#curiosityshop

hugs.

"i wish they'd all just shut up and leave me alone sometimes."

it comes out like a flinch, faintly bitter-stung around the edges. trudy regrets it almost as soon as the words come out, brow dropping into a palm that covers her eyes.

hugs.

what's best for her, martin says, low like always, close to her ear.

trudy's not too sure she'd know what's best for her if someone hit her over the head with it. it's so rarely been about that. what's best for her is keeping it together. doing her job. researching late into the night if she isn't killing her feet pounding pavement. pulling files nobody else could find for rico. having gina's back. making sure sonny doesn't kill himself, either recklessly on the job or from the loneliness on that damn boat. keeping tabs on larry and stan because she worries about them when they're on stake-outs and they're good at it but they're not doing it how she would and that worries her and—

trudy sniffs, nudging her face a little further into the solidity of castillo's shoulder, knowing it'll muffle her voice, not quite able to care.

🔥 What’s the pettiest thing they’ve ever argued about?

💋 Who says “I love you” first & how?

🌙 Who’s the little spoon & who pretends they hate it but secretly loves it?

🎶 What’s their song - the one that makes them both tear up / grin like idiots?

😳 What’s the most embarrassing thing they’ve walked in on the other doing?

Loladan, I miss our disasters (I have my own ideas for some of these that I'm more than happy to offer as well if you like) <3

⚖️ SHIP HEADCANON QUESTIONS

🫂 What’s their favorite way to hold each other when words aren’t enough?

i think about dan on his knees with his arms around dolores' waist and his head on her chest while her fingers are tangled in his hair and she just quietly holds him the normal amount. i also think about dan laying his head on dolores' lap the normal amount. i think about dolores coming up behind dan and wrapping her arms around him and pressing her forehead against his back the normal amount. i'm so normal.

🔥 What’s the pettiest thing they’ve ever argued about?

what haven't they argued about. bills. what to get for dinner. who moved whose briefcase. which muppet is objectively the best. whether or not dan's actually any good at impressions. whether or not dolores snores. but as stupid and heated as it can get between them sometimes? i won't speak for dan, but i know half the time it's dolores' way of flirting with him (kinda like this scene in the legal movie of all time). that's what you sign up for in an attorney4attorney relationship and good luck figuring out when she's trying to hit on him and when she's actually mad.

💋 Who says “I love you” first & how?

i think they were both really slow to it. dolores is slow to say 'i love you' because of her trust issues and i don't need to rehash the INCREDIBLE monologue from dan's operation part 2. it takes time, but i think dolores says it first during some quiet moment when neither of them is really expecting it. she doesn't expect to hear it back and gives him so much of her patience until he can finally spit it out. that's probably a not insignificant part of why she was so angry about him and the split for so long. sap.

🌙 Who’s the little spoon & who pretends they hate it but secretly loves it?

beth... we both know that man wants to be a little spoon so bad, but he's been cursed with being 6'4". dolores is trying to make it work anyway tho.

🎶 What’s their song - the one that makes them both tear up / grin like idiots?

i don't know if they have a particular song bc i don't see them getting emotionally attached to one ( 1 ) memory like that, but we have a whole playlist and i really feel like jackson encapsulates their vibe at the end of their relationship and mamma mia is them both kicking themselves for walking right back into catching feelings again.

😳 What’s the most embarrassing thing they’ve walked in on the other doing?

"kid."

it draws out a keen awareness of just how little rico knows about him if he imagines for even one moment that mutt'll stay put.

"don't be stupid."

mutt pushes back, and it is unclear for a moment whether he means ordering him to stay here, or going after the target, or both. most likely both. a breath of air huffs faintly out through his nose, slate eyes hard with a flinty sort of wariness that makes them seem somehow sharper and darker around his iris edges.

"kid."

gina's presence startles him. he's restless, ears pricked to every tiny sound. his fingers feel oversensitive when they brush over the upholstery that bears his weight. someone's smoked in this room, but not recently, the scent's too stale for that.

"kid."

the moon catches to mutt's lashes, the proud, harsh bite of his cheekbones, and might be it's so that the night's always been his time. when he turns his head, there's something sharp and solemn in the minute uptick at one corner of his mouth.

"kid."

though not immediately attentive, the collision of a voice upon his ears near-instantly tugs mutt out of momentary distraction. molars chew over the side of his tongue hard enough to itch before he finds his voice.

"kid."

a silence stretched out, thereafter. not a softness, never quite that, but a stillness. thoughtful, more than shadowed or cold. considering, and nearly contemplative. mutt's steely eyes search sam's face for several seemingly too-long seconds, as though the meaning and value of a minute had become stretched out and distorted.

"gimme a beer an' i just might."