#jackal fics

[theycallme-thejackal]

One MidgeLenny x TSwift Fic Per Day

188. Electric Touch

For once in her life, she's not running late. In fact, there's a full hour until he's coming to pick her up, and she's almost completely ready. Her makeup is done. Her hair is perfect. She tried on five different dresses before settling on this one for their date.

Their date. She's going on a date with Lenny Bruce.

She exhales a shuddering breath and resists the urge to bite her lip; she doesn't want to ruin the lipstick she'd so painstakingly applied just right. She reaches into her jewelry box, pulling out her earrings and putting them on with slightly shaky hands.

She's tried to fall in love. And it has always fallen apart. She even thought it had fallen apart with Lenny after Carnegie. But then, just as she was leaving to try to find her way home in that blizzard, his hand had circled her wrist, somehow both tender and firm. And he just said, "Look, I'm sorry I yelled, but I care about you too much to let you fuck up your career."

She stared at him, trying to muster up indignation, anger with him, but he was giving her those sad puppy dog eyes, and she couldn't manage anything other than gratitude.

Because she knew he was right. She knows he was right.

He offered to sleep on the couch, and she'd rolled her eyes. "We're adults. We can share a bed." He looked nervous at that, but he nodded and gave her one of his shirts to sleep in.

They turned their backs to one another under the covers, and she remembers being unable to sleep for the longest time with him so close and yet so far away.

Eventually, though, she had drifted off to sleep and woken up facing the other way, her head on his chest, his arms wrapped around her.

"Huh," he murmured as he woke up as well. "This is..."

She waited for a moment for him to finish, and when he didn't, she swallowed nervously and then said, "Nice?"

He chuckled. "I was gonna say 'unexpected', but yeah...it's nice."

She gets up from her vanity and slips into her shoes before going out into the living room. The kids are with Joel, and her parents are at the theatre, so there's not even someone in the apartment to distract her at the moment.

Fortunately the phone rings, and she grabs it on the first ring. "Hello?"

"Jesus, you're fuckin' nervous," Susie grumbles on the other end.

She huffs at that. "I'm not nervous," she insists petulantly.

"Hey, you saw me stumbling over my words and forgetting who the fuck I was the first time I met him," Susie tells her, surprisingly comforting in this moment.

Midge furrows her brow. "Wow. You usually hate the guys I date. I expected you to fight this a hell of a lot more."

Susie scoffs. "Look, I'm not thrilled you're gonna date a comic, but at least this one's funny. You could do a hell of a lot worse than Lenny Bruce. Hell, you have done worse. You had kids with worse."

"My kids are great," Midge retorts.

"Yeah, are you sure they're Joel's?" Susie quips.

"Yes, I'm sure!" Midge squeaks.

Susie laughs in response. "I was fuckin' kidding, Midge! Shit."

The younger woman takes another deep breath and exhales slowly. "I know," she mutters. "I just...yeah, I'm really nervous. I really...I really want this to work," she admits, her voice quiet.

Susie groans. "Miriam, the guy's been in love with you for...well, basically forever. Just get your shit together. I don't think there's anything you could do to send him screaming into the night."

"Maybe show up in a wedding dress?" Midge asks.

"He'd just take you to fuckin' Atlantic City and call your bluff," Susie responds with a chuckle.

"Ah! Shit!"

Midge furrows her brow and looks toward the door. "What time is it?" She asks Susie.

"Uh, it's seven-thirty," Susie answers. "What, you don't have clocks in that fancy apartment?"

"He's not supposed to be here until eight!" Midge squeaks.

"Fuck, doesn't he know you're never on time?" Susie grumbles.

"I've been ready for thirty minutes."

There's silence on the other end. And then, "Fuck! You're already fucking in love with him!"

"Susie, I have to go," Midge says.

"You fuckin' f--"

She puts the phone down and smooths her dress before heading toward the door and opening it slowly, finding Lenny in the hallway, rubbing his knee with one hand and holding a bouquet of flowers in the other.

She tilts her head as she watches him, not yet aware of her presence, and she feels a wave of deep affection for him. "Chair jump out at you?" She asks with a grin.

His head snaps up at her, and he chuckles sheepishly. "Yeah, I haven't had the best luck with this building."

"Maybe I should move," she offers. "Wouldn't want to keep putting you in danger."

He grins and shakes his head. "Or maybe I should just stop pacing nervously because I was forty minutes early getting here." He looks down at the flowers in his hand before moving closer to her. He holds them out. "These are for you. Or your mother if I need to get on her good side," he jokes.

She grins and takes them, inhaling their scent. "They're beautiful, Lenny," she replies, opening the door wider and inviting him in. "So...forty minutes, huh?" She asks as he steps inside.

He shrugs, giving her a sheepish smile.

She heads toward the kitchen, inviting him to follow. "I'm usually ten minutes late for everything," she tells him as she pulls out a vase and fills it with water. "Tonight I was ready an hour early."

His anxiety seems to fade a bit, and he breathes, "Yeah?"

She nods. "Yeah."

He moves toward her then, and once she puts the flowers in the water, he reaches out and brushes a tendril of hair away from her eyes. He cups her cheek in his hand and gazes down at her for a moment before closing the distance and kissing her gently.

She melts immediately, the remainder of her nerves fading, and she wraps her fingers around the lapels of his jacket.

It's a long moment before he breaks the kiss and rests his forehead against hers. "Hungry?" He asks. "I made a reservation like a responsible adult."

"Will you steal my food again?" She teases.

"You did say you love that," he replies, laughing quietly.

She smiles and nods, letting him take her hand and lead her toward the door, where she grabs her purse. As they head for the elevator, she thinks that this could either break her heart or bring it back to life.

She has a pretty good feeling it'll be the latter.

[theycallme-thejackal]

MidgeLenny Prompt if ya want.

“You can’t say goodbye to me like that”

Pairing: Lenny Bruce & Midge Maisel Rated T

Lenny pokes his head into the living room, where his girlfriend is sitting on the couch with her notebook.

"I have a meeting with my editor; I'll be back in a couple hours," he says before heading for the door.

He grabs his coat off the hook, throwing it on. As he turns around, messing with the collar to straighten it, Midge comes up, tugs him down by the tie, and murmurs, "You can't say goodbye to me like that," before kissing him deeply.

He's surprised at first, but he quickly melts into her, a quiet moan rumbling in his chest as his fingers slip into her hair, his hands cupping her face.

Midge smiles against him, pulling away before pecking his lips again. "That's how you say goodbye," she adds with a smirk.

Slightly dazed, he gazes at her for a long moment. "I will never make that mistake again," he promises, giving her one last lingering kiss before slipping out the door.

[theycallme-thejackal]

One MidgeLenny x TSwift Fic Per Day

189. Say Don't Go

(A very sad prequel to Make You Feel My Love. Thanks @wonderlandleighleigh for proofing and approving.)

She stands in the front hall with her suitcases.

It’s time to go. She’s spent too much time here away from her kids, away from her work. She’s done nothing but cook and clean and comfort him while he goes through withdrawal. Any more time away, and everyone will start to forget she ever existed.

But if he asked her not to go, she would stay forever.

But this man who she has loved for so very long, who just last night whispered the sweetest things she’s ever heard, cannot be what she needs. She’s so scared that if she stays, she will end up watching him fall back into the habits that killed him for three minutes just a month ago.

Ever since that night together in his very blue room, she’s known they were a shot in the dark. The odds of things working out between them were so very slim. Especially once she discovered his little black bag. The arrests, she can deal with. She has plenty of her own. But the drugs are too terrifying, a dark cloud that will hang over any relationship they attempt to pursue.

So she stands there, bags packed, and gazes sadly up at him. “Ethan and Esther go back to school on Tuesday, and they need me,” she murmurs. “And if I stay any longer, Susie’s going to come out here and drag me back by my hair.”

He nods in understanding, but she can see the sadness he’s trying to conceal, and all she wants him to say is Don’t go.

Say, “Don’t go.” Say, “Don’t go.” Say, “Don’t go.”

But he won’t. Because for all of Lenny’s faults, he has always put her above himself, has always wanted what’s best for her. So he’s silent, and she wants to scream because of it.

She moves to him, cupping his face in her hands and kissing him softly. “Last night was…perfect,” she whispers, just barely able to keep her tears at bay.

He nods, his hands just ghosting her hips as they stand there, neither one truly ready to let go. She sighs sadly and then indulges in one more kiss, this one deeper. His grip on her hips tightens just the slightest bit, and she strokes her fingers through his curls, not ready for it to end.

But it does. She returns to the ground from tiptoes and grazes her thumbs over his cheekbones before slipping out of his grasp and picking up her suitcase. She opens the door and stands halfway out of it before looking back at him, holding out hope for him to ask her to stay.

But he won’t.

He doesn’t.

“Bye, Lenny,” she breathes before closing the door behind her.

She manages to keep it together as she heads down the path to her waiting taxi, and once they make the turn off of his street, she finally lets the tears fall.

[theycallme-thejackal]

Pairing: Lenny Bruce & Midge Maisel Rated T Warnings: Season 5 Spoilers

She starts awake with a gasp.

Clutching her chest, she tries to calm her racing heartbeat, but it’s harder than hell when everything felt...

God, it felt so real.

“Midge?”

“I...I had the strangest dream - nightmare, really,” she answers, looking over at him.

Lenny rolls onto his side, his hand sliding comfortingly over her waist. “Want to tell me about it?”

She tells him everything. About Esther’s therapy. Ethan going to Israel and not telling her about his fiancé. About her failed marriages and falling out with Susie. About his rapid descent and...his death.

“It all felt…so real. Down to the fabulous outfits I was wearing. The eighties are going to be great for my wardrobe.”

He chuckles and gazes at her for a long moment. “Well none of that is going to happen - aside from the fabulous wardrobe,” he promises, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. “You’re a great mother. I’ve been clean for two years, so no meltdown at Carnegie Hall is going to be necessary. And Susie is your best friend. She’s going to be your best friend until we’re all dead.”

“And four to six months after?”

“And four to six months after,” he confirms with a nod.

Midge blinks back tears and then holds his face in her hands, kissing him deeply.

When they part, he wipes a little of her face cream off of his cheek and smiles at her. “Now I need to get some sleep. I don’t know if you heard, but tomorrow I’m marrying the most incredible woman on the planet, and if I don’t get my beauty sleep, she might realize just how far out of my league she actually is.”

“Careful with that one. I hear she’s got three more divorces in her future.”

He sighs and props himself up on his elbow. “Sweetheart, if you think I’d ever let you divorce me, you’re out of your fucking mind.”

“That’s what I thought about Joel, too,” she reminds him.

“I’m not Joel,” he murmurs, dipping his head and looking at her a little more intently. “I know how lucky I am.”

“I’m the lucky one,” she whispers. “Really, Lenny, I…” She reaches up and caresses his jaw with her fingertips. “Do you know how much I love you?”

He smiles that wonderful smile she loves so much, and nods. “Almost as much as I love you.”

He kisses her deeply, and that horrible nightmare fades from her mind.

[theycallme-thejackal]

Hello dear jackal! I’ve got a prompt. Could you write one where Midge bumps into Declan Howell and she uses him to make Lenny jealous?

Pairing: Lenny Bruce & Midge Maisel Rated T Warnings: 5x01 Spoilers

Midge isn't one to intentionally toy with someone else's emotions, but there's a certain poetic justice to both Declan Howell and Lenny Bruce being in this particular bar on the same night.

She honestly can't deny there is a certain...attraction to the tortured artist sitting on the stool in front of her. She knows that if she asked him to take her to bed, he would. Immediately. And it would probably be great.

But the problem is that she's so fucking in love with Lenny that she can't imagine leaving this bar with anyone else.

Declan watches her as her eyes fall on the comic across the room, and then he turns to look. A dark chuckle passes his lips. "Lenny Bruce, eh?"

Midge nods, playing dumb. "Yes, that's Lenny Bruce," she replies, taking a sip of her martini and returning her gaze to the man before her. "You know him?"

He shrugs. "We run in...adjacent circles. Sometimes they meet."

"Ah," she breathes. "So you know him, but you don't know him."

"Precisely," Declan replies as he studies her. Part of her wonders if he's about to take out a pencil and start sketching on a napkin. Or maybe he has some paints and will begin using her face as a canvas.

Instead he chuckles softly. "You're in love with him, aren't you?"

She denies it, but she took half a beat too long to do so. Declan dips his head disbelievingly. "So I suppose I will once again fail in attempting to convince you to come to bed with me."

Her gaze unintentionally flicks toward Lenny, just barely catching his eyes before he looks away, and Declan gives her a sad little smile. "In another life, perhaps," he comments as he stands. He kisses her cheek softly before stumbling further down the bar to get another drink.

She watches him go and then looks back at Lenny, nursing his bourbon and avoiding looking at her. She steels herself and makes her way to his table, leaning on the empty chair beside him. "Got tired of avoiding me?" She asks, cocking her head.

He looks up at her. "Who says I was avoiding you?"

Midge lifts her brows and shrugs as she pulls out the chair to sit. "The distinct lack of sneak attacks in recent months was a hint," she answers as she crosses her legs.

"Where'd Howell go?" He asks, not bothering to look away from her.

"Somewhere down the bar," she answers with a wave of her hand.

"You'll catch up with him later then?"

Midge rolls her eyes. "Maybe my parents were right," she says.

That confuses him, and his brows furrow intensely. "What?"

"Maybe you are an idiot off stage."

He gives her a little chuckle. "I can confirm that is absolutely true."

"I'm not with Declan Howell," she explains. "Just...an acquaintance."

"You looked awfully cozy up there."

She rolls her eyes again. "For fuck's sake, Lenny, you're the one who left town. And tried not to say goodbye, I might add."

"So?" He mutters petulantly.

"So you don't get to be jealous when I talk to other men," she snaps, moving back to her feet.

"I didn't - " He huffs a sigh as she pauses halfway out of her chair, and she sits back down. He takes a long drag from his cigarette. "I didn't leave to get away from you," he murmurs. "I just...needed to get away from New York. Go be with my kid. Get away from the cops."

"No cops in Los Angeles?"

"There are, but they like me better."

"Lenny..."

He cocks his head at her. "Midge..."

"I'm going to ask you something, and I need you to answer honestly. No jokes, no deflecting, just...honesty." He nods slowly. "Are we ever going to get our shit together, or is this just...passing?"

There's only about an inch of space between their hands, and his fingertips brush against hers almost absently. "I...it's too late for me, Midge," he mutters. "I'm not...I'm not the man you're looking for."

"Bullshit."

"I'm not good enough for you, Midge!"

She looks at him for a long moment before sighing, "And you said I put you on a pedestal." He taps the ash from the end of his cigarette without saying anything. "So your answer is no, then. We're never going to get our shit together. It's going to be just one fucking incredible night - when you told me you loved me, by the way - and then...nothing."

His face flushes a little at that, and he ducks his head, muttering, "You weren't supposed to hear that."

"Well, I did. You want to take it back?" She asks primly.

His lips quirk in a similar way that they did that night at Dublin House - so similarly, in fact, that she half expects him to say you are lovely. "I don't want to take it back," he admits quietly.

"Good. Because I love you, too, you putz."

A soft breath of a chuckle passes his lips, and he shakes his head. "Midge, you're killing me," he groans, half joking.

"Would you rather I try a different tack? I can go find Declan." She jerks her thumb over her shoulder.

She has now intention of going home with Declan Howell. Even if Lenny pushes her away again, she's just...not interested in being with someone else. But her joke has him glowering, his eyes practically flashing green with jealousy, and she drops her hand again, letting it rest on top of his this time. "Let's try," she pleads. "Because I think...I think this could be it, Lenny."

His eyes grow teary in a similar way they did in that airport walkway six months ago. "Midge - "

Before he has the opportunity to protest further, she presses her lips desperately to his. Please, please stay with me.

He kisses her back almost immediately. Dropping the cigarette in favor of cupping her neck, he pulls her closer to him with such surprising strength that she tumbles from her own chair and into his lap.

The change in position in this rather busy bar has them both laughing quietly until it makes kissing near impossible. He buries his face in the crook of her neck and holds her body tightly against his as she tenderly strokes his hair. "I love you, Lenny," she whispers again. "I should have said it at the airport before you left. Or in your hotel room that night."

He doesn't let go or lift his head. He just inhales deeply against her skin. "I love you, Midge." She smiles and dips her head to kiss his temple.

[theycallme-thejackal]

‘Til There Was You

Pairing: Lenny Bruce & Midge Maisel Warnings: 5x01 Spoilers

Midge stops in the middle of the hallway and swallows thickly, tears still burning in her eyes.

Suddenly it’s too hot. She feels panic rising in her chest, and every bit of her except her formerly frostbitten toe starts to sweat.

We don’t do that, right?

He was trying to open up to her. To give her what she insisted upon that morning outside of her apartment, and she threw it back in his face because...because...

Because I’m a fucking idiot.

He doesn’t know how long he’ll be out west. He has a lease. His daughter is coming to stay with him. For all she knows, he’ll stay out there. Meet a girl. Have a life.

Her feet start taking her the other direction. She’s moving quickly, rushing to catch him before he has the chance to board his flight to Los Angeles. Because if he leaves, if this is the last time she’s going to see him, she’s not going to let him leave without telling him what that night really meant to her.

What he really means to her.

“Lenny!” She calls as she spots him again, reaching into his pocket for his ticket.

His head is ducked, but he turns it to look at her, the cigarette still dangling from his lips as his face twists a little in confusion and...something else.

Relief, she realizes.

“We have to stop meeting like this,” he tells her, stepping away from the gate.

She takes a deep breath as he approaches, and when he removes the cigarette from his mouth and exhales, she rises onto her toes, ignoring the still present ache in the one, and presses a soft kiss to his lips as her hand cups his neck tenderly. It takes him a moment to reciprocate, but he finally does, moving his lips against hers and bending so she doesn’t have to stand on tiptoes anymore.

When they part a longer than decent moment later, she clutches his lapels and rests her forehead against his. “Thank you,” she whispers.

“For what?” He asks quietly.

“Everything.” She pulls away a little, looking up at him as the tears start to form again. “For...the Gaslight gig and the joint Susie stole from me and yelling at me at Carnegie Hall and...” 

She chokes out a quiet sob, and his thumb brushes a fallen tear from her cheek. “And for that night,” she finally adds once she’s regained her composure.

“The pleasure was all mine, I assure you,” he whispers.

“Oh I’m pretty sure I got there about three times before you had a chance,” she quips, earning a chuckle from him. “But aside from that, you...made me feel loved. In a way I don’t think I’ve ever felt before.”

Lenny gazes at her softly, his thumb trailing over her cheek and down her jaw. “Midge, I - ”

“Mr. Bruce?” The airline representative calls. “We’re on a bit of a schedule.”

He sighs and looks back at Midge. God, she hates how much this feels like goodbye. “I have to - ”

“I know,” she whispers, nodding furiously as she tries and fails not to cry anymore.

“If I call this time - ”

“I’ll pick up,” she promises.

He gives her a slow smile and one last tender kiss before going to board the plane.

[theycallme-thejackal]

little lenny and midge photo prompt because I crave them being soft to one another (and maybe a little smut too if you’re feeling it 👀)

Pairing: Lenny Bruce & Midge Maisel Rated T

Part 1 | Part 2

Midge wakes to the feeling of his fingertips trailing down her spine.

She smiles contentedly as her eyes flutter open and she sees him gazing at her, his eyes full of adoration. "Hi," she whispers, snuggling closer so she can kiss him tenderly.

A lazy grin finds his lips as she pulls back. "Hello," he breathes. His fingertips make their way back up toward her shoulders, and she shivers. "How are you feeling?"

She considers for a moment. "A little jet lagged. A little worried about my performance post-frostbite."

The chuckle rumbles in his chest. "I can confirm that even after frost crotch and nearly losing a couple of toes, you are still sensational," he murmurs, dipping his head to kiss her shoulder.

"And...I'm really happy," she adds a moment later.

He pulls her closer, and she shifts onto her side so her chest is pressed to his. "So...I know we don't do this..."

"What? Have sex? Our track record suggests otherwise."

He smirks. "No, I mean...I'm bringing my kid home today."

"Oh," she breathes. She was so wrapped up in this, in her feelings for him, that she'd forgotten part of the reason he's here is to spend time with his daughter. "Right. I should..."

"I'd like you to meet her," he says before she even has the chance to try wriggling out of his embrace.

Midge blinks slowly, wondering if she's imagining things. "You want me to meet your daughter?" He nods, and she asks, "What about your ex? Don't you need to talk to her about this?"

Lenny sighs. "She's not really...involved," he explains. "Kitty - my daughter - she's been living with my mother. Honey's not gonna care if Kitty meets someone who's...very important to me."

She looks at him for a long moment. "I don't want to impose on your time with her," she says.

"You're not imposing," he promises. "If we really are doing this - "

"We are," she promises. "I wouldn't have followed you out here if I didn't want this."

"Good," he replies. "Because I'm afraid, Mrs. Maisel, that I am powerless to resist you any longer."

She laughs quietly. "It's because I talk to my shoes, right?"

"Well, it is wildly attractive," he answers, and she laughs again. His grin fades into a more serious expression. "Midge?" He breathes.

"Yes?"

Lenny takes a deep breath, clearly steeling himself, and then he says the words she's been wanting to hear ever since the moment he kissed her for the first time: "I love you."

Her grin widens, and a happy little sob passes her lips. "I love you, too," she says before kissing him deeply.

[theycallme-thejackal]

One MidgeLenny x TSwift Fic Per Day

187. Safe & Sound

Warnings: Season 5 Spoilers

Even after a five hour flight and a couple of cab rides, Midge still looks perfect as she holds her suitcase in front of herself. “Hi,” she greets, a cautious smile meeting her lips.

He stares at her for a long moment, the sight of her in his doorway stealing the breath from his lungs. “Hello,” he manages, feeling his throat tighten. “What are you - ”

"I wasn’t ready to say goodbye,” she tells him. “Not like that. Not in an airport where we traded some stilted jokes and pretended everything was okay between us. That’s not the way this ends, Lenny.”

She blinks rapidly, but he sees the tears she’s trying to clear from her eyes. “How does it end, then?” He quietly asks.

Her throat bobs, and then she inhales deeply. “With any luck...it doesn’t,” she answers.

He steps aside and invites her into the house.

--

It’s nearly midnight in New York, and Midge is asleep in his bed, her arm draped over his stomach and head pillowed on his bare chest.

He really thought that conversation at the airport was going to be the last time he ever saw her outside of a television screen. That she was going to go forward, have a fantastic career, get married again, and put him in her rearview mirror.

She’s so much smarter than he is.

There’s a fucking war going on outside. The entire country seems to be gunning for him, trying to destroy his life, his work, his spirit.

As the sun starts to go down, she snuggles closer in her sleep, her naked body pressed against his, and for the first time in years, he feels the noise in his mind grow quiet.