Playing a bit 'that's not my neighbor'.

Like the new fandom.

The dopples are a little silly sometimes.

Hehehe >:3c I honestly wasn’t expecting that reaction to showing up in your inbox, but I sure am flattered!

Speaking of flattery: is Murdock the type to give compliments? Or accept them? I feel he wouldn’t be used to them, an occasional ‘hey, you look nice today’ would live in his brain rent free for the next 24 hours. He knows he’s good-looking, but it hits different coming from you -🐈

Lissen I've seen your asks to horny gang and the collateral damage I get sometimes-

My interpretation of Murdock is a smooth-talking, charismatic son of a bitch. He can butter even the driest biscuits, ok- Man uses this to his advantage while hunting, doing recon, weaseling his way out of stuff, etc.

He's also 6'6 and bullshit strong, so muscle is also an option.

Murdock is also incredibly handsome in an alluring danger kind of way. Again, uses it to his advantage. He's the kind of dangerous you don't expect, like something lurking beneath a still lake. You don't see it until you're waist deep and he drags you under.

When he's not putting on the charm, he's got that 'danger lurking beneath' vibe that's almost a resting bitch face kind of deal. People only interact with him if they're daring, bc it comes off as a 'don't threaten me with a good time' energy.

He can give compliments and make them seem genuine as fuck, but man is ultimately a predator using a hunting skill. He takes compliments just fine as well, because that means his ruse is working.

Ok, so, with reader, take all of that and toss it out the window.

Murdock can read people. Reader never has a double-intention with their compliments, which catches him off guard and makes him preen. He gets this... provider urge around them, so he wants to look good, be big and strong and fertile capable. Yes, a 'you look good' lives in his head rent free. A 'That sweater is nice on you' has him purchase like 3 more and fantasize about reader wearing one as he- well.

When it comes to compliments to reader, he means them sincerely. However, the closer he gets to reader, the more he adds a double-entendre to them. He makes them extremely sexual, and relishes in reader's unawareness of his meaning, and their eventual flustered recognition.

It's another quiet night in Mordhaus.

Pickles isn't that fond of them. Quiet is not happy. Happy is the loud noise of the concert stage, the band harmonizing effortlessly after months of failing to do so in private. Happy is the moments in the recording booth, bickering back and forth until something sounds good. Happy is parties where everyone's adoring him and lavishing praise and going wild and there's some drug he'll only be able to name after he already took them being passed around like it's candy. Something that buzzes in his brain and makes it so the room could be completely silent yet it would not be quiet.

He's started to dislike quiet nights less, recently, now that Toki and Abigail are back. Abigail in particular-she manages to make a soundless room seem calm instead of like a simmering pot of slowly-building anger. The two are not the same, exactly, but they do a good job of pretending like everything's okay, and eventually it will be with time. Something about them, though. It puts him on edge. Like he needs to be or something bad will happen again. It's bullshit and he knows it but for once booze hasn't helped bury that bad thought, just made the quiet less quiet and him less aware but also sharply aware that he IS less aware and that is bad because that's when somebody will try something and hurt them again.

So he doesn't drink, even though he thinks about it constantly and he knows it'll make him go to sleep faster because for once dealing with that shit feeling sober is somehow better than the alternative, which is not something he ever thought he'd feel and is very much unfamiliar with. In the morning he'll be exhausted from insomnia, and the conspicuous lack of a hangover won't help that much-he's much more used to a hangover.

Except tonight's not quiet anymore, because somebody is knocking on his door. Short, quick. The unconscious part of his brain can usually tell which of his bandmates it is just by the knock, but nothing pings. "Whaddaya want?" Pickles whines, before cringing at his own voice. "Uh, it's Abigail." "And Toki!" "And Toki. Can we come in?" They sound exhausted. They look exhausted-he wasn't even conscious of him opening the door until the two were right in front of him. Abigail is clutching a knit blanket around herself, and Toki's just hugging himself, and they're both looking at Pickles with wide and tired puppy eyes, and without any thoughts whatsoever Pickles has an arm around both of them and then the three are in his bed, Abigail on his left and Toki his right.

There was a time where having Toki in his bed would've made Pickles have a homophobic freak-out, and there was a time where Abigail being this close to him would've driven his heart into a frenzy, but the quiet is settling down again and for some reason it keeps any Pickles-centric emotions at bay. They look so scared. So little. Neither of them quite looking at anything, just staring off. Abigail's hand is clenched into a tight fist. "You two have a nightmare or somethin'?" "Or somethings." Toki's voice is a squeak. "Magnus?" Pickles feels Abigail nodding up and down moreso than sees it. "That sick fuck's dead. Not coming back. Never gonna hurt either of ya again." He pulls the two of them closer, feels them looking at him like he's any good at this whole "comforting" shit. "D'you…d'you two wanna talk about it? It's fine if you don't, I mean, you just want some company, but if there's somethin' that needs out I got ears and I can lissen."

Now Abigail and Toki are looking at each other, like one of them needs the other's permission, and then Abigail, without looking away from Toki, says "I just want to know we're safe." "Safe as can be. Nobody's ever gonna hurt you again. Not gonna let it happen. I'm not, I know Nathan's not, I know we're way past some petty bullshit keepin' us from what really matters-" Pickles squeezes both of them closer, and Toki actually laughs a little. "-we care about you, both of you, all of us in Dethklok an' den some." Toki relaxes somewhat. Abigail is still tense. "It's hard to believe that. After how long we were left there." Her voice still lacks its usual confidence, but it's regained some of its cool composure, and that terrifies Pickles and makes Toki tense up again. "Like hell we're making that same mistake again."

Pickles doesn't know what he said or how he said it or if it was something about his body language, the absent-minded way he held the two close or rubbed a gentle hand up and down Abigail's back, but Toki's calm again and Abigail seems to finally be relaxing. She smiles at him, very slightly. Pickles continues his slow hand motions, carefully avoiding the scar on Toki's back. "Yer safe now. You're alright. 'M right here." Abigail's eyes close first, but she falls asleep later than Toki does-it takes longer for her breathing to finally even out. The two are unconsciously curled up as close as they can be to him. Abigail's head is on Pickles' chest, and he idly hopes his heartbeat helped her fall asleep. Toki's arms are wrapped around his torso. It is unbearably tight and hot and he can hear the two of them breathing and that makes it not so quiet anymore, and he thinks he prefers it this way. There's some distant part in his brain nagging about how they're only here because Magnus stabbed them, but they chose him. They could've gone to Nathan or Skwisgaar or fuckin' Charles and they chose him.

He doesn't know why. Maybe it's pride. Maybe he'll have to ask them about it, later, why they didn't feel like they could trust their de-facto leader with this. They're not okay. But right now they're asleep and they're peaceful and Pickles feels himself nodding off too. He can give them one night without bad dreams. It's not enough. But he's done something.

~*~

"Anudder nightmare?" "How did you know." "I'm jus' a genius like that. You two comfortable?" "Mmhmm. T'anks for lettings me brings Mister Deddy Bear." "Anything to make ya happy. You, Abi?" "Mmm." "Alright, 'm turnin' the lights off now, okay?" "Thank you, Pickles."

Shoutout to @tiburme for tagging me~!

Rules: Name 10 favorite characters from 10 different things and then tag 10 people.

Oh, massive spoilers below btw.

1. Gon Freecss from Hunter x Hunter: My favorite shounen protagonist by far. At first you think he’s your typical happy-go-lucky bouncy boye :D who definitely doesn’t have abandonment issues or self-destructive tendencies that literally actually almost kill him later on, and then, uwu... The amount of complexity that Gon has as a protagonist who hardly ever has stand-alone development is nothing short of astounding. How during the Chimera Ant Art his characterization totally dips off to the side to become an unknowable entity even to the audience, while still retaining amazing character development regardless -- not to mention how brilliantly daring his decision to threaten Komugi is that nearly every other author with such a happy-go-lucky protagonist would shy away from in cowardice -- is absolutely surreal to me. The more I think and write about Gon, the more I fall in love with him. If I ever meet his father, and by that I mean his real father, the creator, Togashi, I have nothing else to say but,,, well done, sir.

2. Tanjirou Kamado from Demon Slayer: I’m really hoping the Demon Slayer movie comes out soon because I absolutely love this boy and how charming he is. Unlike most protagonists, not just of shounen anime but of seemingly macho story lines that involve power-ups and training in general, Tanjirou never lets go of his kind heart. (Welp, except maybe in some cases when he’s facing the Upper Moons later on -- I haven’t caught up yet -- but WE’RE GONNA IGNORE THAT for now.) From the beginning, Tanjirou’s kindness isn’t an obstacle holding back his power, though other characters pose it that way, but rather he cultivates his empathy to grant peace to the demons he faces. He smiles in the face of anyone who treats him poorly because of his cluelessness, and that’s just so heartwarming to see, and dare I say subversive to the hardened, calculating, and cocky male protagonists we so often get. Good job, Gotouge.

3. Joseph Joestar from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Giorno Giovanna was a close second, but I gotta go with Joseph. He’s the one who made me fall in love with the series, and with the later parts too. Unlike Jonathan Joestar, who was chivalrous and manly, Joseph was a riot: colorful, arrogant, funny, but also extremely clever. I absolutely loved his, “Next you’ll say...!” because at first I expected it to just be him being an overconfident asshole and eventually he’d be proven wrong at the ~Dai Pinchi Moment~ (please excuse my weeb speech, I legit didn’t know what else to call it), but then he hit the mark every time and eventually I was just waiting for when he’d pull that out and it was so hype. Also I surely can’t forget his transformation as an old dude in Part 3 -- him screaming “OOHHHH MY GAAAWDDDA!” and “HOLY SHIIIT!” murdered me every time. And of course, last but not least, the raw fucking emotion when Caeser died -- the dude actually gave a shit and wasn’t made entirely of wit and absurdity, but heart too. Joseph set the tone for what JJBA was as a whole for me (fuck off with that “but Part 3/Part 4 is the best Part” bullshit, Part 2 will always be top tier for me because of Joseph Joestar’s brilliant, bright, and beautiful absurdity -- but Part 5 was really good too). Araki really is a genius.

4. Link from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: My love for this series is a bit older than the series I’ve already mentioned, and TLoZ: TP was actually probably the first time I got seriously obsessed with a fandom. I love all the Links in their own ways, but Twilight Princess really drove home the “lone wolf chosen by the gods, fighting against the world” narrative for me. It made me feel important and strong at a time when no one cared about me. Seeing Link struggle silently through his quest with villagers who meant well but did nothing for him, and Midna who started out as a reluctant acquaintance and eventually became so much more, meant so much to me at the time I played the game. I will always love Twilight Princess the most because of what it did for me at one of the darkest times in my life, and because I felt completely and utterly immersed in every part of the story and gameplay through Link’s character, who was, and in many ways, still is, so relatable to me: Silent courage really is what I use to get through every day.

5. Greedling from Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood): For once I’m not naming the protagonist of a series! Lissen, I still smile whenever I see the slightest reference to Edward Elric, but now he’s more of my childhood love. He’s just a part of my personality already? LOL. Anyway, FMA(B) has so many good characters that choosing just one doesn’t feel right (I mean, same with HxH tho). I say Greedling because that encompasses both Ling and Greed though, two of my favorite characters from the series! Ling’s apparent childishness in constantly running away from fights, making other people pay for his food, and failing to grasp the seriousness of the situation (until Lan Fan’s arm gets cut off lol oops) is so adorable and entertaining. He’s the best kind of idiot asshole, and I especially love how he teases Ed. After him and Greed fuse, Ling’s stout heart becomes even more apparent, as he constantly eggs Greed on to remember his past life, his friends, and become someone outside of Father/the Dwarf in the Flask. Conversely, Greed’s nonchalance and (of course) avarice are nothing short of entertaining and heartbreaking. Greed’s realization at the end, when he finally admitted to himself that what he wanted all along were “friends like these,” completely crushed me the first few times I watched FMAB. And when he’s screaming in the tunnels under Central after having killed Bido, remembering his friends, and he doesn’t understand why, and later attacks Wrath/King Bradley... that shit was so entertaining and cathartic to watch. None of his development feels like forced redemption, nor like it was too little development, since it mostly happens in the background and away from the “validating eyes” of the protagonists other than Ling. And at the end, when Ling and Greed work together to take down Bradley and all the soldiers invading Central HQ... it’s so beautiful. Many have said this before but I’ll say it again: Hiromu Arakawa wrote the perfect series.

6. Ciel Phantomhive from Black Butler: Another protagonist! And another older obsession of mine. Ciel remains in my mind to this day mainly for his heartlessness in relation to his age, and the fluidity with which Toboso tells his story. Normally when authors write younger characters into their serious stories, they make “child adults” of sorts, but Ciel feels totally realistic to the extent that he is both childish and adult to me. Obviously, Ciel is responsible and (normally) level-headed due to being the head of the Phantomhive household, but also from trauma. Yet, his cruelty at times is what sticks in my mind the most: You really feel that he’s someone who feels he’s been abandoned by the entire world, given his experiences, and that makes him disregard or use others sometimes in order to reach his own ends. Normally, authors would be too cowardly to let their protagonists, let alone child protagonists, go to such lengths to avenge their family, or carry out their duty as the dog of the military (looking at you, Arakawa -- she’s still a goddess tho). But Ciel is unforgiving. He lies to Snake and tells him his troupe is still alive. He murders the entire troupe because he’s triggered -- a childish decision, but driven with adult-like power due to trauma. It’s devastatingly riveting, and I cannot forget his unrelenting, contained rage to this day.

7. Ahsoka Tano from Star Wars: The Clone Wars: This one may come as a shock to most of you, because I hardly ever post Star Wars let alone Ahsoka content on here -- but it’s true. Other than the blatant, half-assedly inserted heteroromantic partner they gave Ahsoka in, like, idk season 3??, Ahsoka is a fucking goddess. From her origin as a wee baby in the earlier seasons who didn’t really know what she was doing and was a bit of a cocky brat, to how she matures and becomes wise, resourceful, and fierce in the later seasons, I just love Ahsoka’s design and character to this day. The episodes that stick in my mind aside from the obvious are when she’s possessed by the Dark Side of the Force on that Force balance planet and her arrogance becomes so exaggerated that she threatens and attacks Anakin, her teacher. It was so fucking cathartic. Normally female characters, let alone young protagonist female characters, are never allowed to show the ugly sides of themselves in fiction, since women are always portrayed as perfect beautiful majestic angels or some bullshit like that. (Or they’re cocky/sexy/slutty villain women. ‘Kay then.) Seeing Ahsoka devolve into her basal desires and come out of it like hardly anything happened and she’s still a perfectly valid character was so amazing to see on a meta level; it wasn’t about her learning a lesson or anything, it was a thing that happened like any other character and then they moved the fuck on. I also distinctly remember the episode where she was trapped on that island/planet and she had to take out the aliens that were after her all by herself. That was so fucking empowering to watch and god fucking dammit I need to rewatch this series now. And of course, let us not forget the fact that the entire time, we were all expecting Ahsoka to just be another domino in Anakin’s downfall -- and she was, but not through the refrigerator -- but through walking away from it all. That was so powerful and moving -- and heartbreaking. By the end of TCW, her character carried weight and agency in the narrative, and god, I only wish whoever wrote her could write more female characters in the future.

8. Tigress from Kung Fu Panda: Maybe another surprise, but I think she deserves this spot. Tigress is a female character who starts out as kind of an antagonist, given how she outright tells Po to leave the kung fu temple within the first day of him arriving. She’s even jealous of the fact that he’s chosen as the Dragon Warrior rather than her -- but that’s due to the backwash of years of trying to live up to the memory of Tai Lung in order to please Shifu (which means “master” in Chinese but ok I’ll shut up now), her master and mentor over the years. She never says this out loud in the movie, which is what makes her character more believable. Others even joke about how stoic she is (and not in bad taste). Her character development is definitely present for those who are looking -- but I put her on this list because I’m so happy the movie doesn’t make it some huge dramatic emotional thing, because so often in media women are depicted as being overly-emotional and here Tigress is just a hurt child trying to make her mentor happy. But, she gets over it, her and Po become allies, even friends to each other -- she and Po talk like equals in the second and third movies, and she even tells him to back out of the fight with Lord Shen and he listens (I mean he doesn’t stay put but he doesn’t undermine her opinion either lol, like most jokesy protagonists of Western media would -- looking at you, Marvel). I like Tigress because she’s an antagonist without being a bitch, she’s powerful without being overpowered, and she’s not sexualized despite being a well-trained, at times jealous, and even emotionally awkward kung fu master. And I almost forgot to mention the best part: There is never an indication of romance between her and Po, or any other character, for that matter. She’s perfectly capable, complex, and lovely on her own terms. And that’s that on THAT.

9. Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit: I wanted to include at least one character protagonist from a live-action movie/book, lol. I feel like Bilbo’s pretty self-explanatory. He doesn’t wanna go on an adventure because he likes his doilies and warm sheets, but then Gandalf seduces him with the call to the outside world and possible death (LOL), and he fucking goes for it, grumbling the entire time. Isn’t that what any of us would do if given such a proposition? I like to think so. Bilbo obviously has his own gradual, evil transformation with the One Ring, becomes murderous and uses it to disappear, and grows a strong bromance with the King Under the Mountain (which happens in both the movie and the book), but I think what I like about him is that he really feels... down-to-earth? Like even though the adventure changes him, it never feels like he’s been stretched in a way that makes his core character traits of grumbling and bluntness disappear. He gets better at the whole adventuring thing, for sure, but he remains Bilbo, at least, to me, throughout the journey. It was heartwrenching watching him try to save Thorin in The Battle of Five Armies, honestly, but Bilbo’s the kind of character that I feel like has his own story and mythology aside from The Hobbit, and maybe that’s just the result of J.R.R. Tolkien writing the lore for every aspect of his universe, but My Point Still Stands. He feels like his own man apart from the series he’s in, yet he’s still so much fun in his series.

10. Barley Lightfoot from Onward: And last, this one is because I saw Onward yesterday and was pleasantly surprised by the characterization in it -- and anyone who thinks differently can kiss my *ss. :) I was not expecting the movie to take the twist of fleshing out the “annoying” (more like adorable) overconfident nerdy big brother. Normally those characters are swiped to the side because God Forbid The Comic Relief Have Any Sadness In Them. I was expecting the movie to focus on Ian’s journey to meet his fatha and that the movie would pull something stupid at the end like “oh actually there’s another phoenix gem underneath the school” or “actually since only his legs appeared then you still have 24 hours with him” or some shit like that, but I guess this isn’t an anime so those absurdist explanations wouldn’t hold water anyway. But still, for a kid’s movie, I was NOT expecting this movie to go so hard with the characterization. For once, the main character doesn’t get what he wants at the end, and instead realizes it’s his big brother, Barley, who’s been looking out for him his entire life. Meeting his dad would betray that reality. What happens instead is that the lovable big brother never actually said goodbye to their dad before he died, because when their dad got sick, said brother ran away from the hospital room in fear of all the life-sustaining equipment. (Is this some meta thing about Chris Pratt and Guardians of the Galaxy? Off topic and call me stupid, but I didn’t realize Chris Pratt plays him until I saw everyone freaking out about it afterward on Tumblr laksjdflak.) So instead, the lovable big brother talks to the dad at the end, and unconfident younger brother grows confidence and thanks big bro for being with him his entire life. It was so touching, dude. I cry. But the moment that sticks in my mind the most was when Ian was crossing the invisible bridge... Ian needed to have confidence in himself to be able to cross over a chasm in their path, and Barley knew that if Ian didn’t believe in himself, he would fall and die. They tie a rope around Ian for good measure, and Barley encourages him the entire way, but halfway over, the rope comes loose and slips off. Barley sees this and starts panicking, but of course continues to encourage Ian so that Ian will get to the other side. What got to me wasn’t the fact that he faked it for Ian, but that there are actual tears running down his face as he’s encouraging Ian to get to the other side, because he knows otherwise Ian wouldn’t have the confidence and would fall to his death. Like dude, that raw, complex emotion in a kid’s movie?! DUDE?! I was fucking surprised. The clear anxiety and grief in Barley’s face as Ian’s totally clueless and even dancing around in the air was just too much, omfg. Of course, then it’s played off for laughs, but... I guess that makes sense for the annoying overconfident nerdy big bro character. :’)

Okay these are way longer than I anticipated and I’m sorry, but also I’m really not. Hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts on my favs!

Seems I don’t talk to that many people on here anymore: @stupidbluejay @mirycactusito @chronicstarlight

a sleeping kitty - 1st time cinder undastand the point - to being blankie covered - actually a sweatshirt but it was her blankie for yrs - she lay on it not under - she waking cuz its time and she hear the click and dont like fotos - so a little grumpy yah but comfy 

did i write awready the poem bout the kitty - i think yes but this morning a lifetime  - things cool  - things that coulda didnt go wrong  - started to get chill and wet - despite overkill and layers - fing wind gust to 40 mph make even mild and imma pussy tho y thats an insult or an indication of week ness escape me and it the only word that fit - but u gotta wonder  (imma lissening stevie btw ) - anyway it sounds better than old af and feeble yah?

still been out 2x   - store post office -   then acupuncture and lunch w vita - we strategize  a bit make sure we on the same page  - always  - evrything else is details  - we both complicated ppl  - we boil it down to real as fuck and love  but share an illusion or two and then play music  - 

wuz sposed to go hear liam and check out scene but didnt wanna tempt fate - made apologies to find he flight delayed aint gonna make it his own self  - we not in the same book right now never mind the pages - we walk in love best we can  - ignore the bullshit - and right now some rug sweeping underneath the radar - not quite dancing but sway a little - maybe a shoulder shrug next thing u no he vogueing - no not even that would b just too  - fuck if i know - am i digressing - bout fucking time lol - imma proud of starting wat turned out 2 b mothers of science  despite it not turning out in almost any way that intended  -  it really aint my scene  - it might b if could put out music on it - cross promote  and not have to fund 2 company  - some water flows under burned bridges - i fucking warned u i writez poetry i gess sometimes - i sneek it in  

yah t inna middle or wuz or - complicated in waze only teenage  mixed in w diagnosis ‘  - and like tree branch and it never gonna get unfucked up that i can see in my lifetime - maybe 20 yrs time pass 

actually may play w an adult tomorrow at madrone lol - lots of maybe in that equation - sly just how much higher u wanna takez me ?  been there done that 

hungry murders fed and they do b hungry tween rain storms  - sleight of hand - change the subject 

everyone worried bout t health - inc t  - its the fucking winter and bad things have happened  - that said - cept for 2 short relapse not smoking - i only push myself hard when no choice and starting healthy - taking heart meds - a vacation from copd med cuz steroid - cramps and i forgetz sometime but mood swings omfg chronik  - exercise moderately and building still muscle  - if i get short of breath i stop until normal 

we wuz tawking awk awk crows yah 

in my heart i think imma make it thru the winter maybe few more i dont think a decade but i didnt think 21 either - lol  i did call out death a while ago  -accident like - not sorry tho  - a scene from iron man that didnt end well 

(OMFG t is actually editing and making changes like it matters - wtf )

like a sunset draping formless over hillside 

i change again - the subject 

i dont fukken know how or why but im spending most my time getting ready to - in shape for or recovering from 

making magic - sometimes only moments sometimes slowly hours pass  - mostly 

playing music 

love 

also since I'm tired of bullshit. stains by skrizzly Adams is a bumbleby song ("THIS PARKING LOT AINT NO PLACE TO DANCE!!!") -man hating dyke anon (again)

LISSEN..... I DUNNO IF YOU KNOW ABOUT MY MASSAGE AU, BUT THE LYRICS FOR THIS SONG ...... IT FITS ......

Goody, Goody...

St. Louis Missouri... Not exactly number one on my list of must-see destinations. Muggy... crime rate’s through the roof... cool arch though. 

But yet - here I was, and not by choice. I needed to make contact with one of our informants from the mid-west who had gone to ground. And for whatever reason, he decided to do it here. It had been several weeks since we got a report and the situation was now a serious concern for my employers. 

Naturally, there was next to no intel other than our boy’s name, Chester “Chet” Bostik. Oh, and we knew he was prone to going off the rails on serious drinking binges.

At least he has some redeeming qualities...

For all we knew, anything was possible. Could have been intercepted by the competition, shot in a back alley and dumped in the river over a bullshit card game gone bad, or maybe he just stumbled into the street drunk outta his mind and got run over by a city bus.

Oh Chet... you dumb bastard... where oh where can you be?

I was three days in  and staying at a funky little dive called the Northwestern Inn.

Not exactly as stylish as your typical Motel 6, but it was the last place we’d received transmission from Chet, before his tracking chip went dead... or his liver exploded... or whatever.

I absently flicked a little mint off of my pillow and watched it smack the far wall then plunk into the garbage can below. 

Two points... well... that went well.

I reached over and pulled an old blue grey sweatshirt on over my head as a soft, little "ding” sounded somewhere between my ears. 

Shit - that’ll be Bob calling.

I really didn’t have the time or patience for his condescending tone, or the witty back and forth bullshit he likes to get into. I closed my eyes briefly and slapped on my shoulder holster while I answered.

“Bob - lissen’ to me. I’ll call you when there’s news. Okay?? I’ve got nothin’ concrete yet... it’s only day three - this shit takes time.”

There was a long silence. Enough for me to finish pulling my jeans down over my faded brown work boots before he answered. He sounded a little agitated.

“Get it straight Fury. You listen to me. If you don’t have anything solid, then a status report will have to do. But I need you to give me something... anything to take to the brass upstairs.”

I threw on a battered black leather jacket - mostly to conceal the Beretta M9 I had just slung under my arm - and stomped out the door and across the uneven parking lot. It was practically empty, only a few cars left. Most customers here only paid by the hour... the Northwestern didn’t exactly attract the cream of society. I saw the hotel manager standing in  the doorway under the stained, red awning. I shot her a quick wink and waved.

“Hey Anu!”

She beamed at me with a huge, gleaming smile, and waved back vigorously.

“Mr. Furious! You have a glorious day! You find fancy mint I leave for you on pillow??”

I gave her a thumbs up and a friendly nod - as I kept walking towards the street.

Yep - I’m gettin’ all the perks... well I did pay for three months - in advance - hell, I’m probably the best goddamn customer she’s ever had. I earned that mint.

I was just starting to play back my conversation with Anu from when I had checked in. I jumped to the part where she was telling me how she had been working hard to change the reputation of the Northwestern - make it nicer - when the nasal, authoritative voice of Major Robert Burns burst into my brain again.

“BRYAN! Did you fall asleep on me?! I’m already late for my meeting and I need something to take upst-”

“Yeah - Bob... I heard you the first time. Look - just tell ‘em I got a red-hot lead and should have everything wrapped up here real soon.”

“How soon??”

“Um... super soon.”

“HOW soon!?”

“Shit Bob - a couple weeks... tops. How’s that? Oh, and since I now have this real tight deadline - thank you very much - I gotta get back to work.”

“Yeah - but exactly how red hot is that lea-”

I abruptly disconnected the call as I came out onto the street. The road was in really shitty condition. Full of potholes - trash all over the place. It was called Natural Bridge Avenue, an interesting name for a street with no discernible natural bridge. It was a drab day, overcast... sullen. I immediately felt better - then I realized...

I’m hungry...

I walked northwest... looking for a “natural bridge�� I knew I would never see and wondering how the hell I was going to make good on my new deadline when I got distracted. What hit me first was the smell.

Chicken? Waffles?? Ohmygod...

I looked up and saw the red and white sign looming over a humble looking little diner. It read only: “Goody Goody.” 

It was a beat up old, neon relic from the 40′s... even before my time. 

I immediately swung open the door and went inside. It was too late for breakfast and too early for lunch so the place was pretty much empty. Just a fat, super friendly looking black dude behind the counter wearing a paper hat with “Goody Goody” written on it in black type. He immediately greeted me with a huge smile and a rhyme...

“You look like a chicken and waffle man - lemme get busy with my fryin’ pan!”

How the fuck did he know I wanted - ah, maybe everyone comes here for that.

There was a waitress there too - she was young probably not much older than nineteen. Friendly, but looked real tired. 

Must be close to the end of her shift.

I grabbed a table in the corner window where I’d have a good view of the street and pulled the plastic menu from the little metal stand and rubbed the grease off of it with my sleeve. The waitress shuffled up to me and raised her eyebrows. I looked up, smiled and tried to appear friendly.

“Guess what I’m havin’.”

[end of part one]