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cheynovak · 4 months

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My brother's best friend

Reader x Dean Winchester

Warnings: smut 16+, jealousy,...

Side note: English isn’t my first language.

Words: 3538

Y/N and Sam known each other from college, Y/N introduced him to Jess. Sam considered her to be one of his best friends. While the brothers are on a hunt she ran into them, they decide to ask her for help. Dean at first doesn’t trusts her but the more he sees Sam hanging out with her the more he starts to appreciate her. Until he realises, he might actually have feelings for the normal girl who seems to be only interested or liking his younger brother.

*note: Picture this in the early seasons with a time jump. The story may not always follow the supernatural timeline*

*Not my GIF*

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Sam and Dean were sitting at the diner, while Dean was stuffing his face with what he claimed to be the best burger ever, Sam was trying to find out where these symbols came from. “I’m telling you Dean we need to go talk to an expert about these hieroglyphics.” Dean looked annoyed “And I think those have nothing to do with this case Sam. Just a werewolf haunting that farm.”

“Sam? Sam Winchester is that you?” The brothers looked up towards the sound of her voice. “Oh, hi Y/N.” He stood up and gave her a hug. “Dude, do you ever stop growing!” She joked while accepting the tallest Winchester’s hug. Sam laughed “Sit down with us. How are you, w-what are you doing here?”

“Well, I eh...” Y/N noticed the confused face Dean was making at her and Sam. “Oh, Dean this is Y/N a friend from college, Y/N this is Dean my older brother.” - “Hi nice to meet you.” Y/N said. “Yeah, hi.” Dean answered still a little confused. Y/N turned back to Sam. “So, I eh am looking for a new job. Todd and I left California after I graduated, you remember him, right?” Sam nodded “I became a history and art-history teacher at the local high school in Reno. But eh, Todd and I split up a couple of months ago, and I have been on a self-empowering road trip ever since. But I’m running out of money so, hence the job search.”

“Y/N, here major History back at Stanford.” Sam said exited to Dean, “And did an extra course in art history.” Y/N told Sam. While Dean made a oh really, I don’t care look. “So, eh what about you?” She turned back to Sam. “Kind of the same, road trip since...” He answered quiet looking down. Y/N grabbed his hand. “I miss her too.” She said sincerely. Dean broke the silents “Well, I’m going to...” He pointed to the restrooms. “Your brother doesn't seem to like me.” Y/N said while following Dean with her eyes. “He’s just not good with meeting new people.” They talked a little more, Dean walked back from the toilets seeing his brother laugh at something Y/N just said. When he got to the table Y/N stood up. “Well, it was really nice to see you again Sam.” Y/N wrote something on a napkin. “If you are planning on staying in town a little longer... and you want to, I don’t know, talk or hang out, text me, here is my new number.” She hugged Sam goodbye and threw a cute little smile at Dean.

“Do you ever stop growing” Dean said in a high-pitched voice mocking Y/N while walking to the car. “Really Dean? Y/N is a nice person, she was the first friend I had at Stanford, she introduced me to Jess.” “Well, if she is so great maybe she can help you with your little riddle.” he pointed to his laptop bag. Sam rolled his eyes “For once a girl doesn’t flirt with you but talks to me instead and you get all fuzzed.” - “I’m not fuzzed Sammy, I’m cautious, I don’t know her, I don’t trust her.”

Later that night.

Dean heard a knock on the motel room door. He answered it with a gun against back of the door, while Sam was sitting on his bed trying to find out more about the symbols.

“Y/N? What are you doing here.” “Eh, Sam texted me? He needed help with something he said.” Y/N looked Dean up and down, “may I come in or do I need to help him out here?” Dean looked at Sam taking a step back. “Didn’t think you would text me this quick. Missed me already?” She joked taking of her jacket. “No, eh I wanted you to take a look at these symbols.” He turned his laptop to Y/N. “Hieroglyphics, you asked me to come here to look at hieroglyphics?” She looked confused at the youngest brother.

They both heard Dean chuckle. Smooth move Sammy, he thought, text the girl an address of a motel she would immediately think she was needed for her brains. Y/N took a seat next to Sam on his bed. “What do you need to know?” She crossed her legs. “Well, can you translate these or find out what they mean?” - “If I have the right tools yeah sure, but not out of the top of my head. Why do you guys need to know this?” She looked back and forward between the brothers. Dean sighs he got up “Just tell me what you need, I’ll get it.” Y/N made a list with books she needed. With Dean gone she turned to Sam again looking for an explanation. After a little push from her Sam told Y/N about the family business and the latest case.

Within the hour Dean got back presenting the books she needed. “How did you get these?” - “The library.” - “At this hour?” - “Don’t ask.” He smiled his perfect grin at her. Dean took a seat in the chair at the table watching his brother and Y/N working like a perfect team. But after a while Sam dozed off leaven just Y/N to research. By morning both of the brothers were asleep. “GOT IT” Y/N yelled, waking Dean and Sam up very abrupt. “Hear this, it’s some old Egyptian curse or spell to trap the god Anubis. He was usually represented as a jackal or as a man with the head of a jackal. Their association with death and funerals comes from jackals scavenging around cemeteries. Now the strange part is that Anubis normally cares about the desisted, he was like the patron god for embalmers. He wasn’t a murderer.”

“Jackal, that would explain the bite marks and removing the heart.” Dean said to Sam. ‘How do we break the spell.” Sam asked Y/N “I don’t know, I never knew gods excited, let alone you could trap them!” Y/N said panicking slightly. “But, eh fun fact, the heart is key in Egyptian culture, it needs to be pure. When someone dies Anubis weighs it and if it’s light enough, they could go to Yaru, pretty much their heaven. If it’s heavier they feed you to Ammit.” She looked at the boys then continued. “The eh spells normally is carved on the skin of the person who tries to control Anubis, to tie him down on their own flesh, but that only works until they die. But these are carved on property.” Dean packed his bag, we need to get to that farm before any more people get hurt. “You.” He pointed at Y/N, “find out how to stop this.”

A little later Sam’s phone rang. The boys were still in the car. ”Y/N, you’re on speaker.”

“There is no way to kill this god, but there is a way to stop him. You need to find who carved those symbols. He or she needs to use their own blood to undo the curse. They need to wipe their blood over the symbol and pray to Anubis to weight their heart as a sacrifice for the dead he caused, I’ll send you the translated text. Then you need to burn that spell before someone else uses it or copies it.

After a long time, the brothers came back to the motel room. Y/N got up, “D-did it work?” She asked unsure of her translation skills. Dean nodded. “Good work Y/N.” Sam said. They all sat down for a second. Only now the reality started to kick in. “So, all the fairytales and horror stories are, real.” Y/N said defeated looking at her feet. “Well, before I go, is there a 101 starters kit I need to travel with from now on?” She asked lifting her up from the bed. Dean laughed for the first time sincere and handed you the salt. “What is this?” Y/N looked confused at him. “I’ll explain it on the way to your car.” Sam smiled. “Maybe... Y/N needs to sleep first before hitting the road.” Dean interrupted. “She had been working day and night.”

That was the start of them working together. It started out as an occasionally call to Y/N for information or a translation. Even Dean started to call her for help, or that is what he says to himself. The boys recent found the bunker. “Well, I know who would be thrilled with this archive.” Dean said looking over to his brother. “You mean Y/N? Why don’t you invite her? I’m sure you would like to see her again.” Sam said, knowing very well his brother liked her a little more than he would admit. “Pff, she is your friend, you call her.” He said trying to brush it off. “Are you sure?” Sam asked grinning, holding his phone out to Dean. “Ok, fine.” He huffed taking the phone.

“SAMMY! It’s been too long, how are you friendly giant!” Y/N answered her phone way more enthusiastic than when she answerers Dean’s calls. “Eh, no it me.” Dean answered feeling jealous. “Oh, hi Dean, is everything ok?” Y/N asked worried. “Yes, why wouldn’t it be?” - “You’re calling with Sam phone?” - “Oh yeah, no I eh, we were just talking and... would you like to come over? If you have nothing better to do off course.” - ”Sure, text me the address.” They hang up the phone. And before Dean could turn around his brother laughed “Smooth, very smooth Dean.” - “You shut up!” The older brother answered angry and embarrassed.

Y/N parked her car, the brothers were already waiting for her outside. Dean looked at her, she was smiling from ear to ear when she walked towards Sam pulling him in a tight hug. She really likes him he thought. “How are ya?” she asked him while giving Dean a hug too. “We’re good, found ourselves a new home.” The young brother answered - “Ooh, house tour!” She said while wrapping her arm around Sam like an old couple. Dean rolled his eyes while walking behind them.

You walk into the archive “Wow, this is really something!” She said with her eyes sparkling. “Well, I’m going to leave you two nerds to it. I’ll make dinner.” Dean said quietly leaving the room. “What’s up with him?” She asked Sam. He has been through a lot lately. “Hm, want me to talk to him later?” She asked him, still looking at the empty door, Dean walked out of. “No, he will be alright. Give him some time.” Dean’s mind started to float back to their last hunt. He was stupid enough to go hunt a djinn by himself and got captured. He couldn’t stop thinking about the dream.

Dean woke up in a warm bed, the sun came through the windows of the room. It took him a second to remember where he was when all of the sudden, he felt a hand pulling around his waist. “Good morning handsome.” The female voice said to his ear. His eyes got big as he turned around seeing Y/N in bed next to him. She kissed his lips with a soft touch before crawling into his arms resting her head against his shirt. Dean smiled softly not knowing what happened last night but liking the outcome of it. “Even though I would like nothing more than to stay in your arms, we need to get ready.” Y/N said kissing his chest breaking his trail of thoughts. “Why?” - “Sam invited us remember?” She looked up at him. “You forgot, didn’t you?” He smiled shyly.

He watched her walking to the bathroom in a little babydoll dress admiring her curves. “Stop staring Winchester, get ready.” He heard her yell.

Dean and Y/N pulled up at Sam’s place, Dean couldn’t believe his eyes. His parents and Jess were talking in the living room before they noticed them walking in. “Ah, there he is, aways the last one to arrive.” His dad said. “How are you holding up with him?” He joked pointing at Dean. “Barely.” Y/N answered in the same tone. ”No refunds.” John laughed. “Dinner is served.” Jess announced. before Dean could answer. Even though it was strange seeing you at the same table as his parents he liked it. “Eh, guys, we have an announcement.” Sam lifted his voice. Jess took his hand.” I’m pregnant.” Everyone was over the moon, but Dean couldn’t help but feeling out of this world.

Sam and John were talking, still sitting at the table. While Dean decided to get a refill on his beer. He heard Jess, his mom and Y/N talk during the dishes. “So, what about you guys? Still no ring I see.” his mom asked.” Y/N didn’t answer but he could see her face. “Is Dean ever going to be ready to settle down?” Jess asked Mary. “I don’t know, Y/N and Dean have been together how long know?” She asked Y/N. “Next summer, 3 years.” Y/N answered loading in the plates. “He is quiet today, I don’t know what’s going on.” - “I noticed too; he isn’t half as handsy as he is normally. He didn’t even hold his hand on your thigh or kissed you yet.” Jess said. Dean walked in pretending not to have heard anything they said. Y/N stood next to the fridge, he placed his hand on her lower back and kissed her temple before getting another beer.

Once home Dean took off his clothes and stepped in the shower, he felt a fresh wind of air against his back before he felt Y/N’s hands around his ribs, her face against his shoulder. “What’s wrong Dean?” He heard the worries is her voice. His heart bounced almost out of his chest. He turned around seeing her completely naked for the first time. His lips moved to hers, the kiss became quickly more passioned. Their hands moving to discover each other's body... Dean didn’t want to hold back he wanted to feel every inch of her. He took her hands and moved back, she looked worried. “Shower sex, to complicated.” He said while pulling her in the bedroom. “He is back” she smiled while he dropped her in the bed hovering over her. He lifted her leg, stroking her thigh with his rough fingers before entering her smoothly. "Oh, Dean..."

“Dean?” He almost jumped hearing his name. “Did you just flinch?” Y/N said trying not to laugh. “Anything I can help you with?” He tried to forget he just daydreamed about them being intimate. “I need your help.” She said while leaning back at the kitchen table looking at him. “I’m sure Sam could help you out. Little busy here. Food, dinner you know.” He said smiling over his shoulder, desperately trying to avoid turning to her since his dream had wakened an erection. “Dean, I need you, Sam can’t help me.” She was persistent. He sights. “Fine, I’m following you.”

Y/N walked to the garage. “Really? You need me to take a look at your car?” He said looking at her, she nodded fast. “Sam knows a thing or two about cars.” He said but still opening the hood “Well, I only trust you with my car, since she is a classic.’ Throwing him the keys to her ‘70 mustang. Dean started the car, looked under the hood. ”I don’t hear or see anything wrong.” He said after a while, turning the cars off still sitting in the front seat. Y/N sat next to him on the passenger's seat facing him. “There isn’t anything wrong with the car.” He looked puzzled at her. “I know my girl inside out; I know how to take care of her. But there is something with you.” She pointed her finger at him. “And you... I don’t know so well to fix.” Dean kept looking in her eyes, thinking “Damn that sounded hot.”

“So, tell me.” She pushed. “Nothing wrong.” - “Dean, stop lying to me or yourself. You act like I'm a stranger...” He stepped out of the car closing the hood. “Dean what did I do?” - “You didn’t do anything.”- ‘Then why are you acting so strange lately?” Dean started to walk towards the exit. “Hey! Don’t walk away from me!” She pulled his arm to make him stop. He turned to her, pushing her against the side of her car holding her shoulders. She locked eyes with him, for the first time seeing every tint of green before he dipped down kissing her deep, holding her head in his hands. When he took a step back, she felt dizzy, holding on to his flannel still looking at his eyes. “Now you know.” he said out of breath. When she didn’t answer immediately, he started to get nervous. “But I –I know... how you... You know your feelings for Sam so. Don’t worry, ok.”

Y/N pulled Dean closer kissing him again. Moving her hands under his flannel shirt to his neck and shoulders. Dean placed a hand on her side and one the top of the car, completely covering Y/N with his body. The kiss got hot and heavy really quick. Both stripping from their clothes, Y/N pushed Dean in the passenger seat while he pulled her in, straddling his lap. She held his head in her hands kissing, his tongue followed hers. His hand steady on her back while she grinded his hips for friction. A moan escaped her lips, when she felt him already hard against her clothed slit. His hand moved down in her panties, humming feeing they were already soaked, dipping two fingers in and out of her, wetting his fingers before softly started to rub his fingers over her clit. Moving a little lower placing his fingers inside her again while his thumb worked on her clit. Making her fall against his shoulder moaning his name.

He kissed her neck and ear. “Protection?” He asked breathless. “Glovebox.” She answered with her lips still in his neck. He moved his hand making Y/N whimper and dipped a little forward to reach for the condom. She moved away a little to take off his boxers and her panties, pumping his dick a few more times while he tried to open the packaging, her touch making it hard for him to focus. Once all wrapped up, she lowered herself on him. Moaning his name as she felt every inch stretching. Dean looked at her like a man enchanted with his plump lips parted as she started to move. The palm of his hand on the end of her thighs his fingers spread over her flesh, holding her steady against him.

“Oh Dean...” she whimpered in his ear. He could feel she was close to an orgasm. “I got you... Let go.” He said when his hand moved down to where they were connected, drawing circles on her clit. Y/N’s head felt back making it easier for Dean to look at her when she rode out her orgasm on is dick. “So fucking beautiful.” He whispered. The feeling of her tightening around him made it impossible for him to go on any longer. He pulled his arms around her while he groans against her neck and shoulder. Both of them out of breath, but neither moved. Dean looked in her eyes again moving a piece of hair out of her face. “Was not expecting that.” He laughed “Next time, talk to me before assuming I like someone else.” Y/N hit his chest with the back of her hand.

They started to get dressed outside of the car. “So eh, is this a one-time thing?” Dean asked a little nervous. Y/N smiled flirty while walking to the door? “Wait, what does that mean.” He yelled. “Talk to me more, you will figure out.” He ran after her holding her against the door. “I've got plenty of time now.” He kissed her. “I don’t think so.” -” Why not?” - “Dean, I smell something burning.” She said in a honey sweet voice. Dean pushed her aside while he ran to the kitchen.

Sam held up the pots and pans that were burned while the both of you ran in the kitchen. “Next time before you two... You know what, I don’t even want to know, but make sure to turn off the stove Dean.”

“So, Pizza it is?” Y/N asked not being able to contain her laugh.

If you liked this, please check out my masterlist for other stories.

#fanfic #fluff #dean winchester #smut #spn #supernatural #sam and dean #sam winchester #spnfandom #the winchester brothers #x yn #y/n

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murderthecat · 4 months

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Space Ghost

Written By: ChryslerBuildingFeathers https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChryslerBuildingFeathers

Art Prompt #20 By: SapphicSaphir https://www.tumblr.com/kipo-oak

EctoImplosion 2023

Vast cold crowded silence. That's what this was. Like lying lonesome in a local lake long after the day’d gone dark. So much happening around him, so many stories to be told, and here he was floating. On, and on, and on. Comforted and aching at the same time.

Danny was having a very strange last summer vacation.

Prologue:

Split

It started, as most things do for Danny, with Jack and Maddie Fenton. The two had burst through the house's front door, raving about an old colleague they'd ran into again during their nightly ghost hunting: "Scotland!" they cried in unison.

"We're going to Scotland this summer!"

"We.. Are?" Danny asked worriedly.

“Well, we certainly are!" Jack replied, exploding with giddiness.

"But…" Jazz trailed off expectantly.

"Er, well, me and your mother, anyway." Jack corrected himself.

Maddie continued for her husband: "But not you, obviously, Jazz. We know you've got work and college stuff. And, well, Danny..."

"Danny, we were thinking. This is your last summer before adulthood. Maybe-" Jack said.

"Maybe you're old enough to spend it on your own, and figure out what you want to do for yourself." Jazz finished for them with a smile.

"You.. You mean it?" He asked.

The three nodded. "That's great!" Danny grinned.

And so his summer was set. It was gonna be an awesome couple months!

Except.

Except, when he went to tell Sam and Tucker about it:

"You're both going on college trips? But I thought you were set on MIT, and you've been there a dozen times by now!"

"Well, we were- " Sam replied, hesitantly. "But then we got these new letters, and you see..."

She sighed. "Danny, of all places, Harvard offered us a full ride."

"I know we had everything all planned out, and we wanted to tell you sooner, but-"

Danny groaned. "But you didn’t want to bum me out while we were studying for finals, this is an amazing opportunity, and I'd have to kill you both if you didn't at least think about it?"

He couldn’t even blame them for waiting until now, because he knew he’d probably do the exact same thing in their place.

Sam smiled sadly. "Thanks Danny, love."

"And sorry, dude. Seriously." Tucker added on.

"Hey, maybe this could be a good chance for you, though?" Sam suggested.

"Maybe you can do something just for yourself?"

“I guess so.” Danny said.

The two wrapped him in a hug.

“And hey, you can still give us plenty of ghostly visits while we’re on our trip, you know? You’re our boyfriend after all!” Tucker cheered him.

So here he was, following their collective advice. Or at least, trying to. Alone in space feeding his obsession, swallowing as many stars as could fit in his eyes. The portal was locked, the ghosts knew to leave him alone, and he had all the time he could need to try figuring out what to do with his afterlife.

He’d planned to go to community college, hit the books hard to make up for his bad high school years, and then join Sam and Tucker at MIT. But, if his partners went off to a school as exclusive and Ivy League as Harvard? There’s no way he could make it into there, let alone afford it. And even if he could, he still had no idea what he’d do with himself after finishing college.

Get a job in aerospace engineering so he can at least be close, only for the inevitable trouble that follows him everywhere to steal that away too? Become a professor so he can teach everyone else how to accomplish his hopes and dreams? No.

The human world is not built for a ghostly prince.

Him, or his space fantasies.

#Danny Phantom #Space Ghost #ectoimplosion #ectoimplosion2023 #Everlasting Trio #Danny Fenton #Fanfic #phanfic #phandom #Space #Ghost

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emmedoesntdomath · 10 months

Note

favorite non-newsies fanfic list? (holds hands out for marvel/rw&rb crumbs)

FAVORITE NON-NEWSIES LIST LMAOOO

guys, if you want content for other fandoms besides incorrect quotes, all you got to do is ask. I just get a shit ton newsies asks.

okay, so I have a lot of favorite fics (I dare you to look at my bookmarks on ao3), but my favorites and my favorite recommendations are two VERY different things. so I’ll give you a little of both.

ALSO- I NEVER RECOMMEND WIPS. NOT BECAUSE I DON’T LIKE THEM, NOT BECAUSE SOME OF THEM AREN’T THE GREATEST THING TO GRACE THIS EARTH SINCE CHOCOLATE, BUT BECAUSE I WOULD HATE IF SOMEONE DID THAT TO ME. SORRY NOT SORRY.

WHAT I WOULD RECOMMEND OF MY FAVORITES (marvel and rw&rb edition):

it’ll be over (and I’ll still be asking when) by JBS_Forever- a literal masterpiece retelling of the typical irondad and spiderson relationship, honestly. tony’s a little ooc, but the way they wrote peter??? genius. inspired. would definitely recommend.

it’s the thing we’re missing most by lavenade- one of my favorite depictions of parkner in the history of ever, it beautifully showcases both the friendship and the relationship. perfect for a feel-good moment.

The Guiding of Death by RayShippouUchila- even if you’re not a winteriron fan (like, at all), it’s still very much a must-read. I make ALL of the exceptions for this one.

you’re stuck in my head (stuck on my heart, stuck on my body) by notcaycepollard- this was my first introduction to sam/bucky, and I have no regrets. their relationship is so gorgeous in this story. an easy favorite.

art of the game by volantium- perfection. harley is glorious, peter is anxious, and they’re perfect for each other. also, natasha.

Words May Fail (The Body Remains) by ladyflowdi- I know this isn’t really a common ship at this point, but you HAVE to read this. non-negotiable. I will find you. you can vent to me about it afterwards.

told you i’m on the way, i’m like an exit away by quidhitch- this might as well be canon, okay? it’s sweet, it’s angst-less, will make you grin so hard your cheeks hurt. I want to give the author a hug of gratitude.

~~~

Faster, Higher, Stronger by everwitch- basically follows the actual plot, but make it olympics. also, it’s nice and long. I have no criticisms to give.

Rule Number Nine by clottedcreamfudge- okay, honest moment here- I will unflinchingly recommend literally everything this author has written ever, but this is by far and away my favorite of their works. I’ve read it at least ten times.

We’ll Invite Something In by smc_27- so good. so sweet. also, it’s a little bit fluffier than most rw&rb fics, so if you’re looking for that, this one’s your guy.

and nowwwwww

MY FAVORITES OF ALL TIME THAT ARE JUST A LIL TOO UNHINGED TO MAKE THE FIRST REC LIST

Text Me Quarantine by ProsperDemeter- honestly, I don’t remember reading this one for the first time. it’s just a haze of pure euphoria.

a primer for the small weird loves by babyloveparkner- feature me SOBBING my heart out in the corner. I love this fic so much. honestly, top three of all of my favorites for any fandom. (warning: your heart will hurt)

The (Not So) Great Pretender by RayShippouUchila- I’m actually not willing to apologize for putting this author on here twice. this one is hilarious. also, fluffy avengers.

For the First Time, Eye to Eye by Sarah_Sandwich- I have never been so mad at harley keener than when I read this for the first time. one of the author’s greatest works, and so angst-ridden you’ll start seeing it in your sleep.

Catch Your Voice by lavvyan- this one’s for after you read the first non-negotiable fic. trust me.

~~~

A Sporting Chance by clottedcreamfudge- again, I will loudly proclaim this author’s greatness. their works make me really happy. alex is just so alex.

Made the Right Selection by clottedcreamfudge- alex is a cheerleader. henry’s learning all about football. that’s it.

Clue Me In by bleedingballroomfloor- you KNOW I’m here for the june/nora content. I shall never stop screaming about them.

okay, thank you for coming to my ted talk.

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irrealisms · 11 months

Text

my dsmp fic recs masterpost

this one's long so i'm putting it under a cut! includes a lot of fandom favorites/ones you probably already know, but i tried to include some more niche ones as well. check the reblogs for more, i couldn't fit them all in one post without tumblr getting mad at me

Author recommendations (not my friends; go read everything they wrote):

Goldenrayofsunshine

shrugofgod

odaigahara

penink

hoorayy

Zannolin

the_g_m

chrysalizzm

Author recommendations (me and people I know):

sesquidpedalian @erstwhilesparrow

WheelCoveredInEyes @blocksgame

short_tandem_repeats

consumptive_sphinx @regicidal-optimism

monsterloot @aliveburs

cryptofhoney (korethekiller) @honeyblockm

nocturne_csharpm @qwilbur

75hearts (ME! YOU ARE HERE!)

Fangame recommendations:

Good Luck, Minutes Man! by @andhyssops : visual novel about NLM-era c!ranboo. has multiple endings, great art, soundtrack, characterization, etc.

Good Morning, Gogy by @andhyssops : visual novel about c!george. again, gorgeous art, great characterization. i almost don't want to say too much about this one because so much of it is a spoiler!

Doomsday Sim by @bwobgames : doomsday platformer, tommy is the player character, buggy but pretty.

Virtual Ghostbur by @bwobgames : ghostbur tamagotchi!

Character Pattern by @bwobgames : bullet hell with various mcyts (c and cc), tommy is the player character, stupid hard but very pretty

Tommygotchi by @bwobgames : tommy tamagotchi!

Silver Dollar by @honeyblockm : president schlatt is dead. murder mystery twine game

Fic recs (people I don't know well):

devil town by hoorayy : haven’t read this one but i’ve had it recommended too many times to not include. small town horror au. 100k

aftermath by sparxwrites : dream is recovering from the prison. tommy visits him. they have a conversation. neither torture apologist nor abuse apologist! 2k

what i love and what i've lost by Treis : dream & sapnap, dream recovery/redemption/post-prison. 20k

in memoriam by hoorayy : wilbur and sapnap have a conversation. 2k

little women by chrysalizzm : women on the dsmp character study. 1k

dissonance by shrugofgod : tubbo character study!!!!! one of the best tubbo fics imo. snowchester-era. 16k

six foot deep bottom line by shrugofgod : tubbo & q conversation, cookie outpost era. 2k

How to Sex Vol. 4-58 by Goldenrayofsunshine : epistolary fic, tommy pov, canon divergent from the disc finale (punz doesn’t arrive). probably my favorite fic in the fandom. 1k

Chicken Strategy by Goldenrayofsunshine : sam-centric, lots of q also, au where q set off the prison TNT. 20k

The Roman Archives by Goldenrayofsunshine : “Tubbo dies during the disc war finale and uses his time in purgatory to unlock all the secrets of the universe.” 4.5k

Make It Right by Goldenrayofsunshine : Captain Sparklez is tubbo’s dad, crashes the disc finale. my #1 clingyduo fluffy h/c Comfort Food. 2k

Raccooniverse (zombie crossover) series by Goldenrayofsunshine : crossover with the walking dead; doesn’t require any knowledge of the walking dead. tommy-centric, follows canon very approximately for the first two seasons and a bit beyond. 162k and still going, although you can just read the completed parts.

Neon Sunrise by Goldenrayofsunshine : wilbur & quackity, LN-era. 14k

draw up your sword (leave your days ashore) by Odaigahara : puffy joins the server by coming ashore at logstedshire, defends tommy. another comfort food fluffy h/c. 11k

snapshots by sparxwrites : schlatt/q relationship study. very good but mind the content warnings. 6k

the dead don’t dream by penink : what if dream killed tommy and then revived him again and then killed him and then revived him again— (crimeboys whump w a happy ending) 226k

Mafia AU by penink : mafia AU; based on Vibes rather than a specific time period but has Lots Content and Good Characterization. 219k and still going, although you can just read the completed parts.

Fairweather and Foxhole Friends by penink : manburg q & tubbo. 2k

Jubilee Line Satisfaction Survey by penink : wilbur centric, some crimeboys. wilbur in the afterlife! very very good. does fun things with the format--it's a uquiz, not an ao3 fic. another competitor for my favorite fanwork from this fandom.

call this world home by Sixteenthdays, stygiomedusa (grainjew) : another dream post-prison recovery/redemption; in this one, he’s metaphysically trapped in the arctic commune. 43k

l’esprit de l’escalier by eldritchIdeologist : revivebur oneshot. 3k

cause most of us are bitter over someone by honeyblock : niki & wilbur confrontation and reconciliation. (tommy’s there too.) 19k

orphan’s path (series) by aenor_llelo, Alderous, Anarchy-Schmanarchy (Murder_Schmurder), BattleBlaze, ConcoctionsFromHell, Falrisesi, fluxphage, izziel_galaxy, Otakuforlife19, Rocket999 : starts out as a phil&techno backstory. becomes a retelling of the entire server. massively multi-pov, very good characterization, very long. has many Takes i disagree with but also a lot of good stuff. get a text replacer “Lagos” -> “Dream”. 700K and still going, although you can just read the completed parts.

tune by small_lizard : karlnapity relationships study. 4k

applaud, my friends, the comedy is over! by small_lizard : oneshot focused on niki’s birthday party. <1k

it only gets much worse by hoorayy : another q & wilbur, LN-era. 2k

good reasons to freeze to death by hoorayy : tubbo-centric, post-s3 finale (mourning ranboo). 3k

pay it forward by comradeboyhalo : the l’sandburg fic. foolish centric; badlands post-egg healing arc in which they all move onto his house. very canon-typical tone; silly and crack-y but with genuine feeling. 5k

treatise on sin and vice by the_g_m : quackity and tommy and their relationship w religion (scriptfic). 7k

plate of primes by chrysalizzm : poem about tommy. <1k

hunger by Anonymous : probably the only E-rated fic i’m including. wilbur/quackity, LN-era, wilbur provokes quackity into hurting him by pretending to be dream, it’s . fic of all time. 11k

i'm not calling you a liar by Anonymous : jk i lied. also E-rated, wilbur/quackity, LN-era. by the same author as the previous rec, similarly dead dove. lives in my brain forever. 13k

the ckarl mpreg fic by the_g_m : karl doesn’t actually get pregnant in this one. they just want him to. karlnapity, script format, crack treated seriously. 2k

sink secluded by angeloncewas : niki and wilbur, pogtopia. <1k

best laid plans by zannolin : some gentle h/c for revivebur with ranboo and tommy. a bit of a comfort food but in a good way, at least for me. 5k

said the rabbit to the badger by zannolin : crimeboys talk about exile. inconsolable differences fixit. 3k

i can’t stand your taste in my mouth by orphan_account : a really intense but also very good pogtopia-era wilbur character/relationship study. 5k

where to find a silver lining (as the mercury keeps rising) by angelsdemonsducks : cwilbur eggpocalypse fic! 10k

the sea is rising by chrysalizzm : desolation avatar purpled. <1k but the series is longer

Blood Games by ghostdrinkssoda : q centric hurt-no-comfort that has some karlnapity but also engages with q as a bad person. 7k

where lies the strangling fruit by katsidhe : prison arc angst/whump. pretty heavy; mind the tags. sam & q & dream. 34k, unfinished

agatha by headlikeahole : wilbur's suicide note. collage/digital art. <1k

Tier X̅ by Pegasister60 : purpled's limbo is an empty bedwars map. 2k

one last lie for old times' sake by curseworm, VenetaPsi : wilbur tries to apologize to quackity before killing himself. quackity isn't having it. 18k

#fic rec #fic recs #dsmp #mcyt #might make another post of these for ones i don't really remember but nonetheless trust to be good #therapists dni #any british ants in the chat?#long post

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seidenapfel · 4 months

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2023 in Review

In 2023, I posted 24 stories ranging from 432 to 48,056 words.

It’s Kinda Familiar | Rated: T | 2,983 words | Art by myself (masterpost)

Summary: It must have been a week since the cat appeared on his patio for the first time. The little sneak tried to break in every night, but Dean had avoided that nightmare scenario so far. He would have happily invited the little fuzzball inside to keep him company, but his stupid allergies prevented it. Dean entered the newly opened coffee shop downtown. Taking in a deep breath, he inhaled the notes of coffee and freshly baked pastries. It was heavenly, until he couldn’t smell anything at all. “Are you okay?” the stranger asked. The name tag on his chest indicated that he must work here. Castiel Dean read, but he barely noticed any of it, because, right in front of him, stood the most intriguing man he had ever laid eyes on. Tall, dark, and freaking handsome.

A little story I wrote for the SQZ Volume 5 in 2022. It’s a first because I wrote the story and created art for it which inspired me to sign for bangs as an artist as well.

Unbeknownst Soul Mate | Rated: E | 20,776 words | Art by Aggiedoll (art masterpost)

Summary: While suffering from writer’s block, Castiel’s life changes when he discovers an abandoned record in a thrift store. Although already hooked by the vinyl’s cover, the mysterious singer worms his way into Castiel’s heart. Frustrated after a disheartening recording session, Dean strolls into a bookstore, only to be stunned by the sci-fi novel he picks from a shelf. The impala headpiece on its cover could be a coincidence, but the author’s note cannot fool him. Whoever Emmanuel Allen is, he dedicated the book to him. Years go by, one dedication following another, and the hidden subtext of their works speaks for itself. Unaware of the other’s identity, neither is able to stop the feelings from becoming more. Something profound. But then Dean releases Unbeknownst Soul Mate, and their story becomes an internet phenomenon overnight. With their identities out in the open, it should only be a matter of time until they meet for the first time. Though their relationship can’t be the fairy tale everyone believes it to be. Or can it?

My story for the Pinefest 2023 is one of the few AUs this year. Aggiedoll was the first of many great artists I was allowed to work with in 2023.

Your Dreams Are My Reality | Rated: E | 10,883 words | Art by @sailorsally (art masterpost)

Summary: “When are you finally gonna tell him?” Sam’s words hit home. Dean starts to wonder and watches Cas. Paying closer attention, he sees things, little hints that give him hope and make him bolder. But when he finally flirts with Cas and receives reciprocation, he panics and flees. Cas finds him hiding in the bathroom. With the door between them, they begin to talk. Cas mentions a promise Dean once made: He wouldn’t die a virgin. When they finally seal the deal, it’s too good to be true. Cas is fully powered, and happy. It’s a dream, or isn’t it?

My story for the Dean/Cas Switch Bang 2023 with beautiful art by sailorsally.

An Act of Humanity | Rated: E | 23,527 words | Art by @xfancyfranart (art masterpost)

Summary: Cast out of the bunker, Castiel is lost. Adapting to humanity feels like a punishment for his deeds. When he becomes sick, weakened by cold and hunger, the battery on his phone allows him one last call to say goodbye. Alarmed, Dean rushes to save Cas. He’s right on time. But with Ezekiel threatening to let Sam die if Cas steps back into the bunker, they are forced to share a motel room. Castiel slowly recovers under Dean’s care, when an accidental kiss changes everything. Things might finally turn for the better, if it weren’t for the situation at home.

My fic for the SPN Angel Bang, this time with beautiful art by xfancyfranart.

From Zero to Family | Rated: E | 11,773 words | Art by @ephemerastardust (art masterpost)

Summary: Everything has happened so fast. Castiel’s whole life has changed irrevocably. Just a week ago, he was single. A very lonely single, with a boring life and a boring job, who was helplessly, and hopelessly in love with his best friend—has been, for years. Now, Castiel not only has a baby to take care of but also has a boyfriend. A boyfriend who asks him to move in with him. And so, from one day to the next, they all live together—Jack, Castiel, and Dean—like a real family. But it all seems too good to be true. It can't be real, or can it?

My fic for the Dadstiel Mini Bang 2023 is a sequel for a oneshot I wrote during Suptober 2022: You, Me and Jack. My first of two bangs where I got claimed by ephemerastardust.

High Time for a Romantic Adventure | Rated: E | 12,302 words | Art by @wigglebox (art masterpost)

Summary: Yanked to 1814 England, Sam, Dean and Cas have no idea how or why they ended up there. While they try to solve the mystery of their time travel to Jane Austen Land, a body lands in front of their feet. Ghosts, demons — nothing seems to add up when some old friends appear. But Dean and Cas barely pay attention. After all, there’s an unresolved confession to deal with, and the setting is undoubtedly very romantic.

A time-travel story for the SPN Regency Bang with beautiful art by wigglebox.

Mark of Darkness, Spark of Hope | Rated: E: | 48,056 words | Art by @ephemerastardust (art masterpost)

Summary: All it takes is one night in an abandoned warehouse—violent, rough, and perfect. A fallen angel, running low on his stolen Grace and a demon, turned by the Mark that distorts his soul. It’s a night to remember that one forgets and the other can’t as a spark lights up deep within him. None of it should be possible, and yet, it’s there. Even though he tries to ignore its presence, the spark is slowly growing and burning through the darkness of Dean’s soul. Everything changes with the cure that Sam forces on Dean. Reunited with Cas, and suddenly human again, there is no way for either of them to deny the truth any longer. Doomed by the fate that awaits the human mothers of the Nephilim and cursed by the Mark of Cain etched on his soul, Dean’s future looks bleak. But then again, Dean is neither precisely a mother nor fully human, and Castiel is intent on saving him. After all, they have months during which Dean carries the growing life inside him to term—an impossible child and a miracle of love between Heaven and Hell.

This one might be my favourite this year. I hadn’t expected to write an mpreg story at all, but then I ended up beta’ing @hawkland’s Playing for Time, and got inspired for my own story. Once again, Ephemera claimed my fic and created beautiful art.

Our Troubles Will Be Miles Away | Rated: E | 17,369 words

Summary: Jack storms into the bunker's kitchen, an elf dangling from his fingers. He is too excited by the elf's promises to lead him to Santa that he doesn't listen to Cas' warnings not to trust the fairy. Yet, the warnings are already too late anyway. A flash lights up the kitchen, and Jack, Sam, Cas and Dean find themselves in a snow-clad forest, far away from Earth. With the fate of the world only one snap of Chuck's fingers away, and a shadow looming above Cas' head, the last things they need are a teenager turned toddler chasing Santa and the King of the Fairies remembering Dean fondly. Or did they just find a way to save the world?

The only WIP I posted this year. Like last year, I attemptedA Very Prompty Christmas SPN Edition 2023 (12 Prompts of Christmas - SPN Edition), this year with 12 prompts. It’s a fun little canon fix-it that I wrote and posted starting on December, 14th and ended on Christmas Day. That’s the reason why the story is unbeta’d so far.

Suptober 2023

Behind the Veil | Rated: T | 614 words

Summary: After a hunt goes wrong, Castiel is trapped behind the veil, forced to witness Dean's grief.

Never Been Better | Rated: M | 871 words

Summary: When Dean decides to visit a pumpkin patch on their way home from a hunt, Sam has enough. He is so done with his brother and his angel and the constant tension between them. Little does he know what surprise is waiting for him.

Irresistible Muse | Rated: T | 432 words

Summary: Dean and Cas are inspiring each other.

Timestamp for Unbeknownst Soul Mate.

I Like Past You | Rated: T | 507 words

Summary: After finding himself in 2014, Dean meets Cas' strange, future version and is up for a surprise.

Colouring the Darkness | Rated: T | 932 words

Summary: Dean draws Cas' portraits to remember. Pencil on paper because the day he lost Cas, the world lost all its colours. Everything changes when Jack sends him a box of coloured pencils.

Full Spread Buffet | Rated: E | 1,004 words

Summary: Let down by his porn, Dean relies on his fantasies when Cas walks into the room.

Becoming More Familiar | Rated: E | 739 words

Summary: Cas purred in response. He leaned into the touch and Dean couldn't take his eyes from his familiar. As always, the stunning blue eyes captured him, but only for so long because he couldn’t help his gaze trailing down Cas’ body. What had just been a black cat had turned into the sexiest human being right before his eyes, and Dean's body reacted accordingly. Who could fault him? The man of his dreams, his best friend, sat in his lap and straddled him — completely naked and obviously very aroused.

Timestamp for It’s Kinda Familiar.

Let the Sun Shine on Your Face | Rated: T | 1,056 words

Summary: Castiel worries about Dean after Dean has trapped Michael inside his head. But when Dean opens up and flippantly asks Castiel if he is happy now, he notices that something is terribly wrong.

Tales in the Night Sky | Rated: T | 598 words

Summary: Castiel and Dean are stargazing. They remember the missed opportunities the last time they did so. It seems to have been a different life altogether.

Little spoilery timestamp for An Angel’s Tale.

A Too-Close Shave | Rated: T | 819 words

Summary: After a run-in with a hellhound, Sam is done with Dean and Cas. He can't stand seeing either of them grieving the other any longer. In a spur of the moment, he locks them in until they get their shit together.

We Sounds Epic | Rated: T | 1,231 words

Summary: After Dean visited the nearby pumpkin patch with his daughter, he can't stop thinking about the handsome farmer. It's not that he is— Well, maybe he is. When he can't stand it any longer, he decides to go back.

This fic includes all 2023 Suptober prompt words.

Alpha to Omega, Omega to Alpha | Rated: E | 2,310 words

Summary: For years, Dean has lied to his friends, pretending to be a beta instead of accepting his true self. Even Cas doesn't know. But when Dean's heat is approaching and a freak accident causes them to switch their bodies, everything changes.

Weird, Dorky, Little Guy | Rated: T | 664 words

Summary: After Dean flirted with the security guard, Charlie calls him out. Or, how Charlie learns about Cas.

Burning With Love For You | Rated: T | 1,276 words

Summary: When Castiel gets a call from Sam, telling him that Dean is suffering from a rising fever after a spell, he rushes to the Bunker to help. Yet, his Grace won't do anything. This spell requires a different kind of cure.

One Last Deal | Rated: T | 884 words

Summary: When Cas returns from the Empty, Dean is overwhelmed by his feelings and once again, relives the night of Cas' confession.

Tiggers Are Awesome | Rated: T | 1,564 words

Summary: Dean is preparing for a very special Halloween and bantering with his brother, when the door rings. Someone has arrived far too early.

Thanks to Suptober I started the tradition of an annual Halloween fic. So, this is my third one.

Art masterposts

Art masterpost for A Little More Time by Tossukka (@sitruunavohveli)

Art masterpost for Moonlight on the Water by @nickelkeep

Art masterpost for Ethereal Feathers by @atlas-assbutt

Art masterpost for Forged in Thunder by flyingkafka67 (@anathewierdo)

Pencil sketch of Dean

#seidenapfel writes #seidenapfel arts #destiel #destiel fanart #destiel fic

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babygirl-diaz · 7 months

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Samtember Day 23: Birthday 🎂🧁

A very happy birthday to the one, Sammy Wilson! Here's how he celebrated his birthday with Bucky and their daughter, Riley. For @samsseptember

Sam woke to the smell of bacon and coffee. He looked up to see Bucky walking into the bedroom with a breakfast tray piled with all of his favorites and their daughter Riley following closely behind him.

“Wow,” Sam said, sitting up on the bed. “I’m being spoiled today.”

“You deserve to be. It’s your birthday,” Bucky said, leaning down to kiss Sam. When he pulled away, he put the tray in front of Sam.

“Happy birthday, papa!” Riley said excitedly and ran over to the other side of the bed and climbed in. She gave him a sloppy kiss on the cheek, making Sam chuckle. She then handed something to him and Sam looked down to find a homemade birthday card with “Happy Birthday Papa” written in blue and red crayons. When he opened it, there was a picture of the three of them in front of their house. Sam felt tears in his eyes, but he tried to hide them as he kissed the side of Riley’s head. “Thanks, baby girl. This is the best present ever.”

“That’s not your present, silly,” Riley told him, giggling.

“Yeah, silly, we have a lot more planned,” Bucky chimed in and smirked at him.

Sam rolled his eyes and started digging into his breakfast. It was as delicious as it looked. It had bacon, hash browns, pancakes, and everything else Sam could ask for. Bucky and Riley waited on either side of him with bated breath for a verdict. Sam took his sweet time and after a while, he burst out laughing and gave them a thumbs up. “This is great,” he commented.

Sam fed both Bucky and Riley as he ate his breakfast while they stayed cuddled up on his side. Once he finished, Bucky took the tray away while Riley produced a couple of presents for him. Bucky also returned with presents, and Sam’s eyes widened in surprise.

“You two really are spoiling me today,” Sam chuckled as he took the presents.

“Papa, open your presents!” Sam’s 5-year-old insisted.

Sam opened Riley’s presents and found a macaroni necklace in the first one, then a drawing that she made of the three of them in the second one, a personalized coffee mug with Riley’s art on it in the third one, but it’s really the fourth present that got Sam. It was a scrapbook, with all of Sam’s and Bucky’s memories with Riley in one place. Tears filled Sam’s eyes once more as he browsed through the scrapbook. “Did you- did you make this yourself?” Sam asked her.

Riley frowned much like Bucky and reached out to wipe his tears away. “Yes, I made it. Kate and Kamala helped, though, I guess.”

That made Sam laugh, and he pulled Riley into a tight hug. She squirmed and whined, “Papa!” before he let her go.

“Wow, I definitely can’t top that,” Bucky said as he gave Sam his presents.

“You’ll be fine,” Sam told him and rolled his eyes. He opened the first present and found a framed photo of the three of them. “Aww,” Sam cooed at the picture. The second present was a gold watch that looked very expensive. The third present was a little confusing. “What’s this?” Sam asked as he flipped through what looked like a coupon book.

“It’s a coupon book,” Bucky confirmed. “I made it myself. It has coupons for whatever you wanna do. All sorts of activities. Including, days at the park, days staying in cuddling. You can cash in your coupon whenever you want.” Bucky shrugged.

Sam’s eyes widened in surprise. Bucky, like Riley with her scrapbook, had put so much thought into this present. He couldn’t help but pull him in for a hug too. “Thanks, Buck.”

“Anything for my baby,” Bucky whispered against his neck.

Sam let him go and then the three of them spent the day snuggling in bed with Riley, telling them stories from school and stories of how Kate and Kamala helped her with her scrapbook. Apparently, they couldn’t agree on anything and Riley spent more time breaking up their arguments. Sam and Bucky laughed at her stories.

After a few hours, the three of them got ready and went to the park for a picnic lunch. There, Sam gave Riley rides on his shoulders while Bucky smiled brightly at them and took pictures.

Overall, it was a wonderful day, but it wasn’t over yet. In the evening, Riley and Bucky insisted Sam wear the suit they got for him.

“Come on, papa, please…” Riley gave him her best puppy dog eyes while Bucky joined her in her shenanigans.

Sam sighed dramatically and then changed into the suit after taking a shower. When he went to the kitchen and found Bucky and Riley covered in flour, struggling to bake a cake.

“What’s going on here?” He asked, leaning against the door frame.

“Nothing!” Bucky and Riley said in unison.

“You weren’t supposed to see this!” Bucky huffed.

“Well, too bad,” Sam chuckled. “Do you need any help?”

“Nooo…. Go watch TV,” Riley ordered him and shooed him out of the kitchen.

An exhausted Sam started drifting off in front of the TV until he heard Bucky and Riley singing ‘Happy Birthday.’

Sam sat up and found Bucky carrying a cake to him, while Riley followed close behind. Bucky put the cake on the coffee table and gave Sam a kiss on the cheek.

The cake had half-finished frosting on it, but a bunch of candles on top. Sam got on his knees in front of the coffee table and blew out the candles, after making a wish, much to Riley’s delight.

They spent the rest of the night, eating cake, watching TV, and finally having takeout until Riley fell asleep between them. Sam put her into bed and kissed her forehead before returning to Bucky.

“Thank you for the wonderful day,” Sam said appreciatively and kissed his husband.

“Don’t thank me yet. So far, this was a G-rated birthday. R-Rated is still pending,” Bucky smirked at him. “By the way, did I tell you how sexy you look in this suit?”

Sam raised an eyebrow at him. “No, you haven’t. But I expect you to make it up to me during your R-rated birthday surprise.”

“Oh, I will,” Bucky told him and kissed him again. “Happy birthday, Sam.”

“I love you, Bucky,” Sam told him and smiled.

This birthday went better than he could have ever expected.

#samtember2023 #day 23 #birthday #sam wilson #bucky barnes #sambucky #original child character #tfatws #fanfic #aashna's drabble

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herrmannhalsteadproduction · 5 months

Text

500 Miles (Chapter Sixteen)

Summary: This is Part Nineteen of my series A Herrmann/Halstead Production. It is an AU where Christopher Herrmann's mom had an affair with Pat Halstead resulting in a baby. The series follows this OC character (Rebecca "Bex" Herrmann) as she grows up and gets to know her brothers and the various Chicago teams. It is very much an AU, just to underscore that. It doesn't follow the same timeline and characters will follow different paths.

Click here for the Series Rundown where you can find the links to read all of the previous installments (which I highly recommend you do so that this one makes sense.)

Rating: Teen and Up

Relationships: Christopher Herrmann & Original Female Character, Jay Halstead & Original Female Character, Will Halstead & Original Female Character, Jay Halstead & Will Halstead, Greg 'Mouse' Gerwitz/Original Female Character, Will Halstead/Connor Rhodes, Assorted OC Couples

Warnings: THIS IS IT! THIS IS THE CHAPTER! IT'S HAPPENING! BRACE YOURSELVES FOR THE MOST FLUFF TO EVER FLOOF! (also minor character injury, but he's fine, seriously.)

A/N: To underscore my previous note, this is an alternate universe so things have unfolded differently. This will not follow the canon arcs exactly by any means. But I hope you'll still enjoy it!

Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Bex

The housewarming party had gone off without a hitch, but Bex and Emery had been so tired, they’d basically passed out once everyone left.

Sunday morning was spent finishing clean up—not that there was too much to do since Devon, Sam, Isaac, Kira, and Malia had stuck around to help tidy before heading home the night before.

Then the two of them got ready for the mini-housewarming party starting at noon.

Noon-ish.

It was hard arriving anywhere on time when you were herding four kids while you did it. Still, Chris and Cindy showed up an impressive mere fifteen minutes late.

“Oh, wow, Emery,” Cindy exclaimed after they’d all piled inside and were starting their tour. “I love what you’ve done with the place. Cozy, but not closed in, you know?”

“Thank you.” Emery beamed at her. “I had a lot of help though and I could use a little more.” She steered the whole gang into the kitchen and gestured at her fridge. “No one has given me anything to put on my fridge. Can you believe that?”

On cue, Bex dug out the kid-friendly art supplies from where they’d stashed them yesterday and held them up. “Who’s gonna help us fix it?”

Even Lee Henry, who was more teenagery than not lately, volunteered to help. Bex got them all organized around the coffee table while Chris and Cindy stayed in the kitchen with Emery to finish the lunch preparations.

Bex knew they were wanting to check in with Em to see how she was doing with everything and she was happy to give them the space to do that. Emery having more parental figures in her life was definitely helping her progress. Donna and Trudy had kept in touch after their girls’ night—to the point that Emery had a standing lunch date with both of them. Each one was neatly marked down on the kitchen calendar. With a little smile-y face.

It had taken awhile, but Emery was finally embracing having a whole gang behind her.

“Alright,” Bex said, crouching down beside Annabelle and Max. “What are we working on here? Is that a dragon? Nice.”

By the time lunch was on the table, they had a full fridge’s worth of masterpieces ready to go. Emery ooh’d and ahh’d over each one, letting the kids pick out their own magnets to hang them with before they sat down.

“I want to get my own house, just like Emery’s,” Annabelle declared through a mouthful of grilled cheese.

“That sounds like a great idea,” Chris said. “When you’re all grown up.”

Annabelle nodded. “When I’m ten,” she said decisively.

Bex pressed her lips together, trying to hold back her laugh at the look on Chris’s face. Annabelle caught it too and reached over to pat his hand.

“Don’t worry, Daddy,” she said. “You can come visit me.”

“Thanks, sweetie,” Chris choked out as Cindy patted him from the other side.

“Can I come visit too?” Bex asked her.

“Oh, yes, Auntie Bex,” Annabelle said. “…if you bring Kol.”

“Of course,” Bex agreed. Who was she to argue with priorities like that?

***

Will

Will and Connor had been home for about fifteen minutes when Bex and Emery came bursting through the door, arms full of bags.

“Hey!” Bex grinned as she swooped around them to the kitchen. “We brought stuff for dinner!”

“Tired of the new place already, Em?” Will teased.

“For your information, I was kidnapped,” she shot back as she followed Bex, laughing at the outraged squawk that got.

Bex poked her head back in the living room. “Excuse me for thinking it would be nice to cap off the weekend by having dinner together.”

“I think it sounds great, Bex,” Connor called out to her. She blew him a kiss and returned to the kitchen.

Will turned to his boyfriend. “You are such a suck up,” he whispered.

“Might be, but you love me,” Connor murmured back, waggling his eyebrows at Will.

“This is gonna be a thing now, isn’t it?” Will sighed. Not that he was in any way, shape, or form annoyed by it. A smile spread across his face as he leaned in for a kiss—

“Get your butts in here,” Bex yelled. “This dinner won’t cook itself!”

Will groaned and Connor laughed, giving him a quick peck. “C’mon,” he said, grabbing Will’s hand and hauling him toward the kitchen. “Our ass-isstance is required.”

“Ooooh, we have to break up,” Will groaned again. “That was terrible. Ugh. The worst.”

Bex and Emery overheard the last bit and made Connor say it again which started up a flurry of truly horrific puns that lasted until dinner was ready.

Emery and Connor stuck around for a movie afterward and Will had to admit that it was a nice way to cap off the weekend. He knew Bex had been apprehensive about all of the changes their family had been going through, but—

It looked like they were navigating their new normal just fine.

He and Bex waited at the door while Connor and Emery got their things together. After giving Emery a hug, he gave Connor a kiss. “Love you,” he whispered in his ear and Connor whispered it back. His stomach did a little flip every time he heard it. Will hoped that never stopped.

“See you at the coffee cart in the morning?” he asked as they drew apart and Connor nodded, giving him one last kiss before he and Emery headed out. Will locked the door behind them and turned to see Bex staring at him with wide eyes.

“What?”

“Will,” she said in a tone that seemed to indicate he should understand exactly what she meant by just saying his name.

“What?” he repeated. “Why are you looking at me like—” Oh. Maybe she—did she hear them?

“Will.”

Yeah, she definitely did. And that—that was okay. That was more than okay because he and Connor loved each other and he wasn’t scared or ashamed or trying to hide anything because it was all good. So good.

“Be-ex,” he sang back at her, grinning.

Then she screamed and jumped on him. “I’m so happy for you!” she yelled, nearly strangling him with her arms around his neck. “Tell me everything! Right now!”

He staggered over to the couch and dumped her on it, taking a breath. “Okay, fine.” Bex cheered as Will plopped down beside her, cheeks already hurting from how big his smile had become. “I’ll start at the beginning…”

***

Connor

Connor stepped into the elevator and pressed the button, avoiding Emery’s pointed stare as she followed behind him. He could still see her incredibly wide grin out of the corner of his eye though. It was kind of hard to miss.

“So,” Emery said slowly, drawing the word out to its full potential. “You and Will have a good night last night? Anything fun or interesting happen?”

He turned, taking in the gleeful look on her face. “It was nice,” he said. “A totally fine and normal night.”

The glee instantly dissolved into a pout as she grabbed his arm. “Connor, come on,” she begged. “Please? Who said it first? How did it happen? Details! Are you honestly not dying to talk about it?”

Connor lasted about fifteen seconds of pretending he wasn’t dying to talk about it when the doors to the elevator opened. “I said it first,” he blurted out before escaping into the lobby.

Emery squealed, chasing after him. “AND? Then what?” She looped her arm through his as they headed for the parking lot.

“Okay, fine,” Connor said before waving a stern finger at her. “But this stays between us.”

She crossed her heart enthusiastically. “I will be a freakin’ vault.”

Yeah, there was no way this wasn’t getting back to Bex, but Connor had a feeling Will was getting the same treatment at that very moment. “So,” he began, bumping shoulders with her while they walked. “We were getting ready for bed and Will was talking about what a great night it was…”

***

Bex

Bex yawned as she headed into Molly’s, wiping at the sleep out of her eyes. She’d been up late texting with Emery and comparing notes on the big Will and Connor ‘I love you’ story. It was obviously time well spent—no regrets—she was just going to need some serious caffeine to get through the day. She had no regrets about volunteering to help out Chris either, but…

Inventory was always so mind-numbingly boring.

“It’s too hot to be stuck in here doing this.” Otis arrived shortly after her, grumbling as he came through the door. “We should have minions for this sort of thing.”

“I mean—” Bex shrugged “—I think technically I am one of the minions.”

“Who’s ready to count stuff?” Shay came bursting in with a tray of iced coffees and a gigantic grin. Bex was already making grabby hands for one of the cups. Shay handed them out and then hopped up on a stool. “No one’s going to have as much fun as we are today.”

Otis peered at her over the top of his cup. “Why does that sound like a threat?”

***

Jay

“Gonna be a good day,” Ruzek declared as he strapped on his vest. “I can feel it.” He reached out a fist to Atwater and they did some sort of intricate bump-shake combination.

“Be even better if it wasn’t so hot,” Burgess groaned, pulling her hair up into a ponytail.

Ruzek snapped his fingers and pointed at her, eyes going wide. “We should get ice cream when this is done.”

Jay ignored the rest of their discussion—a heated debate over where they’d go for ice cream—and focused on getting his own gear on, not wanting to get distracted from the job ahead.

They’d been honing in on a group that was using clubs to test out a deadly new party drug. Yesterday, a solid tip came in from one of Olinsky’s CIs and today they were hitting the suspected base of the operations. Hopefully to shut the whole thing down.

“Hey.”

Jay looked up to see Upton standing before him, ready to go.

“You good?” she asked, tucking her hands into the top of her own vest as she watched him finish up his checks.

“Just about,” he said and she grinned.

“Good,” she said. “Hurry up. Word is we’re getting ice cream after this.”

***

Shay

Shay had a plan: Play it casual, keep the conversation going, and then slide a Mouse question in there, real smooth-like.

However.

They got ten minutes into working through the supply room with Otis griping about how hot it was the whole time and Shay found herself blurting out, “Bex! How are things going with Mouse?”

So. Not as smooth as she’d hoped, but at least it was a change of subject.

After a second of shocked silence, a tiny smile flitted across Bex’s face and Shay did an internal fist pump. That had to mean good news.

“Um, they’re—things are going great,” Bex said. “We’re still taking it slow, but I think we’re finally getting on the same page about things, important things, and—”

Otis groaned, banging his forehead on the shelf. “Please,” he said. “No relationships talk. Seriously.” He spun around to lean against the shelves and sighed. “I can’t deal with a full day of hearing about how amazing things are with you and Julie—” he pointed at Shay “—or how the unending saga of the Mouse and Bex romance is going—” he pointed at Bex “because while I am incredibly happy for both of you, I am also so incredibly, painfully single and I can’t. I can’t do it! I don’t need another layer of sadness added to this day. Inventory is bad enough.”

Shay exchanged a glance with Bex and they both stepped toward him, arms outstretched. “Aw, Otis—”

“No!” He raised his hands to fend them off. “No hugging either! It’s too hot for that too!”

“First of all, I turned the air conditioner on so it’s going to be fine in here soon enough,” Bex said. “Second of all, I think maybe we do need some relationship talk time, but focused on this whole stressful…tangle you’ve got yourself in.”

Shay had to agree. Dude was pent up.

He tried to argue, but Otis was no match for the combined persuasive powers of Bex and Shay. Soon enough, they were sitting in a loose circle on the floor of the supply room, sipping at their drinks as Otis detailed his romantic woes.

It was a lot of woe.

“Online dating got me nowhere,” he was saying. “And meeting people in person is hard with our schedules. Plus, I don’t think I make the best first impression, you know?” He frowned down at his cup. “No one sticks around long enough to get to know me.”

“They’re the ones missing out,” Bex said. She reached out to pat his knee and he snorted. “What? They are!”

“No, it’s not that,” he said, laughing a bit as he shook his head. “I, uh, there was the tiniest of moments awhile back when I was thinking about asking you out. When it looked like maybe things weren’t going to work out with you and Mouse.”

Hunh. Interesting. It would have been super weird, but Shay could almost see it? Bex seemed like she was trying to wrap her brain around it as well.

Otis looked up and saw her face, then started tripping over his words trying to explain it better. “Only because we actually know each other, you know? And we get along, right? We have a lot of the same interests and sense of humour and we already hang out with the same people.” He scrunched up his nose. “But then I thought about it more and realized it would be totally weird. Like, beyond weird. It was more of a last resort kind of idea than anything else? I rejected it pretty quickly—”

“Okay!” Bex cut him off, kicking at his foot. “I don’t need an extensive list of reasons as to why asking me out would have been a horrible idea. I’m gonna choose not to be offended by that because you’re right. Our sibling energy is way too strong.” She blew out a breath. “You must have really been grasping at straws to even consider it.”

“That’s what I’m saying!” Otis exclaimed. He slumped back. “Ugh. Relationship talk ban back on. This is making it worse.”

“No, no, no!” Shay scooted closer, ignoring the grunginess of the floor. “Listen. You are a great guy, Otis. You’re handsome, objectively speaking, you’re smart—”

“You’re funny,” Bex added. “And fun which are two different and important things. Plus, you’re a cool firefighter—”

“And a part owner of Chicago’s best bar,” Shay said, elbowing him until he cracked a little smile. “You’ve got a lot going for you.”

“And it’s not getting me anywhere,” Otis said, bringing them full circle. “I wish I could be like Severide or—”

“Ah!” Bex held up a finger. “That’s your problem, right there. Why are you trying to be like someone else? We literally just listed all of the reasons you’re awesome—all of the things that make you you. The right person is going to come along at the right time and I don’t think you should be trying to change yourself in the meantime.”

“Although,” Shay began and the two of them turned to look at her. “We could take some time to workshop your game a little bit—”

Otis instantly bristled. “My game is great, what are you talking about—”

Shay threw her hands up. “You just said—”

“I know!” Otis scowled at her. He crossed his arms and hunched in on himself, glaring at the two of the them before deflating. “Okay. Fine. What do you suggest?”

“Like I said, workshopping.” Shay snapped a pair of finger guns at him. “You’ll practice flirting with us—” She ignored his groan. “—and we’ll see if there’s any little things we can do to improve your approach.”

“Fine,” Otis grumbled, getting to his feet.

Shay exchanged a grin with Bex as they got up as well. She knew today was going to be fun.

***

Mouse

Mouse was loading up the last of the gear in the van when Burgess came over. She and Olinsky were going to be riding in it with him which seemed to be the usual set up on OPs lately. He didn’t mind. Olinsky mostly kept to himself and Burgess was nice enough.

Even if she asked a lot of questions.

He could tell one was brewing by the way she was hovering and handing him things to load into the van.

“Hey, so,” she finally said, clearing her throat. “You and Bex were pretty smiley at Emery’s housewarming party. Are things…going okay with her? Now?”

Everyone on the team had been giving him lots of space lately—Mouse suspected Jay was running interference—but someone was bound to crack sooner rather than later and he didn’t mind that it was Kim. She’d been offering him a lot of quiet support all along.

He wasn’t ready to talk about it in detail though. Not when he was still figuring out those details with Bex and as much as they were in a better place, they weren’t…solidified yet.

“Yeah,” Mouse said, locking in the last of the gear. “It’s, uh, things are good. Better.” He flashed her a small smile and hoped she’d be satisfied enough by that.

“That’s great, Mouse.” Kim grinned at him, bobbing her head in a little nod. “I’m glad to hear it.” She pulled the van keys out of her pocket and twirled them on her finger before heading for the driver’s seat.

Mouse chuckled to himself and closed the side door. Then he turned around only to be nearly nose to nose with Olinsky. Mouse hadn’t even heard him walk up which was as disconcerting as it was annoying. Guy needed a bell.

“You know,” Olinsky said in that soft, mild tone he had. “I try to stay out of everyone’s personal lives.” He sighed. “But everyone keeps talking about them so I still hear things.”

“Uh…” Mouse froze, not quite sure where he was going with this. Was he supposed to apologize? It wasn’t like Mouse was the one who kept bringing this stuff up at work. He had a hard enough time talking about it with Bex.

Or maybe Olinsky was trying to work his way around to offering some advice? It felt like everyone else Mouse knew had put their two cents in at this point so why not Olinsky?

From what Mouse knew of the man, the conversation could go either way.

“So, you’re saying…” Mouse prompted.

“I’m saying I wish I heard less.” Olinsky stuck a toothpick into his mouth and stared off into the distance. A haunted look passed over his face. “So much less.”

Mouse opened his mouth to apologize when Olinsky clapped a hand on his shoulder, nearly sending him into the van. “Be good to Mini-Halstead.” Then he wandered to the front of the van. “Burgess!” Olinsky called out. “Gimme those keys.”

This day was shaping up to be weird as hell. Mouse shook his head, accepting a fist-bump from Jay when he passed by. Voight called for everyone’s attention at that point and announced they were moving out.

Mouse scrambled into the van as Olinsky started it up.

At least the OP would distract people from asking him any more questions.

***

Bex

“All I’m saying is that there’s making meaningful eye contact during a conversation and then there’s not blinking at all,” Bex said as she and Otis hauled bags of trash out to the dumpster. “It’s an entirely different vibe.”

The workshopping had been an enlightening experience. Otis wasn’t bad at flirting, not really, but he was a bit intense with his efforts.

“I was trying to show I was listening,” Otis said morosely. He chucked his bags in, waiting for Bex to do the same before closing the lid.

“I think what we need to do is find ways to help you relax more,” Bex said. He’d gotten all tense even pretend flirting with her and Shay. “And I had an idea…”

“I’m almost afraid to ask.” Otis’s eyebrows winged up as they headed back inside.

“What do you think about me asking around my art school friends and seeing if anyone knows someone who would be a good fit?” A more personalized search from a new pool of candidates might be helpful.

Otis shrugged as he thought it over. “I’ve liked all of your friends that I’ve met,” he said. “I’d be open to it, I think? I wouldn’t want to dive into a blind date—Shay, is that my phone? What are you doing?” He ran into the kitchen where Shay was sitting on the counter, scrolling through his phone.

“Mine is acting up and we need some tunes,” she said, holding it out of his reach as he grabbed for it.

“How did you even get it unlocked?” Otis poked at her and managed to find a ticklish enough spot to snatch his phone back.

“Easy. I got the passcode on the first try.” She snorted and leaned over to whisper at Bex. “It’s the year of the first Star Wars movie.”

“Well, not anymore, it isn’t,” Otis grumbled as he typed away furiously.

“Let me—let me see it again,” Shay said, trying to reach over his shoulder. “I was just getting to the good stuff.”

Otis fended her off one-handed and finished resetting his code.

Now that it was out there though, Bex needed to know. “What was the good stuff?”

Shay’s eyes lit up. “Oh, there was—”

Leaping over to the counter, Otis covered her mouth with his hand, shushing her. “Stop. Come on. No, Shay!”

She’d already wiggled out of his grasp and managed to steal his phone again, hopping off the counter and joining Bex. “He has a playlist on here called Happy Time Songs.”

“Hunh.” Bex looked between the phone and Otis. “I don’t know if we should know what’s on that? That feels kind of…invasive? I mean—”

“Oh, my god!” Otis exclaimed, face going bright red. “It’s not that kind of playlist, Bex!”

“I wasn’t gonna judge!” Bex held her hands up, trying not to laugh as Otis thunked his head down on the counter.

He kept his head down as he held out a hand for his phone. “Give it.”

Shay pouted, but gave it back to him. Otis stood up enough to lean his elbows on the counter and then he unlocked his phone, setting it down for them to see the screen.

Sure enough, there was the Happy Time Songs playlist. Bex steeled herself as she took a peek.

“Hey, these are all fun songs!”

Otis rolled his eyes. “Yes, because it’s my songs for when I want a little pick-me-up. When I want to sing along in the car and cheer myself up or whatever. Not what you gutterbrains were thinking.”

Bex tuned out the sniping he and Shay were doing since there was no actual heat behind it and scrolled through Otis’s list. An idea began to form.

“We’re in not bad shape for the inventory, right?”

Shay and Otis stopped their bickering and turned to her. “Yeah,” Otis said slowly. Suspiciously. “Why?”

She pointed at one of the songs. “Want to do something fun for Molly’s socials?”

***

Will

Will flopped down next to Connor on the couch in the lounge. The day had been their usual amount of busy and this was the first chance they’d had to take a breather. Connor shuffled, letting Will sink into his side as he scrolled through notifications on his phone.

Just as he was getting comfortable, Will was jostled by the vibrations of Connor laughing at something. “What?” He nosed his way up Connor’s arm to try and see the screen.

“Bex, Shay, and Otis made a little video for Molly’s Instagram account,” Connor said. He tilted the phone toward Will and turned up the sound.

Carly Rae Jepsen came blasting out of the speaker, singing about how much she really, really, really, really, really, really liked him. Bex, Shay, and Otis were doing a—he wasn’t sure if he could call it choreographed, but it was something definitely dance-like. They were bopping around Molly’s and clearly having way too much fun.

Will snorted. “Inventory’s going well.”

“Managing inventory and promotion,” Connor whistled. “Bex is a girl of many talents.”

“Very true.” Will nudged him. “Play it again.”

Shay’s face when she almost fell off the bar was worth seeing a second time.

***

Hailey

Stakeouts were not Hailey’s favourite part of the job. They were necessary, obviously, but she’d always rather be out in the thick of things. Taking action. There was no action yet though, so she just had to be patient.

They’d managed to get eyes inside the building thanks to Mouse and confirmed this was the place the gang was operating out of. But the ringleader, Arnaldo Jacobs, wasn’t there yet. The CI said he would be. Voight and Olinsky had faith in their intel so they were stuck waiting.

Her phone beeped and Hailey pulled it out to check the notification. And laughed.

“What?” Jay glanced over at her before returning his eyes to the building.

“Your sister shared some kind of new promo video for Molly’s.” Hailey showed him the preview image and Jay barked out a laugh.

“Okay, we’re definitely watching that later,” he said. Then he did a double take at the screen and frowned. “You and Bex are Instagram friends?”

“Yeah,” Hailey said, putting her phone away. “Why? You got a problem with that?”

“No,” Jay said. “As long as Bex didn’t strong arm you into friending her.” He side-eyed Hailey. “Did you even have an Instagram account before or did she sign you up?”

Hailey laughed, shaking her head. “She did neither of those things,” Hailey said. “She sent me a friend request though and that was pretty impressive because my account isn’t even under my name.” She’d tried asking her how she found it and Bex’s only answer was that she’d learned enough from hanging out with Jay and the Intelligence crew over the years that she was basically a detective.

Hailey was kind of buying it.

“She posts fun stuff,” Hailey continued. “It’s entertaining.” Bex had a level of playful energy that Hailey hadn’t had in her life for…a long time now. Their friendship didn’t make a lot of sense on paper, but Hailey was enjoying it. She hadn’t realized how much brightness she’d been missing in her life until she got pulled into surprise parties and after-training pizza and game nights.

And getting to know Bex was giving her an unexpected amount of insight into her new partner. Jay Halstead kept surprising her with each new layer she discovered—including ‘gigantic marshmallow of a big brother.’

Voight’s voice popped up over the radio. “Jacobs entering south side door. Take up positions.”

Hailey nodded at Jay and they exited the truck in one fluid motion.

***

Bex

“Bex!” Otis shoved his phone in her face. “Seriously?”

She pulled back a bit so she could actually see what was on the screen. Oh. Right. She’d shared their Molly’s video on her own profile and tagged Otis in it. With a little extra message.

“P.S. Ladies, this handsome man is single, believe it or not,” Otis read the caption out loud. “When he’s not fighting fires, you can find him over at Molly’s. Come say hi!” He lowered the phone and gave her a baleful look.

…maybe she should have asked before she did that.

“I thought it would be a fun little boost! If someone shows up, it’ll be a chance to keep workshopping! Flirt in a comfortable environment and all that.” She started hunting around for her own phone. “Do you want me to untag you?”

Otis sighed. “No,” he finally said. “But if anyone murders me, it’s on you!”

“I’ll vet them all before they get to you,” Bex promised.

“Vet them ‘all’, she says.” Otis rolled his eyes. “Like there’s going to be a crowd.”

Considering the fact that Beau had already shared it to his account, there might be. But Bex wasn’t going to share that little tidbit with Otis just yet.

“Inventory is officially done!” Shay declared as she emerged from the supply room. “Anything else need doing?”

“We might as well take care of the monthly health and safety checklist while we’re here,” Otis said, grabbing a folder from behind the bar. “I’ll do the fire extinguishers if you guys can check the emergency lights.”

“On it.” Bex saluted him.

Otis walked off to start in the kitchen only to return immediately. "So, I can't check the fire extinguisher right now,” he said. “Because there is a...squirrel. In the kitchen. Squirrel in the kitchen. Yup."

“Wait, what?” Shay rushed over to peek through the door with Bex hot on her heels. Sure enough there was a squirrel. Just hanging out on the counter.

“Uh-oh,” Shay whispered. “Make that two squirrels.”

“How did that even happen?” Otis squeezed in to peer over their shoulders. “Where did they get in?”

Bex looked around as much as she could from her position and her heart sank when she saw it. The back door was open a crack. “Look.” She pointed it out to the others. “We must not have closed it properly when we came in from taking out the trash.”

“Because someone was messing around with my phone,” Otis hissed.

“Why are we wasting time with blame when what we need is a solution,” Shay shot back.

The three of them retreated to the bar to regroup. Obviously, they couldn’t call anyone to help with this. They’d never hear the end of it.

“We need to get them out on our own,” Bex said and the other two nodded seriously.

Otis tapped the Health and Safety folder. “Only if we take the proper precautions.”

Five minutes later, decked out in aprons and hand towels from the supply room and armed with serving trays, they stood in front of the door to the kitchen.

“Ready?” Bex asked them. Otis rolled his neck and Shay blew out a breath, doing a little boxer shuffle before nodding. “Okay,” Bex said, raising her trays. “Prepare to shoo.”

***

Jay

The raid had gone off without a hitch. They got the supply. They got the crew.

They got Jacobs.

But they might have the opportunity to get even more.

Mouse had managed to get into the guy’s phone—turning his nose up at the poor security the whole time—and it was a freaking goldmine.

They’d suspected that Jacobs was working under the larger umbrella of the Righetti family and the texts on his phone confirmed it. In fact, he had a meet scheduled with Frank Righetti an hour from now. If they played their cards right, they could cast a much wider net with this case than they originally thought.

Voight was already on his phone chasing down a warrant while the rest of them started strategizing entry points for the new location.

It was a good day to aim high.

***

Otis

The squirrels were out.

The kitchen was a mess.

But the three of them were still alive and that was what mattered.

“I think one of them growled at me,” Shay said, voice dazed as she sat on the floor, slumped against the fridge. “Can squirrels growl?”

“I don’t think they were squirrels,” Bex said from her spot under the table. “I think they were demons.”

It had been a battle and a half. Otis had made some noises that he’d really rather forget. He grabbed the counter and pulled himself up off of the floor. “The most important thing,” he said, making eye contact with the other two. “Is that we never speak of this incident ever again.”

“Agreed,” Shay muttered and Bex lifted her arm for a truly pathetic thumb’s up.

He did a quick sweep of the kitchen and winced. It was kind of a disaster. “Okay.” Otis clapped his hands together. “I vote for some medicinal pizza before we tackle cleaning this up.”

“Oooh, yes, please.” Shay made grabby hands at him and he stumbled over to help her up.

“You know, Otis,” Bex said as she crawled out from under the table. “You keep making genius suggestions like that and I might skip straight to marrying you.”

“Always good to know the way to your heart, Bex,” he said, lending her a hand as well.

She leaned against him for a minute before patting his chest. “We need cheesy bread too.”

***

Mouse

The warrant came through just in time and they managed to snap up not only Righetti, but five of his inner circle as well. The six of them were currently being transported back to 21.

Mouse had the van repacked and they were returning to the precinct as well. Burgess and Olinsky were up front again while Mouse tinkered away in the back. Voight was in his car up ahead with Jay, Hailey, Ruzek, and Atwater bringing up the rear.

A solid day’s work all in all.

Burgess and Olinsky were talking through next steps while they were stopped at an intersection. Mouse was only halfway listening as he fiddled with one of their cameras. The van lurched forward—with Olinsky muttering about how they needed to get the fuel pump looked at—and then Kim gasped.

And then—

A screaming clash of metal on metal.

***

Bex

Bex was sitting at the bar, eating her pizza, when a shiver ran down her spine.

Weird.

Her stomach did a slow flip and her hand itched toward her phone. She gave in, picking it up to check for messages, but there were none. Which made sense. Everyone was at work or wrangling kids. If there was a problem, they’d let her know.

Right?

Right.

She shivered again.

Probably just needed to turn down the air conditioner.

***

Jay

“Jay!” Hailey interrupted their conversation to point through the window at something on their left. He followed her finger to see an ice cream truck coming down the road, driving erratically.

He laid on the horn, but it was too late.

Swerving the truck to the side, he hit the brakes which kept them out of the line of collision, but did nothing for the van. He watched in horror as the ice cream truck slammed into the side of the van, making it spin and rock hard on its wheels.

The point of impact had been near the back. Right where Mouse was usually stationed.

Jay scrambled out of his truck, hitting the ground running. He darted around Ruzek’s jeep which had skidded to a stop beside them. He could hear the other three coming up behind him, but they could deal with triage. He was focused on one thing.

“Mouse!”

***

Mouse

Mouse groaned. Through the ringing in his ears, he could hear Kim and Al calling out his name, but all he could manage was another groan.

What the—

Oh. Something hit the van.

His brain started to clear a bit as he began to take stock. He’d been thrown out of his seat by the force of the crash, but nothing felt broken. Bruised as hell, but not broken.

“I’m okay,” he called back to the others when they yelled his name again. “You?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Kim said. “We’re—”

“Mouse!” a familiar voice kept shouting his name, drowning out whatever she was about to say and then the side door was wrenched open. Luckily, the hit had been on the other side and that door could still open.

Jay stood there, white-face and slumping in relief at the sight of Mouse blinking up at him from the floor of the van.

“Hey, Jay.” Mouse waved at him. “Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

“Tell that to your bleeding head wound,” he said, leaning in to peer closely at him.

Jay made him stay put, checking him over for other injuries—apparently, he’d cut his arm as well—and forcibly stopping him from getting up until the ambos got there.

He kept relaying updates to Mouse as he got them though which was considerate enough. Turned out the driver of the ice cream truck had suffered a heart attack and passed out behind the wheel. Kevin and Hailey were helping him while Adam and Jay checked on Mouse, Kim, and Al.

Voight had seen the crash happen in his rear view and turned back around. He was busy directing officers to control the scene and shouting into his radio demanding to know when the ambos were arriving.

Multiple ambulances seemed a bit overkill to Mouse. Obviously, the truck driver needed one, but Kim and Al said they were fine. Mouse was a bit bloody, but he’d had worse. Slap a bandage on him and he’d be fine.

Jay and Voight disagreed with him so Mouse was keeping his mouth shut until the paramedics got there. They’d agree with him.

***

Two minutes later.

***

Mouse

The paramedics did not agree with him. Kim and Al had been given the all clear, but Mouse had to go to Med for stitches. Jay was laughing at him for pouting when Adam sidled up to them.

“Hey,” he whispered. “What do you think the odds are of getting free ice cream out of this?”

***

Bex

After scarfing down their pizza, the three of them got their second wind and finished cleaning up the kitchen before heading home. Bex had a shower and a little nap since she hadn’t bothered swapping out for her evening shift at Molly’s.

Shay and Otis were planning to swing by as well. The bar was basically the centre of everyone’s social life. Bex wondered for about half a second if they should be branching out more before she remembered that they were forcing her into an outdoor game night later that week.

That was a big enough branch for now.

She checked her phone as she was getting changed, but there were no answers from Jay or Mouse to her texts. They must still be in the middle of things.

Bex sent a follow up message saying they should stop by Molly’s when they were done and left it at that.

…but if she didn’t hear from them by eight, she reserved the right to hunt them down.

***

Jay

They’d been at the hospital for a couple of hours now because the ED was so swamped, Mouse kept getting bumped. He’d tried to tell Jay a few times that he could go, but Jay would just tell him to shup up and then go get them some more snacks.

Including ice cream because Jay was always a little shit at heart.

Jay might have also pulled up the Molly’s video that Bex had made with Otis and Shay to entertain them while they waited. It definitely hadn’t gotten old yet. They were also getting regular updates from the team on how processing the gang was going.

Finally, they were called back and Will met them in one of the rooms, apologizing for the hold up. He checked Mouse over quickly. The good news was that Mouse didn’t have a concussion and he was mostly only bruised, but he did need stitches for the cut on his head.

Jay stuck around while Will got to work. Today could have gone in a very different direction and he wasn’t ready to let Mouse out of his sight just yet.

He’d also had a lot of time to think while they were stuck in the waiting room. As much as he’d been trying to stay out of Mouse and Bex’s business lately, there’d been something brewing in him for the last couple of hours and Jay had to get it off his chest.

To at least know that he’d said it. Even if Mouse did nothing with it.

Maybe it was years of listening to Bex rubbing off on him, but this crash felt like a sign and Jay was going to take advantage of the fact that Mouse couldn’t run away to try and make him see it.

He leaned back in his chair and sighed. “Pretty sure the universe was trying to give you a kick in the ass today.”

“Hm?” Mouse quirked an eyebrow at him and Will tsked.

“Don’t move.”

Jay scooched his chair closer so Mouse didn’t have to turn to see him. “I’m saying things could have gone so much worse. You could’ve died without ever giving it a real chance with Bex.”

Will shot him a glare when Mouse made a wounded noise, but Jay kept going. He and his gut were back on track and he knew he had to say this.

“I know you’re worried about messing things up—”

“With good reason,” Mouse muttered.

“But think about it this way,” Jay countered. “You already have. Multiple times!”

“Jay!” Will’s head whipped around to give him an incredulous stare. “What the hell, man?”

“I’m going somewhere with this, I promise.” Jay waved him off and focused on Mouse. “You’ve already had things go sideways with Bex more than once now,” he said. “And you both worked through it to come out the other side better every time.” Jay was pretty sure their relationship was going to be Cindy and Chris levels of bulletproof at this rate.

“That’s not actually a bad point,” Will said, nodding as he focused on his stitching.

“If it was anyone else, maybe they would have walked away. A while ago. But this is Bex,” Jay said. “She’s special. She sees through the fuck ups and cares enough to take the time to work it out. It’s her Herrmann-ness. Always comes through.”

Mouse and Will both chuckled quietly at that.

“I’m not trying to brush off your worries,” Jay said. “But you guys have proven that you can survive the shit and today proved that the shit can come from any corner.” He scrubbed a hand down his face, shaking his head. “You almost got pancaked by a friggin’ ice cream truck. An ice cream truck, dude. You could have died and left nothing but a pile of broken bones and regrets. Think about that for a second.”

He tried to leave it at that, but he had one last point to drive home.

“You know she’s already there, man,” he said quietly. “And I know how hard this all is for you, but I think you’re there too. You just gotta go for it. Take the sign and go for it.”

***

Mouse

Mouse sat there, feeling a bit stunned by everything Jay had just laid out for him. Will and Jay were silent as Will finished treating Mouse; both of them clearly giving him space to think.

So he did.

All of the advice he’d received over the past few months swirled around in his brain—a lot of it echoing Jay’s words.

And Chuck’s.

A leap of faith.

He thought about Bex.

Laughing with her. Talking to her. Loving her. He had a chance to do that for as long as he could. Forever if she let him.

Everything that he wanted. Desperately. And he could have lost it all today.

Mouse’s heart tripped at the thought; somehow more scared by that than everything else he’d been wrestling with. He couldn’t let her go.

Jay was right. Mouse was—he was there.

He couldn’t believe what he’d almost let slip through his fingers.

“I could have died,” Mouse said slowly. “Without ever going on a date with Bex.”

“That’s what I’m saying,” Jay exclaimed, sitting up in his seat.

Mouse stared at him. At Will who was putting stuff away on a tray, shooting little smiles back at him. He shook his head, feeling like his whole world had been turned on its side.

“I could have died without ever kissing Bex,” Mouse said.

“Okay,” Jay grimaced. “I don’t think we need a detailed list or anything like that.”

“Am I good to go?” Mouse asked Will. “I need to get out of here.”

“I need to get your discharge paperwork—”

“Wait.” Jay stood up. “What are you—are you saying—”

“I’m going for it,” Mouse said. He took a deep breath, steeling himself for the flood of negatively the usually came when he stepped foot in this direction, but none of that came. All he felt was certainty. He felt good and right. He grinned at Jay. “Yeah. I’m going for it.”

***

Sharon

Sharon was doing a round of the ED when cheers erupted from behind the curtain of room three. She turned to Maggie. “What in the world is happening in there?”

Maggie raised an eyebrow at her. “You really want to know?”

“Is it going to result in me having a headache or extra paperwork?” Sharon gave her the eyebrow right back. Maggie shook her head which was a considerable relief and Sharon made a little ‘go on’ gesture at her.

“Okay,” Maggie grinned, leaning over the counter and lowering her voice. “You know Dr. Halstead’s sister, Bex…”

***

Bex

Slowly, but surely the whole gang was trickling into Molly’s. That and a few new faces that were giggling and checking out Otis from a distance.

Ha. Success.

She scoped them out as she took their orders; asking a casual question here and there. They didn’t scream murdery to her so she gave Otis a discreet thumb’s up when she walked by.

On her next round, she brought him back with her, closely tailed by Joe, and made some introductions. She grinned at Chris when she returned to the bar, ignoring his eyeroll.

“I’m adding ‘excellent wingwoman’ to my resume,” she declared.

“You made that happen,” he said, nodding at the happily chatting group. “So I’d say you earned it.” He elbowed her. “You also earned a break. What are you still doing here? You did inventory all day, you don’t need to stay all night on top of that.”

“Jay and Will and everybody are supposed to come by later,” she said. “I want to stick around for that.”

“Ah,” Chris said knowingly. “I wouldn’t want you to miss ‘and everybody’.” He cackled, dodging out of range of her swat.

The front door opened at that moment and Adam, Kevin, Kim, Al, Hank, Sam, and Julie came through. Sam and Julie made a beeline for where Shay, Isaac, and Devon were seated while the rest of them came up to the bar.

Adam took a look around before facing Bex. “Jay and Mouse not done at the hospital yet?”

Bex froze. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Oh.” Adam’s eyes went wide. “Oops.”

She crooked a finger at him and he tentatively leaned in until he was close enough for her to grab him by the front of his shirt. “Explain. Now.”

***

Jay

They were still cheering when Connor stepped into the room. “What’s going on in here?”

“Mouse is gonna kiss Bex,” Will said cheerily.

“Don’t say it like that,” Jay complained as Connor gave his own cheer.

Jay had Mouse wrapped up in a hug, happy about it all, but the enormity of the moment wasn’t lost on him either. “This is going to be weird as fuck, isn’t it?” He patted Mouse on the back before letting him go.

“Yeah,” Mouse said, with a sigh that was anything but regretful. “Probably.”

“I’ll survive.” Jay said. Meaning it. “I’m happy for you, man.”

Mouse returned Jay’s grin with a truly dopey smile of his own

All of a sudden, their phones chimed with a bunch of text message notifications. So did Will’s.

And Connor’s.

Hunh.

Jay pulled his out to check and—uh oh. “Someone told Bex what happened,” he said, scrolling through the messages. “We should probably get there sooner rather than later.”

“Connor and I are done,” Will said, snapping off his gloves. “We’ll come with you.” He had a sparkle in his eye that Jay knew meant he wasn’t about to miss out on whatever was going to happen next. “I’ll go get you discharged.” Connor followed him out, saying he’d grab both their things so they could leave quicker.

Jay shot off a message to Bex, letting her know that everything was fine and they would be there soon. He peeked over at Mouse who was slipping his phone back into his pocket. “Not gonna reply?”

“You already told her we’re coming, right?” Mouse shrugged, biting at his lip with a little smile. “I just want to see her and talk to her in person.”

Will was back within seconds and soon enough they were all free to go. Will and Connor must have taken some kind of crazy short cut after they left or broken every speed limit there was because they were waiting outside of Molly’s when Jay and Mouse pulled up.

“Ready to go in?” Will asked, bouncing a bit in his excitement.

Mouse still looked determined, but he was knitting his fingers together nervously. “Yeah, uh, I just—I need a minute, okay?” He shot Jay a look. “I’m not going anywhere. Promise.”

“No worries,” Jay said, clapping a gentle hand on his shoulder. “I’ll try and hold her off for that long.” He followed Will and Connor up the steps and into the bar.

Bex must’ve had her Jaydar dialled up to eleven because as soon as he walked through the door, her head whipped up and she was marching over.

“Is he okay?” she demanded, peering around him, trying to spot Mouse. “What happened? Where is he?”

Jay held up a hand. “He’s fine,” he said. “He needed some stitches for a cut on his head and he’s a little bruised up, but Will gave him the all clear—”

Bex grabbed his arm. “Where. Is. He?”

He sighed, sending out a silent apology to Mouse for the incredibly short minute.

“He’s outside.”

***

Mouse

He jumped when the front door of Molly’s slammed open and Bex came flying out. She looked around wildly before spotting him off to the side and rushing over.

“Mouse! Are you okay? Where are you hurt?” Her hands carefully fluttered over him, needing to check every inch. Needing to touch. Mouse let her, shaking his head at the rapid fire questions.

“I’m okay,” he said. “I got all checked out and all I needed was some stitches, but—”

“Are you sure though?” She frowned at his bandage. “Did Dr. Abrams see you? What about a concussion? Or internal bleeding? Or—”

“Bex, I swear.” He grabbed her hands to hold them still. “I was thoroughly examined, I promise. All I need right now is to talk to you—”

“We should go inside!” She exclaimed, trying to tug him toward the side door. “You need to be sitting down. You should rest! Have you eaten? I’ll get you some food—”

“Babe, please!” He pulled her back. Easily, considering she’d gone stock still.

Her eyes were wide as a slow smile spread across her face. “Babe?”

He could feel the flush travelling up his neck, but he held fast to her hands and returned her smile. Every bit of nervousness that had tried to find a way back in faded away. “Bex,” he said. “Please? I’m, uh, I’m trying to leap here.”

***

Bex

Her breath hitched as his words sunk in and she stepped closer, squeezing his hands in hers. “Wait. Really? Are you sure—”

Mouse let go of her hands and put his arms around her waist, pulling her in close. “Yes, I’m sure,” he said as she looped her arms around his neck. “I’m—Bex, I’m all in.”

“Well, that’s—that’s handy because I am too.” She laughed and he smiled down at her, oh, so softly before they both leaned in for a kiss.

The kiss.

One worth waiting months—years—for.

Mouse tightened his arms around her and a spike of heat ran down her spine. He kissed her like his life depended on it, like it was the last chance he’d ever get to do this, but—

It might be a last first kiss, but it was definitely the first of many, many kisses to come. Bex wanted to kiss Mouse for the rest of her life. She never wanted to stop.

Except they did break apart just then.

It was kind of hard to keep kissing when you couldn’t stop smiling.

Mouse touched his forehead to hers, eyes closed as he huffed out a laugh. “Don’t know if I’ll ever get used to that.”

Bex didn’t think she would either. “C’mere,” she said, tugging on his collar as she walked them backwards to get them off the sidewalk and out of plain sight.

Mouse slapped a hand against the wall of the bar to cushion her head when she met it, his other still at the small of her back, keeping her close. She put her arms back around his neck, pulling him down until their lips met again.

They kissed until Bex was dizzy with it. Mouse groaned when they finally stopped for air. “I had a whole speech I was going to give you.”

“You had a speech?” Bex pressed a kiss against his jaw. “I love speeches. Tell me your speech.” She began kissing her way down his neck and he melted into her.

“It was, uh, I was going to start with, oh, jesus, Bex,” he moaned out when she nibbled on him a bit.

“This is a great speech,” Bex murmured into his skin. “Five stars.”

He kissed her again, deep enough to steal her breath away. Then he hugged her tight, whispering into her ear. “I’m sorry I took so long.”

Bex nudged him back until he met her eyes. “I think it took exactly the right amount of time if this is where we ended up.”

Mouse gave her that crooked little smile before leaning in and kissing her senseless all over again.

***

Otis

As soon as Bex had gone outside, nearly everyone had raced for the windows, trying to get a peek at what was happening. Or tried to before Boden barked at them all to ‘sit their butts down.’

After a painfully long wait, neither Bex nor Mouse had come back inside.

“What do you think is happening?” Shay leaned across the table to whisper at him.

“Let’s give them some privacy, like the chief said,” Casey piped up and everyone boo’d quietly.

“Someone should probably check,” Gabi said. “Just to make sure they’re okay. Don’t you think?”

And then, for some unfathomable reason, everyone’s eyes turned to Otis. “Me?” He pointed at himself, just to make sure, and they all nodded. “Why am I the one going?”

“I mean,” Gabi shrugged. “We could rock, paper, scissors for it, but I think we all know how that’s going to end anyway.”

“I do not have a tell,” he grumbled at her. He tried to ignore the pleading stares coming from every corner of the room—all of 51, the weirdly large crowd from Med that had shown up, the Intelligence crew—even Chief Boden was failing at not giving him a bit of hopeful side eye.

“Fine!” Otis threw his hands up. “I will check, but if I get my head bitten off—”

“Just go!” Stella pushed him toward the side door. “I believe in you.”

He shook out his shoulders as he stood before the door and took a deep breath. Then he slowly pushed it open and poked his head outside and—oh, god, that was something he could never unsee.

***

Bex

The sound of the side door creaking open had them breaking apart and Bex looked over to see Otis leaning out of it with his eyes squinched shut.

“Did you need something, Otis?” she called out, finding herself sneaking a hand up Mouse’s shirt to stroke his back because she could touch now.

“Uh, just seeing if you were coming back inside to work anytime soon?” he asked, eyes still closed.

She laughed when Mouse silently shook his head and started peppering her face with kisses. “No,” she managed to get out. “I quit.”

“Alrighty then.” Otis ducked back inside.

***

Otis

“They’re fine,” Otis said shortly, working hard at not making any eye contact with any of the Herrmanns or Halsteads in the room. Or anyone really.

“Okay, but—”

“Nope,” Otis pointed a finger at Shay, cutting her off. “I’ve already wiped it all from my mind so that’s all you get. They’re fine.”

Chris raised an eyebrow at him when he came over and stepped behind the bar.

“Yeah, she’s not coming back in anytime soon,” he said. “I might as well help out.”

“Atta girl,” Chris said, shooting a grin at the side door and chuckling to himself.

“It’s about time,” Boden agreed from his spot at the bar.

Otis couldn’t argue with that.

Bex and Mouse were due for some happiness.

And they’d definitely looked happy.

Ugh.

His poor eyeballs.

***

Bex

As much as Bex would like to make out with Mouse forever, doing so against the side of Molly’s wasn’t exactly the best plan. And if they’d sent Otis out to check on them, it was only a matter of time before someone less easily deterred poked their head out.

“Okay,” Bex said, when they’d finally broken apart again. She ran her hands over Mouse’s shoulders and patted at his chest. “This is your chance to back out—” She pressed a finger to his lips when he started to protest. “—of going in there because there’s a zero percent chance that any of them will be able to be normal about this once we step a foot through the door.”

Mouse kissed her finger and flashed a grin at her. “I’m willing to risk it.” He grabbed her hand and led her inside.

Bex was right.

They were being super weird.

Stilted conversations were happening all over the room.

“Sports,” Shay was saying to Kelly who was heroically trying to keep a straight face. “What’s happening with those lately?”

“It’s hot,” Adam blurted out to Al and Kim. “So hot this week. Rain. Rain is a thing. That would be good.”

No one was looking their way with the exception of Capp who was staring directly at them with a big grin. “Did you kiss?”

Tony reached up to smack him upside the head.

Bex buried her face into Mouse’s shoulder and felt him shaking with silent laughter. She held up a finger before looking back out at the room. “You get one minute to be weirdos about this and that’s it.”

There was a moment of silence before the whole place erupted.

Everyone was on their feet, cheering and talking at once.

She turned to give Mouse an apologetic shrug, but he was taking all of the backslaps and teasing with a good-natured grin. And a tight grip on her hand the whole time.

This was really happening.

And it was already amazing.

Bex squeezed his hand. He squeezed hers back and then she let herself get swept up in the joy of her goofy, chaotic family.

***

Chris, Jay, Will, and Connor

They each found Bex during the enthusiastic celebrating and give her a gigantic hug. Staying silent, because they could barely hear each other anyway through the noise, but saying everything they needed to with one embrace.

Happiness.

Overwhelming happiness and love and support.

Always.

***

Mouse

After that first minute, things did calm down a bit. He joined the 21 gang and Jay gave him another bone-crushing hug. “No details ever,” Jay made him promise and Mouse solemnly agreed.

“I’ll take details,” Shay said as she bounced over with a cheeky grin. Julie managed to redirect her and the rest of the night was almost like a normal night at Molly’s.

Almost.

Now, he kept looking over at the bar and he knew what Bex tasted like.

He couldn’t wait to kiss her again.

And again.

A few hours later, when everyone was starting to head out, Severide and Casey came over to him and got about two words into a shovel talk before Bex appeared out of nowhere.

“No,” she said, giving them both a fierce look.

“Oh, come on,” Severide protested. “We just—”

“No,” Bex repeated, drawing a finger across her neck. “Don’t even.”

Casey laughed, pulling Bex into a hug and kissing her forehead. “I’ll keep an eye on him,” he said before herding Severide and the rest of the 51 crew out the door.

Mouse stuck around to help close the bar and walked Bex to her car. He’d called an Uber for himself since Jay had driven them here.

“You know,” Bex said slowly, fingers still tangled in his hair from when he’d pressed her against the Tin Can to say goodnight. “I could drive you home.” She kissed him slowly. “Maybe come upstairs.” Another kiss. “Stay for awhile.”

He lost himself in another kiss, almost willing to give into the idea before he pulled away and buried his face in her neck with a groan.

“Bad idea?” Bex asked quietly.

“No,” Mouse muttered. “Very good idea.” He popped his head back up and sighed. “But I really want to take you on a proper date first.”

“One could argue that we’ve been on quite a few dates,” she said.

“No.” Mouse reached up to cup her face, kissing her one more time. “I want to take you on a real one. Where we’re both on the same page and we both know what it means.”

Bex blushed. “Okay,” she said, leaning into his hand. “When? Tomorrow?”

“Yeah—wait,” Mouse’s face fell. “I promised Jay I’d watch the game with him and—”

“We don��t want to start this with you breaking plans with him,” Bex said, shaking her head and Mouse’s heart warmed at how she got that so completely.

“It wouldn’t feel right,” he agreed.

“Wednesday’s out because of Outdoor Game Night,” she sighed. “I promised Kevin and I want to make sure Sylvie has fun.”

“Thursday?” Mouse asked hopefully.

“I have to work at Molly’s,” Bex said with a rueful laugh. “I promised Chris because he’s got some sort of last hurrah of the summer thing planned with the kids.”

“Friday then.” Mouse crossed his fingers and Bex nodded.

“Friday works for me,” she whispered. “Wow. We’re really doing this.”

“All in,” Mouse said, kissing her once again.

Finally.

Click here to read the next installment - Game Night 3: It’s Bex Ball, Bébés.

Click here to read 500 Miles on ao3:

Here is the tag list (let me know if you wish to be added or removed):

@sorry-i-spaced, @thegirlwhowishedeveryonelived, @ivyalmighty, @thewannabewriter, @lexhalstead3, @multifandomgrl08, @sensitivemallysix, @thebejeweledwatercat, @emme-looou, @trulylavandedarling, @onechicagochoicesbutterfly

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justalilpearlie · 3 months

Text

Introduction/Fun Pearlie Facts

Was abt time I did one of these.

Hello everyone, my name is Pearl, Pearlie or Sam/Sammy if you're feeling like it. Friends also call me Martini sometimes.

I am a minor, my labels... we dont talk about them (fem presenting ftm gay/mlm + trying out gendervoid and verinix + bigender??) uhmm and I go by He/She, tho mostly He/Him by strangers- I can She/Her myself and close friends/mutuals are allowed! (I also go by neos: Void/Moon/Sweet/It/Fluff/Love/Fizz/Paw)

I'm from Argentina, born and raised, never moved. Speak fluent english and spanish.

I got the 'tism and the adhd, aswell as BPD and a few other things I wont list right now! But yeah I'm psychotic (ooo scary word.. lmao)

- -🌄-📀-🌙- -💚- -💛- -✨-🌄-✨- -💛- -💚- -🌙-📀-🌄- -

I'm an IRL of many, mainly c!Pearl (mcyt), Samuel Emily (fnaf [games canon]) and Shin Tsukimi (yttd). If you don't like it you can leave, block me, or whatever, cause you aint gonna change my life or how I am. I'm in therapy, which unlike random hate and harrassment online, does help me :)

I like to roleplay, draw, sometimes make playlists or moodboards.. And my biggest interests right now are Life Series (+ evo + new life), Empires1(+ a bit of e2) and FNaF! (i dont rlly like the books tho lol..)

I use kin tags for reach cause I'd love interaction from any fellow lifers or empires ppl, hermits aswell!! Tho I havent finished s8 or s9 yet...

Fictionkins, therians and traumagenic systems all welcome!

- -💥-🐺-🌙- -❤️- -💛- -✨-💥-✨- -💛- -❤️- -🌙-🐺-💥- -

DNI prefferably:

- Basic DNI criteria (proshippers, homophobes, transphobes, racists, TERFs, ableist, etc)

- Endos/non-traumagenic "systems" DNI. block me if u want, i wont argue abt it in the comments/reblogs. or interact if u want but im not gonna follow u back or anythin shrugs.

- reality checkers or anti-IRLs DNI. I aint "romanticizing" shit, I'm existing and living my life, if thats a problem to you too bad cause my psychologist aproves of what I'm doing, since I aint harming anyone and I myself am doing dandy.

- anti-kin also DNI cause most of my friends are fictionkins and if you talk shit abt my fellas idk i wouldnt like having u around much

CCs interact at your own risk. This is my domain, cyan man & moon lady. /hj

- -🪸-🐸-🌙- -💙- -🩵- -✨-🪸-✨- -🩵- -💙- -🌙-🐸-🪸- -

"Disclaimer"

- I talk about MajorMoon (Scott x Pearl) a LOT, if u didnt notice by the acc theme. These are my romantic memories, its a gay ship, not woman/gay man, so if it makes u uncomfortable or u hate it or whatever then ur probably not gonna like my content lmao. COUGH, consider joining us if you do like what you see... /nf We're a small comunity of supporters.. just me.. and a few of my peeps... that was a joke, sir. /ref

- This isn't roleplay, its my main acc where im ""unapologetically"" myself, but if u do wanna rp life series/empires u can always shoot me a dm and maybe I'll give u my discord.

- I talk about myself (c!Pearl) using 3rd person in many posts tagged with main fandom tags. This is to cause less confusion to casual fans slash ""normies"" (lhj) that well.. don't know what IRLs are! Also that way I feel safer and don't have to worry as much abt getting harassed and such for my identity.

- -🌸-⛰️-🌙- -💚- -💙- -✨-🌸-✨- -💙- -💚- -🌙-⛰️-🌸- -

Special People Mentions!! fps = * (1 or more.. wouldnt say in a priority sorta order but. more or less yea)

Family! <3 🌼@pehpurr* SISTER!! super duper cool, her art is great and you should check it out!! YOU. You're the brightest little girl (i say like ur not older than me) I'VE EVER MET ACTUALLY! You're so passionate and loving I freaking adore you!! I love you so much Scar, you're one of the best things to ever happen to me, Kanny <3 ⚙️@gentlexmadman DAD!! you are my daaaad, you're my dad! woogie woogie woogie! ANOTHER amazing artist! mr "I know that guy-", very funny, Henry "Autism" Emily... the copper king, my father. Speaking to you is always comforting. Love you so much papa, you're amazing :)

Simply special <3 ☕@insomniac-coffeehouse** You're all simply so very special to me. I love spending time with you guys and playing stuff together, you mean a lot to me and I'm so glad I met you. I hope we're still close for this year and many more! You're incredibly talented, not only at art, at everything you do. You spark joy in my brain and my heart <3 From the bottom of my heart, I'm in love with the hope you bring to this world. 🍊Jack***, oh my dear Jacky, where do I even begin, sport... you really are my other half. Mi media naranja if you will. haha.. I love every second we spend together, I love your voice, I love your eyes, I love your smile, your laughter. I love your use of words, the way you speak, your humor, your seriousness and goofiness. You stiff fuck, you were made for me and I was made for you, and I wouldn't have it any other way. You're my everything, mi vida, mi luz, mi estrella. Mi amor, mi mundo. <3

New friends! 🍓@strawberrystarfield I know we met fairly recently but you're all incredibly fun to talk to, your art is also amazing, your accent is real pretty (cough for a bri-💥), you're real sweet and I love reading all your thoughts and critiques about things :} (love ya Aspen /gen) 🏜️@fagdykegtws My right hand man! I know we just met through the rarepair server but oh my god we're in the same brainwave!!! You're so fun to vc and chat with and you got the best ideas ever fr fr, love ya Chewy, you're real sweet even w how lil i know you ;)

That's it folks, love yall and see you around!

#intro post #introduction #c!pearl irl #sammy emily irl #delusional attachment #fictionkin #fictkin #fnaf irl #life series irl #empires irl #mcyt fictkin #mcyt fictionkin #mcyt kin #system friendly #endos dni #mcyt irl

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celestialking · 2 years

Note

not the same anon that asked u to write more sam fics but do you think you could write a blurb or smth with Sam where reader is also a cc and after a long day of meeting people and doing twitchcon stuff reader and him just collapse onto the bed as soon as they get back to their hotel room, maybe slow soft sleepy sex, maybe not

I gotcha :> ♡ it's a bit rushed unfortunately

NSFW 18+ only - Minors/Ageless blogs DNI

Warnings: gn, praise, soft sleepy,

You both let out twin groans as you flopped onto the bed. Walking around twitchcon all day was exhausting, but well worth it.

Sam had been playing minecraft rivals half the day, but for the other half he had joined you in walking around and visiting booths and stuff. You only had to muster up the puppy eyes once to Sam; and he gladly had gotten the art work you got your fingers onto.

Every once and a while a fan would appear asking for a photo with the two of you, or approaching with a small gift. Sam would always start off by introducing himself. "Hey I'm Sam," before hugging said fan. You'd both thank them before they left.

"You know Sam, I'm pretty sure the reason they're approaching is because they know who you are," you smiled, poking fun at him.

Sam grasped your hand dragging you along with him. "Well maybe they're here for you,"

"But they only know me through you,"

"So I should stop?" He titled his head

"No. No, it's cute," you hummed.

He laughed softly before leaning down to kiss your forehead.

Warmth filled your cheeks before attempting to push him away. "No mushy in public," you whined making him laugh more.

Now that you were both in bed, however, it meant relaxation time. "How was rivals?" You mumbled feeling him kiss your shoulder.

Sam took a second to say "Great," before moving his kisses closer to your neck.

"Sammy," you breathed out, giving him more room to work. Hands reached around your front pulling your back flush against his chest. His hold was firm yet gentle around you. "Too tired,"

Sam hummed, starting to reach for your pants. "Don't worry baby, I'll take good care of you," he smiled.

You allowed him to slowly undress you, his artwork of soft kisses and gentle bites were a distraction for his fingers slowly pushing into prep you.

Once he had opened you up for him and slowly pushed in, a mountain of praise flowed from his lips. Each gentle thrust was paired with an equally sweet sentence.

"Made just for me sugar,"

"Always feel so good,"

"So good for me,"

Part of you wanted to record the way his cock slowly pumped into you for later, but you were too tired to even move.

You could stay like this forever, his dick kissing against the most sensitive spots of yours. Your brain a puddle of warmth and pleasure.

Sam was whining words against your shoulder as he sped up a bit. His hips were moving on their own accord, desperately chasing a high that was closer than before.

Your body was practically molded to his, the warmth of his chest melting you.

"Sammy," you whimpered, trying to find his hands. "Close,"

His fingers interlocked with yours. "That's okay baby, go ahead. Cum for me," Sam moaned softly.

"There you go sweetheart," he praised as you trembled in his arms. Your orgasm shocking through you. With a low groan Sam followed suit, filling you up.

You both laid there in the peaceful moments to follow. The movement was minimal other than a few slow thrusts from Sam to help as ride out the ends of your highs.

After a bit Sam slowly began to pull out making you protest softly. He stopped moving keeping you half full.

"Baby we gotta shower," he kissed your head.

You could honestly barely keep your eyes open at this point. "Nap first," you slurred.

Sam adjusted himself, bringing you closer to him. "If you say so," he yawned. "You're going to complain later,"

"Future me problem..."

#celestial:whispers #celestial:blurbs #celestial:awsmd #celestial:scribbles

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animekpopsimp · 1 year

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Them As Parents (Stardew Valley Characters)

Abigail

She would be the sweetest mom. Abigail would be a hands-on parent and would spend a lot of time with her child. When it comes to her child expressing themselves she would be a hundred percent supportive, she would buy her kids clothes they like, let them dye their hair, anything as long as it didn't hurt them. When it comes to discipline she's stern, but not too stern. She doesn't want to come off as mean, but always wants to make sure her child learns a lesson when they do something wrong. Overall, Abigail is a great mom.

Sebastian

It takes time for Sebastian to get used to being a dad, but once he does it comes almost naturally to him. He's not the kind of father to show his love through words, he prefers actions. He loves spending time with his child and lets them explore their own interest. He quits smoking when he becomes a dad, Sebastian doesn't want to set a bad example for his kid. Disiplin is something Sebastian struggles with but he does his best. He's a really sweet, yet awkward dad overall.

Shane

Shane doesn't see himself becoming a father, but when he does it's like a switch flips in his brain. He stops drinking and starts being the best dad he can be. Sure, he still has his flaws but deep down he's a caring person. He always spends time with his child and wants to set a good example for them so they don't end up like he did. He'll teach his kid how to care for animals as a way of bonding. He always makes sure to control his anger if his kid does something wrong, overall he's a sweet father despite his flaws.

Harvey

He's the sweetest dad ever, he would be the type to always make time to spend time with his family. Harvey would always encourage his child to follow their dreams. He's the type of father to make dad jokes. If his kid shows interest in the medical field, he's more than willing to teach them. He's traditional when he has to discipline his child but he would never physically hurt them. He's a very sweet father.

Emily

Emily is the cool, fun mom. She loves spending time with her child and always encourages them to express themselves. She would never judge her child for their interests. She'll spend a lot of time with her child, and she comes up with something new for them to do when she can. Emily is an amazing mom.

Maru

Maru is the mom who's always willing to help her child with homework and help them with learning new things. She's calm and will be understanding if her child struggles with anything. She keeps encouraging them not to give up when things get tough. Maru is a wonderful mom who always believes in her child.

Leah

Leah comes out of her shell when she's around her family, she's more talkative and is always telling her child stories. She'll share her love of art with her kid, while still encouraging them to explore their own interests. She'll plan different ways to spend time with her family whether it involves staying home or going out on occasion. She would be a good mom, no doubt.

Sam

Sam is the fun dad. He'd also be the type to make dad jokes. He values spending time with his family and tries to every day. Sam loves playing music for his kid and even does it when they have trouble sleeping. He's a very sweet, caring dad.

Alex

Alex is super sweet as a father. He loves spending time with his family and encourages his kid to be active. If they show any interest in sports, he'll be more than happy to help them out. Though it would be the same if his child had any other interests. Overall, a very caring dad.

Elliot

Elliot is a very calm dad. He doesn't say much but when he does he gives good advice to his child. He'd be perfect when it comes to helping his kid with homework since he's smart. He would play music for his kid and would be more than willing to teach his kid if they show any interest in it at all. The same thing goes for writing. He's a very caring, supportive dad.

Penny

Penny would strive to give her child the childhood she didn't get. She had a lot of trouble when she was growing up, due to her mother's drinking problem. Because of that, she makes sure her child doesn't have to experience anything she went through, she's a hands-on mother who treats her child with love and respect. She never shows any anger toward them, knowing how her mother's temper affected her. Penny still worries that she'll do something wrong, though she's the perfect mother.

Haley

Haley would be a wonderful mom, she would spend a lot of time with her child and encourage them to be themselves. If she has a daughter, she would love to go shopping for clothes with them and would help them do their hair. It wouldn't matter what her child's style is, she would be supportive. She would love to spend quality time with her child when she has the time.

#Stardew Valley #Stardew Valley headcanons #Abigail #Sebastian #Shane #Harvey #Emily #Maru #Leah #Sam #Alex #Elliot #Penny #Haley

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denimbex1986 · 1 month

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'Fleabag’s hot priest is about to take on his most liberating role yet: a one-man show of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya in which he will play all nine roles, male and female. He loves taking risks, he says. It seems to be paying off…

I last saw Andrew Scott in the flesh eight years ago. I was sitting in the gloom at the top of what used to be St Martin’s School of Art in the Charing Cross Road – a tiny, temporary theatre had sprung up there – and he was three feet away from me, surrounded by great piles of stuff: newspapers, books, chairs, cupboards… a piano. The occasion was Richard Greenberg’s play The Dazzle, about two compulsive hoarders, the Collyer brothers, and his performance as one of them was mesmerising: in truth, almost too mesmerising. My mind went into overdrive. All that paper and mahogany. What if something toppled, and he was crushed – as the real Langley Collyer was – beneath a chest of drawers?

He wasn’t crushed, of course. But what’s striking and slightly odd is that today I’m seeing Scott in the flesh for the second time, and we’re again at the top of an old building – in this case, a public library – in rooms that feel a bit dilapidated, if not exactly derelict. People imagine the actor’s life to be a glamorous one, particularly if the actor in question has been in a Bond film – and of course it has its enchantments. But then there are the hours spent in spaces like this: long days of sandwiches, bottled water and elusive lines. When we came up in the ancient lift together, I couldn’t decide which of us was the more anxious. He was, I would guess. “MY TWELVE HOURS TRAPPED WITH FLEABAG STAR” ran the ticker tape in my mind as the mechanism creaked and groaned, and we each did our best not to meet the other’s eye.

Scott has spent the past three weeks here, deep in rehearsals for Vanya, a new version by Simon Stephens of Anton Chekhov’s great tragicomedy Uncle Vanya. But there’s new, and then there is… new. This adaptation gives the play, among other things, a contemporary setting. However, when the production opens in the West End, its chief novelty – and its chief draw, given Scott’s huge following – will be the fact that it is a one-man show. He will be playing all nine parts: male and female, young and old, beautiful and not-so-beautiful. It must be hard to learn so many lines, I say, once he’s (semi) comfortable on a battered leather sofa, his old, white T-shirt giving him a slight look of Marlon Brando. Doesn’t he feel like he’s going mad, with all these voices in his head? He laughs – a high-pitched, wicked laugh. “Yeah. I do, and it’s really hard [to learn]. Usually, when you can’t remember a line, another actor will say, ‘What time is it?’ or something, and then it comes to you. But now I’ve no one to cue me.” Alone on stage, he has had to change his mindset completely: “I’ve come to understand that I’m sort of looking after all these characters.”

The idea for a one-man production came about by accident. Scott, Stephens, and Sam Yates, who is directing the play, were workshopping it together (Scott has worked with Stephens twice before, most notably in Birdland at the Royal Court, in which he played a rock star who has made a Faustian pact with fame). “We miscalculated the parts, and I ended up having to act with myself, and it was kind of interesting. It gave birth to the idea that, as much as these characters say they’re different from each other, actually, some of them are very similar. I’m more interested now in those similarities than in, you know, doing a funny voice [for each one]. The production seems to me to be about what the act of creation is. I love the idea that you might be able to represent what a writer experiences on stage, all these characters in his head.”

But how on earth will the audience work out what’s going on? I understand about the funny voices, but won’t Scott have to change his a little bit when he’s acting the part of a woman? He smiles, teasingly. “I don’t think I should tell you that… But you don’t need to worry too much. I feel so liberated! I hope people will start to look at what’s within the performer so that something happens that can only really take place in a theatre – which is that you’re seeing one thing, but imagining something else.” This sounds like reading a novel, visualising scenes and characters for yourself, filling the gaps between words. He nods. “Look, I definitely don’t want to shy away from the ridiculousness of this project, and yeah, I’m nervous, but I’m loving the process. I think it’s a really sexy play. You know, Chekhov was a doctor, and he saw death so much, and I think he was able to understand human beings like no other writer.”

The argument that actors should only play who they are – that a gay character, for instance, may be played only by a gay actor – is made more and more often lately. But this production seems (to me, at least) subtly to resist the notion of identity politics in the theatre; to suggest that such rigidity may sometimes be a cul-de-sac. “It can be a cul-de-sac, certainly,” Scott says. “Of course those arguments have to be heard. The world isn’t a level playing field. But I think transformation is as important as representation. Our first understanding of storytelling happens when we’re young. Our mother or father is pretending to be a wolf. We know we’re safe, but we’re scared, too. Our parent can be a wolf! Human beings can create worlds within themselves. I don’t think we can just slice that out of ourselves.”

He knows some will heartily dislike this Vanya, but the thought seems, if anything, to excite him. “It could go wrong,” he says. “But we need a bit more of people not liking things.” He’s ambivalent, to put it mildly, about standing ovations, which seem to happen in the theatre most evenings nowadays. “My concern is that everything becomes meaningless. I think it’s unfortunate that if someone decides not to stand up, it’s perceived that they hated it. That’s not necessarily true. Maybe I thought it was very good, but I didn’t feel like rising to my feet. My producers are going to hate me for saying this, but I strongly believe that if people don’t feel like standing up, they shouldn’t. People feel lonely, having to stand when they don’t want to. Equally, it’s kind of moving when most people are not standing up, and three people are.”

Does he blame the internet for this? Is it just another form of “liking” something? “I do blame the internet, yes.” But perhaps, too, it has to do with cost. “I was recently on Broadway, and tickets there are astronomically expensive, and I thought: well, these people have to stand up because they’ve spent $390, so it’s got to have been one of the best nights of their lives.” Either way, he doesn’t understand it: the firmness and immediacy of people’s responses. “When you’ve just seen a play, it’s a really sensitive time. It’s weird when people start talking straight away about their new conservatory.” All this may explain why he feels there is more value for him in doing experimental work. “Some people will like it, some people won’t, and that’s great. I feel ferocious about wanting to take risks.”

In the coming months, Scott will be everywhere: a trick of scheduling, rather than by design. Vanya will be followed in January by the release of All of Us Strangers, a film in which he stars with Paul Mescal and Claire Foy (he plays a depressed screenwriter who goes to visit his childhood home, only to find that his parents, far from having died in a car crash when he was 12, are alive and well – though much of the coverage of the movie so far has focused on the fact that his character and Mescal’s are lovers). “It’s a beautiful film,” he says, dreamily. And then there’s Ripley, a Netflix series (its release is expected at the end of this year), based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Talented Mr Ripley, written and directed by Steven Zaillian, the screenwriter of Schindler’s List and Hannibal.

“It’s a big, big thing,” he says, of his role as Tom Ripley, grifter and serial killer. And yet, Scott said he wouldn’t be doing any more crazed sociopaths, having played Moriarty in Sherlock (he was also a baddie in the Bond film Spectre). “I know, but what I find interesting about him is not the psycho-ness; it’s the otherness. To me, it’s about what it’s like never to be invited to the party. We all know people who don’t make it easy for themselves, who are maybe a bit strange. But if you’re constantly ignored, or sidelined, or don’t fit in, what happens? Is it that something dark emerges? I don’t mind saying that playing him was challenging. It was very lonely. We filmed during Covid, and the five-day isolation requirements that were in place both here and in Italy meant people couldn’t come and visit, and I couldn’t come home. It’s eight hours of television, and he’s a solitary figure in this version, so I was on my own a lot.”

Scott is 46, though you wouldn’t know it; his enthusiasm, like his fidgetiness, belong to a younger man. He grew up in Dublin, with his two sisters – his father worked at an employment agency; his mother was an art teacher – where he was educated at private Jesuit school, attending drama classes on Saturdays. Art was his first plan – painting is still his great love; he can’t wait for the forthcoming Hockney show at the National Portrait Gallery – and he won a bursary to art school at 17. But then he was cast in a film, Korea, about an Irish boy emigrating to America in the 1950s who’s enlisted to fight in the Korean war, so he turned the place down, and once the movie was done, went to Trinity College to study drama instead. After six months, bored by the course, he left to join Dublin’s Abbey theatre.

He seems hardly ever to have been out of work, and his CV is such a mixture: Gethin the tense gay Welshman in Matthew Warchus’s film Pride; eccentric Lord Merlin in the BBC adaptation of The Pursuit of Love; an acclaimed Hamlet in 2017 at the Almeida theatre. By this point, his mantlepiece – he has two, one in London, and one in Dublin – must be quite frantic with statuettes (his most recent win, in 2020, was a Laurence Olivier award for best actor for his performance as Garry Essendine in Noël Coward’s Present Laughter). Does he feel blessed? “Yes, and that’s a really nice way of putting it. I’m grateful.” But perhaps this sounds too… humble: “I’ve never understood why there’s some sort of shame associated with being an artist. I feel able to call myself one.”

His fame is at a level that means he can move around London unnoticed, and he’d like to keep it that way. “I’m suspicious of it. I’ve no real interest in the value of it. The idea of being followed by a photographer seems hellish to me.” Does it affect his relationships? He doesn’t believe that it does, though there are “creepy, unsavoury people” out there who might not “have my best interests at heart”. Is he single? “Yes, I am.” Would he like to meet someone? He would. Surely it’s easy in his world? So many lovely new people entering his orbit all the time – and with his looks… He laughs. “That’s a lot of projection, there,” he says, sounding suddenly more Irish.

I read somewhere that some women in Ireland will always think of him as the guy who turned up to their demonstrations in the run-up to the abortion referendum in 2018, even when it was raining (the vote overturned the ban on abortion in the country, and followed one of 2015, which allowed same sex couples to marry). Isn’t it amazing how much Ireland has changed? When he was 16, it was still illegal to be gay, as he is. “Yes, it’s immense for people of my generation to have been emancipated from the shame of the Catholic church. But it’s interesting. Privacy matters to me, but then I remember Sinéad O’Connor being on The Late, Late Show, talking about human rights, and how important that was. Her kindness… We’re only just finding out about it. She didn’t announce it to the world. Again, it brings us back to social media. Does kindness happen if you don’t tell everybody about it?”

Scott is no longer a practising Catholic. But he can’t be certain this means he won’t call for the priest at the end (this conversation has taken a morbid turn, and it’s my fault). Perhaps it’s in the marrow. “It’s the organisation that’s the problem, not the principles behind it, which are very beautiful for the most part. I remember when Simon and I were doing [the play] Sea Wall. One of the lines in it is: show me God, where is he? And then the next line is: well, show me love, where is that? You can’t get evidence for either of them really. They’re just strong feelings. I believe in the power of love. I feel it’s stronger than anything, because you can’t do anything about it. I’ve so much of it in my life, and one of the things I’m most proud of is how much I’m able, not only to receive it, but to give it – and if somebody thinks that’s sentimental or mawkish, well, to me it’s the opposite.” He talks for a while in this vein. “I want to try to be a good person; not just a nice person, but a good person,” he says, his voice racing on – and it makes me think of him as the Hot Priest in Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag, the role for which he may now be best known. If every pulpit came with an Andrew Scott, our churches would be bulging at the seams.

Soon after this, there’s a knock on the door. It’s time to begin rehearsal (in the hall outside, his director stands at a lectern, looking quite priestly himself). He has, he says, another three weeks to go before Vanya opens, and when it does, he’ll be looking out for me; I’d better be sitting down at the curtain call, he jokes. Well, perhaps I’ll have good reason to be sitting down, I joke back. But he’s ever serious: “I always remember what my mum used to say. She’s an art teacher, and she used to tell us that a good drawer never rubs out. So, you draw a line, and then you get it wrong, and then you start a new line. The fact that people can see your old line doesn’t make them appreciate your new line any less. It may even make them appreciate it more.” What he means, I think, is that he believes it’ll be all right on the night.'

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