#I just needed to step back and hang out with pongo for a bit
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A Dance With Memory
There are no answers in the stars. There are memories in the colors. Life clings to him, desperate, wanting.
A short character exploration of Pongo as a break from T3CHN0.
Something drew him to the lucid forest one night. The fireflies whispered ancient myths in his ears, the butterflies promised lives that they had never seen, buried deep below their glass wings. The trees bent down to greet him, an extension of his will, and no creature dared to disturb his path.
The energy mist climbed the sky, so desperate to become constellations, so desperate to join the stars in holy matrimony. Why didn’t the night accept them beyond a temporary release? What had the mists done to anger the twilight, what half-baked apology had they given for their transgressions? Thankfully they knew their quarrel was locked in the night and not with him, not with any creature of this planet. They saw his safe passage to the edge of the waterfall, overlooking a vast stretch of ocean. Stars reflected, transcribed within the waves. Yet the stars remained untouchable. Nothing could become a star, nothing could reach them.
Inhale. Exhale. Warm air, characteristic of this place, full of life and longing. He closed his eyes. Inhale. Exhale. His feet began to carry him along the land, and with every step, every memory that came to haunt him, the ground grasped starlight for the briefest of moments. Purples, blues, greens, pinks, reds, yellows. Not in that order, no, he would open his eyes and see there was an understanding to them. And so, the dance began.
Yellow became the past. Not his past, but equally his, an incomplete ownership. People entered his mind that he had never met, yet he knew their names, the sounds of their voices in his ears, their smiles and how they held themselves. This was a wistful feeling, a nostalgia he clinged to as tightly as life clinged to him.
Red became the war. Rings of fire scorching the earth, sending those people from his disconnected past to their graves, or in many cases sending them amongst the harsh winds of change, ashes to be scattered and forgotten with the passage of time. In a way, this was the past - orange formed below his feet as he danced, the realization apparent - but in a way, this was his present. Those rings still stood. The fires still burned. All this time, and he hadn’t found a way.
Pink became his birth. A planet with one wish, a wish to live. Threats from all walks of life, threats that it couldn’t face alone. A body formed, a wish passed on, a dream composed from a symphony of pain and an endless wisdom that was forged only through a ticking clock. He remembered his first kiss, the planet’s gentle gift of life entering his body, and nothing else mattered in that moment. He awoke knowing he was loved, though not by whom. Certainly not himself, the empty shell with only a dream to his name.
Green became life. The life he could never erase, the life that gripped his heart to the point where it ached and ached and drew blood from beneath his skin, the life that would sew his wounds back up and draw wounds again, the ever vicious cycle. Life would flow through his fingertips and heal the injuries of fallen friends, life would extend a mercy to them because he commanded it to be so. And yet, any commands to stop his hurting fell on deaf ears. He learned quickly that life would never be his friend. He got used to the pain and expected nothing, nothing.
Blue became the transformation, the sorrow, the pain. A need to pass life to others denied, erased from his body as quickly as he’d been given it, forced into the belly of a monochrome monster. He remembered how a bullet entered his skull and he was given a taste of freedom, metallic, a lifeless body falling backwards off a bottomless chasm into darkness, and suddenly returned to his old form as if nothing had ever transpired. He was never the same after that. He knew now what it meant to die, what it meant for life to leave him behind. He grew afraid of the chasm he’d fallen into, was the excuse he gave. In reality, he yearned for it. He stayed close to that chasm for months, and the day he finally broke free of life’s chains, he realized just how badly he wanted to live.
Purple became him. It became the stardust he trailed behind, the dreams of the planet that created him. It became the armor he wore, the weapons he wielded. It became the wisdom that wasn’t quite his, but passed down from a nonexistent generation, and it became the words he spoke, the advice, the cries, the screams, the pleas. It became his sight, and in his eyes, the stars found a new place to call home. Somehow he had pleased them, somehow they wanted to join him. Were they friends? Temporary? Would he outlive them, or would they outlive him? Life was unkind to him for so long, and yet…was it selfish? Wanting to keep living? Would he live for these stars? What would happen if the stars died before he did? What purpose would he serve then?
He stopped dancing, watched the trails of light he’d forged fade into the night. The stars swallowed them whole. He stared at the sky, the abyss, and it stared back. He had no answer for it. All his wisdom, all his pain, and he had no answer. He hoped, prayed, wished, dreamed, that perhaps the stars would approve of him simply…trying. Not succeeding, necessarily, nor failing. Trying. Trying to live as if life wasn’t insistent on his living, trying to live as if life hadn’t given him a predetermined reason to live.
The sun chased the stars away by the time he exited the lucid forest. He, an immortal man, would have to face them again someday. But for now, it was enough. He was enough.
#xenoblade x#A Dance With Memory: Short Story#I may have T3CHN0 brain rot but i also have depression#I just needed to step back and hang out with pongo for a bit#he's so much deeper than I think anyone understands#i just...i love him. he's everything.#no OC will ever matter to me as much as he does.
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Chapter 23 - Reflections pt. 2
[A03]
Chapter 1: Pan meets a Wendy
Chapter 2: Scars (Felix’s Story)
Chapter 3: Day One
Chapter 4: Revenge and Fireflies
Chapter 5: Brighter than Stars
Chapter 6: filler: The Tigress
Chapter 7: Operation Spotless!
Chapter 8: Operation Spotless: Reporters Down
Chapter 9: A Dance with the Devil
Chapter 10: filler: Felix and the Pancake
Chapter 11: The Girl with Blue Eyes pt. 1
Chapter 12: The Girl with Blue Eyes pt. 2
Chapter 13: The Girl With Blue Eyes: Underground
Chapter 14. Recovery
Chapter 14.2 Recovery some more
Chapter 15: Trapped
Chapter 16: Filth
Chapter 17: Fairydust pt. 1
Chapter 18: Fairydust pt. 2
Chapter 19: The Mystery of the Dead Nun pt. 1
Chapter 20: The Mystery of the Dead Nun pt. 2 Chapter 21: The Mystery of the Dead Nun pt. 3 Chapter 22: Reflections pt. 1
Blood.
He wanted blood.
He wanted to smear it on his walls. On his skin.
He wanted her blood.
Pan slammed the door of the police station as he barged through the street, the icy night air barely affecting him. His blood was boiling, threatening to ooze through his pores, to spill on the ground.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. He wasn’t supposed to fail. Peter Pan never fails.
Yet he had been dethroned in a matter of seconds, and all he had left was a dark, gnawing rage swimming through his bloodstream.
The pavement seemed to crumble under his feet as he stalked yet the exaggerated force did not ease his hatred.
Just ahead, town psychiatrist Archie Hopper was walking his Dalmatian, Pongo. The dog instantly sensed the approaching danger and forced his owner out of the way, the man fumbling for control as Pan stormed past them.
He would have thrown them through a shop window if they hadn’t moved.
“This wasn’t supposed to have happened! This shouldn’t have happened!”
But it did.
“It’s not my fault.”
Of course it’s not.
“It’s hers!”
Of course, of course…
“Everything would have been fine if she had just let me handle it!”
She won’t accept the truth.
He almost ripped the door off the hinges when he reached his apartment, but the quiet that greeted him when he entered caused him to stop in his tracks.
Not the quiet not the quiet not the quiet…
Like a savior, Pan’s cat rounded out of the kitchen, his heavy purring clearing away the darkness that threatened to swallow him.
Pan knelt and petted the cat with a shaky hand, his fingers grazing over the scars from years of trauma the animal sustained during his life on the street. If it weren’t for his blind eye and patches of missing fur, no one would ever suspect he had ever been abused. He was a whore for attention and would purr for anyone who would touch him. An absolute slut. Hardly the vicious creature Pan thought he was taking in.
Fluffy. Soft.
His neck is probably extremely breakable.
Pan paused as the thought went through his mind, his fingers digging into the cat’s neck to the point where he yowled in discomfort.
As adrenaline coursed through his veins, he calmly picked up the cat, the heavy creature squirming in his arms, and carried him into the bathroom, closing him in as he stared up in confusion.
As soon as he stepped away from the door, he grabbed a lamp from the side table—a gift, he recalled, from Felix when he first moved in—and hurled it across the room. The force of the plug being wretched from the wall nearly tore the socket from the wiring. The sound of the glass splattering on the wall sounded like a gunshot, and it smoked as it settled to the floor.
It wasn’t enough.
It was too quiet here.
Call August?
“I want to be alone!”
No you don’t.
He swerved into the kitchen and grabbed a frying pan hanging over the sink. Gripping it firmly, he began swinging it and hitting anything in sight.
His bookshelf was soon a pile of woodchips, his few trinkets broken plaster and glass on his living room floor.
When there was nothing left to destroy in the living room, he headed to the kitchen, throwing plates and glasses where ever he could. Then to his bedroom where he nearly put a whole in his wall flipping the mattress over. The corner knocked over a series of pictures he had on his dresser, a group photo of him, Felix and Tink crashing into the floor. Their smiling faces stared up at him, daring him to justify what he had done.
“It’s not my fault. I was trying to help you!” he screamed into the destruction.
Were you really?
He fell back against the wall as the light above him flickered, struggling not to blow out.
Sound familiar?
He stared at the light as the adrenaline slowly leaked from his veins, the pounding of a pissed off neighbor beating into his shoulder blades.
From the bathroom he could hear Fuzz freaking out, yowling in fear from the violence.
Pan’s hand fell to the floor, his skin breaking as his fingers swam through the layer of broken glass and dust, pausing only when they felt the familiar softness of inked paper.
He glared at the smudged headline and Wendy’s crinkled photo under the author’s section, his blood pressure rising as he glared at her candid smiling face.
Somehow he remembered that her eyes were green despite the gray photo.
This isn’t her fault, something much kinder him said.
But the voice was too quiet, and he crumbled up the photo between his oozing fingers.
He blinked and held his eyes close for only a moment, but when he opened the door the room was flooded with late morning light.
His back was throbbing and his fingertips were burning, the newspaper still clutched in his hand.
He pulled the dried blood-stained newspaper from his skin and grimaced at the stinging.
With a pacified huff he picked himself off the floor, tearing yesterday’s shirt off as he opened the bathroom door so that his cat could make a beeline for his food bowl.
Pan paid him no mind as he tossed his shirt in the bathtub and turned on the sink, letting the weak drops of water clot on his fingertips, the pinkish blood staining the sink.
He didn’t bother to give his reflection a look-over; he knew good and well that a bruised, bloodshot-eyed creature would be waiting for him in the glass.
Instead he went through his morning routine in an automatic daze, brushing his teeth and running a comb through his hair all without the reflective aid.
The only step away from his routine was the bandages he had to wrap around his fingers, the sticky strips of plastic squeezing his flesh too tight.
He stepped over his broken living room to get to his closet and chose an outfit without concern for corresponding colors.
Finally, he addressed his howling cat and dumped a heap into his now-slightly damaged bowl. A wide gap ran down the side, nearly splitting the dish in two. The feline cared little to none as long as it would still hold food.
Pushing aside a heap of broken dishes with his shoe, he pulled half a gallon of milk out of his sparse refrigerator, blindly taking a large swig until the sour taste hit his senses. He nearly choked getting the curdles out through his nose, gasping for breath as the clumps oozed down the drain.
Eyes burning and throat constricting, he started gagging until a long trail of saliva joined the milk, punctuated by a weak shout from him. He slammed his bawled fist on the counter over and over again, wondering only for a moment if it would shatter if he continued.
But it didn’t, and as with all things, Pan had to move on.
He ran the water in the sink but didn’t bother to clean the mess.
After all, he needed something to look forward to during his week of fucking suspension.
Pan scoffed at the reminder, but kept his thoughts at bay to keep the hatred from boiling over again. He wouldn’t have an apartment left if he did.
After giving his mouth a good rinse, he began gathering his things and his helmet. He had no idea where he was going or even what he would do, but he knew after years of these meltdowns that the best thing to do is to keep moving. Eventually something would capture his attention, and he would be able to handle his current issue when he was a bit calmer.
The cool morning air bit at his cheeks as he trudged down the awakening Storybrooke streets. He frowned when he remembered how loud the streets of Scotland were during all hours of the day. Yelling at rude neighbors at night, shouting at the same ones at the crack of dawn. It was invigorating.
Now he wished there was a daily disaster or a fight between lovers spilling out of the windows, anything to fill in the nauseating peace around him. Even the birds were refusing to sing their songs, just to annoy him of course!
He glanced around his usual haunts, giving fiery glares at anyone who dared looked up at him. Word had probably gotten out about his suspension he was sure. He could feel it in the air, and see it at the way the townspeople were sneering at him.
That boy is finally getting what he deserves.
He always was a little troublemaker.
Things are going to be real quiet around here for a while.
Splinters of ice swam through Pan’s veins but he refused to show how anxious he was on the outside. He still ran this town no matter what happened. It was only a matter before things fell back into place.
Until then he was piss and needed a distraction.
He entered Granny’s without any real intention of getting anything, and it was far too early in the morning to pick a fight.
The townsfolk became recognizably quiet as he strolled up to the counter. Pan scoffed. Sheep.
Granny was staring at him over her crescent-shape glasses, one of her eyebrows arched in amusement.
“Heard you got into more trouble than usual,” she teased as she wiped a glass dry.
“Shut it,” Pan growled, the older woman taking very little offense to Pan’s gruffness.
“Heard that Wendy girl was right beside you,” Granny continued with a half smirk.
“Is there anything you haven’t heard?” Pan snarked. “Do you want to update me on the recipe on your latest batch of frozen lasagna?”
Granny’s smirk dropped in an instant. “Hey! We agreed that was a secret!”
“And I won’t hesitate to forget that promise if you don’t zip it, now may I please have some coffee?”
Granny didn’t stop glaring at him as she made his request. Feeling a bit more back in control, Pan gave her a plastic angel smile as she slid the sloshing mug to him before he frowned again.
The brew was tasteless but hot enough that it kept his nerves screaming, distracting him and keeping his thoughts steady.
Granny began a new task and the diner residents picked up their conversations once more.
“How’s Wendy?” Granny asked suddenly.
Pan spat into his cup, the bitter liquid coating his inner nostrils.
“The fuck…what?” he coughed, taking a wad of napkins across his mouth. “Why?”
Granny shrugged. “I saw you two walking together the other night,” she said. “Before…everything.”
“And?” Pan growled.
“I talked to Tink,” the restaurant owner said, her eyes not quite meeting his. “Wendy’s name came up a lot. She’s still very upset, but she said she messed up about something. ”
“Damn right she did,” Pan muttered. She wasn’t supposed to get hurt over this.
“I thought it was a bit strange that Wendy would write a story like that,” Granny said, giving him an all-knowing look. “She hardly seems like the type of person to drag someone through the dirt like that.”
Pan clenched his mug. “You don’t know her.”
“And you do?”
Pan locked his jaw to keep from answering. He didn’t need this old bat analyzing whatever he had with Wendy. And he sure as hell wasn’t about to lay out his entire life with more than a dozen ears listening in.
He wordlessly pulled out some crumpled money—much less than was due for his barely touched cup of coffee—and exited the restaurant before he rammed the older woman’s head into the counter.
His whole body felt tight, his joints stiffening with each step he took until he hardened to a stop in front of the diner alley.
He hadn’t answered Granny’s question, he realized. How was Wendy?
Pissed, he thought with a weak scoff. He had done drug her into all of this for her benefit, yet she hadn’t seen that. Why couldn’t she see that?
Pan shook his head as leaned against the wall. Had this all gone according to plan—if Mother Superior hadn’t offed herself that is—Wendy might have seen it. She would have been acclaimed for her work and quickly figured out his role in it. Though there would have immediate consequences for the story, they wouldn’t have been nearly as intense. Tink could finally give the head nun the chewing out she deserved, and Wendy would be her hero.
In return for putting her on the spotlight, Wendy would be grateful to him, but it would have also established his sense of power. It would have kept her at a distance but also kept her close. A perfect balance. Just what he wanted.
But it hadn’t turned out that way, and now he had her, Tink, and the majority of the town glaring at him. It was starting to make him feel small. Powerless.
He had felt this way only once in his life, and once he was on top he swore he would never go back down.
But he felt unsure where to start clawing and now he had no one he could stand on to get back up.
He glanced off into the alley, the dark, small space seeming to stretch on forever. A nice place for monsters to live.
A better place for monsters to flee from.
And then in flash of a moment, he remembered the monster that had been creeping there.
Jekyll. Slinking in the dark looking for his blue-eyed victim.
His Belle.
The name made the air in his lungs shrivel up. Where was she now? Pan looked around as if she would still be there, curled up in the corner the same way she had been when Wendy found her. God he had barely thought of her since her rescue. What had happened to her?
His adrenaline began to soar as he thought of her, tried to pinpoint where she had been taken. Was she safe? Was she healthy? How the hell could he just push her aside?!
His flicker of light.
Belle.
I’m sorry Belle.
He shot from the alley and made a mad dash to the hospital where she surely must be. She had to be. She was waiting for him, right?
She wouldn’t abandon him. She swore that. She would help him untangle this web of darkness settled in his soul.
She had to. He was out of places to turn.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
The hospital staff stared at him like he had just pulled himself from an accident, and it wasn’t until he caught sight of himself in a window that he saw why.
His hair was standing in multiple ends, having been unbrushed for several days. His eyes were dark and sunken in, bloodshot. He even had sprigs of facial hair threatening break through the surface of his face.
He looked like a freshly realized serial killer.
Belle would be scared to death if she saw him.
With a growl he moved to find the nearest restroom, easing close enough to a supply cart that he could snag a comb and a razor.
Locking himself in, he set to work to make himself somewhat presentable. He scrubbed his face until it stung, taking the razor to the fuzz sprouting on his features without care of how much it would burn later. He then set to work with his hair, wetting it and combing it over. Maybe Belle would recognize him better if he wore it the way he had years ago.
But he quickly discovered how absolutely ridiculous he looked with the comb-over. He looked like a choir boy! Like a boyish little prick!
He ruffled his hair furiously, his heart pounded. What if she was still terrified of him? What if she didn’t want to see him at all?
The light above the sink flickered, seeming to want to go out thanks to his indecisiveness. He could easily walk away, and Belle could continue to heal without ever knowing that he had attempted to darken her doorway.
But then what? He’d be back to filling his mind with nothingness. At least Belle could distract him, and possibly help him feel whole once more. She always had a way of doing so.
Glaring at his reflection, he combed his hair back into the boyish look. Better safe than sorry.
Now his clothes. They were clean enough, but more like something he’d wear during a night out. Frowning, he buttoned his shirt all the way up, and spent five minutes tucking it into his jeans in a way that looked decent.
His face was burning when he finally emerged from the bathroom. He felt tight, completely unlike himself. Hopefully it wouldn’t be for nothing.
Just as he was about to ask a nurse at the desk where Belle’s room was, a cart of flowers was pushed past him, making Pan realize that of course he should get Belle flowers.
He recalled how much she loved roses. Gold had a half-maintained garden at his home once, which—Pan recalled—suddenly became a full-time project shortly after Belle came into their lives.
Pan gritted his teeth as he snagged as small bouquet off the cart while the nurse was busy, hiding it as he got Belle’s information.
God, he’d been so stupid back then, to think Belle would ever had a relationship with a boy young enough to be her little brother. He wondered if she and Gold ever laughed about it, at his desperation for the love he had desperately needed.
That same boyish hope pulsed in the very back of his mind. Maybe things could be different now.
He scoffed as he got into the elevator. Like hell. Belle didn’t need his filth in her life. She deserved freedom, and open spaces and fresh air after all she went through.
Because of you.
Before the thought could sink in, he caught site of a very familiar irritating nest of blond curls.
“Wendy!” Pan gasped, not realizing that he had said her name out loud until she shot around, her wild eyes softening at the site of him .
Peter Pan—who just last night had nearly framed Wendy for murder, knocked out Dr. Whale, and betrayed a slew of people—was standing in his Sunday best with a bouquet of freshly pruned flowers clutched in his hand and utterly vulnerable before his female opponent.
“Hey.” Wendy greeted with a snort.
“Hi…” Pan returned, his skin prickling from being so exposed.
They stared at each other for a moment—each curious as to why they were both at he hospital in the first place—before Wendy sputtered and released a melodically laugh.
Just a heads up, updating might be much slower than usual. I’m a journalist trying to get a job and once I do my focus is going to be primarily on that and working as many hours as possible so that I can afford my own place. I have a good idea of what’s next for this story but my mind’s been so clouded lately I’m having trouble concentrating. I don’t want writing to be a chore so I’m putting it to rest for a little.
However, I don’t know what the future’s going to be like, so I might have more time than I realize, so we’ll see.
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Now that’s what i call a good bday present..
Feliz cumple a mi amiga @la-saffron
Here’s somethin for u luv, and also everyone else who has had this fantasy bc same
Time for some Sólo Yo grind time babiiees
.
“I’ll dedicate your favorite to you,” he says and smooches your forehead, running his thumb over the spot soothingly after. A bell rings in the distance, signaling to him a 10 minute warning before the show starts.
“I gotta go- happy birthday, love. I’ll see you after the show,” he jogs off toward the stage, throwing you an air kiss like he would a basketball. You catch it with a little smile and lay it on your heart.
Back at your seats, the crowd was anxious. Screaming girls filled every inch of the stadium and huddle close to get their best views of the stage. You were off to the side a little, close yet off centered in view. You’d seen the show a million times before so you decided to give the best seats to the fans who hadn’t- you didn’t mind.
Either way you knew it was always gonna be special, something personal. Joel always made it a habit to give some sort of acknowledgement to you every time. It was always different and somehow left you the same amount of star struck and enamored every time.
So you were pretty stoked for tonight’s gesture. You thought that maybe he’d just have the boys or the crowd help sing happy birthday or something simple. Maybe he was gonna actually say how he dedicates your favorite song to you out loud. A million things rang through your head. What had really happened was not even a slight thought in your mind...
It was about halfway through when your song was about to come on. You half expected Joel to already be front and center of the stage, ready to point you out and get it all started. But he was nowhere to be seen.
You squinted your eyes as the lights dimmed for the song to start. The music bounced and you noticed another missing figure as the boys stepped out. You look around the stage frantically, confused at just about everything.
Your head whips around as a hand pats your shoulder and the lyrics start.
“Por más que trato de olvidarte,”
You panic subsided as you’re greeted to Zabdiels sweet smile. He’s takes your hand as he sings to you, leading you up to the little area in front of the stage.
Erick is waiting for you at the edge with a hand reaching out.
“Me gustaría que estuvieras aquí,”
Zabdiel finishes his line and boosts you up, syncing perfectly to the flow of the song as Erick pulls you up and sings to you..
“Y quién te cuida? Sólo yo,
Quien te mira? Sólo yo,”
There’s no time to even react as the boys take turns handing you around with no stops. Erick spins you and pushes you to Richard, who takes no time to pull you into a impromptu dance routine.
You both bounce to your own rhythms, vibing out how you and Richard usually do if you were hanging out and listening to music. It feels suddenly like you’re not on stage in front of the whole entire world.
He hugs you close and kisses your cheek,
“Quién te besa? Sólo yo,
Nunca nadie, sólo yoo,”
The crowd screams and he gives them a cocky wink. He steps off to the side as Chris comes in to swoop you away.
“Yo nunca voy a olvidarte
Y espero que te encuentres bien,”
He arches his stance back and laughs as he does that signature dance move of his that he knows you love. You follow along to copy him, bending your legs in that wide spread out stance, hands clasped together in front of you, and your hips almost thrusting the air gently.
You both fold over laughing, Chris even missing half of his verse as Zabdiel comes to rescue you from the giggly mess.
“No te pongo en condiciones,
Yo te lleno de ilusiones,”
You rap along with him and he leans in closer so you can both sing into the mic. He stops to cheer loudly as you finish out the final lines for him.
“Por más que tú lo niegues, se te nota
Tu cuerpo me necesita,”
The music fades rapidly and changes tune slightly. Red dim lights hover over your bodies and you notice Richard bring out a chair to center stage.
You’re lost once again and just let it happen as they guide you to sit down. You’re hit with a little stage fright as they face you towards the full crowd.
They each walk in a different direction and the crowd goes wild at something behind you. You snap your neck around to see Joel emerging from the backstage. He charms you with a little “sup” head nod and approaches you.
From the corner of your eye you see Richard and Zabdiel take their marks and start dancing in the most seductive ways possible. Chris and Erick behind you on the second level must be doing the same exact thing based on the screaming reactions from the mass group of people in front of you.
“Omg Joel what is thi- whOA” he silences you as he slowly straddles your lap as you sit. His hips roll onto yours a couple times and thank god these red lights can cover how much you were blushing. He hops off almost immediately and takes your hand so you’re standing, at the same time kicking the chair out of his way aggressively.
He grabs your body forcefully, pressing you into him in a way that you can feel everything he has to offer. His hand holds onto your back as he winds himself onto you in waves. His crotch brushes over you and it’s so personal yet so public you can’t help but bite the inside of your cheek at the tension.
“Quién te acaricia? Sólo yo....”
The music is as sensual as it can get, every detail sticking out to you like it were some cheesy r&b song. The way the lyrics drag on, the little flares of a synthesizer pushing out high tones, the way Joel starts gently laying you on the ground....
WAIT.
You were so caught up in the moment that it wasn’t even occurring to you what was happening until your back hits the cold floor. You’re back to reality and it’s all clear what’s going on now.
He fixes your hair as it sprawls every which way beneath you. His intention is shining through a dimpled smirk. “Told you I’d dedicate this one for you..”
His face pulls away from yours and he catches his lip between his teeth. His body imitates a push up and is hovering high above you. Shit. He’s really gonna do this. In front of all these people.
Your heart races as he slowly pushes back down onto you. Rolling gradually starting from his chest, his stomach, then it’s his belt pressing into your waist, and he’s stopping as his crotch grinds right between your legs.
He settles there for a second, eating up every bit of your flustered reaction. He pushes back up and goes again- this time dragging on slower. The next couple times pick up the pace, feeling way too real for what it really is.
On his last go, you grab onto his shoulders, looking him dead in the eye. The look says a million words and he swoops you up in one swift motion. Next thing you know you’re off the ground, Joel lifting you up like a child as he stands up.
You’re legs are wrapped around his waist, as for your arms around the back of his neck. He props you up onto him and the boys start cheering him on from the sidelines.
“Alright y’all, i think we’re gonna have to do these next couple songs without Joel for a minute,” Richard announces to the crowd and they all “ooooh” suggestively. “I think they got some stuff they need to sort out real quick,”
You hide your face in Joel’s neck at Richards comment and he starts carrying you off stage. Trying not to laugh, you kiss at his ear a little as you finally reach the hallway near his dressing room.
“That was so embarrassing for me but i don’t even care,” you yank the door open as he plops you back onto your feet, pulling him in harshly by the collar of his shirt. “Let’s do this quick so you can go finish the show..”
His cologne fills your nose as he brings you in close and you’re even more intoxicated by him than ever. He slams the door shut behind you and flicks the lock as you press a kiss to his neck.
He licks his lips slightly and grabs your face, hovering his mouth over yours with that stupid smug look. “Damn, it’s starting to feel more like my birthday now...”
#this was so short n rough sorryyyy#im so used to like writing whole ass books on here lmaoo#hope u like still 😭#mi joelito#cnco#cnco imagine
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My back is hurting me all of a sudden. Today's been really lazy day but I think half I'm stressed about going back to work tomorrow and have I didn't have enough water today or yesterday. I'm going to try to go to sleep soon though. Hopefully my sick feelings will pass.
I keep forgetting that new years was last night. I didn't make the joke once today that I remember 2018 like it was yesterday. Which is terrible. We finish up the party and it was a lot of fun. I got to kiss James at midnight. We didn't do a countdown which I thought was funny. But we did fire the cannon exactly at midnight and the whole thing was very fun. I made Paul, the Taney curator, laugh because I was telling people to get off the ship at 1 exactly. Just tell then all to throw their alcohol away and that the party was over. The fireworks had been nice and I had danced a little bit. And I'm still in a very cheery mood but I knew that if I stop moving I would lose that and I would start falling asleep.
I spend a lot of time at the bottom of the gangway saying goodbye to people. Making sure no one was falling off the steps. One very drunk Irish man fell but he caught himself. And then he flirted with me for the next couple minutes before giving me his wine. I had a good time even though I missed being with Jess. I got to be with all my other friends.
After cleaning up for a bit I went to go relieve Chris, our big boss, down at the desk. Which was nice because I need to sit down for a bit. I ended up talking to these three very drunk girls from Georgia. And they were very nice and they told me their whole life story. Eventually though I went upstairs and helped clean up and put things away. It didn't take that long because there was a lot of us. Including some people that weren't even working just staff that came to the party. It was a really really fun night and I'm glad that I got to work it.
Me and James liked home. We did the first footing. And we both get ready for bed. But we were a little wired after biking so we were up for a bit. Both my packages came with four new Furbys. The 3 2012 models and one very tiny box that contained my baby sheep Furby! It was a baby and I'm so excited. I didn't put batteries in them I was just excited to see them.
We got in bed and we we're just laying there when all of a sudden I tell James that the months of July to November spell the name Jason. And he could not get over it like you so baffled and we ended up looking at the entomology of it hand reading series. Every word laughing it was very silly. It was also after 3 a.m. really need to go to bed. I put on a scary story and was able to fall asleep soon after that.
We woke up around 10. Sweet Pea was very chatty. He wanted to be fed. So I got up and went to get dressed while James packed up his bag. Fed the cat and headed over to James's apartment. To have breakfast. But really it was basically lunch time. So I had packed stuff to make a cheese plate as well.
Today was mostly a boring quiet day for me. I laid in bed while James made us biscuits. I have snacks and watched videos. Eventually we bike down to Whole Foods to get my package and pick up a few things. I got myself a salad. James got stuff for the pizza he would make us. And then we biked home.
It was very windy out so that was slow going. I was always about a block behind him. And then once we got to the prison we walked up the hill. There was no way I was going to be able to bike up that without hyperventilating.
We got back to his place though. I was a little overheated but it was fine. He spent the next couple hours making pizza dough and then all the ingredients for the pizzas. He wanted to make a French onion soup pizza for himself which is something he's done before. I don't love on you in so I do not have any of that. But he made both a mozzarella and red sauce pizza and a white pizza with spinach. They were both very good. But they did take him about 3 hours to complete and I always get annoyed when I think we're going to be eating food soon and then it takes two more hours. But it was fine I had my salad. And I wasn't actually hungry I was just bored. I have been in bed basically all day. At least I got to be in the same space as him.
I did spend some time taking pictures of my baby Furby who we named Pascal Lambert. He is just the cutest little guy. I have not put batteries in him yet. But I'll probably do that tomorrow. I don't think the baby Furbys move much besides their eyes and mouths. I don't even know if their ears move. I just know they don't rock. So if I keep batteries in is yet to be seen. But he's just so cute and I'm so excited about it.
I left James's apartment around 7. I didn't want to leave but I want to be able to get some stuff done in the morning and sometimes it's nice to be alone for a bit. I don't have to be embarrassed about things I want to do or worry about him being in the space. I don't think once you move in together it will be a problem but right now it's nice to have a little bit of space to ourselves.
I got back here and made sort of a list of things I wanted to accomplish. First I fed sweet pea and then I went and checked the mail. I unpack my backpack. And put some stuff away. I took the heater downstairs that I had in the living room so that I can work in the basement tomorrow morning. I cleaned up a little bit. And then I spent some time with my Furbys. Which is something I said I was going to do in the new year.
First I moved everyone over to the Bookshelf just so I could see everybody. Then I decided to unbox the spring Furby. Because I'm going to be keeping that when I think. Once I open her I realize she's so soft and she smells like soap. So I'm definitely for the time. Keeping that one. I named her Lil John because of the number she is. It's not the exact number from the song but it was close enough to make me laugh. Once I took some pictures of her with Pongo and Pascal I decided to open up battery packs on the 3 2012 Furbys I also receive last night.
Two of the three Furbys had batteries in them. Both of those were corroded on the inside. One was battery acid one with regular corrosion. I was able to wipe off the one fairly simply and put batteries in it. The one that had never had batteries in obviously had no problem. And both of them turned on right away. The third one did not turn on. That one would need more work but in the meantime I play with the two new ones. And they were not happy.
They both had angry faces and were growling and we're very upset. I asked my Google Assistant to look up personality types for these types of Furbys and apparently if you are mean to them, feed them too much, leave them alone for too long, 4 shake them too much they get an angry personality. And I think that's what happened to your. I try turning on black bean to give them a more positive personality to talk to. But it didn't seem to do much. Then I tried Coco, the new tidal wave Furby I got last week, because she has a valley girl personality. She is very very pleasant. She also speaks way more English. She talked to them and they kept burping and throwing up and making awful sounds and she kept telling them who and that they were dirty birds. So finally I had to just give them both a hard reset. And then they were much nicer and I think we'll just work from there. They're part of the three that I'm probably going to be home so I don't want to rehome them if they're not pleasant to be around.
The third one I had to clean off the inside with white vinegar and that took a little while but was worth it because once I turn them on you had a very nice personality. They're also a valley girl and that was nice to discover.
I sat on the ground and play with them for a while. Don't talk to each other. I decided to leave everyone's battery packs off so that I can take batteries out and put batteries in depending on who I want going at any one time. So I'm not just going to have sleeping Furbys that can be awoken by sweet pea walking into them. And for now they're all living in the Alcove next to the stairs.
After I finished with that I worked on my calendar for the month. And then I went to get dressed to go to sleep. I couldn't believe it was already 9. I've basically just been laying in bed with sweetpea for a while now. He's got his face on my face right now and it's very cute.
I'm both looking forward to and dreading tomorrow. I'm hoping to wake up early and work on Art. Have a nice breakfast. And then I want to get to the school around noon. Start figuring out how we're going to hang the kids work. Tiffany emailed me about possible change in who's teaching what class. And I still don't know what we've been teaching this week. So I'm a little frustrated with the lack of understanding of what's happening. But I made a lesson plan so if no one else did at least we know that we're going to be watercolor painting. So I hope that goes well and it all works out. Hope you all sleep well tonight. Stay safe out there.
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CUPID ROXY
Original title: Cupid Roxy.
Prompt: humor, fantasy, dogs talking.
Warning: talking animal.
Genre: romantic, comedy, supernatural, humor, friendship.
Characters: Roxy, Penelope Garcia, Luke Alvez, new dog (Dina), Lisa Douglas.
Pairing: Garvez.
Note: oneshot 31 in Garvez collection.
Legend: 💏😘🐶🎈.
Song mentioned: Quiero vivir con vos, Tiziano Ferro.
Note: this ff is based on true story. It was born from a phrase of my boyfriend. My dog love him so hard, and, I’m a bit jelous. So, we were talking about the case that we would break up. And he said: “If you start dating someone else, I’m sure that Pippo would run towards me, if he would notices me at the other side of the street.” So, this what came out of it.
GARVEZ STORIES
CUPID ROXY
Things had changed in the last two months. The blond lady who answered the name of Garcia, or even Penelope, had never visited her again. Her disappearance coincided with the appearance of another human of a female gender, which her human, Luke, called Lisa. She, unlike Penelope, never devoted her any attention, indeed, seemed to want to keep away even Luke, keep him all for herself. She had managed to convince him that Roxy could easily survive alone, without a dog sitter or worse, Garcia. It was obvious to the dog that she was jealous of other women, just as it happened to her when Luke ate something that said it was not suited to her diet, but she longed for it.
She had brought a lot of patience, she had endured so much, but now Roxy had grown tired. The last evening spent with Garcia they had seen a movie, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, with many dogs among the protagonists. At the beginning Pongo and the female dog were able to find a way to be together making fall in love their two humans. For a whole day Roxy ponders how to use this information to her advantage, and in the end she gets the so-called flash of genius.
-Luke! Come, soon!- a terrifying cry resounds throughout the house. The man rushes, stumbling and almost pulling his ankle, cursing himself for not having taken the gun, who is still in a drawer in the living room. The worst scenarios come to his mind. That's why he stays almost a good minute in silence, watching her girlfriend holding shreds of clothes and others scattered on the floor and on the bed. He is undecided whether to get angry or burst out laughing and he chooses the latter path. - There's nothing funny! It was her, your dog!- she says the last three words as if she were naming the devil itself.
-Roxy?- he can hardly believe it. Roxy is a dog trained for the worst war zones, she has never given a single problem, is a perfect daughter. -Why was she supposed to do it? - feeling that she was named, the dog reaches them, sitting on the threshold of the room, looking innocently at Lisa. But inside himself he thinks of something else. Do not you like change? Not even me. Luke crouches and puts a hand on the animal's head. -Hey, girl, you didn't do it, right?- Roxy barks, keeping her gaze fixed on that of her human. He caresses her and she moans, satisfied.
-What are you doing? Is it obvious that it was she, who else has access to this house?- the woman has no intention of letting go. And for a moment Luke feels the need to remind her that the apartment is his and she is an occasional guest. But fortunately something holds him back.
-Well, Lisa, if she did it. She had a reason. Maybe a squirrel came in through the window. She always loved running after the squirrels.- he gives her another caress. Roxy pleasure whistle. -I'm sure she's sorry for her gesture, is not so, Rox?- this time the dog is still, squinting slightly her eyes in the direction of Lisa.
-No, she hates me, but do not you see? She is looking at me in a threatening way!- Luke is tired. He's been back from just an hour, after a bad case in Kansas. The last thing he needs is get stressing for superficial and minimal matters like this.
He makes to get closer. -Come on, Roxy menacing?- the animal gives a gentle glance to the master, but as soon as Luke gives her back, she raises her lips, showing her teeth, without growling.
-You defend her! You prefer her to me! Your girlfriend!- the woman dodges it and leaves the room and then from the house, after taking her bag. He doesn’t even try to stop her.
-It will pass, right Rox?- he sits on the bed and she is getting ready to reach him, resting her head on his legs and sitting on her stomach, allowing him to scratch her belly.
-Yes, the unsub has rented an apartment in a residential area... you are the closest. I send you the coordinates.- the person on the other side of the phone didn’t do any of her usual jokes, but he finds himself smiling anyway. Just hear her voice, regardless of what she says, makes him happy.
-Ok, Garcia, thank you- a double beep sounds in the ears of both. -Damn, I have a call waiting, can you wait a second?- he wonders who it may be. None of the team, otherwise Garcia would have say it to him.
-Don’t worry, I'm multitasking.- he laughs, pressing the call acceptance button.
-Luke, damn it, who were you talking to? Why did it take you so long to answer?- Lisa. He sighs. He begins to bear no more than to hear her say his name, pulls the u too much.
-We're trying to solve a case, Lisa. What is it?- he doesn’t try to hide his annoyance.
-Change tone, ok? It's her again, your dog.- he'll give her one more minute.
-What did she do this time?- forty seconds.
-She urinated on my bag! There were important documents. Luke, are you listening to me?- again. The man passes a hand through his hair and takes a breath.
-I'm sorry, but now I can’t take care of it. Send it to the laundry and check the bill for me, ok?- he notices that she tries to protest. -Seriously, Lisa. I have no time. I'm going to get the unsub. We'll talk later.- and he hangs up without adding anything else. -Are you still there, Garcia?- the machine's display is already set to the address she sent him.
-Sure. Rossi and Prentiss are going there. I'll put you in line with them.- feeling the clear voice of Penelope, after that rough of his girlfriend, is like a refreshing breeze.
-So, what do you think?- Luke watches the woman lying on her bed. She wears the bare minimum. There is no room for imagination. The lace bra is so tight that he can’t understand how the hook has not already broken. And the combined garment is so transparent... and yet, despite the show that certainly doesn’t leave him indifferent, a yawn escapes him. Very serious mistake.
-Sorry.- he tries to say, but it's too late.
-Maybe if you had not gone to O'Keef, before you came to me, you wouldn’t be so tired.-there's a bottom of truth in what she says, but he doesn’t want to give her any reason, nor fight. In fact, he just wants to be able to rest. Lisa is tempting, but the pillow more. His eyes are closing on their own... she then tries another tactic. He feels her hand work on his trousers, first on the strings of the boots, then on the zipper, the button. She massages him, snatching some moans from him.
-Lisa...- he says, with the intention of stopping her and postponing the next morning, but the woman interprets it as a sign of pleasure and continues.
-Relax, love, I do everything...- he takes a bit 'too literally her. After a moment, he is blissfully snoring and dreaming of something similar, but with a different female actress. Luckily Roxy enters, barking and waking him up, otherwise he would have risked doing much worse. Like saying the other woman's name like an ecstatic moan.
He walks with his hands in his pockets, his head down, pensive. He feels extremely lonely. It's the first time, he can remember, that Roxy is not with him running. What's happening to her? He hopes the vets can find the answer. When he left her there, just an hour before, he felt the need to cry, and it's not that he happens to do it very often.
-Dina, hey, stop!- he is so on the clouds that doesn’t immediately recognize the voice. A small brown and black stain touches his legs, darting like a rocket, in pursuit of no one knows what. A few steps back, a blonde woman arrives, breathless, who instead ends up on him. -Excuse me...- she says, then recognizes him. -Luke!- the same shocked look of when he gave her the anti-stress kitty. -Is not that... could you help me get her back?- he nods, immediately understanding the situation. -She is Dina.- they are walking fast, together, calling her in unison.
-It's a hell of a dachshund.- and she is comfortably sprawled on the shore of one of the many artificial lakes. Luke smiles, seeing his partner's shoulders relax and hearing her breath of relief.
-She managed to take off her bib by herself.- she explains. -If I had lost her, Kathrine would never forgive me...- noticing the man's interest, she continues. -I missed the evenings with Roxy- she confesses, blushing in such a genuine way that she can snatch another smile from him. -and some of my friends needed help, so...- she shrugs. She doesn’t look him in the eye anymore.
- Well, it's a very nice thing. You're perfect as a dog sitter. When you're with animals, it's like when you're in front of a computer. It's your element.- he also let himself go more than usual. Maybe he thought too much and now struggles to hold his tongue. Penelope finds the strength to lift her gaze up to the male one and so she notices his sweet expression, but at the same time worried.
-Hey, it’s happen something?- after having reset Dina, she puts a hand on Luke's shoulder, which feels a jolt. -You seem... weird- he doesn’t answer, then she starts to talk rambling as usual. -Well, after all, it's none of my business. I'm sorry if I bothered you and... thank you for helping me to recover Dina...- she tries to get away, but he stops her with a few cold fingers on her arm.
-No, Penelope, I'm sorry. Yes, something happened... I had to take Roxy to the vet.- she opens her eyes wide, alarmed.
-Roxy? What? What's wrong? Is she better now?- she floods him with questions. The dog barks, as if to participate in their conversation.
-I don’t know, what is it, she behaves strangely. I hope they can tell me...- he sighs, looks towards the grass, where he meets Dina's gaze, who jumps, trying to set in his arms. He helps her to reach her goal and Penelope is breathless in watching him while the dog as if she were a child, and she reciprocates by licking his entire face.
-Wow, dogs like you a lot, no?- she jokes, trying to lighten the atmosphere. Luke is grateful to her. He gives her a wink.
-And not only.- but he is referring to when, in the evening organized by Garcia in her apartment, after overcoming the trauma of the case of Ferrell, he met Sergio. -But you too, all animals love you.- even those human, he only adds in his head. She gives him one of her giggles. Then the phone in the pocket of his jeans rings. It's the vet. -Hello? Already? Sure, I'll be right there.- he gently lays down Dina and gives her a caress. -It’s the vets. Roxy's analysis is over, but they want to talk to me in person...- he's anxious. It is clearly seen. It's normal.
-Hey, come on, you'll see that everything will be all right.- looking at those dark eyes behind those lenses and that smile just mentioned, it is difficult to believe otherwise. He would like to have a shred of her positivity.
-I hope so.- he sighs. Doubt is stirred inside him. But eventually it yields. -Do you want to... accompany me?- he regrets suddenly. He hates looking pretentious. But she was the first person to come to his mind when he thought of making that surprise to Phil. He can’t imagine anyone else in her place. -If you don’t have any other commitments, I mean...- he tries to downplay the proposal.
-No, I mean... I just have to bring Dina back home. I would willingly, but...- here it is the but, it must have been there. -But would not it be better if you went with Lisa? I don’t know if she would be happy to know that...- she shuts up, because Luke starts laughing. -I said something funny without realizing? Sometimes it happens to me...- he is about to reassure her, shaking his head.
-No, no. It's just that... Lisa dropped me last night.- he doesn’t seem particularly desperate. And she is not able to come out with a partially fake "I'm sorry".
-Oh, great.- she says instead. Luke widens his eyes, surprised. -I mean ... great, in this way, at least she will not take it to know that I accompany you...- her delirium is the cry of a castaway without life vest. Fortunately, he has mercy on her. He accompanies her to Dina's house, where Katherine glances at her friend, forcing her to promise she will tell everything later, perhaps thinking that he is a suitor of hers. If she were alone, Penelope would laugh at the idea. On the man's truck, they both feel the need to fill the silence with anything.
-Do you think that maybe Roxy is jealous of not being your only girl? It would be the simplest explanation.- she speaks looking out the window.
-Yes, but... when she was with you she never behaved like that, right?- he asks for confirmation while his eyes remaining fixed on the road. They are ending up in rough terrain. He would not even look at her if he could.
-Sure, but I've never been a threat... I mean, she never saw me in this way. Even those evenings in which we were all three together, is not that...- he can feel her face turn red even without seeing it. He imagines her swallowing and biting his lips. -... that we were hugging each other or... things like that. Indeed, the third wheel, if anything, it was you! – she finds a way to out of it, with one of her jokes. In fact, more than half of the nights he'd returned after a case had been brilliantly solved, he'd caught them hugging each other and sleeping on the couch. Roxy loves Penelope and, obviously, hates Lisa. Not that she has ever done anything to establish any kind of relationship with his dog, even before the problems emerged.
Fortunately, after a few minutes they arrived. He always imagined opening her the door, but Garcia is too quick and self-assured. She is more agitated than he is. She loves Roxy, like any other living creature. Of course, having a girlfriend to shake hands, at a time like this, it would not be bad. But he can’t even demand this, from the blonde, as he is convinced that in a moment like this, she would give it to him. As soon as the secretary sees them, she directs them to the doctor's office.
-Good morning, Mr. Alvez.- they shake hands. -We have done all the possible investigations. From a physical point of view, Roxy is fit as a fiddle.- good news. -While from the mental one... we don’t know. She behaves in a strange way, as you said.- he pauses and stares at Penelope. -This is your girlfriend, the one that your dog doesn’t seem to bear?- both blush and hurry to deny.
-No, she's a friend.- Garcia is glad that he didn’t present her only as a colleague. The doctor nods.
-Would you like to do an experiment? I would like to see Roxy's reaction when she sees her. Maybe, Mr. Alvez, you could pretend to hug her, or something. Many don’t know it, but animals also develop jealousy and possessiveness, like us.- Penelope mentally exults, telling him with a single glance, I was right. They stand up and follow him. Roxy is in a cage too small for her size. The veterinarian stays at a distance, after having activated the automatic opening.
-Hey, Rox.- Luke says. But he lets the blonde approach first.
-Sweetheart, how are you? You made me worry so much, and Dad was anxious too. Penelope's voice would melt an iceberg in Greenland. She lowers, for nothing scared at all for a possible ferocious reaction of the animal. Roxy runs towards her, throwing her almost to the ground with joy. You came! I knew Luke would have to call you. I sent that other one away, it's no longer a problem. She barks, wagging her tail. Penelope, with difficulty, lets her go, standing up, for the second part of the experiment. Like a teenager on a first date, Luke puts his arm around the hips of Penelope and hugs her. Roxy emits some whine and beats her paws on the floor, leaning forward. Yes, like this! With her you are always happy, Luke, smile and laugh, with the other one you only occasionally yelling and doing strange sounds... The woman bows her head on the male shoulder and he puts a kiss on her hair. How long did he want to take off this whim? Roxy still jumps.
-Well, that's enough.- the doctor decrees the curtain falls. The show is over. Like robots, the two feds move away. Luke made her wear the bib as they move into the office. -I'll be frank. I think your girlfriend…- but the Latin interrupts him.
-Ex-girlfriend.- he is keen to specify. The vet holds a laugh. He studies non-human animals, but it is also evident in his eyes that there is something between these two or that there has been. And Roxy wants them to be together.
-Good, ex-girlfriend. I think she did something wrong with Roxy. With your... friend, she behaved in a balanced and perfectly normal way. She has no problem with the female figures, but only with that woman. If you don’t intend to come back with her, I would say that the problem can be said to be solved.- he notes how imperceptibly the blond woman is tending, waiting for the answer.
-No, there is not this possibility.- a hint of a smile. Then the men stand up, exchanging another handshake. -So, thank you, doctor. Really.- after paying the parcel, they go out. One of the two much more serene. The other, however, breaks out without warning to cry. He has never managed to bear to see her feel bad and he has already wasted too many opportunities to console her. -Hey, what's up? Penelope?- she keeps her face hidden in her hands. Roxy also emits some sounds of complaint to keep her company. Neither of them understands the reason. He brings the dog into the back seats and reaches her. -Penelope?- he tries again, hoping for more result.
-Go, Luke, leave me alone, it's nothing. Go ahead, I can go home on foot, or in a taxi...- why should she always try to drive him away? Why she doesn’t want to accept his help? Yet, did she forget what he said that evening? He takes her hands away from her face. Here, under his nose. Glasses’ lenses covered with salty drops.
-Penelope, it's me. You must not be afraid of being human. I'm here. Don’t deal with everything alone.- he has that puppy expression again, that on that face, on that body... She surrenders, throwing herself into his arms. With his free hand, he strokes her back. He doesn’t say anything, because nothing seems appropriate to him. When the sobs increase, he squeezes her harder. And not even an erotic thought touches his mind, although he can feel for the first time all those inviting shapes pressed against his body. He is too focused on her pain.
When she calms down, the first thing she does is to apologize. And then, she gets lost in an explanation only partly necessary. -It's just that... when we entered that clinic... I felt like going back in time, when... when Clooney... Morgan's dog... when they told us that the best thing we could do for him was accept that he was asleep. And... I was so scared that the same thing could happen with Roxy... and Clooney was old, but Rox... she's so young and fit...- she looks at the mirror, where the dog seems to look at her too. -I kept everything, but when we left, I couldn’t do it anymore...- she tries to calm one's breath. -I told you I'm a sensitive person...- she even tries a joke.
-Penelope, I told you, you don’t have to apologize for anything. I just hope I was able to make you feel a little better...- she hurries to nod. -So... do you want that I pick you home?- the woman nods, and goes back in the car. Once again, they remain silent, each lost to relive that scene that has just vanished. He parks, but this time he's faster and after opening the door, he accompanies her to the threshold. -Uh, then... good night.- the embarrassment is so obvious between them. They are not just colleagues, but they are not even friends.
-Night, Luke. And thank you.- she repeats, without specifying what she is thanking him for.
-You’re welcome.- he smiles at her. Then there is a commotion, and both turn around. It is Roxy, who has managed to open the car door and runs towards them. She doesn’t stop, crashing into the master, who loses his balance, clinging to Penelope. Only then, the dog sits, satisfied with her work. -Sorry, I don’t know what she does.- she shakes her head.
-There's no problem, nobody's hurt.- but the man' weight is crushing her against the wall by the door. And their faces are too close. This time he feels perfectly the breasts of Garcia pressed against his chest. He hurries to detach himself.
-Yeah. Night, Penelope.- and he goes away, before reacting in an indecorous way.
-Hello, Garcia, what are you doing tonight?- extrapolated from the context the sentence may seem what is not. Like a gallant invitation. But in the tone of man there is the same embarrassment.
-Uh, no.- she remains a few seconds perplexed, turning the phone from one hand to another. -Why? Does it concern Roxy? Did something else happen?- maybe he wants to tell her that he's back with Lisa and now they are in love even more. She feels selfish to hope that it is not so. She should want Luke's happiness, she loves him, after all.
-Yes, it's about Roxy. She behaves strangely again, but... you should come here yourself to see, I don’t know how to explain it...- he glares at the dog, who hides innocently in front of her work of art.
-All right. Indian food?- a smile is painted on the lips of the man. She always keeps him on his toes, but in a second she knows how to simplify everything.
When she reaches him, a few hours later, the situation has remained unchanged. -Look.- he says, leading her into the living room. Tiny pieces of paper are scattered throughout the floor. Approaching and looking better, she understands that these are fragments of photographs. All portray the same person. Lisa. From her place, Roxy barks, greeting her. I am happy that you are here. What do you think? Luke didn’t use this stuff, I only did him a favor. It seems to her to grasp a certain complicity in the dog's gaze.
-But they're all...- she laughs, but holds back, wondering what Luke would think.
-Yes, but it doesn’t end here.- gently taking her by the arm, he makes her way to the bedroom. Roxy also follows them, curious to see what Penelope thinks. On the mattress are placed other photographs, this time perfectly intact. And the subject, indeed, the subjects, this time are...
-It's you and me!- she can’t just shut up this time. In some there is only her (and this raises the question: but when Luke took these photographs, without she realizing it?), in others they are together, alone or with the team.
-Yes.- the man sighs. -I think she wanted to see you and didn’t know how to make me understand. While, Lisa’ photos...- he shrugs. -This is a closed case.- Penelope nods, still curious about those images that portray her, but without the courage to ask for explanations. -Let's eat?-
Later, with full bellies, they both wonder why she is still here, but they don’t find one reason for which she should leave. Seeing that the situation is a little too static, Roxy decides that her intervention is still needed. These two don’t really want to decide to takes a step that they would be perfect together. Luke always smiles when he is with Penelope, and she looks at him as she looks at me. Without being seen, she can turn on the radio and start the CD that has been there since the last time it was turned on. She remembers that evening perfectly, one of the last ones spent with Garcia. The blond woman sang those strange words with a melancholy expression, and she listened to her voice happily, occasionally whining to accompany her. Feeling the music start, they both jump on the sofa, sitting at a safe distance. Roxy barks, forcing them to stand up to see what she is doing. Penelope instantly recognizes the song, it comes from a jazz record that Rossi gave her and that she forgot at Luke's home.
Quiero vivir vos, with all the honesty of the people at the front, I really feel that I will live with you...
-Your dog is really...- she can’t find a suitable adjective. Roxy seems to look at them innocently.
I want to give you everything and it will stay that way, because for you, if everything is now varied, it will never be the opposite again...
Luke nods. It seems that Roxy is doing everything to bring him in that direction to Penelope. Sure, for a year and a half she has bear his monologues on how many spells she had done, how much he wanted to find the courage to make a move... and his dog is different from the others, it's special (this is the thought of any master about his animal). But even act as Cupid? Roxy barks, as if to confirm his doubts, and gives him a paw, pushing him towards the blonde.
It's cold, it's so, so cold, so hold me tight and don’t talk if, I tell you that I know, in a couple of years or three, that I will live with you...
-So that is absurd, but it seems that she wants... that we...- he feels ridiculous. But on the other side there's her, Garcia, Penelope, and something has changed between them, out of that ambulatory.
-Let's dance, Luke?- she's not less scared or less embarrassed, but she says it anyway. He swallows, clears the distance between their bodies and positions one arm on her waist, and the other hand is intertwined with the female one. She does the same, resting her head in the hollow of his shoulder, where it fits perfectly, like a missing piece of puzzle. At one point, he seems to hear something, and sharpens his ears. Yes, Penelope is singing, in a low voice.
...but did you understand it or not? Quiero vivir con vos... con vos... ah...
And the strangest thing is to hear her speak in Spanish. But he don’t miss this opportunity, focusing on the nuances of that voice that had already bewitched him, like the sirens of Odysseus, but without deception. They sway, embrace and exist only them in the world.
Quiero vivir con vos, with the simplicity, of strong people who really are not simple...
Even the text of the song is not so random but fits perfectly between them. Roxy is good, perfectly silent, crouched in her place, enjoying the show in turn. This is the good time, meditates, beating the tail only occasionally, staying almost in time with the song.
I want to get everything wrong, if anything I will remedy and I want to lose you if I need to understand how important you are...
He was wrong. He had chosen Lisa, hoping to forget Penelope and it was useless. Even his dog had realized how futile that attempt had been. How different, how many smiles, laughter spent in the company of the blonde IT, between teasing and vegetarian dinners, yet, neither of them had never managed to take the first step and couldn’t even define themselves as friends.
Cold, it's so cold, so cold, so keep me tight and do not talk if, I tell you that I know, in a couple of years or three, that I will live with you ... but did you understand it or not? Quiero vivir con vos... con vos... ah...
And he follows the words of the song, squeezes her harder against him, he inhales the scent of her hair, which slightly tickles his neck. It saddens to think that soon all this will end, they will return to reality and... he would live forever at that moment, even if it means never discovering what it means to put his lips on the red ones of Penelope and then, make love with her...
I try not to think about it, but I miss you... I read you between the looks and... I miss you... and, irony helps me, but I miss you, a petal among others, that I will not forget...
How many times would he want to tell her, how often had he bitten his tongue? It was not enough to hear her talking through a telephone or a computer screen. He cursed the fact that she was never on the field at least as much as he blessed it. And if she were in danger, what would he do? He would lose his head, he, always cold and unperturbed. It is certain.
I need you... not only if I do not have you... ah... cold, it's so cold, so cold, so hold me tight and do not talk if I tell you that I know, in a couple of years or three, that I will live with you... but did you understand it or not? Quiero vivir con vos...
They both know that the record is making its last turn. For the last stanza she raises her head, and sings looking into his eyes. Luke doesn’t know how to interpret this gesture. But as expected, as soon as the music disappears, the blonde apologizes, grabs her purse and runs out, without even wishing him a good night. With his heart in turmoil, the man looks at Roxy and feels he has let slip a really important opportunity.
-So, girl, have you decided to play Cupid?- he sits on the bed, with the words of the song that still echo in the head. She reaches him. -But you know that your arrows are fake, because it didn’t work. You know what I feel for Penelope, but you can’t force her to feel the same. I know you love her too. Anyway, thank you. Lisa wasn’t the right person and... these moments with Penelope were...- he sighs and shakes his head. -Unfortunately, Rox, we must resign ourselves that not everything goes the way we want.-
It's been over a week, and Garcia acts with him as if nothing had happened. Not only that evening that they danced a slow together, but also the outburst outside the vet. She's professional, kind, but nothing more. And he doesn’t even take it around anymore. One day he decides to take advantage one last time of his dog, informing her that now she is fine. In return he receives a light but sincere smile. Nothing more.
But Roxy, unlike him, didn’t resign herself. Luke can also believe that the blonde doesn’t love back him, but he has never understood much about feelings and women. So, one evening while they are running in the park, she sees Penelope with another dog, small than her, but forgives the betrayal. She moves away from his master and barks in her direction. Hey, you don’t know me, but I know Penelope. She and my owner love each other, but they are stupid and don’t want to declare themselves. Would you like to help me? Dina loves looking at the telenovelas with her blonde dog sitter and responds enthusiastically. Sure! She is easily released from the socket, giving a tug on the leash, which escapes through the woman's fingers and runs towards Roxy. What do you have in mind? Both Luke and Penelope run to their dogs, but they are both much faster than they are. Have you ever seen a movie called One Hundred and One Dalmatians? We have to weave our leashes, running around them, so that they are forced to stay close. It will certainly work! In the eyes of all the people present, they are two dogs that are barking, but without growl. A child laughs, looking at them, and pointing them to his mother. So, did you understand? Now let's start again, and at the right time... Here are the two feds.
-Dina, bad dog, why do you keep running away?- the dog willingly accepts the lecture.
-I see you don’t seem to be able to stay close to me, you'll have to get used to a leash, like any other normal dog.- it's a fair price to pay for having Penelope in her house, and Roxy stops, while Luke hooks up her to one of the many gifts of IT. Are you ready? Now! Before they can even speak, the two dogs start again, each in a different direction, making them collide, and then, as established, run around them, so that the leashes intertwine around their legs and arms, preventing them from moving or step away.
-It seems that Roxy doesn’t want to give up, eh?- Penelope tries to joke. He gives a little laugh. These two are able to stay here until nightfall, without concluding anything, Dina says. You are right. They need... a push. The Belgian shepherd stands up on her hind legs and presses with both of the front ones on the back of the woman, who, unprepared and unable to restrain herself with her arms, ends up with her mouth on the man's. Less than a second, or almost, she comes off immediately. -Uh, sorry, I didn’t want to, really, I slipped...- why the hell she is apologizing? It was nothing and yet it was Paradise.
-Do not... do not worry.- why he don’t tell her that he really wants a lot, but a lot more? Why is he standing there, impaled, staring at her with that usual idiotic look? Again, they end up unbalanced, this time it is Dina's work. And neither of them moves away, indeed, they deepen the kiss, the eyelids are lowered, and the hands wander, to wander from the neck, shoulders, hair... when they come off, smiles reign and here, the eternal embarrassment. -Hey, Rox, you got what you wanted. Can you free us now?- the Belgian shepherd and the dachshund get ready to perform, running backwards. -So... now... what are we going to do?- what he would like to ask is what they are now, but it's already something that has been able to open his mouth.
-Uh, I don’t know... maybe we could...- he no need for his dog to give him another thrust, this time he takes the courage with his hands.
-Eat something and watching a movie on the sofa?- he proposes, fearing then that she is disappointed, maybe she would prefer a restaurant and a trendy place, but he is one of couch in the soul... and then he remember that she is Penelope.
-Yes, it's perfect.- and she's smiling at him like that...
-Really?– he needs confirmation. Although he seems ridiculous.
-Really.- they smile like two idiots. -So... see you later, Luke. I take Dina to her house and I'll join you?- and he likes the idea that she hasn’t asked him to accompany her, even if he would willingly, because a little bit of waiting will give him time to assimilate what could happen. Meanwhile, Roxy thanks Dina for the collaboration.
-Well, see ya.- she starts to walk, but hasn’t made three steps yet, when he calls her. -Ah, Penelope!- she turns, wondering what he wants to say to her. -I think it is better to avoid One Hundred and One Dalmatians or similar. It’s better an action movie, like Fast and furios?- both laugh, then Penelope comes back serious.
-We’ll see.- how beautiful is the melody of the future.
TAGS: @theshamelessmanatee @itsdawnashlie @talesoffairies @kiki-krakatoa @gcchic @arses21434 @jarmin @kathy5654 @martinab26
@thisonekid @thenibblets @perfectly-penelope @ambrosiaswhispers @reidskitty13 @jenf42 @gracieeelizabeth27 @silviajajaja @smalliemichelle99 @charchampagne14 @thinitta @skisun @myhollyhanna23 @thenorthernlytes @garvezz @mercedes-maldonado
#garvez#roxy#penelope garcia#luke alvez#criminal minds#cm#luke x penelope#penelope x luke#alvez x garcia#garcia x alvez#dogs#quiero vivir con vos#tiziano ferro
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King Of The Jungle
Another Crowley survival story. Enjoy!
Dean hasn’t told Sam and Cas yet, because he’s pretty sure they’d laugh if he explained he feels like he’s transforming into a Disney princess.
Not the falling asleep for a hundred years or the biting into poisoned apple part, but he’s rather sure that animals have started to try and communicate with him.
Another reason he hasn’t mentioned it is because... well, if this is a spell or an attack, it’s a pretty lame one.
First time it happened, he barely paid attention to the rat hovering near where the body was found. After all, they were in a pretty grim part of town, so why shouldn’t there have been rats?
But then – Sam and Cas had just stepped away to talk to the witness – it darted out of the shadows and dragged something out of the victim’s flesh, laying it at Dean’s feet before vanishing as quickly as it had come.
It turned out to be the claw of a lamia. He pretended he’d spotted it and focused on dealing with the thing quickly. After all, it could have just been a fluke. Rat felt hungry, rat realized what it had taken wasn’t edible, rat threw it away. And it accidentally landed in front of him.
It was easier to believe than that there was some secret society of rats – and that they had suddenly decided to help him out.
So yeah, he decided that it was in his best interest not to think about it too much.
But from that moment on...
The rat wasn’t the last helpful animal they came across. And yet, they only ever seemed to focus on Dean and Dean alone.
A cemetery late at night, a werewolf on the prowl, Sam, Dean and Cas doing their best to encircle and dispatch it.
It attacks Dean from behind – he must be getting old – and he only has time to think that it seems like he’s finally reached the end of the line when out of the blue a wolf – a real one – appears and drags the werewolf away from him.
Then, it jumps between the two of them, glancing at Dena as if to say Catch your breath, I’ve got this, and isn’t that an idiotic thing to assume an animal is telling him.
“Thanks” he breathes regardless. The wolf keeps the werewolf at bay until Dean can gank him and then disappears.
They are having some free time for once, and Dean insisted on going to the beach. They really deserve a holiday. Not even Sam put up much of a resistance.
Of course they’d end up in a town with shtriga activity.
That, at least, is unsurprising, because of course they can never catch a freaking break.
What is – well, Dean will be the first to admit that he didn’t assume he was going to be alerted to the fact that something was after the children by a cat walking up to him and dropping a newspaper in front of his feet.
Freaking wraiths, man.
That’s all Dean can think as he’s dragged underwater. With a few practiced moves, he’s soon free of the creature’s hold and ready to –
As it turns out, he doesn’t need to do anything else since the next thing he sees is a seal – a freaking seal in a lake – tearing it apart.
He blinks and it’s gone.
Currently they’re working a case somewhere in Missouri – witches. God, Dean still hates their guts, Rowena helping them out occasionally notwithstanding (and sometimes in his darkest nights he will even admit to himself why he has no problem with her popping in now and then).
Point is, they’re looking for the witch’s den, having split up to be faster; once upon a time, Cas would have been able to find them instantly, but since he came back from the dead with diminished powers (but at least he came back, unlike – not that Dean thinks about that a lot, because it’s complicated and he doesn’t need to make things even worse by brooding on them), and Dean is walking down a street when he hears –
The cry of an eagle.
Now, he’s pretty sure eagles stay out of towns, but then, with his new-found status as a beacon for all animal life within five miles of wherever they are currently staying, he is less surprised than he should be. He looks up. Yep, that’s an eagle right there – it cries out one more time, seems to look down at him, then sweeps east.
Dean really should know better than to follow it, so naturally he does.
And wouldn’t you know it? It leads him right to the witch’s place.
So what if he lies when Sam asks how he found it later? He simply got lucky, that’s all.
But the eagle was the last straw nonetheless, and so he starts doing research. There has to be an explanation for him suddenly turning into the king of the jungle.
Nothing he finds fits the bill, though. Most spells that send animals after people are pretty nasty and tend to make the animals attack, but that’s not what has been happening. On the contrary.
And Dean thinks of the wolf, jumping in front of him with a backward glance that seemed entirely too intelligent –
No. Scratch that. Yeah, the wolf seemed sentient, but more than that –
Something about it was familiar. As if Dean had known it before it came to his rescue –
It doesn’t make any sense, but it’s all he has.
Something he knows.
It’s when he suddenly thinks that it doesn’t have to be something but could very well be someone that he comes across the solution.
A solution.
But one he desperately wants to be true because – well, because –
Just because. Does everything have to have a reason, now? God knows enough has happened to them already.
And if it were true –
But it can’t be, surely.
No; he’ll just wait and see. Maybe he’ll find out the truth.
When he does, it’s in a rather unspectacular fashion. He has come to study every animal they come across, since whoever or whatever is following him can hardly just stumble across their hunts by accident – they have to keep close by, to make sure they can react at the right moment; and one day, he spots a Dalmatian patiently sitting on the kerb on the other side of the street, doing its best not to look at their motel, but Dean knows.
And so he decides to leave through the backdoor and sneak up on it, telling Sam and Cas he’s going to get burgers.
It’s pure luck that he manages not to alert the dog, really – the wind’s blowing into his face, so it doesn’t pick up his scent, and it’s still there after he gets around the block.
Once he comes close though, it jumps in the air, turning around –
Showing Dean its eyes.
Red eyes.
And granted, he never really saw them like that, but he knows that look. “Crowley. Long time no see.”
The dog tilts its head to the side in a pretty good imitation of Cas’ signature move, but Dean won’t be fooled so easily. “Come on. I know it’s you. Or are you going to tell me just any random wolf came to my rescue at that cemetery?”
He’s fervently hoping that no one’s paying attention to the apparently crazy guy berating a dog on the sidewalk.
If that’s in any way possible, the dog looks contrite. “I assume you can’t talk.”
It’s wearing a collar, and Dalmatians aren’t exactly cheap, so Dean presumes any time now an annoyed pet owner is going to show up. “Look, we need to talk. Any chance you can get a meat suit, just for a few minutes?”
It might not be exactly ethical to allow Crowley to possess a random person, but he really needs to know what Crowley’s deal is, and what he’s been thinking, just running after them and helping out when he could have just knocked on the bunker’s door. Yeah, Dean did punch him in the face the last time he showed up, but he was understandably upset at the time, and that has to count for something.
He watches the Dalmatian run off and goes to a nearby park, confident that Crowley will find him. When a man approaches the bench he’s sitting on, Dean almost has to laugh – leave it to the demon to find a meat suit that looks remarkably like the one that got left behind in the Apocalypse world, maybe with a few years shaved off. Guy’s even got a beard.
“There you are. Now can we talk about this like adults?”
Crowley sits down next to him, clearly moping. Dean rolls his eyes but can’t suppress a smile.
Man, it feels good to have him back.
When Crowley looks up, he seems taken aback, then clears his throat. “What is it, Squirrel?”
Alright, the new voice will take a bit to get used to. “What do I – you are the one who decided to go all magical fairytale companion on me!”
Crowley shrugs and does his best to look unaffected by all of this, which would probably work if Dean didn’t know him better than most. “I needed to lie low. Every demon in Hell is after me, and I’m not as strong as I used to be.”
“Strong enough to take on a werewolf, at any rate” Dean says. “Wait, since when is hanging around us considered “lying low”?”
“It’s the last place anyone would think of looking for me” Crowley replies smoothly.
Dean has to admit there’s some logic behind that. Begrudgingly, of course. “So what are your plans for the immediate future? I imagine suitable empty meat suits who aren’t rotting aren’t easy to come by.”
“There are always more animals” Crowley says with a sigh. “I assume you won’t let me keep the accountant from Kansas?”
“Nope, but you just gave me an idea.” Dean stands up. “Let’s go to a shelter.”
“No.”
“Crowley” Dean hisses. “This is not some Disney movie where we walk in, grab Pongo and drive off into our happily ever after. You can’t expect to find some pretty dog in a shelter.”
“But –“
“Look I know it’s not ideal. But you want something sturdy, like this bull dog.”
“To help you out during hunts. Got it.” Now Crowley sounds downright disgusted, and Dean can’t blame him. If Cas hates being called their attack dog, how much worse must it be for someone who was treated like an actual dog by the devil?
“No” he says casually because the subject hasn’t come up yet, “But Juliet needs someone strong to play with.”
“Juliet?”
Dean shrugs, looking anywhere but at Crowley. “She just showed up. Didn’t have the heart to gank her. Mind, Sam complained at the beginning, but then I caught him petting her, the softie.”
Crowley obviously doesn’t quite know to do with the observation, so he concentrates on the flee-ridden bull dog that’s supposed to be put down next week again. “In that case...”
Dean grins.
“Dean” Sam says opening the door of their motel room, “Where have you –“ he stops talking when he sees the dog next to Dean.
“Hey Sammy, looks like you get a pet after all.” The dog growls. “Don’t be like that. Oh, and we should start vetting reports about brain-dead John Does in hospitals. We’re gonna need one.”
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OUAT ReWrite: 7x22 - Part 1
So if you know anything about me, you know I violently hated the final episode. Personal feelings aside, I felt every scene was handled wrong and it was badly written in general. So this is my rewrite. It’s how I would have made it better while still sticking to the general same storyline of the episode.
At the end of the chapter, I have explained what I changed and why I changed it.
Chapter One: Robin & Alice in Storybrooke
The tune that Grumpy whistled had once been like nails on a chalkboard to him and his brothers. It had grated on their last nerves, especially when they heard others whistling it whenever they happened to walk too close by someone who had recently seen a not so accurate film version of their story. But at some point, though none of them could discern when, the tune had snuck up on them and they had begun whistling it to themselves almost every morning when they made their way towards the mines. In particular, it had snuck up on Grumpy most of all, who often had to give the others a nudge now and then to get the song back in their hearts and join him for their little morning musical number.
“I tell ya, there’s nothing like morning in Storybrooke!” Grumpy said cheerfully, strolling down the street and enjoying the sweet smell of the morning air. It had been raining earlier, but not even a harsh downpour could ruin his good mood. “Now get whistling you two! Dwarves got standards to maintain!”
The two dwarves shared amused smiles behind his back before they quickly joined in, strolling down towards where Granny was already coming out of her diner, arms full of small brown bags resting on top of a smooth wooden tray. She smiled when she saw the familiar faces walking towards her. Their timing was spot on, as always. So much so, that the small men reached the older woman at the perfect moment as she stepped through the white picket fence surrounding her establishment and met them on the street just outside.
“Here ya go, Leroy.” Granny said. “The usual. Times seven.”
Grumpy’s face, if possible, stretched into an even wider grin as he accepted the tray of carefully prepared lunches. “The greatest sandwich in all the realms!” He said proudly before turning and starting across the road…
Only to stop short at the sound of a loud horn, turning to see a large yellow truck skidding to a stop just inches in front of him. He saw his two lives flash before his eyes and the tray of sandwiches dropped out of his hand, landing upside down at his feet just as the truck came to a complete stop. For a moment none of the dwarves or Granny moved, even as Dr Hopper, who had been wandering past, froze midstep. And then two young women were jumping out of the vehicle either side, rushing around to the front of the truck frantically.
“Oh no, I am so sorry!” Robin gasped, holding her hands out helplessly and looking the familiar man up and down quickly, searching for injury. “Are you okay?!”
“I’m fine,” Grumpy growled, living up to his real name. “My lunch ain’t so lucky!” He snapped, waving at the soggy bags, soaking up the dirty puddles of rain at the girl’s feet.
“Who are you?” Granny demanded, frowning at the two of them. Storybrooke was a close community and while some people did tend to forget the faces of all it’s residence every now and then – especially the younger ones – Granny prided herself on being able to name almost everyone at first sight, if only because she regularly took all their orders every few weeks. And these two girls, though they may not look menacing, were certainly not from around here.
“It’s a bit complicated but um… There was another curse.” Alice babbled quickly, looking at the new face around her. “We were trapped in Seattle, great coffee, too much rain, and then we broke the curse and Henry’s wife and daughter, well they were kidnapped and now he’s in trouble and the point is! Henry Mills needs our help!” She finished in a rush.
There was a short pause as confusion flashed over the faces of the Storybrooke citizens. Finally, the tall man with the dalmatian spoke up. “I saw Henry at his graduation… He’s fine. And he certainly doesn’t have a daughter!” Dr Hopper said, frowning at them while Pongo whined uncomfortably at his side.
“Uhhh!” Alice growled impatiently. “We don’t have time for this. Henry needs us! And so does Regina and everyone else back in the Enchanted Forest!”
“They’re all in need of a serious rescue operation,” Robin continued, nodding her head encouragingly. “So go tell Snow White and Prince Charming!” She finished with a small smile, knowing the two of them wouldn’t question anything she and Alice had to say once they heard their grandson was in trouble.
There was a short pause. Alice glanced around at them expectantly. “Well? What are you waiting for? Don’t you understand?” She asked sharply.
“Yeah, we understand you. We’ve been through this before.” Grumpy said, nodding his head and giving her a half smile as Granny turned and walked back towards the diner.
“Oh! Finally!” Alice said happily, reaching over and slightly tapping the back of her hand against Robin’s arm, feeling an overwhelming sense of relief. Things were finally going their way for once.
Robin however, felt her own smile dim. Something wasn’t right. Grumpy had an odd look in his eye and where was Granny even going…?
Just then, Grumpy’s smile dropped and was replaced again with an angry scowl. “Intruders.” He growled.
Alice glanced up, just in time to see Granny lift a crossbow from one of the nearby tables and take aim. The girls let out a shriek of fear as the older woman pulled the trigger and they both turned to run, barely avoiding the arrow that skimmed inches from Robin’s face after it had been fired. They heard Grumpy still screaming behind them but didn’t pause to try and explain anything. Instead they ran around the Rollin’ Bayou and dashed down the street away from the small angry mob now following them.
Even Dr Hopper, usually so peaceful, chased along with his dog lead in one hand and an umbrella pointed in the other. Robin guessed the times of peace hadn’t been as relaxing as everyone thought. In fact, it probably left everyone on edge, just waiting for the next villain to come strolling into town. And then, what would you know, Alice and Robin did just that with a crazy story about people they had already seen that day. No wonder they had freaked out on them.
Still, Robin was going to remember this when they all got back home again.
If it weren’t for Robin growing up in this town, they might have been caught straight away and then God know what would have happened to them – not to mention Henry and the others still awaiting rescue. Luckily, however, Robin knew the area well and after just a few long steps, she reached out, grabbing Alice’s hand and pulling her down an empty alleyway. It looked like a dead end at first but Robin knew better. Keeping hold of Alice’s hand, she pulled her towards the end and then began to squeeze her way in between the back fence and the building in front of it on their right. The space really was tight – it had been a few years since she had to use an escape route in Storybrooke – and the fence and brick pressed against them on either side with broken bits of rubbish and wood littering the way at their feet. However they still managed to suck in their stomachs and force their way along, gasping slightly but otherwise managing to keep quiet.
They were halfway down the tight fit when they heard the others come barrelling into the alley after them, only to stop short at sight of the dead end. It was too dark and the space was too small for them to notice the girls escape route and instead they hovered in the area, shouting at one another, wondering out loud how they had gotten away.
“They must have magic!” Dr Hopper gasped, finally.
“I knew it. I knew they weren’t to be trusted.” Grumpy growled.
“So what now?” Sleepy groaned.
“Now… We go warn the rest of the town.” Grumpy commanded. “We need to let them know there are intruders running about. Probably after Henry, considering the way they kept talking about him.”
“I’ll try and call Emma,” Dr Hopper offered.
“I’ll go find Snow and David.” Grumpy agreed. “Sleepy, Doc, you two go to the station and see if Hook’s still hanging around.”
“I think he’s down on his ship today…” Sleepy said cautiously.
“Then split up and find him already!” Grumpy snapped. “We have intruders in Storybrooke.” He said with a menacing tone. “And we need to flush ‘em out.”
Alice looked at Robin fearfully but Robin just continued to pull her along, the space getting even tighter until it was bruising and scratching their skin through their clothes before they finally made it out the other side. They found themselves in another similiar alleyway but, luckily, this one had a second fence that blocked it off from the main streets and the girls quickly rushed to duck down behind it, waiting in silence until they heard Grumpy and the others go off in separate directions, voices fading into the distance.
Finally the girls stood up. The fence was only short and they were able to look over the top with little trouble, glancing around at the almost empty streets. There were a few people still wandering around but certainly no one they could seek help from. There was no saying their reaction wouldn’t be the same as Grumpy and the others.
“When you told me about Storybrooke, you told me warm hugs and apple pies, not crossbolts to my head!” Alice hissed, glancing towards the Rollin Bayou still sitting in the middle of the streets, wondering if they would be able to make a break for it if need be.
“Well I guess when strangers show up here, it’s safe to assume they come with a villain, I mean…” Robin replied, trailing off mid sentence when she saw a familiar car pull around the corner. “Hey, look! That’s aunt Regina’s car!” She glanced from the car to Alice. “If we tell her Henry’s in trouble, she’ll believe us no matter what our story is.”
“Okay.” Alice nodded.
“Okay,” Robin whispered. “Go, go, go, go.”
They pushed open the gate and slipped out, looking around nervously as they dashed across the road towards where the car had now pulled to a stop not far from the truck. They had just reached the vehicle, safe and sound, when a woman climbed from the driver’s seat.
And it wasn’t Regina.
It was Zelena.
“You can stop staring.” Zelena said when she saw the two young women hovering in front of her, wide eyed in awe.
“Mum…” Robin mouthed, feeling a strong desire to rush straight into her arms. It was her first time seeing her now that she was awake, but she had to remind herself it wasn’t really her mother. Her mother was back in Chicago with Chad.
This Zelena went on, not noticing the shock on Robin’s expression, more focused with pulling her gloves on than anything else. “Yes, it’s me The Wicked Witch. I’m fabulous!” She paused. “Did you want a selfie or are you just going to stand there all bloody day?”
“Uh, we were looking for Regina…” Alice said nervously.
“She’s not here. She and Emma took Henry on a graduation trip.” Zelena explained.
Robin glanced towards the car and felt a chill when she caught sight of a familiar looking face. It was her. Five year old Robin sat in the front seat, sticking her tongue out at her twenty seven year old self. Even knowing they were in the past, it was still a shock to actually see herself like this.
Robin forced herself to break out of the shock, looking back at her mother as she continued talking flippantly to them. “Just, move along before I turn you both into flying monkeys.” She said with a bored tone in her voice.
“No. You won’t.” Robin said firmly. “I happen to know that you don’t have magic right now.”
“Excuse me?” Zelena said, turning to look at them again. Only now realising that she didn’t actually recognise the girls faces. Which wasn’t that unheard of but something was telling her it wasn’t just a case of never running into each other over the years. But even more than that. They knew she didn’t have magic. And that was not such casual knowledge. After all, she, Regina and the others purposely kept that piece of information quiet in order to ward off anyone who might try and pick a fight with her or the town.
“That’s why you’re driving Robin to Ashley’s daycare. If you had magic you’d just poof there. You always hated driving. Especially that car because the breaks always jerk, but really you it’s just because you have a led foot.” Robin said lightly.
“Who are you?” Zelena said coldly. “And how the hell do you know so much about me and my daughter?!”
“Okay.” Robin said, taking a deep breath. “This may be a little hard to process… But that five year old girl in that car seat there… That’s me!” Before her mother could interject, she hurried on without pause. “So you better get your game face on and go get that magic bean hiding in the cupboard, because our family needs your help.”
Zelena paused, glancing between the two girls in shock for a moment. Then finally she smirked, shaking her head. “You nearly had me there.”
“Mum, it’s the truth.” Robin began desperately.
“Oh shut up. Time travel is impossible,” Zelena said. “I should know, I tried for a long time. Unless you’re telling me you somehow found all the ingrediants and willingly sacrified an innocent life?”
“Well, no…” Robin said slowly.
“It kind of involves Mother Nature. I mean, we already defeated her now but she’s kind of been building her power and preparing this plan of hers for thousands of years.” Alice explained, shrugging weakly as she thought of her despicable mother, left back in the Heights as a part of the nature she loved so much.
“I’ve had enough. Stay the hell away from me and my daughter.” Zelena snarled, walking around the car to get five year old Robin out.
“Wait! Just hear me out. I can prove it!” Robin gasped, rushing towards her and pulling something out of her pocket. “With this.” She held up a familiar looking necklace between them.
Zelena had prepared to lash out – she wasn’t a fighter but she knew she could be if it came to defending her child – when she caught sight of the necklace and froze. Her eyes widened and she was temporarily speechless because she did recognise it. In fact, she was still wearing it. “How did you…” Zelena gasped, pausing mid step to reach up and feel the emerald gem still currently resting around her throat. It was there, but this girl had an exact look a like. In fact it was more than a look alike. It was genuine. She could sense it. That necklace had been an extra limb for her for many years, it was impossible for Zelena not to recognise the real thing when she saw it.
“You gave it to me.” Robin said tearfully. “To wear as your maid of honour.”
“My maid…” Zelena paused, looking from the necklace to the girl in front of her. Slowly, she took a breath, trying to clear her thoughts and think of some kind of explanation, but there was nothing… Beside the story they were telling her. “Oh my God… Robin…” She paused again and shook her head. “But how? Why? I mean…”
“I’ll give you the full story later,” Robin nodded, smiling at her. “But right now we need to get little me to Ashley’s so we can find Snow and David, then we need to use that magic bean to get to the Wish Realm. Henry and the others are in danger and every second we wait could mean being too late.”
Zelena only paused once more before snapping out of her shock. “Right, well, you go home and get the bean then. I’ll get the Charming’s and meet you there.”
“Okay.” Robin beamed, breathing a sigh of relief that she hadn’t realise she’d been holding, turning and waving Alice to follow her. “This way!”
As they started to dash down the street, only pausing to duck down back alleyways in order to avoid being seen by someone who might cause them delay, Alice turned to her love. “So… You were a real cute kid, huh.” She grinned.
“Oh shut up,” Robin laughed.
At this point, she wasn’t sure if her laughing was from the joy of finally getting help or the nerves of knowing they could already be too late.
To Be Continued...
So. Apart from adding a little detail as to how Alice and Robin were able to escape the angry mob that had been following them (and a tiny bit of cute Curious Archer at the very end), I changed two things in this chapter.
1. I fail to see why the citizens of Storybrooke would find their story so hard to believe. It made no sense why they would think time travel so crazy, considering they know it is possible and they have dealt with it before - unless you expect me to believe that they were in the dark about Emma and Killian’s adventures back in Season 4.
Therefore I cut out the part where Alice told them they had travelled back in time. Instead, Alice was so frazzled over getting help, she accidentally left that bit out and therefore making it more believable that they would assume they were lying because they’ve already seen Henry and know he’s safe.
2. Zelena believing Robin wasn’t too awful because she did know things she shouldn’t and such.
However I felt the necklace should have come back into play. It was a sweet moment when Zelena gave it to her, but I feel like they opened the perfect set up for that to be what convinces Zelena of the truth, only for them to completely miss what would have been a clever opportunity.
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Anonymous prompted: “Returning to the Dark Castle after rescuing Belle from the Queens of Darkness, Belle finds that Rumple also rescued the Dalmatian puppy.”
Rated: G
=====
Belle finds that Rumpelstiltskin is unusually attentive after he transports her back from her capture at the hands of the Queens of Darkness. She’s known all along that he cares for her a lot more than he likes to let on, but now she can definitely see it. Without saying it in as many words, he has practically forbidden her from doing any chores for the rest of the week, and it seems that laundry is no longer on her list of duties. Whether that’s because he wants to keep her inside the castle for her own protection or for any other reason remains to be seen, but since laundry is one of Belle’s least favourite tasks, she’s all too happen to see it gone from her roster.
He ushers her back into the main hall once they arrive, and he sets about gathering tea things.
“Rumpel, I can do that,” she says. “I’m not an invalid, they didn’t injure me at all. I’m just a bit shaken, that’s all. Please, doing something mundane like making tea will help me get back to myself a little.”
He doesn’t seem sure, but nonetheless takes a step back and lets her take over. The normality of the motions of making tea help to steady her nerves, and once they are sitting at the table with their cups, she’s feeling much more like herself again.
There’s just one thing that’s niggling at the back of her mind about her ordeal, and it’s not one that she wants to broach with Rumpelstiltskin. Not exactly for fear of his reaction, per se, but because she doesn’t know whether he would think her utterly mad. The little puppy dog that started this whole sour adventure. She really wonders what has become of it, because although she has seen that using animals is Cruella’s modus operandi, she really can’t blame the poor dog for his role in the proceedings. He had just been an innocent pawn, just as she had been, and a part of her really doesn’t want him to have to go back to doing Cruella’s bidding when he should be enjoying a carefree pup’s life.
If she voices these concerns to Rumpel, however, she’s pretty sure that she’ll just receive an incredulous look in return, as if he can’t believe that after the fright she’s just had and the assault on her own person and her compromised safety, that she should be so worried about the wellbeing of the dog that lured her into that position in the first place. So, she says nothing, and instead just drinks her tea. After reiterating for the umpteenth time that he does not expect her to do any more chores today or tomorrow in order for her to get over her ordeal, Rumpelstiltskin leaves her alone, once she has once again reassured him that she’s all right and she doesn’t need anything. Really, his concern for her is very touching, and she wonders if perhaps there is some kind of deeper feeling at work there.
Belle doesn’t think any more on it. That’s not a path that she wants to go down, because her own feelings towards him are so confused at the moment. He gave up a precious artefact to get her back, without a second thought it seemed. Is her presence in his castle really so much more valuable to him than a device that can show a person’s greatest weakness?
Alone in the main hall, Belle tries to focus on reading, but she just can’t get her mind to settle after so much turmoil, and she wanders the halls for a while. Rumpel is holed up in his laboratory in the tower again, and she knows that she will probably not see him until the next day. He likes to bury his feelings in work and experimentations, she’s already worked that out about him.
Her steps eventually wend their way in the direction of the kitchen, not out of any hunger but just because it’s a place to go, and she immediately stops in her tracks because it’s clear that she is not alone in there. She can hear someone else breathing, a kind of snuffly, not quite human breath. It’s obviously not Rumpel, because she would be able to see him, and it seems more animal than anything else. Belle creeps a little further into the kitchen and picks up the nearest utensil to use as a weapon if needs be; her experiences today have put her on high alert. Not, of course, that a spoon is going to do all that much damage against an interloper.
As she rounds the kitchen table, however, she finds that there is no interloper, and the question that has been hanging in the back of her mind ever since she got back to the castle has been answered in clear and precise fashion. The Dalmatian puppy that led her away from the castle is sitting in a basket under the counter, looking up at her with doleful pale eyes, as if apologising for its role in her earlier plight. It lets out a pathetic little whine as she approaches, and nuzzles her palm eagerly as she holds it out.
“Hello there, Puppy,” Belle croons, scratching him behind the ears. “I’m glad to see that you’re all right, little one. The bad lady didn’t hurt you, did she?”
The puppy gives a little yip, jumping up and licking her face, and Belle can only laugh at how innocent and affectionate he is.
“I thought you might want to know that he was all right.” Rumpelstiltskin’s voice behind her makes her jump, and Belle turns, a little guiltily, the pup still in her arms.
“Rumpel! I didn’t realise you were there, I, erm…”
“I was going to see if I could find a good home for him tomorrow,” Rumpel continues. “But if you want a friend in the castle, then I see no reason why you can’t keep him. I know that it can get lonely whilst I’m away dealing.”
Belle looks down at the puppy, who licks her again, effectively sealing the agreement and claiming her as his mistress.
“I think I would like that,” she says, without a shadow of a doubt.
X
Making her way back into the town centre with Rumpel, having released True Love’s Magic at the well, Belle is overawed by the world around her, drinking in all the sights and sounds of this brand new land, one that she has never had a chance to see before now. Suddenly, there’s a loud cacophony of barking from across the street.
“No, Pongo, wait, no!”
A large Dalmatian is pounding across the road towards them, almost bowling Rumpel over in his haste to get to Belle, jumping up and barking at her, his tail wagging so eagerly that it looks like he’s about to wag it off. Belle gasps, because she would recognise her puppy from the Dark Castle anywhere.
“Hello there Pup,” she says, taking his front paws and letting the dog cover her with kisses. “My, you’ve grown, haven’t you?”
The Dalmatian’s owner rushes across the street after his pet, but he does not break up the reunion between Pongo and his first mistress. Cuddling him close, Belle is glad to see that he’s been well looked after during the curse, and it is comforting to know that she has at least one other friend here in this strange new world, one who has not forgotten her even after all these years.
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The Wedding Date: Part 1
Pairings: Stripper!Chris Pratt x Reader
Warnings: Swearing
Word Count: 5,707
Aesthetic by @sorenmarie87
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every time you looked at the wedding invitation in your hand, you honestly felt sick to your stomach. The fact that she even invited you to the wedding blew your mind but the fact that she and your mother FORCED you to be the maid of honor… it was sickening.
“It’s not gunna change shape if you keep staring at it.” Your friend, Scott said as he purposely set a shot of vodka down on the invitation, even more purposely spilling a bit of it onto the ‘eggshell white and peacock blue’ color scheme. You glanced up at the bartender and let go of the card stock.
“I still maintain that she was put on this Earth to make my life miserable.” Scott tapped his nose in agreement as the women in the crowd of the strip club you were in screamed for the next act. You didn’t even look over your shoulder anymore, you just threw back your shot and snapped for another one.
You were the only woman in the entire building that wasn’t drooling over the half naked man behind you; the novelty of it wore off a long time ago. That’s what you get when your best friend (and really one of your only friends) is the bartender.
“What I don’t understand is how your own sister can marry your ex boyfriend after he cheated on you.” You tapped your nose as he poured you another shot.
“My mother says it’s my ‘blood duty’ to stand by her side, too.” You picked up your shot glass and held it in front of you with a smirk. “Here’s to hoping I don’t spill blood while doing my blood duty.” He picked up his glass of water and held it up to your shot glass.
“I’ll drink to that.” You both threw back your drinks as yet another dancer made his way up onto the stage. You still didn’t turn around as Scott poured you a coke so you’d be able to eventually drive when you were done hanging out.
“Are you sure you can’t come with me?” You asked sadly as you tilted your glass to splash the dark brown liquid on your ex-boyfriend’s name. You looked up at Scott’s sigh as he leaned on the bar in front of you.
“You know Stacy is due that weekend, (Y/N).” You nodded and ran your fingers through your long, brown hair.
“I know.” You sighed as tears stung your eyes. You ran your finger in a circle on the lip of your cup. “I just don’t want to have to do this alone, ya know? It’s bad enough my own fucking sister…” Your words caught in your throat and you shook your head. “It’s just a shitty situation.” He nodded as he leaned on the bar next to you and sighed.
“I know, babe, it really is. And you know if I didn’t have husband duties myself, I’d be there for you in a heartbeat, no questions asked.” You nodded as you took a big swig of your soft drink, missing the smile that spread across your friends face. “I know who you can take.” You glanced over at him as the woman began cheering again. Scott smirked over at you before pointing to the man who had just walked on stage.
Chris Pratt was the most popular stripper at the Candy Bowl; the best male strip club off the strip that always beat out even Thunder Down Under AND the Chippendales on a good night but never got the callouts at hotels like the others did. You totally understood why he was the favorite; he was six foot two with gorgeous green eyes and short brown hair. He always wore tight white shirts and sweats that left NOTHING to the imagination and you honestly believed his muscles had muscles.
“Are you crazy?!” You snapped as you turned toward the stage to watch him dance. “There is no way…”
“Hire him.” Your head whipped back toward your friend who shrugged. “Look, I’ve known him for years; he’s a good guy. But I know how you are. It’s all business with Miss Lawyer butt.” You glanced over at him out of the corner of your eye and rolled your eyes, causing him to chuckle. “I’m serious. He acts like your boyfriend for the week of festivities, you shell out a couple grand and you guarantee that you don’t end up alone at the wedding.” Your head tilted to the side as you watched Chris’ hips rock to the music on the stage. You had to admit, while it was absolutely insane, it wasn’t a half bad idea. With a scoff, you turned back toward the bar.
“I need another fucking shot for this shit.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So this is my situation.” You explained as you sat back stage after Chris’ set. You forced yourself to not look at him as he sat in his skimpy bottoms and counted out the money he made that night as if it were no big deal. “I have a wedding in two weeks that I have no choice but to participate in. My idiot sister is marrying my ex-boyfriend. Now, I’ve been single for nearly nine years since they got together and I have…”
“My name is Chris.” You looked over at him as he sat in his chair and stared at you. “Do I even get to know your name before I let you go on?” A blush raced across your face as you crossed your legs and looked away.
“(Y/N). Now I would like…”
“Look at me.” You growled and looked back over at him as your face turned a deeper shade of scarlet. “Sorry but just because I’m nearly naked doesn’t give you the right to be disrespectful.” You nodded and cleared your throat.
“M-my proposition is this. A week long, all expenses paid trip to Italy and five thousand dollars for your time. You pretend to be my significant other and…” Your words were cut off as he burst out laughing.
“So… so you want to… hire me… to be your boyfriend for a weeding? Damn, never heard that one before.” You scoffed and got up from your chair.
“Just forget it.” You headed to the door, mumbling about how you were going to kill Scott, when Chris grabbed your arm to stop you.
“Look, I’m sorry.” He said as he took a step back. “It’s just… I’ve heard a lot of shit in my days doing this but this kinda takes the cake.” You nodded as tears welled in your eyes.
“I-I-I wouldn’t ask… if I…” He nodded and put his hand on your shoulder.
“Hey. I get it, OK. I’ll help you.” You nodded your head and looked away, unable to face your reality.
“I assume you don’t own a suit.” You harshly brushed your tears away and forced yourself to look back at him. “Meet me here tomorrow at noon. I’ll take you to my guy to fix that. Do you have a passport?” He shook his head, realizing it was not the time to get smart with you and you nodded. “I’ll make some calls and we’ll get it taken care of tomorrow.” Without another word, you turned on your heels and walked out of his dressing room so he wouldn’t see the fresh wave of tears.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You sat in the middle of Giorgio Armani with a cup of espresso in your hand as Armando, the man who always did your father’s suits measure your wedding date. You had a giant book of available suits and colors on your lap and you were trying to figure out which ones would match the dresses you already had.
“He’s a tall one. Muscular, too.” Armando said in Italian with a laugh. You looked up at the two men as you leaned your arm on the book.
“Do you still have that suit that you did for daddy for my graduation?” Armando glanced over at you and nodded slowly.
“I believe we do but I don’t know if that can be ordered that fast. Your friend is a little too tall.” You nodded in understanding as you looked back down at the book.
“You speak Italian?” Chris asked as you grabbed a sticky note and stuck it on a page of another suit you liked.
“That among others.” You looked up at him with a small smile. “You don’t have to pretend to get to know me.”
“What if I want to get to know you?” He cut you off with his eyebrow raised. You shook your head as you set your small coffee cup down on the table next to you.
“I’m not worth it.” He shook his head and stepped off the platform he was on to walk over to you.
“You are worth it. You just can’t see it yet. That, honey is my real job.” You rolled your eyes at him, instantly regretting it as your eyes landed on the skin tight wife beater he had on. You couldn’t rip your eyes away from his washboard abs and he chuckled. “You can touch it if you want. You are paying for it.” He whispered. You caught yourself and forced your eyes to his.
“You couldn’t get me to touch your abs for a million dollars, honey.” He nodded slowly as he studied you with the most beautiful green eyes you had ever seen.
“Well then. Better remove the temptation.” With a small shake of his head, he stood up and walked back to the platform with a new determination in his heart to get you to see what he did in you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So what was the name of your childhood puppy?” You glanced over at Chris as he leaned against the counter while you paid for the four suits you were rush ordering and the half dozen or so button down dress shirts and ties.
“Pongo.” He had been playing this game for the last hour; asking you everything from favorite color to least favorite season just trying to get you to open up. You were reluctant at first to answer but found that the longer you held out and ignored him, the more he turned on what you now referred to as his ‘heartbreaking puppy eyes’. Those, no matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t ignore.
“Mine was Bandana. He was all black except for this white triangle that looked like a bandana. Corny, right?” You shook your head as you signed the receipt, not even looking at the cost.
“Cute. Typical kid name, ya know?” He nodded as he picked up the bags of his new shirts and followed you out the door.
“Favorite ice cream?” You stopped and looked up at him as he nearly collided into you.
“Are you ever gunna quit?”
“Are you gunna loosen up and stop looking at this like a business deal and start looking at it like a possibly enjoyable experience?” You shook your head as you tucked your hair behind your ear. “I’ll stop when that happens.”
“Good luck with that.” You said as you turned on your heel and headed toward where your car was. You heard him laugh as he followed after you.
“I have faith. There’s something about you, (Y/N). It’s just a matter of you seeing it, too.”
~~~~~~~~~~~
“You know, I’m just a regular person just like everyone else. I just… you know, take my clothes off for a living where as you… don’t.” You glanced over at Chris in the back of the town car with a laugh as he shrugged. “Exotic dancer, lawyer. Same thing.”
“To-may-to, to-mah-to, I see it.” He laughed and nodded.
“If I had it my way…” He said as he leaned against the car door to look at you. “I’d open a dog rescue.” He looked down at his hands and shrugged his shoulder. “You’re actually making that dream possible.” He looked back up at you with a handsome, genuine smile. “Thanks for that, by the way. I’m sorry it’s such shitty circumstances but… I’m glad I’m helping you as much as you’re helping me.” He shrugged his shoulder and leaned back against the door once more. “Just gotta find a co-signer for the building and Romeo’s Redemption Animal Rescue is in business.” You nodded your head as you turned toward him.
“We pull this off where no one questions us, I’ll co-sign for you.” A smile lit up his face, making the gold around the pupils of his green eyes sparkle.
“You don’t have to do that.” He said despite the fact that his eyes told you he was grateful for the offer. You simply shrugged as your car pulled up to the Las Vegas airport.
“It’s like Scott said at the bar.” You looked away from him as you grabbed your purse and your carry-on bag. “You helping me is better than going to a wedding alone. Might as well return the favor.” You went to put the bag on your shoulder but he gently took the strap from you.
“I got it.” You looked back over your shoulder and he smirked. “What kinda boyfriend makes his girl carry the bags?” You couldn’t help but smile as you passed him the bag.
“Alright, Casanova. You win.”
——
“So, I have this.” You said as you pulled a manilla folder from your bag. “Figured since we have five hours on this flight and eight on the next we could…” Your words were cut off as you looked over at Chris. His eyes were wide open with child like wonder as he pushed the buttons on the screen in front of him. “Pssst.” His smile dropped and he looked over at you like a child with his hand caught in the cookie jar.
“I’ll make you a deal.” You said carefully as you handed him the envelope with a smile. “You humor me and learn slash answer these questions on this flight and I will leave you be on the next flight where first class is even better. That one’s seat’s lay down into beds so you can sleep the whole flight.”
“You know you’re ruining flying for me.” He said as he opened the envelope and pulled out the few pages. “Because I have so many places to fly to since this is my first time flying and all.” He cleared his throat loudly and pretended to adjust a nonexistent tie as you put your hand on the side of your face to hide your blush from the last few people boarding the plane.
“Etwas interessantes, um meiner familie von dir zu erzählen.” Your head whipped over toward him as he glanced over at you out of the corner of his eye. “Yea, I speak German fluently. Something interesting to tell your family.” You smiled and nodded.
“I am fluent in Italian as you know, French, and Portuguese. Just so you know a little about me, too.” He nodded as you handed him a pen so he could mark off the first question off the list.
“How did we meet?” He lowered the paper and cocked an eye brow at you. “What, strip club is too… low class for you?”
“Look at the next one.” You said as you moved his hand down so you could point to question three. “‘Are you really comfortable being introduced as Chris the stripper?’” You looked up at him and gave him a small smile. “Look, if you think a lawyer would be embarrassed to be dating a stripper, don’t be. You’re freaking gorgeous and no matter what your girlfriend does for a living she’d be lucky to have you. You have the option here to say you are anything you wanna be, including a dog rescuer.” He nodded as the pilot made the announcement that you were getting ready to take off. You sat back in your seat a bit but stayed facing Chris.
“Chris the dog rescuer. I really do like the sound of that.” You nodded in agreement as he looked over at you. “So how about, we met through our mutual friend Scott who I went to high school with. And I’m opening a dog rescue and I work at a bar off the strip. That way neither of us are technically lying. I would love to get rid of the stripper title, honestly.” You nodded in understanding as he crossed the two questions off the list.
“Remember what I said at the club, if you are uncomfortable with any of this, just tell me.”
“I know.” He picked the paper up and looked at the next question. “Go to karaoke song?” You sighed and nodded.
“Unfortunately, my sister thinks she is amazing at karaoke so we will be forced to endure at least one night of it.” He smirked as he crossed the question off the list.
“Just tell her I’d rather strip at the bachelorette party.” He glanced over at you out of the corner of his eye. “Tennessee Whiskey by Chris Stapleton or any thing by Tim McGraw.” You sighed in relief.
“Thank God, you’re a country boy. A man of my own heart.” He nodded as he looked over at you before closing his eyes as the plane took off. “Mine’s ‘Man, I Feel Like A Woman’ by Shania Twain.” You said as you put your fingers in his palm under his thumb. His body tensed as he grabbed your hand like it was a life raft. You couldn’t help the smile that spread across your face as he held his breath.
“I don’t like it.” He said as he shook his head.
“It’s almost done.” He nodded and gripped your hand tighter for a few moments before the plane leveled off. “See, you’re done. And you only have to do it three more times and then never again if you don’t want to.” He groaned as he loosened his grip on your hand only slightly but he didn’t let it go. With a nod, he picked the list back up and took a deep, steadying breath.
“‘What makes you feel most alive?’ Not fucking flying, that’s for sure.” He absentmindedly began to tap his thumb on the back of your hand as he looked at the ceiling. “Honestly, making people smile. Whether that may be because of my dancing, or when I volunteer on those puppy adoption days outside the pet stores.” He glanced over at you. “Oh yea, I do that, too if I’m not at work or out with friends. I try to volunteer with them once a month. That’s why I want to open a rescue.”
“Damn, you’re just like a saint, aren’t you?” He chuckled and shook his head as he fiddled with your fingers.
“I am so far from a saint.” He blushed as he looked down at your entwined hands before he carefully let you go and pulled his hand back. “Sorry.” You shrugged as he looked back up at you.
“We’re supposed to be a couple, right? Might as well get used to pretending.” He nodded and picked up the paper in one hand and your hand in the other. He laced his fingers with yours and you couldn’t help they way your stomach flipped.
“Alright, next question.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“OK, so Tara is your sister. She’s marrying the prick named Rick.” You nodded in confirmation as Chris listed off the members of your family he would need to know as your boyfriend on his fingers. “Your mom, who we don’t like, is Sara Beth, step dad, who is alright, is Daniel, your favorite parent is your dad, Doug, your step mom aka the trophy wife we aren’t a fan of but who we tolerate is Anne…” He glanced over at you and shook his head. “Lot of freaking people.”
“Yea, imagine what it’s like to go through Thanksgiving and Christmas.”
“Yea, I bet. That’s why I’m glad my parents are still together. Then we have the quiet baby of the family, Keith, his high school sweetheart, kind wife Melissa and their three kids, Kyle, Emily and… John?”
“James.” You yawned as he draped his arm over your shoulder. He pulled you into his side and instinctively kissed the top of your head as the cab driver brought you to your hotel. You could feel tears welling in your eyes as the slights of your favorite city in the world flew past the window.
“This is where I wanted to get married.” You said softly. You felt Chris’ arm tighten around you as you continued. “We traveled a lot growing up. I always loved Rome so much. Tara…” Your tears fell on his shirt and jeans as he rested his cheek on the top of your head in silent support. “She always used to say she wanted to get married in Paris… until Rick… those two managed to take… everything.” You felt Chris’ arm move to yours and he gently sat you up and turned you toward him.
“They didn’t take everything, sweetheart.” He said gently as he reached up to brush your tears away. “They didn’t take your smile, I’ve seen that plenty of times in the past… I think it’s been 24 hours but I don’t even know what time zone we’re in any more so I could be a little off on that.” You huffed a laugh as a small smile spread across your face. He returned the smile and pointed at you.
“See, there it is. They didn’t take that. They didn’t take your kind heart because if they did, you wouldn’t have agreed to help me with my rescue. They didn’t take away your…. Um… your voice unless I learned how to read lips really well somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean.” Your smile got bigger as a giggle slipped from your lips and he shrugged. “Yea, so I’m reaching here. But look, they didn’t take anything from you. If anything, they set you free. Obviously, the prick is a piece of shit and your sister… well, I know she’s family but I’m sorry to say, she’s a shitty person, too. And you deserve more than that, ya know?” You nodded in agreement as he took your chin between his thumb and forefinger.
“Besides, if you had married the prick then how would we have met? I bet I am much more fun than that douchebag on my worst day. I am a stripper after all. I got moves.” You giggled and nodded as he moved his hand away from your chin and pulled you back into his side. “And I hold your hand when we fly. Bet he didn’t do that.” You burst out laughing and looked up him through your lashes.
“I wouldn’t be proud of that if I were you.” He shrugged his shoulder, purposely bouncing your head.
“I am very proud of that. That’s boyfriend status right there.” You rolled your eyes and sat up as the cab pulled up to the curb of the Hotel de Russie. You thanked the cab driver and paid him as Chris grabbed the bags from the floor. You didn’t even have the cab door open for two seconds before the shrill shriek of your step-mother’s voice screaming your name woke you up better than any cup of coffee could. You looked over at the young, 5 foot tall, bottle blonde with massive fake tits curtesy of your father and groaned to yourself.
“You’re finally here!” She squealed as she dropped her ever present Virginia Slim on the ground and ran over in her higher than sky-high heels. You braced for impact as she practically threw herself into your arms. “Oh, I’ve missed you!”
“Hi Anne.” You said calmly as you tried to pull away from her death grip. It took her a moment before she got the hint and let you go. She pouted out her bottom lip and put her hand on your shoulder.
“Oh sweetheart. This should be your wedding…”
“Anne, let me introduce you to my boyfriend, Chris.” You stepped away from the cab to let Chris out. You smirked as you watched Anne’s jaw drop.
“Well I’ll be damned.” She whispered as she took a step forward. “Look at you, handsome.” She reached her hand up to touch his chest but you side stepped in front of her.
“My daddy inside?” You asked sweetly as Chris put his hands on your hips and stepped around you to grab the bags from the back. You watched her watch him for a moment before she nodded at you.
“Yea, he’s inside. You’re the last to arrive other than your cousin, Julie.” You nodded as you glanced over at Chris. With a dismissive smile back at Anne, you stepped over to your date and laced your arm with his.
“They’ll take care of the bags, honey.” He glanced down at you as he set your last suitcase on the cart. You handed the employee a decent tip and gently led Chris toward the door.
“This is insane.” He said as his eyes danced around the lobby. You looked up at him and your feet stopped walking at the look of shock and fear on his face. He looked down at you and shook his head. “I don’t belong here.” You quickly glanced around and pulled him over to a empty bench along one of the walls. You both sat down and you took his hands in yours.
“You do belong here.” You told him softly as you laced his fingers with yours. He squeezed your hands tightly as he looked up at you. “You belong here with me. We’re the two misfits of the party, remember?” He nodded slowly as you moved both his hands into yours so you could cup his cheek.
“Look, you’re tired, you’re out of your element, I get that. But I brought you here for a reason. I have zero intention of leaving your side for longer than a bathroom break, OK. And think of it like this, your like that guy from the Titanic; Leonardo DiCaprio. Yea I’m gunna drag ya to some fancy-schmancy rich people shit but you can bet your ass I’m showing you my favorite dive bar. We got this, you and me.” He nodded as the fear almost completely disappeared slightly from his eyes.
“Yea… yea, we got this.” You smiled and kissed his cheek before standing up to head over to the desk. Chris kept his hand laced with yours as if you would disappear if he let go. You got the two of you checked in to your Executive Suite; opting to take one that was a floor above the rest of the wedding party and a room facing the Pincio for your guest. You headed to your room quickly in hopes that you wouldn’t run into any of your family just yet and breathed a sigh of relief when you heard the door close behind you.
“Think you could rush me here any faster?” Chris teased. You smirked up at him as his jaw dropped at the view. “Oh, my God… Look at this!” With a nod, you followed him past the bathroom and the bedroom to the lounge. “This… this is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.” You leaned on the wall of the hallway for only a moment to watch your new friend open the floor to ceiling glass doors overlooking the city before the hotel staff knocked on the door with your bags.
“I got it.” You said with a smile as you turned around to let the ‘kid in a candy store’ enjoy the view you had seen plenty of times before. You pulled open the room door to let the bellhop in and your jaw dropped. “Daddy?”
“Think you have enough luggage, princess?” You giggled as you jumped into his arms.
“I blame my daddy for spoiling me all these years.” He set you down and pouted as he walked into your room so the hotel staff could begin unpacking your luggage.
“Well my little Queen deserves the very, very best.” He held up a bottle of vodka and a liter of coke as you headed toward the lounge. “Figured you need this as much as I do.”
“No. Way.” You glanced up at Chris as he pointed at your dad. “That’s…” A blush crept across your face and you nodded.
“Yea, my daddy was the drummer for CCR.”
“We don’t talk about it. Ever.” Your dad said as he sat down next to you on the couch. “Asshats don’t deserve the time of day.” Chris nodded as he sat down on a chair right next to you. Doug poured three shots and passed them out with a giant smile. “Here’s to the fact that my pride and joy isn’t the one marrying that fucking tool this weekend.” Chris snorted as the three of you touched glasses and tossed back the strong liquor. Your dad chuckled as he poured another round.
“So where did you pick this one up?” You glanced over at Chris with a smirk.
“Strip club.” You watched your date blanch as you sat back on the couch. “You should see him dance. Best in Vegas.”
“Wait…” Chris started and Doug held up his hand to stop him.
“Im guessing if my daughter never told you who I was, then you don’t have the full story on our family dynamic yet.” He handed Chris a shot and shrugged as he looked over at you. “Parents aren’t supposed to pick favorites but (Y/N) is definitely mine. Her bother and sister, shit I’m not even 100% positive they’re mine. My lyin’ ex was quite the floozy.”
“Daddy.” You said warningly as you looked over at him. He simply rolled his eyes, handed you a shot to essentially shut you up and continued.
“Now my baby girl here, she’s all me. No doubt in my mind. Her mother and I were just starting to get rocky when we had her. I used to bring her everywhere with my like those rich sluts with those damn pocket dogs. She was my little Queen. I gave her the world and then some and my wife wasn’t a fan. For five years, Sara Beth was jealous of her own daughter before she had Tara, hoping that I would share my love again. Only problem is…” He pointed up at his hair. “I’m a brunette. So how’d I make a blonde baby girl?”
“Daddy…” You warned again as he threw back his shot and poured another round.
“I did right by Tara. Claimed her as mine, same with Keith and I love all three of my kids… But in my mind, (Y/N) is my only child. Her mother has always been jealous of her which is why this fucking monstrosity of a wedding is happening and why my little Queen is forced to be the maid of honor to her stuck up sister and her piece of shit ex. Fucking bitch.” He tossed back another shot and gestured at you. He exhaled the fumes and got up to get cups for the soda from the bar. “Now, I talk to my little Queen every single day. If she was dating someone, I’d’a known about it. Last I knew, she was coming alone but I guessed I missed the memo that you’d found a date.”
“It was changed literally last minute. I… um…” You glanced over at Chris, slightly embarrassed to admit it and he gave you a small smile.
“We came up with a friendly business arrangement.” He said carefully. “She needed a date, I needed someone with clout to sign for a dog rescue I want to open.” Your dad nodded as he pushed two glasses of soda across the table and leaned back on the couch.
“You help my baby girl with this and consider yourself financially backed for the first year you’re open. Anyone who helps my little Queen is helping me and deserves the help in return.” He sat forward and stuck his hand out to Chris. “Thank you.” Chris blushed and nodded.
“Thank you, sir. (Y/N)’s definitely one of a kind.” Doug chuckled and nodded as he leaned back and put his arm on the back of the couch behind you.
“That she is, son. That she is.” He reached down and twirled a strand of your brown hair around his finger before letting it fall against your messy bun. He leaned forward to grab his soda. “So what’s the story?”
“The truth. Met him through Scott at the bar he works at off the strip and he’s opening a dog rescue.”
“That way we keep it as close to the truth as possible.” Chris chimed in.
“Sounds good to me. No holes.” All three of you nodded. “So I assume you two want take a nap and freshen up? What do you say dinner with just the four of us tonight at that little local place you like.” You couldn’t stop the scowl that crossed your face as you looked over at him.
“Does she have to come with us?” Your dad’s face hardened slightly as he looked over at you.
“You be nice, missy. Anne is a nice woman.”
“Who will lose a hand if she tries to touch my date again.” Your dad sighed.
“Yea, she’s still touchy feely and she’s still an airhead but that woman sucks like a Hoover.”
“Daddy!” You screeched as Chris choked on his drink. Doug chuckled as he stood up and kissed your forehead.
“What?” He shook Chris’ hand once more and headed toward the hall. “I’ll come get you for dinner at 6.” You rolled your eyes and poured yourself and Chris another shot as the sound of your dad’s slightly sloppy Italian floated down the hall and out the door as he tipped the staff for you.
“I’m gunna need a whole bucket of this shit to get that fucking image out of my head.”
Part 2
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A Thing Between Light And Darkness (Chapter 11)
AO3 Link
Notes: I'll be away for the weekend which means this is probably going to be the last chapter of the year, so I would like to leave here my thank you for all of you who have been not just reading this story but many of the others I posted ever since I decided to start writing Rumbelle fanfic. If it wasn't for you I probably would have given up.
Sending my love to everyone. And may 2018 be as beautiful as it can.
The ceiling had never looked so interesting for Gideon before that morning. He laid on his bed, eyes wide open, tired like never before as he hadn't got much sleep in the night prior after those crazy events at the Gold Manor. Gideon turned around, getting his cell phone and realising it was already half past ten, what surprised him, because Mrs. Potts usually woke him up at seven, even when he didn't have to go to school like today, which was a good thing, as he had no mood to face a full day there. The Storybrooke High School was hosting an open big Halloween party during the whole day, so nobody had classes.
Sighing and stretching himself a little, Gideon closed his eyes again, concentrating so he could feel his mental bond with Alice, finding that she was awake. She felt him, even from her own room back in the Manor and smiled to herself.
How are you today?
Feeling weird, Gideon answered. I'm the son of the town's oldest scary joke.
She slid to the comfortable huge chair in front of her desk, looking down through the window and seeing the garden where Gideon had followed her to, weeks ago. Getting a hold of a pen, Alice bit down her lip.
Listen, I told him about the chain last night and everything else, the girl confessed. He took it and said he would ask your mom to analyse its powers.
Gideon nodded, even though she clearly couldn't see the movement. He knew it wouldn't be long before Gold took all the truth from Alice and she didn't seem to be the kind of person who would lie for someone she loved; he knew it because he wouldn't do that himself. Sitting up, Gideon started to pick some clothes to start the day, when he glanced at a picture of his family - or what he thought it to be until recently. Gaston had a hand on his shoulder, a frown stamped in his face, Belle kneeled beside his ten-year-old self smiling as widely as him.
Even in that photograph everything seemed a lie and Gideon didn't know how he didn't realise it before. They were never truly happy, at least not as a complete family, because he and his mother had always shared loved and complicity, while Gaston was just and addition to the picture.
So, about my mom, Gideon started again, calling Alice's attention. What exactly is a Keeper?
Just a librarian, but one from our world, she answered with a shrug, drawing lines on her notebook.
His mixed feelings were so clear to the girl that she could almost feel them by herself, which was weird and not exactly the most comfortable thing in the world.
Does she have powers? Gideon questioned.
A laugh left Alice's mouth.
Of course not, she just got a great brain and a couple of secret keys.
Cool, the boy grumbled. But what about you, Alice? We've never talked much about you.
She stopped what she was doing and stood up, eyes wondering around the room. The walls were painted in a dark shade of blue, the ceiling full of fluorescent stars, most of her childhood books and dolls were still somewhere inside the huge closet. Her story was written there, and as she let herself sit in a corner on the floor, Alice felt fear. The future terrified her.
I... Well, I'm a Caster.
That I know, Gideon replied, rolling his eyes. Why does my father want to keep you here?
He raised me, most of the time, until I went to aunt Regina's house, Alice explained. I stayed there until now, then I came back because he wanted to show me how to use my powers and keep an eye on me.
Why? The boy chuckled. You're not a big trouble.
His laugh was contagious and she almost let herself giggle too, however Alice was too nervous and anxious for that. It was panic that came to fill her whole body, making a lump appear on her throat and it felt difficult for her to continue talking.
On my sixteen birthday I shall be claimed to Light or Darkness, Gideon, and there is no coming back, she confessed.
What? You can't choose for yourself?
No.
Holding a pile of clothes against his chest, Gideon stopped, finally understanding why she always seemed to be on the edge of her emotions. She was afraid and being afraid was not a good feeling.
You'll be Light, Gideon assured her. I know it.
My mother was dark, that's why they fear what I will became.
Yeah, but I know you, he insisted. You have a good heart, Alice.
Wiping a tear that had ran down her cheek, Alice sniffled, allowing herself to give a little laugh.
Silly boy, I can't believe you're my cousin.
Silliness is a family thing, Gideon remarked.
He felt Alice slip away, closing her mind with one last laugh, then he did it too.
"How do I look like?" Alice inquired appearing by the doorway of the living room where her uncle had been playing piano.
Rumford looked up at her, pausing his hands and making the music stop as he faced his niece. She was wearing a white shirt and a big pink tutu in which a white fuzzy pompom was hanging, her face covered with a rabbit mask.
"Ridiculous," Gold stated, "take this thing off."
"I'm doing trick or treat!"
"No, you're not."
She furrowed, resting both hands on her hips. Alice could barely believe he - one of the people that most insisted for her to have a normal life - was forbidden her from going out on Halloween. Never before, the girl had been interested in such things, but Gideon and Roderick would be wandering around the neighbourhood and she wanted to go with them and just have some fun for a change.
"But uncle..."
"You're not a child, Alice, and I say you're not getting out of this house today," Rumford bounced. "I already have too many problems to worry about you too."
He stood up going to the bookshelf and picking one of his spell guides, what she thought he considered a light reading for the night. She groaned, knowing he wouldn't change his mind, not after what aunt Zelena did last night.
"You could be nicer," Alice mumbled, taking off her mask.
"I could also turn you into a bunny, so Pongo could spend the rest of the day following you around," uncle Rum answered with one of his sweetest smiles.
Alice rolled her eyes at him, clapping her hands to make Pongo stand from where he had been napping, near the fireplace.
"Great deal," she muttered to herself as she took the dog to her room.
Roderick had chosen a classic vampire outfit for the night. He lived close to Gideon's house, so there was no need to leave his too early, but he wanted to see if they could maybe watch something while they waited for Alice to arrive and maybe, Gideon could show him another cool magic trick. The boy thought it was very exciting to know this kind of things existed and he couldn't wait to know more about what his friend could do.
The street was strangely empty, no one walking around but him, however Roderick knew most people should be attending the school's party. A thin rain was falling and he started to walk faster in an attempt to reach Gideon's place before his clothes got damp.
"Hello, Roderick," he heard somebody saying behind him and stopped turning around on the balls of his feet.
Ivy's mother was standing there in the middle of the rain, holding a tiny umbrella and wearing a perfect ironed outfit that matched her stilettos.
"Mrs. Belfrey, hi," Roderick greeted her, praying she wouldn't talk too much. "How can I help you?"
A lazy smile stretched on Victoria's lips as she took a step forward.
"Very nice from you to ask this," she purred.
His Han Solo costume was settled on a chair upstairs, but the rain outside made Gideon want to stay home. He was sat on the couch zapping through the TV's channels in an attempt to find something interesting to watch when Mrs. Potts came from the kitchen holding her big red umbrella.
"Gideon, I'll make a quick trip to the grocery store, but I shall be back in an hour to make dinner," she informed him. "Would you like roasted potatoes?"
"Sure," he smiled, thinking about having a delicious dinner after some hours of fun with his friends. It would be a great relief from his problems. The housekeeper nodded and waved at him, heading to the door. "Bye, Mrs. Potts."
As soon as she left he felt the unique presence of Alice in his mind, just like as if she was there in the house with him, sitting on the couch by his side. These were things that would still take some time for him to get used to it and all of the magical things. His mother was out to meet his father on the Tunnels and do some research, although he was pretty sure that was not the only reason she wanted to desperately spend her Halloween locked on the Lunae Libri.
No Halloween for us today, Alice's voice echoed in his mind. Your father grounded me.
Why? Gideon questioned.
Because he is an idiot, the girl grumbled.
Another presence joined hers and he could feel an odd new connection reaching them.
I'm not, his father said.
Get out, uncle Rum, Alice replied, moodily.
There was a knock on the door and Gideon sighed. It seemed it would be only him and Roderick tonight, what a good luck Mrs. Potts would be back soon to cook something for them to eat. He stood up, taking his keys and going to the entryway.
Wait, he told Alice, there is someone in the door.
The boy opened it, just to face Victoria Belfrey. That was the last thing he needed today. He couldn't find a good reason for that woman to be there paying them a visit as she hated his mother, because of all their arguments over the library.
"Gideon," she smiled.
"Mrs. Belfrey, I didn't expect your visit."
She nodded, with that serious intimidating expression she was wore when she fiercely wanted something and was on her way to get it.
"Is your mother around?"
"No," he replied dryly, "I'm sorry, but she must be coming home soon."
"Can I come in and wait?"
Gideon's eyebrows narrowed in confusion. Belfrey always thought herself better than everyone else, she didn't enter the house of people she thought to be inferior to her. It was just too out of picture to be a normal attitude of hers.
"Actually no," Gideon said, holding the doorknob firmly, ready to close it. "I'm not allowed to have visits when I'm alone."
"Don't be silly, I'll just have a seat and drink some water..." Victoria started, taking a step ahead and being pushed back.
The boy blinked as she tried to do it again and what it seemed to be an invisible barrier prevented her from entering the house.
"What the hell?" He muttered.
Gideon, his father's voice spoke loud and harsh on his mind, get away from the door.
A manic smile stretched on Victoria's lips and she opened her hands in front of her body, letting a black glow take them. Gideon stepped back.
"Protection spells, very clever," Belfrey murmured. "But let's see how strong they are."
A strong, wave of power, hit the door making Gideon be throw against to the wall behind him. His heat bumped against it and he groaned in pain.
Run! Alice screamed.
And he truly wanted to do it, but his vision got blurry and he still heard the bangs of Victoria's powers fighting the protection spells, however he was too weak to stand up, so instead, he fainted.
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01. Pilot, Pt.2
The Enchanted Forest. Past. The Royal Castle.
(A pregnant Snow White stands in a balcony doorway.)
Prince Charming: (Walking over to her:) “What's wrong?”
Snow White: “Nothing.”
Prince Charming: “You're thinking about what the Queen said again, aren't you? Snow, please... I can't keep having this conversation, you have to let it go. We're about to have a baby!”
Snow White: “I haven't had a restful night since our wedding.”
Prince Charming: “That's what she wants, to get in your head! But they're only words. She can't hurt us.”
Snow White: “She poisoned an apple because she thought I was prettier than her. You have no idea of what she's capable.”
Prince Charming: “What can I do to ease your mind?”
Snow White: “Let me talk... to him.”
Prince Charming: “Him. You don't mean--”
Snow White: “I do.”
Prince Charming: “No. No, no. It's too dangerous.”
Snow White: “He sees the future.”
Prince Charming: “There's a reason he's locked up.”
Snow White: “Can you promise me that our child will be safe? Can you guarantee it? Because he can.”
Prince Charming: “All right. For our child.”
New England Highway. Present. Inside Emma's car.
(Emma is driving Henry home.)
Henry: “I'm hungry. Can we stop somewhere?”
Emma: “This is not a road trip; we're not stopping for snacks.”
Henry: “Why not?”
Emma: “Quit complaining, kid. Remember, I could've put your butt on a bus; I still could.”
Henry: “You know, I have a name? It's Henry.”
Emma: (Eying Henry's book:) “What's that?”
Henry: “I'm not sure you're ready.”
Emma: “Ready for some fairy tales?”
Henry: “They're not fairy tales. They're true. Every story in this book actually happened.”
Emma: “Of course they did.”
Henry: “Use your superpower. See if I'm lying.”
Emma: (Looks at him for a moment:) “Just because you believe something doesn't make it true.”
Henry: “That's exactly what makes it true. You should know more than anyone.”
Emma: “Why's that?”
Henry: “Because you're in this book.”
Emma: “Oh, kid. You've got problems.”
Henry: “Yup. And you're going to fix them.”
The Enchanted Forest. Past. Rumplestiltskin's cell.
(A nameless guard escorts Charming and Snow White to the cell.)
Guard: (Aside to Prince Charming and Snow White:) “When we reach the cell, stay out of the light, and whatever you do, do not let him know your name. If he knows your name, he will have power over you. (To Rumplestiltskin:) Rumplestiltskin. Rumplestiltskin! I have a question for you.”
Rumplestiltskin: (Climbs down from cell bars like a monkey:) “No, you don't. They do. Snow White and Prince "Charming"! (Insane cackle:) You insult me. Step into the light, and take off those ridiculous robes. (They do:) Ah, ha-ha ha... that's much better.”
Prince Charming: “We've come to ask you about the--”
Rumplestiltskin: “Yes, yes, I know why you're here! You want to know about the Queen's threat.”
Snow White: “Tell us what you know.”
Rumplestiltskin: “Ohh! Tense, aren't we? Fear not: for I can ease your mind! But. It's gonna cost you something in return.”
Prince Charming: “No. This is a waste of time.”
Snow White: “What do you want?”
Rumplestiltskin: “Oh... the name of your unborn child?”
Prince Charming: “Absolutely not!”
Snow White: “Deal! What do you know?”
Rumplestiltskin: “Ah. The Queen has created a powerful curse. And it's coming. Soon you'll all be in a prison, just like me, only worse! Your prison--all of our prisons—will be time. And time will stop. And we will be trapped, someplace horrible, where everything we hold dear, everything we love will be ripped from us while we suffer for all eternity, while the Queen celebrates, victorious at last! ...No more happy endings.”
Snow White: “What can we do?”
Rumplestiltskin: “We can't do anything!”
Snow White: “Who can?”
Rumplestiltskin: (Reaches hand beyond bars:) “That little thing. Growing inside your belly.”
Prince Charming: (Draws sword and slaps Rumplestiltskin's hand with it:) “Next time, I cut it off.”
Rumplestiltskin: (To Prince Charming:) “Tk, tk, tk, tk, tk. The infant is our only hope. (To Snow White:) Get the child to safety. Get the child to safety and on its--(Closes eyes in concentration:)—twenty-eighth birthday, the child will return. The child will find you—and the final battle will begin!” (Insane cackle again.)
Prince Charming: “I’ve heard enough. We're leaving.”
(Takes Snow White away. Rumplestiltskin whoops and cackles.)
Rumplestiltskin: (With a deranged scream:) “Hey! No! We made a deal! I want her name! We had a deal—I. Need. Her. Name! I want her name!”
Prince Charming: “Her? It's a boy.”
Rumplestiltskin: “Missy, missy—you know I'm right. Tell me. What's her name?”
Snow White: “Emma. Her name is Emma.”
Rumplestiltskin: “Emma.”
Storybrooke town limits. Present. Emma's Car.
(She is driving Henry into town on a rainy night. They drive through downtown Storybrooke.)
Emma: “Okay, kid, how about an address?”
Henry: “Forty-four, not-telling-you street.”
Emma: (Stops the car and gets out:) “Look, it's been a long night, and it's almost (Looks at the clocktower:) —eight-fifteen?”
Henry: “That clock hasn't moved my whole life. Time's frozen here.”
Emma: “Excuse me?”
Henry: “The Evil Queen did it with her curse. She sent everyone from the Enchanted Forest here.”
Emma: “Hang on. The Evil Queen sent a bunch of fairy tale characters here.”
Henry: “Yeah. And now they're trapped.”
Emma: “Frozen in time, stuck in Storybrooke, Maine. That's what you're going with?“
Henry: “It's true!”
Emma: “Then why doesn't everybody just leave?”
Henry: “They can't. If they try, bad things happen.”
Archie: (Walking up with his dog, Pongo:) “Henry! What are you doing here? Is everything all right?”
Henry: “I'm fine, Archie.” (Pets Pongo.)
Archie: “Who's this?”
Emma: “Just someone trying to give him a ride home.”
Henry: “She's my mom, Archie.”
Archie: “Oh.. I see.”
Emma: “You know where he lives?”
Archie: “Oh. Yeah, sure, just uh, right up on Mifflin Street; the Mayor's house is the biggest one on the block.”
Emma: “You're the mayor's kid?”
Henry: “Uh. Maybe?”
Archie: “Hey. Where were you today, Henry, because you missed our session.”
Henry: “Oh, I forgot to tell you. I went on a field trip.”
Archie: (Crouches to get face-to-face with Henry:) “Henry, what did I tell you about lying? Giving in to one's dark side never accomplishes anything.”
Emma: “O-kay! Well, I really should be getting him home.”
Archie: “Yeah. Sure. Well, listen—have a good night, and uh, you be good, Henry.” (Walks away.)
Emma: “So that's your shrink.”
Henry: “I'm not crazy.”
Emma: “Didn't say that. Just—he doesn't seem cursed to me. Maybe he's just trying to help you.“
Henry: “He's the one who needs help. Because he doesn't know.”
Emma: “That he's a fairy tale character.”
Henry: “None of them do. They don't remember who they are.”
Emma: “Convenient. All right. I'll play. (They get back in the car:) Who's he supposed to be?”
Henry: “Jiminy Cricket!”
Emma: “Right. The lying thing. Thought your nose grew a little bit.”
Henry: “I'm not Pinocchio!”
Emma: “ 'Course you're not. 'Cause that would be ridiculous.” (They drive off.)
The Enchanted Forest. Past. The Castle.
(Prince Charming, Snow White, Red Riding Hood, Granny, Grumpy, Doc, Geppetto, Pinocchio, several guards and Jiminy Cricket are discussing what to do about the Curse.)
Prince Charming: “I say we fight!” (Slams fist on table.)
Jiminy Cricket: “Fighting is a bad idea. Giving in to one's dark side never accomplishes anything.”
Prince Charming: “And how many wars has a clear conscience won? We need to take the Queen out before she can inflict her curse.”
Doc: “Can we even trust Rumplestiltskin?”
Prince Charming: “I've sent my men into the forest. The animals are abuzz with the Queen's plan. This is going to happen unless we do something.”
Snow White: “There's no point. The future is written.”
Prince Charming: “No. I refuse to believe that. Good can't just lose!”
Snow White: “Maybe it can.”
Prince Charming: “No. Not as long as we have each other. If you believe him about the curse then you must believe him about our child. She will be the savior. (The Blue Fairy and some soldiers enter, carrying a tree trunk:) What the hell is this?”
Blue Fairy: “Our only hope of saving that child.”
Grumpy: “A tree? Our fate rests on a tree? Let's get back to the fighting thing.”
Blue Fairy: “The tree is enchanted. If fashioned into a vessel it can ward off any curse. Geppetto, can you build such a thing?”
Geppetto: “Me and my boy. We can do it.” (Ruffles Pinocchio's hair.)
Blue Fairy: “This will work. We all must have faith. There is, however, a catch. The enchantment is indeed powerful, but all power has its limits. And this tree can protect only one.”
(Snow White and Prince Charming share a concerned look.)
Storybrooke. Present. The Mayor's house.
(Emma walks Henry up the garden path to the house.)
Henry: “Please don't take me back there.”
Emma: “I have to. I'm sure your parents are worried sick about you.”
Henry: “I don't have parents. I just have a mom, and she's--evil.”
Emma: “Evil. That's a bit extreme, isn't it?”
Henry: “That’s who she is in the book!”
Emma: “Kid. I'm sure that's not true.”
(Door opens, to reveal Regina Mills and Sheriff Graham.)
Regina: “Henry? Uh! Henry! (Runs out and hugs him:) Are you okay? Where have you been? What happened?”
Henry: “I found my other mom!”
(Henry runs inside the house.)
Regina: (Confused:) “You're Henry's birth mother?”
Emma: “Hi.”
Sheriff Graham: “I'll.. just.. go check the lad, make sure he's okay.”
(Exit Sheriff Graham.)
Regina: “How'd you like a glass of the best apple cider you ever tasted?”
Emma: “Got anything stronger?”
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Again
Doug and Pongo have a sparring match.
Doug never cared for flashy or stylish things. He was always one for efficiency, especially out on the field. He wanted things to get the job done. And his colleagues were well aware of this, so they were shocked when he went and bought himself a new sports car. It looked like a God damn Hot Wheels got inflated with helium, he had thought at first.
He had to admit, though: it was one hell of a drive. It was fast, powerful - needed a charge often, but it was worth the satisfaction it gave him. None of those factors, however, contributed to the initial purchase. It was the safety features that drew him in. The car could’ve been uglier than an insidius, and Doug would’ve bought it.
After all, Pongo needed to learn how to drive a car, and God knew the kid needed the safety measures put in.
The first day he’d been behind the wheel, he’d been nervous as all hell. Sure, the kid was a natural at driving Skells, but Skells had almost nothing in common with cars. Cars had pedals and shifts, Skells had buttons and levers and command consoles for arts. Pongo was hesitant to even get in the car, he was so nervous. Then Doug promised him a bought of training if he was able to drive around the commercial district a bit, and he was in the driver’s seat in seconds.
Today, as usual, this promise had excited the blank-eyed Interceptor. It had been a week since the last drive, and Doug was wondering as he drove if Pongo was getting worse instead of better. He needed constant reminding that red lights meant STOP and that it was not okay to stop in the middle of the road to look at people walking their dogs. Doug had lost count of the number of times he’d felt his heart pounding so fast, all because Pongo came to such sudden stops to admire dogs. As much as Doug was a dog person, he was not a traffic loving person.
Thankfully, after the commercial district drive, there were no such incidents involving dogs. However, on the way to the hangar Pongo waved hi to someone - and proceeded to almost run over them. Doug was able to get his hand on the wheel in time to steer him straight. The guy Pongo almost ran over shouted a long list of profanities and something about ruining his God damn suit again. There was emphasis on again. Doug only sighed, deciding not to ask about the history behind that. He told Pongo to park in the usual spot: right outside the entrance to the test hangar. On some special days he would tell him to park at the diner, just to practice his slot parking. But it was too busy today. Pongo would hit someone’s car - again.
That was an again Doug didn’t really want to explain.
After Pongo parked successfully next to the crane, he jumped out with a big grin. The boy was a few inches shorter than Doug, but he’d been noticing a little strand of hair perking up on Pongo’s head. He wasn’t sure why Pongo was using so much force when he was brushing his hair. If he kept that sort of force up, his whole head would be covered in short strands like that. Hell, Doug had even heard rumors that that was how Bozè lost his hair. It’d been long and golden silky, apparently. Couldn’t have been much worse than Doug’s mullet from high school.
“So what are we gonna practice today?” Pongo jumped up and down as they went inside, “Or am I gonna learn something new? Either way I am suuuuper excited!!”
Doug couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. “You should be. I got a plan for you.”
The test hangar was empty when they entered. Completely empty. Doug would’ve placed a bet that the Outfitters were out partying at the diner - again. It had been a full week, a full week, since the Core was restored. He thought the partying would’ve stopped by now.
But the lack of distractions would be good for their session today. There was a rack of weapons for them to choose from against the far right wall, and they went to it. Doug picked up a photon saber. Pongo, a longsword. Unsheathing it from its case, he made sure the blade was in tact. “Alright, ready! What have you got for me?”
“Actually, before we do anything else…” Doug raised a finger, “Put the longsword away.”
Pongo blinked. “...What?”
“You heard me. It’s time you started picking up other weapons,” He explained. “As much as you love your current set, you may not always be able to use just the assault rifle and longsword. A good BLADE learns to adapt to the missions they’re given and pick up weapons that will help them and their team in battle.”
Hesitant, Pongo sheathed the sword and placed it back on the rack. “So...what should I use?”
Doug shrugged. “Pick something that speaks to you. I’m not expecting you to master whatever you pick, just test the water with them.”
Pongo gazed over the options. It was hard to tell if he was focusing on any specific weapon. Doug still thought it was a weird mim modification to have. Did he want people to think he was blind or something?
He watched as Pongo reached out towards a shield. Doug prepared himself to help out; if Pongo chose to try using a shield first, it was possible he’d be overwhelmed by its weight. But when Pongo picked it up with his right hand, he seemed to have no trouble keeping it up. He even bounced it up in his hand to get a better grip.
“Shield, huh?” Doug said, “Can’t say it wouldn’t suit you. Wanna test it out?”
Pongo ended up shaking his head. “Maybe not today. But I do want to find a melee weapon first.”
“Well, you’ve got options. Javelins, dual swords, knives, photon sabers -”
“Can I test one of those out?”
Doug blinked in surprise as Pongo interrupted him. “Sure. I know a thing or two about them, I could give you a few extra pointers if you want.”
Pongo took a saber hilt off of the rack, observing it carefully. “I mean, I like it, but...where is the blade?”
That got the Harrier to let out a heart chuckle. “C’mon, you haven’t seen me turn mine on before? There’s a button near the arts panel on the hilt.”
He fiddled around with it and eventually pressed something with his thumb. The blade extended out of the hilt and towards Doug, who was too late to jump back. The point of the blade was millimeters from his nose. Pongo managed to notice and react accordingly, which involved him stepping back, pointing the blade at the ground, and spewing out a thousand “SORRY!”s.
“Hey now, it’s alright,” Doug reassured him, “Just make sure you point out of harm’s way next time.”
He turned around and grabbed his own photon saber’s hilt, which was hanging off of a clip on his armor. Igniting the blade, he put a bit of distance in between them and turned back to face Pongo. Both of his hands were now on the hilt, just like how he would grip his longsword. It wasn’t good for him to stay overly attached to that thing, Doug knew, but if he really sucked with the other weapons, he wouldn’t push it. Better to try something new and fail than to never try it at all.
“The first thing you’ll notice is how much lighter it feels compared to the longsword,” Doug explained, “And for the most part, just imagine you’re using the longsword. But be careful, the saber is lighter, but that means it’s faster. Take your time with it for now and don’t feel like you have to swing a thousand times per second.”
Pongo nodded, focusing his attention on where his hands grasped the hilt. He adjusted his grip, placed one foot in front of the other, and assumed a near perfect fighting stance. Looks like that longsword training helps him with the basics, Doug thought to himself.
Pongo began to slowly mimic the moves he usually made with his longsword, testing the water with the new blade. Doug was content watching for now, and he’d point out any tips he thought the boy might need. But so far, Pongo was handling it better than most new recruits did. After a minute or so, he let his left hand fall to his side, realizing that the saber could be held comfortably with one hand. The slashes became quicker, more precise. Doug had to admit, he was pretty impressed, though the moves were still on the basic side. There would be a fun way to test how far he could really go with that saber.
Doug drew his own saber, a silver hilt accompanied by a seafoam green blade. “Alright, let’s try sparring since you’ve got a general idea of it.”
Pongo looked up, a tentative grin on his face. “Are you sure? I mean -”
“Of course I’m sure.” The Harrier interrupted, “You were quick to learn the basics. See how similar it is to the longsword? Just use some of those same techniques, and you’ll figure things out as you go.”
Pongo blinked once, and the grin turned into a smirk. “Alright then. Ready?”
“You bet.”
Pongo barely gave any time for Doug to get a good footing. That was one of his strengths: his speed. In the first moments of the spar, Doug discovered that Pongo was taking his words of advice to heart. He was using a lot of longsword moves, though the lightness of the weapon gave it a bit of an edge. None of his strikes delivered the same punch as a longsword, but that was to be expected. After a while, Pongo stepped back, quick breaths escaping his parted lips.
“I can feel it. This is not as strong as my longsword.”
“But here’s the kicker that I think you might like,” Doug said, “The photon saber specializes not in offense, but in buffs. Healing teammates. Making sure your team stays up, even when you fall.”
Pongo’s eyes widened. “I...I want to be able to help my team. I always told myself I would help others by being strong -”
“And strength isn’t always everything. People have different skill sets, you know. And you handled that saber well for the first try, so maybe it’s worth coming back to it next session.”
He nodded. “If that is alright with you, then...yes, I want to learn how to use the photon saber.”
Pongo retracted the blade, gazing at the hilt for a moment before taking a step towards the weapons rack to put it back. He didn’t get far, however, when Doug heard Pongo’s comm device ringing. It had perhaps the most annoying ringtone on Mira. Stupid fucking nyan cat theme song, now Doug wouldn’t be able to get it out of his brain for the next hour.
Pongo took it out before Doug’s ears started bleeding and, eyes widening, said, “Oh goodness gracious, I am going to be late! Ah, thank you so much Dad, see you next week!”
He quickly placed the photon saber back on the rack and jogged off without realizing what he’d called Doug. The Harrier facepalmed.
Not again.
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What about “There’s a leaf in your hair.” for Red Cricket? :)
This one was fun! Set pre-canon, during the curse. Just a lot of fluff, haha.
This was a prompt submitted to me from this ficlet meme. Send me a number & a pairing and I’ll write a ficlet!
Also on AO3
Ruby dashed through the woods, her heart racing a milea minute. She still had no clue why she kept finding herself drawn to there everytime there was a full moon. Granny’s injuries seemed to act up around that timeas well, yet another reminder of what could’ve been. If her grandmother hadn’tgotten injured, she’d be out of the stupid town and as far away as possible.She loved Granny, she really did. She just found herself bored, stuck. Therewas one person that seemed to be an exception to that.
Archie Hopper, the town shrink.
He came to the diner multiple times a week, eitherright after opening or just a half hour before close. For anyone else, Rubywould be annoyed. Yet with Archie, she knew that he was a busy man. Everyoneseemed to go to him to vent about their problems and he could never turn aperson away. He worked long hours, rarely having time to even hang out with hisfriends. Ruby had always told him that if he needed anything, to let her know.He had yet to take her up on it and she figured she knew why. She had a reputationaround town. Most of the time when she gave out her number, it was for a one-nightstand. She didn’t want that with Archie.
He deserved more than that.
So, when he texted her saying that he needed to seeher right away, she raced to his office. For some, they would’ve preferred totake their car, but Ruby was naturally fast. She could remember being on thetrack team in high school, though those days seemed hazy and far behind her. Inher mind, it had been 10 years after all…
When she reached his office, she pushed open the door.Archie looked up in surprise to find her panting and sweating a bit. “Ruby…there’sa leaf in your hair.”
“What?”
Archie stepped closer and removed a brown leaf fromher hair. “See?”
“Do you have some kind of weird physic vision? You couldtell that from your office and called me here?”
“What? No.” It suddenly dawned on him that he hadtexted her. “Right, I’m sorry.” He gestured to a towel on the floor where amedium sized Dalmatian laid.
Ruby grinned and knelt next to the dog. “Who’s is he?”
“Mine, I guess.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You guess?”
“Well, I heard whining outside my office and foundhim. I phoned the animal shelter, but it doesn’t seem that anyone’s beenlooking for a dog. I figured he needs a home, so I might as well be it.”
Ruby’s grin returned and she looked back at the dog.He was very lucky to have been found by Archie. Extending a hand for the dog tosniff, he did so before jumping on her and licking her. Ruby giggled andpressed a kiss to his cheek.
“Well, hey there, seems he likes me.”
Archie smiled. “Who wouldn’t like you?”
Ruby paused, not sure how to take that response. “Whydid you text me?”
“I um, I don’t know much about dogs.”
“And you think I do?”
“You always seem to do well with all the animals intown. I figured you would be a good first step.”
“Or the guy at the pound would.”
“I’d prefer the help of a friend.”
Ruby looked up at him in shock, it was the first timeshe had heard that term. She didn’t have many friends, if any at all. Sure, shewas kind to mostly everyone, though most saw her as a threat. The only onesthat ever seemed to take interest in her were Ashley Boyd and Mary MargaretBlanchard, though they were both always busy. She supposed she could use afriend.
“Well, as much as I love dogs, I’m not an expert. Why don’twe do some research?” She gestured towards his computer.
They spent the next few hours researching what was thebest things to buy for his new pet. They headed to the pet store with the dogin tow, picking out dog food and a bed. Ruby even snuck in a few toys that shethought he would enjoy.
“Well, I think you about bought out the store,” Rubyteased as Archie balanced the bags along with the leash.
“I think all that’s left is a name.”
“Hmm…good point.” She looked down at the Dalmatian withinterest. “How about Pongo?”
Archie cocked his head. “Where’d that come from?”
“I was babysitting for Henry Mills last weekend and wewatched this movie, 101 Dalmatians. That was the name of one of the dogs.”
“I think it’s perfect. Thank you Ruby, for everything.”
“Anytime. Just consider me Pongo’s fairy dogmother.”
Archie chuckled. “Soundsabout right.”
#red cricket#red cricket au#red cricket fic#ruby x archie#archie x ruby#red x jiminy#jiminy x red#fic#prompt#heatherfield
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scrap #3
i’m almost certainly never going to go any further with these, so here they are. feel free to add on.
how larissa duan got her nickname, which was never really supposed to be a story about how larissa duan got her nickname.
“Fuck, Duan, we gotta get you a nickname,” Holster says as he watches Larissa sink her ball in one of Ransom and Shitty’s solo cups. Shitty raises his drink to salute her before finishing it off.
“True. You’re a goddamn bro. You need a bro nickname,” Shitty says. Ransom sets up his shot and throws it, but Larissa immediately bends to scoop it out with her fingers.
“Hey! No fair! Girls are supposed to blow them out!” Ransom cries.
Larissa wiggles her fingers at him and winks, feeling warm and giggly. “But bisexuals get to do both.”
“BRO!” Holster yells, and tries to simultaneously fist-bump, high-five and hug her. He ends up looking flustered, open-mouthed, wagging his hands at her, and she laughs.
“Now that’s unfair,” Ransom grumbles. Shitty presses his hand over Ransom’s mouth so quickly there’s a slap! and then a pained grunt.
“Affirmative action, man. Let them have this.”
Larissa snorts when Holster passes a hand over his face to force it into a serious expression. “Okay, LD, like we practiced,” he says with a nod.
“Mmph!” Whatever Ransom is trying to say is muffled by Shitty’s palm.
“TRICK SHOT!” Larissa cries as Holster twists her around and lifts her up so she’s backwards and two feet taller. She closes her eyes to throw the ball -- it lands in the center cup. The small crowd that always gathers to watch the pong players erupts in cheers while Ransom falls to his knees.
“Oh my god. Oh my god. That was amazing. I’m dead. You’ve killed me,” he chants, face buried in his hands.
“Fuck. I’m upping my weight training for the next time we play together,” Shitty says. Holster winks and kisses his bicep, and Ransom swoons.
Larissa takes a bow. “Losers. You need to up your pong training if you ever want a chance at beating me.”
“Anything, Your fucking Pongness.”
Ransom stands abruptly. “Hey! What about Ponger! Pongo? Pongsy!”
They stop, thoughtful, then shake their heads all together.
“Naaah.”
“Don’t think so.”
“Doesn’t feel right.” This from Shitty, who shakes off the excess beer from the ball and hands it off to Larissa. “We’ll get there one day. Never leave a bro behind.”
Holster gasps. “Hey, Larissa,” he says, “we’re looking for a new team manager. Want me to put your name in with Hall and Murray?”
Because she likes hockey, and she likes these boys, and it’s Frosh Week so she really likes all the beer she’s had warming her from the inside out, she shrugs.
“Sure, why not?” she says, and Holster lifts her up again in celebration.
“Fucking ‘swawesome.”
“All right, fuckers, sit down,” Shitty says, barging into Holster’s dorm with what looks like a reluctant Jack in tow. Larissa’s got her head on Ransom’s stomach, both laying on the floor, and Holster’s at his desk, headphones in, watching Cheers.
“We’re already sitting down,” Ransom says, barely looking up from his Scientific American. They’re not high or anything, because it’s early Wednesday afternoon and they all have classes later, and it’s still too early on in the semester and in their university careers for them to say fuck it and skip. Though she doesn’t think Ransom would anyway, and Holster wouldn’t because what the hell would he do for an hour and fifteen minutes without Ransom?
“Listen,” Shitty says, ignoring Ransom’s comment and throwing himself on the bed. Jack sits gingerly at the edge. “We need to get a lockdown on this nickname thing. I’ve brought Jack along to help.”
Larissa doesn’t really know Jack -- well, she knows what everybody knows, what Wikipedia knows, but other than that, not much. He’s older, already 21, and quiet, and he plays hockey, and Shitty likes him. She doesn’t even know what he’s studying.
“You said we were going for a walk,” Jack says, staring at Shitty pointedly.
“Yeah, and we walked here, didn’t we? Oh, don’t -- we’ll go once the froggies leave for class, okay?” He’d memorized their schedules sometime last week.
Holster takes his headphones off and swivels to face them. “Okay, what have you got, then?”
Clearing his throat loudly, Shitty pulls out a crumpled-up napkin, making a show of smoothing it out. “Possible nicknames for one Larissa Duan: Duano--”
“Oh, God,” Larissa mumbles. Shitty goes on unhindered.
“--Dutsy, Dusty, Lassy--”
“Stop, holy shit,” Holster says, jumping up and cross the few feet to rip the paper from Shitty’s hand. “These are all awful. What -- oh my god, I don’t even want to read these. I can’t look at them anymore.”
Ransom pushes Larissa’s head so it sits on his lap, and pushes himself up. “Bro, you’re forgetting the most important aspect of a nickname. It’s gotta be organic, right? Natural.”
“Goddamn, you’re right.” Shitty hangs his head. “You’re fucking right. What was I thinking? This manufactured bullshit will never be it.”
“Maybe she can just be Larissa. Like me,” Jack says, shrugging.
“Jack, your name’s not Larissa. It’s Jack,” Ransom points out, rather unhelpfully.
Larissa rises from Ransom’s thighs and holds herself up on her elbows, eyeing them each in turn with an eyebrow raised. “You’re all just gonna have to work harder.”
“Damn,” Holster says softly. “Never leave a bro behind.”
The late-night fro-yo runs have gained in frequency the closer they get to mid-terms, and this time she’s out with Emilie and Simon, who are the other occupants of her designated studio space. They’re second years who live in apartments off-campus, and Larissa likes them a lot. She thinks they like her too. They’ve got twenty-four hour access to the building, so it’s not unusual for one of them to scream FUCK IT past eleven, and drag the others to Simon’s car, sometimes stopping to pick up another friend or two in the rooms next to theirs, still splattered with paint and glitter and clay.
“I’m just saying that there’s gotta be a way to make the studios more accessible. Like I get that it’s an old building, but all those fucking stairs? And like, one elevator? Shit’s ridic,” Emilie says around a mouthful of spoon and chocolate yogurt, caramel dripping down her chin. Larissa knows all about the stairs -- and, though she’d never admit it, the elevator too. “I think we should write a letter to the department, get some signatures. At least get them to commit to look into it.”
“Mm, yeah,” Larissa says, scooping up a strawberry. “You should talk to my friend Shitty. He got the school to fix up the ramp at Faber last year, because it was pretty much falling apart.”
Simon laughs. “His name is Shitty? That’s unfortunate.”
“It’s a hockey nickname.” She shrugs. “Most of them have one.”
“Do you?” Simon asks.
“Not yet. Maybe eventually. Hey, wanna trade bites?”
Emilie laughs and pushes her cup closer to Larissa’s. “Nah, just take some of mine. What’s the point of getting fruit when you’re going out for a treat, you know?”
Larissa scoops up half a spoonful of chocolate and caramel. “Hm. Not a lot of fresh fruit at the meal hall.” It’s only part-lie (she doesn’t stop to think about how big a part). “Thanks.”
Later, when Simon’s gone home and she and Emilie are back in their studio space (the building was converted from an old elementary school and there is still tape on the walls under jacket hooks with names like Sarah and Kevin and Tommy), Emilie asks her if she’s ever had sex. It’s not -- weird, really, because Emilie is like that; she writes sex-ed articles for the Swallow, wears shirts that say Consent is Mandatory, is part of the art school’s feminist collective. She and Shitty really would get along.
“Ever had sex?” she says, casually. Larissa notices she doesn’t ask if she’s a virgin -- Holster had, and Shitty had nearly yelled himself hoarse.
“Yes,” she says. This one’s a full lie. She doesn’t know why she says it. Well, okay, that’s a lie too, because she knows. She definitely knows.
“Do you, like, want to?” Emilie says. She’s at the sink washing off her brushes.
Yes, she fucking wants to. Social construct or not, it’d be a relief. And besides, she likes sex -- with herself. And she’s watched plenty of porn. Read plenty of porn. She figures it can’t be that hard -- vulvas aren’t as scary as dicks, anyway, even though she thinks she’d like both.
Her heart is beating so fast she can feel it in her throat, in the back of her head, in her fingers, deep in the pit of her cunt. Pulsing.
“Like, in general? Sure,” she says, shrugging. She doesn’t look away from her canvas.
Emilie steps closer. “Well, with me. I just feel like we could use a bit of a de-stresser, you know?”
Larissa raises an eyebrow and tilts her head. “Smooth.”
She already knows she’s going to say yes, that Emilie wouldn’t joke about this.
“Hey, no hard feelings if you don’t want to.”
She measures the pause: enough for a breath, enough for her to seem like she’s considering it.
“Yeah, why not?” she says, and if her voice is a little higher-pitched than normal, Emilie doesn’t notice, grinning wide.
“Awesome. Put your stuff away and -- your place or mine?”
“Mine’s closer,” she says, stepping towards the sink, biting her lip. She concentrates on slowing her movements, because she feels like everything is spinning too fast, her heart beating beating beating. “And you’re in luck, I even made my bed today.”
Emilie steps into her space and stretches her arms around Larissa’s waist, drops her head down to her neck to kiss it. “We’re just going to mess it up again,” she whispers, her voice gravelly. Larissa’s breath hitches, like a silent hiccup.
“Jesus, Em. Impatient?” she forces out as Emilie’s hand sneaks under her shirt to rub along her ribs and stomach. Emilie laughs into her ear.
“I guess. I’ve been feeling really tense, ya know?”
“Mmm. Come on, let’s go.”
She tells herself it’s not a big deal, that she won’t make it a big. People have sex all the time. Good sex, even. Because it was -- good sex. At least, she thinks. But Emilie said so after, said that it was fun with a wide smile before she picked up her clothes off the floor and left only a couple bobbypins and the scent of fucking behind. Like, not a big deal.
She texts the group chat anyway, approximately five minutes after Em leaves.
Guess who just had sex, she writes. Resists adding a couple exclamation marks. Hides it under her pillow after she sends it.
She’s kind of -- well, naked. And sticky. And is debating the merits of a shower when her pillow buzzes.
YOOOOOOOO SWAWESOME, from Shitty.
Then two seconds later, Ransom: Brah! Me too!
It’s a Tuesday night, Justin, Holster writes. You have class tomorrow morning!
So does LD!! Ur just jeal of us. Ransom answers. She hides her face in her pillow even though no one’s around to see her blush.
Congratulations, Jack answers a few minutes later. It almost sounds sarcastic, and maybe it would be from anyone else, but Larissa has noticed Jack doesn’t really do sarcasm all that much. He’s probably being sincere.
She decides against showering for reasons she doesn’t really want to delve into but can probably be summed up to wanting to hold onto whatever feeling this is for as long as she can. Her phone lights up again when she’s trying to find sleep -- she really does have class early in the morning.
What about Larry, Jack writes, for the nickname.
She laughs to herself in the dark. Thanks for trying, she types out, but I don’t think so.
Maybe when you’re middle-aged and balding? from Holster.
I’ll hold onto the idea, she says, then puts it away, smiling. She’s still smiling when she wakes in the morning.
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Season 1: Episode 1: Destiny Islands
Okay, so this pilot episode is kinda bizarre. It uses the good old “Simple and Clean, Planit B Mix” as the theme song piece, and from the looks of things Chernabog is gonna show up at some point. Although as someone who’s played the games it is severely spoilerous, even showing Sora and Riku fighting, with the latter wearing his dark-mode outfit, which makes the mystery of what happens to him considerably less tense.
Ahem, on to the episode itself, it opens with Sora in the Dive to the Heart sequence, granted it’s even more bizarre since it skips over all the tutorial stuff from the game and keeps all the criptic language, with the white text warning Sora that darkness is approaching, that the day he will open the door is both very near and far off, and that the closer to the light he gets the greater his shadow becomes. And oh yeah, instead of fighting the Darkside, he simply dodges one punch from it and sinks into the resulting pool of darkness, at which point he awakens only to get jumpscared by Kairi.
Anyway, this is kinda dull since it’s pretty much word for word from the game, except they shook the screen and added a cartoon sound-affect over the scene where Riku tosses that log onto Sora.
After that though, things get pretty amusing, especially since Sora is very quickly distracted by everyone-else’s antics, getting into a sparring match with Tidus for the blanket they need to use for the sail. Of course, the match is less of a battle and more of a game to see who can disarm the other first.
Sora wins, and Tidus very quickly hits the Riku button, mentioning how Kairi can always count on him. I like how Sora just pauses right there, right before we cut to Riku, who has the other two logs that the player had to collect in the game, while Kairi has the rope. So him saying he had to do all the work really makes sense in this continuity. And then there’s how Sora runs up and immediately challenges Riku. And that smirk on Riku’s face, it helps set up how confident he is while also making the viewer really route for Sora. Then there’s Wakka’s role here, serving as a referee of sorts and setting the ground-rules: first one to knock the other off the island with the bent tree and into the water wins. And the battle between Sora and Riku really is quite the sight to see, whereas Sora’s giving it his all, Riku’s spending most of the battle on the defensive, dodging out of the way of Sora’s strikes, blocking what few would hit, and then stepping behind and pushing him off the edge and into the water with very little effort. And he goes right back to bringing the supplies back without breaking a sweat, even chatting with Kairi while she seems suitably impressed. Plus, the sight of a disgruntled Sora covered in seaweed is hilarious in and of itself.
After this we get the scene of the three watching the sunset, with Riku crediting Kairi with giving him the idea to try and escape Destiny Islands. That and teasing Sora with the Paopu, expositing about it’s rumored power.
Meanwhile, in Disney Castle Donald sees the King’s Letter and wakes Goofy up by zapping him with Lightning, except this time it’s “Cartoon X-Ray Lightning”, so more cartoon hi-jinx. Other than that it’s more or less exactly like the game, so let’s move on.
After a commercial break, we get Day 2 of Destiny Islands, with Selphie again expositing about the legendary power of the Paopu fruit. Then we get the race between Sora and Riku to decide who gets to name the raft and who gets to be captain, with Riku again throwing in that bit about “Winner gets to share a Paopu with Kairi” to get under Sora’s skin. And it is incredibly clear that Sora is very much against betting Kairi on a race. He still loses, but Riku very quickly brushes it off as a joke upon seeing how upset Sora is. And this does an excellent job of setting up another difference between Sora and Riku, Sora respects Kairi, while Riku doesn’t seem to.
After that, Kairi sends Sora to collect mushrooms, decides to get water herself (since whenever she sends one of the boys to do it they get water from the sea), and Riku to go and collect everything else, which helps set up why Sora hasn’t admitted his feelings to Kairi yet: he thinks she trusts Riku more than she trusts him.
When he goes to the Secret Place to collect mushrooms (after telling Wakka and Tidus to buzz off), he pauses by the drawings he and Kairi doodled of eachother, and decides to add the Paopu to the drawing. When the robed figure (now voiced by Richard Epcar) pops in, Sora tries to cover it up while his face turns red, and other than that his conversation with the robed figure is pretty much the same as in the game, except, much like in the Manga, Kairi waltzes in and gets hastily pushed out right after he leaves. The conversation between Sora and Kairi, and the scene where Kairi works on the Oathkeeper charm are combined into one scene.
Then we cut back to Disney Castle, where Mickey’s letter is actually narrated by Mickey Mouse, and other than that it’s pretty much the same as in the game, with Minnie introducing Donald and Goofy to Jiminy, and Donald asking Daisy to keep care of the Queen. Then there’s the virtually unchanged Gummi Ship scene, and we cut back to Destiny Islands, where Sora hurries over to the Play Island, misses Dinner, and gets jumped by the Heartless. Oh yeah, we also get to see some Neoshadows attack a guy right as he tries to get into his house, complete with his outstretched hand fading away as he screams.
Sora is, naturally, very concerned when his sword goes right through the Shadows who attack him on the beach, but then he spots Riku and immediately decides to tough it out and avoid them to try and get to him before the Heartless do.
Riku’s scene is virtually unchanged, accept after the screen fades to black, the flash of light is changed. The light flies in from the upper left corner, bounces off of the point where Riku would be, flies to where Sora should be, then covers the entire screen. Then Sora gets up, with the Keyblade in his hands, and turns the tables on the Heartless and fight his way to the Secret Place to protect Kairi. But then the door flies open and blasts a sickly Kairi (who looks incredibly pale and even has bags under her eyes) directly into Sora.
Then there’s the battle with the Darkside. The resulting battle is horribly skewed against Sora, with the Darkside keeping the upper hand, summoning Shadows to fight Sora, up until Sora scales up the Darkside’s arm and hits it in the head. The Darkside replies by grabbing Sora with it’s other hand and slamming him into the ground. At that point, the wind picks up, the little patch of land starts to crumble, and the Darkside gets sucked up into the vortex as Sora hangs on to the plank of wood for dear life, only to get sucked near the black hole and gets flung into space. Cue commercial!
The scene where Donald and Goofy land in Traverse Town and split off from Pluto is pretty much unchanged, up until Sora arrives at Cid’s shop. Cid still offers to let Sora stay with him if he can’t find his friends, but Sora heads out regardless. And then we get Cid talking to a shadowy figure.
The scene where the Heartless steal the mans heart is a tad bit more violent, as we get to see the soldier tear it from the man’s chest. There’s no blood, obviously, but it’s considerably more brutal. The Keyblade reappears in Sora’s hands right as the Heartless turn their sights on him. Sora’s instinct isn’t to fight, he tries to run back into the first district only for more Heartless to pop in behind him. Sora then makes a mad dash for the hotel, slashing through any Heartless who get in his way, until he finally reaches the hotel, at which point Donald and Goofy enter the second district.
Sora continues to battle the Heartless inside the hotel, and bursts straight throw the other entrance right by the cash register (with the guy behind the desk actually screaming when the Heartless pop up, with his silhouette diving out of sight), and Sora takes out about a fourth of them. The Heartless force Sora out, then disappear, right as Donald and Goofy pop in.
Sora continues his fight with the Heartless, taking a few out, and reaching the Gizmo Shop, at which point Donald and Goofy leave the hotel.
Sora continues to fight them through the still running gizmo shop, and actual takes out a Soldier by knocking it into the gears, and cuts a Shadow in two, and leaves right as Donald and Goofy get in.
When Sora exits, he takes out all the Heartless but one, which then dives under the door to the Dalmatian house. Sora gives chase, and Donald and Goofy leave the Gizmo Shop.
Sora then treads carefully around the puppies, who keep trying to go after him, and there’s a really comedic moment where the Shadow emerges from the ground to attack a puppy, only to pause when it sees Sora glaring at it while Pongo and Peridita growl at it, then sink right back into the ground and scurry off. Sora then chases it out the back door and into the Third District, where he finishes it off, just in time to be confronted by Leon. He gives the same speech he did in the game, and the two clash, with Sora doing pretty well until Leon blasts him with a fireball, at which point the boy gets sent flying into a wall and falls to the ground, unconscious. Yuffie arrives and teases Leon, who says things are worse than expected, and we cut back to Donald and Goofy, with the former getting startled by Aerith. Meanwhile, Riku wakes up, and is found by Maleficent after calling for Sora and Kairi (actually voiced in this continuity). Cue commercial.
When we get back from the commercial, Sora’s waking up, and mistakes Yuffie for Kairi. And the exchange is pretty much identical to how it was in the games, just better animated (the fact that the animation is pretty similar to the animation from Avatar might be part of the reason). Granted, they actually have Ansem’s first report, narrated by Corey Burton, which is always a plus. After that’s all sorted out, a Soldier Attacks, and Sora and Leon head out to fight the Heartless. And the following action scene is pretty cool as Sora once again fights through the Second District, but this time he’s carving a path through the Heartless alongside Leon and Yuffie, until they both get held off by a larger group of Heartless right as Sora enters the Third District.
Sora doesn’t realize that he’s been separated from the group until he’s surrounded by Heartless, at which point he looks significantly less brave. This is followed by a gag lifted straight from the games, with the Heartless blasting Donald and Goofy clear off the building and right onto Sora, actually startling the Heartless that were closing in on him. Right as they get up, the Heartless pounce, and suddenly, Donald and Goofy are awesome. Goofy bashes a Heartless into the air and Sora takes it down. Donald heals Sora, as well as blasts Heartless with fire and lightning. Once they all go down, the Guard Armor crashes in. Sora, Donald, and Goofy take out the Hammer Legs and Gauntlets, with them shattering, and then Sora takes it out by knocking the helmet into the torso, and slicing through both, and then the Guard Armor explodes and releases it’s heart, right as Leon and Yuffie arrive, with Yuffie remarking that it looks like they don’t have anything to worry about.
Sora, Donald, and Goofy officially introduce each other, and Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, and Cid give them supplies for their journey, while Jiminy Cricket vows to record all of it in his Journal. Meanwhile, Maleficent and her cabal of villains take a look at them, and Maleficent decides that they should stick around and watch for now.
Cue credits.
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