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roostalicious · 2 years

Text

Tattoos part 2

Word count: 6500-ish

Synopsis: Grace is new to town and one day Jake waltzes into her shop and gets a tattoo.

Genre: Fluff, eventual smut maybe, pining, strangers to lovers.

Warnings: Age-gap, Jake Seresin (yes he is a warning), Tattoos, Alcohol use, sexism, harassment, assault, racism/nazism, fighting, clichés!!

Characters:

Grace Evans

Lt Jake Hangman Seresin

Lt Bradley Rooster Bradshaw

Lt Natasha Phoenix Trace

Lt Javy Coyote Machado

Lt Robert Bob Floyd

Lt Reuben Payback Fitch

Lt Mickey Fanboy Garcia

CAPT Pete Maverick Mitchell

Penny Benjamin

Amelia Benjamin

Note: At last!! It's been a rocky road with this chapter and I'm still not perfectly happy with it. I rewrote this chapter with different storylines about three times, I'm sorry it took such a long time! As I always say; If there's anything that sounds weird or awkward or is just straight up wrong please let me know. I hope you will like it! Also, soft Jake sends me :')

Many hugs! /roostalicious

P.S: I do not consent to have my work published on any other sites or to have it republished here, nor do I consent to have it translated to be posted on other sites or here. Thank you.

Part 1

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The next couple of weeks went by quickly, surprisingly a lot of people in Miramar wanted tattoos, leaving Grace quite busy during the day. She hasn’t met the dagger squad since that Monday when she punched the man who grabbed her. They were busy with work as well, that didn’t stop Jake and Grace from texting every day though. Jake would send her silly pictures and updates about his day, Grace would reply with pictures of her or Babie and funny memes she found online. The group chat was active too, it was filled with silly banter and embarrassing pictures of the other members. Coyote would send pictures of Jake doing something stupid and then follow with; "come get your mans!" or something among those lines. That usually made Grace blush before she replied with something stupid as well. It was Friday afternoon when she got a text in the group chat;

"Grace, you, us, the Hard Deck, tonight? ;)" Payback had texted.

"Yes, join us Grace" Bob replied.

"Yes, please don’t leave me alone with this testosterone party!" Phoenix then texted making Grace laugh before replying;

"You’ve got yourselves a date ;) see you at 8?" A bunch of "yes" and "See ya there"s filled the chat box only to be followed by a picture of Jake smiling broadly at his phone. Coyote had sent it before he texted;

"Him every time when Grace texts…" Coyote texted and a few laughing emojis popped up at the screen before Jakes reply came in;

"I was watching a funny video!"

"It’s okay Jakey, you can admit your crush on me, I’ll still be your friend ;)" Grace answered using the nickname she had used to tease him last time they met.

"Darling, wow, you didn’t have to out me like that?" Jakes reply read. Just as Grace was about to answer a man walked into her shop. It was now 5:45 and she closed her shop around 6. She looked up at the man and was about to smile at him when something about him made her keep a neutral look a little longer. Something felt off in Graces stomach as he made his way towards her desk. She reluctantly put a smile on her lips, still wary of the man who had stepped foot in her shop.

"Hello, I’m Grace, how can I help you?" She introduced herself when he finally stopped at her desk. He gave her a smile that was so fake even a blind man could tell. The pit of her stomach dropped as the uncomfortable feeling grew. Grace was rarely scared of people, raised by parents who valued that she defended herself. Yet the man’s presence in her shop made her queasy.

"Hello Grace." She shuddered as he said her name, ice cold tone to his voice. "I was looking to get a tattoo." He continued. Grace then decided to treat him like any other customer and not to give in to her feeling.

"Absolutely, however I close in about 15 minutes, how about we make an appointment?" She asked as she started to flip though her bookings calendar. The man shifted on his feet and with a sigh he nodded. Grace then decided to take the opportunity to find out about what kind of tattoo he wanted.

"So, do you know what you want?" She asked as she was flipping though the pages, she had gotten a lot of bookings the last couple of days.

"Yeah, about that… Someone like yourself wouldn’t have a problem with tattooing a certain symbol now wouldn't ya?" He asked, his fake smile still plastered on his face like a mask. Grace’s hands stopped flipping through the pages and she lifted her now cold gaze towards the man.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked cooly crossing her heavily tattooed arms over her chest. The man lifted an eyebrow before continuing;

"I was just wondering if you had any problems with tattooing a symbol that was popular in the 40s, if you know what I mean?" The man then explained. Grace could feel her blood boil at the mere thought of what he meant.

"What? Because I’m white I wouldn’t have a problem with tattooing a swastika on you? Is that what you’re wondering?" She challenged, now angry.

"Yeah, so can you do it?" He asked, there was no smile on his face now. Grace moved out from behind her desk and moved towards the door, she held it open for the man.

"No, I think it’s best you leave." She said sternly as she gave the man a glare that would make any other man shiver.

"Why not?" He asked angrily as he strode towards her. "I demand you do this tattoo on me!" He then continued now visibly angry. Grace stood her ground as he made his way towards her, it was probably a bad idea since he was a lot bigger than her. However Grace was a woman of much integrity and she will not back down because some asshole was trying to scare her.

"You demand? That’s funny, I don’t remember getting a nazi symbol tattooed was a right you had?" Grace said sarcastically, the man became even angrier at her snark comment. Maybe she shouldn’t poke the bear with a stick, but honestly Grace thought he deserved some ridicule.

"Listen here you bitch!" A loud smack echoed through the studio, the sting was overwhelming as tears prickled in Graces eyes from the pain of the slap she just received. "You will do this tattoo on me or that won’t be the last time I’m putting my hands on you." The man threatened.

"No, leave." She bit out through gritted teeth while still holding the door open. The man seemed to be at his end as he lifted his fist and struck her in the face, busting her lip in the process. Grace felt her anger boil over at this and punched him straight on the eye. While he was disoriented she pushed him out of the shop and locked the door. He banged on the door while shouting multiple threats and profanities at her. It was only 5 minutes later he left after attracting a little too much attention to himself. After the initial shock laid down Grace felt tears slowly fall down her cheeks. She slowly made her way towards the sofa and let herself cry there. Her face was hurting and her lip was stinging from the salt in her tears. She slowly reached up and touched her face, her fingers stained with blood when she touched her lip. Curling up in the corner of the couch she pulled a blanked over herself and cried.

Meanwhile at the Hard Deck the dagger squad was increasingly becoming more and more worried about the younger girl. It was now 8:30 PM and they had yet to hear from her. They had texted her multiple times in the group chat and privately, but no answer came from her.

"Did she text anyone that she would be late?" Phoenix asked the guys who all shook their heads. "Where could she be?" Phoenix then asked nobody in particular. Apart from Jake, Grace was closest to Phoenix among the group, they texted almost everyday and Phoenix found herself grow fond of the younger girl. Now the usual cool and collected aviator were worried that Grace wasn’t answering her phone.

"I know she is close with Penny, maybe she knows?" Jake then suggested to the female aviator who nodded at him. The two of them made their way towards the bar to ask Penny about Grace. Penny was not at the bar at the moment though, so they decided to wait. Beside them were two older men who were drinking beer and chatting rather loudly. The one with a black eye said;

"Then she refused to do the tattoo I wanted, so I smacked her around a little to encourage her, she still refused tough. So I punched her, right after that she got the drop on me and gave me this guy but I busted her lip pretty badly." Jake felt his body freeze at what he was hearing. It didn’t take long for Jake to make the connection that the man laid his hands on Grace before coming here. He just had to make sure. He threw a look at Phoenix who were already looking at him with wide eyes. He turned to the men and tapped the one closest to him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me." Jake said and they both snapped their attention to Jake.

"Yes, Sir!" They said with respect at the officers before them.

"You didn’t mean the tattoo studio in town did you?" Jake asked, narrowing his eyes at them. Phoenix, who knew what was about to go down waved over the other guys. This was not going to be pretty at all. Jake was by no means a violent person, but the squad learned that when it came down to the people he cared about he would go to any lengths. And they knew that he really cared about Grace.

"I did, don’t go to that place man, she won’t give you what you want." The guy with the black eye said with a chuckle. Jake felt his anger get the best of him as he got the confirmation that this guy did in fact put his hands on Grace. Penny had now made her way back behind the bar and was serving customers on the other side of the bar when hell broke loose.

"What makes you think you can put your filthy hands on a woman?" Jake spit out before lunging at him, getting a couple of good punches in before Rooster and Coyote pulled Jake off of the man. The man then threw himself at Jake and got a couple of hits in on his stomach. Jake broke loose and started hitting the man's face again until Rooster then again dragged him of the man and the others dragged the man out of the bar.

"I should kill him" Jake seethed as he felt the rage in his stomach. In the midst of Jakes anger he heard Penny's angry voice;

"What is going on?"

"That man had put his hands on Grace." Phoenix explained. At the mention of Grace’s name Jakes anger washed off him like a cold stream only to be followed by fresh hot worry. He broke free of Roosters grip and bolted towards the door only to turn back in the last moment to shout;

"Can someone cover my bill?" Before he went out the door and got in his truck. The drive to Grace’s shop was short in reality but it felt like the longest drive Jake has ever taken. He parked his truck in front of her shop and went over to knock on the door with the panic in his throat.

Grace stirred awake by rapid taps on her door. She had fallen asleep after the altercation. Groggily she rose out of her couch and peeked at the visitor, it was Jake. With relief washing over her she walked to the door to let him in. When the door opened he rushed in and took her face in his hands gently.

"Darling, are you okay?" He asked as he studied her face. Grace felt more tears fill her eyes as she slowly nodded. Jakes thumbs stroked the corner of her busted lip, which were now stinging like hell, before they swiped away the tears that had fallen. Grace took a step forward and snuck her arms around his waist. As he wrapped his arms around her shoulders she could feel herself relax. Jake gently swayed them back and forth to the music that was softly playing throughout the shop.

"I’m sorry, I must’ve fallen asleep…" She trailed off when she stepped out of his embrace. He frowned as he cradled her face gently again, lifting it so she would look in his eyes.

"You have nothing to worry about Gracie." He assured, his use of her nickname made a flock of butterflies go wild in her stomach. She lifted her hands to his and felt that they were rough and coated in something wet and warm. When she took one of his hands in her own she gasped as she inspected his busted knuckles.

"What happened?" She asked worriedly.

"Well, I uh, taught the guy who hit you that you shouldn’t put your hands on a woman." He explained as Grace locked the door to her shop before dragging him up a flight of stairs that were hidden way back in her shop. Unlocking the door Jake assumed that they stepped foot in her apartment. The cat Jake knew as Babie jumped at his mom who caught him only to let him down on the floor immediately after. The apartment was homey Jake thought as he was dragged across the living room and towards the kitchen. It smelled like freshly baked muffins and Jake could see himself here, waking up with her, drinking coffee at her kitchen island, eating the baked goods she prepared. Cuddling with her and Babie on the couch, playing games by the dining table. The mere thought both scared and excited him. Grace had left him only to return with a box and Babie on her shoulder.

"Give me your hands" She mumbled as Babie jumped from her shoulders onto the table, the cat stroked itself against Jake, who took that as a sign and started petting him with his free hand. Grace opened the box and took out sodium chloride and some cotton swabs, the she got to work on cleaning up his busted knuckles. He was texting the others with his free hand, Babie had settled down on the counter just beside him.

"The others are wondering how you feel?" He asked as he looked at her. She looked up at him and gave him a small smile, only to wince directly after at the pain in her lip.

"I’m okay, I was shaken at first but now I’m okay." She said as she wrapped his hand. She then took his other had and started cleaning it like she did with the first. Jake nodded and sent a text in the group chat that she was fine now. Grace wrapped up the knuckles on his other hand and then went to put away the box. Her cat babie was soundly sleeping on the counter beside Jake as he read the replies of relief in the group chat. Grace came back into the kitchen and hoped up on the counter next to Babie, a loud signal came from Graces phone, it was a text from Penny;

"Hey, I heard about what happened, are you okay? x" Grace smiled slightly at her text and replied;

"Yeah I’m fine now, my lip is busted but Jake’s hands looked worse."

"You should see the other guy, Jake really defended you…" Penny texted back, then another text came in right after; ";)"

"Yeah, that was nice of him, even if I don’t want him to hurt himself." Grace texted back.

"But I didn’t." Jake protested his head leaning over her shoulder to read her conversation with Penny. Grace let out an amused huff.

"Didn’t your mother teach you that it is rude to snoop?" Grace asked with a laugh. Jake shrugged and leaned back to pet Babie.

"Didn’t your mother teach you that it’s rude to talk about others behind their back?" Jake countered with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Only if it’s bad things you’re saying." Grace replied cheekily before checking Penny’s reply;

"Good thing you’re there to take care of him ;)" That lady really is cheeky. Grace shook her head before replying with a shocked emoji, then she closed her phone and looked up at Jake who was still giving his attention to the cat.

"I’m not keeping you from anything, am I?" Grace asked, suddenly conscious that the handsome aviator might have other, more fun, plans a Friday night. Jake’s eyes shot up to meet her own, a smile on his face.

"Nothing is better than spending time with you darling." He said cheekily. Grace felt a blush creep up on her face at his statement and she swatted his arm. He let out a loud laugh at her embarrassment and moved to stand closer to her, effectively invading her personal space. He moved so his hands were on either side of her legs, caging her in. He leaned his face closer to hers, forcing her to look at him. Her blue eyes staring into his green ones. He was wearing his service khakis today, just like the last time he went to the Hard Deck. The fabric of his uniform strained against his biceps as he was leaning on his hands. Graces hands seemed to have a mind of their own as they moved up to trace the rack of ribbons on his chest. They moved to the wings with an anchor in the middle that sat right above the ribbons. Her hands continued their way upwards to the two bars that sat on his collar. Her eyes drifted up to his again as her hands rested by his collar. The atmosphere was now thick and Grace swallowed.

"I’m sorry, I- uh, do you want a cupcake?" She stumbled with her words, worried that she might have overstepped by touching his insignia, or the rest of his uniform for that matter. Jake lifted an eyebrow and let out a chuckle in amusement.

"Why are you sorry?" He asked, a smile now adorning his lips. Grace let out a breath.

"For touching your" She didn’t know what to call it really. "Things?" She then added, sounding unsure at the end. Jake shook his head, clearly amused with the girl infront of him.

"Don’t worry darling, it’s nothing. A cupcake sounds amazing." He replied as he straightened his back and let her slide down from the counter. She made her way towards the fridge and opened it. With her back towards him she spoke;

"Jake, I know this sounds lame, but would you maybe like to stay for a movie night?" She asked, taking out the platter with cupcakes before turning around and closing the door with her hip. As she saw his face her own broke out in a small smile, he was grinning widely at her, Babie now in his arms. He looked so comfortable there in her home with her cat in his arms. She really liked the thought of Jake being in her home with her, it was like he belonged here with her and Babie.

"I would love to darling." He said as he followed her out towards the living room. She placed the platter down, keeping the dome lid on still so Babie wouldn’t get to them. She then turned to Jake;

"I think I have some oversize sweatpants if you would like to change out of your uniform." She told him gesturing to his uniform, no matter how good he looked in that thing it couldn’t be as comfortable as sweatpants.

"Sure, that would be nice." Jake shrugged and followed her into her bedroom. It was a smaller room, a large bed was in the middle of it and her closet was a small room in the corner. Her bed was unmade with white linen sheets and a large knitted blanket was placed by the foot. A few books were stacked on her bed table and one were laying parted on the side she was reading, spine up on top of the other books. There were various plants and paintings scattered throughout the apartment and her bedroom were no exception of this. She came back from her closet with a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt and handed them to Jake.

"You can change in here if you want, I’ll go and get some other snacks." She said, giving him the biggest smile she could without feeling too much pain in her lip. Jake nodded and put the clothes on her bed before changing. He folded his uniform neatly and put it on a dresser she had in her room. When he walked out he saw that she had brought out wine, beer, chips and chocolate, fluffy blankets along with more pillows were on the couch as well. Jake smiled at the sight, Grace really had a habit of making things feel homey.

"Please sit, I’ll just change into some more comfy clothes as well." She said as she moved past him into her bedroom. Jake moved to plop down on the couch next to Babie, he absentmindedly stroked the cat as he waited for Grace to come back. Just a couple of minutes later she did, wearing a pair of sleep shorts and a large t-shirt along with some fluffy socks. She sat down on Jake’s other side and started her TV. He couldn’t stop staring at her, more specifically, her bare legs. They were filled with different colourful tattoos and that made it hard for Jake to look away. She looked absolutely stunning like this, hair slightly messy, a big shirt that covers more than her shorts, fluffy socks to keep her feet warm. The only thing he would change is the split in her lip. It was hard for Grace to look away from Jake as well, we all know what grey sweatpants do to a girl, add a slightly too tight shirt to the equation and it would be lethal. The shirt did nothing to cover Jake’s muscles, straining against his chest and slightly too short, showing a little bit of his belly. Hey eyes drifted further down to his lap but before she could let her eyes linger she pulled her self out of her trance.

"What would you like to watch?" She asked Jake, now feeling a bit more excited, the assault drifting further and further away from her conscious mind.

"Anything you would like darling." He said charmingly and Grace did a mock scoff.

"Really? No suggestions?" She asked and he shook his head in a no. Grace couldn’t help the smug feeling she was feeling and she gave Jake her most innocent look she could muster.

"Then you wouldn’t mind if I put on Twilight?" She was now batting her eyelashes at Jake who looked slightly uncomfortable by her suggestion.

"Really? Twilight?" He let out a chuckle and turned his body towards her. She nodded enthusiastically.

"Nothing would bring me more joy than hearing your brilliant commentary on such a cinematic masterpiece." She then said confidently and Jake let out a roaring laugh and then nodded.

"Sure, if that’s what makes you happy I’m game." He said, her heart swelled a little at his comment and she put on the vampire flick. Jake took a beer and Grace poured herself a glass of wine as the movie started. The movie rolled on and Jake’s comments really made Grace laugh throughout the whole movie.

"Wait, why did he leave?" Jake asked in confusion at the beginning of the next movie, they were now draped in blankets and Grace’s legs were propped up in Jake’s lap. The bowl of chips resting in Graces lap and the cupcakes were half eaten by now.

"Because he is stupid." Grace said simply as she put another chip in her mouth. Jake shook his head in confusion and sipped on his beer. "and stupidly hot." The younger girl added after she chewed her chip. Jake’s eyebrows shot up at her comment.

"What so that’s your type?" He asked in disbelief and Grace nodded.

"Yeah, moody dark boys are stupid hot." She said simply. Jake’s mouth fell open.

"But we shouldn’t forget about the DILF’s Charlie and Carlisle." Grace said nonchalantly and Jake let out a surprised laugh.

"So you like DILF’s then?" He said, wiggling his eyebrows at her, she let out a laugh at that.

"What, are you going to tell me you have a kid?" She said chuckling, Jake’s eyes widened in shock.

"I- no? What? No? Can’t I be a DILF without the kid?" He asked, confused.

"No, you either need to have a kid or be over 40." Grace said with a giggle at Jake’s face.

"But I’m a perfect DILF!" He protested and this made Grace laugh, her lip really hurt in he process.

"You are stupid hot though, don’t worry Jake, your time will come." She said casually as she calmed down from her laugher and sipped on her third glass of wine. He watched her drink her wine, he knew she was slightly affected by the alcohol.

"You’re only saying that cause you’re drunk." Jake said with a smile on his face, Grace let out a gasp.

"Am not! You are, totally wanted to sleep with you the first time I met you." Her eyes widened and she slapped her hand over her mouth at what she just confessed. Jake let out a laugh and a smirk made its way onto his face.

"Did you now?" He mused.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about." She then said quickly. Jake’s mouth fell open at how quick she denied what she just said. He then closed it, took away the bowl of chips and leaned over to Grace, his hands moved to her side and he started tickling her. The girl let out a shriek and started to try to defend herself but her legs were tangled in the blankets and with one hand he held down her arms.

"Jake! Stop!" She got out in-between laughs as she squirmed under him, his hand ruthlessly tickling her sides.

"I won’t stop until you admit it!" He said laughing at her.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about." She force out as she was laughing uncontrollably.

"What was that?" He asked and then in a girlish voice he said; " Oh Jake tickle me more!" he then continued; "Are you sure? Okay darling." He said as he continued with the torturous movements.

"Fine! I’ll admit it!" Grace finally forced out between laughs.

"Admit what darling?" He asked, still tickling her sides.

"Okay, okay I wanted to sleep with you the first time I met you!" She said as she was laughing. Jake’s fingers stopped tickling her sides and Grace was breathing heavily trying to catch her breath. Jake’s other hand let go of her arms and he rested both his hands beside her head, still hovering over her. When her eyes flickered up again they met his already looking at her.

"What?" She whispered, her hands moving up his arms and rested on his neck, her fingers nervously playing with the hairs on his nape.

"You’re just so beautiful." He said honestly, he could see the pink on her cheeks from his complement, a smile formed on both of their lips. Jake started to slowly lean in, the atmosphere now thick with want and anticipation. He saw how her eyes fluttered shut and he felt her hands press down on his neck, bringing him down quicker. His lips was just hovering over hers when a loud crash was heard from the kitchen followed by an indignant meow. Grace let out a sigh, her eyes still closed. Jake slowly moved himself off of her body so they could go investigate what that noise was. When they entered the kitchen Grace let out a gasp, Babie had tipped over a pot of flowers.

"Babie!" Grace said disappointed, the cat meowed back at the girl. She went over and picked him up and looked him over so he didn’t hurt himself. Grace then handed the cat to Jake, who accepted the purring cat.

"He likes you." Grace said as she started sweeping up the remains of the pot. She picked up the flower, went over to a cabinet and took out another pot and placed it flowers in it before adding new soil. She watered the plant at put it in another spot so Babie wouldn’t do a repeat of what he just did.

"Of course he does, everyone likes me." Jake joked as he pet the black cat in his arms. "Even you wanted to jump me when we first met." He then added a mischievous smirk on his face. Grace’s jaw fell slack at his comment.

"I should never have told you that…" She said as she moved to stand in front of him. She crossed her arms over her chest as she shook her head in disappointment still sporting a smile on her face. As the pair made their way out to the living room again Jake spoke;

"What, it’s okay to admit it. I am stupid hot." He said teasing her even more from her drunken confessions. Grace let out a laugh as she threw herself on the couch, Jake following suit, Babie still purring in his arms.

"Okay you know what? Fine, you are stupid hot and you know it. How many women have you met that didn’t want to sleep with you?" Grace asked as she threw her arms out around her while letting out a laugh.

"None" He answered her question with a confident grin on his face. Jake took pride in his looks, he never really had any problems with women. Grace threw her arms out as to make a point.

"See! So why would I be any different?" She said laughing, he laughed with her.

"Well, I’m still teasing you about it." He said cheekily and Grace let her mouth fall open in disbelief.

"Really? Wow, asshole." She mumbled grumpily and then turned to watch the movie. Jake let out a laugh at that before placing Babie on his lap he put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer.

"Don’t worry, I won’t tease you for your crush on me." He said confidently as he stroked her arm with his warm hand. Grace let out another frustrated huff at his statement but stayed put to his side. The end of the second movie rolled around and Grace was fast asleep by Jake’s side, she had curled up into a ball with an arm thrown across his midsection. Jake smiled at her sleeping form before turning off the TV. He slowly shimmied out of Grace’s grip before standing up.With a hand under her knees and one around her shoulders he picked her up and carried her to her bed. He placed her gently on her bed before pulling the covers over her body. Before he could turn around he saw her hand stick out to grab his pants. He looked at her face and her eyes were half open as she mumbled something incoherent.

"Darling, I can’t hear you, you gotta speak up." He said as he crouched down to her level. She closed her eyes again and snuggled closer to the covers as she let out a satisfied sigh.

"I said…" Yawn. "Thank you." Jake smiled at that before he leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to her head.

"No problem darling, sleep well." He smiled before standing up and leaving her room, turning off the lights at the process. Babie was still fast asleep on the couch as Jake put away the snacks and drinks that was still left on the table. With one last look around the apartment and his uniform in hand he left her home and made his way back to his housing unit.

Grace awoke the next day to an annoying vibrating sound next to her ear. With a grunt she reached out to silence the sound, it wasn’t until her hand touched her phone she realised that someone was calling her. Sighing she took her phone and slid the green icon to answer the call.

"Hello?" She said with a raspy voice.

"Rise and shine." A cheerful voice said on the other line.

"Phoenix? What time is it?" Grace asked rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"About 8 am, get ready, you’re joining us on the beach today!" Phoenix said, leaving no room for arguments. Grace let out a sigh before answering;

"What time should I be there?" Grace asked before stifling a yawn.

"9:30" Phoenix said and Grace could hear the smile in her voice.

"All right, see you there." Grace said and the girls said their goodbyes before hanging up. Grace swung her legs over the edge of her bed and saw that Jakes uniform were not on the dresser. It was then she realised she was in her bed and not in her couch. He must’ve carried her there last night. As she walked out to her living room she saw that Jake had cleaned up before leaving last night. Her heart swelled at his thoughtfulness she then saw a note on her fridge that read;

"You fell asleep last night, I hope I put back the things in their right places. Sleep well darling x - J" A smile broke out on Grace’s face and she winced at the pain it caused her but she couldn’t help herself when he acted so sweet. Grace placed the note in its old place on her fridge before she got out breakfast.

It was 9:25 when Grace pulled up to the parking lot of the Hard Deck. Phoenix had texted her where they would meet after their phone call. Getting out of her car she grabbed her bag filled with drinks, snacks and towels as she made her way towards the beach behind the popular bar. The group of aviators came into view as she came closer. None of them were wearing a shirt and they were throwing around two balls, running around like chickens. Grace let out a giggle at the sight before spotting Penny at the patio of the bar she owned. She waved and made her way towards Penny.

"Hey, how are you?" She asked as she came closer to the older woman. She gave the young girl a smile before answering;

"I’m good, how are you feeling?" Penny asked and Grace nodded as an answer, she then turned to look at the aviators who were laughing and playing their game.

"They’re playing dog fight football… Pete’s invention." Penny said as she sipped on a drink.

"Oh, well, I’m glad they’re having fun." Grace said as she removed her tube top to get some sun. Penny turned to her with a smirk.

"Speaking of fun… What did you and hangman do last night?" She wiggled her eyebrows at Grace who let out a loud laugh. What she didn’t notice was that Jake caught her laugh and whipped his head around to stare at Grace. She was sitting there in only a black bikini top and cut off jeans, laughing at something Penny said. He noticed more tattoos on her chest and stomach and, oh my god, is that a piercing? He was transfixed as he studied the younger girl, he failed to notice Rooster who came in quickly and tackled him to the ground with such force that left them both lying in the sand.

"We just watched a movie, nothing saucy." She said before her head whipped around as the group down on the beach shouted in shock. When her eyes found what they were looking at, Jake on the ground with Rooster on top of him. She let out a gasp and stood up to see better only to see Rooster roll off of Jake.

"All right, take five!" An older man shouted as he made his way towards Penny and Grace started to make her way towards Jake and the others. She met the man halfway and he stopped, stretched his hand for her to shake, which she did.

"I’m Pete, but you can call me Mav, I’m their Captain." He said smiling, Grace returned his smile.

"I’m-" "Grace, I know, nice to meet you." He interrupted her and then started to walk towards Penny again.

"You too!" Grace shouted to him before continuing to walk towards the group. Jake and Rooster were still laying on the ground in agony and the rest of the group was standing around them in a circle. It must’ve been one collision for them both to stay down so long.

"Hey Grace!" Payback waved as she neared the group.

"Hey guys! What happened?" She asked, now joined in the circle around Jake and Bradley. She had a look of worry plastered on her face as she was looking at the two men laying in the sand.

"You happened…" Jake muttered in pain as Bradley slowly sat up. Grace was shocked at Jake’s statement and her worried face disappeared.

"What do you mean I happened? I was nowhere near you when this happened." Grace huffed, all sympathy gone after the accusation, she crossed her arms over her chest. The group stifled a laugh as Jake’s eyes shot open, he then slowly sat up with a groan.

"You and that godforsaken top" He then continued, the group burst out laughing at that. He was seriously blaming Grace’s bikini for his mishap. Grace huffed again.

"You should really learn how to keep your eyes to yourself then Lieutenant." She rolled her eyes at the now smirking lieutenant. He rose to his feet, the group were still cackling at Jake’s comments.

"Well, darling, it’s hard when you look like that." He said, still with a smirk on but holding his shoulder.

"Look like what?" She challenged.

"Stupid hot." He smirked.

Taglist:

@blue-aconite @topstory21

#jake hangman seresin #hangman fanfiction #hangman x reader #hangman x oc #pete maverick mitchell #rooster top gun #top gun fanfiction #top gun maverick #jake seresin #hangman fluff

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prairiedust · 5 years

Text

The Folklore of Supernatural

Part two of a series I started with this post.

I’m reposting this as the second installment of my midseason hiatus “The Folklore of Supernatural” series, even though it was originally written as kind of a long cracky way of looking at the “sleeping beauty trilogy” of episodes in season 14 (The Scar, Mint Condition, and Nightmare Logic.) The original question I was tagged into was “Is Dean actually dreaming?” and I can not find the original post about this, so I won’t tag anyone in particular (you know who you are and I love you because this was fun to write.) I posted it once in the dead of night with no tags, but I’m republishing it as part of my larger take on folklore as a theme in season 14 of Supernatural. Bear in mind that this was written before Optimism, when it became clear that these were not part of an extended dream-sequence, BUT ALSO before The Spear when it was revealed that Michael could repossess Dean. (I’m going to talk a little bit about timing and writing meta, further on.)

I want to say a couple of things before the cut, too. This is a big old Sleeping Beauty post. I know there’s a lot of SB ideas out there in the metasphere but I’ve deliberately avoided them because I wanted to get my thoughts out here and I am Very Slow. Feel free to tag me into other posts, send me asks, whatever, because I think it’s fun to talk about. However, just because this is a “sleeping beauty” meta does not mean I want to go all the way to the end of that metaphor in this series. This particular post is general audience meta. I can’t tell anyone who might read this that no, you aren’t allowed to see a DeanCas parallel in a meta which relies heavily on a romantic fairy tale and one that was a destiel fandom in-joke after Cas died, at that. I will say, though, that I see it, so if you want to duck out now because I’m a lowkey shipper feel free. Also, I can’t endorse predictions based on meta, either, even my own, even when I think there is a big neon “Texan Star” sign saying “destiel goes here;” there is absolutely nothing stopping anyone involved in the show from making a hard left when the signs said we were going right. So rather than seeing this as a defense of DeanCas subtext, let’s call it an experiment in close reading. If nothing else, it will be fun. (Bear in mind that I am a massive dork so my definition of fun involves Charles Dickens.)

Aaand... here we go.

Is Dean asleep, and have the last three episodes (The Scar, Mint Condition, and Nightmare Logic) been a dream? How can we possibly “answer” that question at this point in the show?

We’re trying to speculate about a text that is a constantly moving target. If, for instance, you start to read the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, and you know from a blurb on the back of the book that she was an anthropologist who collected African-American and Caribbean folklore, and you get to the place where the protagonist Janie’s second [redacted] ends, but there are a lot of pages left ahead of you, and you think, wow if this happens a third time, I have a theory that the third [redacted, go read this book] would be special based on what I know about folklore and the “rule of three,” well by the end of the book you will know whether or not you were right. Janie either finds a third [redacted], or she doesn’t, and it’s either special, or it’s not.

Supernatural has not ended, so there is no way of saying “Oh, the main theme we are supposed to take away from this show is ____.” I mean, we can put big money on “family” but still. With a television show, it’s hard to even say, “The over-arching themes in this season are____” until the season finale, because it is a text that is being written, filmed, and published serially. The fluid nature of subtext in serial literature was something I studied under a Brit Lit professor– she said, when we set out to read David Copperfield, that sometimes themes in Dickens concluded early or evolved late, or didn’t pan out, because Dickens changed his mind or was pressured by readers to maintain a character that he hadn’t planned to keep around (I think that character was Micawber but I can not find a shred of evidence anywhere, even in my notes from my Brit Lit class, because she kind of mentioned it in passing and I didn’t like Dickens very much when I was younger, so obviously I didn’t learn it well.) And even when you get to the end of a Dickens serial, you still might not get closure– he totally rewrote the conclusion of Great Expectations because his friends wanted angst with a happy(ish) ending.

But this particular “sleeping” symbolism that has been pointed out is really, really structurally sound and can be very well supported. What it means is (shrug emoji)

Going back to the first post in this series, the support for this reading comes from an understanding of folk tales. I’ll be primarily using European Sleeping Beauty stories, as that is what is most accessible to an American/Western audience. And, it was deliberately alluded to in the text of the show. But first let’s talk about formula tales in more depth because that is what sets this theme up in the very first episode of season 14.

Michael met with three different beings in the season opener Stranger in a Strange Land and asked each of them “What do you want?” This is in no uncertain terms a formula tale found in folklore all over the world, and you know about the rule of three even if you’ve never actually acknowledged it. In Goldilocks and the Three Bears, for instance, Goldilocks tries two bowls of porridge before finding one to her liking. She tries two chairs before settling on Baby Bear’s chair. She tries two beds before falling asleep in the one that was “just right.” There were three challenges, two of which failed and one that satisfied her. Goldilocks is an original work (and please read the Wikipedia article, it is fascinating how many revisions this story has gone through, and in fact “Goldilocks” wasn’t even the original main character) but it was based on a folk formula and has entered American oral tradition. Similarly, in the German folk tale The Three Little Pigs, the first pig’s house is destroyed because it was made of straw, the second house failed because it was made of sticks, but the third house was made of brick and withstood the huffing and puffing of the wolf. So the pattern in the rule of three is often two challenges that fail or are flawed and one that finally succeeds or satisfies the necessary conditions. For short, I’m going to call this grouping 2/1. In the Michael story, 2/1 is human, who fails, then angel, who fails, then monster, who Mikey likes. In addition, there is a primer to the rule of three in that first scene, just to make absolutely certain that the audience notices it-- Michael has Jamel guess his identity three times.

This 2/1 formula could be just something Dabb did because he wanted to do it. It’s ancient, and Michael is an ancient being. But. Can it also mean that “folktales” is a theme on the show now?

As the saying goes, “Once is an occurrence, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern.” Folklore continues into the season in many different ways.

In Gods and Monsters, the scene where Dean shakes loose and punches the mirror probably lit up everyone who saw it with “mirror mirror on the wall” vibes, from the story of Snow White. The enchanted mirror is such a common “trope” in folklore that it has an index number that folklorists and others use to refer to it in their scholarship– it’s Aarne-Thompson index number D1163. So, another solid subtextual reference to folk tales. There is so much more in that episode about storytelling and retelling and the concept of sequels, but that’s for another discussion.

We get to The Scar and Jack mentions Sleeping Beauty and no lie I ascended for a full minute. “Sleeping Beauty” is Aarne-Thompson-Uther Classification of Folk Tales number 410 because this is another story that is found freaking everywhere. (I have to make an aside about the use of the term “folk tale” just because it is in my nature not to leave things like this ambiguous– it isn’t completely certain that the Sleeping Beauty we know of Brothers Grimm and Disney fame is 100% for shore an oral tale, or at least isn’t a tale that got a little finessed when it was first written down. See, a guy in pre-Renaissance Naples named Giambattista Basile included a version of it in a collection of child’s tales hundreds of years ago (it’s horrifying btw, cw for non-con at the very least if you go looking for it) then Charles Perrault (of Puss in Boots fame) got hold of it and rewrote it in French, and folklorists are pretty certain that the story of “Briar Rose in the Forest” that the Grimm brothers collected was the Perrault story that had made its way back into oral tradition in Germany. And, like, it’s not a huge reach to say that the history of the Sleeping Beauty story that is explicitly mentioned in the show’s dialogue by Jack is more subtext about how stories are transmitted, how they are told, what happens when they get loose in the wild, etc. That’s how allusions work, and that’s coming up in my third post.)

So, three times means green light to consider “folk tales” an official thing this season, at least for a while. And the cherry on top is that Sleeping Beauty was the third story referenced. It’s neat.

But NOW. On to THE question the OP posed:

Have the last three episodes been Dean’s dream?

I’m going to pass up surface mentions of dream states and solely focus on the actual “sleepers” in these episodes in order to get at the allusion’s architecture.

In Nightmare Logic, the sleeping beauty OP has identified is Sasha’s father, who is locked in a dream-state by a djinn. In Mint Condition, the sleeping beauty is Stuart, who is in a mysterious coma-like sleep after an attack by a possessed chain-saw. In The Scar, Lora is in a sleep-adjacent death-state after being hexed by a witch. (I saw that her name on the iTunes subtitles is “Lora” which is a variation of Laura but spelled this way evokes “of lore” and that was pretty neat. Another tiny detail that bolsters the theme.)

Is Lora really a sleeping beauty, though, and why is that important?

Remember our rule of three pattern that we were given in the premiere– 2/1. Two people in this group will be more similar to each other than to the third. Both Stuart and Sasha’s father are alive, while Lora is technically all the way dead when she is in the sleep-like state. Superficially, Stuart and Sasha’s father are men, whereas Lora is a woman. Just throwing that out there. If I were writing this post for a grade, that right there is called “padding for word count.” But it is also a valid point, so we’re going to use it. Neither Stuart nor Sasha’s father are shown to resume consciousness by the end of their episodes– Stuart not at all, and Mr. Rawlings only stirs fitfully. Lora is revived when Jack breaks the spell. On the other hand, Stuart is never in continued danger in Mint Condition after his “touch and go” operation (he’s presumably safe inside the salt circle) and is expected to recover naturally, whereas both Mr. R and Lora will die/stay dead if the threat against them isn’t neutralized. Mr. Rawlings is similar to Lora because they are both under “medical care”– Mr.R is ostensibly in hospice and Lora is in the Bunker’s sick bay, and to top things off Stuart is the only one who was treated by an actual doctor: Mr. R‘s nurse was a djinn and Cas is not a doctor he just played one on TV.

The thing about close readings is that anything you can argue is probably valid, but one thesis might be better supported than another. I’m really really tired and there might be more differences and similarities that I am missing. But when you’re gathering the evidence to support a theory about a text, you can end up going a bridge too far and you’ll find yourself staring into the void, completely unable to make any progress, so at some point you just have to stake out your foundations and start digging. (Yeah, I mixed metaphors, I mixed three of them, it’s awesome, get off me.)

So. There is more evidence that Stuart and Mr. R are more similar to each other than either one is to Lora. If we apply the 2/1 template, Lora is the character who satisfies the parameter of being “odd man out.” That still might not make her a sleeping beauty for the purposes of answering the “Is this Dean’s dream” question, and here’s why.

(This is the speculation part. I love this stuff, but again I offer the caveat that using subtext to make plot predictions in Supernatural is like trying to write on a cloud with smoke. Anyway.)

If she’s the sleeping beauty, the subtextual message is that Dean might actually be dead (or might have to die to satisfy the condition that Michael is destroyed.) That possibility was brought up in both 14x01 and 14x02, before Dean came back. And eugh no one wants that. It also means that we had to have read these three episodes backwards to find the character that fits the template, because if Lora is a sleeping beauty, and if she is “the” sleeping beauty for subtextual purposes, she actually came first in the series, and you have to run the episodes backwards to get to the 1. That is subverting the trope. However, if you get the thing you want the first time why go on to the other two challenges? There is a lot in this season about calling back to earlier parts of the narrative to contextualize the present– for instance, in Gods and Monsters, Michael says to the werewolf, “You think you were picking me up in that bar?” or something to that effect and then revealed that he was, in fact, the one stalking her. In Mint Condition, we are introduced to the Janitor Victim as a Dean mirror, but we do not know for certain yet that Hatchet Man is a post-Azazel John Winchester mirror, so that scene is given greater meaning by information that is revealed later in the episode. Structurally speaking, it would be fair to say that the information we have now, that Lora the dead girl is “the” sleeping beauty, based on having seen the other two candidates, means a dead Dean reveal has been primed by the subtext. And like, no thank you?

The other possibility is that Lora, since she was dead and not unconscious, is not “the” sleeping beauty. The third “sleeping beauty” (IF there is one) would show up in 14x06 Optimism. (That title is really stressing me out.) Why would that be Dean and not some other random character? Because if we exclude Laura, the pattern resets from 1/2 to 2/1 beginning with Stuart. Stuart is a Castiel mirror, though, which is not quite right. Mr. R is a John mirror (although that episode is a lot murkier and I’ve said before if someone wants to say he’s a Dean mirror because of the djinn connection I’d agree, in which case BLAM we already have a winner.) [editor’s note, I only left Jack out because we already knew he was dying and thought this subtext was priming a twist, more at ten, this aside has been brought to you by the letters LOL.]

But then, where have the last three episodes come from? If he is dreaming, it could be one reason why the djinn couldn’t wring a nightmare out of him, and that the moment before he killed the monster with a bookend was his subconscious trying to signal to him that something is wrong…

I have said a couple of times that subtext isn’t always predictive. Some authors will have multiple subtexts or will use subtext to straight-up fool you (*waves to thriller writers.*) But the exception proves the rule here– we as readers/viewers rely on subtext to prepare us for what might be coming next. Subtext helps provide that slow build to climax that makes, say, Neville Longbottom’s absolutely stunning house cup win in The Sorcerer’s Stone such a stand-up-and-cheer moment, or that makes Harry Potter’s realization that it is his patronus, not his father’s, that saves his past self in the Prisoner of Azkaban so satisfying. Lack of subtext is the reason there is so much grumping over Mary/Bobby. I mean, they what? Had a walk in the woods together? She called him “old man” once, is that even a term of endearment??? [full disclosure I never liked those two together until after Nightmare Logic.]

And scene!

That up there is where I stopped, and now it’s clear that the person who all this was pointing at was Jack, who fell into a dramatic swoon at the end of Optimism. There were two “sleeping beauties” in that episode, too in the 2/1 pattern of the folktales we’ve discussed– the zombie, who is in sort of a dream state, and Charlie, who is knocked out by fly guy. (Again, fully dead is a red herring and doesn’t count. That’s some positive subtext.) That was basically a lot of words to be able to summarize that, yes, sleeping beauty and dreamstates is a thing so far, but where it was going was hard to predict.

There is something really important that can be taken out of this close reading, though, that is carrying throughout the season.

Jack was the character who actually said the words “Sleeping Beauty.” Jack sort of volunteered himself as tribute. Another theme this season that was made explicit by Subtext Primer aka Mint Condition is that the words characters are saying are more important than they ever have been.

AND ONE MORE THING! The above was written before Unhuman Nature and Byzantium and The Spear! Dean has been put back to bed by Michael! But but Castiel stepped into the Sleeping Beauty deal! Where are we going! There’s no earthly way of knowing, which direction we are going…

Anyway in the next installment of this really long meta that will probably never end I want to explore what the history of the Amero-European Sleeping Beauty brings to bear on this season.

#the folklore of supernatural #the folkloristics of supernatural #season 14 #dabb era

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