fantasy author #wwii fiction #women in wwii fiction #fiction

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endless-vall · 6 years

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Vanilla yogurt - Maxwell Beaumont fanfic

Summary: A day in Maxwell’s life. Oh, and there’s a puppy.

Author’s note: Anon requested a fanfic about Maxwell adopting a dog.

He was so good with the corgi, and while their relationship is sweet, he deserves a dog of his own. I agree with him! So here ya go!

Hope you’ll like it!

Tagging: @writtenbycandy @mariamatsuo @liam-rhys @asprankle @helentwombly. Comment on this post to let me know if you wanna be tagged as well.

Maxwell strolled down the street, back to the Cordonian palace.

He’d just spent a whole day juggling with house Beaumont affairs, and was fairly tired.

But the approving look over Bertrand’s face was worth the struggle, and Maxwell liked to feel like he’s capable of doing something for his house, for a change.

He was still the old, silly and party-animal Maxwell everyone knew and loved, but he also had a more serious side to him, that was finally taking the platform it deserved.

Maxwell stifled a yawn, while considering stopping for ice-cream.

It was a long and fruitful day, and he deserved a treat for all his hard work, after all - Didn’t he?

Without further thought, he scanned the area for the nearest ice-cream booth or shop in the area.

Unfortunately for him, there wasn’t any ice-cream shops nearby, but there was a yogurt stand in a twenty-feet area from him.

Well, it’ll gotta do. Maxwell figured, and flashed a grin, heading that way.

“What flavor?” The nice sales man asked.

“Vanilla.” Maxwell answered without missing a beat.

“Coming right up!” The seller announced and started filling a funky-looking cup with some fresh and cold vanilla yogurt.

“Here you go,” The seller handed over the cup to Maxwell, and he paid for his treat.

Deciding to hang around while enjoying his yummy treat, Maxwell took the long way to the palace.

He was just enjoying his cup of yogurt, when he heard a rustle from the bushed alongside the road.

“Hello?” He asked, stopping in his tracks.

There wasn’t any answer, but then he realized it was probably not a human, hiding in the bushes, anyway.

He took a step closer, examining the area, when he heard it again.

“Awooo,” A soft, small and mellow voice called for him from the side of the road.

Maxwell pushed the herbs out of his way with his free hand, to reveal the softest, cutest creature he’d ever seen.

“Hey, little guy,” He immediately said, eyes lightning up and beaming at the small creature.

It was a golden retriever puppy, sitting alone and shivering.

It was certainly not shivering from the cold, since it was a hot sunny day. So he was probably scared.

“Hey, hey, don’t be scared. Are you lost?” Maxwell talked to the puppy, offering his hand in an un-threatening way and letting the puppy sniff it.

The puppy stopped shivering, and examined Maxwell’s hand. He took a cautious step towards him and sniffed at his hand until he was sure Maxwell wasn’t going to cause him no harm.

After making sure it was safe, the puppy jumped up and and started licking Maxwell hand.

“Yep, that’s right, little guy, just like that!” Maxwell encouraged him before turning his hand and petting the puppy.

The puppy looked fairly pleased until he noticed the cup in Maxwell’s other hand.

“Oh,” Maxwell realized the puppy could’ve been there a long time, and since he had no collar or distinguishing features he might’ve been a stray puppy, god knows when was the last time he ate.

After a quick google search to make sure it was safe to feed a dog with yogurt, Maxwell let his furry pal finish the rest of his yogurt, while he hanged around him on the grass.

He sat next to the puppy, and scratched behind his ear when he was finished.

The puppy played around with Maxwell until he got tired, and then he climbed up on his lap and curled up to a ball, falling asleep blissfully.

“Hmm, do you have a name? An owner?” Maxwell wondered to himself.

It reminded him of the time he found Sir Wiggles and brought him back, and of how Amber adopted him. It seemed they were inseparable since, and that Amber was in love with his furry friend.

Maxwell was pretty in love with him too, but he knew Bertrand wouldn’t exactly approve of that.

But...

A tempting thought started forming in the back of his head, while he let the puppy rest on top of his lap and continued petting it, wishing him sweet dreams.

About half an hour later, the puppy started blinking awake. Maxwell stifled another yawn, and took him in his arms.

“Do you wanna come back with me?” He asked, as if the puppy could understand him.

“Arff!” And maybe he could, since he was wiggling his tail and beaming at Maxwell excitedly.

“Yes! Let’s do this!!”

After visiting a 24-hour vet office, making sure the puppy was healthy and indeed, no one else’s puppy,

and surprisingly learning that the puppy was actually a she (since Maxwell never really bothered to check anyway),

and paying a visit to a pet store to get the puppy everything she might need, Maxwell carried his new puppy towards the palace.

The place he was heading to hours ago, and Bertrand would definitely wonder where he went missing to.

But he couldn’t complain too much, not since Maxwell started helping with the house affairs.

The puppy had a new collar, and obviously, a name - Vanilla.

Maxwell wasn’t too creative with that name, but he was certainly proud of it and of Vanilla, the best puppy girl in the world.

“You did what now???”

Maxwell could swear Bertrand’s voice was ought to echo all through the palace, as Maxwell presented his, well - Their new puppy.

Ma’am Vanilla of house Beaumont.

“I adopted a puppy. I found her all alone and afraid, and we clicked right away. Bertrand, It’s meant to be!!!” Maxwell insisted.

“Yes Maxwell but taking care of a dog is a lot of responsibility, and we have better things to worry about-” Bertrand was trying to reason with him, but Maxwell didn’t really hear him.

It went through one year and right out the other.

“But Bertrand!!! Look how adorable she is!” Maxwell held up Vanilla, presenting her.

She and Maxwell eyed Bertrand with the best puppy-dog eyes possible.

Even Bertrand’s stoic expression softened under that spell.

“I... Suppose she is.” He muttered out, still unconvinced, at least not completely.

“And she’s a very good dog. I promise. I’m going to take her out and teach her everything she needs to know. Can we keep her? Pleaseeeeee?” Maxwell was giving his best show.

Eventually, Bertrand sighed.

“Fine.”

#playchoices #the royal romance #trr #maxwell beaumont #playchoices fanfic #my writing #fanfic #vanilla #dogs #bertrand beaumont

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elizabethrobertajones · 7 years

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12x15 watching notes

I actually finished watching the episode hours ago but right after I went and literally watched a big chunk of season 8 instead of this episode which is metaphorically a big chunk of season 8 >.>

this "expectations" thing is turning into a bit of a joke because I never know what to expect any more. This was much easier in Carver era :P From the previews it looks like a bit of a "monster of the week" with a hellhound and I sort of feel things are about to go up shit creek for Crowley and he's distracted with the Winchesters which is his life story, but MAY let them find out finally. Gonna make Mary working with the BMoL look like a good decision.

Also may be a way to un-Buckleming Crowley's choice with some better characterisation...

[rare edit to yell at past me oh my god. Also at Davy OH my GOD - note to self stop being so cynical about literally anyone but those guys writing :P]

As far as I can tell from the outside looking in, though Dabb's been working through a really serious important list of loose ends, this is from the odd pile of things that end up on his desk complaining about one of his episodes which is "we need more Winchesters in glasses!!!!" after he gave us a few minutes of it in 8x14, and he shrugged and went, okay, someone find a reason to put them in the glasses again. Why not.

Oh yeah we're on the monsters' side. Starting again with the cute vampire girl from last episode saying "they're dead. they're all dead" and Mary shown killing a vampire. Before any title cards. Mary's POV is on the other side of it. Telling us the world is changing and then Sam squinting suspiciously at Mick's briefing about exterminating all the vampires. And the "pick a side" thing for Sam - monsters on one side, mom on the other.

Awwwwww 5x20 Crowley and his hellhound. A simpler time. When they were trying to cram Lucifer back in the cage. Funny reminder now to have moments before Lucifer bound in Crowley's spare room.

Oooh right there's Kelly and Dagon stuff in this episode. I think Cas too? You know I completely forgot because the previews were avoiding them but I'm pretty sure one of the episode descriptions actually mentioned them... Whoops. I guess this episode is going to be split between all that. At this point I don't really trust the writing not to be ridiculously more complex and layered than I can guess from right here, so I'll just enjoy these cold open people camping and laugh that I wrote a Winchester family camping trip as the code to 12x14

I can't believe this guy is looking up bear attacks in the woods while they're camping. And she's a vet. Pfft :P How does he even have signal though.

Awww no they're going their separate ways. She seems unconvinced that it's going to work out anyway :<

He needs to stop asking trees to marry him.

Oh no now I'm invested in these people. They do not deserve to be eaten by hellhounds.

Nooooo

Oh no that was unintentionally hilarious with the puffy jacket throwing fluff everywhere.

Pfft some extras from the Walking Dead wander into the Bunker making obvious pop culture references. Do we even analyse that mention of Dad or do we just laugh hysterically and move on?

Wait so that time when they seemed to have it on set they weren't just fucking around with the baseball bat because they felt like making one but it was actually going to be in an episode oh my god

I wonder if Mary has been watching The Walking Dead or if she hasn't had time.

Being distracted by Mittens:

Wait - Sam is clean... is this meta or are we still in the pop culture reference?

mittensmorgul The things on Dean, "ghoul, wraith, siren."

elizabethrobertajones yeah They fought a SIREN WHAT HAPPEN I want to know everything

mittensmorgul I DON'T KNOW?!

elizabethrobertajones I bet if it was "back to back to back" they didn't have time for it to be complicated

mittensmorgul I mean, DEAN fought the siren, Sam is completely clean

elizabethrobertajones WHY IS SAM CLEAN

mittensmorgul And Dean's been wearing his underpants for four days People are screaming OOC

elizabethrobertajones oh god

mittensmorgul I have no idea

elizabethrobertajones Ahahahahah "Frodo"

mittensmorgul Sort of reminded me of how he looked after he killed the stynes

elizabethrobertajones Is that a thing

mittensmorgul :D

elizabethrobertajones maybe they intentionally USE those code names maybe Mary talked to Sam wait if Mick is telling Sam where to go has he given them "back to back to back"

mittensmorgul yes...

elizabethrobertajones and Dean did all the killing and Sam was clean Okay THERE'S the symbolism I was looking for :P

mittensmorgul do go on... :D

elizabethrobertajones I am literally paused just at "Frodo" and his missing campers message so idk what happens next but yeah :P Dean's being used as the weapon here and Sam's coordinating Aka trying to turn him into Ketch or Mark!Dean Sam doesn't have any blood on his hands for these hunts and they're coming too fast for Dean to process them and work out shades of grey ....

mittensmorgul Yep

elizabethrobertajones which means the Negan thing is probably a reference to how bloody it has all been and not just a joke >.>

mittensmorgul nope

elizabethrobertajones they're trying to turn him back into a bloody single minded hunter like John this is awful I LAUGHED now I feel horrible about it all :P

elizabethrobertajones Also Dean not being a germ freak about it all is probably a bad sign >.>

elizabethrobertajones Oh no Sam lying epically

mittensmorgul yep

elizabethrobertajones reminds me of 8x01 when he tells Dean how he found Kevin but he actually did that Dean like Purgatory Dean Wait fuck that baseball bat is his purgatory weapon *slides under the table* Go away Negan This is worse than the Eliot Ness thing

this show is getting too meta for its own good... Is this what happens after 12 years?

Anyway Sam comes up with something to baffle Dean with his technology know-how implying Dean is too dumb to follow - Sam rattling off computery sounding things and Dean sitting there bloody and unwashed and the John-Negan baseball bat in front of him and Sam like "the computer told me" and Dean being like "lol computers are good at monsters and porn" - he really is in a bad way :< I think one of those things where they balance Sam and Dean out. But Sam is WORKING on Dean as he said he would last episode - he's intentionally wearing him out, letting him channel that need to kill things in a way Ketch couldn't get Dean to indulge in because Sam knows Dean better and where his lines are. Taking him back to back to back to back on hunts stops Dean from having down time and appreciating the finer things in life, so he gets less and less nuanced as Sam works him down >.> Because as last episode showed, Sam aligns with Mick, Dean with Ketch but, like, obviously NOT because they're both competent and kind and multifaceted. But Ketch is the Mark!Dean parallel, and wearing Dean down like this... yeah.

Honestly though baby wipes are so good they probably COULD get all that gunk off in an emergency

elizabethrobertajones Wait Dean is rejecting the Bunker's shower after flicking siren bits everywhere and being gross this is actually 8x14 inverted

mittensmorgul RIGHT?!

elizabethrobertajones we start with him loving the Bunker and bitching about Sam messing it up and in 8x13 he goes on about the water pressure and now he'd just be happy with baby wipes

mittensmorgul D:

elizabethrobertajones .... and in 8x14 he puts that pic of Mary down and it feels like home :<

mittensmorgul I think they really are doing their best to invert 8.14

elizabethrobertajones 10x22 also used that pic of Mary I hope it's inverted in other ways

mittensmorgul but...

elizabethrobertajones like signing up for crazy ventures to get rid of all demons/monsters

"You smell like roadkill" ominous.

"I'm using that fancy shampoo you keep hidden" I love that they read a bunch of fan fic before they joined the show

Okay so Mittens informed me there's mass hysteria about the next moment because of audio nonsense, which means I swapped from fuzzy bad sound to full crystal clear noise cancelling headphones with all the sound settings done properly, and caught Sam saying "love you too" to Mary and Dean like "catch ya later" to Cas.

[side note: had no idea what she meant because I hadn’t heard a word of it before she told me there was hysteria]

I'd already squeed just to see them pull up having these conversations because the set up is beautiful: Sam has picked a side and Sam and Dean are now at odds, and THESE are their sides. After last episode we could only hope/guess that it was logical that Dean n Cas might be a bit of a team in opposition to Sam, Mary and the BMoL but obviously that was just guesswork. Knowing Sam already IS a faction with Mary and Dean doesn't know it, Sam starting this with a mention of "mom" as they get out the car and this little, uh... symbolic diorama? unfolds shows very clearly he's communicating with his faction; Dean also on the phone shows that they have a split, that he's in contact with someone who could be HIS faction and even before he said Cas I kinda knew because see above, guessing, and also the fact that he IS in contact with Cas more. So yeah, lines drawn between them. Something about them getting out the car together but not looking at each other, talking to their respective sides is just... really really well done. Also the way they're talking over each other? They're distracted with their own things, and not communicating, not listening in on what the other's up to.

Of course then they summarise to each other - DOUCHEBUSTERS.

I am offended

Mostly because it's like "lol Brits"

I feel bad there are hunters they hate more than the Ghostfacers, honestly.

Dean has better news - something's killing angels in IDAHO. Specifically, the town that 7x15 took place in. So that's 9x06 and 7x15 all at once. Wheee.

"Diner waitress Sara Deshenski has met an untimely and violent demise at the hands of an irate alien, so says her diner manager, Herb Nelson"

Bloody hell another dollar in the space jar

they really are going for it this season

they're finally sending Dean to space :')

The picture of burned angel wings in a trashy newspaper is so sad though... Look at Cas being sad.

Look at him still not knowing how to do the badge thing. I cry. My heart is overflowing with love for Cas. He needs Dean beside him to turn his badge around and laugh gently at his mistakes.

It does suggest he's kind of stagnated as a hunter, because he hasn't managed to figure this out yet >.>

He's trying though - he's Solange now! He knows you rotate out the identity from time to time.

Oh dear, Cas dealing with a real conspiracy nut. In 6x21 we were ROBBED of Cas's side of the investigation into HP Lovecraft, probably because lovable comic beats were not how to make us think Cas was the bad guy but they’d be nothing else but, because that’s who Cas is, ALWAYS. Now, though, he's got to do all the social stuff on someone who's basically Ronald Resnik'ing this. I hope he has better luck not dying >.>

He has a pic of the Queen's head taped to an alien which just makes me wonder if this is a thing to do with the BMoL and their terrible terrible bad wrong intel... Sometimes they know a thing, mostly they don't... But they managed to scrape up a few grains of truth here and there. Obviously she's not an alien or lizard person but who knows what else she might be >.> I like the whole Torchwood thing where the Queen was a werewolf and that was a royal family thing :P

Cas hanging his head in despair that he's actually considering waiting to see what this guy's evidence is.

Poor Cas

*Cas attempts to smile*

this description of the alley fight is hilarious

Kelly as the brood queen - remember the season 10-11 hiatus stuff about Bugs as the mytharc after we spotted the little VFX insect escaping Amara's cloud?

Aw no the way he describes angel blades as "star metal" it feels weirdly poignant... Angels are cosmic - who knows what those blades are made of

(Zerbe knows, but aside from Zerbe)

"man in black - well, beige!" if this isn't foreshadowing Cas getting a better coat.

I love how yellow eyes is still like, actually really deep and weighty and dramatic and scary still. Most things on this show have been completely run down INCLUDING Lucifer into being over-done. Such a good pick for this season.

Obligatory bear or cougar reference. I know it's not hellhounds but 8x16 has Prometheus actually killed by a bear off screen and I find that hilarious and I'm thinking mid season 8 now. I think it was also initially reported in one of the cracky publications like the one Cas got ahold of (knowing he has to read that sort of nonsense to get a lead also is a sign of him developing as a hunter).

Oh gosh the perfect blurring of Baby's engine over hellhound growling. Listen to her, she's such a sexy beast :D

[edit at past!me: Okay I’m useless at predicting stuff but I wasn’t to know Dean x Baby would be a thing this episode so I’m proud of this at least... can you even objectify a car? She’s already an object]

Now we know that Gwen knows for sure about big invisible wolves coming after her, the promo scene where Dean jokes about what truth they could tell her and Sam describes how they lie (a lot) to her is even worse, because of course Sam and lying is clearly a huge thing this episode and he describes how the lie will "give her peace" and help her sleep at night. Dean's being manipulated by Sam (PS I did not sign up for this) is probably very similar - Sam thinks Dean will sleep better at night if he doesn't understand all the details of these jobs they're doing and he's keeping Dean in happy dumbed down hunter mode.

Playing INTO the top layer of Performing Dean, really.

Dean's only joking about the ridiculous truth because he doesn't know how important it is to HAVE the truth yet, and he's empathising with Gwen's position of being told the truth and finding it completely unbelievable because he's also at the point where he can't concieve of the truth.

Guys there is a hellhound sniffing your BUTTS

Sam n Dean are wearing black coats and hold their badges the right way up

Omg it followed them in.

AAAAH that's intense okay that's good writing. Thanks Perez. You are so good at tension. They all sit down and chill.

this completely changes "elephant in the room" to "hellhound in the room"

Anyway Sam does the Ronald Resnik thing with Gwen telling her with authority as the FBI that there was nothing supernatural about it

"You're no longer in any kind of danger okay?"

Also they really don't have the right approach because telling her there's no danger??? WRONG. They need to at LEAST follow the lead on her BF's deal to tidy up loose ends, such as the fact that demons often catch a dozen people at a time when they're doing the crossroads thing... They'd need to AT LEAST go back to where the deal was made and check nothing else happened?? Where is your instinct???????

Too busy lying to her

It's so horrible that their visit allowed the thing in and now it's in there with her

I AM SO WORRIED ABOUT GWEN HOLY CRAP

"Oh yeah she's gonna sleep like a baby" *cut to Gwen being stalked*

Oh no now she heard it

GWEN

Omg she's okay

*heart slows down*

Some nice relaxing Crowley and Lucifer nonsense to chill with

Crowley is really enjoying having a proper nemesis since the Winchesters are more like friends now so it's not as fun to catch them and chain them up and taunt them.

Crowley says he's ten steps ahead of whatever Lucifer thinks he's doing. HM. Well he sure wasn't LAST episode.

Well he's behind on his paperwork anyway. The ridiculous windows also suggest peeking in on it - the sense the secret will come out.

This is such a great writing/directing combo

Cut to Sam and Dean actually telling the truth

Sam leaves out the detail about Dean being the cuter brother

Pfft

Okay I nearly spat tea at Dean being like "make you feel better. It was his idea"

This whole lying thing really isn't working out for Sam. And Dean's reaction to it is killing me.

"Did you really want something like, a hello kitty backpack. or the death of an enemy"

Dean and kids... he gets them

- mittensmorgul tort reform

elizabethrobertajones what like the cake

mittensmorgul basically to eliminate the sort of "law suits" like that ridiculous baby nonsense torts are civil legal cases

elizabethrobertajones Aah so if he'd actually listened he could have got rid of all the silly petitions :P

mittensmorgul like suing people over EVERYTHING. Usually considered frivilous, petty, or vindictive nonsense yeah :P and it was item #42 on his list (which also made me think of Door #42 in Heaven, aka the "escape hatch"

elizabethrobertajones that seems like a fairly apt summary of the problems :P if they just listened and paid attention they would eliminate so many stupid problems by actually dealing with things like the bigger picture things like reforming the way things work

[here follows about 10 minutes of sending pictures of cake back and forth while we debate what a torte is in our respective countries]

Why is Crowley still clutching the key for Lucifer's Facilities room?

NOT MOOSE

PEACHES

God dammit has Berens been chatting to Perez about Drowley

GWEN. She's like the ultimate outside eyes on their life, suddenly getting the whole truth when Crowley bitches them out for the Gavin thing on speaker phone

It's brilliant

how has this NEVER happened before

12 seasons and there's still new nonsense to explore

"have the kennel guards killed" YoU'RE STILL ON SPEAKER PHONE GWEN CAN HEAR THIS

Dean doing the "blah blah" gesture while they're all listening in on this NONSENSE like it's no big deal, overhearing a meeting between the King of Hell and his advisers

(Also this is a great way to tie the seemingly unconnected minions to the main story aside from having them deliver news since they didn't come specifically to tell Crowley about what's up with the MotW it's all completely incidental and if Sam and Dean hadn't already been on the case, well...)

(ALSO I love how in one episode the whole dynamic of Crowley and Hell somehow feels so much more like a proper court? And he's got proper assets and people and... I don't know, I love this depiction of his life)

Crowley dropping in on the random MotW conversation

Aaah it's all shaken up

eeep clear shot of the moose skull in Cas's truck. DO NOT WANT

Aw Cas has a friend. Kelvin! Do things EVER go well when he and random angels work together? NO. But I like Kelvin because he seems to like Cas for now, and they're working on the same thing... HOW CAN THIS GO WRONG?

Aside from the fact he mostly appears to be here to be a redshirt for Cas unless he has Vital Info or something because Heaven has much better resources to track her than Cas who is doing it the hunter way.

Mom Hellhound... What a shocking twist :P I mean, I wasn't expecting this backstory because I didn't think there'd be one, but the fact this is the Mother of All Hellhounds and she was preggers when she escaped and Lucifer took her in like... wooow.

*snorts at how cool Gwen is at Lucifer being locked up* Like, cool, well, at least he's not our problem. I mean I have the king of hell in my living room but he seems reasonable, and they're all reassuring me that Lucifer is safely locked up so I'll just... Yeah. Good.

Also Dean again repeating the lie that's been told to him and backing up the story etc, happily going along with the truth as he knows it while we - and someone in the room - knows it's a lie

God really sucks at making things though. Like, he put so much violence into the world? Eve and Leviathans were his creations too and they were... not exactly perfect. Pfft.

Crowley is excited to work the case... Oh dear, now he's learning to be a hunter

"Just when I thought this gig couldn't get any weirder" "Oh it can always get weirder"

Thanks Dabb

Aww the demon minions are so competent at being sneaky good for them. I have no idea who I root for here. I don't LIKE Lucier or want him free, but Crowley's minions being hilarious is like... my favourite thing. Whatever they're doing. I just love it. So... little bit conflicted about what I want here

Although making demands of Lucifer is a bad idea.

When Dean says sticking with Sam to keep her safe, he MEANS it I mean Sam once fucking GUTTED a hellhound SINGLE HANDED like dang he's the best bodyguard you could ask for right now

"Take care of her" "of course" or does he trust-

wait

no he's just being precious about the car. A beautiful, beautiful woman.

I guess we know why Sam doesn't get to drive so often; Dean just is THAT precious about her

Sam is not here for Dean fantasising about the car

Crowley like "you."

"... why of everyone ever did I have to fall in love with YOU" probably

Uhoh Cas and an El Sol sign... He and Kelvin seem to be drinking water. The director appears to be like "how many angles of Misha's face are necessary? Better try one more just in case" *rotates camera to bask in him some more*

Heaven is stable in a way where there's nothing drastic to report. All the huge dramas since it was last a big plot thing itself have meant the angels have been trying to deal with everything and so busy headless chickening about all that they haven't really been in-fighting. The death of all the alpha personalities helps too I guess.

"This is an all hands on deck situation Castiel. Including yours" "Okay so you're here for my hands" Yeah that was snark. A grade snark. In a Cas way.

"you got more field experience than the next thousand angels combined" I don't know if I should be more sad for Cas or Heaven

El Sol over Cas as Kelvin asks him if he would go back to Heaven - all his sins wiped clean... And challenging him over what he feels is home. Earth is quirky and smells like hay (pfft Cas's truck) but does it FEEL like home to Cas? he already FINALLY feels welcome in his family with the Winchesters and has expressed openly that he loves them and they proved that he was family to them, so emotionally he's really tied down already. But what feels like HOME to Cas?

And yeah this is happening in Idaho. 9x06. The FIRST time Cas gets asks what he is, what he wants to be... Oh gosh. Finally. FINALLY. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH

*quietly takes off my Dean!girl hat and puts on the Cas!girl one*

Now this mission has a different hook for him. The angels know he's already working it but Kelvin offers him a different sales pitch because they know that Dagon is going around killing angels just as Cas does, or at least SOMETHING massively more powerful than the average angel is - his help is suddenly very necessary because they are SCARED and Cas is COMPETENT. So they can give him the resources he needs - much like the BMoL are offering to Sam and Dean. Do the dirty work for them and be rewarded with a platinum membership card

Holy fuck Joshua

Dabb...

...

I don't have the brainpower to hold together the threads of the show directly connected to Dabb

elizabethrobertajones "The Gardener's got a plan" this does make me think of Metatron though I like Joshua but... it's sort of ominous these small time angels with a big time connection to God and God is not so great himself

mittensmorgul yep

elizabethrobertajones in the 9x23 thing [rewatch; not currently posted because this is literally how far I am] I got distracted writing about Metatron answering to "God" because he's modelling himself AFTER god and later talks about how God was not such a great Creator and how Metatron saw behind the curtains like.. Metatron's plan is sneaky and awful and cruel but he was behaving like God??

mittensmorgul yeah, but Joshua was the gardner God talked to. Joshua just listened, and tended the garden Chuck thinks of as his "greatest creation

elizabethrobertajones who has some sort of cruelty in his own creation making hellhounds and leviathan

mittensmorgul yep

elizabethrobertajones Joshua seems nice and all but God related to him as a gardener just as he related to Metatron as a writer

mittensmorgul after he locked up the darkness, he was trying to create that balance on his own, but he really lacked the finesse to do it properly

elizabethrobertajones which is ominous :P

mittensmorgul yeah

elizabethrobertajones Hm and the writing is controlling the narrative on a BIG scale

mittensmorgul yep

elizabethrobertajones gardening, if you were controlling the world, would be clipping it into shape like just tidying it up taking out some weeds like say eliminating all monsters

mittensmorgul but if we're about balance and finding better ways, and Chuck's still talking to Joshua... now that he's reunited with Amara maybe things CAN be better now?

elizabethrobertajones maybe?

mittensmorgul hopefully?

elizabethrobertajones I haven't watched to the end of this scene don't know if Joshua is still talking to God :P

mittensmorgul BUT CHUCK SAID THAT DEAN WAS THE ONE CARRYING THE STORY NOW

elizabethrobertajones yeah

mittensmorgul he put the earth in DEAN'S hands

elizabethrobertajones Dean gets to decide what happens and he doesn't approve >.>

mittensmorgul Dean's the gardener now

elizabethrobertajones :D And he tends to the garden in the traditional ways which WORK and keep a good sort of peace

mittensmorgul I think he likes the weeds

elizabethrobertajones eyah he relates to the weeds knows some dandelions can be pretty

mittensmorgul he thinks he's one of the weeds

elizabethrobertajones no need to rip them ALL up yeah >.> poor Dean

mittensmorgul heck, most of the "weeds" are food for the bees balance

elizabethrobertajones CAS SAW IT ALL back in 7x21 the whole plan it was perfect

Anyway Cas has some shit to think about while Dean gets his act together to just ask him to marry him and put an end to all this uncertainty

Awww this guy wants to be the king of the crossroads I'm rooting for him

ew the other demon wants to make hell great again. Kill the white guy. Leave the new king of the crossroads alive

Nooooo

I am disappointed.

Also annoyed Lucifer is free again

But blah I liked that guy :< This show sucks. Stop killing the great one off PoC

Thinking of which, I hope Gwen survives because she's brilliant and also incidentally hispanic which shouldn't be a thing at all except now I'm terrified she's going to be added to the show's stats because I just don't TRUST them

Dean in glasses! Crowley flirting with him... Dean being flattered (smiling to himself ew) but telling Crowley to shut up for appearances sake

Crowley saving Cas being the thing that finally makes Dean say thank you and feel like Crowley has gone a bit soft. (Also stop being genre savvy about saving the girl of the week, Dean :P)

Glasses give him +5 nerd points

"Maybe I've rubbed off all over you" *Dean comically shudders*

They're getting along. It's horrifying.

Berens definitely pulled Perez aside and gave him a talking to with diagrams and flowcharts about how this all happened

This is such a good scene I watched it like 3 times but the third time I went back too far and saw Lucifer kill the poor demon guy I liked again so my mood is yo-yoing around

I seriously appreciate the subtext for the whole bi!Dean project and the fact that they're exes who've now moved to this weird comfortable happy place where this all happens? The way Dean reacts? God, why did it have to be Crowley but now we're here, I am so appreciative for the sake of the bizarre way this show is running on and on and on past several points it could have ended and made Drowley less of a strange point of CONSISTENT data. But here we are. Dean is cheerfully wandering around with Crowley, deflecting flirting, smiling to himself, being nice about the whole saving Cas thing because of course this is a bizarre point in the love triangle too - I mean... So weird. God, this never should have got this far. So Crowley can make a joke about rubbing off all over Dean, and Dean just playfully shudders about it, and and... what the heck is this even any more? The show has been playing along with it for so long... I don't even know if they're DOING anything with it, except for their vague horror that they have to preserve this dynamic and are being faithful to the characters to move them through all this as realistically as they can.

Anyway in more current developments thoughts, Dean again being honest and emotionally genuine and friendly. Crowley might be lying about Lucifer but Dean, who is caught in the middle of everything but in a really good place of his own, responds really well to everything. Him being happy and sweet and OPEN is all the more crushing because you know terrible stuff may be about to happen with reveals of more deceit or manipulation, but Dean's being put in this "can do no wrong" place while he's unaware of everything, so reaching back out to Mary, not falling for Ketch's shit last week, thanking Crowley this week... Always being caught in the place of dramatic irony with lies Crowley and Sam are telling... yeah.

Sam in glaaaasses

can he even legally drive with the distortion of wearing glasses that aren't his prescription?

Gwen, don't puke in the car

Dean is so distractingly attractive

yeah that's it that's the entire scene

Gwen manages not to puke in the car, because Sam pulled over in time. I SWEAR it is the same place Dean pulled over to puke in in 11x10

She takes on all the guilt and responsibility for her boyfriend's death just for having invited him out to the woods, as their goodbye thing, when she never loved him as much as he loved her; she was going through the motions before breaking up with him and moving away.

"Why couldn't I just tell him the truth"

Liiiies

"I lied to make things easier!"

Ooh Mittens pointed out Gwen is a vet too - Sam and vets is a thing because AMELIA. (And a dog just hit them lol)

Poor Baby. And Dean was just worried Sam would fuck up her brakes! Dean's concerns again being based on small scale what he knows and not the big horrible truth, which is that Ramsey is gonna jump all over his car

Although not strictly Sam’s fault here

The car is almost sort of Hellhound proof? She's not breaking through the windows?

"We should leave!"

Can you drive faster than a hellhound? I'd LOVE to watch Sam try. But he decides to fight instead of driving off to try and prioritise getting Gwen away from danger

I love that the view through Sam's glasses showing us Ramsey is all fucked up and distorted because they're the wrong prescription glasses... BUT it gives us a similar "eye" back to her like the distorted view when the camera pretends to be her.... She and Sam staring each other down :D

Oh fuck if Sam kills her could he start doing the trials again? Like, working with the BMoL, casually bring it up at staff meeting and suggest that he's ready to go for round two?

Bad idea Sammy

COOLER TO THE HEAD. ILY GWEN

Yeah I was getting Baby (the episode) vibes from Dean's love of the car and the fact that was the last time she got smashed up but now the green cooler is back in play I'm yelling :P She protects her boys and everyone who rides in her.

I LOVE THIS SO MUCH LOOK AT THIS *gestures the entire scene wildly*

Aw crap no the blood splattered Sammy in the right place and everything

Sam no

Don't even THINK about it

*Sam huffs his shoulders*

He did also get the blood all over him unlike how Dean was the one splattered at the beginning of the episode, so I guess all that stuff that wigged me out has a flipside - that Sam still is a great hunter who will get his hands dirty and take the burden onto himself. It was unsettling, yeah, but Sam's still Sam? Maybe? I'm not sure what this is saying tbh because it was SO clear in the opening but I don't know enough has changed right now, and ALSO in the next scene Sam is clean again like he washed off and changed before he even reconnected with Dean which just makes me think he felt guilty standing around splattered in hellhound blood because they remember what THAT led to last time... Sparing Dean's feelings or hiding what he's up to?

"And this is why you don't drive!"

AHAAHAHAHHA someone hugged Crowley

Best moment.

He's been thanked by everyone now, and got to see the gratitude of the random girl of the week... If Lucifer weren't waiting for him back home he'd almost have had a good day, if he could nurture something like that in his twisted black heart :P

"He seems nice"

"Yeah" *Sam and Dean pull faces*

Crowley like "welp that happened" when he walks in to see Lucifer gone

Lucifer wings!

Oh :P Crowley's got him on a leash or something. Nice. Lucifer underestimates how many steps ahead Crowley is even after he TOLD him it was 10, he remembered 2...

Wow he's powerful over Lucifer

Now the part where Lucifer doesn't have any chains but he's still trapped

Hah okay that was masterful

Perez owns Buckleming. He's 10 steps ahead when they think they're 2 :'D

How do you EXPLOIT their bad writing like that for your own diabolical ends? That's just

wow

that exposition and set up for Lucifer and Crowley in 12x13 was some of the shittiest writing the show has ever produced about a major plot event and that's saying something. I felt my soul leave my body. And I was so upset Perez had that big spooky reveal at the end of 12x12 and Buckleming got handed the "here's how to explain it" brief and I don't care if they knew what was coming later, they wrote 12x13 as the shittiest episode ever, with no effort on their part. I was like, wow, this is stupid, and it FIT their style. It was part of their THING to make Crowley look like an idiot and make us question wtf he was doing and they presented it all so terribly, so boringly, so... unimaginatively...

we actually bought that was what had happened

so the actual reveal that Crowley is 100% in charge and always has been

actually

came

fucking

plot twist

I'm sending Davy a fruit basket

Yay Dean talking to Cas on speakerphone

Oh no is Cas at the playground?

Oh dear, he's actually going back to Heaven... That can't end well

Dean: "Does he sound weird to you" YEAH OKAY it definitely IS dodgy. We listen when Dean doesn't think Cas sounds all right, because DEAN KNOWS. HE ALWAYS KNOWS. DEAN IS THE MOST ACCURATE COMPASS FOR TELLING HOW CAS IS AND HE ALWAYS KNOWWWS

How can Davy ruin me with Destiel in an episode where they talk twice briefly on the phone and there is barely anything about them in the structure?

Pfft

Dean also has a better instinct for Cas working with Heaven the BMoL parallel/they a parallel for Heaven, than he does for Sam doing it apparently.

ANYWAY ET GOES HOME. We powered through season 8 just there I guess :P But it's not the end of season drama it's happening in episode 15.

The whole thing that this is the Question for Cas. The BIG question. The ENDGAME question... Of course we have to make him jump through a ton of loops and explore what he really wants, but if this is powering him towards an actual DECISION?

But he was doing well as hunter!Cas without their resources and he loves his human family and they love him, and unlike 8x23, since everything is being inverted, he is more emotionally aware now not to run off and leave in the same way he was planning to in 8x23

Anyway this did not go how I was expecting! I was expecting Sam to not tell Dean right away but instead we end another episode with Dean getting the SAME news in the same spot (hi table) and... taking it in about the same way over 1 conversation he did in 2 episodes. He already had to deal with Mary, and at this point it just seems like his family are going after the BMoL like lemmings.

Boy is he betrayed though.

Sam's compartmentalising things again. Because of HIM the alpha is dead. They were as helpless as the "girl of the week" if Sam hadn't been there. Sam saved all their butts from the alpha vamp while making it sound like THEY did it.

I suppose Mick made him the bullet

to his recipe

that he then magnificently got from Mick

and you know

actually shot the alpha vamp with

Also ARGH "How much you hate them" "No, WE hate them, us, together" - just, Sam. Sweetie. They tortured you. Even YOU felt upset to hear Mary was working with them and needed 3 days to box it all up enough to talk to her.

Sam seems to be acting like Dean's just being over-protective now to hate them irrationally because they hurt Sam, while Dean can't even believe he has to make this into an issue which should be one of those unbreakable brother things they they do as a team. He's not even the literally injured party here, not in the same way.

Dean looks gorgeous while he's thinking it over. Flippin' heck. Stop.

Anyway he gives Sam the same basic talk he gave Mary, essentially, about not liking it. Admits Sam is right about working with people they don't like, and that clearly he's wrong. He TRUSTS Sam and wants to trust Mary. And she has given Ketch the burn it all down speech, where Dean now says they get out as soon as it stinks.

I don't like that Dean thinks working with Crowley is comparable. Crowley is someone Dean has learned to trust in his own very specific way after being burned MANY times by him but also having a sort of attachment they've grown through all the years of being nemeses. They're used to each other and can generally rely on each other for exactly the things they rely on. Saying, well we just worked with Crowley, let's give these guys a shot because we don't like either of them, does not BEGIN to cover the range of issues with the BMoL... Even the ones they KNOW about

"The second something seems off, we bail" Okay I haven't seen a promo for 12x16 but I know the synopsis so I don't think it'll last long :P

Dean's FACE in that last moment though

Ow.

#12x15 #season 12 spoilers #my stuff

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mattmurdocksgirl · 7 years

Text

As Time Goes By

Summary: Steve Rogers and Molly Davidson meet at the opening of a VA Hospital in New Jersey, where he is there to give a speech and pose for photos, and she is there with her 1930's dance troupe to entertain. When they keep running into each other, Steve is interested, but Molly isn't so sure.

Notes: This is just a short story that came about after a conversation with @heaven-bound-angel It's mostly a fluff filled little tale of possible romance. It takes place in the MCU a year after the events of Winter Soldier, and not long before Age of Ultron, because even super soldiers searching for their best friend and fighting HYDRA sometimes need a break.

Steve Rogers looked around the large Atrium of the Ronald Reagan Building in the heart of Washington D.C. and guessed there had to be seating for at least a thousand people, if not more. There were stars and stripes being projected on the ceiling, and American flags, the flags of each branch of the military and the POW/MIA flag, spread around the room. A large blue velvet curtain decorated the stage where he would speak later that evening.

“Could you please stand at the podium, Captain Rogers? We just want to do a quick mic and lighting check, then we’re through for now.” The gentleman in charge motioned toward the clear podium on the left side of the stage, and Steve obliged. “Alright, so the Swing Dance group finishes their performance, and you are introduced. Feel free to just recite some of your speech so that we can test the volume of your microphone.

“Sure. No problem.” Steve cleared his throat. “Thank you. Thank you for inviting me here to our Nation’s Capital on the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, to celebrate and support the brave men and women who put on a uniform and defend our country every day.” He stopped and looked over to the man, who waved his hand in a circle for him to continue, while listening intently to the communication device in his ear. Steve went on. “The good work that both the United Service Organization and the Disabled American Veterans do is important to those in service overseas and here at home, as well as those returning, quite possibly to a new reality due to injuries sustained in the field. Thank you to every single one of you that has donated tonight to each of these fine charities.”

“That’s great, we got it. Thank you,” the man said. “That’s pretty much all we need until tonight. Would you like me to get you transportation back to the hotel?”

“Oh, no thanks. I think I’d like to walk.”

“Okay, but if you need anything, please give me a call. I’ll have a car at the hotel by 5:30 to pick you up.”

Although the Marriott that he was staying at was within easy walking distance, Steve didn’t argue with that. Making the walk as Steve Rogers was one thing, but doing it in full Captain America gear would be a nightmare. He headed toward the exit in the back of the room when the door opened and the dance group began pouring in. He stopped to allow them to pass, and was surprised when he recognized one of their members.

“Captain,” she said with a curt nod of her head toward him.

“Ms. Davidson,” he replied, as she passed. She turned around and gave him a big smile before continuing along toward the front of the room with her partner. Steve meant to head on to the exit, but found himself hanging around the back of the room to watch the dance practice, or more specifically, to watch her.

Steve met Molly Davidson for the first time a little over year ago, just about two months after SHIELD fell. It was a busy time for him, with the on-going search for Bucky and the Avenger’s trying to track down Loki’s scepter, but Steve still made time to attend events to support the military whenever he could. He felt like it was part of the job, even if they did all start to blur together after a while.

That changed when he attended a dedication ceremony and dinner for a new VA hospital that was opening in New Jersey. Part of the entertainment for the evening was a Dance group based in New York that performed dances from the 1930’s and 40’s. The moment he laid eyes on Molly, he was intrigued. She was certainly beautiful, with jet black hair and the greenest eyes that he’d ever seen, but what caught his attention was her smile, which could light up an entire room. She seemed to be so full of life when she danced that it was hard for him to take his eyes off of her. After the performance, he managed to get an introduction, and she had been every bit as sweet as he expected, but she turned him down flat when he suggested they get dinner sometime.

Over the past year, her group was apparently just as much in demand as he was, and they met on a few more occasions at events. She always seemed pleased to see him, and they always talked comfortably, but she would change the subject immediately if he hinted at seeing her outside of these events, and he never seemed to find the time or the nerve to try to contact her.

He’d learned a lot about her when they talked, though. She was 28 years old, and born and raised in Queens, where she owned a dance studio, even though she had a degree in Accounting from Empire State University. Dance had always been her first love, and when the owner decided to sell the studio where she grew up dancing, her parents helped her buy it and still helped with day to day operations. She liked Rocky Road ice cream, Crime/Mystery novels, and joined the Dance group, because she loved Swing dancing, as well as the vintage costumes

The group practiced for close to a half hour, mostly blocking where each couple would dance, before they finally called it quits. Steve suddenly hoped that the fact that he was waiting for her didn’t come off as too stalkerish.

“Of all the ballrooms, in all the towns, in all the world, he walks into mine,” she flashed that lovely smile at him.

“Technically, I think I was here first.”

“You got that reference, though, right? Casablanca?”

“Of course. It came out in the early 40’s, and they brought it over for the troops to see. We were pretty busy fighting Nazi’s, but even we took a break every once in a while. It was one of Bucky’s,” he stopped and took a deep breath. “One of my best friend’s favorites. He used to quote it all the time.”

“I figured that you probably had. Anyway, I heard you were speaking tonight while we were checking in to the Marriott, and was hoping I’d get to see you. The staff is very excited to have you there.”

“It’s a nice hotel. Were you headed back there now? I was actually about to go grab some lunch and maybe take a walk over to the World War II Memorial. I’d love some company. That is, if your free?”

She considered him for a long moment, and he was certain that she was about to turn him down again, but she managed to surprise him. “Sure, why not? I have a few hours before I have to start getting ready and it’s pretty nice for September in D.C.”

“Really? Great. There’s a food court here in the building. Maybe we could get something and eat it by the Washington Monument.”

They made their way to the crowded food court and decided on Wraps to go. She tried to argue when he insisted on paying, but gave in when he wouldn’t budge. They made their way the few blocks it took to get to the monument.

It was an unusually cool day for Washington in September, which brought the crowds out. Steve pulled his hat down further over his face hoping that no one would recognize him, and he could spend time with Molly in peace. He was pretty sure that was one of the reasons that she wasn’t too keen to accept his offer of a date. At every event, they were usually interrupted by other guests who wanted their picture taken with Captain America, and she would usually wander off when it happened.

They found an unoccupied section of the small wall that lined the path, and sat down to eat their lunch. “So how do you like D.C.?” She asked him, as he handed her wrap to her.

“Oh, I used to live here. I moved back to New York in April last year.”

“I didn’t know that. What made you move?”

“Well, I kind of crashed three Helicarriers down in the middle of the Potomac River and destroyed the company I worked for, so, yeah,” he chuckled.

“Geez. Of course! Sorry about that. I wasn’t thinking.”

“No need to be sorry. SHIELD got what it deserved, and I prefer New York anyway. It’s been a good trip back though.”

“Well, at least no one is trying to kill you this time,” she teased him. “Yet.”

“I’d like to keep it that way, thank you. So what about you? How do you like D.C.?”

“Eh. I’m a Queens girl through and through. It’s almost too quiet here, and everything is so white.”

“That’s true, I guess. There are a lot of white buildings.”

“Memorials too,” she waved her hand up at the massive pointy white monument looming over them. “Well, except for the Vietnam Memorial. It’s the only black memorial in all of D.C. My dad likes to point that out every time he comes down here. He says it’s fitting.”

“Is your dad a vet?”

“Yep. Two tours in Vietnam right at the end of the war.”

“I think I’m thankful that I was frozen for that one.”

Molly shrugged, “Yeah, you probably should be.”

“By the way, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you dressed for your own time period. We always seem to meet when you’re dressed up in mine.” It was true. The dance group dressed the part for their performances, looking like they all just walked out of the 1930s or 40s just like him, but for practice today, she had on leggings and an Empire State University t-shirt.

“This is your time period too, Steve. At least it is now.”

“I suppose, but you look very pretty dressed for either time period. You’d have been pretty popular back when I was a kid.”

She tried to play off the blush that was creeping across her cheeks by rolling her eyes and looking away. “From what I’ve seen over there at the National History Museum, you look pretty good in both as well.”

“You’ve actually seen that display?”

“Of course. My dad is a history buff and dragged us down here as soon as it opened.

“I was a skinny, sickly little punk kid from Brooklyn.”

“Yeah, the Brooklyn thing is pretty terrible, but I guess not everyone can be from Queens,” she teased him.

“Uh huh. Brooklyn beats Queens any day.”

“You wish,” she laughed. “Still, Brooklyn or not, my dad would probably lose his mind if he ever met you. My mom too.”

“Hmmm. I’d be happy to meet your parents, Molly. It was customary to meet the parents before you went on a date back in my time. Not that I was actually going on any dates back then. Of course, that means you’d have to agree to go on one with me.” He couldn’t resist bringing the subject up again.

“I didn’t say you should meet them, just that they’d probably fawn all over you if you ever did.”

“Am I ever going to be able to convince you to go out with me?”

“We’ll always have Paris,” she mused. “Or, well, Washington D.C.” She crumbled up the paper her wrap had been in, and shoved it back in the bag. “Let’s head over to the World War II Memorial. We should probably be heading back to the hotel soon.”

Once again, she’d managed to change the subject. This time Steve wasn’t quite ready to let it go, but he did for the time being. If she was shy of the attention he got, showing her that people often left him alone when he wasn’t dressed as Captain America seemed like the best course of action.

“So are you all staying around for the dancing tonight, or leaving when you’re done?” At other events, if there was going to be dancing, the group often stayed to dance and get people out on the floor. That always gave him more time to talk with her between dances.

“We’re staying. I don’t guess I’ll have your name in my dance card though, will I?”

“I’m not really much of a dancer,” he shrugged. It was true. He’d never asked her to dance, even though he thought she might have hinted at it a few times.

“Just like I’m not really one for hanging around when you are schmoozing, I guess.”

He started to argue the fact that schmoozing was part of his job at these events, but he knew she’d argue back that dancing was hers. Instead, he changed the subject to the construction of the memorial, and let the matter drop.

They toured the memorial without a single person recognizing him, and they were almost back to the hotel when Steve broached the subject again. “So, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’ve managed to be out in public for a couple of hours and no one even gave me a second glance.”

“Oh, I saw more than a few ladies giving you a second glance, but I don’t think it was because you’re Captain America. I suspect it has more to do with how hot you are.” She cupped her hand over her mouth immediately and he could see a deep red creeping across her cheeks. Steve was more pleased than he’d probably ever admit about that little slip of the tongue.

“At least they left us alone, right? Maybe we could give dinner a try when we’re back in New York?”

“I have to say that I’m pleasantly surprised. I guess I’m used to always seeing you in the suit, when everyone wants to meet you. I really do enjoy spending time with you, Steve, but you’re a lot to deal with, and I don’t just mean the whole beefcake thing you’ve got going on. I mean, you’re Captain America. You fight bad guys and aliens.”

“If we stop fighting our enemies, the world will die.” He replied with a grin.

Molly didn’t miss the Casablanca reference. “Well, what of it? It'll be out of its misery,” she said, replying with the next line. “That was a good one.”

“Glad you liked it.” They had reached the hotel, and he held the door open for her. “So is that a yes?”

She gave him that beautiful smile that he loved. “Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if we……”

“Oh my word! It’s Captain America!” An older woman squealed as they entered the busy lobby of the hotel. “I can’t believe it! John, come quick and bring the camera! You don’t mind posing for just one picture, do you? The folks back home will never believe me if I don’t have proof!”

Before he could even answer, the woman was standing next to him and a flash was going off. More people in the lobby realized what was going on and were descending on him quickly. Soon he was surrounded by people wanting pictures or autographs.

He glanced around for Molly, and found her being crowded to the back of the group as more people began gathering around him. When he finally made eye contact with her, she shrugged in the direction of the crowd, waved goodbye, and turned toward the elevator.

Steve thought about trying to find her once he got away from the crowd, but he hadn’t thought to find her room number, and realized how odd it might look to go to the front desk and ask them for it. Instead, he went back to his room, flipped through the TV for a little while, and finally got ready for the fundraiser.

He found her later, toward the end of the night, just coming off the dance floor with a much older gentleman. Steve guessed he was somewhere in his late 80’s or early 90’s, but he still moved pretty well when he was dancing with her to the slow song that had been playing.

“Captain,” she grinned when she saw him approaching. “Excellent speech. I was inspired.”

“Thank you. Your performance was flawless, as usual,” he returned the compliment.

“Sorry, I’m being rude. This is Mr. Richardson.” Molly indicated the man next to her. “U.S. Marine. He enlisted on his 18th birthday in 1944. He was just telling me about his experiences at the Battle of Okinawa.”

“It’s an honor to meet you, Captain.” The older man held out his hand and Steve shook it.

“No, the honor is mine. I never made it over to the Pacific theater and I was in the ice by Okinawa, but from what I’ve read that was one heck of a battle.”

“It was. I was barely 19, hadn’t been in many battles, and it turned out to be my last, but it was as bloody as they come. Japan was so desperate that they were sending 12-14-year-olds out to fight us.”

“Oh that’s awful,” Molly responded.

“It wasn’t fun, that’s for sure. Anyway, thank you so much for the dance, Miss. It’s been quite a while since I’ve waltzed with anyone. Not since my Jane passed away ten years ago.”

“Well, I was honored to be your partner.” She gave a small curtsy to him.

“Thank you, but I’m sure dancing with someone a bit younger would be more fun.” He indicated Steve.

“Oh, I don’t actually dance,” he replied quickly. “Never really learned.”

Mr. Richardson looked surprised. “Well, I think it’s time you learned, Captain. Thanks again for the dance.” He turned and walked away, leaving them alone on the side of the dance floor.

“Is that true? About not knowing how to dance? Is that the reason you’ve never asked?”

Steve shrugged. “You’ve seen what I looked like before the serum. Not a lot of gals were looking to dance with me. Then, I was a little busy with the Nazi’s.”

“What about all those girls on the USO tours? I’m sure they were very anxious to dance with you.”

Steve felt a blush creeping across his cheeks. “Dancing wasn’t usually what they wanted to do with me.”

“I’ll bet,” she chuckled.

“So why did you leave earlier, in the hotel?”

“You mean when you were being mobbed? Honestly, I didn’t know what else to do.”

“It really doesn’t happen that often, you know. You see me in this suit and people tend to notice me, obviously, but I do usually get left alone back in New York, like you know, for dinner?”

“You don’t give up, do you?” She knew the smile on her face betrayed any actual annoyance at his persistence.

“Did you know that I visited 10 different recruitment centers before I ended up in the Army? I was willing to keep going, too.”

“I’m not the least bit surprised,” she grinned at him. “Did you know that dancing is one of my favorite things to do on dates? Night clubs, Supper clubs, the living room of my apartment. I’m not picky. I don’t even care of my date is particularly good at it, as long as their willing to try. I also happen to be a pretty good teacher.”

“Interesting,” he looked out at the dance floor, but seemed to think better of it. “I was going to head out. Would you like a ride back to the hotel?”

“Sure,” she shrugged, barely able to hide her disappointment. They gathered their things, said their goodbyes and got stopped five times for pictures on the way to the door. Each time, he expected her to leave, but instead she patiently stood off to the side and waited.

When the car dropped them off at the hotel, he walked her to her room. “Thank you for waiting for me as we were leaving.”

“Well,” she grinned. “You were kind of my ride.”

“I appreciate you not wandering off, so I didn’t have to wonder if you got back safely.”

“This is my room, so now you know.” She looked between him and the door to her hotel room. “So I took a step toward something that makes me uncomfortable, maybe next time we run into each other, you should do the same.”

“Maybe you’re right,” he nodded.

“I should probably be going. It’s getting late and I don’t want to be those obnoxious people talking in the hallway and keeping everyone awake.”

“I'd bet they're asleep in New York. I'd bet they're asleep all over America.”

She covered her mouth with her hand to mute her laughter. “You couldn’t resist one more Casablanca reference, could you?”

“Here’s looking at you, kid,” he replied with a wink. He opened the door for her and waited until he heard the clicking of the deadbolt before heading back to his own room.

Molly’s last class of the night was done, so she grabbed her schedule book and sat down on the floor in the empty dance studio to go over tomorrow’s schedule. As she reviewed it, there was a sound from the hallway. Turning toward the door, she found her mom standing there with a big grin on her face.

“Hey mom, you leaving for the night?”

“Well, I was, but it appears you have a visitor.”

She wasn’t expecting anybody, but she stood up and smoothed out the black wrap around skirt that she was wearing over her dance outfit. “Who is it?”

Steve Rogers appeared behind her mom and Molly’s eyes went as wide as saucers. “Hi there,” he said as her mother moved aside to let him enter the room. ‘I’m here to inquire about dance lessons? I didn’t really have much time to learn how to dance in the 30’s and 40’s, but I’ve always wanted to, and I heard this was a great place for it.”

She could barely contain her laughter, and certainly couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her face. She took a deep breath and managed to give him her very best ‘all-business’ look. “I’m sorry, we’re actually closed right now. If you’d like to stop by tomorrow or call the studio, I can see who might be available for lessons.”

“Molly Louise Davidson, do you know who this is?” Her mother had her hands on her hips and was looking absolutely scandalized.

“I do, Mom. His name is Steve, and he is a very persistent man,” she replied, not looking away from him.

“Something I’ve been accused of my entire life.” He wasn’t taking his eyes off of her either, and that alone made her giggle somewhat nervously.

“You know,” Molly’s mother seemed to realize that there was far more going on than she understood. “I’m going to head out for the night. Your father will be waiting for me. It was very nice to meet you, Captain Rogers.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he responded, turning to tip his head toward her politely. “It was a pleasure to meet you as well.”

“I’ll just lock up after myself.” Before she left, her mother gave her a thumbs up behind Steve’s back, and that just sent Molly into another peal of nervous laughter.

“Dance lessons, huh?” She managed to say when she got control of herself.

“Well, recently someone suggested that it was time for me to get off my butt and learn to dance, so here I am. I think it’s important to have a really good teacher, and I hear you’re the best.”

“Oh I wouldn’t go that far. I’m close though,” she winked at him, before tinkering with the sound system and putting in a new CD. “Private dance lessons are about 45 minutes to an hour long, and very expensive. Lucky for you, we are offering free lessons to soldiers who were frozen for at least 70 years.” She held her hand out to him, and walked him to the middle of the floor when he took it.

“Does that include dinner afterward by any chance?”

She looked him over slowly. “Do you like Italian? There is a great Italian hole in the wall three shops down.”

“To be clear, that would be a date, right?”

“Yes. I guess so. I mean, you did meet my mother. Besides, I think my mom might actually try to ground me if I didn’t offer to make sure you got fed,” she giggled. “First a lesson, though.” She grabbed his free hand and placed it on her hip, getting them in position.

“Was that cannon fire, or is it my heart pounding?” he teased her.

“Are we back to the Casablanca quotes? Well, I guess we’ll start with the Slow Fox Trot then. Play it again, Sam!” Pushing a button on the remote, the first strains of As Time Goes By began to play.

“You know, Rick never actually says that. He tells Sam to ‘Play it.’ Ilsa says, ‘Play it once, Sam,’ but that is about as close as anyone gets to it.”

“I did know that. It’s one of the most misquoted movie lines in history, I think. I kind of like it, though.”

“Maybe we could watch Casablanca together on our second date, and just so you know, my living room might be big enough for dancing.”

“Second date, huh? That could be fun, but let’s start with this dance first, what do you think?”

“Molly, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship,” he replied, as he pulled her just a little bit closer.

#steve rogers/ofc #steve rogers #captain america #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers fanfic #steve rogers fan fiction #marvel #marvel fanfic #marvel fan fiction #love casablanca #I can see Bucky and Steve watching it with the other howling commandos

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abitscripturient · 4 years

Text

Phoenix: The Simple Life

Phoenix is age 12

The bright spring sunlight softly drifts into my windows through sheer white curtains. It softly comes over my face and wakes me up. I ease up on my bed and stretched out my slender arms into the air. This was something I did every morning and like always, it gave me a sudden rush of energy. I sighed softly and moved my covers off of my legs.

“Hey, Phoenix! Are you awake? If you aren’t, then you need to because you have chores!” I heard my mother calling up to me from downstairs.

“Yeah, Mom! I’ll be down in a little bit!” I call back, standing up.

Afterward, I grab my clothing; a white t-shirt and tan overalls. As I put them on, I can hear the multiple whinnies coming from outside my window from our horses. My family lives on a ranch where we bred horses. My mother and my father named it Redbird Ranch after me a little after I was born.

For as long as I can remember, our life revolved around these wonderful animals. My mom has a thing for horses and my dad has been a rancher with my grandfather since he was twelve like me, probably even younger. We live in Prescott, Arizona, away from downtown on a vast acreage of land. It’s quite warm already at 7:30 in the morning and I can feel the bangs of my auburn hair sticking to my forehead. I wipe them to one side and after putting my hiking boots on, run downstairs to the kitchen to get some breakfast before I head off for school. As I walk down the hallway, I hear my parents softly talking to each other inside the kitchen.

“Ty, it’s going to be real soon. I know that Legacy is either going to have the baby today or tomorrow. The sooner she has it, the sooner she can go to show, right?”

There was silence and then I hear my dad answer. His voice was smooth, deep…caressing my heart with love.

“Well, all I can say right now is that we see how things go with her and the foal first, Carrie. Okay? Baby steps.”

“All right…” I can hear the moodiness inside Mom’s voice and wince. She’s a professional at show jumping and I knew that she is just itching to get back to the shows. Legacy’s pregnancy was a pleasant yet unwanted delay.

I turn the corner smoothly and walked into our warm kitchen. “Good Morning, Mom. Morning, Dad.” My mom smiles, warming me all over. She sits in one of the kitchen chairs, drinking coffee. Her dark brown curly hair was pinned up in a bun and her light brown eyes regard me with emotion. She looks like cozy perfection; her bronze skin pairing just right with a white cotton blouse.

“Morning, Sweetheart.” She says back.

I smile then laugh with joy as my dad swings me around in his arms while exclaiming, “Firebird! Good Morning! Did you sleep well?”

Once my feet are planted on the ground again I hug my dad around his waist. “Yep, did you?”

He nods. “All right, I guess. Work in the barn is starting to make my shoulders ache some. I’m about to go to the barn. Do you want to help me with the horses before you leave?”

“Sure,” I answer, grabbing a small light green pear out of the fruit basket on the table and taking a bite. Once I start doing chores then I won’t have time to eat breakfast. Sometimes my mom makes both me and my dad sit to eat a big breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and bacon but this wasn’t one of those days. She must have errands to do today.

“Well hurry up and eat then. We have to feed the horses and muck the stalls.”

My nose wrinkled up in disgust at that statement but I relent with a nod. “Okie-Dokie, Dad.” Dad turns, walking off towards the barn. I watch him walk out the front door and then look over at my mother before I frown, noticing her wringing her hands. My mother is usually a pretty calm and determined woman so seeing her like this is pretty out of the ordinary.

“Mom, what’s up?” I ask with worry.

Mom looks up at me as if she’s surprised I’m still here then shakes her head. “Oh, it’s nothing, Phoe. You know Legacy’s going to give birth soon. I’m just anxious that’s all.” I let her know that I understand with a short nod, before thinking to myself.

Star of Legacy is my mother’s most prized horse; a bay Appaloosa mare who has been with us for about four years now. Legacy is a horse of good nature and quite a jumper who my mother and I love very much. She’s the pride and joy of Redbird. To change things up in the ranch a bit, she had been recently bred with an elegant black Thoroughbred stallion, Gladiator. We’re looking forward to what the foal will turn out to look like; Mom wants it to have the speed of a champion racing horse like its father or she wants it to be a jumper like its mother. My parents know that this matchup could probably make health complications for Legacy which is probably why Mom was worrying. This was a risky decision she had made to breed her horse.

I put a gentle hand on my mother’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Mom. Legacy will be all right, the foal will be all right, everything will be all right. Okay?” I reassured her.

My mother stares in my eyes with her own amber orbs for a moment before smiling bright and saying, “You’re right. Now isn’t the time to be worrying. I need to busy myself. You know…what would I do without you, my little fire spark?”

I giggle and reply, “Hmm, I wonder… Going outside to do chores.” I put the half-eaten pear in the trash and walk out the front door, hearing my mother saying to me, “Okay, Firebird. If you don’t see me before you go to school, I’m out running errands.”

“All right!” I yell back.

Walking towards the barn, I begin thinking about my parents. Despite how common they look in their home, they both have pretty unique backgrounds. My mother, Caroline is half Arab and half African American, giving her a beautiful exotic look and those gorgeous silky locks of hair. She’s known around for town for her generosity and ambitious attitude. I didn’t know much about her background or her family; she said I was better off not knowing.

Tyler, my father is Australian born, complete with accent, but has been living in America since he came down here with his family when he was a young boy. He has dark green eyes and dusty brown hair. Dad‘s a very outgoing person who had everybody’s best interest at heart. If he isn’t cheering up people with his happy go lucky personality, he’s doing what he loves best; raising horses.

Back to myself; I have gotten my light green almost jade eyes from both of my parents but my hair color came from my dad’s mother. My skin is the light caramel brown color of my mother, giving me a striking appearance from all angles. When I look at myself sometimes, I just get proud of my background. I love the way my parents overcame the fact that their race didn’t matter and fell in love with each other.

Love shouldn’t matter with race. At least that’s the way I looked at it.

Our dark brown barn came into view and I noticed my dad waving at me from afar. He cupped his hands to his mouth. “Phoenix, can you grab a halter and fetch Jessica for me cause I didn’t get a chance to feed her yet!” I raise my eyebrows-my father was very loud.

“DAD! You don’t have to yell cause I’m right here!” I scoff with a smirk as Dad lowers his hands. His grin is sheepish.

“Sorry, Fire. It’s a habit-you know that. Anyway, you can leave Legacy in the corral. Your mother will grab her later.”

“All right, Dad.” I say back, grabbing a brown leather halter off the wall.

I walk into the nearest corral, locating the two horses easily. “Come on, Jessie! Time to eat! Let’s go!”

The two mares looked up at me and I watched as Jessica, a chestnut Quarter Horse mare hurries in a brisk trot toward me. Hunger is on the top of her list. Legacy trails behind her slowly from her newly added wait. When they come to me; Legacy on one side and Jessica on the other, I halter Jessica; fastening the straps as if it was second nature. I walk then to Legacy’s right side and put my head on the mare’s large stomach, trying in vain to hear the foal buried deep inside. Legacy turns her head to the side to look at me in observation.

“I can’t wait to see your new baby, Legs. I just know it's going to be fast and so beautiful.”

Legacy nickers and I pet her for a while before I frown. Was that my dad calling me?

“Phoenix, your bus is early today! Hurry up!”

I gasp and get into gear, bringing Jessica back into her stall quick. I only have just enough time to give her her feed before running back to the house. I grab my backpack and kiss my mom and dad goodbye, before rushing out to the school bus that graciously waited for me.

School seems very long on this day, but I survive it like all the others. I hang out with my friends at lunch and tell them about Legacy to which they all wish me luck. The bulk of them had ranches and farms of their own and understood the risk of when Legs would give birth.

When I get back home in the afternoon, I see my dad talking to the vet, Dr. Torwudzo. Dad turned and smiled when he saw me looking at him and the vet in question. “Hiya, Firebird. How was your day?” I answer him telling him it was good, realizing that he’s still smiling. After a quick run around in my mind, it doesn’t take me long to figure out why.

“She had it? Legacy had the foal, didn’t she?”

My dad chuckles at my excitement explaining to me, “Yep, she went into labor an hour after you left for school. It’s a colt. He came earlier this morning. But that’s not all. There’s another surprise for you.”

I bounce up and down in excitement. Really? I can only take one surprise at a time!

“Go. See the colt first. Get to know him.” I ran into the house, drop my backpack in the foyer and immediately run to the barn. When I get inside, I see my mom looking over Legacy’s stall. She glances over at me and replies, “Welcome home, baby. Come over here and see.” I obey, stopping beside my mom and looking into the stall. Legacy stands quietly looking at us, while a black bundle of fur lays asleep at her feet. I stare open-mouthed at this new wonder. I mean, I’m no stranger to foal, but this one…he’s something else.

“He’s wonderful. Good job, Legs!”

As the mare nickers her agreement, my mom puts her head on her hand with a dreamy expression on her face. “He was born this morning. Did your dad tell you?”

“I know. While I was at school! That sucks. I wish I would have seen when the baby came. That would have been awesome.” Mom turned around then hugged me close to her saying, "I wish you could have too." Looking back at him and Legs, my mother and I leaned on the stall gate. I had so much running through my mind about the newest addition to our ranch.

“Did you two name him already?”

“No. Your father and I want to give that honor to you.”

I can’t be happier. “Yes! Really, Mom? You don’t mind?”

“Sure! You’ve been waiting for him for a long time. Who knows? You could probably train him when he gets older.”

“I would love to!”

“Then it’s settled!”

We smile at each other, letting out a few laughs while watching mother and baby for a while. Mom pushes off the side of the stall with a sigh. "I'm going to start dinner. You can stay here if you want and I'll call you when it’s ready."

"Okay."

When she leaves, I stand there for a moment, clearly amazed at the new arrival. There is so much I could teach this little guy. My mom and dad taught me everything there is to know about horses. Since I was a baby I’ve been on horseback and my mom is in the process of teaching me how to tackle bigger hurdles with jumpers. The possibilities are endless. I sigh thinking about me and this baby as professional show jumpers. We’ll win every trophy there is!

A hand then covers my eyes. I jump slightly then smile, recognizing the whole "guess who" game. "Guess who?" A velvety deep voice asked. I thought about the voice. Dad's voice was deeper and throatier but this one...I gasped as I realized who it was. "Uncle Tommy!" I called out. The hands suddenly moved away, and when they did, I turned and looked straight into the deep brown eyes of my dad’s younger brother, Thomas.

"Hey, Uncle Tommy!" I exclaim, jumping into his arms for a close hug.

Uncle Tommy holds me tight to him then looks back at me with a huge grin. “Firebird! Wow, look at you! You are shooting like a weed! Last time I saw you were littler.”

After he puts me down, I roll my eyes slightly. “You saw me last summer! It wasn’t like years and years ago.”

Uncle Tommy crosses his arms, giving a smug smile. “I guess…if you say so, Fire.” I smile then proceed to lead him over to the stall. I want to share the happiness of the new arrival. “Look! Legacy had her foal today and I get to name him. Cool, right?”

My uncle’s wide grin matches my excitement as he looks at the baby. “Sure is.” He replies with a chuckle. I hold back a laugh of my own. Uncle Tommy is a self-made city boy who goes to school up north; horses aren’t really his thing. He and my dad are polar opposites, so I know he’s just amusing me.

We stand there still, staring at the foal and I hear my dad behind us. “You guys hungry cause dinner’s ready. Carrie’s made spaghetti.” My dad is leaning against the barn door with a soft crook of his mouth and arms crossed.

Uncle Tommy turns and said, “I sure am. Airplane snacks just don’t cut it.” He looks back at me and motions with his hand to grab mine. “Come on, Phoenix. I can hear your stomach growling like a wolf. Didn’t you eat lunch at school today?” I look down at my guilty body part and blush. He was partly right with his question; I haven’t eaten much at lunch and now that I think about it, I’m famished. I glance one more time over my shoulder at the foal and Legacy before making my way next to my dad and uncle.

I watch them walk in the house, but I stop at the porch looking to my left. My eyes take in everything with appreciation. The sun setting and the dark silhouettes of a few of our horses in a corral gave me a sudden comfort. I sigh-this is my world: Coming home from school to my horses, drinking iced tea on the porch with my mother on the weekends. Going with Dad to rodeos, horse racing with my best friend and having my uncle visit us on the ranch during his various breaks.

Everything was all in a place like a jigsaw puzzle in my life and that was all I ever knew. Simple as that.

<<<<<< >>>>>

A couple weeks fly by and soon my dad had decided that he and Mom were going to finally show Legacy in California. She has been fine since the birth of the foal and my mother just didn’t want to wait any longer. They were both so excited and I for them. I’m not able to go with them as I still have school so Uncle Tommy agreed to stay a bit longer to watch over me and the ranch while they were gone. I promised to take care of the horses and Uncle Tommy.

One the day of their departure, we watch as Mom and Dad get ready to leave us. “Hey! Hey, come on! Legacy, the sooner we can leave, the sooner we will get there.” My dad persuades, leading the feisty Appaloosa mare into the silver horse trailer. She’s anxious and doesn’t like being away from her colt. In the chaos of getting his mother ready for the show, I haven’t gotten to name him. I make a mental note to do that as soon as possible. I look up; the name “STAR OF LEGACY” was graved into a slab of silver at the top of the trailer, gleaming in my eyes from the sunlight.

My dad closes the trailer locking it uptight. “All right, Legacy is settled in but she’s not happy.” He looks up at the front porch with a mock frown. “Are you finally ready to leave, Carrie? Or are you still packing your luggage full of makeup?” He asks.

I look back over my shoulder with an amused grin as my mother comes out with the rest of her bags. She gives them to a helpful Uncle Tommy saying, “Very funny, sweetheart. A girl has to be prepared.” I laugh and she winks at me. “In answer to your question, I’m not ready to go yet and you aren’t either.” At my father’s confused look, she motions towards me saying, “We still didn’t get to say goodbye to our fire spark yet.”

“Oh, shoot! How could I forget such an important thing?” Dad strolls over to me as my uncle makes his way to my side. I smile as he first hugs Uncle Tommy close.

“Take care of my little girl, Tom.”

“You got it, Ty.”

As my uncle gives my mom a hug, my dad’s dark green eyes then gaze into my own. “The ranch is yours now, Phoenix. Take care of it.” I admire the trust and sincerity inside of his eyes. “I will, Dad. Don’t worry about a thing.” My dad grins and embraces me tight saying, “My fire girl.” I smile inwardly at one of the many nicknames he lovingly bestowed upon me and then move into my mother’s arms.

“Phoenix.” My mother said, quietly as she holds me. I lay my head on her shoulder as I normally did, but frowned slightly feeling a difference. This hug is warm as always but tighter as if letting go would be a fatal mistake. I hold her tight as well, not wanting to let her go just yet. Then after we hug, my mother stares, her luminous hair softly blowing in the light breeze as she says to me, “I love you, Firebird. Don’t ever change cause I wouldn’t wish for another child.” Deep love pours into my heart and I declare, “I love you too, Mom.”

Mom smiles at me one last time as my dad’s microphone like voice echoes out. “Come on, Carrie! Let’s get a move on!”

“All right, Tyler! Keep your pants on!”

Mom shakes her head with a sigh, kisses my face and whispers, “Bye, baby. Wish me luck.”

I wave Mom went to the truck yelling, “Bye, Tommy!” “Bye!” We yell back. My uncle and I stand quietly watching the truck and the trailer roll out of sight as it does, I smirk knowing that Legacy would win first place and things will always be right in our lives……

I couldn’t have been more WRONG.

#backpile series: hearts on fire #hearts: destined hearts #char: phoenix moreland #Story piece #more like story chapter #it's long but I'm not sorry

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