a haunted house

"I - uh." Skipper flushed a little, glancing down at her hands in her lap. "We can just grab takeout or something, I guess." She realized her mistake shortly after she'd said it, but she couldn't take it back. "I was mostly just hungry - since I was working I didn't really have a chance to eat, and I was hoping maybe to steal your company for a little longer." She shrugged a little, unsure if she should just give up on the idea or actually pick a place for them to go.

easton glanced over and immediately thought he'd done something wrong. at the same time he hadn't the first clue what it was or how to fix it. "we can do either, like i said my plans were a microwave and watching hockey - anything has to be better than that?" it's only one of the reasons he was so quick to say yes to picking skipper up from work in the first place. the other being that he always wanted to see her. maybe because it seemed like she was the only person who wanted to see him ( or because she was fun and cute but that was neither here nor there ). east glanced over again than back to the road. "i'm not going to let you cook for me when you just worked all day, i should be cooking for you," he paused. "but i wouldn't trust my cooking and you shouldn't either so we should either stop somewhere for take out first or order in." he unlocked his phone with his thumb and handed it over to her. "that food app thing for delivery is on there, i kept it from the last time we hung out. you can do pick up, too. whatever you want to do, skip." as long as they got to hang out and he wasn't going home alone wondering if he said something wrong again.

"catching feelings is the most dangerous thing i've ever done and i once went cliff diving at devil's peak!" he answered as if link hadn't been there when he did it. it was a miracle he survived half the stunts they pulled off when they were younger. rio had never been very scared to do any of that but commitment? feelings? that was scary. then the first person he started to do all that with, he messed it all up by trying to integrate her into their wild friend group road trip across the country. "oh shut up man," but he was already blushing because he'd been caught in that lie before he even said it out loud. "don't know if she would be down for all that, she's giving me mixed signals but i mean, i'd be down if she was."

"smart woman, you should listen to her." domino grinned that rare smile reserved for her kid nephew. usually following a sardonic remark or seeing that grin of his. she waited for him to put his stuff in the back. "seatbelt," she reminded right before she started driving again. funny how before he came around she couldn't give two shits if someone buckled up or not. now she sounded like her grandmother. "no i thought i'd ask the college student to pay for my meal," she rolled her eyes. "of course, i'm paying. i was thinking we could-" domino paused midway through answering his question when the rest of what he said registered. "i'm sorry, you have a what?" mark that as something she hadn't planned to hear today.

For as long as she'd been back in Daggerpoint, Danika had not bothered to go see what Onyx had gotten himself up to. That wasn't exactly their relationship anyway - but it was nice to have at least one family member in the area.

family had never been a strong point in axel's life. probably why he ended up drifting toward the crows in the first place. to belong somewhere. danika and alex's parents were worthless - their fathers were non-existent and mom could never get her shit together to raise one kid, let alone two. in turn, he never got close to his sister. at least not in the traditional way. he cared, but showing it and remembering she existed ( aka checking in on her ) were different things completely.

"well i was here first and everyone knows i got the most game," or rizz or whatever people were calling it those days. "the fuck you doin' back in town? get bored wandering around the country, finally?"

parrish was hunched over his sketch tablet, recreating a drawing he'd done on paper to send over to a client for thoughts. it was a pain in the ass to do it twice but sometimes he found it easier to do it the old fashioned way first. "uh-huh, how'd this last one go? didn't maim them for life, did ya?" he paused to glance up at them with a glistening and mischievous smirk. one that clearly said he was kidding but giving them shit all the same. "soon as I finish copying this piece over to send I'm golden," his voice trailed off while he got re-immersed in his art. "don't know about all that, what do I get out of it, hmm?"

"It is simply impossible to spoil someone who deserves everything good in the world," he hummed, looking down at her while his hands ran over her hips and lower back. Griffin swears he could spend everyday how they were right then, holding his wife and looking into her eyes. Even if he still sometimes became bashful when she looked at him. Juliet was so far out of his league she may as well be on a different planet. Still, somehow, he managed to not only catch her attention, but keep it. One of the many gifts life had given him that he would never quite understand but continue to be eternally grateful for. "I sure hope I did, but I'm happy to go back and get something different if not." He was happily pulled back into her arms. "Impossible to spoil someone who deserves everything," a sentiment he'd stand his ground on. he bumped his nose into hers and stole another kiss. "or we could let it go cold and warm it up later." a slight smirk raised the corner of his lips, fully willing to never let her go and definitely always read to work up an appetite.

he leaned forward to snatch the drink up, at least get one in before it was thrown on him or she kicked him out. "always got to have an attitude, don't ya?" but he listened to her continue on, can't blame her for being a smartass when she had the family she had. still it was the principle of it all, wasn't it? after all he was just looking out for her in his own, fucked up way. he chuckled and waved a hand in the air. "alright, alright, calm down. i didn't mean any shit by it, it was a fun jab," he'd called the man who'd been with his sister, what seemed like forever, so many worse names behind his back. "don't think i need anymore kids anyways, two is more than enough." as much as he wouldn't mind practicing to make a whole army of little bash's, it was hard enough to keep up with two in his busy life. "why else, crim? i've come to annoy you. it's my favorite past time after all. plus i never see you anymore." he was checking in, listening for rumors, and had a meeting with talon later. none of that she needed to know, though.

"just might - 'bout time i get to drink fruity ass drinks on a beach somewhere for a week," the chances of talon actually doing it was slim to none. one time he went away for a weekend and it drove him nuts wondering what was going on at home. "i have a manager and assistant manager, sure they could figure shit out for a week, right?" just the thought of everything that could go wrong gave him a bad feeling, he didn't like it at all. if cormac kept on he may end up doing the shit out of spite. "maybe i will. i could afford to lose a week of revenue, but don't think i'd have to - no? maybe you ought to come work for me, if you're so concerned."

Rachel hadn't always been a morning person, but since entering mothrehood, it was like a flip had been switched and that was all she was now. Not that she was complaining; mornings with her boys were something she cherished, but even she knew she'd been running herself a little ragged lately. So when she woke up to find that Bash wasn't in bed next to her, she was confused, but felt extremely well rested.

Bash grinned up at her, the stupid grin of a man in love he'd been giving her from the moment he fell head over heels. "Do you run this place?" He cooed to the baby in his arms who was intensely focused on his bottle but made time to smile before going back to drinking. There was a twinge of guilt for not being able to get everything done before she woke up. Then he ended up distracted watching her move to the stove. "Have I ever told you how good you look in my clothes?" One corner of his mouth lifted into a crooked smile while he stared a little longer, looking back at Micah just in time to see the last drop leave the bottle.

He lifted the little one to his shoulder to burp, getting up from the table once he did. The biker moved over to the stove, more importantly, to his wife to wrap a free arm around her waist. "I was supposed to be helping you out this morning," he leaned in for a kiss, smiling when he pulled back. "You're too good to us." That was an understatement. "What do you got going on today?"

𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐖 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐘 & 𝐑𝐔𝐃𝐘 𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐊𝐎𝐖.

when it came to neptune moreau, val felt like she had been blindsided. he'd been a big part of her life for a long time, the most important entity to float into her line of vision and still maintaining that spot even now. in a way she was relieved to be in the same space as him, the aching in her chest dulled for only a moment, the constant shake of her hands stopping. but just as it always did, those feelings came back all at once. she'd let herself forget for a second that he wasn't in her life anymore, and even though they were stuck in a small space together, that didn't change the fact that he didn't want to be with her. how could he? she was self-absorbed and distracted, and in the end she couldn't even give him the one thing he wanted. neptune had made countless sacrifices to keep her happy, and what had she done in return? nothing.

but as val watched him in the confines of that stuck elevator, her nstincts kicked in immediately. all those years together flooded back in one fell swoop, and despite being freaked out by being trapped in that small space, all she could think about was neptune. "hey." her voice was soft as she spoke, her own body pushing off the wall so she could join him in his corner. val had no right to be as intimately affectionate with neptune as she used to be --- as she wanted to be --- and it killed her. but it didn't stop her from lifting her hands to his face, palms cradling it between her hands as she forced him to focus on her. sometimes it was the only way to get his attention, to make him stop and take a deep breath in a time of crisis. she hoped that this method would work, but she was prepared for immediate rejection if it came. she hoped it wouldn't.

the hum of the elevator, or perhaps it was the fluorescent light overhead, was a soundtrack to the buzzing electricity which had replaced the blood in his veins. between seeing val so unexpectedly and the elevator stopping mid trip, he was sure that he was about to jump right out of his skin. see, neptune could work through chaotic situations and put out fires quite well. but there were certain things that rendered him useless, especially with little other focus than himself, the elevator, or the woman he's never stopped thinking about since the day they met, that he lost.

he has to mention, as annoying as it is to point out in this terrifying scenario, that having a brain that retains and memorizes eidetic knowledge is quite awful in a panic. at least for neptune. facts about annual elevator deaths, different ways it happens, the reasoning behind malfunctions, several awful elevator horror scenes, and a census of every conversation he's ever had with val. look at val. and then, proximity, pheromones, he took a deep breath and snapped to focus on her. "there's six elevator related deaths per year..." he blurted out, versus the second thought he'd had which was ' she's touching me '. a wave of euphoria came and went, during which he nodded at her reassurance. she made it quite believable. "um," he licked chapped lips and rewet the desert in his mouth. "I pressed a lot of buttons. i didn't - um - i-i didn't look which ones." great he's stuttering like an idiot. he's usually so proud to show off just how articulate he is with english. just focus neptune.

he watched her turn to hit the button and loose lips pushed out more idiocy. "if the world was ending, you'd come over, right? would you call me?" he really should work on not opening his mouth ever again. but god, would she? in the end would they say their last goodbyes to each other? a bit morbid, tuna. he could hear a sibling ringing the reminder in his ear. he couldn't help it, situations like these make those questions so much more prominent.