#free pizza delivery near me
Text
Speedy Pizza Delivery in Del Haven
Welcome to My Pizza Heaven, your slice of culinary bliss in Cape May Court House, NJ! Indulge in our heavenly pizzas made with fresh, premium ingredients. Craving convenience? We offer speedy pizza delivery in Del Haven, ensuring your cravings are satisfied without delay. Taste the divine difference at My Pizza Heaven!
#pizza delivery in Del Haven#Best food Near me in CMCH#Sub Food in Rio Grande#pizza heaven#Pizza Delivery Cape May#gluten free pizza
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Mamma Leone Bakery: Offers Gluten Free Pastry in Miami
Indulge in delicious gluten free pastry in Miami at Mammaleone Bakery. Our dedicated bakers create a wide variety of mouthwatering treats, free from gluten but full of flavor. Satisfy your cravings with our delectable pastries made with top-quality ingredients. Visit us today and experience gluten-free goodness like never before.
Call us at:(786) 577-0475
#Mamma Leone Pizza Focaccia Miami#Gourmet Croissants Delivered Miami#Croissant Chocolate Nutella Miami#Fresh Organic Orange Juice Miami#gluten free pastry miami#sourdough bread online delivery Miami#sourdough bakery near me Miami#Apple Cake Delivery Miami
0 notes
Note
Prompt or hcs where teen Nat does pizza delivery for $$ please
Like your family orders a pepperoni and a pineapple and she pulls up and you bond over your mutual hate of pineapple. Order from the same place again to see her and strike something up.
Talk to You
This is so cute! I wrote Natalie as a lot cooler than she is in canon (we know she's a loser) but I really like this one <3
I might also write a part two to this but I need to put something out this week haha
Warnings: none
-----------------------------------------------------
You sat on your couch, reading, when you heard your doorbell ring.
"I'll get it!" You called to your parents. They had ordered the pizza about an hour ago, and to say you were hungry was an understatement.
You opened the door, expecting the normal delivery guy. His name was like Carl or something. You kind of felt bad for forgetting. But instead of an awkward, gangly boy, a very pretty girl was standing outside your door.
Natalie Scatorccio. You knew who she was, of course. Not only did she play for the only relevant sports team at your high school, but she was infamous for being a bit of a delinquent. Not that you minded. It hadn't kept you from crushing on her for years. And here she was. Standing outside your door. With pizza. And you were wearing a pair of ratty sweats and a tee shirt that absolutely didn't fit. Not to mention your lack of makeup and your hair was a mess. Not the ideal look for seeing your crush.
"Oh! Hey!" You said, taking the pizza from her, "Natalie, right? I didn't know you delivered pizza."
"Yeah, it's Natalie. Or Nat. Either one is fine. And you're... y/n? I can't believe that you're someone who eats pineapple on pizza. It's basically sacrilege to me as an Italian."
"You may have gotten my name right, but you're so wrong about the pineapple thing. My dad loves it though, so we get one with pineapple for him. The other is for me and my mom." As you set the pizza on the coffee table, you realized you didn't have your wallet on you. "Shit. I'm really sorry. I don't have my wallet near me. Can you wait a sec while I grab it? Feel free to come in."
Before she could respond, you had turned around to walk up the stairs to your bedroom. She awkwardly stepped in the threshold of your door and waited for your return.
She had seen you before at school, but she didn't realize how pretty you were until now. She was debating leaving her number written on a napkin when you raced back down the stairs.
"Here you go!" You handed her two $20 bills. "That should cover the pizza plus the tip, right?"
"Uh, yeah. It should," she replied, pocketing the cash. "See you around?"
"Hey, if you keep delivering, you probably be here again next week," you said as she walked out the door. She turned back to smile at you.
As you picked the pizza boxes up to bring them into the kitchen, you decided that you were going to make the pizza girl fall in love with you if that meant getting pizza every night.
-----------------------------------------------------
You found yourself in the same position the next Friday night. Your parents had ordered pizza. You were reading a book on the couch. But this time, you were hopeful that you'd open the door to see Natalie.
When the doorbell rang, you were ready. This time, you were a bit more presentable. Mascara and lipgloss. And a real outfit. You were irresistible, goddammit.
Opening the door, you were yet again faced with Natalie holding your two pizzas.
"Is this going to be a weekly thing?" She asked, handing you your boxes.
"If you want it to be," you joked, taking the pizza. "Although, this time I have my wallet. Not wasting your time."
"Damn. I don't get to stand awkwardly in your doorway this time," she said, leaning on the doorframe.
"Mm. Sorry to disappoint. I'll make sure to note that for next time." You handed her two twenties again.
She took them from your hands and smiled before walking away. You shut the door behind her and cringed. This was supposed to be the day she asked you out. Goddammit.
It was fine, right? You just needed to formulate a game plan. You'd just have to be hotter next time. Maybe forget your wallet again. Hell, at this point, you debated just asking her for her number.
No. You wouldn't do that. For the fantasy to come true she has to ask you out. That's the rule.
God, you were a mess.
-----------------------------------------------------
You'd seen her at school all week. She'd nod, or smile, and even said hi one day. Today had to be the day she finally asked you out. Right?
Yet again, it was Friday evening. Two pizzas on the way. Makeup was on. Outfit was cute. Hair was pulled back with some framing your face. It was perfect.
The knock on the door startled you out of your book. She was here.
You walked over to the door and opened it. There she was, standing with the two pizza boxes. Gorgeous as ever.
"Making this a habit, huh?" She asked, handing the boxes over.
"Maybe I just want to see you. Did you ever think of that?" You respond, taking them.
"You see me at school every day, so I'm not sure that's the truth. I think you just really like pizza."
"Hm. I guess we'll never know, then."
"One of life's greatest mysteries. Why y/n's family orders pizza every Friday night."
"Fuck off. Also, here." You hand her the two twenties yet again.
"Thanks," she says. She smiles before shutting the door.
Shit. She didn't ask you out. Again. Your parents were going to get really sick of this pizza thing soon.
As you walked to the kitchen, you noticed something on the top napkin. Someone had written on it. When you picked it up, you saw that it was a phone number. When you read the note, you nearly lost it.
"You don't have to order a pizza to talk to me, you know. But here's my number." The note read. Below was her phone number.
It took all your strength not to call her right then. You knew she was at work, but that didn't matter. Well, it did. But only because you knew she wouldn't pick up. And you didn't want to look too desperate.
Instead, you brought the pizza to the kitchen and called your parents in. You'd eat dinner, and then call her. Or even later, maybe. You weren't sure when she got off, but you knew the pizza place closed at 10.
It was going to be a long few hours.
-----------------------------------------------------
You looked at the clock for the third time in the last five minutes. As expected, it read 10:12. You decided not to call until 10:17. That way, you wouldn't look too desperate, or like you were waiting for a specific time. Five more minutes. You could do it.
Once again, you picked up your book and tried to read. Instead, you started stressing about what you were going to say to Natalie when you called her. God, why was this so hard.
Finally, after five excruciating minutes, you picked up your phone and dialed the number Natalie left on the napkin. It rang once, then twice, and halfway through the third, when you were about to give up, she picked up.
"Hello?" She said.
"Hi. This is y/n. I called the right number, right? You're Natalie?" You asked.
"Yeah, it's Nat. I didn't realize it was you at first."
"Yeah, sorry. I didn't know when you got off work so I don't know when to call and I didn't want to call while you were at work, so I called after you would be closed. Which is now."
She laughed at your rambling. "Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you called at all. It was kind of a jump to assume you liked me just because you kept ordering pizza."
"Well, I ordered the pizza because I like pizza. But you were a bonus. I can't really complain if a pretty girl is delivering my dinner to me."
"I think I can do better than just deliver you dinner. How do you feel about going out with me tomorrow?" She asked.
"Oh, I'd really like that," you replied, smiling. Your mission was successful.
"Perfect. I'll pick you up at seven, if that works for you?"
"See you then."
"See you then. Night, y/n."
"Night Nat."
#yellowjackets#yellowjackets showtime#yellowjackets season 1#natalie scatorccio#natalie yellowjackets#natalie scatorccio x curvy! reader#natalie scatorccio x reader#natalie scatorccio x fem reader#natalie scatorccio x you#natalie scatorccio x y/n#teen natalie scatorccio#teen natalie#nat scatorccio
57 notes
·
View notes
Text
TBOSAS on Crack short take (47)
Felix: Hey, guys, please settle down and listen to me-
Clemensia: Class Pres, why is your hair bubblegum pink today?
Felix: Well, Clemmie, that’s a funny story. You see, a certain someone happened to steal my very expensive Ravinstill exclusive shampoo and replaced it with pink hair dye-
Androcles: It wasn’t me! I swear on my mother’s cooking that it wasn’t-
Felix: Andie, your mother doesn’t cook.
Androcles: Oh, yeah.😐
Coryo: Let’s just go straight to the point, Class Pres.
Felix: *sighs* Fine. So I’ve gathered everyone here to discuss our upcoming PTA meeting this Friday-
Hilarius: PTA meeting?! With my father?! Class Pres, I’m not sure about that-
Felix: Calm down, Heavensbee! Your creepy old man is not even allowed to go near our school.
Urban: True. He can’t even go near us without Dean Highbottom calling the Peacekeepers-
Hilarius: You don’t understand! My old man will try to sneak into that meeting either way!😫
Coryo: Well, if he does, we can always call the President to punish him indefinitely-
Urban: Or strangle him ourselves for the greater good of Panem-
Hilarius: Hey!😠
Urban: Just saying~.
Sejanus: I’ll protect you from that creep, my Coryo, my love!😍
Coryo: Sure, Babe. Whatever you say.
Io: By the way, Hilari, how many restraining orders does your father have?
Hilarius: 42-
Felix: It’s 77 and counting. But anyway, Dean Highbottom told me to list down the parents who would be attending our PTA meeting this Friday. So-
Livia: Obviously, my ever fabulous mama will represent thee~!😌💅
Pup: Meh Daddy~!😘
Felix: Stop saying “daddy” like that, Pup.
Florus: Both or none. Depends on my crazy dad’s mood.
Dennis: Sorry~. My mama can’t attend this week. She’s too busy running the Capitol black market and trading illegal magazines with Cardew’s mom-
Livia: You lying little shi-
Felix: How about you, Urban?
Urban: Same with Florus.
Felix: And the rest?
Io: Both will come as usual~.😎
Arachne: My pushover big brother will represent me as always.
Androcles: My mama and her camera crew-
Felix: Andie, we’ve talked about this issue before. Your mother can’t bring her camera crew to our PTA meetings again-
Androcles: They’ll pay everyone 20 bucks for a feature.
Festus: Free money?!
Coryo: Free money!!
Persephone: I love money!
Dennis: Oh, yes~. Mah money~.😏
Felix: Fine! But this is the last time-
Gaius: Class Pres, can my crazy grandmother attend for me?🥺
Felix: The one who fought and defeated the rebels with a giant toothpick?
Gaius: Pretty please?
Felix: Sure. She’s a war hero.
Palmyra: Can my unhinged mama and her delicious pies-
Felix: No. Next.
Hilarius: My father-
Felix: He’s banned. Next.
Hilarius: My mother-
Felix: She’s banned too. Next.
Vipsania: My gym instructor-
Felix: Nope. Next.
Lysistrata: My drug- I mean, medicine dealer?
Felix: For legal reasons, no. Next.
Iphigenia: The pizza delivery guy next door-
Felix: Not a parent. Next.
Domitia: My emotional support cow-
Felix: Too hairy. Next.
Apollo: My imaginary friends-
Felix: Not real. Next.
Diana: My cute stuffed animals.🥺
Felix: Sure. Why not.
Apollo: That’s not fair-
Felix: Next!
Coryo: I’ll bring my cousin Tigris. But if Highbottom’s drunk, I’ll summon the ghost of my gorgeous dead dad instead.
Sejanus: My Ma will represent!
Coryo: Will she bring food?🥺
Sejanus: Always, Babe. Always~.😘
Coryo: I might kiss you right now-
Lysistrata: Kiss him, Coryo! Kiss him!
Coryo: Not now, Lizzie!
Felix: How about you, Creed?
Festus: My whole family’s going.
Sejanus: The whole Creed Clan?!
Festus: Yup! Free food is free food.
Pup: Especially when Ma Plinth’s the one cooking it.🤤
Juno: Well, whatever, peasants. My royal daddy will represent for me as usual~.😌💅
Urban: Nobody asked you, Juno~.🙄
Juno: Suck a di-
Felix: How about you, Clemmie? Is your dad going too?
Clemensia: Depends~. If my mom wins their annual wrestling match, then she’ll be the one attending-
Vipsania: Wrestling match? What kind?
Clemensia: Do you truly want to know, Sickle?😏
Vipsania: Yes-
Felix: Nope. We don’t wanna know about that, Clemmie.
Persephone: Well, I think my old man-
Coryo: Wasn’t Nero Price banned from the school grounds last year?
Persephone: My dad was banned?!
Coryo: Yes.
Persephone: What for?!
Felix: Cannibalism allegations.
Persephone: That’s a lie-
Coryo: He literally almost bit off Highbottom’s foot when he found out about the Heavensbee Hall Flooding Incident.
Persephone: He did that to defend me!
Felix: He also bit Professor Click’s hand-
Persephone: He was hungry!😭
Coryo: And stole all of Ma Plinth’s ham sandwiches from her body bag.
Persephone: To be fair, my daddy thought that there was a literal dead body inside her bag-
Felix: Still banned. Next.
#tbosas#crack fic#crack post#crackship#coriolanus snow#coryo snow#president snow#sejanus plinth#coriolanus x sejanus#snowjanus#snowplinth#the ballad of songbirds and snakes#ballad of songbirds and snakes#hunger games#the hunger games#thg#thg fic#thg incorrect quotes#tbosas incorrect quotes#tbosas fic#lucy gray baird#felix ravinstill#festus creed#lysistrata vickers#clemensia dovecote#casca highbottom#thg series#suzanne collins#bosas#crack treated seriously
58 notes
·
View notes
Text
Halloween Fics (MFLs) [October 2023 Edition]
See also:
Halloween Fics (Oct 2018)
Halloween and Ghosts (updated Oct 31/21)
Vampires (Dec. 2020)
Ghosts / Figments
Hybrids and Shapeshifters
Hey everyone!! Hope you're having a wonderful day! Today I thought that it's been a long time since I've posted an update to my Halloween fic list, but I haven't read many new fics since, so I though for today's post (because I don't have anything ready anyway) I would go through my MFL List and post up the ones that have been recommended to me throughout the years! Please note I have not read any of these, these are just based on a tag search on my offlline list :)
And because I haven't actually been asked this year for some new fics (I usually do so I am sad lol), I guess I shall make a new list without one!
As usual, please feel free to add your own fics!
========
Mummy by ChrisCalledMeSweetie (T, 901 w., 1 Ch. || UAP Canon Divergence, Halloween, Meeting the Parents) – Meeting your boyfriend’s parents for the first time can be a bit scary. Especially when your boyfriend is Sherlock Holmes. Part 12 of the Spooky Johnlock Stories series
What Didn't Happen by Katzedecimal (T, 1,213 w., 1 Ch. || Costumes, Costume Parties & Masquerades, Halloween, Texting, Case Fic) – There is a very short Conan busying about the flat. He's threatening me with a sword if I don't eat something.
Until the final breath escapes by meet_me_in_samarra (M, 1,875 w., 1 Ch. || Halloween, Domestics, Established Relationship, Mild Gore, Kissing) – In a world turned hostile they hold onto their love until the final breath escapes.
John Watson and the Curse of the Were-Kitten by ChrisCalledMeSweetie (G, 2,193 w., 2 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Supernatural AU || Halloween, Spooky Fluff) – Limping away from the crime scene, John glanced up at a nearby rooftop. His mouth dropped open at what he saw: Sherlock, silhouetted against the rising full moon. Realising that he was gawping like a fool, John looked around to make sure he wasn’t being observed. When he turned back, Sherlock had vanished. All that remained on the rooftop was a small black kitten, padding between the chimney pots. Part 1 of the Spooky Johnlock Stories series, Part 5 of the H.I.A.T.U.S. Prompt Fills
These Hands of Yours by okapi (E, 2,700 w., 1 Ch. || ACD Canon || Supernatural Elements, Horror, Hands, Anal Fisting / Fingering, Halloween) – Holmes has casts made of his hands. Watson falls in love. So do the hands.
His favourite pizza (delivery guy) by thewallflower07 (G, 4,298 w., 1 Ch. || Teenager AU || Flirting John, Annoying Mycroft, Med Student John, Horny Teenagers, Halloween, High School Student Sherlock, Pizza) – Sherlock is staying at a hotel on Halloween with his family and keeps insisting they order pizza because he is infatuated with the very cute, blonde delivery boy.
Wanted: Empath by nutmeag83 (T, 4,886 w., 1 Ch. || Supernatural Elements AU || Empath John, Ghost Hunter Sherlock, Halloween, Haunted Houses, Pining John, Resolved Romantic Tension, Friends to Lovers) – Sherlock is a ghost hunter and John his empath assistant. Near Halloween, they investigate a ghostly sighting at a mansion in the English countryside. The events of their investigation bring their feelings for each other to the fore.
Food goes on the food shelf by avalanching effect (G, 5,283 w., 1 Ch. || Halloween, Pre-Slash, Crack/Humour, Cannibalism, Magical Realism, Witches, Light Gore, POV Sherlock) – John, (without conferring with Sherlock) implements a system of organization in the kitchen. There are areas designated as 'experiment' areas, and others as 'food safe' areas. Crossover, however, is bound to happen.
In a manner of speaking I'm dead by fellshish (T, 6,372 w., 1 Ch. || Halloween, Mystrade, Angst With Happy Ending, PIning, First Kiss, Drunk Idiots, Drinking Games, Humour) – Sherlock and John accidentally dress in matching outfits for Lestrade's Halloween party. Things only get worse: someone pushes them to play 'Never have I ever'.
A Beautifully Frightening Revelation by 221b_careful_what_you_wish_for (M, 6,486 w., 2 Ch. || Supernatural Elements AU|| Ghosts, Haunted House, First Kiss/Times, Frottage, Fluff, Halloween, Mutual Pining, Bed Sharing, Spooky) – John and Sherlock are investigating an isolated country manor haunted by a mischievous ghost. A series of spooky incidents brings them together in a candlelit bedroom, the night ripe for revelations and facing fears.
The Babadook by CatieBrie (T, 6,886 w., 1 Ch. || Babadook Fusion || Post-TRF, Horror, Demonic Possession, Violence, Halloween, Grief, Angst with Happy Ending) – “A children’s book,” John mutters as he flips it open. The pages are scrawled with beautiful charcoal lines and thick black ink. The cover, bright red, edges the open pages and something tugs at the back of John’s brain. It’s a familiar feeling, black and tarrish and thick in his thoughts. He shakes it off and picks the book up off his bed, turning so that he can sit on the edge and spread the book out across his knees. If it’s in a word or it’s in a look, you can’t get rid of the Babadook. He turns the page, ignoring the pressure building beneath his chest. There’s a closet on one page; paper doors meant to be opened by the reader flutter as John reads the text on the other page.
The Spirit Child by VelvetMace (M, 7,287 w., 1 Ch. || Psychological Horror, Disturbing Themes, Horror, Gore) – A small wooden box filled with clay and feotus bones yields more than just clues to a violent murder. A Halloween Story. Read at your own risk -- and I do not say this lightly.
Were it Well by merelypassingtime (G, 7,496 w., 6 Ch. || Shapeshifter AU || Crack, Halloween) – When moving in with the world's only consulting detective John is concerned he won't be able to keep his secret. Turns out he need not have worried.
In the Shadows of 221B by CarmillaCarmine (E, 8,299 w., 5 Ch. || Halloween, Friends to Lovers, Spooky Smut) – On a stormy, Halloween night, Sherlock appears changed, but John isn't about to complain about anything Sherlock wants to do to him. Part 10 of the The Stories of Angst and Heartbreak series
Let's Say I Let You In by kedgeree (E, 9,972 w., 1 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE|| Halloween, Costume Kink, Established Relationship, Humour, Smut, Vampire Sherlock, Bloodplay, Biting, Romance) – It's Halloween and Sherlock's vampire costume is turning John on, but Sherlock doesn't quite get the idea of a sexy vampire. At least…not at first. Part 4 of the Holidays series
The Subtenant by khorazir (T, 12,238 w., 1 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Canon Divergence, Post-TRF, Halloween, Magical Realism, Humour, Ghosts, Banter, Friends to Lovers, First Kiss) – When you have ruled out the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Hence, there can be no doubt about it: 221B is haunted. Sherlock and John set out to investigate their new subtenant and find out more than they bargained for.
Hallowe'en Homecoming by earlybloomingparentheses (T, 12,594 w., 1 Ch. || Unconventional Relationship, Halloween, Sherlock’s Childhood, Family Videos) – Sherlock and John are solving a case when Mycroft turns up and persuades Sherlock to return home for his mother's Hallowe'en celebration. John thinks that seeing where Sherlock grew up will help him understand the detective better; instead, he finds himself more confused than ever. But it's John Watson's job to look after Sherlock Holmes, come hell, high water, or Hallowe'en, so that's just what he's going to do.
Looks like something the cat digged out by HOverSeas (T, 12,876 w., 1 Ch || Magical Realism AU || Post-TGG, Canon Divergence, Halloween, Hurt/Comfort, Werecat John, Temporary Character Death) – The bomb at the pool goes off, and takes both Sherlock and Moriarty with it. John doesn't agree with the outcome, so he decides to bring Sherlock back from the dead. But, of course, there is a price.
Zing and You'll Miss It by Raina_at (M, 14,980 w., 2 Ch. || Hotel Transylvania AU || Vampire Sherlock, Crack/Humour, Rom Com, University Student John, Love at First Sight, Magic, Soul Mates, Minor Mollstrade) – Every year, the monster community meets at Halloween for a big party. Sherlock is bored out of his mind as usual, when suddenly a handsome human stumbles into the monster party. Eyes meet, sparks fly, and Sherlock's entire world is turned upside down as he has to decide whether that tingly feeling is lust, love, magic, or a combination of all three.
The Masquerade of the Red Death by okapi (E, 16,800 w., 14 Ch. || Friends to Lovers, For A Case / Case Fic, Kink Exploration, Orgy, Costume Parties & Masquerades, Bum Worship, Shotgunning, Daddy Kink, Corsetry, Cock Worship, Praise Kink, Hand Jobs, Oral Sex, Drugging, Wrestling, Love Confessions, Pet Play, Rimming, Public Sex/Blow Jobs, Shibari, Exhibitionism/Voyeurism) – On the hunt for a serial killer, Sherlock & John attend a masked orgy. Inspired by "The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe. Part 11 of the Spooky & Kooky (the Halloween fics)
One Good Scare by blueink3 (M, 17,386 w., 1 Ch. || Post S4, Holmes Family, Parentlock, Misunderstandings, Family, Fluff and Angst, Jealousy, Halloween, Happy Ending) – Mummy invites Sherlock, John, and Rosie to the country for her birthday, which just so happens to coincide with the annual Harvest Festival, an event Sherlock loathes. With John seemingly making the wrong move at every turn and with ghosts hiding in each of their closets, what will it take for their (Halloween) masks to finally come off?
The Halloween Party by XistentialAngst (M, 19,044 w., 3 Ch. || Halloween, Sexy Sherlock, Vampires, Costumes/Disguises, Mutual Masturbation, BAMF John, First Time, Humour, Romance, Frottage, Friends to Lovers) – Sherlock and John attend a Halloween party on the trail of a vampire killer -- a man who's been seducing his victims and taking all their blood. Sexy costumes, bad puns, hideous danger, frantic sex in hidden places and some Halloween-flavored fluff are all on hand to "treat" you. Boo.
it's not always black and wight by elldotsee (M, 21,385 w., 7 Ch. || Supernatural Elements AU || Ghosts, Halloween, Case Fic, Victor Trevor) – By the time he turned eight, Sherlock had had more supernatural experiences than he could count or recall. He’d grown used to flickering lights, the whispers in the night, the sudden appearance of apparitions in the corridors. The dead were just as much a part of his life as the living. He went about his business, never disrupting theirs.Sometimes he talked to them, but they never talked back. Sometimes, he heard their stories second-hand, in the snippets of conversation between his parents at the dinner table, but they were never spoken about like real people. They were simply characters that formed the tapestry of the house, bumps and flickers of a life stuck in the in-between. That is, until he met Victor.
Haunted by Vulpesmellifera (E, 22,369 w., 4 Ch. || S4 Fix-It/Post-Canon, POV John, Child Endangerment, Halloween, Nightmares, Bed Sharing) – Plagued by the past, John moves himself and his daughter to a new flat for a fresh start - and it's not 221B Baker Street.While he grapples with new knowledge and old guilt, he's confronted with odd neighbors and strange noises in the night. But is it the new flat, or is John Watson losing his grip on reality?
the napoleon by darcylindbergh (E, 24,823 w., 4 Ch. || 1980′s AU || Halloween, Action & Romance, Costumes, Costume Parties/Masquerades, Mutual Pining, First Kiss / Time) – Halloween, 1989: John and Sherlock both have big plans for the night, but serial killers have the worst possible timing.
From a Well, Dark and Deep by Vulpesmellifera (M, 32,691 w., 18 Ch. || Post S4, Supernatural Elements, Horror / Milld Body Horror, Bed Sharing, Possession, Hand Holding, Whump, Hurt/Comfort, Friends to Lovers, Coming Out, Alternating POV, Nightmares, Caring John, Happy Ending) – Sherlock Holmes is desperately trying to reconcile his newfound memories and feelings within his transport—a transport that won’t quit with the nightmares and the strange, fiddly anxieties that crop up at the most inopportune moments. On the advice of his psychiatrist—not that he’s thrilled to be taking the man’s advice, but needs must—he's going to mark the anniversary of Eurus’ torments. That explains why he visits the well. What he finds at the well, though, is entirely unexpected. Meanwhile, John Watson has finally come to terms with something he’s ignored his entire life. He’s ready to share that something with Sherlock, except Sherlock isn’t acting himself. It's not the time for confessions, and John determines he must get to the bottom of his best friend's affliction before he can reveal anything. Part 3 of Vulpes' Halloween Johnlock
This Is Family by SaraStarchild (T, 39,840 w., 16 Ch. || Hereditary AU || Psychological Horror, Body Horror, Demonic Possession, POV Third Person Limited, Protective Mycroft, Cults, Mycroft Whump, Sherlock Whump, Major Character Death, Graphic Violence, Retelling) – When the Holmes family's secretive mother and matriarch, Ellen Holmes, passes away, the family she leaves behind – father Martin, sons Mycroft and Sherlock, and daughter Eurus – begins to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about their ancestry. The more they discover, the more they find themselves trying to outrun the sinister fate they seem to have inherited. This is, pretty much, a word-for-word retelling of the 2018 Ari Aster film, Hereditary. Part 1 of Sherlock Halloween Stories
A Sharp, Dressed Man Series by sgam76 (T, 50,221+ w. across 6 works || Series WiP || Vampire AU || Halloween Fic, Protective Mycroft, Kidnapping, Injured Sherlock, Psychological Terror) – Every once in a while, Mycroft Holmes is called upon to take matters into his own hands. It doesn't always go exactly as you'd expect. And he enjoys it more than he will ever admit.
FictoberLock 2018 by FinAmour & unicornpoe (M, 60,875 w., 31 Ch. || Halloween, Protective John, Smitten Sherlock, Fluff, First Kiss, Injured Sherlock, Various Prompts) – 31 different prompts, 31 Johnlock fics: one every day for the month of October! Each chapter is a stand-alone story. Some are written by unicornpoe, some by FinAmour, and some are written by us both! They range in length from ~500 words to ~3500 words, and there’s something in here for everyone.
Johnloctober by prettysailorsoldier (E, 169,945 w., 31 Ch. || Assorted AU’s || Alternate First Meetings, Blow Jobs, Hand Jobs, 30 Day OTP Challenge, Prompts, Halloween / Autumn, Assorted Tags) – 31 days of autumnal Johnlock with prompts from all of you! There will be a bit of everything, but you can check the tags for more specifics.
Skeletons Series by flawedamythyst (T, 174,262 w. across 3 works || Nightmare Before Christmas Fusion || Implied Character Death) – Sherlock's refusal to talk about his past hides far more skeletons than John could ever have guessed at. Halloween-esque AU.
#johnlock fic recs#fic rec sunday#halloween fics#my fic recs#fics to read#marked for later#long post
88 notes
·
View notes
Text
a very long list of things to be thankful for
being overly sincere is my curse but god sometimes i am just so thankful for the big and small ways people show up for me.
my friend cassidy lets me borrow their car--sometimes for weeks at a time--while they're out of town, even though I literally just hit the one year anniversary of having my license this week. it blows me away literally every time and is so incredibly kind because it means i don't have to carefully plan around my roommates to do the things i want and need to do, which always makes me feel very frustrated and trapped because i'm 29 and have never been able to just....get in the car and go without having to check with other people first. but i get to do that with their car, and it refills my tolerance and makes me feel hopeful and free. they also bought me pirate bugs to help me deal with my thrip infestation and they offered to help me replace any plants i had to get rid of, even though they were the one who gifted all of them to me in the first place and taught me how to take care of them and to trust myself to keep something alive.
my friend chris spent like six months driving 40 minutes to my house, giving me several hours of driving training, and then driving home. sometimes several times a week. they're a paramedic and have a very busy life and they still made that time for me because they knew i needed to be able to get around. and then they drove me an hour to my hometown to make me to my test because i was too nervous to test near where we live on account of having way more experience driving where i'm from.
also they just?? do things?? like they went to two different places the other day to buy me a vape. and they made me a pizza and when they didn't have toppings i wanted they just...put on their shoes and went to kroger??? and got them?? i have to prepare to go to kroger for like four days and forget half of the things i wanted. i was blown away.
my friend lavender gets me a huge bag of salted cashews every time they go to whole foods because they know i'll forget to eat enough salt and protein and get dizzy if i don't have enough easy foods. they asked chris to tighten the toilet seat when i was going to be staying there for thirteen days, knowing that i don't trust most surfaces i'm sitting on and am always afraid of shifting wrong and breaking something. they took me on the first vacation i'd been on in years and specifically planned around my size and disabilities. they always want to spend time with me and are perfectly happy to just sit and listen while i talk about random shit and they think i'm a good friend and tell me all the time despite the fact that i am very hard to get ahold of and almost never respond to things.
my sister, knowing i was going to get a haircut i couldn't really afford, messaged our hairdresser and told them she was going to pay for it and didn't even tell me. she talks to me on the phone for hours at a time several times a week and texts me memes about things i like even if she doesn't know a thing about the fandom because she knows it'll make me smile. i can call her and launch into a 45 minute full detail run down of a book i'm reading and she'll just listen and crack jokes. she understands all of my references and she knows i have to get a new toothbrush every christmas or i'll cry so she always gets me one. she drives me around my own town and points out all the cool places i'd never notice on my own and then bullies me into going to them. she takes me to the art store and will spend an hour just looking at everything with me, even though we don't need art supplies and have seen everything fifty times before.
when my childhood best friend's mom found out i was having surgery she told me to call her and let her know if i wanted anything, even taco bell delivery, and she'd get it for me. sometimes i call her and she calls me her daughter (i cry every time) and she asks about my relationships and clapped when i told her i was going back to school.
my roommate asks me if i want to go with him every time he goes to the craft store because he knows i like to touch all the fabric and ogle all of the goods.
i posted a catty, passive-aggressive status the other day and when my friend found out what it was about she asked if in the future i should call her and get it out of my system or practice what i want to say to the person instead. and i was unrepentant and said sometimes i want to be mean and i meant what i said but that i was thankful that she cares about me growing as a person and living my own values and that even if i wasn't sorry this time she was right to say what she did and she said "of course, i know you'll always listen to me. I know you." she calls me while she's working on the farm and laughs with me. she once gave me a bag full of strawberry starters that were on their last legs and said "I want to see you happy" and even though the plants didn't survive I will never forget that gesture.
lake brings me food when they eat because they know i won't eat if someone doesn't remind me. they take care of my cats when i can't make it down the stairs and they watch the silly shows i want to watch just because i rarely express interest in things like that. they read my favourite book series just to be able to understand why i cared about it so much. they make me use an ice pack when i would never do so on my own and they spent two years driving me everywhere i needed to go before i got my license.
when their gramma was still alive and needed another caretaker, their mom said "I can't think of anyone I'd rather have taking care of her than Cheyenne" and she used to sit out on the porch and smoke cigarettes with me. she invited me over for the first mother's day without my mom and fed me dinner.
anderson notices when i stop responding in the group chat for more than a few days and always messages me to ask if i'm okay. they let me lead them through barnes and noble and point at all of the books i'd read and say what i liked or hated about them and watched dungeon meshi with me and cuddled me just because.
i have new friends who remind me to do my pt and care about me and send me memes and art they think i'll like. they stay up late talking about books and games with me and have helped me get two incredibly important things to manage my disabilities that i would not have been able to afford on my own.
everyone is so nice to me and i do not know what i do to deserve it. but i am very thankful and i am very known.
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
A Wisconsin man who is considered the “backbone” of his family was gunned down earlier this month while doing his job.
Antoine Gee Jr., a Domino’s employee, was targeted while delivering pizza in Milwaukee on Jan. 10, WLBT reported. Three teens are accused of concocting a plan to snatch the food from him to get a free meal.
Security footage shows two of the suspects starting a fight with Gee when he got to the address. During the physical dispute, he was fatally shot multiple times. The perpetrators then left the scene.
When first responders arrived, they discovered the 33-year-old unresponsive and bleeding out from the gunshot wounds, per Law & Crime, citing an affidavit. His family told local news that he had the “biggest smile.”
The Milwaukee Police Department said Armier McArthur, Domain Patrick, and T.L McNealy were charged with one count of felony murder and that each of them faces 55 years in prison.
“All they had to do was just ask. He probably would have given him the pizza and paid for it himself,” the victim’s sister, Kashmir Toliver, told the WLBT.
During their investigation, police went to Domino’s and received the address associated with the order, according to Law & Crime. They found that it was connected to a man on supervised release and that the location was near where the fatal shooting occurred.
Officials obtained a warrant and arrested the cousin of the parolee, listed as AW in police records. He informed investigators that three people came to the home the night of the incident, including Keyshaun and Mir, according to the report. The third person was not identified.
That’s when the trio, all 17 years old, ordered the pizza and carried out the plan. AW did not go with them to pick the food up but told police that shortly after the shooting, they charged back into the house, “running around like wild animals,” the outlet reported. One of them had Gee’s delivery bag.
“While this was happening, [AW] aunt called his mom, and his aunt told his mom that the three had robbed the delivery driver and not to let them back in the house,” the affidavit alleged, noting that the three were forced to leave the home they’d fled to.
Gee’s mother has created a GoFundMe, which has now exceeded its $10,000 goal. The family has raised nearly $12,000 as of Monday evening.
“To the media, he’s just a pizza delivery man, but to his family, he was the backbone. He was a truck driver, a landlord, a brother, a nephew, an investor,” the caption said. “While this has been a very stressful time, making funeral arrangements for my only son has been a lot. Please feel free to donate or share my link to help me lay my son to rest peacefully.”
4 notes
·
View notes
Text
I've always wanted to order a man from a dating app to my house like pizza delivery, but I've never felt safe doing it. Now that I've found my submissive, it's one of my favorite things. I hear the doorbell ring and I direct you to kneel naked. I open the door and Chad is there. Hi I say. Hi he says. This is Steve. I gesture at you so that he doesn't trip over over you. 'He's going to watch' ' Yea I know that's hot'. And then he comes to me and cups my face in his hands. Kissing me. I groan into him. I take his coat off, running my hands down his toned arms. ' Make a muscle for me.' He does. I press myself against him starting to feel him getting hard elsewhere. ' I want you I whisper against his mouth' and it's his turn to groan. ' Take me to the bedroom'. He picks me up and carrys me flopping me onto the bed. He's kissing my neck, touching my breasts. You've come into the bedroom too, taking your designated place on the cushion near the bed. Wouldn't want your knees to get tired now would we? He's taking off my clothes now, some of them landing on you, but we're both too focused on each other to notice. ' Fuck I want you babe. I want him to see what you sound like when you're getting fucked by a real man'. Then he's taking off his shirt and then his pants until he's just in his underwear. I can see his bulge straining to get free. I reach out and run my hand along his abs, and tease him lightly my fingers just grazing his cock. He twitches.
' Fuck' I pull his underwear down and his cock springs free. Thick and hard, I am aching to get it inside me. Come here sub. You whimper. You don't want to, you never want to but my power is inescapable. I grab your hair and shove you onto his cock. He's not gentle and facefucks you until he's as hard as he can get. I had you eat me out before he got there so I'd be wet and ready for him. I roll the condom on him with some lube and he slides into me. Hands gripping him hips to steady himself as he thrusts into me over and over. I can see you getting hard in your cage, your eyes drawn to the chastity key laying between my breasts. He fucks me steadily, deeply and just the way I like it until I orgasm squirting all over his cock. He keeps going until I've had several and the waterproof blanket is soaked. Finally I can hear his breath becoming ragged and I tell him come for me. With one final thrust, he comes inside me. I want more. Come here sub. He lays down next to me lazily watching as I unlock your cage and your cock springs out, precum dripping from the tip. ' I know you won't do as good of a job but you're all I've got right now. I roll the condom on you and you slide into me, thrusting steadily until I squirt all over you too. You are actually really good in bed, but you love to be humiliated so I tell you how much better he was. He laughs on the bed next to me. ' come from me slut' You do thrusting deep within me and moaning. You crawl onto the bed and I cuddle with two men in a haze of postorgasmic glow. If you like this erotica I've got more on www.patreon.com/ladysupernova
#bd/sm community#bd/sm relationship#bd/sm kink#k!nk talk#k!nky thoughts#k1nk#findom humiliation#cuckcold#cuckhubby#cuckslut
30 notes
·
View notes
Text
Thor Odinson x Pregnant!Female!Reader: Where Gods Do Fear to Tread [Ch. 7]
Summary: You never imagined that shadow of death would be quite so dark.
Challenge: “9 Months” challenge by crackleviolet on Lunaescence Archive – Bonus Three – Rape Pregnancy
Rating/Warnings/Tags: M (rape (not written out in detail, but the first chapter goes up to the event and the rest of the chapters deal with the fallout); assault and battery; abusive relationship; stalking; pregnancy resulting from rape; victim blaming insinuations from various characters; discussion of abortion; references to depression; references to rape kits; references to law procedures; references to restraining orders, some foul language; not Infinity War compliant; not Thor Ragnarok compliant; set post-Ant-Man and the Wasp; Hope & Reader friendship; the Pyms as Reader’s second family)
IMPORTANT NOTE: Thor is not the character involved in any of the awful things warned about above. Additionally, if there is anything you’d like me to add to the tag list, please let me know!
Pairings: Thor/Female!Reader; Scott/Hope; Hank/Janet; past!Male!OC/Reader
Tag List: @imaginesfire
Master List
Chapter 7: Surprise!
Night had fallen by the time you reentered your house after what seemed to be an endless day. Only the streetlamp on the distant sidewalk illuminated the ghostly shapes of sheet-covered furniture in your living room and the neat stacks of boxes that sat every few feet along your route. You did not bother to flick on an overhead light to illuminate the winding path. None were needed; the sound of conversation and the warm glow issuing from the one occupied room in your house sufficed to guide you safely to the kitchen.
"Sustenance has arrived!" Thor boomed as he followed you through the open door.
What had once been the most terrifying place in the world to you no longer had any room at all to contain fear. The dining room table had been pulled to the center of the tile, but even that could not contain all the people inside. Your usual four chairs couldn't either. Some people stood as a result. Some had pulled in chairs from other rooms. Everyone was there, however: Hank, Janet, Hope, Scott, and Cassie looked up at your arrival. The first rose to pull some of the pizza boxes from Thor's arms.
"It's about damn time," Hank grumped as he placed them on the counter by the sink and pulled one open. "The doorbell rang twenty minutes ago. We'll be lucky if anything's still warm."
"They still have a working oven if we need it, dear," Janet said.
"And if we do, I offer my apologies," said Thor, placing the remaining boxes near the oven. "The delivery man is an Avengers fan. [Name] and I had to convince him to take money in exchange for his goods and services."
"Wait. You're telling me people give you guys free stuff?" asked Scott.
"They often try. Of course, it is improper for heroes such as ourselves to accept such lavish gifts."
"Wow."
Scott's awed tone caused Hope to roll her eyes at you behind his back. You couldn't exactly blame her. Thor could easily afford to reject free food from his admirers when it wasn't his money being spent. He probably didn't even know what an American twenty-dollar bill looked like. Since the last thing you wanted was to get Hank started on a rant about Tony Stark's refusal to pay Avengers like employees, though, you kept your mouth shut and joined the line for dinner.
A tickling at your side made you look up. Now Hope stood right next to you.
"Just how many pictures did he insist on before he left?" she asked, voice low enough to go unheard above Hank and Thor's continued quarrel.
"Too many," you said tiredly.
"Poor thing. Your ankles must be killing you."
"They're not feeling great."
She took you by the shoulders and forcibly turned you toward the table. "Go sit down. I'll bring your food over."
You couldn't muster up any energy to argue with her. Bobbing up and down like a half-deflated balloon, you dragged your swollen body over to one of the now-empty kitchen chairs. There you collapsed, grateful to have just a moment to rest. Packing up your entire house in one day would have been a tall order when you weren’t in your final trimester—not that any of your friends had let you do much of anything since you were. How you could be so exhausted after so little work, you had no idea. And yet you were that exhausted. Somehow you must have fallen asleep in the midst of all the commotion. A hand on your shoulder had you starting awake only a few minutes later.
“It’s just me,” said Hope. “I brought you some food.”
In fact, she had. She slid a plate with three slices of your favorite pizza in front of you. Forgetting that you’d hardly done anything that day demanding that level of caloric intake, you snatched up the first slice and stuffed half of it in your mouth before Hope could sit down next to you. “I’m glad to see you’ve still got your appetite after everything that’s been going on,” she said.
“Indeed! My [Name] must keep her strength up for her upcoming labor!”
Thor sat down on your other side just in time to put his own two cents into the conversation. His own plate overflowed with pizza. He must have had the equivalent of at least one entire pie stacked there. Well, you’d ordered as much as you had partially because you knew how much food Thor could put away. You also knew he’d try to get you to eat some of it as well. When the doctor said you were eating for two, Thor took that comment seriously—and Asgardian babies, apparently, needed a lot of sustenance.
Cassie trotted over to one of the vacant chairs. As soon as she spotted Thor’s mountain of food, her eyes grew huge. “Woah! Is that how you became so mighty? If I eat that much pizza, will I be mighty, too?”
“You’ll probably get pretty big, Peanut,” her father said as he, too, joined your group at the table. “But I don’t think pizza will make you strong.”
“Pizza is not the necessary ingredient, little one! I am sure you already mighty for your size. If you keep working, one day you could even be worthy enough to pick up my hammer.” Thor gestured at the nearby corner. There sat Mjolnir, safely out of the way of anyone’s path.
Her eyes went even wider. “But pizza won’t make me less worthy?” “Eat as much pizza as your heart desires. Why, I eat pizza regularly and remain worthy to this day!”
Cassie grinned. Then she dove into her own meal. You noticed, however, that she kept watching Thor, and seemed to be doing her best to keep up with him as he ate.
For a little while, no one spoke. The entire group focused more on eating than on talking. It had been a long, busy day. You didn’t appreciate this moment of respite as much at the first. All the quiet served to remind you that this sort of gathering would never happen again, or at least if it did, it wouldn’t be the same. All of a sudden, you weren’t ready to face that. Every person you cared about sat in your kitchen that night. In a few days’ time, you’d be eating your meals with Thor’s friends, who, while undoubtedly good people, weren’t your friends. Only now had it really occurred to you that in leaving this house, you weren’t only giving up your beloved gardens and a job you didn’t care for much to begin with.
“Hey, [Name],” Cassie’s voice interrupted your gloomy thoughts. “You’ll be back for my soccer finals, right? We just made the playoffs yesterday!”
Hope didn’t give you a chance to answer yourself. She took Cassie’s nearest hand in hers and said, “It’s going to be hard for [Name] to travel until she has the baby.”
Cassie looked at you, crestfallen. “But you’re traveling to New York this weekend.”
“That sort of travel can’t be helped,” said Hope.
“If I can be there for your tournament, I will,” you assured Cassie, then added at Hope’s stern look, “I’ve been assured that the Bifrost is perfectly safe for unborn babies. As long as I’m not actually in labor when I use it, I should be fine.”
“So long as Kevin does not attempt to attend the event as well,” Thor said.
Hank, standing over by the sink with his wife, snorted. “Trust me. If that jackass dares to get anywhere within my line of sight, he’ll regret it.”
“Thank you, Dr. Pym.”
The sincerity in Thor’s voiced only made Hank shrug awkwardly. He wouldn’t meet Thor’s eyes or yours.
Janet stroked his shoulder. “You’re going to miss, [Name], aren’t you? We’re all going to.” She looked over at you. “You’re part of the family.”
Those words were like a dagger to your heart. Tears filled your eyes as you slowly rose to your aching feet and made your way over to where she and Hank stood. Still avoiding looking directly at you, the latter removed his glasses and sniffed. Another jolt in your stomach accompanied your realization that Hank’s eyes were wet, too.
“Hank, I’ll be back,” you said.
“Sure you will. That’s why you’re moving all the way across the country.”
“I’m moving all the way across the country because of Kevin.”
“No, you’re moving to be with the Avengers. You don’t trust us to keep you safe.”
You could have laughed at that, had there not been a gigantic, Thor-sized frog in your throat. “Hank, you’re retired. You’ve just got Janet and Hope back. I don’t want you wasting your time keeping me safe when there’s an AI in New York that can make sure I never see Kevin again.”
“She’s right, darling,” said Janet. “And you’ll come visit us, won’t you, [Name]? After all the dust has settled?”
“Of course I will. Janet’s right, Hank. You all are my family. And this little guy is going to want to see his grandparents.”
Through you fully anticipated a pause after this announcement, you had not expected it to be quite so long and thorough. Every single mouth in the room gaped at you—except for Thor’s, obviously. He’d known you were going to tell everyone about your plans this evening from the beginning.
“Grandparents?” Hank croaked.
“That’s right. Thor and I went to see the doctor this week for an ultrasound. I’m having a boy. We’ve decided to keep him and raise him as ours.”
“Kevin,” Thor said, “will have nothing to do with the baby. That is also one of the reasons for our moving. Though [Name] prevailed in obtaining protection from the court, that protection is only a piece of paper. We want to ensure the child will never have contact with Kevin.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful, [Name]! Congratulations!” Janet threw her arms around you.
Hank still seemed too stunned to speak. In the vacuum of his shock, Scott, Hope, and Cassie came over to the sink as well to offer congratulations and hugs.
“I was hoping you’d be his godmother,” you told Hope when she released you.
She didn’t answer. Her eyes flooded with tears to match your own, and then she swept you up in another hug even longer than the last. This embrace only came to an end when Cassie said:
“Does this mean I’m getting a baby brother?”
Hope laughed wetly before turning to the little girl. “Not quite.”
“More like a baby cousin,” said Scott.
“Can I teach him how to play soccer?” Cassie asked.
“Once he’s old enough,” you answered.
“When’s that?”
You opened your mouth to tell not for a few years at least (no matter what Thor might say to the contrary) when Hank straightened and took a step in your direction.
Hope let you go.
“[Name],” Hank began.
He didn’t need to finish. Not wanting to lose your nerve, you wrapped your arms around him, paused, and kissed him on the cheek.
“Thank you, Hank,” you said as you let go of him.
“Harrumph,” he replied. “I’ll never forgive Kevin for what he did to you. But if you’re willing to move on and make the best of a bad situation, well, so am I.” Then he smiled. “You better bring that kid to see me all the time. Don’t you go letting Tony Stark fill his head with the wrong ideas.”
“I promise.”
You and Hank might have continued to smile tearfully at one another for another twenty minutes—or at least until you couldn’t bear standing up any longer—had Janet not suddenly squealed:
“Group hug! Group hug!”
“Wha—”
Too late! Janet interrupted Hank’s protest by way of squishing him between you and herself. Then Hope joined in, followed by Scott, then Cassie, and finally Thor, who practically lifted the whole group into the air together in his enthusiasm to participate.
“Would you kindly put me down?” Hank snapped.
Everyone laughed. Thor obliged as far as placing Hank’s feet back on the ground, but he didn’t let him go.
Warm and held at the very center of the throng, you felt only happiness and relief. No one hated you for your decision to keep the baby. Kevin would never bother you again. And most importantly of all: You weren’t really giving up anything in leaving San Francisco. All you were doing was gaining more time with Thor, and perhaps a few new friends along the way. Heaven knew you’d need a lot to get through the coming years. Fortunately, you knew the Pyms would always be there for you, and Scott and Cassie, no matter how much Thor or Tony Stark they had to endure.
#fan fic#straw writes#reader insert#second person pov#where gods do fear to tread#challenge fic#avengers#marvel#mcu#thor#thor odinson#thor x reader#thor x you#thor x y/n#thor odinson x reader#thor odinson x you#thor odinson x y/n#avengers x reader#avengers x you#avengers x y/n#marvel x reader#marvel x you#marvel x y/n#mcu x reader#mcu x you#mcu x y/n#avengers reader insert#marvel reader insert#mcu reader insert#thor reader insert
19 notes
·
View notes
Text
https://www.mypizzaheaven.com/
At My Pizza Heaven, you can have a taste of heaven! Our made-to-order pizzas are our specialty at the New Jersey location of our restaurant in the United States. Today, indulge in a slice of Pizza Heaven for the ultimate in cheesy, flavorful bliss!
#pizza shop near me#Pizza Heaven CMCH#Pizza heaven#Local Pizza Delivery in CMCH#Cape May Court House Pizza#fast food#brick oven pizza#gluten free#restaurant#new jersey#cape may
1 note
·
View note
Text
There's something wrong with Manager Kim part 15
Oops.
Yoongi tapped the bedroom door as he couldn't find her. Jin had left but had done so reluctantly.
"YN?" he knocked on the door of the bathroom again, but no answer. He opened the door, found her dress neatly to one side but she wasn't there.
It was only when he heard the scrape of the outdoor furniture did it occur to him, that she was actually outside.
She wasn't going to do anything stupid was she?
She looked sad, miserable one might say. Yoongi automatically reached for the door but found it locked. He knocked but she was too busy enjoying the skyline to take any notice of him.
He rolled his shoulder back, ignoring the full ache. It was more important that she came back inside, although he feared she might do something rash.
He knocked again, until she realised.
As soon as she set foot inside, he quickly locked the door and slipped the key into his pocket for safekeeping.
He spied YN taking her slippers off and head for the stairs when he felt the urge to call her.
"Are you hungry?"
Her stomach growling answered for her.
"My lunch was mostly liquid, so yeah I could eat," she admitted.
He grabbed her arm, and managed to get a look at her face. The cheek was no longer red, but there was a little cut to her lip, the lasting evidence of the incident.
"I swear to God —" he managed.
"We are not talking about my mother."
"We really damn should Princess. No one should lay a hand on you. Ever."
"Are we ordering in, or are you cooking?" she always knew how to change the subject real quick.
YN watched him reach for his phone, as he held up a delivery app.
"Pizza?" he sighed, fed up with how cold she was being towards him. He would find her mother tomorrow and threaten her. She comes anywhere near them, and he was sure he was going to lose his shit.
**
Yoongi signed for the food, carrying it through to the coffee table. Never one to eat anywhere except the dining table, he figured he'd make an exception tonight.
"Is the food here?" he heard her call.
He brightened up as she walked back through from the kitchen barefoot. She was still in her white dress, but she'd since taken off her earrings her wedding ring remained.
"Yoongi?" she called out again.
"Uh yeah, I ordered a few cos I didn't know what you'd like," he took the plates off her, allowing her to pad back to the kitchen.
“So,” YN said, grabbing his attention with a small smile, “do you want some champagne?”
"It was nice of Jimin to get it for us," he finally noticed the envelope attached to it, as he handed it to her.
"To my new mother," YN rolled her eyes, the guy was so melodramatic. "Please be good to my father, he means a lot to me. He's grumpy, but he's ours. And can we still come around for breakfasts?"
“Pabo.” Yoongi couldn't believe the note, "could've just said congratulations that idiot," he got up and poured himself a glass, topping hers at the same time.
"He means well," she dialled his number, waiting for him to pick up. When he didn't, she called Jin.
"Seokjin, I'm staying home tomorrow, just making you aware."
"That's fine, whatever you guys need."
"Is everyone there with you?"
"Yeah, we all here."
"Put me on speaker." She sat down, pulling a soft pillow into her lap.
Yoongi sat next to her, as she placed the phone on the table to continue pouring another drink for herself.
"Jiminie," she called out, "thank you for the champagne. Guys thank you for today, it means a lot to us. Feel free to come over for food wherever."
After appreciative thanks, they hung up, eating in awkward silence.
**
“You mind helping me with something?" he asked, breaking the silence between them.
YN looked at him, suspicious.
He caught her expression and grinned. “Not that. My shoulder has been sore since rehearsal and you keep threatening to cancel my therapist,” he glanced significantly at the champagne bottom, embarrassed to have to ask, “—can you help massage it into my shoulder? Since, you know, I can't do it?”
He knew his honest admission had done the trick when she nodded and seemed to relax. “You should have continued to go to your sessions, but sure I guess..”
He gingerly helped clean up one handed, and watched her disappear up the stairs.
"I thought you were gonna help?" was she abandoning him already?
"In this outfit? I'm lucky I didn't get pizza sauce on it, but I'm not chancing it. Lemme change and I'll be back down."
Now he felt guilty for assuming she had changed her mind.
Yoongi tried his best to clean up, and shortlisted a few things for them to watch. Eventually he picked the latest Stranger Things series, as neither of them had seen it, but now he was beginning to wonder why they had wasted the last half hour.
YN had appeared again, in a baggy t-shirt which he soon realised was his.
"Already stealing my clothes Princess?" he handed her the jar and moved along the sofa.
"I'd rather get your stuff dirty than mine," she grinned undoing the jar and sniffing the oil. "This doesn't even smell half bad," she admitted.
Carefully she poured a little into her palm, as he undressed, YN did her best to avoid looking at him as she tried to not touch him for too long.
She glanced at the TV again, and sighed.
“I swear to God, if one more person gets possessed or zones out again I’m seriously going to need therapy.".
“It’s the most depressing thing I’ve ever seen,” he agreed. He thought if it was scary she might even try and cuddle up to him.
Then after a minute she said, “But the acting’s amazing. They were so young in the first one.”
Yoongi smiled at the fact she seemed to be trying to hide her disappointment from him. YN really did always try and cheer everyone up, even when she didn't feel so great herself.
“But are you enjoying it? No point us wasting our time on this, if you're not enjoying it Princess."
"Ok fine, I don't like the blood, and I'm pretty sure if my mother doesn't keep me up at night, that creepy ass monster dude will."
After hearing that, he was quick to leave it on a music channel whilst he felt her move around.
Lifting her self to sit almost behind, but on the back of the sofa, she spread the oil carefully, then, starting at the trunk of his neck, ran herhands in long, smooth strokes towards his shoulder.
Yoongi felt her repeat the movement until the oil was warm under her touch, his skin and muscles beginning to warm and soften.
"Have you done this before?" he asked, before trying to push away any thoughts of her having given a massage to anyone else.
"I have a license in massage, not like I'm a therapist but I can get by."
"When did you get that?" he didn't know anything about her past. He'd Googled her, but there was nothing to be found. She either had a pretty normal life, or out never made the news."
"Before I figured out what I wanted to do. I tried quite a few things. Us chaebols need something to fall back on," she joked.
Yoongi nodded, not saying anything. He had worked his whole life, taking every small job until he was picked up by Big Hit, and here she was able to afford the luxury of having the time to figure her life out.
In the past he would have been resentful, annoyed that he had had to work so damn hard and how everything came easy to people like her. But maybe she wasn't like that. He hoped she wasn't like that.
**
YN felt so terrible. She saw the scars from his operation, all neat and tidy and imagined the immense pain from that, and the rehab. How fast paced they performed and wondered why on earth he continued to put his body through it.
"What's wrong?" he turned to face her, noticing her hand had stopped at the scar.
As though sensing his sad eyes she shook her head, "No, I just didn't want to press on it, in case it hurt."
He gave her a small turn of his mouth. "What doesn't hurt after practice more like," as he turned back to face the TV and she carried on, diligently smoothing and rubbing his shoulder again.
And then the sounds came.
Yoongi tried hard to keep his mouth shut. Why the to hell had he given her a bottle of the massage oil??
She'd only been trying to help him, and here he was unable to keep himself in check. He wondered in horror, if this might be grounds for divorce even.
It wasn’t like she was touching her sexually, because all the woman was doing was rubbing his shoulder down, but somehow there seemed to be a strange correlation between her hands and the more intimate regions of his body. Warmth was spreading where warmth had no business spreading. And it wasn’t in his shoulder.
Certainly, as usual, his body had other plans for this evening. His bleached hair flopped forward on his forehead in a way that made him unexpectedly wish that perhaps she might her lean into him and prop his head back up, and he longed to feel her brush it back.
He had to commend her because her entire focus was on looking after his shoulder and he had to admit it felt good to have someone take care of him like that.
Far too good.
Yoongi watched her through the mirror, her hand covered in oil, her fingers working with expertise.
Even when she accidently remarked that she'd never known he carried so much tension in his shoulders, did it feel like it was the first time someone had tried to help.
"Why are you carrying so much tension, your back and neck is like rubbing a rock," YN rubbed a little harder, finding the knots.
"Don't tell my wife, but ever since I met her I am always feeling tension and stress," he told her in a whisper as though sharing the secrets of the mysteries of the world.
"I see," she replied mock sympathetic, "I'm sure you've done nothing to make her feel the same right?"
She continued to relieve the pain in his muscles, but now the tension had moved to other parts of his body and he wasn't sure he could take it anymore.
He was getting frustrated and his answers were getting shorter, but unaware of the brewing excitement in his pants, which he was trying his best to hide wasn't working.
It was when she, unaware, rubbed one last time, finishing with a long sweep from neck to shoulder, leaning in just a little bit more to double check the knots were out that he gripped her wrist as she climbed off the sofa.
"All done, you can pay me in food," YN smiled cleaning her hands and finishing thw champagne.
"That felt so good," his voice was lower, full of huskiness and he was so turned on.
"What can I say, if this VP gig doesn't work out I can always open a clinic."
That set him off and he pulled her back onto him.
"No, what did I say about touching other people. Other men."
As she tried to get out of his grip, YN inadvertently straddled him, "it was just a joke Yoongi. Lighten up, let me go please."
He grabbed the other wrist.
"Otherwise your t-shirt is gonna get dirty, and I don't think it's gonna come out in the wash."
"Then take it off. I want skin to skin."
He tugged lightly at her t-shirt, not letting go.
"Yoongi what are you doing, let me go," she whispered.
"I don't know what I'm doing, but I can't keep my hands off you," he squeezed her leg causing her to jerk, and then back on his hardness.
"Are you —" she realised what she felt and tried to get off.
"Why are you shocked about this. I've tried to keep it in check, but I can't keep away from you YN," he pulled her into him as she held onto his shoulder to stay herself.
"Your shoulder," she defended, "you're gonna hurt your, your s-shoulder."
Yoongi couldn't breathe, "Please, YN I am fucking begging you. I will give you anything you want, please just say yes. Just tonight."
The champagne and the oil was going to her head.
"I, I," she stammered. "You're J-Jin's band mate."
"I'm your husband. That comes first now."
"We have rules for a reason. We set them up Yoongi, so stop playing just cos we drank this evening."
"I say we make a new rule up. Those are for outside this house. In this house," he pulled her closer, "in this house, the rules don't apply."
He nuzzled her neck whilst she tried to argue her point but she couldn't stop the tingling she was experiencing because of the mostly empty champagne now.
"In fact, in this house the rules definitely should not apply."
"Our rules," she managed.
"Baby tonight, it's our wedding night. I can't take this anymore. No rules, just tonight."
YN suspected this was a big mistake. Monumental. But she was human.
And needed some.
And quite drunk.
And she had a good looking, very good looking husband at her disposal who's dick was up and reporting for duty.
One night won't change anything? Right?
"Just tonight," she warned him as he sighed in relief, pulling her t-shirt off cleanly, examining her bra with licked lips.
He growled as he appreciated her.
"Anything you want baby, so glad you kept this on," he leaned forward clamouring at her as he proceeded to pull off her knickers.
"Oh god," YN gasped, as his excited mouth met hers. "Yoongi," she grabbed his face and looked at him with equally drunk eyes. "One night only."
Yoongi was sure that he was going to explode in his boxers, as YN's hands wrapped around his shoulders, combed through his hair and ran her nails down his back; in all the ways he had fantasised about during this no holds bar night.
Yoongi smiled through his kisses, glad her gestures indicated she, in this moment wanted him as badly as he wanted her.
"Did you bring any condoms?" YN panted as he popped his head up from her legs.
"I didn't want you to think I packed them because I was thinking about it. But I was thinking about it. But I didn't pack any." He still needed to check with her, "Should I go and buy some?"
"It doesn't matter," she waved him off, "I can't get pregnant anyway," she looked up at him as he stared back.
"You can't?"
"Pretty damn sure I can't."
"So am I allowed to..?"
"First time you've ever bothered to ask permission for anything Yoongi."
"I'm not that much of an asshole that I'm not gonna ask you first. And since you've already said yes, am I ok to continue fucking the life out of you please wife?"
"Fine fine," she nodded as he licked her one last time before turning the lights off, and carrying her off up the stairs to their bed.
*
"Fuck baby, so gorgeous, so gorgeous," he breathed, as his belt buckle was undone and hit the ground with a heavy clunk, as he climbed onto the bed and back on top.
"So beautiful," he kissed her, whisphering into her ear as she gripped him, kissing back.
No longer able to take the torment, Yoongi's eyes rolled back, as he kneeled back, his harder erection being stroked in her hand.
Yoongi spread her legs, impressed by her flexibility as YN didn't need to wait to adjust to his girth, nor do he have to have YN guide him in. Astonished, he slotted straight in; they simply fit so perfectly, as easily and naturally as though they'd been together for a long time.
"You're so perfect," he caressed her ass as she turned over, waiting for him to position himself between her, moaning hard when he drove hard into her from behind.
"Yoongi," she moaned, "I need more. Please," she grabbed his neck as he pulled her backward, till they were both on their knees, his dick still snugly between her folds.
Cupping her breasts he shoved harder with every haggard breath, letting out a guttural moan as she squeezed around him and he felt her orgasm rip through her.
Mere moments later, he was letting go and all of him spilled into her as he pulled out and they kissed hungrily again.
**
YN had no idea what time it was when they fell asleep, or just how many times they have done it, or what time she finally fell asleep.
She felt sleep deprived and well used as she sat up gingerly realising someone was next to her.
Yoongi.
Yoongi turned over, eyes heavy in sleep body pulling the sheets back to display his physique as it snuggled next to her, his erection dug into her hip.
Unsure what to do, or say, YN lay still, his hand snaked around her and pulled her naked body back into the curve of his chest as he spooned her.
Oh my God, what have I done?!
He mumbled something in his sleep, but YN couldn't hear exactly what it was. Squinting, she realised the sun was up, and it must have been at least eight am. YN gently tried to lift his fingers one by one from her hip to move out of his grip, but he snuggled more, unconsciously not wanting to break the connection.
Yoongi was talking in his sleep, it seemed. The gibberish became coherent and she wished that she had suddenly developed hearing problems.
"YN," he sighed as he slept, "I love you."
I love you?
I love you??
Alarm bells were going off in YN's ears. Eyes enlarged in terror as she managed to remove his body from almost on top of hers and slipped out the bed again.
YN's heartbeat began to rise as she grabbed a towel and ran to the shower to violently scrub herself clean.
This was terrifying wrong.
This wasn't even a one night stand, now that she thought about it sober. Even worse than that, she realised just how drunk she was last night to agree to have sex with him.
She had no one to blame but herself.
YN had an inkling, a very tiny inkling that maybe he liked her, but she was sure that was impossible. She'd been the dumb one, clearly Yoongi knew exactly that he was doing.
Had he followed the rules? Yes.
Had she? She thought so.
But she said no sleeping together. Rules were set. Agreements made. He'd been enticed by what he couldn't have; done everything he wanted to do to break those rules. Because when playboy guys like him were confronted with what they couldn't have - they simply break the rules to get it.
*
Jin shook as his phone assaulted his hearing, groggy he sat up as he answered his phone.
"Seokjin," it was his sister shout whisphering at him.
"Go away, I want to sleep bitch."
He heard shuffling and he swore she kissed her teeth at him.
"Bitch? You best meet me at the café by Yoongi's house. I made a booboo."
Seokijin was upright, panic in his mouth. "I'll get the shovel. No one will know what happened to him."
"We are not killing Yoongi you idiot."
"Then what's the emergency??"
"He said he loves me. This is not good Jin."
"Ok, ok calm down. Meet me at the café, I'll be there soon as I can."
"You didn't know about this, did you?"
She heard no answer, and knew he wouldn't dare lie to her.
"Seokjin I'm gonna kill you."
"Ok chill, I'll meet you there. Jeez," and with that, he hung up.
**
YN had a strange feeling that the car pulling past her as she got out of her car was the same one behind her earlier that morning. She watched as the car continued by and figured that she must be imagining things.
As she dug in her purse for her car keys, she looked down the street…and froze. YN was absolutely sure that the car she had seen earlier, now parked halfway down the block with a man sitting in it was the same guy. He pulled out and turned at the corner, moving away from her, but she was positive this time it was the same car and the same man.
He wasn't dressed like her security team, and she suspected her mother.
“Hey, Seokjin,” she said as she watched the car move away from them, and she couldn't help but be vigilant. “Wanna come back to mine for breakfast instead?"
By the time they'd reach Yoongi's house, the strange man and car had slipped from her mind, and instead her thoughts turned to Yoongi.
Would he be awake? Would he remember what happened last night?
Did he know what he said this morning??
@craftymoonchaos @bbl32 @ireadthensuetheauthors @pb-n-juju @audreonne @larenelizabeth @kyle-told-me-whats-up @alexayoonlee
#bts jin#bts yoongi#bts namjoon#bts jhope#bts taehyung#bts jimin#bts min yoongi#bts min suga#yoongi imagine#bts yoongi x yn#bts yoongi x reader#suga x yn#bts imagines#bts smau#bts social media au#suga imagines#enemies to lovers#fake marriage#bts jungkook#suga#agust d#min yoongi#yoongi smut
55 notes
·
View notes
Text
Sarpino’s Pizzeria
Website: https://www.gosarpinos.com/Address: 10401 Anderson Mill Road, Austin, TX 78750Phone: 512-257-3709For the best pizza in your area, visit Sarpino’s Pizzeria! Sarpino’s Pizzeria menu has a lot of variety so that each person in your party can get exactly what they want. Locations each have dozens of positive reviews which is a great testament of how Sarpino’s Pizzeria puts its mission of serving excellent food with an exceptional experience into action. If you are craving pizza in near you order online from Sarpino’s Pizzeria to receive free delivery with no minimum order!
#Restaurants#pizza places near me
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SarpinosPizza
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sarpinos_pizza
2 notes
·
View notes
Note
Not me having 0 thoughts on how to write this because I need to play the demo first and I still dont know how Keith and TenTen body works. So please bear with me. Or dont read this.
How to survive if Keith and TenTen decide to kidnap you:
Note: This is really hard since Keith already said that they will not do kidnapping. Its either you love them or you love them. (Talk about the fair choices here Keith) But since im stubborn, im gonna force them to kidnap me :)
NEW KINK UNLOCKED: Kidnapping (noooooo!)
Back to the regular program:
Plan A.
1. If ever these two bois decide to kidnap us, they will be probably locked us up on our room or their own room. They want us to be comfy. (I just dont want to give them an idea to use the basement, coz im done with basement) so be comfy, smell Keith's plant and play Tenten videogames.
2.Again, I cant stress this enough but we need to COOPERATE. Between Keith and Ten, I trust Tenten more. I know he can be violent but there something sinister when Keith is pissed.
3.So dont do anything that may result of Keith being pissed.
4.If you can, try to gain Tenten trust. Tenten is the more reasonable one here (i think) but again, its up to you on who you most comfortable with. One of them can be the voice of reason and will probably convinced the other to free you.
5.If you are lucky enough, maybe they will let you out. MISSION SUCCESS FINALLY (this is the 1st! *small dance*)
I dont think theres anything to add since the only way to get your freedom is by convincing them to free you.
But again, stubborn MC here:
Plan B
1. PISSED KEITH appeared: Dont go near him. Dont even talk to him. Be quiet. You need TenTen to be your bestie here. If Tenten is not there, avoid Keith at all cost. ANGRY KEITH = IMMENENT DANGER
2.Same with Angry TenTen. Go with Keith. They will not hurt you, but we dont want any NPC to get hurt just because of us. (Rip to the pizza delivery guy, sorry man. We're in the middle of kidnapping here)
3.If they are both angry with you, stay in your place. Wait until their anger subside. World peace will be back soon.
4.You know, just give up. You can convince them to let you go but you can never get rid of them. (Im not complaining 😁)
Okay, just want to clear things up *slowly fixing my eyeglasses*. Im not having favoritism here (bitch you have, dont deny) but im more on Tenten on this one rather than Keith. Tenten is an open book, when hes angry, hes angry. While Keith is truly complicated, you dont know when he is his true self. Like he is a god Tier when it comes to Manipulation. You cant even read what his thinking. (But I still love you Keith okay? We just need to get to know the real you, i mean real real). Tenten is like "if you dont love me, then go" while Keith is "you dont love me? No, you love me, you're just shy to admit it". But hey, every MC is different, you do you :) After all, we have one common goal here: suffocate these two with our love 😍
And this the end of my Survival Tips :D we can survive these boys, dont worry. But who said escaping? *evil laugh*
On the side note, between Friend's and Nova's survival guide, this is the most serious one 😆
Im out!
Rest in pieces (literally) pizza delivery guy 😔
Also you guys place so much trust in Tenebris, lmao. We'll see if that's still the case once the demo is out.
This was very entertaining to read, thank you
50 notes
·
View notes
Text
La Vie en Rose- Chapter 3
Summary: Some time has passed and our paranormal pair has proven to the higher-ups that they have what it takes to handle a bigger mission. Are these two up to the task?
Notes: Alright, time for the MEGA CHAPTER! Get ready for more spooks, magic rituals, and emotional bonding!
-First Chapter-
To both of their surprise, Wildcard and Bokor’s partnership seemed to be going well after the rockiness of its first day. Most of the pair’s assignments consisted of either investigating reports of hauntings in FOWL facilities, removing a ghost here and there (some of the reports were fake, either from someone seeing things that weren’t there or a malfunctioning invention making odd sounds or sparks), or stealing magical or supposedly-cursed artifacts from museums that High Command had plans for. All in all, they were fairly short, easy to handle missions that the two were able to knock out in just a few hours.
This left them with plenty of time before or after each assignment to relax on their own..or, as was becoming slowly more common, together. Bokor preferred going out to eat over getting take-out or pizza deliveries taken to his room, so he would go out for at least two of his meals every day and made a point of letting his partner know where he was going and asking if they wanted to join him. If Wildcard said yes then he’d offer to pay (which usually meant charming the staff into giving them free meals), but, if they said no, then he didn’t push the issue and gave them their space. He still had a bad habit of flirting too much and occasionally sticking his foot in his mouth during conversations, but he at least made it clear to Wildcard that he was trying, so that helped ease things between them quite a bit.
Things still weren’t perfect, per se- Bokor sometimes forgot to inform Wildcard of whatever plan he came up with or to ask for help because he wasn’t used to having someone who actually could help him, the two had bumped into each other or accidentally thrown something at/near the other a few times, and it was becoming increasingly clear to Wildcard that their partner had a temper that would flare up whenever things weren’t going his way- but the common ground they’d found made it easier to talk to each other both on and off the clock, and that slowly helped the two get used to each other’s habits and behaviors during missions.
One morning, however, Bokor invited Wildcard out to the café for breakfast as usual, and explained that the two had been given a much more involved assignment this time.
“There’s an outpost in the mountains that’s been vacant for a few weeks now.” Bokor explained after taking a sip of his usual coffee order. “Apparently, some idiot up there broke an ancient artifact said to contain many trapped souls from a war waged centuries ago, and now all of those spirits are haunting the outpost. A few mediums have already tried to clear it out, but they weren’t up for the challenge.” The hawk’s usual confident smirk found its way to his beak as he eyed his partner across the table. “Sounds like the perfect chance for us to prove that we’re the best FOWL has to offer.”
Wildcard’s eyes lit up at the opportunity, taking pause from drinking their juice. “A high stakes mission? It’s about time!” They beamed, already feeling excited from the idea of travel and getting to make a statement to the higher ups. Their fingers tapped at the table in excitement. “Don’t get me wrong, everything we’ve been doing up until now has been fun, but this- oh man. I can hardly wait.”
Bokor grinned when he saw his partner’s enthusiasm, clearly hoping for that kind of response. “I feel the same way, mes petites chéries.” He picked up one of the chocolate filled croissants from his plate and took a bite between each sentence. “I will have to order some tools and supplies since this will be a bit more involved than our usual work, so if you require anything let me know and I will add it to the order before we leave. Also, I prefer to stay on-sight for these types of mass exorcisms- saves time getting started and ending work every day- will that be alright with you, or would you rather book a motel for yourself?”
“Hmmm…” With the time they had spent together, Wildcard had certainly grown far more comfortable with their partner, to the point they enjoyed teasing him every now and again. They hummed as if in deep thought over the idea, even though they already knew their answer. “Haven’t gotten to camp in quite some time...you might need to put an order in for two sleeping bags then.” They held up two fingers and laughed gently.
The joke earned a quiet chuckle from Bokor. “I will see what I can do. If nothing else, I could always just order one extra large sleeping bag for both of us- I don’t think you would take up much room, petites.” One red eye winked at them, but his tone of voice made it clear that this was more good-natured playful teasing rather than flirting this time. He still flirted quite a bit when given the chance, but he’d come to enjoy Wildcard’s joking & teasing and responded in kind when given the opportunity.
Already sensing that type of response, Wildcard had crinkled up their straw wrapper into a ball and tossed it at him. “Oh, you would want that wouldn’t you.” They rolled their eyes and leaned on their hand as they looked at Bokor. “Honestly...I know you’ve got a literal charm to get people enamored by you, but it’s a miracle that with the actual relationships you’ve had, anyone could take you seriously for too long. You’re always joking around.”
Unlike their first one, Wildcard’s second joke earned a much weaker laugh and a smile that didn’t quite reach the hawk’s eyes. In fact, he glanced away in an attempt to avoid eye-contact altogether. “Aha, yes...I suppose that’s true…”
“Ah well...you are handsome and you do make people smile, so I guess you have that going for you.” Completely unaware of how awkward things had gotten, Wildcard went back to eat their fruit salad. “Anyway, any idea when we have to leave then?”
Bokor tried his best to shake off his partner’s previous comment, finishing his croissant before answering to give himself a moment to compose himself. “Whenever we want, honestly. That is the benefit of this type of work- no deadlines to meet.”
“Then could we go as soon as we can? I’d love to get out of the city more…” They twirled their fork between their fingers as they thought about it, softly smiling. “Fresh mountain air sounds lovely this time of year. I know we’ll be working, but even just getting to go somewhere new is a vacation in itself.”
Seeing the shrike so happy made the smile on Bokor’s face more genuine and returned the briefly lost joy to his eyes. “Weeeeeellll~” He drew the word out on purpose, his voice taking on a slight lilt as if he were about to let them in on a secret. “I may omit certain details from my mission reports from time to time…details, for instance, on exactly how long I need to stay on-location to finish my work. Not because I like getting paid to relax and take in the sights, of course. I would never do that.” He smirked in a playful way and winked at them.
The implications were not lost on Wildcard, a similar expression coming across their face as they twirled some of their long feathers with their finger. “Nooo, of course not. That would be oh so irresponsible after all, and we get called to do sooo many missions.” They laughed, feeling even more joyful than before. “I’ll have to pack a game or two for the occasion then.”
“I should warn you- I am quite the card shark.” Bokor chuckled as he finished his meal.
“Maybe so, but you’ve never played against a wildcard before.” The shrike smirked. “It’s not a perfected skill or anything...but I’m pretty confident at card games. Especially against cheaters. Used to beat them a lot in my training days.”
Bokor gave them a challenging smirk. “Oh really? Well, we will have to put those skills to the test, mes petites chéries.” He finished his meal and got up from his seat. “I have a few calls to make to get everything in order. Think you will be ready to go by noon?”
Wildcard followed him out. “I think I can manage that. I’ll have to reschedule some prior arrangements though clearly, you know how busy my calendar is.” They remarked sarcastically, leaning against Bokor’s arm for a moment. “Just knock on my door when it’s time to go, Henri.”
Bokor’s step faltered for an instant at both the other’s sudden proximity and the use of his first name. If they’d looked up at the right moment, they would have caught the slight flush to his cheeks and the way his eyes widened before he quickly schooled his features into one of his usual grins. “D’accord. I will try not to keep you waiting, petites.”
“You better not.” Wildcard laughed, doing a small twirl as they went the other way. “I just have to get some things of my own. And before you ask, no, I don’t need your ‘discount’ for it.” They shook their head in amusement. “See you later.”
Bokor watched them walk away with a smile, tipping his hat to them. “I shall count the seconds, mes chéries.”
Stopping by a nearby convenience store, Wildcard decided to use some of the first skills they were taught at FOWL: how to swipe and steal small objects and get away with it. They employed their abilities by getting themselves some snacks for the trip, both for themselves and some chocolate they knew Bokor liked having. It felt nice getting something for him, especially with the amount of times the man treated Wildcard to things. Of course, it was never out of his pocket, a brief glance to the cashier reminded Wildcard just how flustered and enamored the fox would get whenever Bokor visited.
Something about those interactions started to bother Wildcard, just a small bit. It wasn’t that they were against Bokor using a charm he worked hard to perfect so he could get people to give him what he needed, but something about seeing Bokor flirt with others and hear him say sweet things just made Wildcard feel different than they did when they first met. Back then, it was impressive and a bit annoying, but now it was just annoying and...something else. Something Wildcard didn’t want to think about too much.
They walked down the motel hallway, slowing down slightly as they passed Bokor’s door. Despite being practically neighbors, the partners never went into each other’s rooms. That was probably for the best, it let them have their privacy, but Wildcard did find themselves wanting to knock on his door just to see him again. A desire they shoved down in favor of going to their own room to pack, prioritizing that over something as trivial as company.
A few minutes before noon there was a heavy but rhythmic knock at Wildcard’s door, like a tune to an old song.
As much as they hated to seem desperate, Wildcard opened their door shortly after the knocking stopped, a shoulderbag in hand. “Hey, is everything good to go? No troubles?”
As expected, Bokor was waiting at the door with a large hiker’s backpack slung over one shoulder and a smile on his face. “Of course not, mes chéries. Everything has been taken care of and our supplies will be there when we arrive.”
“That’s a relief, I’d hate to be let down so soon.” Smiling, Wildcard locked their door and walked alongside their partner. “Any idea how we’re traveling to the mountains? I’m fine with walking there, but if you’ve got a better idea, I’d love to know.”
“Depends,” Bokor said while walking out of the motel with them, slowing his pace to make sure he stayed beside them. “How do you feel about bikes?”
That seemed to make Wildcard stop entirely. Before Bokor had a chance to ask what was wrong, Wildcard looked at him with an embarrassed expression. “I, uh…can’t ride a bicycle if that’s what you’re asking.”
That...actually made Bokor pause for a moment and stare at them. He blinked twice, needing a moment to process this information, before he covered his mouth to hold in a laugh. “O-Oh...that is good to know…” It took him a minute to compose himself so he could talk without laughing, but the grin still clear on his face made his amusement known. “I meant a more motorized variety- and do not worry, petites, I will be driving, so you can simply relax.”
Wildcard’s entire face turned red and pulled their collar over their head to hide in their shirt. “You’re such a jerk! Lead with that next time, dumbass!” They were clearly just flustered and not meaning what they were saying, but they still felt quite foolish from it all. They almost collided with a wall trying to walk away from the man before pulling their shirt down again.
Bokor chuckled quietly as he easily caught up to them, placing a hand on their back to help steer them away from the wall. “Désolée, mes petites. I will try to be more direct in the future.”
Giving a low hum of annoyance, Wildcard pouted. “Tu peux être une telle douleur...but I’m not complaining too much.” They rested their head against Bokor’s chest, still trying to shield away their blush until they could feel it fade.
Bokor couldn’t fight the fond smile that found its way to his face or the way his hand rubbed the smaller bird’s back in a surprisingly gentle gesture for such a large man. “Je vais essayer d'être plus doux à partir de maintenant, mes petites.” He held the door open for them as the two left the motel, taking them out to the parking lot in the back of the building.
“Well...in my defense, I haven’t ridden a motorcycle either...or know what kind you have.” Although they had gotten past their flustered embarrassment, a small blush remained on their cheeks. “Is it a sidecar situation where I hold the bags or do I have to hold onto you the entire trip?”
Fishing a set of keys from one of his pockets, Bokor winked down at them while leading the way through the parking lot. “Well, it does have a sidecar...but I certainly wouldn’t complain about the second option, either.” He eventually stopped in front of what looked like a large, custom-made motorcycle with long breezer-style handlebars, a deep red paint job with bird-skulls emblazoned on the side with black rose petals surrounding them, and a matching sidecar that seemed big enough for two people with how it was proportioned.
Wildcard gave a long whistle before climbing into the sidecar. "All the same to you, I think I'd prefer this. Maybe if you behave I'll think about riding with you on the way back." They winked before gesturing for Bokor to pass over his own bag.
“I will have to be on my best behavior, if that’s the reward I’ll get.” Bokor complied with the unspoken command and handed them his surprisingly heavy backpack. “Bon matin, mon coeur. J'espère que vous êtes prêt pour une séance d'entraînement.” He got situated on the bike and started it, revving the engine a few times with a pleased look on his face. “Hmmm, c’est beau.”
Bracing themselves, Wildcard found themselves hugging onto the large backpack. It was loud, they knew they wouldn't be able to speak over the engine so they took a deep breath in preparation before nodding that they'll be alright to go. A step outside their usual comfort zone, but one they were willing to try.
Bokor, though not saying anything directly, noticed and acknowledged Wildcard’s discomfort with the situation as a whole and started the ride off nice and slow for their sake. While he’d normally show off a few tricks or stunts to impress whoever his passenger happened to be, he felt that the shrike would not be as appreciative of his usual antics and decided to err on the side of caution for the time being. He made sure to keep the bike steady, go slow on the turns, and even obeyed the speed limit until they were safely out of town and out on the open road.
Once they were out of the bustling city, Wildcard managed to relax more, opening their eyes and looking at the scenery. While still keeping the bag close as something to latch onto, they at least let the breeze go over their face and feel the sunshine on them. They took a deep breath and visibly started to relax more, resting their head on the bag and contently letting themselves enjoy the ride.
Bokor saw the shift in his partner’s mood from the corner of his eye and allowed himself to relax a bit as well. Being out on the road on a nice day with the fresh air blowing past him was one of his favorite feelings in the world. Having someone whose company he actually valued enjoying the ride with him, however, made everything feel that much more vibrant and worthwhile.
By the time they had to go more off road to get to where they needed to (FOWL would never make their pathways easy after all), Wildcard snapped out of the almost nap they slipped into and sat upright as they were jostled. "Ugh, can't say I love this." They whined to themself, hoping for the ground to flatten out again soon.
Bokor searched the area for the markers he was told would lead them to the outpost, keeping his hands on the handlebars and steering them through the bumpy terrain as carefully as possible. He knew off-roading was not very pleasant and wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible for his partner’s sake.
Once the bike had come to a stop, Wildcard felt a bit dizzy, but otherwise fine. They dramatically collapsed back into the sidecar’s seat. “Well that was fun...until it wasn’t...but even then it wasn’t the worst.” They decided with a small laugh. “Thanks for taking it easy on me.”
“Of course, mes chéries, I wouldn’t want you to get sick on your first ride.” After parking the bike and putting the kickstand down, he stood and stretched his stiff limbs. Once he felt he had enough sensation in his hands and feet again, he offered his partner a hand up from their seat.
Wildcard smiled, taking Bokor’s hand as they got out and on their feet. As much as the comments they had gotten about their small height teetered on annoyance, there really was such a difference in size between them. They could feel it just by how easily Bokor’s hand could wrap around theirs, and didn’t even register that they were still holding onto him.
While they didn’t notice it, Bokor certainly did. Not wanting to ruin the opportunity by calling attention to the prolonged contact, he chose instead to take both his bag & theirs with his free hand and sling the packs over his shoulder. “Let’s go take a look at our temporary ‘home’.”
“A-ah, alright.” Wildcard started to feel the warmth from his hand and let theirs slip out casually, a faint blush on their face. “I can carry my stuff if you want, you’ve already got a lot. You seem to have practically packed your whole room in that bag.”
Although he missed the feeling of their hand in his, Bokor tried not to let it show as he walked with them towards the outpost’s entrance (keeping both bags for now). “You’re not far off, mes chéries. I tend to move around a lot. I rarely stay in one place for long before I get sent somewhere else..so, I have gotten used to living out of a single bag- it makes relocating easier.”
“I get that.” They gave a smile, holding their hands behind their back as they looked around. “I think I only really have one or two boxes of personal belongings at this point...most of which are clothes or small trinkets I thought were nice. Nothing I’d be heartbroken at losing or anything but still...things that are mine.”
Bokor nodded, understanding how they felt. “As long as you have something that is yours, it can make any space feel familiar.” He patted the pouch on his belt thoughtfully. “Anything that I feel that way about stays with me at all times.”
“A smart move to make for the traveling type.” As they laughed, they felt a chill suddenly pass over them that made them freeze. It didn’t take long for Wildcard to shake off the presence, but it certainly did kill the mood quite a bit. “Geez, we’re barely at the entrance and I can already tell this place is filthy.”
“You felt it too, hmh?” Bokor looked up at the building, his expression serious as if he were analyzing it despite not being able to see inside….then again, with the way his eyes glowed, it wouldn’t be too surprising to find out he could do that. “We are going to have a lot of work ahead of us..”
“Ancient spirits are so nasty compared to the ones who recently died. They fight back a lot more, don’t have intentions on leaving places, and don’t even start me on the ones that aren’t aware of modern social cues and ask for my gender.” Wildcard stuck out their tongue before pulling it back with a disgusted look on their face as if it tasted something bad. They covered their beak as the door opened. “Geez...I’m not going to relax until this is dealt with. Got a long day ahead of us…”
“I’ll set up a few safe rooms for us first. The kitchen, bathrooms, and where you sleep are always a priority for long-term living in haunted locations.” Bokor said while stepping inside and looking around. He spotted a stack of boxes and shipping crates a few feet from the door. “Those must be our supplies. I suppose I should be grateful they at least made it inside..”
“...it’s weird hearing that so officially. A ‘haunted’ location.” They held onto themselves, looking around the building as they spoke. “Everything I’ve ever done with spirits and ghosts was just accidental, or by happenstance. Before I met you, I never had to specifically be called on to do these types of jobs, to put myself into these kinds of situations.” Wildcard turned to look at Bokor. “Not that I mind at all, I’ve actually enjoyed getting to test my limits through this sort of thing. It’s just...an odd feeling. Getting to do this sort of thing properly.”
“You get used to it after a while, I suppose.” Bokor patted them lightly on the back with a quiet chuckle before going to inspect the boxes. “I have about thirty years of experience, so it is a bit more ‘normal’ for me.”
Wildcard simply gave a small laugh. “Trust me when I say I lost all meaning of the word ‘normal’ since the day I was born.” They walked over, peering in. “Sooo, what did you end up getting?”
“Some food, the sleeping bags, and toiletries.” He explained while checking and sorting the boxes, making a stack of what he just listed. “The rest are tools and materials for my rituals.” The next set of boxes he opened and organized contained a wide assortment of items: Bottles of dried flowers, herbs, and other dehydrated plants. Still living plants in small pots ranging from basic flowers and herbs to small shrubs and baby trees. Swatches and rolls of fabric along with spools of thread and twine in an assortment of colors. Some tools like a mortar and pestle, some knives, canisters of petrol, and boxes of matches. More morbid items such as jars of ashes or bags of bones marked with pictures of different animals. And, most oddly of all, a pair of domesticated black chickens- one rooster and one hen- in a crate with some chicken feed.
The shrike’s beak twitched even thinking what those could be used for. “Well, I’m glad that you’ve got your toys for the job. All I can do on my end is say I’ll be ready when you need me, Bokor Baron.” Wildcard gave a bow, as if a servant to their partner.
Bokor looked back at them and chuckled, amused by their little show. “I am sure your assistance will make a world of difference, mes chéries. After all, I usually have to prepare everything myself, and now I have you here. While I may not be able to teach you my own style of magic- the loa I pray to can be volatile to my own people that they’re related to, but they’re even worse when outsiders try to deal with them- having an extra pair of hands to help make charms, prepare materials, and handle other important steps will take a lot of pressure off of me.”
That, at least, seemed to make Wildcard relax more. The very idea that they were considered useful to someone else made them smile brightly. “Just talk me through the steps and I’ll do whatever you ask.” A faint memory rang through Wildcard’s head that made them giggle. “I live to serve.”
Grinning at his partner’s antics, Bokor shook his head and picked up several of the large boxes and crates with ease (mostly the ones containing plants and food). “Well then, you can ‘serve‘ me by helping me find the kitchen. I want to get these taken care of before they spoil.”
“Oh, right away, your royal highness.” Wildcard turned with a flourish, proudly walking down the hallway as they peered into the empty rooms. The outpost itself was a decent place, but it was clear the agents stationed here left in quite a hurry. “Wonder if any rations survived the time here?” They wondered out loud. “I can’t say I’m not used to eating canned foods and non-perishables. That’s all I got when I was on guard duty.”
“I refuse to eat that slop unless it’s an emergency.” Bokor’s face scrunched up in disgust at the thought. “I have endured that too many times already.”
"Desperate times and all that. I could only actually cook a few meals when I had actual ingredients." Wildcard looked over at him before looking away again, twirling their long feathers. "Maybe someday I could make something for us. If we get the chance, that is."
Bokor noted the shrike’s adorable behavior with a smile on his face. He wouldn’t dare say something and risk alerting them to how cute they were being, for fear of putting an end to it, but he’d certainly enjoy it in secret when they weren’t looking. “I think we will have plenty of chances, petites. I made sure to order lots of fresh ingredients.” He lifted the large boxes of food he was carrying in one arm with a proud smile on his face. “And I am no slouch in the kitchen, either.”
"I'm counting on that then. Just you and me…" Another chill went down Wildcard's spine, breaking the mood. "...or at least it's going to be real soon." They warned any spirit listening.
Bokor glanced around, taking mental note of any particularly strong or dark energies he sensed nearby. “I believe a proper smudging is in order when we find the kitchen- it will lure out the weaker ones and drive out their stench.” He made it clear to any spirits listening that this was meant as both an insult and a very clear threat.
Wildcard shuddered again, holding their arms once more. They were very used to cold temperatures but something about this place felt colder than the former northern base of FOWL. "Hey, Henri? In all your years of experience with this stuff, have you ever been possessed by another spirit?"
“Oh, plenty of times.” He answered as if it was the most casual thing in the world. “Accidentally a few times when I was younger and just starting out, but I learned to control it by the time I was thirteen. A big source of my power now comes from allowing spirits and loa I’ve formed contracts with to possess my body and lend me their strength. It can be dangerous sometimes..as I said, they can be volatile…sometimes they will refuse to give up control…sometimes they will try to hurt me or anyone nearby………..and sometimes they will even try to kill me and those around me…”
“Should I be worried?” They asked, peering into a room they could identify as a kitchen and gesturing Bokor to follow them in. “When you’re possessed- should I be worried that they want to hurt you?”
Bokor obeyed their unspoken command and followed his partner’s lead. “I would say to worry about yourself first, mes chéries. I can protect myself from harm easily, but I would hate to regain control and find out that I hurt you...or worse…” He set the boxes down once they were both in the kitchen and took a moment to think. There was a pensive, almost hesitant look on his face as he mulled something over in his mind. Eventually, he came to a conclusion for whatever mental debate he had been having with himself and reached into his pouch, pulling out a small but stiff, protective bag of dried and preserved five-pointed leaves- each one covered in different runes and symbols. “Here, hold onto these.” He handed the bag to the shrike carefully. “If it ever looks like I might hurt you or myself, take one of these and place it on my forehead.”
Wildcard took the bag with utmost care, looking between it and his partner. “And if I do that, you won’t be hurt?” Their eyes seem pleading, as if already upset by the notion of harming him. “Can you promise me you’ll try to not get hurt?”
Red eyes glanced away, not sure if he could say no when looking at the other bird’s pleading expression. “I...will do my best...but it would be best to use those as a last resort..” He was doing his best to pick his words carefully- he didn’t want to cause his partner any more stress over this. “This method is not ideal for me. It leaves me weak and vulnerable for a while...I become tired, lethargic, and have to rely on my charms and tools because my magic won’t work in that state...in all honesty, I normally would not give these to someone else because it would put me at such a disadvantage if they tried to kill me...but…” Mustering up the courage to meet his partner’s eyes again, Bokor looked back down at them with a trace of sincerity and vulnerability slipping into his normally-guarded gaze. “I...I trust that you would not do that to me…”
The shrike’s eyes changed from worried to...something else. Wonder? Surprise? It was hard to put into words. All they could do was delicately keep the leaves close to their chest as they processed the meaning of them. “...I’ll do my best.” They said quietly, placing the bag down on a nearby countertop in favor of wrapping their arms around Bokor. “I promise if it comes to that, I will protect you from harm. I won’t let anyone or anything hurt you.”
To say Bokor was surprised by the sudden embrace would be an understatement….but..well, it certainly wasn’t an unpleasant surprise, by any means. After taking a moment to process things himself, his large arms gently wrapped themselves around his partner. “Merci infiniment, mes chéries.”
Wildcard gave a small hum in acknowledgement, letting themself enjoy their partner’s warmth. They glanced to the floor as they enjoyed their moment before spotting a small, writhing spirit-like creature crawling near them like a bug. They stomped their foot down on it, hearing the telltale shriek before it faded away as if it was never there to begin with. Regrettably, Wildcard pulled away from their embrace. “Right. More talk later, for now we should get going or we won’t be able to deal with everything before nightfall. And I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how hard it’ll be being in a building of ghosts at night.”
“Right..” Bokor looked just as frustrated as his partner at the interruption and returned his focus to the boxes he’d brought in with him. “Let’s start with smudging the room- that should draw out anything else hiding in here.” Rifling through the supplies, he soon pulled out a few small sticks, some leaves and blades of grass, a jar of some crushed and powdered green plant, some twine, and a thin roll of cloth. Setting everything down on one of the counters, he started arranging everything within the cloth in a certain order that he seemed all too familiar with.
Since Wildcard didn’t know how to help him with these things, they focused on simply opening some of the cupboards and finding more of the small insect creatures to squash. They grabbed a spatula from a drawer and used it to whack at whatever they could spot while Bokor kept going with his preparations. At one point they ended up killing a regular fly accidentally, though they supposed it wasn’t a big loss.
Soon Bokor had finished arranging everything in the cloth and rolled it into a shape similar to a burrito. He grabbed some twine and used it to both tie the parcel shut and secure a small seashell to it near the end. Once he finished, he looked around and saw the opened cupboards. “You have good instincts, petites- opening every door and cupboard in the room is the first step for a smudging ceremony.”
“Yeah? Well, I’ve never been a fan of pests.” Their foot slammed down to emphasize their point, exhaling a breath of mild exhaustion. “It’s all yours then. I believe in you.” Wildcard stood in relative proximity, though kept their distance to let Bokor do his thing. They watched in interest, still holding their spatula weapon in preparation.
Bokor opened the rest of the cabinets and cupboards, making sure all doors in the room were open. After that was done, he quickly unplugged or removed the batteries from every electrical device in the room (including the smoke detector) that he could get to and turned off the lights. Though it was dark, the subtle red glow from his eyes made it easy to tell where he was and where he was looking- this became even easier when he pulled a matchbook from his pouch and lit one of the sticks long enough to set the end of the cloth bundle furthest from the shell on fire.
“Light one if you need to see, but do not turn the lights back on until I have finished.” Bokor said while tossing the matchbook to his partner. With his preparations done, he took his place in one corner of the room and began muttering silent prayers while allowing the flames on the bundle to burn the cloth-end away and reach the materials inside, producing a fragrant smoke that smelled of cedar, sage, tobacco, and something sweet but earthy. He then started slowly walking around the room clockwise, always making sure his left side was near the wall, and gently wafted the smoke around using movements from his free hand that synced up rhythmically with his prayers.
Even in the darkness, the whole thing fascinated Wildcard to watch. They sat up on a counter, idly letting their legs swing as they waited. They wondered how long it took Bokor to master his craft, and what types of people could have taught him to do these sorts of things. Even if in the end it doesn’t matter, Wildcard felt like learning more about their partner someday. They wanted to know him more.
Bokor focused on his prayers and wafting the smoke around the room, not reacting to his partner’s staring in the slightest with how focused he was on the task at hand...in fact, he seemed a little too focused at times..almost as if he were in a trance. This seemed to be common for him once he started one of his rituals; even during their first night together, when he was capturing the spirit that Wildcard had caught and controlled, the prayers he spoke so rhythmically had taken so much of his focus that he didn’t even realize his partner’s strained condition or react to them until he was finished.
This time seemed no different- his eyes becoming half-lidded and hazy as he repeated his prayers over and over again. Even as the doors and cupboards began to shudder, shake, and open & close at random, he paid them no mind. By the time he’d made it halfway around the room, many smaller spirits had begun to make themselves known either by shrieking as if they were burned and crawling out from their hiding places or falling out of the various cabinets and cupboards to wander around frantically for somewhere else to hide.
Deciding that they wanted to do something to be useful, Wildcard hopped off of the counter and went to deal with the ones they could catch. Simple, forceful whacks at the things they could see in the darkness, relying on sound more than sight. It wasn’t perfect however, as one small creature decided to jump straight onto Wildcard’s face, causing them to shriek in surprise. “You little-!” They hissed out before crushing it in their hand and shaking it off.
Bokor, oblivious to his partner’s plight, continued his ritual undisturbed by the shrieking and writhing spirits being crushed around him. By the time he finished his loop around the room and filled the kitchen with smoke, the bundle in his hand had burnt away to the point where the flames had reached the shell at the end. As the flames and smoke made contact with the shell, it glowed a deep red color and the smoke around the room shimmered with the same hue. The smoke began to twist and move as if it were alive and ensnared any spirits it came in contact with, pulling them all towards the center of the room.
Wildcard shifted and crawled backwards away from it, worried what might happen if they touched it themself. It was odd, suddenly they felt just as helpless as the dying spirits. They kept their eyes focused on the smoke, keeping themself out of harm’s way. As they did, a familiar and painful phrase echoed through their mind.
“It would be better if you just weren’t around here.”
They kept themself closed off, holding onto themself until things were over again. Focusing on their breathing and ignoring the sounds around them as they sat in the near darkness.
Once all of the spirits were gathered in the center of the room and what was left of the cloth bundle had burned down to the base, Bokor reached into his pouch and pulled out a small jar. With one hand he popped the jar open while the other moved in a swirling pattern. The smoke reacted to his movements almost instantly, gathering and condensing into a thick ball along with the ensnared spirits before following a sharp gesture that guided it all into the waiting jar. He quickly closed the lid to the jar as soon as the last bit of smoke entered it, closing his eyes as well and ending his prayers.
When he opened them again, the look in his eyes was back to normal as he checked for any traces of either leftover smoke or spirits. Seeing none, he found the lightswitch and illuminated the kitchen once more. “Bien, looks like that got all-” Bokor stopped mid-sentence when he spotted his partner and the state they were in. “Petities..?” He hurried to their side, looking them over with a concerned expression. “Are you alright, mes petites chéries? Were you hurt?”
With the lights back on, Wildcard managed to snap themself out of their state of mind. They looked up at Bokor, finally seeing his familiar gaze. “I-I’m alright, honest. Just got a little spooked by some of the stray spirits, they can get a little desperate wanting to live, you know?” They weakly joke, uncurling themself from the ball they were in and moving to stand up again. “Looks like you managed to clear everything out, that’s good. Means we can relax a little bit here now.”
Bokor, still not looking convinced that everything was alright, tried to think of something he could do to help improve his partner’s spirits- Oh...that gave him an idea.. “For the moment, yes….but new spirits can creep in if we do not take preventative measures.” He walked back over to the crate of fresh plants and pulled several of the smaller potted ones out, holding a couple of them out towards Wildcard. “Would you mind helping me secure the room? These need to be placed as close to each corner of the kitchen as possible.” While he wasn’t sure if it would help, he at least wanted to try making his partner feel useful and distracting them from whatever was bothering them.
Wildcard looked at the small plants with interest, putting down their spatula and taking them in hand. “Sure thing...these are cute in their own right.” They smiled, turning to look for a corner to place the pots.
“Though not as cute as you, mes petites chéries.” He teased with a playful wink before placing the jar of captured spirits on a counter and pulling what looked like a stick of homemade black chalk out of his pouch. Entrusting the plants to his partner, Bokor directed his attention towards the task of drawing intricate runes and symbols along each of the walls, the floor (making sure to place them in areas where they wouldn’t be stepped on easily), and even using his height to his advantage by standing on top of an empty counter to draw some on the ceiling.
Satisfied with their task, Wildcard craned their head back to look at Bokor. “I can only assume you leave the hapless fools that return to this place to deal with the mess later, and not expect me to try and get a mop up there when we’re done.” They laughed at the idea.
Bokor chuckled as he finished his scrawling on the ceiling. “While that would be entertaining to watch, we are not janitors. If they want this place clean, then they can clean it themselves.” He stepped down from the counter with a smirk. “Besides, it’s fun freaking them out and telling them it’s dangerous to remove the runes or plants too soon.”
“You can be such a jerk. I love it.” Wildcard continued to laugh, wiping a small tear from the corner of their eye. “Well, since this room is secured, can I get you anything? A drink or snack or something?”
Bokor looked at the boxes of food he’d brought in. “We should probably put those away, first- no telling how long they were left at the door. It also would not hurt to see how much they left us to work wi-” He went to the fridge and started to open it, but the instant he saw inside he reeled back with a look of disgust & horror on his face and slammed the door shut like something might jump out at him. “Fils de pute! Quelques semaines, mon cul! Répugnant!!”
“I take it no one bothered to clear out the fridge before leaving?” They shook their head, reaching into their pocket to pull out a scarf and gloves they kept on them and tied the scarf around their beak. “I may not be a janitor, but I’m used to cleaning after others. Even learned from Ammonia Pine herself. Stand back, I’ll clear it out.”
Bokor gladly backed away from the fridge, one hand over his beak as if trying not to be sick all over the recently cleansed kitchen. “Merci, petites...ugh….I cannot stand people leaving that sort of mess...disgusting…”
Before opening the fridge door, Wildcard looked at Bokor. They stepped over to a cupboard they opened, pulling out a medical kit they spotted earlier and pulled out a small bottle to which they carried over to their partner. “Here, it’s rubbing alcohol. If you feel nauseous, sniff it carefully and you’ll snap out of it. If it’s more like you feel you’re going to be sick and throw up instead, start humming.”
Bokor took the bottle with a small, grateful smile. “Is first aid another one of your skills, mes petites? If so, I think I might need to get sick so I can have such a lovely nurse taking care of me.” He laughed quietly, trying to distract himself and recover some of his lost pride from his earlier reaction rather than just flirt this time.
“I’ll have to rent a costume for the occasion.” They rolled their eyes and gently pushed Bokor away from the fridge area for his own sake before pulling a trash can over and getting to work. “No, honestly reading medical manuels was one of the time killers I had working up north. Paid off whenever I had to take care of myself alone.”
“That is certainly a handy skill to have in your arsenal.” After taking a few breaths to steady himself, Bokor started sorting through the food in the boxes to get everything ready by the time Wildcard finished- just because he couldn’t stomach going near a filthy fridge of moldy food didn’t give him an excuse to sit around and let his partner shoulder the workload, after all.
As tempting as it was to give Bokor a play by play of every furry, blue or otherwise completely disgusting item pulled out from the fridge, Wildcard decided to be merciful and quietly and quickly worked to clear it all out. The freezer would be fine, they noted, but once they emptied the fridge’s contents into a tied up garbage bag, they looked under the sink for more cleaning equipment to wipe things down.
“Well, if it’s any consolation, they did leave us a few cases of beer here. I’d think those will have lasted.” Wildcard said as they went to scrub. “Should just be another moment, dear.”
Bokor, distracted by his own task, almost didn’t notice the pet name….almost. “Bien. I should be-” Once his brain caught up to what was said, he stopped for a moment to look at his partner. “What was that last part..?”
“Hm?” They looked out from the fridge, tugging down their scarf in case they were muffled. “I said I’ll just be a moment.”
“No, after that.” Bokor smirked, feeling more confident now that he had a moment to process what he’d heard. “You said something that started with a ‘d’ and ended with an ‘ear’, mes petites chéries.”
“...where did you hear me say ‘disappear’?” Wildcard looked positively puzzled, tilting their head slightly. “I don’t want you to leave or anything like that.”
“You- no, you d-” Bokor had to take a moment to collect himself. Was his partner being serious right now, or were they just that good at lying with a straight face? He honestly couldn’t tell… “You said ‘dear’, chéries- ‘Should just be another moment, dear’.”
“Did I?” They thought it over. “Huh, maybe I did. Sorry about that, must’ve been a slip of the tongue.” Wildcard stood up, finished with their work and went to wash their gloves in the sink. “Though in my defense, you call me petites, chéries, and all sorts of other nicknames on a daily basis.”
“I never said I disliked it.” The hawk was quick to add, not wanting his partner to think he had any problem with it. Quite the opposite, actually- he really enjoyed it. Maybe a little more than he should have, if he were being honest with himself…
“Well, I’ll try to pay more attention to what I call you.” They shook off a bit of the water dripping from their hands before looking Bokor dead in the eye and simply drying their hands off on his shirt with a smirk.
The shrike’s bold action caught Bokor completely off-guard, leaving him sputtering in disbelief for a moment. “Wh-? You-! I-!” He eventually just started laughing- a much louder, brighter one than the usual quiet chuckles he’d leave rumbling in his chest. “You...You are truly one of a kind, mes chéries...but that’s what I love about you..”
While his laughter made Wildcard smile, his words made their head shoot up to look at him. Their face turned red as they let those words cycle in their mind, gray hands shaking a bit before they turned away entirely. “W-Well! We- uh- w-we don’t have all day! Unless you want to sleep in the kitchen, we should try and clear out some more rooms and, uh…” They trailed off, unsure what to even say.
Bokor, still in a good mood from the smaller bird’s antics, failed to notice their suddenly flustered state and simply patted them on the back. “Do not worry, petites, we will get the bathroom and our ‘bedroom’ cleared before nightfall.” He quickly put the food in the now-clean fridge, humming to himself as he organized everything to his liking.
Hearing the phrase ‘our bedroom’ so soon after hearing the flirtatious man compliment them so fondly made Wildcard all the more flustered. They tried to shake whatever thoughts came to mind and smacked their cheeks to focus. “Grand secousse… I’m going to scout ahead. I’ll try and find a room and bathroom near here for us to use, then come back.” Wildcard didn’t wait for a reply and simply darted out of the kitchen down the hall.
Bokor looked back at them over his shoulder as they left. He was confused by their sudden shift in mood, but didn’t get the chance to say anything before they left. His partner certainly was an odd one….but, like he said, he liked that about them, so he shrugged it off and quickly finished filling the fridge and cupboards with food.
Wildcard tried to calm themselves down, trying not to be completely awkward over the ordeal. They hadn’t heard people say they liked them much- let alone loved things about them. That coupled with some sparks of affection Wildcard had towards their partner made it all be...a handful for them.
“Keep it together, keep it together…” They warned themself, fanning their heated face as they looked around the rooms. Thankfully, they hadn’t seen any vicious or relatively strong spirits in the outpost yet, just more of the small ones like in the kitchen. Poking their head into one room, it seemed to be the staff lounge, with an ensuite bathroom and some couches in the corner. “Okay...okay this will be good.”
Deciding this, Wildcard turned to go back, only to come face to face with a drooling spiritual monster. They screamed out of pure shock more than anything, instinctively jumping backwards and punching through the spector’s face.
Bokor heard the scream right as he was finishing with the food and his head shot up, barely missing the top of the fridge in the process. “Wildcard?!” He ran towards the sound of their voice without hesitation (thankfully the momentum he gathered made the fridge shut behind him, because that was the last thing on his mind at the moment), snatching the bag of leaves they left on the counter along the way just in case things turned dire.
Thankfully, by the time Bokor arrived, he was met with a comical sight.
“You stupid, disgusting, son of a-!” Wildcard was cursing like a sailor as they controlled the spirit that spooked them and threw it around every wall in frustration. It was clear from their red face that they felt some form of embarrassment and were dealing out the emotion through spiritual violence.
Once they realized that Bokor was around, Wildcard grimaced and finished the spirit off by smacking it down hard against the floor repeatedly until it faded away from existence. They breathed heavily as they worked to catch their breath again. “...I was startled. I hate jumpscares.” They quietly explained.
Bokor had been prepared for any number of possibilities when he heard his partner’s startled scream earlier: A fight against a dangerous spirit. A greedy ghost trying to possess them. Even the worrying possibility of them being injured.
Seeing the shrike brutally pummel the specter so flawlessly was not something he’d immediately thought of, but it was quite a sight. All he could do once it was finished was stare at them for a moment and breathe a quiet, almost awestruck “incroyables” before shaking himself out of his daze and finally walking up to them. “Are you okay, mes chéries?”
“Yeah, I’m alright…” Taking a deep breath, Wildcard relaxed. “Sorry for worrying you like that. But I did find a room for us to use. You think this works?” They hooked a thumb behind them to indicate the breakroom, acting as casual as ever despite their earlier display.
Bokor opened the door to the breakroom and looked inside. “This is perfect, petites- an excellent find. Plus, we can save time by clearing out two rooms at once.” He turned back to them with a smile. “You really are something else. Having you here is making this go so much more smoothly than my other jobs.”
That made Wildcard smile, and twirl some of their black feathers. “Well...I like helping you. So...I’m just glad you want me around in the first place, you know? It’s nice being useful...”
“You are extremely useful, mes chéries.” One large hand settled gently on the smaller bird’s shoulder, a genuine smile on the taller one’s beak. “I have had many partners since I joined FOWL, but none of them were of your caliber. Normally, I have to do most of the work myself and re-clear a room because they’ve run off somewhere before I was done sealing it or gotten attacked by some low-level spirit that was out of their league. You have already proven yourself to be stronger, braver, and infinitely more useful than all of them put together.”
They looked at him warmly, a small hand resting over top of Bokor’s and stroking the back of it with their thumb. “You’re certainly the first person to tell me that sort of thing...thank you, Henri. I’m glad to have met you.”
“As am I, mes chéries.” He gently took their hand and leaned down to give it a kiss before opening the door to the breakroom for them. “Now, let’s prepare our room, shall we?”
Wildcard nodded, allowing themself a moment to calm their fluttering heartbeat before following in. “You know, if there’s a lot more ghosts like that drooling disgusting bastard earlier, I might have to ask you to make me some sort of spiritual flamethrower so I can just decimate them. Even an amplified baseball bat would be nice- I just want to destroy them.” They punched at the air as emphasis.
Bokor grinned and chuckled at the imagery. “With the right plants and tools, I think I could make that happen.” He started opening any doors in the room and unplugging any easily accessible electronics. “If nothing else, the baseball bat could work if we found one made from cedar.”
“I’ll put that on my birthday wishlist then.” They smirked, going to open some cupboards themself to help out. To their immense annoyance though, some of the handles were just slightly out of their reach, leaving them to hop on the tips of their feet to try and reach them.
Bokor noticed this and walked over with a quiet chuckle. “Having trouble, mes petites?”
“Shut up, not everyone is born a skyscraper, you know.” Wildcard managed to get the last tall cupboard open, turning to look at Bokor with a mild glare and their hands on their hips. “I can handle myself from down here just fine.”
“Never said you could not, petites.” He said with an amused grin and a wink. “But, for the record, I do not mind helping you reach some of them.”
“Yeah, I know, I just figured I’d do them anyway.” They huffed, clearly not actually upset and relaxing more. Realizing the room was in a similar state as the kitchen now they glanced away. “So uh...you’re going to do what you did before right? With the smoke?”
“Smudging.” He answered. “And yes, I just need the supplies from the kitchen.”
“In that case, maybe we could divide and conquer.” Wildcard looked around at the smaller spirits lurking. “Despite the reports, this main floor seems relatively easy in terms of the ghosts. If I went off to deal with some of the ones hanging around the rest of the floor while you did your smudging here, then we’ll both be making progress and can take on the second floor together. I feel like that’ll help us with time and energy.”
Bokor seemed hesitant at the suggestion, but thought it over and eventually nodded. “Okay…but call me if you need anything or if anything worse shows up.”
“Don’t worry, you’ve already proven that you'll come to me like a knight in shining armor if I call out.” Smiling fondly, Wildcard stepped forward and rested their head against Bokor’s chest, hearing a faint heartbeat. “Be safe while I’m gone.”
The rhythmic thrumming in his chest picked up a bit when the shrike laid their head on him, but Bokor tried to keep his voice even as he placed a hand on their back gently. “You as well, mes petites chéries.”
“I will. Promise.” They replied quietly before pulling themself away. They had a slight skip in their step as they left the room. “Try not to miss me too much! And don’t let me have all the fun either!”
Bokor chuckled quietly and called after them. “Hey, save some fun for me!” He shook his head but the smile on his face never faded as he went back to gather the necessary materials and start the ritual.
Time went on, with both agents set on doing what they were tasked with doing. Bokor performed the smudging with no issues while Wildcard ran around the base wrecking any spirit in sight, even using a big one to swallow the smaller ones in the process. It felt like a twisted game in a way, one that Wildcard was happy to be winning at.
They kept to their word and didn’t go to the higher floors where they felt stronger presences lurking, likely the soldier spirits that were released all that time before. They weren’t some foolish overconfident fighter, they knew their limitations and knew they’d need their partner for them to successfully handle that floor. But the notion did excite them, after all, the sooner the base was cleared, the sooner the pair could enjoy their vacation. For now though, they regrouped back with Bokor in the break room, bringing their own bag in and holding out some water bottles.
“Here, drink up.” They offered one bottle to him before taking a swig of their own. “Hah...I don’t know much about your practices, but I can only imagine it can take a lot out of you. I wouldn’t want you dehydrated.”
Bokor managed to finish the smudging as well as get the runes and symbols drawn across every wall of the room by the time Wildcard returned. As he finished placing the last of the potted plants in the corners, he looked at his partner with a grateful smile. “Merci, mes chéries.” He took the bottle and quickly gulped down half of it with a satisfied sigh. “This work can be taxing on me…especially all of the smoke- that will dry out your throat quickly if you're not careful.”
"I can imagine…" Wildcard looked to be in thought before reaching into their bag and bringing out the chocolate bar they bought for Bokor earlier. "This was going to be for after we were done, but you could use the sugar boost. These are the ones you like, right?"
Bokor was surprised at first, but soon took it with a smile. “You have a good memory, mes chéries.”
"I try to pay attention when I can, though I think you give me too much credit." They softly laughed with a blush, going to sit on a nearby couch for a short break.
Bokor sat heavily on another couch, easily taking up half of it. “So,” He started while unwrapping his chocolate bar and taking a bite. “How does the rest of this floor look?”
"Pretty good, didn't seem to have any problems yet. I mostly just cleared out whatever I saw, but none of them were worse than that one I encountered earlier." Wildcard pointed up. "Upstairs is where things will get a little risky I'd think. Likely where the source of it all is, the boss level if you will."
He nodded in agreement while taking another bite. “Just what I was thinking. I feel a lot of strong energy up there...not surprising since most spirits tend to linger in either the highest or lowest point of a building, depending on what type they are.”
“Makes sense.” They tapped at their water bottle, thinking things over. “I’ll admit, I don’t exactly have a lot of experience fighting ancient spirits. I’ve only really dealt with recently dead ones in my life, anything else I simply ignored. Not much point telling someone about it when you’re the only one who sees them, and most of the time they weren’t doing anything anyway. So, I’m not sure how things will go for me up there, but I’ll try to not get in your way and do my best to hold my own.”
“I have confidence in your skills, mes chéries, you have a very strong spirit and that will serve you well.” He finished his chocolate bar and tossed the wrapper in a wastebasket across the room. Afterwards, he took a moment to think before looking back at them again. “I do not usually do this...but..it might be best for me to explain some of my rituals and practices to you. If you know what to expect, then that might make it easier for you to know what to do and plan around it...and, if you feel comfortable with it, having an extra pair of hands to help get things ready would make everything a lot easier for me when a stronger spirit shows up.” As an afterthought, he quickly held a hand up in a pacifying gesture. “But, again, it’s only if you feel comfortable helping with it and want to help- I won’t hold it against you if you don’t. I know my practices can be…..unsettling, for some…” Red eyes glanced away as he finished his statement.
Although he didn’t say it outright, it was clear from the look in his eyes and his body language that most would have (and probably had) turned down his offer for this very reason: People found his rituals, charms, prayers- his practices in general- to be unsettling and maybe even a bit creepy. Given what the shrike had seen so far, it probably wouldn’t be too hard to believe that others would be bothered by it but the treatment had clearly left a mark on Bokor, even if he tried to hide it.
While Bokor was looking away, Wildcard got up to sit on the couch just next to him. They looked up at him with focus and attention. “You’re not unsettling to me. Any fear I have just comes from ignorance and worrying about you. I want to know more so I can get past that, and be a better partner for you.” There was no trace of doubt in their eyes, no sign of lies.
Bokor was surprised when he felt the weight shift on the couch and looked down to meet the other’s eyes. The conviction and honesty they showed was certainly a surprise...but, it was a pleasant one. The subtle traces of anxiety and worry left his expression and a small but grateful smile took their place with ease. “Merci infiniment, mes chéries.” He took their hand in his and gave it a light squeeze to express his gratitude without overstepping any boundaries.
Smiling, Wildcard moved to lean against the man comfortably. “Talk me through it. I’m listening.” They reassured as they gave a light squeeze back.
Bokor settled in comfortably, a fond smile on his face as he started his long and detailed explanation. He gave vivid descriptions of everything he could think of- from the rituals he performed and the ghosts they worked best on, to the charms and tools he used and why certain materials or patterns were necessary for them to work properly. He even told them of the different healing arts he’d studied and what kinds of salves, potions, and elixirs he could make, as well as what he usually carried on him. It was clear from the animated movements he made and the gleam in his eyes that he’d spent most of his life studying and perfecting his craft because it was something he was truly passionate about.
Wildcard watched him go with fond amusement. He seemed so lively all at once that the joy felt contagious. They felt at ease, just listening to Bokor ramble on about topics for far longer than either anticipated while their hand moved to idly trace circles along their partner’s shirt. Something about his warmth made Wildcard happy just sitting there next to him.
If Bokor noticed the other’s idle touching, he chose not to comment on it. Instead, he continued with his explanations and let the arm closest to his partner rest along their shoulders and back comfortably.
It was a bit odd for him, personally: Normally, he’d do such a gesture on purpose as a gateway to more physical contact with less than pure motives in mind…...now, however, with Wildcard, he did it simply because he felt comfortable with them and enjoyed the contact as it was. Having someone he could talk to so openly about his voodoo and hoodoo practices, as well as someone whose company and contact he genuinely enjoyed, was a very new experience for him, but one he quickly found himself enjoying more than he ever thought he would.
At one point, Wildcard’s gaze drifted over to the clock on the wall, and their smile faded away with realization. “Oh... it’s gotten late already. I didn’t even notice the time pass.” They said that, but they didn’t seem to make any effort to move quite yet. “I suppose we should go put some of your skills to work now, huh?”
Bokor finally looked at the clock as well, feeling a bit disappointed at the thought of getting up and losing the physical contact he had with the small shrike. “Oh...I guess…” He quickly cleared his throat, trying to cover up the disappointed tone that had slipped into his voice. “I mean...we could, if you want to………...or we could spend the night prepping a few charms, have some dinner, and get an early start tomorrow..?” He wasn’t looking for excuses to stay on the couch and relax with his partner. Nope. Of course not. That would be ridiculous. He was just….being pragmatic! Yeah, that’s what he was doing! That was his story and he would stick to it with his dying breath if need be.
“Hmmm…” They thought it over, letting their eyes close and nuzzled against him. Wildcard really did feel comfortable here, and a bit tired from their work earlier. “...I suppose we could do that. We’re at least safe in the rooms we prepared after all.” They softly laughed, not used to simply ignoring work, but not finding it in them to complain about it.
Bokor’s expression brightened instantly when they agreed. “Exactly! No need to rush and exhaust ourselves, after all. Plus, this will save us time tomorrow by having the charms ready ahead of time- we will easily make up for any time lost tonight.”
“Yes, I’m positive that’s your only logic right now, Henri.” Wildcard teased before finally moving themself away. Not standing up, but at least sitting upright and stretching their arms up with a quiet whine. “Suppose the real question now is craft or dinner first?”
“Most of the plants we need are still in the kitchen, so we could start gathering everything and decide from there.” He suggested, reluctantly moving his arm off of them so they had freedom to stretch as they needed.
“Mmm, sounds good.” As the finished, Wildcard stood up, turning to boop at Bokor’s beak with a finger. “Come on then, can’t have us falling asleep on the couch like this. Maybe later we can get drunk and rest then.”
Bokor chuckled quietly and stood as well, stretching his arms above his head. “I doubt there’s enough alcohol here to get me drunk, but it would be fun to see how many drinks it takes to have you falling over yourself, petites.” He booped them back, a playful smirk on his face.
“You don’t know- maybe one of my hidden talents is a strong immunity to alcohol.” Wildcard giggled playfully.
“We shall see.” He elbowed them very lightly on the way out of the room. “Though, if you manage to drink ME under the table, then that goes beyond talent- you would have to be immortal….which, at this point, I think I could believe with how amazing you are.” He held the door for them with a wink, letting them leave first.
Wildcard placed a hand to their chest in an overly dramatic way, giving a short curtsy before going out of the doorway. “My, what a gentleman...surprised some lucky person hasn’t swept you off your feet already.”
“Oh, plenty have tried.” Bokor followed them out, having to lean down to get through the doorway without hitting his head. “But none of them were up to my standards.”
"Is that right? Aren't you mister popular then." They tried to keep the bitterness out of their voice at the idea. Bitterness that shortly turned to souring their mood and left them shaking it off.
Bokor merely shrugged as he walked with them. “I have no interest in weak-willed people who fall for me simply because of a charm. Plenty of people have asked me out under its influence, but their feelings are artificial. The charm is handy for getting what I want, but it also shows who is really worth my time and who is not.” He sighed and shook his head with a slight frown. “Unfortunately, everyone else who has shown immunity to it has either been some sort of immortal creature who found me ‘interesting for a mortal’- and I do not like essentially being seen as one of those extra intelligent pets that people record for entertainment- or they outright detest me. It is….rare for someone to genuinely enjoy my company without looking down on me…”
The small scowl they had before left their face entirely, feeling a bit of shame for being envious of something that clearly bothered Bokor. “...well, take it from someone who has never had anyone interested in them romantically; it’ll hopefully happen someday.” Wildcard weakly laughed. “You’re a wonderful person to be around in my opinion...you’ll find someone you’ll like too, I know it. You’ll find your equal.”
Bokor’s frown lifted into a small smile when he heard that, looking back down at his partner. “Merci, mes chéries. I...hope you are right..” He placed his hand on their shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. “And, for what it’s worth, the fact that no one has asked you out already is a cosmic level tragedy. Clearly, you have not been around anyone with good taste so far. You are smart, talented, strong, and beautiful- anyone lucky enough to capture your heart would be the most fortunate person in the universe.” His observation ended with his hand sliding down their arm to their hand, gently grasping it, and bringing it up for a light kiss.
Wildcard stared at him, a faint blush on their face and almost looking like they could cry. “...you know, you’re the only person who has ever called me beautiful. And you actually make me believe it. So...thank you for that.” They bit their beak as if trying to keep from saying something else.
Bokor smiled more, a soft laugh in his voice. “I will say it as many times as you want until you can believe it yourself- you deserve it.”
They brought their hand back, dragging both down their face as they took a deep breath to calm themself more. “C-come on...we can’t just stand around here all day with you complimenting me like that. There’s more important things to do...”
“While I disagree with that,” One red eye winked at them before Bokor continued walking to the kitchen with them. “I will stop for now….but I can’t guarantee I won’t start again later.”
“Henri, you kill me…”
As they re-entered the kitchen, the decision on what to do first was made simply by hearing Wildcard’s stomach growl. Dinner first, charm construction afterwards. The pair looked through their supplies to try and decide what to make, with a teasing moment involving the shrike implying the fridge might still have disturbing things in it, only to reassure things were fine.
Bokor was less than thrilled with the idea of seeing more unnaturally fuzzy abominations in the fridge, but only shuddered a little before opening it and looking over their available ingredients. He began rattling off possible recipes for what he could make- some of it was simple diner food, some was classic French cuisine…and a surprisingly large amount of it was French-Creole or Cajun cuisine.
“I have to admit, I haven’t tried most of those things.” Wildcard’s eyes sparkled in wonder. “Would you be willing to make your favorite for me? I could help with preparing things with your instruction. I’m no Osprey, but I’m pretty alright with a knife.”
“Well, in my opinion, nothing beats a good old fashioned pot of jambalaya.” He decreed while gathering the necessary ingredients, but hesitated before touching the peppers. “How much heat can you handle, petites?”
“I can handle up until ghost peppers I think, been a long time since I challenged myself.” They gave a shrug with a smile. “What? I can handle intense flavors. And spice is my favorite.”
“Comment es-tu si merveilleux?” A quiet chuckle rumbled in his chest and he grabbed a few of the peppers at his disposal. “I’ll have to make it spicy, then- good creole food should always have some kick to it.”
“It’s nice that you have a lot of connection with your heritage like this.” Wildcard remarked, getting out some pots and rinsing them simply. “Where I’m from, one of our trademarks is eating snow with maple syrup. It’s as sweet as you imagine, but it’s surprisingly not bad.”
“Really? I have to say, I'm not used to seeing snow, let alone eating it.” Bokor grabbed a knife and cutting board, leaning over Wildcard easily to give them a quick rinse. “Maybe we can visit sometime and you could show me around.”
“I’d be happy to. Just try to wear something warm if we do.” Laughing, Wildcard leaned their head back against Bokor’s exposed chest from his low collar shirt. “Something tells me you don’t do too well in colder climates, my Henri.”
The “my Henri” certainly did not go unnoticed by the taller bird and it made something warm bloom within his chest, especially with the way their head rested against him. “I am not too worried...after all, if I get too cold, I’ll have you to help warm me up.”
“My, first you call me beautiful, now you say I’m hot. What am I supposed to get from that?” Still softly laughing, Wildcard moved away, ducking under Bokor’s arm to dry off the pots they were washing. They kept to their playful tone. “Careful, keep that up and I might get the wrong idea about our partnership.”
Bokor prepared to say something back- something playful and flirtatious that would likely make the shrike laugh or roll their eyes and he would enjoy the reaction either way- but was stopped by an errant thought: Or maybe it would be the RIGHT idea.
The more he thought it over, sneaking little glances at his partner the whole time to see their smiling face and gauge how it made him feel, he realized that he wasn’t necessarily opposed to the idea. Wildcard definitely met his requirements for a romantic partner- as he said earlier, they were smart, had a strong spirit, were talented, they seemed to like him, and he found them quite beautiful. On the other hand, though, he had noticed the negative reactions they tended to have when it came to his flirting with others, and he wasn’t sure if that was because they thought it was annoying, or, perhaps, there was a slim chance they were jeal-
“Merde!” He hissed when he felt a sudden stinging pain along his finger. Looking down, he noticed that he’d gotten careless while scrubbing the blade with his fingertips and accidentally cut his thumb. Quickly setting the knife and cutting board on the counter to avoid getting them dirty again, he grabbed a paper towel from a nearby roll and tried to staunch the bleeding.
Alarmed by the sudden sound, Wildcard’s eyes went straight to the injury. “Henri-!” They chose to skip over any instinctual nagging they felt like saying about how he should’ve been careful, deciding the situation right now was more important. Thankfully, the medical kit they found was still out on the side and they brought it closer as they gently held onto Bokor’s arms. “Come on, let me see that…”
“It...It’s just a scratch..” His attempts at reassuring them were easily undermined by the forced smile on his face and the rapidly spreading red color overtaking the white paper around his wound.
"Oh, come off it. You don't have to act tough around me, and I definitely don't want you to lie to me." Guiding his wrists over, Wildcard pulled away the stained paper and examined it. "Ouch. It didn't go too far, but I can imagine that would sting. It'll be alright though, we just have to clean it first."
Moving the other items out of the sink, Wildcard brought Bokor's injured thumb under the water, letting the blood run off it. Their gaze was focused, their own fingers gently massaging the large palm they held. Satisfied, they turned off the sink and searched the first aid kit for a simple disinfectant spray. "This will just sting for a moment." They warned before applying it.
A muffled grunt managed to make its way past his beak, but otherwise it stayed sealed to avoid letting out any further hissing or expletives like before. He was already embarrassed enough for being so careless, he wouldn’t make it worse by complaining or whimpering like a child.
"There, the worst of it is over." Still keeping care, Wildcard took a bandage and made sure to apply it in a way that wouldn't get in the way of where the thumb would move. "Oh, and one last thing-" Not leaving time to react, Wildcard quickly kissed at the bandage, laughing quietly as they did. "To help with the pain. It's not a superpower or charm or anything, just something comforting I suppose."
Bokor felt his face heat up and silently prayed that the flush stayed closer to the brown feathers where it would stand out less. Still, despite the flush of red across his face, he managed a smile. “I don’t know, mes chéries, you seem to be my luckiest charm lately.”
"If that really were the case, you wouldn't have gotten hurt at all." Still holding Bokor's hand gently in their own, Wildcard looked at him. "Are you alright?"
Bokor offered them a reassuring smile, a gentle squeeze of his hand around theirs accompanying it. “I’m fine, petites- I have had far worse than this.”
"I don't doubt it but…" They sighed, pulling away and closing the first aid kit. "If something is distracting you like that, I'd like to help how I can."
Darn it, now he felt guilty for making them worry… “It’s nothing important. My mind just…wanders sometimes.”
Wildcard looked at him, reaching up and brushing back some feathers from Bokor’s face. “Well...try not to wander too far or I won’t be able to find you, alright?” They managed a smile, turning away and going back to drying the pots.
Bokor looked down at the shrike with a soft, thoughtful expression. “Do not worry, mes petites chéries…I will always find my way back to you, I promise.” Trying not to think too much about it and risk working himself up again, he leaned down and gave the other bird a light kiss on the top of their head before drying off his own dishes so they could both get to work.
The kiss made Wildcard’s world shake, though they tried their best to not show it. Silently they went to focus on preparing their meal, occasionally talking to get things going. It was a positive side of their strong partnership that they didn’t stumble around one another in the kitchen and were easily able to sense each other’s presence. They could effortlessly work around each other and got the jambalaya to the point of stewing.
Wildcard stared into the pot as they stirred it, watching each bubble as they thought things over. They really felt more at home with Bokor than they’ve ever felt with anyone...and it scared them. It scared them to think of what that exactly meant.
Not too surprisingly, Bokor was going through a similar internal dilemma while making a quick and easy side of cornbread to go with their meal. He’d never had anyone he felt so comfortable working around...well, not since-
He quickly shook that train of thought away. Those traitors did not deserve to be in his thoughts. They’d all decided that he wasn’t worth keeping around and made him leave without a second thought, so he would show them the same courtesy. Just like everyone else in his life since then..
The thought of past relationships gone wrong in his life brought the hawk’s mood down more than a little bit and caused his train of thought to spiral somewhere dark and depressing. Wildcard liked him now, but how long would that last? Would they eventually tire of his antics? Decide that one ritual or practice was too creepy to tolerate? Tell him they needed a short break and make false promises for calls that never happened? Or would they grow to either fear and/or detest him to the point of making a subtle attempt on his life?
While he didn’t honestly believe the last one was a possibility- not with his sweet and caring partner who fretted over a cut from a kitchen knife- the others still felt like an all-too-possible reality looming in the horizon...one that he hoped to avoid as long as possible, but still an inevitability he feared may come to pass.
Sneaking a side-glance at the shrike as they stirred the stew on the stovetop, Bokor felt an odd mixture of calm joy and lingering sadness at the same time. If this time with his sweet chéries would eventually come to an end, then he’d try to enjoy it for as long as he could.
The silence had to be broken at some point, and it came when Wildcard stopped stirring. “I think I’ll lose my arm if I keep this up much longer.” They remarked, rotating their arm around. “It smells great though, you think we can eat soon?”
Hearing his partner’s voice brought Bokor out of his melancholy thoughts and he quickly poured the cornbread mix into the cast iron pan so he could put it in the oven before checking the jambalaya. “It’s almost ready.” He took a spoon and pulled out a small clump of rice to show them the texture. “We just need to wait for this to soften a little more- it should be finished by the time the cornbread is done.”
“Alright, that sounds good, my de-” Wildcard managed to stop themself that time and simply smiled. “Sounds good. Would you like to eat here or shall I get the table set up in the breakroom?”
Red eyes scanned the room, ignoring the almost-nickname that made him want to smile, and he eventually looked back down at them. “We should probably eat here: It will save us time when we start working on the charms.” He grabbed some paper towels and started cleaning off the counters so they’d have somewhere clean to eat. In doing so, he found the jar of smoke and spirits from earlier that he’d forgotten about in his haste to go check on Wildcard. “Ah...should probably also take care of this before it falls off the counter and undoes all our hard work..”
Wildcard looked at the jar with interest. “Wow...hardly seems like a lot when they’re all in there like this.” Carefully, they brought a finger up to tap at the glass, hearing the spirits moan and causing Wildcard to giggle. “Yeah, yeah, I know-” They copied one of the moaning sounds with surprising accuracy before laughing again.
Bokor couldn’t help laughing as well, giving the jar a slight shake to mess with the spirits further. “Is copying voices another of your amazing talents, petites?”
“It does come in handy, mon gratte-ciel haut.” Wildcard answered the question by replying in Bokor’s voice with a smirk. They cleared their throat before continuing in their own voice. “I’ve messed around with my fair share of people with mimicry. I’m only really able to do it with sounds I’ve heard a lot of or memorized.”
Bokor gave an impressed whistle when he heard the reply in his own voice. “You just keep amazing me, don’t you?” He chuckled quietly and reached into his pouch to retrieve the green bottle of spirits. “Pardon.” He said before starting a quiet chant and opening the bottle.
Just like before, the red entity began to form behind him and spread down his arms towards the bottle and jar in his grasp. As he chanted and prayed, he brought the jar and bottle closer together until they almost touched. He then popped the top off of the jar with his thumb and turned the jar upside down with its opening facing the mouth of the bottle. The entity spread down past his hands and formed a sort of funnel between the two openings, making sure nothing escaped as the spirits within were sucked down into the bottle.
As much as Wildcard didn’t want to look at the intimidating presence, they did. They stared hard at the red entity, focused on its looming and surrounding aura. A part of them almost wondered if they’d have any control on such a spirit, but the greater part of them didn’t want to risk hurting Bokor if they tried. So, they watched, and kept themself firmly standing as they did, as if warning the entity not to try anything.
Once the last of the spirits had been drained into the bottle and Bokor’s chanting had reached its end, the entity began to slowly withdraw and disappear. Just like before, Wildcard felt the faceless being looking at them intently. It almost felt like they were being studied…
It vanished by the time Bokor closed the bottle and blinked himself back to awareness. Quickly putting it away and pulling out the notebook in its place, he muttered to himself and counted on his fingers. “Between here and the other room..let’s see...they were small...so, that should be….ten..” He opened the notebook and flipped to the middle, adding ten tally marks to the page.
Wildcard exhaled by the time things had gone back to normal before looking over at him in confusion. “What are you up to there?”
“Keeping track.” Bokor said as he finished the tally marks. “I have to write them down before I forget..”
“Why? I thought that High Command doesn’t care about that sort of thing?” They looked at the notebook, seeing just how many tally marks were scrawled upon the page and how far into the book Bokor was. “Is there a limit of how much you have to carry or something?”
“No, it’s…” He paused for a moment, debating if he should tell them or not. Would they understand it or just think he was making it up? They’d believed him so far.. “It’s...my tribute counter.” Flipping back through several pages of tally marks, he eventually reached a page closer to the beginning where some of them had been scrawled over as if to mark them off the list. “The power I wield comes with a price that must be paid to the loa I formed a contract with. I think of it as a ‘landlord agreement’- he is willing to grant me his power, but I must repay him with either one powerful soul or five weaker ones every lunar cycle.”
“Oh...I-I see…” That worried Wildcard, though it went without saying. They could only imagine what sorts of things could happen if the deadline wasn’t met. “And you’re alright? Not running low or anything? I can go get more-”
Bokor smiled a little, grateful for his partner’s concern. “I am fine, mes chéries.” He showed them the many pages filled with intact tally marks. “This is why I plan ahead, so that I do not find myself desperate at the last minute. I make sure that I have at least two years worth of souls stocked up at any given moment, that way I will not be in danger if I need a break or am too injured to hunt down new souls. I am also working towards a ‘retirement fund’, so I can live comfortably for several years even after my body is no longer able to perform exorcisms.”
Wildcard looked over the pages, sighing in relief. “That’s good then...I would really hate to lose you to something like that.” They looked like they had something else to say on the matter but chose to stay quiet, tucking back their feathers. “It’s good that you think that far ahead.”
Bokor closed the notebook and put it back in his pouch. “Well, I have had to look after myself for a long time now, so I try to be responsible in keeping up with things necessary for my survival. I…have not had anyone else I could rely on for it..”
“...well- knock on wood anyway, but-” Wildcard smiled at him. “I’m not planning on going anywhere. So...if you ever need a helping hand at all, I hope you know you can come to me for that. Work or otherwise, I want to be there for you. You aren’t alone.”
Bokor’s heart leapt into his throat at those words. How long had it been since someone had told him they wanted to be there for him? Since he didn’t feel alone? Probably not since- No. No. He would NOT give those people the privilege of being in his thoughts.
“I….I appreciate that.” He managed to say after a moment, giving them a small but grateful smile. “I really do. Merci infiniment, mes chéries.”
“You’re very much welcomed.” They replied softly, taking Bokor’s hand in theirs and giving it a gentle squeeze. “You make me feel seen. I just want you to know that I see you as well.”
“That means the world to me.” Bokor’s smile grew a little more, giving their hand a squeeze in return and bringing it to his beak to give it a kiss. “You make me feel like the star I have always wanted to be seen as, and I will make sure you always feel the same.”
Giving into their desire for comfort and security, Wildcard moved forward enough to wrap their arms around the man, hugging him tight. “Me too…” They managed to say, nuzzling their head against Bokor.
A moment passed, and all Wildcard could do was sigh. “This...this isn’t a normal partnership, is it…? I haven’t been in one long enough to tell…”
“Honestly...neither have I..” Bokor held the shrike close, one hand gently resting against their back. “But...this feels different for me, too. I don’t think I have ever had anyone who makes me feel the way that you do. It is odd and new..but...not in a bad way.”
“It’s confusing.” They said honestly, their face burning up from admitting to all this. “I don’t know what I’m feeling. I don’t know why I’m feeling like this either. I can’t tell if- if I like you more than I should or if my brain is just latching onto you because you’re the first person to ever show kindness to me.” It was a subtle change, but Wildcard’s shoulders shook slightly with emotion. “Push me away if this is all too much. I’m not supposed to burden you after all, I’m just meant to be your partner.”
The hand on the smaller bird’s back moved up enough to rub between their shoulders soothingly. “You will never be a burden to me, mes douces chéries.” Bokor told them with absolute certainty. “This is just as confusing for me- you are the first person to make me feel this comfortable and cared for, so I don’t know if what I’m feeling is just gratitude and happiness for having someone who finally understands me..or….or something more..”
That brought out a soft laugh. “I guess we’re both clueless then…” Turning their head, Wildcard looked at him with glossy eyes and a small smile. “Can we...keep doing what we’ve been doing and just figure out the details later then? Until we can figure things out more…”
Bokor returned the small smile with one of his own. “D’accord. I think we both need time to figure this out.” The hand not on the shrike’s back went up to tenderly cup the side of their face, one thumb caressing their cheek soothingly. “But don’t expect me to stop flirting with you- your smile and laugh are too precious for me not to do so, mes petites chéries.” He said with a lighter, more playful tone to hopefully lighten the mood.
Wildcard laughed louder, leaning into the touch with a hum. “Then don’t expect me to stop calling you foolish- someone has to bring you down a peg every now and again, you handsome charming dummy.” Kissing his wrist briefly, Wildcard pulled away from their embrace. “Now, can we eat? You’ve been tantalizing me with a delicious meal for so long.”
Bokor chuckled quietly, glad to hear his partner’s laugh again. “As you wish, petites. It would be rude to keep such a beauty waiting, after all.” He shot a quick wink their way before returning to the stove to check on their food.
Despite the instinctual desire to say otherwise, Wildcard found themself too happy to complain, moving to rest against a counter and await their shared meal. This was pleasant- it felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from their chest and they sighed dreamily as they looked at Bokor. “Such a gentleman.” They half mocked.
“Only when I feel it’s worth the effort.” The hawk teased back as he took the cornbread from the oven and began to serve the food. After plating the slices of bread with a drizzle of honey and spooning two good portions of the fragrant and colorful rice dish into two bowls, he carried the dishes with ease over to the counter his partner was resting at and skillfully slid them their share before setting his own down nearby. “Bon appétit.”
"Merci. This looks amazing." That captivated twinkle came back to their eye as they looked at their dinner. As much as they wanted to simply dive right in, Wildcard willed themself to at least take a moment to blow at their spoonful to cool it down. After taking their first bite, the tingle of spices hit their tongue, giving them a pleasant rush. "Delicious…" They gushed, resting a hand on their warm face before going for another spoonful.
Bokor watched their reaction with a fond smile, finding it adorably endearing, before taking a bite of his own. He gave a pleased hum at the taste and closed his eyes to savor the flavor. “Mhhhh...dhat’s some good ol’ fashion home cookin’ righ’ dhere.” Red eyes instantly opened and his free hand flew to cover his beak so fast that he practically smacked himself.
Wildcard's eyes widened slightly. "That's new. Or rather, not something I've heard from you before." Curiosity took over as they noted the very sudden reaction to the accent. "What's wrong?"
With a great amount of reluctance, Bokor removed his hand from his mouth, but couldn’t meet his partner’s curious gaze. “...It’s….embarrassing…don’t like letting people hear that...” He muttered quietly, trying to return to his previous “normal” accent.
Hearing the two in succession was an interesting experience: His usual accent was definitely nice to listen to with its ambiguously French influence- it was refined enough to sound like someone who grew up in a predominantly French speaking country but moved to an English speaking one at a young age, giving his voice an exotic sort of charm- but, after hearing the other, it seemed almost forced if one listened closely. What he had just spoken in still had inflections of French in it, but with more of a southern drawl that made it very easy to tell where he came from in Louisiana, and it held its own charm for how comfortable and genuine it sounded compared to the more elegant version.
Wildcard took note of such differences, especially with their talent for studying voices. They reached over to stroke Bokor's arm soothingly. "I like it. It sounds nice, it sounds like you. How is that embarrassing?"
“.....” The hawk’s eyes glanced down at the shrike’s small hand on his arm. It gave him a nice, reassuring feeling that helped him speak. “People hear it an’ think I’m ‘uncultured’ or ‘uneducated’.” He allowed himself the freedom to speak in his natural accent, though it felt weird after covering it up around others for so long. “Somethin’ ‘bout accents from dhe south gives people dhat impression, I guess..”
“I see…” They allowed some silence, simply focused on comforting Bokor through their touch and giving a gentle smile. “Even still, my point still stands. I like hearing the real you and not someone you’d have to be to please others. It’s your choice in the end and I respect whatever you choose, but if this is easier for you, and it’s just us…” Wildcard trailed off with a shrug, hoping they got their point across okay.
Their point certainly did get across to him, even if it was a bit odd to hear after so many years of being told otherwise. “....Well….if it’s just you an’ me, petites...I..I think I could try dhat…” He managed to say with a slight smile. This would take some getting used to for him- everything with his partner seemed to- but it was a pleasant change of pace.
They smiled and took their hand back. “Cool, now eat before your food goes cold, dummy.” The shrike gave that light giggle they often had whenever they felt completely open with their partner. Wanting nothing more than to enjoy their meal, they kept on eating and enjoying every moment of it. “So good…”
Bokor’s smile grew at the sound of their giggle, he always found it adorable. He ate with them, giving a pleased hum every now and then. “Gotta say, it’s been a while since I ate somethin’ dhis good. Hard t’ find authentic New Orlins cookin’ way out here.”
“Clearly there has to be a day where I try making this for you then.” Wildcard stirred in their bowl as they thought it over. “I mean, I can’t say I’ll be as good as this the first time around, but I’d be willing to practice for you.”
“Dhat just means I’ll have more chance to enjoy something you made just for me.” He winked at them as he tore off a piece of his cornbread. “Don’ think I’ll be complainin’ ‘bout dhat, mes chéries.”
“Heh, yeah well-” As they were distracted, Wildcard accidentally spilled a rather large spoonful of their meal that ended up landing on their shirt. They cursed, it thankfully wasn’t hot but they were incredibly embarrassed to be acting that clumsy in front of their partner. “Damnit...sorry, one second.”
Stepping back from the counter, Wildcard took off their small coat and vest, examining how far the stain went. They scowled, noticing it soaked a notable stain on their split colored button up and completely without shame pulled the shirt off of themself.
Bokor nearly choked on the lump of cornbread he’d been in the process of swallowing, the rest that was in his hand falling onto the counter. He hit himself on the chest a few times and eventually managed to calm down the coughing fit that overtook him. “I...I gotta say, petites..” His voice was a little raspy from his recent coughing fit, but he still managed a slight smile. “I didn’t think you were so….bold like dhat…….not dhat I’m complainin’, of course..”
“Hm? What are you on about? I just want to get this soaking.” They responded simply, walking over to the sink to do just that. Wildcard didn’t particularly feel like this was too abnormal, especially since they felt perfectly comfortable with their own body, though they did manage to look over at Bokor’s somewhat flustered response. “...is this bothering you?”
Bokor quickly shook his head. “No, no, course not. Opposite, actually..” Red eyes snuck a few glances, but he tried to be somewhat respectful and not openly stare (even if he did like what he saw). “I’m just….surprised...normally I don’ get treated t’ sights like dhis ‘til I’ve bribed someone with a few drinks…”
The implication of what that meant at least got a faint blush out of Wildcard, but nothing quite like when they were usually flustered. “Yeah, well, it’s just me.” They shrugged, unsure how else to explain it as they used their damp hand to try and clean off the stained white feathers on their chest.
Although he tried to be respectful (and he tried really, really hard), Bokor couldn’t help looking a bit longer each time his eyes slid back over to his partner’s exposed torso. “Well….I really like ‘just you’...si belle..”
Glancing back up, Wildcard walked over to Bokor, looking at him in silence for a moment before flicking the water from their hand at his face with a laugh. “Calm down, handsome. I’m getting a new shirt from my bag in the break room. I’ll just be back in a few.” They smirked and tilted their head as they looked at Bokor. “Think you can manage that?”
Bokor chuckled and wiped the water from his face. “And be without your beauty for dhat long? Hmmm...it’ll be a struggle, but I’ll try my best.”
“Try for me then.” Wildcard leaned up on the tip of their feet and kissed Bokor’s cheek, smiling warmly afterwards. They turned and left the kitchen feeling even better than they had been. Even without labels, they knew that that felt right to do and ultimately made them feel very, very happy.
Bokor watched them leave with an adoring smile and appreciative gaze. One hand came up so that brown fingertips could trace over the still warm spot on his cheek. “Oh, Henri..” He sighed to himself with a light laugh and a shake of his head. “You’ve got it bad…” Despite the completely accurate assessment, he couldn’t be bothered to feel bad about it- not when such simple tokens and gestures of affection left him feeling lighter than he had in years.
<-Previous Chapter Next Chapter->
End Notes: Oooh, things are getting spicy between them, lol >x3 Up next we have a more....dramatic way of dealing with spirits.
#darkwing duck#dwd#fowl agent Bokor Baron#wildcard#bokard#oc#not my oc#and#my OC#la vie en rose#thefriendlyfour#ghost and spirits#ghosts#spirits#magic
2 notes
·
View notes
Note
HELLO oMG im reading your Heart Got Teeth and im fucking dYING OVER HERE wow just..,,, thank you, you brilliant writer you. 😩😩😩 im so in love with it i just needed you to know lmao. I screamed at the pizza delivery guy haha and im absolutely saving the “would u rather me undo your pants or ……” line for later use
wow please feel free to share your thoughts with me anytime, this message absolutely made my day 🥲
i’m so glad you enjoyed it and all the stupid little moments!! even when i wrote the original for my old fandom, the couple in this fic was very near and dear to me so i’m still very attached to them even in this iteration. i’m very 🥺 at others enjoying them too. 🖤
#thank you so so so much#i am always amazed ppl like my work but even more amazed at ppl going out of their way to say such nice things#thank u anon ur a gem <3#jewel answers
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Close and Delicious: The Ultimate Guide to Food Delivery Near Me
In the bustling rhythm of today’s life, food delivery has become more than just a convenience—it's a lifestyle. The ability to summon a diverse array of dishes from the cozy confines of our homes has transformed how we experience dining. Whether you're craving a late-night snack, organizing a spontaneous brunch, or simply too busy to cook, the quest for the best "food delivery near me" has never been more pertinent. This ultimate guide aims to navigate you through the delectable world of local food delivery, ensuring your next meal is both close and delicious.
Step 1: Leverage Technology
The cornerstone of finding great food delivery options is leveraging technology to your advantage. Apps and websites like Uber Eats, Grubhub, DoorDash, and Postmates aggregate local restaurants, providing menus, reviews, and delivery times at the tap of a finger. Don’t overlook the power of a simple Google search or the insights offered by Yelp, which can guide you towards the highest-rated eateries in your area.
Step 2: Explore Local Flavors
While big-name restaurants might dominate the delivery scene, there's unparalleled charm and quality to be found in local, independent establishments. Exploring local flavors not only diversifies your palate but also supports the community. Many small restaurants partner with major delivery apps or offer their services independently, ensuring you receive a meal prepared with care and local flair.
Step 3: Consider Your Cravings
What are you in the mood for? The beauty of food delivery is the vast selection available at your fingertips. From savory sushi rolls and piping hot pizzas to gourmet burgers and fresh, vibrant salads, your cravings can guide your search. Utilize app filters to narrow down your options based on cuisine type, dietary restrictions, or even specific dishes.
Step 4: Read Reviews and Ratings
In the digital age, we have the luxury of learning from the experiences of others. Before placing your order, take a moment to read reviews and ratings. Look for comments about food quality, delivery speed, packaging, and customer service. This little bit of research can dramatically enhance your food delivery experience.
Step 5: Look for Deals and Discounts
Who doesn’t love a good deal? Many food delivery apps offer first-time user discounts, free delivery options, or special deals during certain hours. Keep an eye out for promotions that can make your meal both delicious and economical. Following your favorite restaurants on social media can also alert you to exclusive offers.
Step 6: Customize Your Order
One of the perks of ordering food delivery is the ability to customize your meal to your exact liking. Don’t hesitate to specify your preferences when it comes to spice levels, dietary restrictions, or ingredient swaps. This ensures that the meal delivered to your door is exactly what you were craving.
Step 7: Build a Go-To List
After experimenting with different restaurants and dishes, start building a go-to list of your favorite food delivery options. Having a curated selection of dependable, tasty choices makes it easier to decide on your next meal, especially when you're short on time or energy.
Conclusion
The quest for the best food delivery near you is a journey of discovery, flavor, and convenience. By leveraging technology, exploring local offerings, and tailoring your choices to your cravings, you can unlock a world of culinary delights waiting to be delivered to your doorstep. Remember, the ultimate guide to food delivery is about finding the perfect blend of proximity, quality, and taste—happy dining!
1 note
·
View note
Last Seen Blogs
drunkdriverstest
Hello I Draw Sometimes
saigoto
Kfz-Gutachten nach einem Gewitter - Hagelschaden am Auto
userlain01
tell me how to be.
largando
Untitled