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joezworld · 3 years ago

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An Ill Wind

Traintober Day 9 - Brace For Impact

So, this is the long one. There always has to be one. I hope this is the only one. As a note, this isn't horror, per se, but rather ominous dread at the most. At time of writing everyone reading this has lived through These Times. We all know what's coming.

As a housekeeping note - this story relies upon a lot of stuff I've previously written or it won't make much, if any, sense. I've tried to link everything in the first place it's mentioned. Please let me know if you're confused at any point.

This is also a very long story, with explanatory paragraphs that sometimes become Very Dense. I also wrote it exclusively between the hours of 11:00 PM and 4:00 AM over two consecutive nights. (A bad decision on my part - don't do that.) Please bear with me if there are any glaring errors - I did check this over but I'm not omniscient.

Summary - An ill wind blows from the East, and Sodor prepares for the oncoming storm.

Mid February - Tidmouth

“-and you’re sure that this isn’t an engine that British Rail… missed? Your father didn’t shove her behind a shed or something?” The insurance agent said, looking over his papers at Stephen. “Engines don’t appear from nowhere.”

“Tony, as much as I would like to believe you, in this case she did.” Stephen said seriously. “There are records of her being scrapped.”

“So you’ve showed me.” The agent was from Lloyds of London, and was used to people trying to ‘finesse’ their way out of a claim, but everything that he’d seen so far, and his many previous experiences with the NWR, was making this far more believable than he was comfortable with. “So I take it you didn’t pay for this engine?”

“No.”

“Of course. Do you have any idea of what something like Daphne would be valued at?”

A few papers were shuffled, and Stephen’s notepad emerged from the clutter on the desk. “I have tried to purchase several Deltics over the years. Depending on whether you wish to base the valuation on Alycidon, Tulyar, or Royal Scot’s Grey and Gordon Highlander together, Daphne is worth somewhere between fifteen million pounds, thirty million pounds, or, and I will quote directly here: ‘absolutely priceless, I will never sell either of them.’” He ran his finger down the paper. “He sold the two of them less than a month after I inquired. Everyone seems to think Jeremy Hoskings is a better owner than I am, to my continued bafflement.”

There was a snort from the insurance agent, followed by a sigh. “My department manager knows Hoskings. We’ll confirm the valuation with him, but for right now I’ll leave it at… twelve?”

“That sounds appropriate,” Stephen said, pleased that he’d come to more or less the same valuation before the meeting. “Is there anything else you need from us right now?”

“No, I can’t think of anything else at the moment.”

“Well then Mr. Kwon, we are done for now. You must excuse me for leaving so quickly, but my attention is needed all over the island. You do know your way out?”

“Yeah…” The insurance agent said, suddenly engrossed in his phone, papers half in his briefcase. “Excuse me.” He said, suddenly shoving everything into his case before bolting for the door. Stephen and his secretary watched as the man receded down the hallway, speaking rapidly into his cell phone in an unknown language.

“What was that all about?” His secretary asked, watching as the man vanished around the corner.

“I don’t know.” Stephen said as he shrugged into his overcoat. “Hopefully nothing.”

As it turns out, it wasn’t nothing. Stephen had a meeting with the Barrow City Council, and was making his way to the first class compartments of the Limited when he came across Tony Kwon in a coach vestibule. He was still talking into his phone, the language foreign but the tone urgent. He paid Stephen no mind, but when Stephen eventually reached his seat, he found the Insurance Agent’s case and coat sitting in the seat opposite his.

The train was almost to Kildane when Kwon eventually came back, his face flushed. “Is everything all right?” Stephen asked, concerned.

“No.” The man all but collapsed into the seat, as if the life had been drained from him. “My brother… he works for Toyota, in Yokohama. Last week he went out to China for a conference, and now fifteen of the people he went with have come down with this… strange pneumonia.” He tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling of the coach. “He’s a hypochondriac, so between that and the cruise ship I’m having to talk him off a ledge - metaphorically, of course.”

‘My goodness.” Stephen had no idea what to say to that, and offered some brief consoling words.

“Thanks, but there’s nothing you can do about this.” Tony blew out a breath resignedly. “Fuck, there’s nothing I can do.”

He looked like he wanted to say something else, but his phone rang, cutting him off. “クソ地獄, it’s my mother.”

He exited the compartment, and remained on the phone in the vestibule until the train reached Barrow.

Stephen left via a different door, and didn’t see the man again, but felt strangely ill-at-ease for the rest of the day.

----

A few days later - Near the Hatt Family Estate

The credit card machines at the petrol station were out, and Stephen was forced to go in and pay for his fuel in cash. As he waited in line, the rack of newspapers caught his eye; while the local Sodor papers were focused on the Lord Mayor of Suddery having some sort of extramarital affair, The Daily Mail featured a prominent picture of a cruise ship, with the equally bold headline of “PLAGUE SHIP”.

The woman in front of him seemed intent of paying for her petrol in pound coins, and Stephen tuned out the furor this was eliciting from the rest of the line of patrons, reaching for the newspaper.

The byline read ‘Yokohama, Japan’, and within a few sentences, alarm bells were ringing in the back of the Fat Controller’s head. He read through the rest of the article, and was only brought out of the paper by the clerk trying to get his attention. “Sir? We’ve run out of cash to make change, so right now, we’re-”

Stephen needed to be elsewhere, now, and he pressed a hundred-pound note into the clerk's hand before walking out, paper under his arm.

Something is happening. I can feel it.

-----

The next day - Tidmouth Station

The usual clutter on Stephen’s desk had been rather abruptly piled on the floor. In its place were newspapers and website printouts, their topics all on the eruption of a virus in Southeast Asia.

The Fat Controller himself was engrossed in a phone call when his secretary stuck her head in the door. “Rolf Tedfield to see you, sir.”

Still on the phone, Stephen waved at her to let in his visitor once the phone call was over. “-yes, Secretary, I understand but- no, I understand perfectly. Yes there is a problem! Mr. Secretary, Grant, for the love of god, do not brush this off! Something is happening! What proof do I have? THE NEWS! Good God man, just listen to the BBC! Or read the Guardian! Or the Financial Times! For god’s sake, I found an article about this next to a page three girl in The Sun!” There was a pause as the man on the other end of the call - The Secretary of State for Transport - said something, and Stephen’s head dropped almost to the desk. “It is not like Ebola. It will not go away on its own.”

There was another pause, and his head met his desk. “The position of the government is that this disease will not be a threat to the United Kingdom. Do you mind if I quote you on that? Considering that Hong Kong has a land border with China, I feel very differently. Yes, I am aware the border has been closed for a decade but considering there’s a steady stream of asylum-seekers going through there I feel like it may not- yes, Mr. Secretary, thank you, Mr. Secretary. Goodbye.”

He hung up the phone as gingerly as he could before staring at the ceiling and counting down from ten. When he reached zero he called in the visitor. “Rolf. What can I do for you?”

The manager of Crovan’s Gate works sat down with a distracted sigh, his eyes scanning the papers on the desk. “I think you’re already ahead of me.”

Stephen followed his gaze. “You’re following this too?”

“Aye. I’m from Hong Kong, got most of my family there still.”

“I didn’t know you were from there.”

“My parents went over from Pembrokeshire in ‘49. Anyways, my sister and my brother still live out there; few cousins too, and they’re scared, Stephen. Whatever this is, it hasn’t been sitting around at the Chinese border.” He tapped at his phone, and pulled up an image from a messaging application. It was taken from a high-rise building, showing a group of helicopters and rescue boats surrounding a ship. “Five days ago a Chinese trawler got run over by a ferry. Coast Guard went and picked up the crew, took ‘em to Queen Mary Hospital. Now the entire place is on lockdown. Everyone thinks it's SARS but… sir, from what I’m hearing it’s worse than that.”

Stephen felt suddenly sick, and then realized that he should probably start using a different expression. “When was this?”

“Last night, well, it was daytime there. We’ve not heard anything because it’s still the middle of the night there.”

“And they’ve only now locked down the hospital?”

“Yeah. For all the good that will do.” Rolf seemed to be on the same page. “S’like waiting until after the zombie bites you.”

The Fat Controller took a deep breath, and steadied his nerves. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. As you might have heard before you came in, I was on the phone with the Transport Secretary trying to convince him of the seriousness of this, and I was not successful. I feel that we are going to have to act on our own.” He rose from the desk, already composing an email as he walked, and swung open the door to his office.

“Sir?”

“Rolf, I don’t know what I am going to do just yet, but I want you to - very quietly - start pulling all the coaches we have available in the out-of-use lines and the P-way trains and start making them habitable again. Interiors, then mechanicals. Focus on the buffet and sleeper cars first.”

“Yes sir. Why sir?”

“At the moment, I’m not sure yet, but I feel that having spare beds and hot meals will only help us. Aside from that, I want you to make sure that the works is stocked on spare parts and other consumables, and stop all new work on the engines and coaches.”

“Sir?”

“I mean it, Rolf. Finish everything that’s in progress as quickly as possible - use as much overtime as needed - but unless an engine catastrophically fails I don’t want anything or anyone in pieces right now. Something is happening. I’m just not sure how bad it will become.”

With that, Stephen left, his coat flapping out behind him dramatically as he marched towards the door to the station proper. Rolf watched him go, and blinked owlishly before pulling out his own cell phone, taking careful notes on what had just been said. “Did you get all of that?” He asked Stephen’s secretary, who was used to the Fat Controller’s occasionally abrupt departures.

Without a word, she shoved a piece of notebook paper into his hand. On it, in neat handwriting, was everything that had just been said.

“Thank you, Gladys.”

------

A few days later - Suddery

The Sodor Regional Council - the governmental board in charge of Island-wide affairs - met in a lecture hall at the city’s technical college. Usually they met inside Suddery’s Government Hall, but the short notice of their meeting meant that the hall was being used for other business. The atmosphere inside the room was decidedly tense - the unusual surrounds and urgent nature of the meeting meant that everyone was ill at ease even before the proceedings began.

The Mayor of Kirk Ronan spoke first. He was a svelte man of about forty, in his youth a multi-time gymnastics medalist at the Commonwealth Games. “Look, we all know why we’re here, and we all know what’s going on. Let’s dispense with the pleasantries and get down to it: There’s a sickness coming, from China, Japan, Iran, and now Italy from what I heard on the car ride here.”

A few murmurs came after that, and he held out his hands for quiet. “Now I’m sure that almost everyone here has called down to London at some point, and they’ve all said the same thing, haven’t they?”

“Yeah,” came one voice in particular - the Barrow Harbormaster, who watched five ferries a day pull into his port, each one loaded full with French and Irish passengers. “That we’s gonna ignore Hong Kong bein’ loike The Walkin’ Dead and just hope tha’ the Border Force can do bet’er wit’ t’is than theys do wit’ the moigrants.”

London seemed to think that, like Rabies, Termites, and asylum-seeking refugees, the width of the English Channel was all that was needed to keep the mysterious ‘asian flu’ out of the British Isles. Frustrated mumbles broke out as everyone tried to recount to their neighbor the lies that their contact in London had fed them.

“Thank you, thank you, I know what it was like, I phoned them too.” The mayor signaled again for quiet. “I know we are all frustrated. I know that we are all in the dark. I know that we’re all scared.” And for a moment he let his guard down, and showed his true emotions on his face, before continuing.

“But we aren’t some helpless home county who can’t do anything themselves. We’re Sodor, damnit. London hasn’t given a monkey’s arse about us in a thousand years and they’re not about to start now. So what are we going to do about it?”

Despite his best efforts, Stephen Hatt’s lifestyle and means of employment meant that “punctuality” was something he only ever chanced into, rather than it being a regular occurance. In this instance, James-related issues at Tidmouth had meant his arrival at the hall was almost ten minutes after the meeting’s already-delayed start time.

Fortunately, chance often smiled upon Stephen, and he hadn’t gotten this far in life without being quick on his feet. “If I may,” He called out as he strode through a side door near the lectern. “I do have some suggestions.”

Two hours later

The meeting had gone as well as a crisis planning session could go, and the participants filed out with brimming notebooks both physical and digital, their faces grim with worry or steeled against what would happen next.

The parking lot of the technical college backed up against the city marina, and a cold sea breeze whipped across the tarmac, rustling papers, tugging at clothes, and teasing hair. Stephen took refuge in an enclosed bus shelter to organize his notes, and was joined a moment later by a man he knew more from reputation than meeting - the head of Wellsworth’s St. Tibba’s Hospital, the largest and best hospital on the Island. Stepehen knew very little about the man - his first name, (Dembe), his nationality (English, to Ugandan parents), that he was a paediatrician by training, and that he’d been appointed head of St. Tibba’s over several local candidates whose CVs may as well have been written in crayon when compared to him. He’d sat through most of the meeting in complete silence, only answering questions when asked directly.

“Doctor.”

“Mister Hatt.”

There was silence, broken only by the doctor pulling out a carton of cigarettes and a silver lighter.

“Your ideas are sound.” The man said only after he’d puffed a Dunhill into life. “But it’s not going to be enough.”

“Do you really think that?” Stephen kept his expression neutral, staring out into Suddery Bay rather than at the other man. Fittingly, a storm was brewing on the horizon, huge clouds rising into the sky.

“I do.” The cigarette smoke came out in measured smoke rings. “We haven’t got enough beds.”

“Surely the-”

“It doesn’t matter how many train cars you give us, Stephen. It doesn’t matter if there’s a line of them going from one end of the Island to the other. We’ve only got two hundred fifty beds across the entire Island, and our staff levels reflect that.” Another, more violent puff of the cigarette followed. “Give us all the beds you want, but what we need is doctors. And you can’t build those out of an old train car.”

“What would you recommend we do then?” The storm was beginning to worsen, and lightning crackled across the high tops of the clouds.

“Honestly? Pray.” With that, the man raised his collar against the cold wind, and walked across the parking lot to a mid-sized saloon car at the back of the lot.

Stephen waited another moment, carefully adjusting the papers in his folio, before heading off.

He’d just opened the door to his Audi when his cell phone rang. He waited until he was inside the car before answering. Intriguingly, it was Louisa Duncan, Fergus Duncan’s daughter, and new controller of the Arlesdale Railway. She’d been in the meeting with him, and had left not even ten minutes prior.

As he answered, the skies opened up, and a torrential downpour thundered down onto his car. At first, it was hard to understand what Louisa had been saying; her voice was broken with tears and sobs.

By the time he understood, the rain was pounding hard enough that his own sobs couldn’t be heard.

Less than a month ago, on the fourth of February, Ivan Farrier, the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Arlesdale, had gone on a long-awaited holiday to the Italian Alps with his wife Amanda.

It was now the twenty-seventh, and both of them were dead, killed by the ill wind from the far east.

---------------------------

March

For the next week or so, everything went quiet, but it did not go gentle.

In Crovan’s Gate, the works threw itself into overdrive; and seemingly every useful piece of rolling stock, from first class coaches to old General Use Vans left over from BR’s discontinuation of newspaper trains in the 1990s, were being scrubbed and painted to within an inch of their lives. Bafflingly (to them), once their interiors were refreshed, they were shoved outside, onto the storage tracks, while more coaches were pushed in to take their place. In the locomotive depots, the engines undergoing overhaul were suddenly being kept up at all hours of the day, as their repairs went on around the clock. Dane, one of the electric locomotives, would later remark that his overhaul was so quick it had taken three whole days off of the official Works record.

At Wellsworth, St. Tibba’s hospital was receiving deliveries of everything from life-saving medicine to whole hospital beds, much to the irritation of the higher-ups at the National Health Service, who were under orders from London to minimize any potential panic. The hospital director found himself keeping his supervisors at bay more and more. His usual tactic was forwarding them email chains and whatsapp screenshots from colleagues in Hong Kong, who had been caught effectively off-guard, and were now paying a heavy price. As the days went on though, he wasn’t sure if it was calming or terrifying that the complaints slowly trickled to a halt.

At Tidmouth, strategy meetings were being held seemingly every hour. No detail was left to chance, with the limited information they knew being factored into their plans for the future. Engine cabs were being measured, much to the confusion of the engines themselves, platform signage was reassessed, and staffing requirements were being examined with a fine-toothed comb. A huge sum of money was spent from the company’s discretionary fund, and arrived in the form of a heavy goods vehicle, which backed up to the station’s sole loading dock and disgorged pallet after pallet of masks, gloves, soap, and disinfectant, to be distributed as needed.

In one of the upstairs conference rooms, a pair of 70-inch televisions sat on one wall, the joined displays mostly empty. They displayed the master list of scheduled trains for the railway, a vast, spreadsheet-like document that documented every train movement on the railway’s February-May spring timetable. Daily trains were often “booked” months in advance, and the chosen rolling stock was altered as required. In an ordinary March, trains would already be scheduled out until the end of the spring timetable in May. Now, only train 3B00 - the Flying Kipper - was scheduled beyond the end of the month, its nocturnal run sitting alone on several score of date markers, going all the way to the bottom-right corner of the screen: MAY-1-2020.

In the sheds, the engines grew more and more concerned. The “minor virus”, as London still called it, was now making the headlines of every television, newspaper, and social media platform in the country. While the general public still viewed it as something that was happening to other people, there were many in the NWR fleet who remembered the Spanish Flu of 1918, or, more recently, the mass hysteria that had surrounded the SARS outbreak in 2002.

“Something vicious this way comes.” Edward muttered one morning in the sheds, as the news showed the ever-unconcerned Prime Minister giving a news conference on the state of the lockdown in Hong Kong.

“It’s not coming,” Thomas said grimly. He was old enough to remember 1918, and even if he hadn’t, Tornado was connected to the Internet, and found increasingly-distressing posts about the disease on social media with every passing day. “It’s already here.”

Meanwhile, on the main line, one green engine came to another.

“You’ve heard about the virus?” Tornado asked, trying her hardest to be subtle and discreet.

“Yes..?” BoCo answered. “So has everyone else. Why are you whispering?”

“There’s something I wanna talk to you about.”

“Oh?”

“I hear they’re holding a diesel gala at the Crewe museum next month.”

“Tornado, there’s not going to be a next month at this rate.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Okay…”

“They’re taking diesels from all over the country for this - they wanna show off engines that need restoration funds.”

“Oh good, a sideshow. How modern and progressive of them. I’m sure PT Barnum would be honored.”

“Who?”

“Nevermind. Is there a point?”

“You’ve been seeing how the economy is going away again?”

“Yes.”

“Well nobody’s gonna have any money to fix them, innit?”

“And..?”

“We’ve gotta do something!”

“About what? The virus? The economy? Tornado, we’re engines!”

“Not that! Our brothers!”

“What?” BoCo’s mind spun for a second.

“They’re bringing your brother, 05, down to Crewe for this gala - he might already be there, and they’ve got Peter, my brother, there too.” Tornado looked more scared than BoCo had ever seen. “If they run out of money… they’re never gonna get fixed up.”

“What do you propose we do?”

A mischievous glint filled her eyes, and a pit suddenly opened up in BoCo’s crankcase. “There’s a container train going to the Crewe Freightliner yard right down the tracks every Wednesday and Sunday. I say we get on that train and steal them!”

--------------------

Two Weeks Into March

The Prime Minister had finally started to show concern whenever he appeared on the telly. Mass panic in Hong Kong forced the Queen to make an address to the nation. On Sodor, the early stages of the Regional Council’s plans started to come into effect, and public events were canceled or majorly curtailed by government order. Supermarkets began self-imposing purchase limits, and all Universities on the Island began transitioning to online-only classes, with the local school authorities following in their wake.

Slowly, the NWR began to cancel off-peak trains, and office staff began figuring out how to take their work home with them. In the midst of it, someone made a “meme” - a form of image-based joke - about the drivers taking their work home with them, using an image of Thomas’ infamous crash into the Ffarquhar stationmaster’s house. (In a sign of how deathly serious the times were becoming, even Thomas himself found it funny.) The harbours at Knapford and Tidmouth, which were controlled by the NWR, began influencing quarantine protocols on incoming freighters, and several cruise ships were denied entry. The harbourmasters at Kirk Ronan, Barrow, and Tidmouth began impressing upon the ferry companies the importance of canceling their services, to limited success; the international ferry services from France and Ireland stopped, but Northern Irish and Manx ferries all continued with minimal delays or curtailments. The airport at Dryaw, however, was more than willing to comply, and all but two passenger flights to the Island stopped before the 14th, with cancellations lasting for two weeks. All cargo flights, save for the mail, stopped as well.

In all, it seemed like the Island was weathering the oncoming storm well, and those in seats of government - who had been expecting criticism for their overly cautious approach - were instead receiving praise from London. If the entire country acted like they did, they were told, this whole thing may blow over in a month!

Then the wheels came off.

It started in the United States. President Trump declared a state of national emergency on Friday, and state-by-state declarations of emergency put nearly the entire country in lockdown by the end of the weekend. The already-down global financial markets fell through the floor on Monday morning.

In the United Kingdom, those who watched the Prime Minister’s daily briefings on the virus swore up and down that they could see him sweating, and later on in the same address, he announced a recommendation to avoid unnecessary travel.

And on Sodor, the tipping point was reached.

Several days earlier, an outbreak occurred in a council estate in Slough. The source, or ‘index case,’ of the outbreak was found to be a Polish truck driver, who lived in Ireland but had decided to ride out the impending quarantine at his British girlfriend’s flat. He’d picked up a load bound for England in County Kildare, presumably contracting the virus at the same time, entered the UK through the Northern Irish border, and then boarded the Tidmouth ferry.

According to all the contact tracing done in those frenzied days before the world came to a stop, he had been aware that he may be contagious, and had worn a mask and gloves the entire time. He didn’t leave the cab of his lorry, nor did he stop for fuel or food until he was well east of Barrow.

But he was contagious.

And that’s all that mattered to the people of Sodor. To them, Pestilence, the first horseman of the apocalypse, had come through their land riding not a horse, but a shining white mechanical steed with the name of Scania.

This was someone that they knew about. And he’d tried to minimize his risk. They were a tourism and travel hub for the entire North-West of England and with the rest of society only now seeming to realize that anything was wrong, if nothing was done, the people of Sodor would soon be at the mercy of not international lorry drivers, nor the general public, but the worst, most careless form of humanity known to exist in the United Kingdom: The British Holidaymaker.

The end times were clearly upon them, and the Island reacted accordingly.

-----------

The Ides of March

The container train rumbled into Crewe at half past ‘fuck-me-it’s-late’ in the evening, long past dark, but still before the start of a new day. “Signaling issues” was the official excuse given by the train - some nonsense that would have Network Rail crews working all morning and into the afternoon to solve a problem that didn’t exist.

The electric engines in the yard were fast asleep, and few, if any of the people on the platform at Crewe station were aware of the engines that had led the train in.

BoCo, quite honestly, couldn’t believe that anyone had believed them at any point, but wasn’t about to quarrel with a trouble-free journey. Once the very tired crews from Freightliner had uncoupled them from their train, he and Tornado slipped across the main line into the old diesel works. It was now a heritage steam facility, owned by a very rich businessman, and the Fat Controller had a contract with them to supply his engines with coal, water, and fuel when they took trains to Crewe.

Being railway enthusiasts, they were overjoyed to see BoCo, and thrilled beyond reason to see Tornado, and many selfies were taken before the refueling was done. All at once, someone (Definitely not an employee who was also an A1 trust volunteer, who most certainly hadn’t been sent an email by Tornado, asking them to be at this place at this time, not at all.) remembered that, wouldn’t you know it, Blue Peter, the only other Peppercorn-designed locomotive in existence, was in the works right now! It was quickly asked if he’d like to see Tornado, and before anyone could say anything else, Tornado had pulled her brother out of the workshop and proceeded to start crying hysterically, claiming that she missed him. This put somewhat of a damper on the jubilant attitude of the staff, and they made themselves very scarce, very quickly.

The instant they were gone, the waterworks stopped, and Tornado beamed at Blue Peter, who was quite surprised at both the sudden start and abrupt end of the hysterics.

“Come on,” she whispered quietly. “We’ve got to go.”

“Go?” The older pacific asked, quite confused. “Go where?”

“Sodor, Silly!” she said, in a voice that she probably thought was secretive. “We’re breaking you out of here!”

“What? Why?”

“Haven’t you heard the news?” BoCo broke in. “The world is ending.”

“wha-I, when… it is?”

Blue Peter looked entirely too overwhelmed by the deluge of information, but managed to stutter out. “Ye-yes. They took him up the line to the museum for storage.”

“Yes, quite soon too. We’re taking you back to Sodor and by the by have you happened to see an engine that looks identical to me, by chance?”

BoCo’s face fell. “ That’s on the other side of the station. Damn it, how will we get him out of there?”

“Don’t worry,” Tornado’s eyes fairly twinkled as she said that, and both BoCo and Blue Peter began to think that they really should. “I can take care of that, but let’s go before anyone sees us!”

“Wait,” Said BoCo. “What about the couplings?”

Their crew had quite graciously agreed to see nothing and hear nothing in the Freightliner crew break room until it was time to leave. (Tornado may have annoyed them into submission. Maybe. Possibly. Yes, she did, and BoCo helped.) However this meant that they’d be unable to couple or uncouple anything once they left the depot. Fortunately, Tornado Had A Plan.

“Oi,” she whispered to the A1 trust volunteer. “Wanna have the night of your life?”

(BoCo and Blue Peter both nearly had their eyes pop out of their sockets. Tornado ignored them.)

The young man spluttered out a yes before he even thought to ask any follow-up questions, and very quickly coupled the three engines together, with Tornado and Blue Peter bracketing BoCo. He climbed into Blue Peter’s cab, and as soon as the dispatcher granted Tornado permission, the cavalcade was across the West Coast Main Line and into the Freightliner yard again.

Quickly stopping on their assigned road, Blue Peter was positioned at the rear of the container train, while Tornado and BoCo ran around to the front of the train, the young volunteer helpfully throwing switches (and returning them to the position they had been in afterwards) as needed. BoCo was now at the front of their odd little consist, and the volunteer had to stand in his cab with a radio to tell Tornado what signals were ahead, once she’d lied to ‘control’ about why she needed to go out on the main line again.

Unlike the heritage depot, the Crewe Heritage Centre was empty, it being long past their business hours. What little security there was, was focused inwards, not expecting sneak thieves to use the rails.

The museum grounds were small, nestled in between the V of two converging lines. Historic diesels in varying states of disrepair were scattered about the facility’s tracks. A small banner above the entranceway of the site’s sole building read “DIESEL DAYS - COMING 13 APRIL!”

BoCo’s brother - D5705, was easily visible from the tracks, parked next to a line of yellow, white, and red coaches that had clearly seen better days. An eye slowly opened as Tornado ‘peeped’ her whistle as quietly as possible. “I see that the Final Train has a sense of humour.” He rasped, his voice shaky and uneven. “Is it finally my time?”

“No!” BoCo said, much more firmly than he’d been intending. “It’s me, Fives. This is a jailbreak.”

The other eye slowly opened, the ruined diesel coming to wakefulness. “What odd company you keep, Two, and strange timing you have. But I will not be opposed to your plan.”

The Volunteer (who hadn’t introduced himself to BoCo, claiming that “the less you know, the better” like this was an actual criminal enterprise) hopped down, and quickly made the necessary connections.

“Go. Go with glory and make your life fruitful, oh-five.” Groaned a voice from the next track over.

The Volunteer looked around the diesels and his eyebrows shot into his hairline. “Oh wow! I forgot you were here!”

BoCo looked around his brother, and an eyebrow rose in surprise. “You’re not Ward… and what are you doing here?”

“I beg your pardon?” The partial APT-P set said, blinking the sleep from his eyes.

Ten minutes later, and a very chilly trainspotter with a cell phone arrived at Crewe station. He’d received a text from a friend - apparently the NWR had sent down a diesel and a steam engine on a container train to Basford. Hopefully he’d be able to get them when they-

A single solitary ‘peep’, and the sound of chuffing steam was the only notice he had the train was coming, and he almost fell off the platform when he spun around to see 60163 Tornado, 28 002 BoCo, D5705, and an ATP(?!) rolling quietly through the station.

Hie tried desperately to fumble for his phone’s camera app, but the dark conditions and poor-quality camera on his phone meant that he got a blurry, dark, and grainy smear of an image that showed nothing comprehensible at all.

He still tried to tell his mates, and posted the picture online, but nobody believed him - some laughed at him, and it was quickly forgotten about.

Tornado and BoCo had performed their heist without a hitch.

-----------

The Ides of March, Plus One Day

Bloomer was a notoriously slow riser. Even with a full head of steam, there would be mornings where he would have to be roused multiple times before he was fully awake. The crews got around this by just moving him while he was still asleep, and the old engine didn’t find it unusual to be finally woken up by the stationmaster “accidentally” spraying him with water while watering the plants on the platforms.

This morning, however, he was woken by an unfamiliar sound,and cracked one eye open to find himself in the yard - and it was in total disarray. “Land sakes!” He croaked as he woke up fully. “Lad! What’ve you done!”

In an effort to help out heritage rail organizations, the Fat Controller leased older engines from their owners for duties that the NWR had on the mainland. For example, the Barrow yard shunter was a revolving door of small shunters that came from various preserved lines across the country. For the past month, a quiet but dedicated class 06 had been doing exemplary work, and it seemed likely that his contract would be renewed for a few more months.

“It wasnae me!” The shunter protested, and Bloomer had to blink more than once to confirm what he was seeing. The shunter was chained down to the top of a low loader wagon, ready for transport back to his home railway. “They said Ah’m a-goin and quick! It’s the yon diesel tha’s makin the muckle disaster!”

A growl answered this, and a red Class 60 emerged from the depths of the yard, a line of stone hoppers trailing behind her. She was a low-numbered 60, number 003, and a nameplate was affixed to her cabs: PRAETOR. “Ignosce. I am not well suited to such tight confines. Would I happily leave the duties to this peritissimus faciens, but alas I must convey him home with the speed of Mercurius.” Her expression darkened. “There is an ill wind coming, and we all must seek safe harbor.”

She’d stopped to allow the yard crews to hand throw a switch, and the instant they finished, she pulled away out of sight, giving both Bloomer and the shunter the distinct feeling that they’d just been dismissed.

“Alrigh’,” Bloomer blinked again. “Ignoring that, they’re really sending you home?”

“Aye,” The shunter answered, grunting slightly as his flat car rocked - the 60 had taken the line of hoppers and backed them down onto his low-loader. The guard was already affixing a rear lamp to the flat wagon, indicating that the train was getting ready to depart. “An’ it’s no just me - they’s sending everyone home - ye as well. Something’s going doon, an’ it’s happenin’ now laddie.”

With a stately horn blast, the 60 set off as soon as the colour light signal changed to green, and within a few moments the train had vanished from sight.

“What does he mean? I am home.” Bloomer said somewhat indignantly to his driver.

“It’s not like that Blooms,” the man said. “You know that virus thing we’re all panicking about? It’s happening now. Mr. Hatt is packing up everything in the yard and I mean everything.”

“Surely you jest!” Bloomer retorted.

“Don’t believe me? Wait ‘til the yard empties a little more and we’ll get our train. Then you’ll see.” He said ominously, before leaving the cab and walking across the sleepers to the station building, leaving Bloomer alone in the yard as he built up steam.

With the outbound track now empty, Bloomer had a prime viewpoint of the yard, and what he saw began to confirm his growing fears.

The trains were arriving, and were doing so out of order.

Usually, at midday on a monday, the only inbound mainland train (other than the odd slow goods train that wasn’t on the schedule) was the Scottish Motorail, which took automobiles and their drivers on a non-stop trip from Edinburgh all the way to the ferry docks at Kirk Ronan. The next several hours were mostly goods trains which ran as far as Barrow, before leaving their trains for Sodor engines to take later; the last of which was a container train from the Freightliner yard in Crewe. The Sodor Motorail came after that - it ran out of London a few hours ahead of the night express, with auto carriers bound for Barrow, Kirk Ronan, and Kildane; it would drop the Barrow and Kirk Ronan cars at the special motorail platform just outside of the station, and continue on down the mainline, while another engine would come up the line and pick up the cars for Kirk Ronan. Finally, just before dark, the evening Express, with Pip and Emma powering it, would glide into the station, stop to pick up and let off passengers, and depart as fast as it arrived.

That was the usual order of things.

Today, the Scottish Motorail pulled into the station right on time at 11:55, with a single Class 37 leading it. The engine was tuxedo black, with yellow warning panels and small leasing company logos by the cab doors, a serious expression on his face. Curiously, the train didn’t continue on to the Motorail platforms, and instead stopped in the station’s run-through track.

Bloomer expected the train to continue on at any moment, and was baffled when over a half hour passed with no movement. “Signal troubles?” He called over to the 37.

“No.” The engine called back, his London accent fit for the BBC. “We await another train. The ferries will hold for us, don’t worry.”

Bloomer eyed the large number of automobiles lining up at the Motorail terminal, but said nothing.

A further half hour after that, one of the platform signals dropped, and Bloomer’s eyes almost popped out of his head as Pip appeared in the distance. “Aye?!” He spluttered as the HST screeched to a stop at the platforms. Unlike the usual song and dance of disembarkation, where passengers departed the train and transferred to semi-fast trains for their final destinations, or took the pedestrian underpasses to the exits into Barrow, there was instead what could only be referred to as a stampede, as passengers - many wearing clothes over their faces and mouths - stormed off the train en masse, charging down the platform stairs to the underpasses with a clatter of voices and luggage. The instant the last ones had gone (a group of wheelchair users who were herded off the train and into an electric cart brought out by the station staff), the doors to the station waiting room opened, and an identical exodus of people came charging down the platform - easily two or three trains worth of people, who crammed into the coaches while mumbling about ‘distancing’. They were heavy enough that some of the coaches groaned from the strain, and when Pip and Emma set off again, their engines howled from the excess load.

“It’s bad out there!” Emma called as the train cleared the platform. “Euston’s a ghost town! We’re one of the only trains with passengers!”

A tight ball of worry had begun to form in Bloomer’s firebox, and with this it just grew larger.

As soon as the train cleared the bridge, the signals dropped and then rose again, to ‘slow ahead’. With a ‘peep peep’ that caused Bloomer to swear in surprise, Henry slowly rolled through the station tender first, a short line of wagons used for transporting steel coils following behind him.

The stationmaster met the train on the platform as it rolled through without stopping. “You get them all?”

“Yes,” Henry said he counted the trucks again - yes, they were all here. “They found one of them in the far sidings, but we checked thoroughly before we set off.”

“There’s nobody else!” The lead wagon confirmed. “And I’s not just sayin’ that. Everyone else belongs to the Shipyard, not Sodor!”

“All right,” The stationmaster said. “You’re going to Ballahoo - they’ve got enough space in the goods shed for this lot.”

“Right!” Henry whistled as he picked up speed, and soon crossed the bridge.

As soon as he cleared, the signals dropped and rose for the third time in a row - this time with an added signal for the goods yard - and a horn sounded in the distance, followed immediately by a steam whistle. “What now?!” Bloomer asked himself in frustration and worry.

‘What’ in this case turned out to be the container train, which had BoCo leading, and Tornado not only as the second engine, but facing backwards to boot. They led the train into the far side of the yard and stopped just long enough for BoCo to get pulled off the train.

Almost immediately, the freight yard staff sprung into action and pulled the couplings for the first ten container wagons, which were bound for Barrow. Tornado quickly puffed away with them to the unloading tracks, where they were set upon by the yard’s container handlers.

In the meantime, BoCo reversed away to the fuel track, which was close enough to Bloomer for him to ask questions. “What in the name of god are you doing?” He hissed to the diesel. “The world is apparently ending and you both go gallivanting off to the mainland?”

BoCo was unphased as the fuel was hurriedly piped into his tanks. “We’re fine, Bloomer. I’ll explain later.”

“You had better!” Bloomer wanted to question more, but the signals dropped and rose for a fourth time, and finally, the Sodor Motorail clattered in.

If the double-header of BoCo and Tornado was unusual, this train was downright startling, as both Daphne and Delta were pulling hard as they rumbled into view.

It was easy to see why Sodor’s two strongest diesels were needed for this train - the Motorail operations required some extra rolling stock to be kept at the terminal in London for emergencies, and it seemed like all of the emergency stock, along with every other motorail wagon that wasn’t on the Scottish Motorail, were on this train.

And they were full.

Not a single space was to be seen on any of the open wagons, and every passenger coach was filled to standing with passengers. The train was so long that when it pulled ahead of the switches to the Motorail terminal, it was not only on the bridge to Sodor, but Daphne and Delta were actually on Sodor proper before they backed the train into the terminal.

The motorail trains set down coaches and wagons here, with the car wagons on one platform and the coaches on another. With so many coaches and car wagons on this train, neither rake fit into the platform, and stuck out over the edge quite considerably.

Not that the passengers noticed or cared. Much like the Express, they streamed out of the coaches that were on the platform like rats from a sinking ship, and swarmed the station building to pick up their cars. As each wagon was unloaded by the stewards, people would hurry to their cars, oftentimes wielding cleaning wipes or disinfecting spray, and then leave the station so quickly that the tires chirped. One young man was reunited with his fluorescent green motorcycle, and proceeded to leave the station grounds with his front wheel in the air, before vanishing into the distance at assuredly unsafe speeds, his bike’s engine almost louder than Daphne’s motor.

Speaking of Daphne (and Delta), once the last passengers had disembarked, they quickly pulled forward, taking about half of the coaches with them, and then backed down to pick up half of the car wagons - only the rear half of the train was for Barrow or Kirk Ronan, with the forward section going to Kildane. The guard blew his whistle, and the two diesels roared onto Sudrian soil and quickly disappeared into the distance.

“People need to get home.” BoCo, who had been watching the proceedings with Bloomer, remarked simply.

“What?”

“It’s the last Motorail to Sodor - there’s no more trains after today.”

“Good lord.” Bloomer’s eyes widened as the full weight of the situation came down on him. “How bad is it supposed to be?”

“Edward says it’s like the early days of the Spanish Flu.”

“Half the world got that!”

“I’ve heard worse.” Called the 37 as he carefully shunted the Scottish Motorail into the platforms. Fortunately, the train had been put together in such a way that automobiles could travel down the length of the car wagons with the use of gangplanks between wagons, otherwise the train would have been much more difficult to put together. “The rumour up north is that the government has been deliberately under-reporting numbers so as not to cause a panic.”

“I’d say they didn’t succeed there…” Bloomer scowled as the doors to the station opened, and passengers swarmed the train. There was pushing, shoving, and shouting, and it took longer than usual to get everyone corralled into the lengthy train.

There was a whistle behind Bloomer and BoCo, and Tornado appeared, still running backwards. “Right, I’m off! Best of luck!” Behind her, the ten container wagons and another fifty empty flatbeds, hoppers, vans and tankers clattered behind her - just about every truck and wagon left in the yard. With great care, she threaded her train around the Motorail, and into the distance.

Bloomer was still goggling at the sheer length of the train when the end of it came by. “Eh?”

“I will tell you, later.” BoCo hissed as the rear of the train, which consisted of a brake van, a steam engine that looked a lot like Tornado, a diesel that looked exactly like BoCo, and… “Ward? What are you doing here?”, passed by.

“Who is Ward?” Asked the electric intercity train as he disappeared into the distance on the end of the train, a red lamp dangling off of his face.

There was a long pause as both Bloomer and the 37 on the Motorail absorbed what they just saw. “BoCo… did you and Tornado…” Bloomer began, but when he looked over to where the secretive diesel had been, he found that BoCo had driven away!

“Be seeing you! Stay safe!” The green diesel called from the yard, as he was quickly connected to the remaining container wagons, before powering across the bridge as soon as the signalman would let him.

“Thieving youngsters...” Bloomer grumbled to himself as the red lamp at the end of the container train vanished from sight.

“Very crafty, elder.” The 37 whispered respectfully, as the last of the cars were loaded into the wagons.

As the 37 started reassembling his train, Bloomer’s driver re-emerged from the station, fireman in tow. “Right-ho, we’ve got a few pickups to make and then we’re off.”

“Pickups?” Bloomer looked around the yard. “There’s nothing left!”

As it turned out, there was, just a bit. On Sundays, the railroad ran ‘period’ excursion trains down the main line, and they’d procured a pair of reproduction LNWR open carriages for when it was Bloomer’s turn. The coaches were expectant, apparently having been told what was happening by the shed staff. “Quickly please!” Maribel, the lead coach said. “We don’t want to get left behind!”

“Nobody is going to leave anyone behind!” Bloomer said firmly, ignoring a creeping sense of being ‘out of the loop’ - this was not the first time that someone had been worried about being left behind, as if the drawbridge were going to collapse or somesuch. He worried he was missing something important.

Following them was Lilly, a former passenger coach that had been turned into the kitchen coach for the Permanent Way train. She was a full sized Mark 2, and was now laden down with literal tons of kitchen equipment. Bloomer groaned a little as his coupling stretched out under her weight. “Too small for this nonsense…” He grumbled. “Should’ve had the thieving idiot do it.”

Next was a piece of little-used rolling stock: the railway’s scale test car. Named Ingot due to his weight and shape, he sat behind the shed unless a yard needed to re-calibrate a weighbridge used for weighing goods wagons. “This must be serious if you’re taking me with you.” He said as Bloomer dragged him out of his weed-covered siding.

“Steel, actually.”

“It, erf, seems, agh, that way!” Bloomer gasped as he lugged the heavy wagon into motion. “Do they fill you with lead?”

“Agh.”

Then, there was a very long trek out of the yard, (“Heavy, fucking train..”) across the station throat, (“Look Blooms, the Motorail left a wagon behind for us.” “Oh. Joy.”) and back down a track that ran around to the far side of the station, (“When did this get put here?”) a little used siding that P-way trains sometimes parked in… oh dear.

“Oh thank goodness!” Marion the steam shovel gushed as Bloomer pulled up to her. “I thought I’d be left here!”

Bloomer ignored her, staring at the siding in disbelief. “You all do see my driving wheels? How there’s only two of them?” He glared at the yardmaster and the stationmaster, who looked at him like he was the mad one.

There were four cranes/shovels - Marion, Eh & Bee the breakdown cranes, and Jebediah - a diesel crane who worked with the P-way team. Each one of them was a heavy beast in their own right, and Bloomer would probably wear a groove in the rails before he got them moving, let alone Ingot and Lilly.

“Don’t worry, we’ve got it covered.” The yardmaster said, climbing into Jebediah’s cab.

“What’s he gonna do? Push?”

“Yes, actually.” Jebediah glared. “I’m self-propelled and mighty strong, you’ll do well to note.”

Bloomer was entirely too out of his depth at this point, and mumbled a thanks as the already heavy train was coupled to the line of cranes. Blowing his whistle, he pulled away slowly, expecting his couplings to go tight and stay that way, but he was pleasantly surprised to hear Jebediah’s motor rev up, and then feel the weight go from “immovable” to “manageable.”

They made for a bizarre sight as they rolled out of the siding and backed into the station. When they first got moving, Bloomer had felt ridiculous and vaguely self-conscious, but that faded as he stared out over the yard, and found it totally empty. Between all the frantic train shuffling, and the reduction in traffic over the last week, there wasn’t a wagon, coach, or engine to be seen anywhere.

It was honestly quite spooky, and that was before he looked into the station building, which was empty as a tomb despite it being the middle of the day. Only the staff were left at this point, and they were leaving the station too, carrying personal belongings and certain company items.

Somewhere in Barrow proper, a clocktower bell chimed twice, and everyone looked towards it. “I didn’t know there was a bell in the town.” Lilly murmured.

“It’s because usually you can’t hear it.” The stationmaster said as he shoved a porter’s trolley loaded with cases of company documents and the cashboxes from the ticket booths into the Kitchen coach. “S’not supposed to be this quiet ‘ere.”

Bloomer had thought that the full severity of the events unfolding around him had sunk in, but as he listened to the tolling bell, while also watching the assistant station master lock the doors of the station, he suddenly felt like the world was ending.

Honk-honk

The spell was broken by a horn sounding from the junction behind them, and everyone who could do so whirled around to see a small diesel multiple unit roll into the station.

“What in the absolute fucking hell is that doing here?!” The stationmaster swore as the train came to a complete stop next to Bloomer.

“Hi.” Said the DMU - her number identified her as 170 640 - with some amount of embarrassment. “Sorry I’m late. Signaling issues.”

At this point there was some amount of shouting. It turned out that this train was the 0910 service from Manchester to Norramby, and was supposed to have already departed Sodor in the other direction by now. In fact, it had been so long, with so little notice given about it, that both the NWR signalman and the Barrow stationmaster had assumed the train had been cancelled.

When the multiple unit meekly said that her railway always got the train there, no matter what, there was a further round of shouting about blasted Open-Access Operators!

Like every other train that day, she was heavily laden with passengers, and the station staff had to guide everyone who wished to depart the train through a side gate on the platform end as the stationmaster stomped up and down the platform, bellowing into his phone at someone.

This turned out to be most of the people on the train, and once the stationmaster calmed down a little, he addressed the multiple unit and her driver. “Alright, here’s the skinny - you go over that bridge, there ain’t a promise you’re coming back over any time soon. The whole Island is locking down tonight. Unless you can get there and back in the next thirty minutes, you’re up without a paddle.”

“Well I suppose there’s nothing else for it,” The 170 said, her weak voice surprisingly steely.

“Yeah.” Said her driver.

“We’re going over.” | “We’re dumping them here.”

“WHAT?”

Man and DMU stared at each other for a moment, and then there was more shouting and arguing, this time about cowardice and stupidity. It went on for some time, until eventually the DMU had tears at the corners of her eyes, and the driver was storming off down the station road in search of alternative transport back home.

Bloomer looked at the little multiple unit with newfound respect. “That took some nerve. Good lass.”

“Thanks.” She sniffed weakly. “I can’t just leave - what would that make me?”

“A Bad Engine.” The coaches and cranes, and P-Way equipment said firmly. Bloomer and the station staff still on the platform looked at each other for a moment at that, suddenly confident that wherever this unit ended up getting stored until she could be sent back, she would be well cared for.

The last passenger - a man on crutches - was escorted out of the station on an electric cart, and with that the station doors were securely locked. A spare driver had been part of the station staff, and he hopped into the DMU, taking her across the bridge just before the clock tower tolled 2:30.

“Hopefully this all blows over!” She called to Bloomer as she receded into the distance.

“I can only hope…” Bloomer said as his odd train set off for its last stop.

There was a single Motorail wagon left on the platforms. He was an older flat wagon, with Whitewall stenciled on his front end. The electric cart from the station bounced across the staff crossings with a porter at the wheel, and its charger cable bouncing around in the cargo tray. It joined a Mercedes Unimog lettered for the P-Way gang, the stationmaster’s personal car, a huge porter’s trolley the size of a Mini, and a few motorbikes and bicycles belonging to the station staff on the back of the wagon. Staff jumped out of the coaches and quickly strapped down the cart and went around checking the other straps. A few of the Motorail staff came over and boarded the train as well, while one man (who shouted that he lived in Barrow when asked why he wasn’t boarding) locked up the station and dragged a gate across the automobile entrance before walking off towards the city bus stop on the corner.

The stationmaster got out of his seat in Maribel, and marched forward to take a spot in Bloomer’s cab. “Go forward nice and slow. We’re stopping once we clear the switch.”

“Sorry?”

“Just a few more people.”

Orders now given, Bloomer and Jebediah slowly pulled and pushed the train out of the motorail siding and onto the main line. Once Whitewall had cleared the switches, they clunked into place, and Bloomer and the rest of the train watched in astonishment as every signal in the yard and the main line dropped to red. Soon thereafter, the signalbox door opened, and the signalman came out, a bag over his shoulder and his face hidden behind a paper mask. He turned off the lights in the box and locked the door, before coming up to Bloomer. “You’re the only train for two miles. Treat everything between here and the bridge as green.”

For effect, he unfurled a green flag, waved it, and then clambered onto the train, sitting as far away from everyone else as he possibly could in the crowded open air carriages.

Once again, Bloomer was struck with the sudden sensation that the world as he knew it was coming to an end. With a subdued whistle, he set off again, leaving Barrow-in-Furness station and yard as quiet and empty as a tomb.

The train slowly rolled over the bridge, and Bloomer gasped as he saw the difference between the island and the mainland. Sodor was quiet, the streets of Vicarstown still except for a bus and a police car driving along the waterfront. A few people with cameras were in the park by the station, photographing his approach.

Barrow was alive and noisy. Traffic rumbled and roared, the sound of people talking and chatting from bus stations and bike baths was audible even over his own chuffing. In the distance, the Jubilee Bridge was choked with traffic - police cars on the Sodor side of the bridge were stopping each car, and forcing most to turn around and leave. Those allowed through the bridge were almost all cars with license plates from Sodor or the Isle of Man - any one without had a large sticker applied to the back, although what it meant wasn’t immediately obvious. As the train went by, a flurry of radio calls, some of which were audible on the cab radio - meaning the railway’s dispatch was involved to some degree - went through. On the road bridge, the police began waving through what traffic there was - it seemed like most, if not all of the Sodor-plated automobiles had gotten through already - and then made some kind of waving motion to the bridge operator. Red lights began to flash, and the road bridge began to raise, cutting off Sodor’s road network from the mainland.

Meanwhile on the railway bridge, a man stood aside the tracks, a yellow flag in his hand. It was the bridge operator, and he hopped onto the footplate as Bloomer steamed by, a bag in his hand.

“Thanks.” was all he said, and Bloomer had another pit-of-his-firebox moment as he realized that he had been out of the loop, somewhat badly.

The bridge control cabin was on the mainland side of the bridge, but there was a small emergency panel on the Sodor side. The driver applied the brakes, but didn’t stop, as the train drove by the small electrical box. The bridge operator jumped down, ran to the box, wrenched it open, and in one smooth motion jammed a key into it, turned it, and pushed a yellow and black striped button, before removing the key and slamming the box closed. He was so quick that he was able to clamber onto Jebiediah’s cab steps as the diesel crane rolled by.

Behind him, a klaxon sounded in the distant bridge cabin, and an automated gate closed over the tracks. A pair of massive locks proceeded to open, and with slow mechanical precision, the Walney Channel railway bridge began to cycle open, severing the last link between the mainland and the Island of Sodor.

Bloomer, pulling what the media would later refer to as “The Last Train,” felt a chill go down his boiler as the massive bridge span locked into the upright position. The world has just changed, He thought. And it won’t be for the better.

------

A few days later, as the Virus hit the mainland in force through packed Chunnel trains and repatriation flights, and as the first few cases sprung up inside the Island’s hospitals, Bloomer knew he was right.

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mallowstep · 4 years ago

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I love the new PO3 au you just posted on AO3! Could you tell us more about it?

happily!

first off, the au summary (because i still have to add that to the ao3 series whoops)

holly, jay, and lion, kits of leaf and crow, are a year old when they leave home. it's good for wanderers to spend time away from their family, to find their own path so they know they want to be there. most return home. holly, jay, and lion, kits of heretics and codebreakers, are a year old when they meet their mother's kin. it's good for wanders to know their kin, to strengthen family ties. most are welcome. holly, jay, and lion, kits of leafpool and crowfeather, are a year old when they stand in the camp of thunderclan and finally stop and wonder what warriors know of wanderers.

so yeah, ig we can call this "wanderer au" while i figure out the title for the main work.

as the summary reveals, squilf is not a pov character. she's important, but she's not a pov character. hjl are the focus.

i've done a lot of stuff with types of cats, mostly loners.

there are recluses, cats who live on their own. if they move around, they're drifters. if they live in a human area, they're dwellers, if they live in a wild area, they're nomads.

wanderers is a broader class of bands of cats, anywhere from two to twenty, that travel together. they're typically kinship based, but not always. the unit term (e.g., a group of wanderers) is band. a band that sticks to human locations might be called a company, but the distinction isn't very important to most. bands that never frequent human areas are very rare, so there isn't a specific name for one.

cats who live in groups in one place are denizens (of their location). the unit term is colony, and most have a preferred specific term. (like the warrior clans, the tribe of rushing water, etc.)

"rogue" is a fairly derogatory way of referring to a cat outside of one's own group. it implies a lack of any manners, sensibility, etc. most cats get on very well with others, as long as territory is respected.

troublemakers is basically a more polite way of saying rogue.

"kittypet" is generally seen as rude, although this can depend on the cat. most prefer to be called housekeepers. some consider themselves dwellers, if they live in a barn/generally aren't close with their owners.

an uncollared cat used to live with people, but now is some form of loner. this can be a mark of pride, or a mark of shame.

mendicants are loners who interact with humans, with the intention of getting food or affection. it can be polite or rude, depending on the intentions of everyone involved.

i'm probably still forgetting some, but like i said, i've been working through some stuff with this.

okay, now i'm going to talk more about the au set up/details, so read more!

leafpool and crowfeather interact with a group of wanderers fairly early on, who kind of get them introduced to the culture. while wanderers' culture is highly variable, there's common decencies, territory etiquette, etc., to learn.

if you've read "without warning," you know i like to make loner names somewhat "cats don't know what weird names are." leafpool and crowfeather stick out like sore thumbs (dew claws?), so they change their names to leaf and crow to avoid being mislabelled as troublemakers.

holly and jay are fairly standard wanderer names, especially for bands that stick mostly to wild areas. lion is pretty rare. it's more common in city cats, who might have heard it around a zoo. still, they grow up considering themselves wanderers. leaf and crow don't have much good to say about the clans, after all.

when they're a year old, they go on their own journey. it's a wanderer's rite of passage/coming of age: leaf and crow effectively had their own by running away.

(it's where the tradition comes from; most cats tend to leave their old homes to become wanderers around a year old.)

anyway, they decide to head to the clans to meet leaf's kin. (wanderers, being matrilineal and matriarchal, don't really care about their father's kin.) of course, they know what the clans are like, but it's not until they meet a thunderclan patrol that calls them loners that they're like, "oh, these cats have no idea what our lives are like! fun."

in thunderclan, their main goal is to meet sandstorm, squirrelflight, any of squirrelflight's kits, and firestar. they're supremely frustrated by the amount of weight everyone is treating their return with.

and that's basically where we start! (it's where astatine ends, anyway.)

so yeah y'all are welcome to continue sending in questions!

#ask #anon #au drop #whitewater #mine #txt #essay #warriors culture #loners #loners culture

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ambenya · 5 years ago

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Lumity Month 2020 Day 6 - Sick Day

Sorry that this is late once again! Here’s day 6 of @thekitsune‘s @lumity-month! I’m happy that everyone seems to really enjoying these! I wasn’t sure how to end this one but I do like how it turned out. Thank you all and I hope you all enjoy this story as well!

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It was a normal day at Hexside for Luz. The day was peaceful and was going by pretty fast. It was already lunch time much to Luz’s surprise.

She made her way to the cafeteria and found Gus and Willow sitting in their usual spot. Luz sat down and smiled at her friends.

“Hello, my wonderful friends!” Luz said cheerfully as she pulled her lunch out from her bag.

“Hi, Luz. How’s it going?” Gus asked as he continued to eat his sandwich.

“Oh, pretty good. It seems like I have quite a bit of more homework than usual. Thankfully, I’ve learned a few more spells recently. Plus, it’s getting easier to learn the spells.” Luz said with a shrug.

“Well, at least you’re improving quickly.” Willow said with a smile.

“Yeah, by the way, where’s Amity?” Luz asked looking around. Recently, Amity had started to sit with them.

Right at that moment Amity walked into the cafeteria and made her way over to the group. The green-haired witch seemed to wobble with every step she took. She looked like she was about to pass out at any moment. When Amity took her spot next to Luz, she laid her head on the table.

“Wow, Amity, you don’t look too well.” Willow pointed out as she looked at the witch concerned.

“Yeah, are you sure you’re okay?” Gus asked looking at the girl.

“Yeah, I’m fine… Just a little tired is all.” Amity said as she kept her head down.

Luz looked at the witch and put her hand on Amity’s shoulder making the girl look at her. Luz seeing that she was red in the face a little put her hand to the witch’s forehead.

Amity blushed a little at the contact, but it didn’t make much of a difference. “Amity, you’re burning up! Are you sick?” Luz asked as she pulled her hand away.

Amity missed the cold sensation and put her head back on the table. She noticed that the world didn’t spin when she had head on the table.

“It’s nothing like I said just tired…” She mumbled as she closed her eyes.

“You don’t run fevers when you’re just tired.” Gus pointed out which earned him a glare.

“Why did you come to school if you are sick?” Willow asked worry evident in her voice.

Amity sighed as she sat up causing her head to spin again. “I can’t miss school… What kind of star student misses class because they feel a little under the weather? It’s not like I haven’t gone to school like this before…” Amity said shrugging trying to seem like normal but feeling herself sway.

The three friends looked at each other in shock at Amity’s words. “You mean you’ve gone to school like this before? Didn’t anyone notice you were feeling sick?” Luz asked concerned.

“My parents never really notice, and I usually ignore my siblings when they try to stop me… I can’t get sick… A Blight must be strong even if that means they have to do stuff when the room is spinning��” Amity said right before she passed out.

Luckily, Luz caught the green-haired witch before she fell to the floor. “Amity! I’m going to take her to the healer. Do you think you two can try and find her siblings and let them know?” Luz asked as she picked up the witch bridal style.

Gus and Willow nodded before they ran off to find them. Luz started making her way to the healer worried. She had never seen Amity sick before, and she didn’t know what to do.

Thankfully, the healer’s office was nearby which made it easier. As Luz walked in the healer turned to see Luz holding a sweating and clearly sick Amity Blight.

“Sorry to bother you, but my friend passed out during lunch. I think she might have a pretty bad fever.” Luz said worried about Amity.

“You’re fine. Put her down on the bed over there and I will check her temperature.” The healer said pointing as she grabbed a few things.

Luz put Amity down on the bed before going over to sit in a chair next to the bed as the healer approached the witch. They seemed to check her temperature and looked Amity over.

“Okay, she just seems to have a cold but it’s probably best if she goes on home. She’s definitely pushed herself too far but don’t worry your girlfriend will be just fine.” The healer said with a smile to Luz.

Luz blushed at the healer’s words but before she could correct them the door opened to show Willow and Gus with a very worried Emira and Edric behind them.

“We came here as fast as we could. What’s wrong?” Emira asked the healer who told them everything they told Luz.

Ed and Em looked at their baby sister who now seemed to be sleeping peacefully. “I wish she wouldn’t push herself so hard… We tried to tell her to stay home but she said she would be okay.” Edric said sadly.

“She’s too stubborn for her own good. Anyway, our parents are busy, so they probably won’t be able to come pick her up.” Emira said frustrated at everything.

“Yeah, and we can’t take her because if we skip again for any reason we’ll get in trouble.” Ed said irritated as well.

The twins seemed like they were trying to think of a way to get Amity home when Luz decided to speak up.

“I could take her home. I’m sure Eda would understand if I told her about the situation.” Luz offered with a smile. Everyone looked at each other before nodding in agreement.

“Okay, and we’ll get the school-work for the day for the both of you and give it to you later. Thanks for doing this, Luz.” Emira said as the twins both gave the human a thankful smile.

“Of course, Amity’s my friend I want to help her however I can.” Luz gave them a reassuring smile.

After that everyone went their own ways and Luz called Eda to let her know about what happened. Eda even decided she was going to pick them up and help Luz get Amity home safely.

Luz decided to try and wake up Amity as she waited for Eda to show up. She lightly shook the witch who groaned before opening her eyes.

“Luz? Where am I? What happened?” Amity asked as she sat up feeling her head pounding.

“You’re in the healer’s office. You passed out in the cafeteria. Anyway, you’re sick and being sent home for the day. You siblings already know, and no, it’s not up for discussion.” Luz explained giving the green-haired witch a look that said this was final.

Amity blushed and looked down, “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to worry anyone… Thanks for looking after me.” Amity said with a shy smile.

“You should have stayed home. You need to think of yourself and your health sometimes.” Luz said looking at Amity seriously.

“I know… I will keep that in mind from now own.” Amity said understanding.

Shortly after that Eda showed up and the three of them made their way to Amity’s house. Amity was a little embarrassed that Luz was going to be in her house for the first and she was too sick to be a good host.

“Okay kids, here we are. I have to head back to the Owl House but I’m just a call away if you need something.” Eda said when they got to Blight Manor.

As Eda flew off, Amity looked at her crush confused. “Aren’t you going with her? You know you don’t have to stay. We have housekeepers and caretakers. I’ll be fine.” Amity said before feeling nauseous again.

“Nope, I’m staying with you. You said you were fine earlier and then you passed out! I’m going to keep an eye on you until your siblings or parents get home. That’s final.” Luz said with a grin.

Amity sighed before she turned back to her house and entered with an amazed Luz behind her. “I’d give you a tour but I’m not sure I really can right now.” Amity said as she looked at her crush.

“That’s okay, you can show next time. Hopefully, you will feel better then. Anyway, we should really get you to bed so you can rest.” Luz said following behind closely in case Amity lost her balance.

The two made their way to Amity’s bedroom. It was the first time that Luz would actually be in there and not just a memory version of it. The thought made Amity feel shy but the feeling of being sick overpowered it even more.

Amity walked in and made her way straight to her bed and sat down.

“Well, this is my room. Feel free to look around and make yourself comfortable.” She said motioning to the room around her.

Luz looked around and took in the posters that were hanging up and how big the room was. She had never been in such a big place before and she wanted to look around but first she wanted to make sure Amity was doing better.

“This is such a big room! So much more room than mine that’s for sure. Anyway, is there anything I can get you? I know you didn’t eat lunch. Or maybe you want to get changed into something more comfortable.” Luz rambled suddenly. She was worried about Amity and when she worried, she would ramble.

“Luz, I’m good. Although I would like to change into something a little more cooling. There’s a bathroom just a few doors with a cabinet full of washcloths. Do you think you can get me a cool wet washcloth while I get changed?” Amity asked with a soft smile.

Luz smiled at Amity, “Sure! Let me know if there is anything else you need.” Luz before making her way to the bathroom.

She got the washcloth and made sure it was completely covered with cold water. Luz was still amazed at how big Amity’s house was. Once Luz was certain that the washcloth was cold enough, she made her way back to Amity’s room.

Luz knocked on the door trying not to be too loud. She heard shuffling before the door opened to show Amity in a Good Witch Azura nightgown. Amity was red in the face, but it was hard to tell even for herself if it was from embarrassment or from the fever.

“Aww! You look so cute in that nightgown, Amity. Anyway, here’s your washcloth.” Luz said with a grin while offering the witch the wet washcloth.

“Thank you…” Amity said taking the cloth while letting Luz in the room before shutting the door. She stumbled back to the bed and sat back down putting the washcloth on her forehead.

“Is there anything else I can do for you?” Luz asked sitting next to the young witch.

A thought went through Amity’s head that caused the girl to blush. She thought for a moment and maybe it was the fever, but she figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask.

“Do you think you could brush my hair? I mean, only if you want to…” Amity asked quietly thankful that the fever made her cheeks red.

“Of course, I will. You’re the sick one here so if you want your hair brushed then I will gladly brush it for you.” Luz said with a smile before she grabbed the brush that was on the nightstand.

Luz situated herself to sit behind Amity before she reached up and undid Amity’s hair. Luz couldn’t help but notice how soft and pretty Amity’s hair was. She noticed that as she brushed it Amity relaxed even more. Once all the tangles were out Luz put the brush back onto the nightstand.

Amity missed the feel of Luz brushing her hair almost immediately and was about to say something when she suddenly felt Luz running her fingers through Amity’s hair now.

Noticing Amity jump at the touch a little bit Luz pulls her hand away blushing. She hadn’t notice that she was playing the witch’s hair.

“Sorry, I wasn’t aware of what I was doing.” Luz apologized shyly.

“No, it’s… fine… You can keep going… Just can I lay down first?” Amity asked hoping she wasn’t too much of a bother.

“Oh! Of course, do you want me to read you something as well? I always liked it when my mom would read to me while I was sick.” Luz said as she got off the bed. As Amity got under the covers, Luz thought about how cute Amity looked.

Amity nodded and smiled, “That would be nice actually, thank you.”

Luz went to her school bag that she put on Amity’s desk and pulled out the first The Good Witch Azura book.

Once Amity was comfortable and had the washcloth back on her forehead, she patted to a spot next to her for Luz to sit down. Luz sat back down and went back to playing with Amity’s hair this time opening and reading the book.

Amity sighed enjoying the feeling of Luz’s fingers in her hair and the sound of her voice as she read. As Luz continued to read Amity slowly felt herself relax just enjoying the moment.

Suddenly Luz heard something and looked over at the green-haired witch to see that she was sleeping soundly and snoring lightly. Luz blushed and smiled at how cute the young witch looked before she gave her a small kiss on the top of her head gently, so she didn’t wake the girl.

‘Amity looks so peaceful when she’s asleep. I’m glad I could help her. Hopefully, she won’t push herself as hard as she did today ever again. I hate to see the girl I love seem so sick.’ Luz thought with a soft smile before she went back to reading as Amity cuddled up next to her in her sleep.

#the owl house #lumity #lumity month #lumity month 2020 #toh lumity #luz x amity #toh #toh luz #toh amity #luz noceda #amity blight

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paintpencilink · 5 years ago

Note

Do you think countries often push for specific house combos ? Like for example , the US seems very intent on being seen as a Lion Primary by the rest of the world and often comes across as a pretty twisted one .

I don't want to get too political, so I won't talk about the US government--I'll answer your question with less hot-button examples. The short answer is yes, I think cultures can value certain Houses, both primaries and secondaries, and countries have cultures.

Japan is very Bird secondary, for example-- so tidy! So systematic! Look at their recycling program! Look at how they package food! Have you ever seen a Japanese moving company? Japan is so detail oriented. ☺️

England kinda gives off Loyalist primary vibes to me. Maybe it's a combination of the tight-knit communities often portrayed in English TV shows I've watched, and the lingering cultural traces of a focus on nobility.

A culture's influence is pretty complex, though, and it's not monolithic; they'll have different expectations of different types of people, however they define those categories. This can be based on class, region, profession, gender... all kinds of stuff.

The Water Tribe in A:TLA (as noted by the sortinghatchats podcast) expects girls to be Badgers and boys to be Lions. Neither Katara nor Sokka fits neatly into this mold. Fortunately, they both find self-acceptance: Katara through her huge Lion display of ferocity and yelling at Paku until he agrees to teach her and then eventually declares her a master, and Sokka through learning that the father he's idolized but not seen for years is just as much of a wacky Bird as he is, and the men he leads respect him for who he is (even if they roll their eyes at his dad jokes).

I live in the Midwest US, and I can vouch for the sheer amount of Badger secondary around here. If you want to really insult someone from my region, call them lazy. It's not a bad thing, as long as you think critically when the community starts to glorify overwork. I don't think we have a strong regional bias towards one of the primaries, but I'm sure there are other cultural pressures for different people.

US business culture seems to emphasize Snake secondary. Adaptability, individualism, and opportunism are all valued. I once read a post from a Snake secondary who was trying to convince a Badger secondary to use a relevant contact she had to help her get a job, but she'd refused on the basis that it wouldn't be fair. Exasperated, the Snake tried to explain that this is just how people get jobs, this is how you get past the resume slush pile--that fair isn't the point, they're just trying to find someone competent.

A society that was more Badgery would probably focus on checking everyone more equally to try to find the best candidate, but US business culture likes to go fast, make mistakes, and iterate. There's a fear of getting bogged down in details. This has its pros and cons--it's great for developing technology, but there's plenty of stuff for which these tactics aren't well suited.

So, yeah! Countries have cultures. Cultures have values. Cultures influence people toward those values. It's a whole thing :)

-----

Housekeeping note:

I'm going to be gradually shifting my SHC related stuff over to @paint-the-ravenclaw. My existing SHC posts have been reblogged there and will stay up on my main, but when I write original Sorting posts and stuff, I'll be posting over there from now on. Asks are officially open on the new blog!

#sortinghatchats #asks #paint speaks #cultural influence

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scullysexual · 5 years ago

Text

Jewel Sequel: Chapter Two.

There’s been a change of plan. I was originally gonna get this out on the weekend (so it had a similar system to what Jewel had) but then I finished it and edited it today so the post day will either be late Wednesday/early Thursday and hopefully I’ll be able to stick to that schedule. Hi, hello, if you’re new to this. This can arguably be classed as a ‘Titanic au’ still cause it exists within that universe. This is a sequel to that and it is highly recommended to read A Jewel Beneath The Moonlight first, it’s not long, it’s thirteen chapters and if you’ve read my stuff before you’ll know my chapters/one shots are never long. You won’t regret reading it either. It’s been a while since I’ve been in this universe but most wanted me to continue with it so here you go. I do really hope you enjoy this as much as you did Jewel. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them :)

Tagging: @baronessblixen @suitablyaggrieved @purrykat @today-in-fic. As usual, let me know if you want to be tagged in future chapters.

Link to Chapter One.

Scully sighs in frustration as she turns the pages of the newspaper. It was the third one she had picked up so far and nothing; nobody advertising for any job, nobody looking for extra help.

She places the newspaper back on the rack, her hand hovering over the next before…

“We’re not a library. If you’re going to look through it, you better pay for it.”

Scully looks up to see an old man peering down at her from his stall.

Reluctantly, she leaves the fourth paper where it is and saunters over to the counter.

“Yes?” the man asks, warily.

“I was wondering if there had any job requests,” Scully answers, her elbows coming up to lean on the counter.

The man eyes her cautiously. “What kind of job?”

“Nanny, housekeeper, that sort of thing,” she shrugs.

With one last careful glance towards her, Scully watches with apprehension as he pulls a piece of paper off the wall and hands it to her.

“The Burkes came in a few weeks ago saying they were looking for a new housekeeper. They never came back to tell me they found someone so you can always check there.”

Scully looks at the yellowing paper. The address was not of a place she had heard of but it sounded upper class enough for them to have money so it was good enough for her.

“Thank you,” Scully says, exiting the shop. Too busy still reading the paper, she misses the sign If you read, you buy the man tapes onto the newspaper rack.

Three knocks and she’s stepping back, praying that her appearance is presentable enough for this family to consider her.

Physical appearance had been everything with the other family; hair up, clothes tucked in, and not a single curl out of place. Scully’s curls always fell out of place, regardless.

She hears barking from the other side of the door and smiles. They have a dog.

Out the way, Bruce, she also hears before the door is opening and a boy no older than herself stands before her.

“Uh…can I help you?” the boy asks.

Smiling (just as she had been taught) Scully begins,

“Hi, uh…there was a housekeeper request made and I was wondering if it was still open?” She extends the note towards the boy and he looks down at it, looking as if he’s unsure as to what it is or what to do with it for a second before he’s taking it from her.

“Uh, yeah…just, hold on a minute.”

Scully nods, still smiling, as the door is placed on the latch and waits for him to return.

To say she was disappointed to being back in this position again perhaps wasn’t right. She knew even four months ago that there would have to be an adjustment period, and while her future turned out differently than she imagined before stepping onto the ship, career-wise, it wasn’t entirely off target.

The four months she had been here was really about allowing Mulder to settle. She knows how much of a drastic change this is for him, how important it was for her to be there when he came home every evening- she was his only familiarity anymore, after all- but Scully couldn’t shake away the feeling that maybe she had pushed her dreams too far back, all just to accommodate Mulder.

Had she still been here with Charlie, they would have found the swing of things fairly early on; him at some construction site, her in some upper-class house. And she wouldn’t have to try and get the weekend off.

Charlie…

It still stung to think of her brother.

The door reopens to an older woman, late 30s Scully assumes, holding the note Scully gave to the boy.

The woman looks her up and down. “You’re the help?” she asks, distastefully.

“Aye, ma’am,” Scully nods.

The woman sighs defeatedly. “I suppose you’re better than nothing.” She opens the door the little wider to allow Scully entrance. “Well, come on, then.”

Scully enters and immediately the dog bounding towards her, curious as to who this intruder is. She laughs as the gold Labrador slobbers all over her skirt, not minding at all as she pets the top of his head.

“Edward!” Mrs Burke shouts towards the rooms leading off. The boy who answered the door exits out of the nearest doorway. “Take the dog somewhere else.”

Edward moves towards the dog, gripping it by the collar and tugging it away from Scully. “Sorry,” he says sheepishly.

“You won’t need to worry about the dog,” Mrs Burke says, shutting the front door. “That’s Edward’s job. What did you say your name was?”

“Ingrid Brevik,” Scully answered.

The woman smiles slightly, a smile that tells Scully the woman knows she’s lying.

“You’re real name.”

Scully hesitates for a moment. They had been using their fake names since they got here, every new person they met they introduced themselves as Leif and Ingrid and nothing was said on the matter. Even when they had got to Ellis Island, they had been allowed to pass through immigration fairly easily.

“If will remain within this household if you’re scared,” Mrs Burke reassures.

And maybe Scully was scared. What if they knew the Mulders had been her first thought, was always her thought when meeting anybody. Scully knew first-hand what vultures these people were.

But what if not all of them were? Mulder certainly wasn’t.

“Dana Scully,” Scully finally answers.

Mrs Burke nods, “That sounds more like it. Come on, I’ll show you around.”

Scully gets a tour of the house. It’s easy enough to navigate, give her two days and she’ll be able to walk around with her eyes closed.

She’s finally led to where she’ll be staying. A room in the basement. Minimum furniture; a single bed, a set of drawers yet the added bonus is the small bathroom attached. The last house hadn’t had a bathroom and Scully had been forced to use the one they had outside.

“You’ll work from six to nine every day. Dinner is usually served at seven. Any meals you have are to be had after we’ve eaten. Yes?”

Scully nods.

“Any questions?”

Scully fumbles with her fingers, unsure of how to proceed.

“Um…I have one request, actually.” The woman looks at her, waiting. “Can I have Saturday to Sunday off?”

An agreement was made. Monday to Friday she would work, for half the wage.

Scully hadn’t tried to bargain with Mrs Burke. She hadn’t been too impressed with Scully’s request but had granted it anyway once Scully explained Mulder. She may not have been truthfully honest, Mulder was far from inept and she had no doubt he could take care of himself if it really came down to it but needs must.

Now she had the task of actually telling Mulder, something she had been dreading since this idea first came to mind. Five days a week Mulder would have to learn to live without her which meant he had a few new skills to learn.

Scully braces herself at the sound of the door unlocking. It opens to reveal Mulder, worn out and dropping his sketchbook onto the floor. He looks over to her, smiling tiredly, taking off his shoes.

“Long day?” she asks.

Mulder smiles in agreement, placing the money jar on the table. Scully’s eyes fall to it and widen when she realises what sits inside.

A dark green dollar bill.

She brings the jar towards her, twisting off the cap.

Mulder is full smiles now, pulling out the opposite chair and sitting down.

“Took a bit of convincing, but I managed to con them into giving that over.”

She looks up at him disapprovingly. “Mulder! We agreed you weren’t gonna use any deceitful tactics.”

“Look, I only did it the once, and look what it got us,” he points to the bill she holds in her hand. “I promise I won’t do it often.”

Scully sighs, placing the note back into the jar and pushing it out of the way. “You won’t have to. I got a job.”

Mulder stares at her in surprise. “Really? Where?”

She slides the note she got from the newspaper stall over to him.

“It’s just a housekeeper. I work Monday to Friday but I get to be home for the weekend.” She smiles, hoping it’ll lift his spirits.

Mulder stares glumly at the note. “You won’t be here for five days.”

She reaches her hand out, grasping his. “But I get to be home every weekend, that’s something right?”

Mulder shrugs, his fingers playing with hers. “When do you start?”

Scully looks down at their entwined hands. “Monday.”

“Monday?” Mulder exclaims. “But what’s in two days.”

“Well, it’s better than starting tomorrow, isn’t it?”

Mulder looks glumly down at their hands. “I guess,” he mumbles. “Scully, how am I meant to survive five days without you here?”

Scully smiles, “I’ll teach you how to cook. That should keep you alive.” Another thought passes through her mind then, one she hadn’t thought about before this moment.

“Mulder, will you be okay at night? You know, with the nightmares and that?”

She watches him think for a moment, a flash of panic crossing his face. Often their nightmares consisted of something happening to the other, or just a memory of what happened that night, and when they would wake up, the other’s presence would soothe them, allow them to go back to sleep knowing the other was safe and alive next to them. With them both being separated, there was a worry that that safety, that comfort wouldn’t be there anymore.

“I’ll be fine,” he says, trying to sound like he was convincing them both. “What about you? I know you have them, too.”

Scully tried to be less vocal about hers. Sometimes, Mulder’s dreams would have her waking up- usually because Mulder’s woke her up- sometimes it was the only way he could really go back to sleep if he knew she was really alive. Scully would just cuddle closer to Mulder, listen to his breathing and fall asleep that way.

She grasps his hand tighter. “I’ll be okay. I promise.”

It was going to be strange, being away from each other for so long. They had been in each other’s company since the day they met. They have never gone a day since that day without seeing each other at some point during the same day. Scully just prayed Mulder would be able to manage without her.

#txf #titanic au #jewel sequel #i write

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mywrittingwonderland · 6 years ago

Text

She Comes First P.2 (Sophia x Shawn)

Hello pretty people, it has been a while, but hope you like it. There will be a part 3 soon to wrap it up :) Word count: 1,962 Warnings: Mentions of PR and anxiety. Part 1 Part 3

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Shawn never felt so nervous over a flight in his entire life. He tried calling Sophia again, even though he knew she would have turned off her phone after asking him to stay away for one week. But, Shawn didn't even after giving her his word he would do it. He was sweating over the cold air of the private airplane, and he was so anxious that he didn't even know where he was gathering the strength to stay calm any longer. He just kept reminding himself over and over that she would be okay, she would be mad with him first, but they would be okay. And she would be okay too, and he would be there in a few hours, making sure she was okay.

He didn't notice he was crying until his vision blurred, and he couldn't really see clearly from the windows again. He closed his eyes and tried to retrieve some memories of when nothing of this was on their way. Of course, he was blaming himself, but at the same time, he could listen to her gentle voice telling him, "You shouldn't really put this one on yourself, we weren't dating when you accepted it." Those were her words when he first told her that, yep. She didn't scream, nor fought with him, nor tried to break up. She was just supportive, even if that meant fucking up her life for a while. Shawn would give anything to have denied doing it, he would have paid the money in the contract without a blink even if that meant delaying a bunch of stuff, he would have done it. Of course, Sophia was never going to try to interfere with his dreams. Still, he was interfering with her life, her stability, her mental health, and she was trying to keep him out of it so he could still be focusing on his dreams. But the thing is 100% of his dreams had her on them now, and she was happy in them. He got distracted from his thoughts by a call from his sister.

"Hi Liyah, did something happened?" He asked, trying to sound like he was okay.

"Brian called me." She said, making his eyes fill with more tears.

"Oh."

"How are you?" She asked with evident concern in her voice.

"I feel like I just ruined the most important thing in my life." He said sincerely.

"She called me, you know, after she talked with you."

"She did?" He asked with a teary voice.

"Yes, she was feeling guilty because she broke down over the phone. But she said she really tried to hold on longer, but she needed some time because a lot was going on in her life now. I probably shouldn't be telling you this, because I promised her I wouldn't unless it was a life-death situation. But I feel like since you decided to go to her, you should know it before." He took a deep breath focusing his entire attention on his sister now.

"Okay, thank you, sis."

"Of course, so there is no easy way for it. And I wish she had talked with me before, but she didn't even with Connor, at least that is what she said. Anyway, her dog died like one week after your birthday."

"What? No! Flake died?" Flake was Sophia's first dog with her brother, he stayed in London living with their parents when they both moved out since he was already too old to travel."

"Yes, and her grandfather is very sick, Shawn."

"Fuck! I didn't know that" He said, feeling even more guilty because he should have insisted on knowing more. He should have known she was not okay.

"Yeah, neither did I. But I think she just really needed to talk, and she spilled everything in 20 minutes straight after you talked, I suppose. She will probably tell you once you get there, but I just want to prepare you a little bit so you can be there for her."

"Yes, right. Is there more?"

"She declined all her college applications because they were in Toronto, and she couldn't be there when classes were supposed to start."

"Fuck, no, no, no. I completely forgot to ask her if she had gotten any responses to it. I am a terrible boyfriend. I can't believe she did that for me." Sophia took 2 gap years to write. Still, she also wanted to try university and major in Cinema, she was fascinated with scripts. They did talk about it before she applied because she wanted to make sure he wanted to stay in Canada and not move to LA. He remembers himself telling her that she could choose any university she wanted, and he would go for it. And they could talk after she graduated about where they should live, yes they did talk about the future for an enormous amount of time.

"You are not a terrible boyfriend, just this PR stuff needs to go." He heard his sister saying.

"I know, I am already making that happen." He said he still needed to talk with Andrew a little further about the matter, but he needed to speak with her before.

"I believe she should tell you the rest of it, but just knows that she really loves you."

"I really love her, too" He sighed, "Thanks for calling me and telling me this." He said before turning off the phone.

He felt like he had done so many things wrong the past months that he didn't know how she could forgive him for those. He not only interfered with her life but also made her believe she shouldn't tell him any of what was happening in hers.

Once he got to the airport, he made sure to pass security and enter the heliport zone directly. He decided to fly to the farm; that way, there would be less chance of people seeing him. He stopped at the city near the farm, where he finally got a car and drove 30 minutes more. Once he got to the gate, the housekeeper immediately recognized him and opened. He parked and waited in the car for a few seconds before walking to the main house front door and knocking on it.

Sophia's grandmother opened the door, she smelled like the fresh baked cookies she had just pulled out of the oven. She promptly smushed him in a hug depriving him of air for a few seconds.

"Hi Grandy Lisa, is Sophia home?" He asked, getting ready to take off his shoes even though he knew they didn't really do that on the farm with visits.

"Oh! Hi dear, come along. Have you eaten so far? I don't think they really give you time for that in that singing place every day, right? Wait here I will grab you a plate…" She said already starting to go to the kitchen

"Thank you so much, Grandy Lisa, but can I maybe talk to Phi before? It is really important." Shawn said, trying to not be rude.

"Oh, of course. My mind, you haven't seen each other for a long time. I think she could really use some Shawn time now. She is with Pinky at the stables. Shawn dear, please make her real smile come back? I think she believes she knows how to fake it for me, but she doesn't really," She said, making Shawn's heart break a little. "But go ahead, I bet she just really misses you." She completed, and he gave her a smile before going out again.

"… You know P, I think I don't even know who I am anymore. That is really scary." He heard her stating as soon as he reached the stables, she was bruising her Horse Pinky with a turquoise brush Shawn had gotten as Pinky's Christmas present. "I am also a terrible girlfriend because I know I shouldn't be keeping the bad stuff from him. But he has so much going on, and he is so far away from his family now that it just doesn't seem fair to throw my problems on top of everything, I wish I could just delete my mind now, I feel trapped." She said, stopping to just focus on the brushing again, that was when Shawn gently hugged from behind, and she jumped a little because he scared her.

"Hi," He whispered into her ears. "Please don't be mad." He asked, turning her around and kissing her forehead.

"Shawn, what are you doing here? I told you to not come! I said I was going to be okay, remember?" She said a little desperate. She really didn't want him there while she was not okay; at the same time, she loved, he was there.

"Yeah, I am here to help you be okay." He said calmly, noticing that she was trying to not break down in front of him.

"You have Studio, though." She said walking two-steps backward toward the wall

"Yeah, but I…" He tried one step forward, but she once again steps backward, her breathing picking up a little.

"Shawn, you need to go back, I don't wanna make you late and…" She said, interrupting him and walking a little more backward again.

"Stop talking for a little bit, I know I will miss the sessions, and I don't care," He said, picking her hands and stoping her from walking away from him.

"But…"

"Shhhh, hey, stop. Do not blame yourself for this one. It was entirely my decision, and you told me to stay, remember?" He asked, holding her face with both of his hands, "Exactly so not your fault at all," He said, giving a peck in her nose.

"I just really need some time, like alone?" She said, backing away from him again and holding back her tears, treating to fall.

"Yeah, I know. I am sorry I didn't respect that, I am so sorry really. But I can't let you hurt in the other hemisphere alone." He said, stepping forward again.

"But I… I don't want mess things up…" She said, breathing hard and letting a tear slip.

"Hey, listen, you are not messing up anything," Shawn sighed, bringing his fingers up to catch the tear.

"I am not?" She asked, finally looking at him, and letting him get closer.

"You are not." He said, hugging her close and letting her cry on his chest. "I really missed you, and you need me now, and that is okay. You don't have to be alone in this one Sophia, I want to be here for you." He said, rubbing her back in circles and trying to soothe her. It took a while for her to start to actually calm down. As much as Shawn hated the fact she was crying, he also knew she needed to cry at that moment, so he let her. He didn't try to speed her up, or to make her stop, he let her cry for as long as she needed until there were only sniffs and deep breaths left.

"Did your sister called you, was that why you came?" She asked once she was a little bit calmer.

"No, I mean yes she called, she told me some things. But I was already on the airplane coming here when she did." He said, moving her hair away from her face and tucking it behind her ears.

"Are you sure you don't need to go back?" She asked again, biting her lip. He smiled at that and brushed his lips in hers, feeling the salty taste of her tears still there before giving her a gentle kiss.

"I just got back home, and I am not going anywhere."

- - - - - - - Shawn x Sophia Taglist: @shawn-youth General Taglist: @arypesanchez @turtoix @ivegotparticulartaste

#shawn peter raul mendes #shawn mendes #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes fic #shawn mendes fanfiction #shawn mendes fanfic #shawn mendes x oc #shawn mendes angst #shawn mendes fluff #shawn mendes x sophia

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shoelacedracoandneville · 5 years ago

Text

No Mass ✰

y/n’s POV

"I'm going to the Alvarez's!" I yelled

"Did you eat breakfast?" Schneider asked

"Yes." I groaned, knocking my shoes on the ground as I was anxious to get over there

"Obviously, you didn't brush your hair." Schneider said, gently patting my head

"What? Yes, I did." I gasped, pushing down my hair

"My bad. I know you didn't take your medicine." He said, shaking the orange bottle he took out of his pocket

"Come on, I'm fine. I promise." I said

"Nope. Come here." He ordered, putting one in my hand

I glared at the little white pill in my hand, wanting to put it in the trash

"Promise me you'll take it." Schneider begged

"I promise." I sighed, walking out the apartment door

I shut the door and crushed the little pill with my foot. I used my heel to push the dust under the welcome mat. 3

__________

Once I got to the Alvarez apartment, I walked right in as if I lived there. I practically did.

"What's going on today Alvarez family?" I asked, shutting the door gently behind me

"We're just moving the Pope." Penelope said as if it was a normal thing

"Do I want to know? Actually, don't answer that. I don't." I said, sitting at the kitchen table next to Alex.

"Did you take your medicine?" Alex asked, raising his eyebrows in question

"Yes." I lied, patting his shoulder

I turned to find Lydia putting up a picture of the Pope on their counter. We laughed at her as she continued to dance her way to her room.

_________

Later, I was back at the Alvarez's house. Lydia invited me and Schneider over to eat dinner with them.

"You can probably dump that whole thing on there." Schneider said, referring to the food Lydia was passing out

"Next time." Lydia, lovingly, laughed

"Hi!" We all said, as the door slammed following Penelope's entrance into the apartment

"Welcome home, Lupita. We are almost done, but there is plenty left." Lydia said, pointing to the dinner on the table

"Aw. Dinner with my entire family... and the whitest people I know." Penelope said, gesturing to me and Schneider

"We're not that white." I said, unconvincingly

"Honey, you're as white as your converse..and those are really white." Penelope joked, making everyone laugh

"Yes, I invited them, again. They're orphans." Lydia said

"Do orphans always have rich dads who buy them buildings?" Alex asked

I tensed at the mention of a dad, but shook it off with a smile. I wasn't going to cause drama in a situation that didn't really involve me.

"Hey, I may have money in the bank and two living parents, and four living stepmothers...but there is a hole in here. We never had family meals. I ate alone in front of the TV. At least now, I have this one." Schneider argued, ruffling my hair

I instantly felt guilty about not taking my medicine. I knew he wanted what was best for me, but I just couldn't bring my self to do it.

"Ay, pobrecito Schneider." Lydia said

"Oh, don't get me wrong. It was a massive TV. Sometimes my nanny would join me, but only if I agreed to watch telenovelas." Schneider said

"Ooh, those are so over the top." Elena groaned

"Right? This one time, Rosa got jealous of the housekeeper cause she was makin a move on her man, so she threatened to throw live scorpions on her while she slept." Schneider said

"Sounds good. Which one was that?" Lydia asked

"Oh, no. Rosa was my nanny. Ex nanny. Now, stepmother. I'm so glad to be here." Schneider sighed, rubbing the table

"I'm just glad to be home with everyone." Penelope said, smiling at her family

As if on cue, Elena's goth friend walked out of the bathroom and sat in Penelope's chair.

"Who the hell are you?" Penelope asked

"This is Carmen, my best friend. I'm doing my history project with her." Elena said, introducing the stranger

"These all sound like things I should know. Hi, Carmen." Penelope smiled, introducing herself

"Hi." Carmen sighed, dramatically

"I'm Penelope. Kind of a big deal around here. So, uh, what's this history project you're working on? And then maybe later you can show me how you turn into a bat." Penelope asked, teasing Elena's friend

"Well, we just got done explaining the whole thing." Elena said

"Oh, come on, mija, I missed it." Penelope begged

"Oh, wait. Alex, y/n, tell Penelope that funny story that happened in chemistry class." Lydia laughed

"Again?" Alex asked

"Okay, I'll tell it. So, there is the floor and... slip. Oh, that Dylan." Lydia laughed as she barley got through any of the story

"Oh, That story never gets old." Schneider said, laughing at Lydia's incoherent story

"I've been working so much. I've been missing all the scoops plus Latina Twilight over here. Careful. There's a lot of garlic in that chicken." Penelope said, continuing to tease Carmen

"Your mom's kinda mean. I'm obsessed with her." Carmen, oddly, smiled

"Who would like a pastelito?" Lydia asked

We all eagerly took one, ignoring the pizzas Penelope had brought home

"Mm! You know what? How about we go on a hike this Saturday like we used to?" Penelope asked her kids

"Mom, Uh, Carmen and I need all Saturday for our history thing." Elena said

"Yeah, and Abuelita, y/n, and I have tickets to wrestling." Alex cheered

"I don't understand why you waste good money on that." Penelope sighed

"It's educational." I said, attempting to convince her

Penelope stared at me with a "we both know that's bullshit" look.

"Eh, I don't know." I shrugged

"Okay, Saturday's out. How about we go on a hike Sunday morning before it gets hot?" Penelope asked

"You seem to have forgot. Sunday morning is for church." Lydia said

"So, we skip church." Penelope suggested

"You seem to have forgot. We don't skip church." Lydia said, shaking her head at her only daughter

"Mami, it's okay if we miss it one time. It's not gonna kill us." Penelope insisted

"Oh, really? My great uncle Luisito skipped church, and on the same day, he was crushed by a runaway tractor." Lydia said

"Why don't you just go to church and then go hikin' after?" Schneider asked, solving their obvious problem

"We're Latinos, Church takes all day. By the time you're done with mass and you've said hello to fulano y fulana, it's five o'clock." Penelope said

"Oh, you exaggerate. 4:30." Lydia insisted

"I wanna see these guys this weekend. Come on. Cause I like them." Penelope said, pulling her kids close to her

"I have to put my foot down. Sundays we go to church, and then sometimes we go to Applebee's." Lydia said

"Well, I have a foot, too, and I'm gonna put my foot down and say this Sunday we're not going to church." Penelope argued

"Well, I am putting both of my feet down. We are going and that is the end of it. Ya!" Lydia said, shushing Penelope

"That's not your decision to make." Penelope said, beginning to get angry

"It's starting to feel kinda like home in here." Schneider smiled, making me shake my head

"I'm with Mom. We don't need to go to church. After all, Abuelita, you don't believe half that stuff." Elena said

"I believe everything." Lydia argued

"Really? When you take the communion you believe you're eating the actual blood and flesh of Jesus?" Elena asked

"Ay, no, it's a symbol. Don't be gross." Lydia said

"Okay. So, if you believe that then you're Protestant." Penelope said

"There is no need for name calling. All I know is that a good Catholic does not skip church. Right, papito?" Lydia asked, looking towards Alex for support

"I like church. I see my friends and I eat some donuts." Alex said

"Now, this one gets it. We're going." Lydia said, patting him on the back

"No, we are not! I work hard all week. When I get home, there's barely enough time to have a meal with the kids. Weekends are my only chance. So, this Sunday, no church. End of discussion." Penelope said

Lydia stood up and said something in Spanish, confusing me and Schneider.

"Ooh." Alex and Carmen said

"What? What'd she say?" Elena asked, who was also confused

"I am raising my voice, because I cannot believe we're having this discussion! I'm their mother! I don't need permission! I decide." Penelope fought

"And I am your mother, and I decide what you decide." Lydia said

"We are a family, damn it! Don't make me choose between you." Schneider said, "Okay, I'd choose Lydia because of her warm food and even warmer hugs. But I'd feel really bad about it."

"All right, everybody, go do your homework. Schneider, take y/n and go call one of your moms." Penelope said

"Fine. Guess we'll just eat this all alone in front of my massive TV." Schneider said, storming out

"Thought that was at his dad's house-" Penelope started

"He has one too!" I yelled as we stormed out 2

_________

The next morning, I was sitting on the couch before school when someone knocked on the apartment door. Schneider went to open it to reveal the whole Alvarez family.

"Hello, Schneider. Listen have you—" Penelope started

"Wow! I always forget how huge your apartment is." Alex said, barging into the apartment

I waved from the couch before going back to my TV show, trying to ignore the chaos around me.

"Nah, come on, it's not that big. But let's talk in the parlor." Schneider said

"Schneider, have you seen my mom?" Penelope asked

"Gosh, no." Him and I, suspiciously, said

"Then why do I smell fried plantains and Cuban coffee?" Elena asked, glancing around the apartment

"Fine! She spent the night. But I want you to know, nothing happened." He promised

"Ew." I said, shaking my head at the older man

"What were you thinking chasing that women away? She's funny, charming, and when she gets angry, she cleans." He said

"Where is she?" Penelope asked, ignoring most of what he said

"I don't know. After last nights ugliness, she spent the night and left without saying goodbye. So, she already knows the drill." He said, referring to the previous women that had been in the apartment

"Again, Gross." I groaned

Then, a girl walked out a Schneider's room wearing just a shirt. Alex stared at her, making me laugh at his immaturity.

"Unlike some people." He said, glaring at the girl

The girl walked into a different room, and everyone turned their attention back towards Schneider

"What was that? And why was she drinking my coffee?" Penelope asked

"Well, when my family oasis blew up last night, I had to seek solace in the arms of.. I don't know her name. Your mom called her the stick girl and made her eat plato de huevos." He said

"Did Abuelita forget to give her her pants, too?" Alex asked, making me laugh

__________

Later, Schneider and I were still at the Alvarez's because Lydia wasn't there when Alex and Elena got home from school.

Penelope walked in and we all greeted her with smiles and waves, still worried about Lydia.

"Welcome home, Lupita! We already started, but I insisted nobody say anything interesting till you got here." Schneider said

"Aw, that's so sweet." Penelope smiled, looking at all of us sitting at the dinner table

"It's been weird." Elena sighed

"Did you find Abuelita?" Alex asked, desperate to see his grandma again

"Yeah, she's with Jesus now." Penelope said2

"What?" We all screamed, thinking she meant Lydia had died

"No, no. Sorry. She's at church. Poor choice of words. Uh, whoa! What do we have here?" Penelope asked, looking at everything Schneider had set up

"Oh, Nothing special. Just some nutted quinoa, wilted broccoli with radish micro greens, and venison carpaccio on a bed of nettles. Grab a cedar plank and dig in." Schneider said

"Big change from Abuelita's cooking, huh? You like it?" Penelope asked all of us

"I can't wait to have eaten it." Elena said, as Schneider stared at her waiting for an answer

"I didn't think I would like nettles, and I was right." Alex said, setting down the fork he was using to eat

"Well, I'm competing with perfection here." Schneider sighed

"It's okay, Schneider. We all thank you for this very Caucasian meal. Good to see you again, Elena's best friend, Carmen, you beautiful weirdo." Penelope smiled

Carmen stared at her, uninterested in what Penelope was talking about.

"I'm sorry things got crazy the other night. That's- that's not us." Penelope insisted

"Seems like us." Alex disagreed

"We have all kinds of arguments in my family. I have two brothers. Ones a priest, ones a witch, so..." Carmen said, making us look at her oddly

"I'm really glad I'm getting to know you better, Carmen." Penelope

"Hello!" Lydia said, dramatically making her reappearance through the front door

"Oh, Thank God!" Schneider said, running ahead of everyone and hugging her

"I am so glad you're home. I was wilting under pressure to be you." He groaned

"Oh, hello, babies." Lydia said, hugging Elena and Alex, then me

"I'm sure you did fine. Who threw up in the table?" Lydia said, approaching the table and judging Schneider's cooking

"What were you doing all day?" I asked

"Oh, you know, saying my Rosary, praying for the departed souls...Asking forgiveness for your mother." Lydia said

"Why?" Elena asked

"Oh, She didn't tell you? She's no longer going to church. Ever." Lydia said

"We can do that?" Alex asked

"You can't. We will all go together. Us. Your mother will go hiking with Satan." Lydia sassed

"Yeah, and then we'll go to Applebee's. Cause Satan loves the Fiesta Lime Chicken!" Penelope sassed right back

"So, I guess you want to take my grandchildren to hell with you." Lydia asked, furthering the argument between her and Penelope

"I don't wanna go to hell." Alex cried, making me pat his shoulder

"There is no hell." Penelope said

"Don't worry, papito, there is." Lydia said, not making Alex feel any better

"Okay! You- you really wanna do this? All right, let's do this. I am not even sure I even believe in God, Okay?" Penelope said

"Hardcore." Carmen said, as the Alvarez's gasped

"Oye, you're so smart. If God doesn't exist, who made all of this?" Lydia asked, gesturing around the apartment

"Target." Penelope said2

"Okay, can we agree that if there is a God, it's gender neutral and not a He or she?" Elena asked

"No! God is a man. If he were a woman, there would be less problems. Pobrecito God. He tries so hard." Lydia said5

"Look, Mami, I get it. You like going to church. It's habit. You go out in lipstick, get dressed up, see your friends, gossip. It's your little social club, Mami, and that's fine." Penelope said

"It is more than that. I pray. I seek forgiveness." Lydia said

"And I am so glad that that gives you comfort. But that doesn't mean that God exists, okay? I'm sorry." Penelope said

"He kept you safe. Every day that you were gone, he kept you safe. My little girl says she wants to go in the Army, and then the army sends her to Afghanistan where she is getting shot at and I don't even know what else. Do you have you any idea... how much I worried? When you were deployed, I went to church everyday and I prayed that he would keep you safe. And he did. So don't you tell me about God. I know that God exists, and he is great." Lydia said, crying as she finished her story

"Mami, I'm sorry. I had no idea. You know, you went missing for one day and I was worried sick. I can't imagine what it must feel like to worry all those years." Penelope said

"All those years putting up with Birdie, with her terrible hairdos and her smelly breath." Lydia said

"Look. I still wear the cross you gave me." Penelope said, showing her the dainty cross necklace

"So you do believe!" Lydia exclaimed

"No, I don't wear it because it's a cross. I wear it because you gave it to me." Penelope said

"I don't understand the difference, so please just let me have this." Lydia said

They both sobbed and hugged each other, as everyone else looked on with a smile.

"So, are we going to church or not?" Elena asked

"Yes. Wait, no. Wait.. Sometimes, okay?" Penelope asked

"At least at Christmas and Easter. And one other time, so we are not those people." Lydia said

"And I'm not saying God doesn't exist. In fact, I check in with him constantly, you know, like, 'please God don't let Elena come home with a face tattoo.' And Mami, I am glad that you find comfort in church. I just find it in different places." Penelope said

"That's how I feel when I watch John Cena." Alex said, making everyone laugh

"Exactly, or Sonia Sotomayor... or Death. Everyone has something that inspires them." Penelope said

__________

The next morning, I was sat on the couch with Alex watching the News. All of a sudden, a story about a car swerving off a bridge, into a lake, came on.

I stopped focusing on what Alex was talking about and stayed glued to the TV. As the story went on it started getting harder to breath, and I was shaking, and my eyes were tearing up.

"y/n? y/n! What's wrong?" Alex asked, grabbing my hand when he heard my labored breaths

"I... can't... breath." I said, shaking my head and crying

"Mom!" Alex screamed, calling out for an adult to come help

"What?" She asked running in, quickly rushing to the couch

"Something's wrong with y/n." He said, tearing up as I continued to shake and attempt to catch my breath.

"I'll go get Schneider. Wait here." She said, running out the apartment door

Elena, Alex, and Lydia tried to get me to calm down, but I just couldn't.

"Where is she?" Schneider asked, running in with Penelope.

When he saw me on the couch, he sat down and placed his hands on my shoulders, forcing me to look at him.

"Okay, okay. Remember your breathing. Breath in, 1,2,3,4,5. Breath out, 6,7,8,9,10." He said

We did that couple times, and I calmed down to the point where I could at least talk.

"What happened, kid?" He asked, rubbing my back in comfort

"The news. And the story, the car, bridge, lake." I said, beginning to tear up again

"y/n. Why didn't you take your medicine?" Schneider asked, realizing what had happened

"I did." I lied

"No, it wouldn't have been this bad if you had." He insisted

"I can't, okay? Every time I take those pills, I feel numb. And as crazy as it sounds, I want to feel the pain. I need to realize that what happened to my parents is real, not some horrible nightmare that I can just forget. I need to remember, and I need to heal on my own. I know I'll never have a mom who cares for me, or siblings to comfort me, or a dad to hang out with. I miss that, but pretending it's not real is worse." I said crying

Everyone stared at me either with teary eyes or sympathy, making me want to sink into the couch.

"Hey, I may not be your mom or your dad, but I'll always be there for you. I didn't think I'd enjoy taking in someone else's child, but since you've been with me I couldn't imagine life without you. You're my family." Schneider said, hugging me, "You can't hide these kind of thing from me, though. You have to try and be honest about it."

"We'll always be here too. For anything." Alex said, coming in to wrap me in hug

The rest of the family joined in one big hug, making me realize that Schneider was right. I may have lost my biological family, but family isn't just about DNA. It's about surrounding yourself with the people who will love and care for you through everything, and that's what Schneider and the Alvarez's are to me.

_________

Alright, I hope this chapter provides an idea of what happened to her parents. Thank you guys for the reads!! And please, any feedback is welcomed.

#odaat #alex alvarez

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annavolovodov · 6 years ago

Text

ya girl saw the downton movie and has some Thoughts

if you followed me at all from 2011-2015 then you'll know i am firmly Team Downstairs and did not want this movie to happen, just so you all know what position i'm coming from here.

everything below is gonna be spoilery af. if you haven't seen it yet and want info just hmu. if you have seen it and want to talk about it please message me bc i’m always up for chatting about Downton.

okay but the title sequence with the music building and cresting as we come up over the hills and get our first shot of downton... goosebumps. tbh i don't know shit about film making but i can't fault the technical aspects (costumes, music, cinematography). the impact of the increased budget was felt from the very first second.

for the plot i’m gonna split things by character to make it easier. i’ll probably go to see it again and maybe after that i’ll have some deeper Thoughts but i missed being able to liveblog during the film so enjoy my rambling first reactions.

upstairs peeps

everything with violet was iconic. i'm glad that they didn't neglect her relationship with isobel and ofc maggie and imelda played fantastically off each other. pretty much everyone has already highlighted the scene with violet and mary at the end and it tied things up perfectly between them. violet and mary are so so similar and violet has been pushing for her to inherit since before S1. the movie showed us that mary is basically running the estate even if she doesn't get the the title and i can totally see why violet is confident in the future of downton now. that being said, i don't think violet will actually die. maggie has been talking about leaving since 2012 and fellowes obviously put this in as a get-out clause for her should she want to go, but i reckon they’ll convince her to do more. if carson's palsy can be mysteriously cured, so can violet's conveniently vague illness.

i already knew that robert and cora weren't gonna be in it much, but i wish we could've seen cora finding out what was happening with edith and helping her out. it wouldn't surprise me if there was a deleted scene there cause that whole storyline felt a little disjointed. i completely forgot that cora knew about the pregnancy and was so confused at how the queen foud out about it all. i don't think we got anything in robert and cora's bedroom, or anything with cora/baxter and robert/bates, which would've also been very welcome but i guess they can only fit in so much.

onto mary: this may be an unpopular opinion but god i miss her long hair. yeah i know it wasn't the style of the time but her wig in this one was tragic and they need to fix it. i absolutely love that t*lbot didn't exist for a solid 95% of this movie and mary got her rightful place ruling downton. i wouldn't say i’m the biggest mary fan but her arc felt like one of the more satisfying ones of the movie imo.

as someone who has been firmly #teamedith from day one i am delighted to see my girl happy and successful. literally all her outfits were A+ and not to be gay on main but those scenes of her in her nightclothes getting ready for bed gave me my rights. i’m sad that she seems like she's either given up her magazine or has less of a role in it now based on what they said outside???? she did seem unsatisfied with aspects of her position so hopefully she'll go back to doing some writing and publishing cause that was a good fit for her, and if edith and bertie are “modern” enough to travel without servants surely edith moving away from traditional grand lady duties and back to her magazine that wouldn't be an issue.

the mention of sybil being gone seven years? yeah. thanks for the pain. tom accidentally saving the monarchy on no less than two occasions is the ultimate "congratulations you played yourself" moment but the fact he thought the army had sent someone to check up on him is the level of republican i'm trying to be on. i'm a bit ehhhh on his relationship with lucy, mainly cause i'd rather the screentime given to the newbies had went to established characters. but like sybil/tom was a wholeass epic romantic slowburn spanning several years through a war and across class divisions n shit and meanwhile lucy/tom have known each other for forty eight hours and had three conversations in a hallway so like obviously that’s just gonna pale in comparison????? like it just is???? i guess i don't hate it but it just was a bit unnecessary and the time coulda been spent on better things.

isobel didn't have all that much to do on her own but i appreciated her scenes with violet and i love that she was the one to figure out that lucy was lady whatever's daughter. penelope wilton's facial expressions during some of the exchanges with violet were great. i see lord merton has also undergone a miraculous recovery from his apparently serious anaemia but he also didn't appear much which was a big win for me!

team downstairs aka the ones i turned up to see

as a downstairs supremacist who has watched the screentime distribution in previous fifty two eps of the show, it’s fair to say i had low expectations going in. i expected a grand total of 10 minutes for the servants combined and i think that's why i was unexpectedly happy with what we got. ideally we would've ditched the subplots involving the personal lives of the royals and all the stuff w imelda staunton and her maid but oh well it could’ve been worse and i'll take any breadcrumbs i can get. anyway i'm eagerly awaiting the team downstairs cut of the film one of yall will hopefully make when the dvd comes out. the only part that was far, FAR too upstairs heavy for me was the last sequence of the film after the royals left and i think we would've benefitted from rounding things off with team downstairs after the ball.

so i guess retirement magically cured the palsy carson had, but i guess after matthew’s miraculous recovery anything can happen at downton when it comes to health. Fellowes is getting a free pass for retconning this one cause i cba with more death/loss. mary going to carson for help and him immediately coming to her aid was very sweet. kinda wish we'd find out what he was up to post-Downton (except for his gardening) tho.

i was expected zero carson/hughes content in this movie and yet !!!! and yet!!!!!! we were somewhat well-fed. like carson (incorrectly) thinking he can control the other servants and mrs hughes' "oh that went well charlie, start as you mean to go on" hdjksjs i love them. and the lil scene in their cottage ugh. also we got more of them using their first names and yeah i guess that makes sense given they've been married for a while now but as i said, i had low expectations.

mrs hughes is still like the best person ever but wbk. her vs. the royal housekeeper = iconic. i kinda felt bad for royal whatsherface in some ways because she clearly didn't know who she was up against THE elsie hughes who has vanquished much scarier foes in her time. the other servants were never gonna win that battle.

the 0.5 seconds of baby bates *chef's kiss* perfection. god i am slightly bitter it was only 0.5 seconds given the fuckin multiseason journey leading up to his birth. tbh we should've ditched everything involving the personal lives of the rando new characters and let baby bates have some of that time but fellowes loves upstairs too much to let that happen. the small interaction was adorable though and i'm glad the mention of his name was subtle enough that we can retcon it cause i truly believe anna and bates would've came up with a more creative choice than that. genuinely i'm so curious about their whole living situation and how they cope with a smol child while working full time but i doubt fellowes even considered that so y’know. what can we do. i enjoyed the breadcrumbs but i wanted more.

i did go into this film with the mindset of "something awful will probably happen to anna or bates," cause that's what usually happens in these things but plot twist!!!! we saw them smile on multiple occassions!!!! what a nice change for us all! i swear every time anna bates smiles an angel gains their wings. her scenes with mary were good and i'm happy their friendship made it into the film. you know what else i was happy to see? the EXTREMELY UNDERRATED brotp between anna and baxter. there was a couple of moments with them standing next to each other or talking to each other and it warmed my heart. like yass two of my fave people are friends. it's a big win for me.

i'm sure i read something about brendan being involved in another project which meant he couldn't film too much (i'm curious to whether this impacted the lack of baby bates scenes?) and while it's true that bates didn't have a ton of scenes, i didn't feel like he was absent which was good.

thomas had the best storyline imo. i don't blame him for being angry that mary brought in carson and it was actually very iconic of him to go off in the library like that. i found it hilarious that while everyone else was panicking at downton he went off on gay adventures. i really wish we'd gotten this "thomas makes a gay friend then discovers the village's underground gay scene THEN gets a boyfriend" in the show cause that would've been SO MUCH BETTER than some of the other stuff that got stretched out across the last couple series (like the love quadrangle with daisy/ivy/alfred/jimmy). like, imagine thomas’ movie plot as a series-long arc. the impact. i liked the guy that was his maybe-boyfriend and i hope any continuation keeps that relationship going.

mrs p and daisy continue to be the mother-daughter duo of the century. i thought both of them were supposed to be moving to the farm post-S6 but i suppose that would've meant they wouldn't be in the film hence why it didn't come to fruition. i guess they could all move once daisy and andy get married. mrs patmore didn't get a great deal to do but i still feel like i saw her a fair amount. comrade daisy was awesome and is definitely me when i see any monarchy-related stuff. somewhere over the last few seasons she's developed into one of the most interesting characters in downton and we don't talk about that enough. andy trashing the boiler was immature af but at the same time i feel like it completely makes sense for daisy to take that as a compliment. it’s just such a daisy thing to do?????

now, there is one thing i kinda fucked up here. while i went into the film with low expectations for everyone else, i fully expected baxley to be A Thing because how could i not and boy did i come out looking like boo boo the fool. i guess baxter and molesley have continued the tradition of Agonisingly Long Downstairs Slowburns which would be okay if we were still getting one season per year but is quite frankly rude when we're on rationed content like this. the first half of the film i thought it was gonna be revealed that they were together or something but then that scene at the end implied they're dancing around each other and my god is it frustrating. i would give so much to trade tom and lucy's romantic subplot for a baxter/molesley one but once again i know that's an unrealistic dream.

definitely not enough baxter in general but that one shot of her, anna and mrs hughes standing in the same frame was worth the price of my cinema ticket. still love molesley even tho he's a monarchist.

in terms of the overall downstairs stuff, i'm euphoric at seeing all these people interact with each other again. as we all know, found family is the best trope and since the servants are literally the epitome of that every moment focussed on them is like chicken soup for my weary soul. was the revolution against the royal servants realistic? no. was it realistic for the two people who came up with most of the plot to be the ones who went to jail for doing literally nothing wrong and would therefore want to avoid stuff that could get them in trouble with an all-powerful family? also no! however, seeing downstairs all working together for a common goal is content that appeals directly to me and i am thankful.

shoutout to the last scene which is the best way the movie could've ended it for me. use of first names AND walking home together? thank u fellowes.

tldr; team downstairs fan who was strongly anti-movie, went in with low expectations, was pleasantly surprised. there are a shit ton of things i’d change but i just really loved seeing these characters who all mean so much to me again. obviously the only reason this film happened was for financial reasons rather than a desire to continue the storyline (cause the finale tied things up perfectly imo) but i wish they'd done a two-part miniseries instead to ensure everyone gets some screentime. two ninety minute specials every few years would work much better if everyone wants to keep downton going but i guess that doesn't bring the cash in like a movie does.

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nitr0glycer1ne · 6 years ago

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Ducktober/Duckvember Day 8 - Ship

Hooooo there it is!!! Some Drakepad!!! Well, some pre-relationship Drakepad, but still! And also I get to write Lena and Gos for the first time! My headcanon is that Gosalyn is a year younger than Webby (HDL's age), and that Lena "is" a year older than Webby. Gos and Violet are the same age, but Violet skipped a grade. Also I mainly took inspiration from the original Gosalyn, though I did make her a bit more done with her dads maybe??? Please enjoy!

“Uuuuugh!” “What’s going on, Gos?”

The redhead let her head slump on the table, while Webby gave her a puzzled look. It was rather unusual to see Gosalyn look so discouraged; the fiery girl was usually the first to motivate other people when they felt down, and was a seemingly endless well of energy. But Gosalyn had seemed a bit distant since the morning. Since they were a year older, Webby and Violet didn’t have classes with her; but when the three of them and Lena had met up before classes, Gosalyn had already seemed a bit down.

“It’s my dad.” she mumbled. “And Launchpad.” “Are they arguing about whether or not you should be allowed to stay up past nine again?” Violet asked, finishing her yogurt. “No, thank God.” Gosalyn answered, her face still again the table. Lena, who was a grade above Violet and Webby, looked at her with a small smile. “Then come on, spill the beans."

Drake had bonded with her and Violet’s dads, and while she considered him a friend, she also loved teasing him, since he was very easy to tick off.

“It’s just that they won’t go out together! It’s annoying!” Gosalyn complained, lifting her head from the table and rolling her eyes. “They look at each other all lovey-dovey, Launchpad basically lives in our guest room and acts like he’s also my dad, and when they argue it’s like seeing an old married couple!”

She almost added that they fought crime together, but she wisely decided to keep quiet about that last fact.

“It’s true that I did hear Launchpad talking to Dewey about the many ways in which your dad is amazing and looks dashing and stuff for half an hour the other day.” Webby remembered as Lena snickered and Violet nodded in understanding. “It was sweet, but also pretty funny to see the exact moment when Dewey’s face lost all expression. He does that a lot when he’s bored.” “See!” Gosalyn roared. “That’s why I’m talking about! There’s nothing not romantic about that! But when I tell dad that he should date Launchpad, he gets super pissed off!” “Hmm…” Violet lost herself in her thoughts for a moment, gathering them. “Maybe you should try a different approach, if direct confrontation was inefficient.” “I’m sure I could make some sort of love potion.” Lena offered, eating the last piece of her fruit salad. “They’re already in love, dummy!” Webby smiled and affectionately ruffled her best friend’s hair. “But I have another idea, and I’m sure you’ll like it!” “You do? Really?”

Webby nodded, offering her friend the brightest smile she could. Gosalyn couldn’t help but be a little bit scared.

“Ahem. Ladies, thank you for being here today!” “You literally dragged us here right after school.” Lena reminded Webby, who coughed a little. “Details, details, my dear Lena. Anyways, let’s kick off Operation Drakepad!” “Drake… pad?” Violet asked, tilting her head. “Is that a portmanteau of my dad and Launchpad’s name?” Gosalyn asked in disbelief. “That’s so… cheesy. Exactly like them. I love it!” “Thank you, Miss Mallard.” Webby bowed, pleased. “But I’m not the one who came up with the name. Meet my associate in romantic cases, Hueeeeey Duck!”

Like a proud mother, Webby pointed her two indexes at the duckling who was standing right next to her.

“Why does he have to be involved?” Gosalyn asked. She didn’t mind the Duck triplets at all; but she was curious as to why Webby had decided Huey would be, in her words, “a precious ally”. “Oh, because he was the other brilliant mind behind Operation Fendra!” “Fendra?” Lena repeated. “Huey, seriously?” “Hey!” Huey replied defensively. “It was a great name! Short, efficient, straight to the point!” “Silence!” Gosalyn yelled. “Was that operation about making two idiots in love realize that they’re in love?”

Huey and Webby looked at each other, suddenly embarrassed.

“… kind of?” the girl answered. “OK, and did it work?” “Weeeell…” Huey hesitated. “Not really, but we didn’t really have a backup plan for the eventuality of one of them being a spy sent by Mark Beaks to infiltrate Gyro’s laboratory, so it… wasn’t a failure either?”

Lena, Violet and Gosalyn looked at each other in disbelief. Gosalyn was starting to look even more disappointed than during lunch, so Webby was quick to do her best to avoid further damage:

“But there’s no reason it shouldn’t work for Drake and Launchpad! I mean, I don’t think either of them own a laboratory? Or that they’re an enemy of Mark Beak?”

Gosalyn thought back to the time her father had investigated a case involving the egotistical and childish owner of Waddle, but she remained silent. After all, Launchpad had been investigating alongside Darkwing Duck, and there was absolutely no way the loyalty the pilot had towards her father was anything but genuine.

“Nah, I don’t think so.” “Then the plan should be an absolute success, I guarantee it!” Webby giddily promised, although Huey looked a bit more skeptic. “And what is than plan?” Violet inquired, curious. “Will you tailor it to the targets’ personalities and interests, or is it something you can apply to every situation and soon-to-be couple?” “A mix of both.” Huey answered. “The idea is to set them up for a date, and to try to make it a date they’ll enjoy.” “So, Gos!” Webby turned her attention to her redhead friend, who seemed a bit lost, somewhere between tempted by the idea and being in utter disbelief at the somewhat surreal scene that was unfolding in Webby’s room. “What do you think your dad would like for an ideal, romantic, sure-to-sweep-Launchpad-off-his-feet date?”

Gosalyn did have an idea, but she wasn’t sure making the date Darkwing Duck theme was going to help set a romantic tone- it would just be like one of their regular Darkwing Duck marathons.

“It’s really nice for your boss to invite us for dinner.”

Launchpad, Drake and Gosalyn were in the pilot’s car, an old thing that had seen better days but that Launchpad lovingly took care of. The trio was headed towards the McDuck manor, the two adults sitting in the front while Gosalyn was in the back, seemingly innocently reading comics. However, her mind was focused on what awaited her father and his almost-boyfriend that night.

“In fact, it’s almost too nice.” Drake continued suspiciously. “I mean, he does owe us for the heroic help I provided when those aliens invaded us, but still, isn’t it a bit weird for Scrooge McDuck to-” “Daaad.” Gosalyn rolled her eyes. “Geez, can’t you enjoy a nice gesture from an old man?” “Gosalyn is right!” Launchpad nodded. “Mr McD is nicer than people think. He took me in when I didn’t have a place to stay, you know!” “Mmmh.” Drake nodded. “Still…” “You worry too much!” Gosalyn scolded, putting her comic aside. “That’s what too much crime fighting will do to you.” “What?! There’s never enough crime fighting, young lady!” “Whatever. Just… let Darkwing in the car for tonight, okay? Be Drake and have fun.” “Yeah, DW! It’s gonna be a fun evening!” “Launchpad, don’t call him that!”

They had been so busy bickering that they barely noticed they had arrived. Launchpad almost crashed the car when parking it in front of the garage, but the three of them arrived in one piece in front of the manor’s entrance. Out of habit, Launchpad was about to open the door, but Drake gently grabbed his wrist and rang instead. A surprised Mrs Beakley opened them.

“Launchpad? What are you doing here? I thought you wouldn’t be coming back here before Sunday.” “What?” it was the pilot’s turn to be puzzled. “We’re here for dinner?” Drake clarified, suspicious. “The one Scrooge McDuck invited us to?” “Dinner? Mr McDuck hasn’t told me-” “Oh hey, hi Launchpad! Hi Mr Mallard! Hi Gos!”

Webby had sled right in front of her grandmother, offering the trio the warmest and most welcoming smile she could. Mrs Beakley looked at her granddaughter, suspicion growing more and more obvious on her face, but the girl ignored the heavy gaze she felt on her back:

“How wonderful of you to join us for a magical evening sure to please your minds and your palate! Please, come inside.”

Launchpad stepped inside the house, oblivious, but Drake kept looking at Webby as if she had grown a second head. He then glanced at his daughter, but she raised her shoulders, the very picture of innocence. Sighing, Drake followed his friend. When Gosalyn entered the manor, she saw Mrs Beakley was talking with Lena in a hushed tone, looking somewhat displeased but mostly perplexed. The redhead understood Webby hadn’t told her grandmother about their plan, probably because she would have done everything in her power to dissuade the kids from putting it to execution.

And, to be honest, Gosalyn couldn’t blame her.

But the plan was now in motion, for better or for worse. Gosalyn had, of course, been heavily helping Webby and Huey with it; but in the end, the last steps were entirely up to them, and she truly hoped it would succeed. She would never forgive herself if her meddling somehow hurt her father and Launchpad’s relationship; but she truly believed neither of them would do the first move, and that someone had to intervene, for their own good.

She met with Violet and Lena, who had apparently managed to convince Mrs Beakley to let them handle the situation if the way the housekeeper had gone upstairs while muttering “children…” half annoyed and half affectionately was any indication.

“And now, we wait.”

“Woah! Did you change the decoration? The kitchen didn’t look like that last week!”

While Launchpad looked around the room, amazed, Drake felt like he had stepped into one of those trashy novels oozing with over the top romanticism. Every surface available was covered in rose petals and candles, save for the table at the center of the room, covered with a pink tablecloth. Soft jazz music was playing, and strings of small paper hearts had been taped to the wall.

One of the Duck triplets – Drake still had trouble telling them apart, this one wore a white shirt with a red bow tie – greeted them, a napkin thrown over his arm.

“Ah, welcome, welcome! Your table awaits, gentlemen.”

The duckling guided them to the table, which was around two meters away from them, and let the two adults sit down. Launchpad was still looking around, marvelling at the gentle and cosy atmosphere the candles gave the room, while Drake listened to him, feeling a smile blossom on his beak.

It was when Webby brought them a menu, one that only had a single option available – labelled as “Cupid’s Choice” and whose main dish was a plate of meatball spaghetti – that everything clicked in Drake’s head. Gosalyn’s enthusiasm when she had told them of the dinner, the way she had been looking at him and Launchpad all day long, Beakley’s confusion, the ridiculously romantic decoration of the room-

Gosalyn may not have been his biological child, but she was definitely his clever daughter. She took so much after him, and after Launchpad too, now that he thought about it.

And as a complete understanding of the situation hit him, Drake laughed, taking Launchpad by surprise.

“DW- uh, I mean, Drake, what’s going on?” “Oh, nothing, nothing, don’t worry.” Drake reassured his friend, looking at the emerald eyes he could get lost in, noticing for the first time how close their hands were, resting on the table. “I’m just looking forward to this dinner.”

-------

And of course the dinner was a success!! Let me know if I should write it! I'm just weak for the Mallard-McQuack family......... and Webby and Huey's matrimonial agency of sorts... and Team Magic befriending Gos.... I hope I did this pairing justice, it's my favorite DT17 ship!!

#drakepad #drake mallard #launchpad mcquack #gosalyn mallard #ducktales #ducktober #violet sabrewing #lena de spell #lena despell #Webby Vanderquack #huey duck #bentina beakley #mrs beakley #dt17 #my writing #my fics #team magic

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vrenaewrites · 5 years ago

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HUSH HUSH by Becca Fitzpatrick thoughts: Prologue - Ch 11

Full video here.

We start right away with a bible verse which, if you’ve read any of my books, you know I’m a big fan of

We have a prologue from 1565 France…

The visual of a person perched on a gravestone and mistaking them for an angel statue at first is cool tbh

“Who are you?” “One of the devil’s brood”

The mind control parts of this I like, and I already have a feeling this is the gonna be the best part of this book

Except we don’t get another example of someone fighting it the way he is fighting it - nora doesn’t even realize it’s happening when it happens to her which isn’t as fun

The guy being maniped is a duke and the angel tells him no you’re half fallen angel so do what i tell you (nephilim)

This angel doesn’t have wings but a big cut in the shape of a V on his back

CHAPTER 1

The image of a barbie and ken taped to the chalkboard of the sex ed class is great

Her best friend’s name is V!

“Camera phones to take photos for the school E-zine”

Oh shit she’s a hoe

“V as in virgin” never mind

“It may not have occurred to you kids that sex is more than a 15 minute trip to the backseat of a car” lmaoooooooo

Is this book gonna be good? Did yall lie to me??

The school e-zine

V is a “few pounds over curvy” damn

V is my “untwin” i love that

“I’m all legs like a barstool”

The sex ed teacher is making them all sit by new people...in april…

She knows everyone except the transfer who of course is her new seat mate...this is a very convoluted way to get them to sit together

“It was a smile that spelled trouble with a promise”

“Human reproduction can be a sticky subject” LMAO

“Call me patch. I mean it. Call me.” and he winks

He takes pictures “of an ezine columnist who…” and describes a bunch of stuff about her and she’s like what the fuuuuuuck

And then he is like “you’re scared of what you can’t control”

He knows she plays the cello

She doesn’t wanna ask for another partner because she doesn’t wanna let him win and i’m like NORA CALL THE FUCKING COPS!!!!!!!!!! THIS GUY HAS BEEN STALKING YOU?!?!?!?

She has a cut on her wrist, her dad was murdered

At the end of class he gives her his number so she can get her answers - she no longer has it by chapter 18 but doesn’t remind the reader that she did have it written on her hand so we just think becca forgot nora already got his # for a bit

She’s a sophomore, he’s a senior

He has black eyes and wears all black because ofc

CHAPTER 2

They get a lot of fog and don’t have many neighbors

Mom is an auction coordinator so she’s not around a lot so there’s a german housekeeper that watches over her

But she leaves her alone at night...i already KNOW patch is gonna be “Watching over her” ala edward watching bella sleep i just KNOW

She’s thinking that patch seemed closed off but she liked what she had seen - aka his bod

“Smile that was part playful, part seductive” NOTHING about the interaction y’all had sounded seductive!!!!!! This is exactly like in crave when she’s getting horny that jaxon is yelling at her...like these men seem UNHINGED. Why is that sexy????

“Biology was my toughest subject, i teetered between an A and a B” i’m gonna punch you. I know you wanna go to ivy league so this matters but…

She calls patch!!!!

She asks if he wants to meet up to finish the assignment...you couldn’t...ask...over the phone??

“Nora” he says my name like it’s the punchline to a joke

He hangs up on her because he’s playing pool

She starts her assignment anyway: “jerk” “smokes cigars, will die of lung cancer, hopefully very soon” i laughed v hard tbh

“Excellent physical shape” and then crosses that out lmaooooooo

She flips a coin and it makes her decision: go to the arcade and confront patch

The cashier is pissed that she didn’t pay to get in so she sneaks by

“I was like a rolling snowball gaining speed and momentum” weird out of place metaphor but ok

Patch says she’s with him and the cashier lets her go

His black eyes are magnets clinging to her every move

She feels something different here, more animosity, more electricity...more horniness

“Queasy tap dance in my stomach”

Something about patch wasn’t right, something about him wasn’t normal, something about him wasn’t safe

“Biggest dream” “to kiss you” she doesn’t buy it so like good for her but still blech

Patch says he’s never been to school before and nora’s like you’re a liar

And he says he came because of her

He says “those cold pale grey eyes” are surprisingly irresistible

There are almost zero connections between what she’s saying and what he’s saying, as if he’s having a conversation with himself...it’s really hard to follow

“And that killer curvy mouth” ew

“You seem to know a lot about me,” i said, making the understatement of the year.

“Say provoke again, your mouth looks provocative when you do”

Her jaw twitches when she lies

He has a birthmark in the same place she has a scar...soulmate shit fer shure

She says after her dad died a strange presence felt like it was “orbiting her world, watching her from a distance” like...a guardian angel perhaps

She feels someone in the house with her and i’m calling it now: patch is “Watching over” her

CHAPTER 3

She’s trying to come up with reasons for patch not to be her partner anymore...he fucking ADMITTED TO TAKING PHOTOS OF YOU AND STUDYING YOU AND BASICALLY STALKING YOU. IF THE COACH WON’T LISTEN GO TO THE PRINCIPAL ABOUT THAT SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She’s anemic and has to take iron multiple times...a day??

“What qualities are you attracted to in a potential mate?” asks the teacher

She’s not ready so patch answers, “intelligent, attractive, vulnerable”

“How do you indicate if a female is interested?” and patch says, “if she’s biting her lip and playing with her hair the way nora is doing right now” lmao

“She’s game”

He puts his arm on the back of her chair and mouths “vulnerable” and while i would literally call the cops on a man for this, it was kind of hot in context

She tells coach she feels uncomfortable sitting by patch and he’s like, “not only are you gonna keep sitting by him i actually need you to tutor him.”

Fire this fucking guy IMMEDIATELY.

How lazy is this writing becca. How lazy. You couldn’t think of any other ways to make them spend more time together??

She and V go to the movies to write a review for the e-zine and v says: “can you imagine living your whole life without a clue that the only reason you’re being kept alive is to be used as a sacrifice?”

Do you smell that? The foreshadowing

V says patch’s dark side calls to her and nora is thinking, yeah no shit.

There was a dark magnetism, i felt lured to the edge of danger, at any moment it felt like he could push me over the edge.

Edge twice in the same sentence, crave’s editor has been in the game since 2009 apparently

V’s basically like nora you’re not attracted to anyone and nora’s like i haven’t found love and v’s like it’s about fun not love dumbdum

V says Patch would probably be “really good”

Nora says patch isn’t good for v and v says, “Careful, you’ll only make me want him more” and i’m like...i know this book came out when i was a freshman but somehow, becca fitzpatrick managed to put me from sophomore year in this book lmao

Marcy a cheerleader with “half a bottle of foundation on” and “¾ of an inch between her skirt and underwear, if she was wearing any” sits beside them

Yikes

She calls V supersize: YIKES

Marcy’s being a dick to V and V just goes, “you have food stuck in your teeth, chocolate ex-lax maybe?” i love this so much

Patch is at the library…

V’s like “i’m trying to read the title he’s checking out...how to be a stalker?” lmao i love V

V thinks patch is following nora but she’s kind of into it lmaoooo

Nora’s like he’s alluring but also fucking scary

She hits someone during a storm on the way home

He’s wearing a ski mask?!??!?!?!?

The car died oh my gooooooood

He’s tearing the door off??!?!?!!?

He punches through the window!!!!!!!!!

CHAPTER 4

She’s like totally freaking out but doesn’t wanna tell V that a dude almost tore the door off the car

She goes to V’s to avoid being alone

When she and v examine the damage...there is none…

She realizes the eyes behind the ski mask were black like patch’s eyes

She can’t remember hardly anything about the crash which is freaking her out

They meet some dudes called elliot and jules who is SIX FOOT TEN

They are probably other fallen angels that are after nora, and then elliott says he just transferred to their school from the prep school as of today, so yeah, this is what’s happening

Also...it’s fucking april. Who transfers schools in april

“You smell good” “it’s called a shower” lol

They’re having like an “are you following me” talk during the quiz

“I wanted my life to go back to the way it was before patch barged into my life”

I truly don’t know if it’s the delivery of the audiobook narrators that is making this issue SO GLARING to me but jfc

She confronts him after class to talk patch into asking to switch seats but he’s like “nah you’ve grown on me”

V really wants to sleuth around and read Patch’s file

CHAPTER 5

they go to the nurse’s office using nora’s iron pills as a distraction to get into the files in the front office

Nora needs to register her iron pills with the nurse...it is april...she has been taking pills out of her backpack all year...no one cared???

She says this is all because she thinks patch is stalking her - which no shit he admitted to taking pictures of you…

V called in a bomb threat from the pay phone outside!!!!!!! I’m fucking crying

Also if you guys don’t know what pay phones are, let me know

She’s trying to punch through the window in the door!!!!! V is the fucking greatest

IT WAS UNLOCKED ANYWAAAAAAY I’M SCREAMING

“As patch’s biology partner, i had a right to know”

The principal caught her but doesn’t suspect her

She meets back up with v at a mexican restaurant

The one patch works at!!!!!!

He asks her what she’s doing sunday night

“You’re getting cocky. I like that, angel” - bleck

“Not on a date, not alone” a hot thrill upon speculating what a night alone with patch would entail

Bitch!!!!!!! You just committed a crime to find out if this dude is STALKING YOU but you still wanna fuck him???????????

“Did you just call me angel? I don’t like it.” “it stays, angel” negging asshole

He brushes his thumb on her mouth and says “you’d look better without lipgloss” HARDIN SCOTT HAS ENTERED THE CHAT

“Interested? We’re talking about you, i’m fascinated.”

“You aren’t ready to know me”

I looked in your student file - BITCH. NORA. IF HE IS STALKING YOU. AND YOU FOUND OUT SOMETHING SERIOUS IN HIS FILE. THAT GIVES HIM SOOOOOO MUCH CAUSE TO LIKE...MURDER YOU?!

It’s totally empty. “I’m going to expose you” “i look forward to it”

“Why are you looking at me?” “because you’re nothing like what i expected” “neither are you, you’re worse”

CHAPTER 6

Elliott is in her gym class

The fog seemed to clog my lungs...fog and clog...don’t like it

Marcy miller… “that’s because you haven’t met anyone better, like me.” marcy twisted her hair around her finger. “You’ll hear all about me soon.”

He calls her gray, her last name, which is a trope i thoroughly enjoy

We describe marcy’s smile as toxic twice in 2 paragraphs

Elliott comes up behind her to help her with her batting stance

“Let me show you, like this, you feel that? Relax” EXCUSE ME

She hears her name in her mind said in someone else’s voice, it’s patch

“Batting lessons, nice touch” elliott is TOTALLY a rival angel guy

“I told myself i imagined the words because the alternative was considering that patch held the power to channel thoughts into my mind. Which couldn’t be. It just couldn’t.” this type of stuff makes me roll my eyes.

“Not yet” she hears in her mind, and ends up slamming it out of the park

She gets smashed in the head with the glove and ball, ouch

Elliott blows on her scraped kneeeeeeeee

“Had he talked directly to my thoughts? Was there some inexplicable link between us that allowed it happen? Or was i losing my mind?” meh

Elliott “i’m not gonna chase after an unavailable girl”

He invites her on a date

CHAPTER 7

There’s a convo with the housekeeper about “reinventing the sexy side” and not changing yourself for a boy…

V calls and is like “let’s go to the party on the coast”

Driving moccasins?

Damn V is like “you look like a boy, put some lipstick on”

And Nora isn’t wearing makeup because patch planted the idea in her mind - NEGGING!!!!!!!

The delphic coast sounds like a blast

The new ride is called the arcangel lmao

Patch is at the arcade omg

Jules looks as enthusiastic as three day old meatloaf - this is a very weird metaphor but i don’t mind it much?? It would have bothered me in crave but there haven’t been many in this book so far so it’s not like completely pulling me out of the moment

It’s a new day, and today, the name patch is really irking me. It sounds like a dog

V is STIRRING THE POT between Elliott and Patch god i love her soooo much

Elliott wants to talk to patch about leaving nora alone!!!!

V is a messy bitch who lives for dramaaaaaaaa

Nora goes to talk to patch so elliott won’t start shit

“He was tall and lean and hard and i was sure he had street fight scars under his clothes...not that i wanted to look under his clothes” LMAO

She asks what he’s playing and he says, “baseball, wanna stand behind me and give me a few pointers?” LMAOOOOO he hates elliott so muuuuch

Patch challenges her to a pool game, she punches his arm, he says “Careful they might think we’re flirting” this guy is MADDENING

“Part of me wanted to run away from him screaming fire, the other wanted to see how close i could get without...combusting” AHHHHHHH

He’s talking to her in her thoughts and then being like, “you know that sounds crazy don’t you?” GASLIGHT CENTRAL

“You scare me, and you’re not good for me” “i could change your mind”

“Meet me at the arcangel, i’ll be waiting”

CHAPTER 8

Nora goes to get cotton candy and sees the arcangel, and she goes

She gets the “cold heart-stopping feeling that someone is watching her” and spots a hooded figure

She runs into patch and he’s like “if you keep running away from me, you’re never gonna figure out what’s going on” and she’s been drinking dumb bitch juice so she’s like OHKAY.

Now she’s not scared of the arcangel because patch makes her feel safe...no he DOESN’T?!?!?!?!?

“If you ride without screaming, i’ll get coach to switch our seats” why do i feel like this is gonna be that scene in the movie fear where they hook up at the top of the ferris wheel

“I don’t scream, not for carnival rides.” not for you is her inner voice i assume and ommggggg

He sits in a car that shows demons ripping the wings off an angel, an angel sitting on a gravestone and watching children, then possessing a little girl

Okay foreshadowing

“Scared, angel?”

Our car flew demonically fast - we get it

Her seatbelt came undone and she fell out!!!!!!!

Oh wait...she didn’t? She ended up grabbing him and screaming??

CHAPTER 9

He offers her a drink from his soda can and she’s like “ooh my mouth where his mouth is”

Her phone is dead so she hitches a ride with patch...did he kill her phone with angel powers somehow??

V had left her!!!!?????

Ooh or did the boys kidnap her??

So she’s sure the mind-talking is real but not sure if the guy in the mask or the falling off the coaster is real…

Patch rides a motorcycle because ofc

He takes her home and then has her keys in his hand somehow

He is totally fucking with her, the key won’t turn if she uses it but he can get it to work

“Go ahead, i’m home alone” immediately i realized it wasn’t a smart thing to say

Self preservation has left the chat!!!!!!!! The same boy you thought was stalking you 3 days ago, you just told him you are home alone...dumb bitch juice

“Dorothea will be here soon. She’s old but strong, very strong” You would absolutely be the first to die in a horror movie, nora

He comes inside without her inviting him so he can make her tacos

He...knows where her kitchen is...fuck no

She is scared of him having a knife but also...goes over to him so he can show her how to make tacos…

So idk if most teens are so horny they’re literally willing to die for it, because i was on antidepressants when i was grace’s age and i had no desire to get busy...please let me know in the comments below if you ever went from scared of a dude to wanting to bone him at breakneck speed the way nora continually does in this book

“I’ll answer your questions if you make tacos”

This is a VERY horny scene where he stands right behind her and like whispers in her ear how to cut the tomato…

“Did you follow me to the library?” he smiles and she’s like OH FUCK I WANNA KISS HIM RIGHT NOW

NORA!!!!!!!!! FOCUS

“Scared?” “no” “maybe i’m just scared of -” “liking me?” “yes...wait no”

“I feel a scary attraction to you”

He lifted her onto the counter!!!!!

“You should go” “go here?” his mouth went to my shoulder “or here?” it moved up my neck AHHHHHHHHHHH

Her mom calls and she’s like “can i call you back?” her mom says “sure what’s wrong” and she HANGS UP LMAOOOOOOO

UMMMM THOUGHT HER PHONE WAS DEAD?!?!?!?

CHAPTER 10

V calls her and is like “i was looking for you all night” and nora is like “ummmm no you fucking left me???” and v’s like “DID Y’ALL KISS?!”

“I’ll pick you up at 4” “thought we were meeting at 5?” “circumstances have changed” lmao V for president tbh

We get a weird story about lionel dorothea’s godson daring nora to lick a broken piece of glass, “falling for patch would be like licking that shard”

This is the WEIRDEST analogy i think i have ever heard…

This is a first draft analogy for sure

She acknowledged that her phone had been dead so wtf happened

They go to victoria’s secret and she’s like “ooh sexy stuff ooh patch” wait i shouldn’t be thinking about dangerous patch

“I secretly enjoyed the attraction between us but the eeriness outweighed it” ma’am are you trying to lie to yourself or the reader because 1. It’s not a secret, 2. We (i) keep SCREAMING at you to have a shred of self-preservation but you threw it away for tacos

I’m going to flush patch out of my system like a detox diet, except last time i did that i binged” welp...i’m sure that’s not a sign…

Lmao V tries to take the clearance stickers off the clearance bras and puts them on the nice ones I LOVE HER SO MUCH

The hooded guy is watching her from outside…

But he’s gone before V sees him

V develops a diversion to get the hooded guy to follow her...but they can tell it’s actually a girl…

V gets hurt?!?!?!?!

CHAPTER 11

V is in the hospital with a BROKEN ARM THAT NEEDS SURGERY!!!!!

Patch is absent…

She goes to the new school psych...WHY ARE THERE SO MANY NEW PEOPLE COMING IN APRIL!!!!

She’s def also an angel

She brings up that nora is supposed to be tutoring patch and is like “all tutoring should be under adult supervision, and i don’t want you meeting alone” um...thank you for being reasonable because this dude is creepy but ALSO. Just...don’t have her tutor him…?

She goes to the computer lab in the library to look up reviews but then she’s like “i should google patch” but nothing

“No facebook, no myspace” OH MYSPACE!!!!!

She comes across a kinghorn prep article about a hanging, and finds out elliott was with the victim on the night of her death

Elliott is right behind her!!!!!

“Something cold flushed through me, like a blush, only opposite”

He’s like “Call your mom and tell her you’re taking too long at homework” and she’s like STRANGER DANGER

~~~

#hush hush #becca fitzpatrick #patch cipriano #nora grey #cringe review #cringe books #negative review #book review #booktube

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hereticpriest · 5 years ago

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Amplify Chapter 4

Keiko didn’t get to stay with Iida, Shouto and Midoriya. Endeavor took her home, after giving her a short speech about how proud he was of her for controlling herself and only using her quirk to save people despite the temptation to intervene. It wasn’t often that Endeavor said he was proud of anyone, and Keiko not-so-subtly reminded him that he could perhaps tell Shouto as well. The grunt she got in answer was exactly what she was expecting, but it didn’t dim her hopes.

After her best friend healed, he returned to them, and Keiko was subjected to him antagonizing his father relentlessly over the victory attributed to him. Sometimes she felt like a third wheel to their arguments, and she wished she could just go on patrol with Endeavor’s sidekicks. Instead, she was subjected to quirk training that made her body feel like it was hit by a train, constant quizzing about hero laws from Kido and Onima, and headache-inducing bickering between the father and son duo. Burnin rescued her one day for patrols, but she was a hothead, so Keiko ended up continuing her role as the mediating figure whenever anyone else was involved.

She had to admit, however, that she learned a lot. She also got a firm measurement on exactly how much thermal energy she could contain before a discharge was necessary. Endeavor even had his support team draw up some plans and fabric recommendations for a suit that would be better suited to protecting her from flames since she could absorb the energy, but could still be burned in the process if she wasn’t careful. Her favourite part of the entire internship, though, was that she got to spend the whole time living with the Todoroki family. Seeing Fuyumi and Natsuo was good for her soul, and she was willing to overlook Enji’s apparent fixation on eventually marrying her to his son whenever he was present. She even got to visit Rei with Shouto one day. Her polaroid camera came in handy that day, as the trio took a walk on the hospital grounds and had a picnic outside. Rei ended up with tons of photos for her room, and Shouto had plenty as well.

Going back to school after a week of working in the hero world was a bit of a bummer, especially since her internship went quite well. Most of the class seemed to feel the same, but she noticed when she spoke to Momo that her internship was a bit of a disappointment. Mineta seemed thrilled to be back from his internship with Mount Lady, where he was apparently used as a housekeeper. Served him right. Bakugo’s experience was a bit of a surprise, however. As was his lovely hairdo.

“It’s so straight! It looks so soft too.” Keiko teased, playfully brushing her fingers through the white-blond strands only to have her wrists grabbed to stop her. Keiko pouted, wiggling to try and get her hands free so she could get grabby again. Her pout only got worse when Kirishima and Kaminari teased the blond into puffing his hair out again.

“Awww, guys you ruined it!” Keiko whined, nearly collapsing into Mina’s open arms. That drew a laugh from the pink-skinned girl, who fanned the overdramatic girl while she feigned fainting. The girls giggled together, only growing louder when Katsuki shouted at them to shut up.

Homeroom dulled everyone’s spirits, as their final exam was coming up fast. Keiko, who had spent much of her free time training or studying, wasn’t really that worried. Obviously the practical exam posed a risk, but she knew she’d ace the written exam. She declined everyone’s offers to study, even Kirishima and Bakugo’s. Instead, she planned to get together at her place with Shouto. Giving him an out from his place was always a good thing, and it meant her house felt a little less lonely. That was only helped when he arrived at her door with two kittens in his arms. One was a long-haired ginger with three black paws, while the other was pure black with folded ears and medium length fur. Keiko melted on sight, taking them both into her arms and giving them each a kiss, then putting the sleepy things into the pocket on the front of her hoodie.

“Where did you get these guys?” Keiko asked, walking into her apartment to find a box and a blanket to make a bed for them. Shouto shrugged.

“Neighbour’s cat had kittens. I know you’ve been wanting to get cats. You can’t be alone all the time in this place.” The two-toned man replied, “I can help you pick stuff up for them.”

“Thank you Sho. You’re the best friend I could ever have.” Keiko hummed, scrunching up a blanket in one of the old boxes she’d kept from moving, then depositing the sleepy kittens into it. She put the box by the couch so they could get settled, then moved in to steal a hug. Shouto rolled his eyes but allowed it, a hand on her lower back while the other remained in his pocket. Two hours later, they had picked up toys, food, litter boxes, treats, a cat tree, and a couple of scratching posts. Keiko got the apartment set up while Shouto started studying, and once she was done, Keiko began to get dinner ready while Shouto quizzed her from the couch. Both of the kittens loved to lay on Shouto, specifically his fire side, absorbing that ever-present warmth. They ate dinner in the living room, sat under the kotatsu that Keiko had refused to live without. Like Shouto, she tended towards having a rather traditional style of decor, further evidenced by her tatami flooring, floor cushions and low style sofa and chairs. She even had shoji screens to separate rooms in the open floor plan of her apartment. It certainly made her apartment feel larger.

Keiko named the male ginger kitten Rin, and the female black kitten Suzu. Shouto ended up staying quite late, curled up on her couch together to watch movies while the kittens dozed. Keiko figured that the only reason Endeavor hadn’t called to complain about Shouto being away was that he wanted them to get married. Sometimes, she was fairly sure that Endeavor forgot that women weren’t just baby machines.

The day of their final exams, Keiko was admittedly stressed out. They learned that they would be fighting their teachers in their practical exam, and none of the teachers felt like a particularly fun fight to her. Sure, she would definitely have a quirk advantage against some of them, but she was paired up against Present Mic with Jirou and Koda, and she knew that it would be difficult. Mic’s quirk didn’t provide an energy type that she could absorb, and she was paired with two sound-quirk users who wouldn’t be able to use their quirks effectively either. In the beginning of the match, they needed to use their heads. Mic’s voice was ear-piercing even at a distance, and she knew they’d all be suffering big time in a short amount of time.

“I need you guys to hit me. Hard.” Keiko requested. Jirou immediately complied with a wild grin, slapping her across the face so hard that Keiko knew anyone else (except perhaps Kirishima) would have ringing in their ears. In her case, it was a fantastic boost to her energy.

“Good?”

“Hell yeah! Again!”

Another slap, followed by a gut punch and a kick to the side. Koda panicked as he watched them; Jirou hitting their classmate relentlessly while Keiko looked like she was getting high off of it. A wild grin on her face, Keiko bumped her fist against Jirou’s, then Koda’s.

“Alright guys. I can’t hit Mic from afar since he’s pretty fast, but I can distract the hell out of him. What have we got?” Keiko asked. Another burst from Mic had Keiko mashing her ears with both palms to try and block out the sound. Once he stopped, Jirou rattled off a pretty good explanation for why they couldn’t go right at him, but she came up with the plan to get Koda to use bugs. Koda wasn’t keen on the idea, but Keiko trusted he would overcome his fears. Another shriek made Keiko shrink down to the ground and contemplate shoving moss in her ears. By the time the screaming stopped, Jirou’s ears were bleeding and Keiko was sure hers were as well. She offered to run distraction, giving them time to get the bugs ready to go and also to avoid more damage to Jirou and Koda’s ears. He needed to speak to the bugs to get them to help, which was difficult with Present Mic screeching like a banshee.

“Hey, Mic! Have you ever heard the one about the stuttering DJ? He really likes to d-d-dddd-ddd-ddrop the bass!” Keiko shouted as she headed towards the gate. Mic’s answering laugh was another couple of seconds he wasn’t screeching.

“Good joke, Mochizuki, but did you really come out here with telling jokes as your plan?”

“Yeah, why not, right? Hey Mic, what do police officers and DJs have in common? They both tell drunk people to put their hands up!” Keiko giggled at her own joke, unable to help herself. Mic laughed along with her, but she knew he was smart and was analyzing the area around him. He sucked in a breath after a second to shout, and Keiko used an energized burst to run around the clearing so that he wasn’t aiming towards her classmates, then aimed at him and focused. Instead of her usual larger blast, she managed two concentrated shots that forced him to dodge.

“HEY LISTENERS! COME OUT!” Mic shouted, knocking Keiko on her ass rather easily. Keiko felt blood coating her neck just under her ears, but she saw the ground bend upwards next to Mic’s foot and relief flooded her. Bugs began to crawl up Mic’s leg, and he squealed like a wild animal, eyes rolling back in his head. She was fairly sure he fainted, even. Koda carried Jirou out of the forest at Keiko’s signal that Mic was down, and they all headed out through the gate. Unsurprisingly, Keiko got a lecture from Aizawa about using herself as cannon fodder, but was pleased with them for being able to work as a unit against a quirk ill-suited to them. A quick visit to Recovery Girl had them all fixed up, and they were able to watch the other battles again, but watching Izuku and Katsuki fight All Might was painful so Keiko decided to sit with Shouto to warm up against his fire side.

The news that even those who failed will be able to attend the summer training camp, though with extra lessons, cheered up those of the class that were bummed out about their failures. The class planned a shopping trip when Aizawa gave them free time before the end of class, since some of them needed to pick up necessities for the summer. That was interrupted when Nezu knocked and opened the door with All Might, both looking grim.

“Eraser, we need to speak with Miss Mochizuki and yourself, if you don’t mind.” Nezu hummed pleasantly, fooling no one. Keiko felt her stomach drop out, and her chest got tight.

“Fine. Class, you’re excused.” Aizawa waved the class off, and the three pro heroes watched the class disembark. Keiko stayed in her seat, looking decidedly unsure as she received worried stares from her classmates. Shouto shook his phone at her to indicate for her to call him, and Katsuki stared at her as he left the classroom, his hands clenched into fists. Once they were gone, All Might placed an overly gentle hand on her shoulder as Nezu sat on the desk in front of hers.

“Miss Mochizuki-”

“Please call me Keiko, Principal Nezu. I don’t like going by my last name.” Keiko murmured, unsure.

“Of course. Keiko, we just received word from the police. Geonosis prison had a breakout yesterday, and they just got the final headcount on escaped villains. Kikuchi Bassui was among the villains to escape.” Nezu explained quietly, watching as Keiko’s normally flush and healthy skin went white.

#bnha #boku no hero academia #bakugo has hearing loss fight me #bakugo katsuki x oc

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wakandascrystal · 7 years ago

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The Nanny

Pairing - Erik x Black!!reader

genre - Angst, jealousy, fluff etc.

summary- When a job opportunity that you couldn't miss comes up you choose to leave your husband and kids with help to cater to them through the 4 months but as soon as you return it seems like mommy has been replaced.

A/N - I wrote on and from my way to school sorry if it seemed rushed

“Nah...Hell no. You ain't going.“ Erik shouted as he held the letter from your firm in his hands. “Did you even read past the first line.” “I don't need too. Don't have too. They can find someone else who doesn't have a life to take care of there messy war stuff for them..” “Erik...you don't understand. I need this. If.... If I win this case I will be helping people.... This is a big opportunity from me..for us.“ He scoffed getting up to slowly power walk around the kitchen. “What about the twins and Nala. You gonna up and leave me alone with them as well.“ You wanted to curse him out. how small and selfish can he be. Erik was being ridiculous. He knew this is what you were working up towards. You were Very good Lawyer but taking on an international case like this one Erik was holding in his hand would solidify your foot in the door with the big boys but Erik didn't see that. You took off your apron and held his hands trying to make him understand how much you needed this. He couldn't look you in the eyes- that's how angry he was. “Baby it's just 4 months. I'll be back. It not like am leaving for a whole year.“ he let out a breath. “Erik this is big. Huge! Other lawyers dream to handle a case like this and I was chosen to do that. My hard work is paying off baby. Am going to the UN…..the fucking UN…..A black women at the UN ...do you know how good that looks for us...for the black community. Listen they can call me whatever they want to but when am done they won't be to help the fact that the baddest black bitch in law saved the world.” Erik couldn't help but smile looking away from you. He loved it when you were passionate about your job but he didn't want you to leave either. “And I won't only have the support of my peers but also the loving support of my Husband….” It sounded more like a question but Erik didn't catch on. “Okay let's say I do let you leave for 4 whole ass months….How am I supposed to manage the kids? I know am a good father but I don't know their schedules and play dates and diets. All I know is that Aaden and Kwezi don't eat seafood.” You couldn't help but blush at your husband. He was thinking about. You could tell. That all you wanted. “First of all your an amazing Father and Don't worry I have a plan. What you thought I was going to leave my babies stranded. Not this Momma. I went on this certified site on the internet and found a nanny.” “(Y/N) You know how I feel about you and the Internet.” “It's nothing like that E. She's perfect I interviewed her a couple of times last week. We had brunch and we bonded. I showed her Our schedules, Important dates and am so lucky no one's birthday is soon.” You went back to the stove to check the curry you were cooking for dinner. “Don't worry Baby I told her about your basketball team and that Nala has dance class on Wednesdays and Fridays. That grandma comes to visit on the weekends and that you Elijah and Jordan and them have poker night every Sunday and that she should prepare snacks. I also told her the boys play soccer and football and that we…-” You felt Erik's strong arms slip around your waist. He back hugged you placing his chin on your shoulder. “Damn....Am gonna...miss you” Your heart dropped. You turned to meet his gaze. “I'll be a phone call away. You know this.” Your voice was softer since he was so close to your face. “And we got 4 days before I leave.” Erik lifted you and started kissing you on the kitchen counter. He moaned into your mouth and you lost your mind. He didn't waste time pulling your dress up and panties down. “Erik...the kids ...are upstairs..they ...can come down anytime and see.” You tried to form a sentence as he kisses your inner thighs. Planting wet kisses that were turning you on. He spread your legs wider and went it, dragging his tongue on your pussy and skillfully sucking. Your moaning got louder and louder. “E...E!” “Mommy are you okay?” Your legs wrapped around Eriks face so quickly so that Nala wouldn't see her father face between her legs behind the counter. “Hey, baby. You up from your nap.” Your 5-year-old daughter rubbed her eyes and yawned at the top of the stairs. He curls all over the place she pouted. “Mommy I'm hungry and ...Aaden and Kwezi Are playing with Daddy's shoes again.” You felt Erik twitch between your legs. He hated how the twins put on his Jordans on and play around with them. “Baby go tell the boys to leave daddies shoe alone before I come up there..and tell them to get ready for dinner.” The sleepy little brown girl ran up and did as you said...Gave Erik enough time to give you a mind-blowing orgasm. After lunch, you sat the kids down and told them what would be happening. The twins were really not that bothered . They maybe thought you were going for a weekend and coming back like you usually do but Nala sat on your bed holding her Tiana princess doll with tears in her eyes. “Mommy cant I come with you. I'll be good I promise I won't make a mess of things.” You heart dropped when her tears fell. “Nala I'll be back sooner than you know.” “But whos gonna braid my hair and help me pick pretty clothes to wear.” “I have someone very special for that and when mom’s done saving the world. Daddy is going to take us to Disneyland.” Your promise of the trip did nothing. She still looked sad “I will always be here and i will always love you okay.” She nodded and wiped her tears away. After you put the twins and Nala to bed Erik helped you with packing for the trip. He was silent the whole time. Handing you all your old and ugly granny panties thinking what the hell you need your red lace g strings for. You packed for about 1 months worth of clothing the rest you would buy on the way there. After the awkward packing section with Erik. You offered him a back massage. He didn't answer you with a yes but you knew he wanted it. After pushing him on the bed and oiling up his back you started kneading him it with your scented vanilla and strawberry oils. “You tryna make me miss you more.“ You bite your lip trying to hold back a laugh. “No...I do this every week E. What makes this message any different ?“ “Now you leaving...You gonna leave me for some French Nigga? “ A wave of emotions came over you. You were angry and pissed. Why would he think that? “You really think I would do that to you?“ You didn't stop bring your pressed thumbs down his back. He didn't answer.

“I dont know the African soccer players there... They might steal your ass from me.“ “Erik! You really think I would throw away my kids and husband for a man I don’t even know??“ He jumped slightly shocked by your outburst. “Damn baby, Chill.“ “Don't tell me to chill when you laying here calling me a cheater.“ His eyebrows pulled together, confused and mostly worried. “It was a light-hearted joke (Y/N).“ “Don't joke about that.“ You uped and rolled off his back. Power walking to the bathroom your eyes started watering. The reality was starting to hit. you were going to be away from Erik and the kids for 4 months and a meaningless joke got you triggered like this. Seeing your young daughter’s eyes wall up broke your heart. You have no choice you already committed yourself. Erik later followed you into the bathroom leaning on the door frame. "It's going to be okay. I can't believe I'm saying this but.....Am proud of you.” “You know me so well you can tell am nervous.....“You gave him a nervous giggle trying to wipe the tears off your face. “Yeah come on lets sleep. The sooner you go the sooner you come back“ He slowly drifted of to bed and you tucked him in planted a kiss on his cheek. That's when you started sorting your papers and work files, pulling out your laptop checking emails with your partners who were across the country. Your flights and Hotel bookings had been sent to you. Your Rep in France had emailed you saying how the cases were proceeding and how many people would be involved. After sorting that out you went to bed and cuddled into Erik's arms. “Am going to miss you too..“ you said softly between his light snores.

The day arrived and you were over prepaid. Dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a black cut of top you stood in front of your family. Your luggage surrounding you at your feet you tried to make the mood less depressing as it was. “Don't worry too much okay. I will phone daddy every day and I can speak to yall like I do every day. We can facetime and skype.You can still tell me about school and soccer practice ...don't be shy and Nala please take care of daddy okay. And boys leave daddy's shoes alone. I mean it.” Your small daughter was in Eric's arms fighting back tears again but lucky the doorbell rang distracting you from the sad scene. “She’s here”You opened the door and let in the new housekeeper. She was dressed in Vans a dress and a light cardigan. Her curly hair was tied up and she looked pretty and youthful but mostly happy and excited. She was Cuban but her voice was very much New york.“Okay everyone this is Frida and she will be helping while I'm gone. Please respect her and listen to her..am talking to you two .“ You pointed to Aaden and Kwezi “Okay mommy,“ they say in unison. “Frida this is Aaden and Kwezi and this is Nala.” They waved but didn't smile “And this is my husband Erik.“ After everyone met everyone and you showed her the house and how all the appliances work .You also gave her the needed advice then your shuttle to the airport arrived. You kissed Erik goodbye as he helped you with your bags and that was it..you were on your way to Paris. It was tiring, gruelling and testing emotional time for. You had to stay up drinking unhealthy energy drinks just to keep your energy levels up to come up with new develops to your case. Knowing that people lives were at risking made you even more stressful but hearing Eriks voice would calm you down instantly. You missed your babies. Erik would let you speak to them and make sure they still fine. After seeing videos of women mistreated and being stripped of there children you become worrisome of your little ones but if motivated you and gave you the extra courage you needed.

“You look tired?”

“and you look beautiful.” You couldn't help but blush like a highschool girl at your husband. Facetiming with the different time zones was a bit funny but you managed.

“We saw you on the news today. The kids almost lost their minds, It was for a few seconds but they saw you looked so ...heroic....I couldn't believe that is my baby girl.” You face heated up again.

You knew some news outlets were covering the story but you didn't want to send out an open letter to the world to catch you on the 7pm news.

“I've got a huge team behind me am just the face of this whole thing.”

“Bullshit. dont play that with me am no.-” You heard his door open and a women speaking...It must have been Frida. You understood then waited then

“- Hey baby ...look I need to go call you tomorrow.”

By the time you try stop him the call was over. That was rude and uncalled for. Why did he end the call? did it have something to do with Freya?

You started noticing strange things happening as well.

Erik would miss your calls or if he didn't you only spoke to the kids. The -- Give daddy the phone line was met with a He says he's busy. The distances between You and Erik was growing and he seemed to be distracted.

2 months in you noticed Erik wearing new clothes and when you asked if he went shopping he said

‘‘‘Nah ...This Fri got it for me”

Fri who the fuck is fri last time you checked your house keepers name was Frida. What they got pet names now??

“You letting her buy you clothes??“ You sounded worried.

“Nah it's not like that. She just picked it up by the Mens when we went shopping.“

He saw your face scrunch up.

“Baby you stressed. Wake up and take a shower am going to sleep am tired. Bye“ He cancelled the call. You were starting to get used to him cutting you off like that. Yet you had no time to worry about his actions at the moment.

Days passed and The case was going very well. The enslaved women and their children were relocated in Canada but you and your team had to go back to the states to make things permanent for them and also to start up a self sustaining campaign that will help other women and children. You wanted to tell Erik you were heading to New York but a notification from Eriks friend on Instagram got your attention. It was a picture of Erik with the kids....Very family portrait type of Style pic. He had Nala on his lap and the boys in front of him. You smiled knowing that was the family you were going back to when this messy was over. But ever so slightly to the left of the shot...right on Erik shoulder was a pale arm that draped on him. Erik’s friend had tried to crop out someone but left the arm. After searching and searching and searching you found Freda’s page and there was the full picture. She was right there posing as if she was part of your family. Dressed in a summer dress her arm was around Erik. They looked like a family. They could definitely pass a a family.

This worried you. Had erik replaced you or something...that can't be right. Maybe they were going on a family trip. But why would Erik not tell you.

You were pacing around your hotel room now, phone on your ear waiting for Erik to pick up but he didnt?

You didn't know what to do so you tried your mom.

“Momma you up?“

“Girl do you see the time??“ You missed her voice

“Äm sorry mamma I just need to speak with Erik is he near you. Can you give him the Phone.“

“Near....What are you talking about doll I haven't been By the house since you left.“

“Mamma dont play me right now ..you know you always come to stay the weekends and watch the kids.“

“Well that fancy Freka Freya Frewa whatever the heck you call her said She dont need me and that I should here at the home.“

“WHAT?!?! You dont come cause we need you ..You come cause I want you there. You family The kids need to be near you. That's what I want....So you telling me the past 3 months the Kids haven't seen you.“

“That what i said doll“

“And what did Erik say.“

“Oh Chile“ You couldn't feel her roll her eyes

“That no backbone having ass negro has been a yes man to that women since you left.“

“So whos be taking you to the hospital for you check ups.“

“Nah i have the one Saint marys home have......“

“Mamma You know I hate the Cheak ups they provide..That's why I work so hard so I can take you to the private hospitals..where they treat you right....Am so angry Mamma. Am gonna kill them both.”

She just laughed but you knew that laugh it was the one filled with sorrow.

You were ready to give Erik a piece of your mind. How dare he neglect your mother. Let other women buy him clothes.

When you landed in NY. You tried to be calm and level and it worked. No one noticed the breakdown you were having inside. You wanted to go home and strangle your husband. Thoughts like those weren't really good for a person but one night holding your phone up in the air you waited for Erik to pick up. He didnt but you were greeted with Khwezi’s face. You couldn't help but melt

“Mama.Hello?“

“hey Kwezi how are you?“

“Am good. I scored twice today at soccer practice. You didn't hear this from me but am going to be a soccer legend.“ You giggled at you over dramatics son

“am very proud of you baby. Where’s Aaden?“

“Him and daddy are out For a bit. Freya wanted so Japanese or Vietnamese food so they getting it for her.“

The only place that served Japaneses food was the next town which wasn't that far but was still too far to just go for a housekeeper. What made it worse was how late it was.

“Okay how is Daddy been lately? Yall being good like I asked.“

“Mom, Dad has been amazing he let Aaden get earrings in his ears I was going to get them to but you know me and pain aren't really vibing right now.“

You stopped breathing. How could Erik make such a decision without your say. Give the boys freedom to do what they want on or to their bodys was supposed to be talked about not him letting them do anything. And his running fucken food uber for the housekeeper now.

“Sooo Hows FrIda?” Your voice changed and your smart son noticed that you were trying to dig.

“Why? What's in it for me?“ You rolled your eyes. This one's definitely Eriks son.

“i dont know maybe I might buy you the new PS4 accompanied with any 4 games of your choice“

His eyes blow up

“Okay. Let me go to a more suitable spot.“ After 5 minutes of him running he was back facetiming you. You notice the background to be his and his brother tree house.

“Okay mom, frida has taken over. I mean big time. She don't cook what you said she must and our school lunch is not what you said it should be either.....And Nala hates her.“ You took full offence. You sat up and he noticed.

“Wait before you say anything just listen. She asked dad to change around some furniture and she's stays with dads friends during poker and plays with them. And daddy took her out ...without us. Leaving us with his friend ”

Your little snitching may as well told you they were fucking... Your blood was running. It took you 1 years to get a conversation going with your crush Erik in Uni but this bitch has his attention within a month and his taking her on dates. Not that Erik is anti social it just that he doesn't fuck with a lot of people. That show he is. Or has he may be changed.

“Kwezi get out the cold. Go bath and tell daddy to call me when he gets home.”

“Okay I miss you. We all do.”

“I miss you to. Ill be back soon.“

He didn't call you back that night.

2 weeks left and you were free to go home and reclaim your household. That night before going to be interviewed about to success of your case. You face timed Erik. You didn't expect him to answer but you did. “Erik Baby am so mad at you right now?“ “....What happened? I heard you won the case.“ “yes but it's You. How are you gonna tell mamma to not come and be with the kids?“ “What ?? She said I said that. That's funny cause I remember her telling me You said she should stay away while you away... “ “Why the fuck would I say that E. I always what my mom to be with us on the weekends.“ “Well, I don't know Cause Frida told me you changed her mind and sent her a text.“ What... It made sense. That bitch was trying to get rid of you. Steal your man and take your kids. But You didn't have time for that. “Erik am coming back soon... Like in a weeks time. I heard you took her on a date as well you left my kids unsupervised.” He sighed “first Sean was with them and no it wasn't a date it was her Birthday I was taking her out for a stake.“ “I don't care if it is her anything you don't do that... when I come back And ama need her out when I come. “ “What's the hostility about.” “No hostility just me wanting my life back. I will also...Erik, what's that on your neck?“ The red blush marks on his neck were all of a sudden highlighted now that you noticed “Oh yeah.....this.... i...I hurt myself.“ “...Why are you nervous...“ he let out a sight “Why are you drilling like I did something.“

Why are you drilling like I did something.“

“Why do all our face times end with us fighting and you cutting me off.“ “I....I don't know “ Erik’s I don't know really meant I don't want to have this conversation anymore.

“See you when I get home then.“ For the first time, you hang up on him. You thought it would feel good but it didn't. You felt like shit and you were losing your husband.

You had taken a shower and wiped your fresh tears off your face when you started scrolling Instagram. You went on to Frida’s page and she had posted a semi-nude selfie of herself. The roundness of her breast just behind her arm. Her curves refected of the mirrors and shower glass. She pouted her lips and curled her hair her neck sprinkled with red heckey. But something was a bit off...the gold sequence in the background of the bathroom tiles seemed so familiar to you

The black tiles and with the golden finished that she had tried to blur up looked very much like your own bathroom. You didn't want to be rude but there was no way she could have a bathroom like that. Erik almost killed you when he found out how much you were willing to spend to decorate the house. most of it was in the Bathrooms and the kitchen. You spend most you time in the bathroom and kitchen why not make them look expensive. So there she was standing naked in your bathroom taking pictures. You felt so disrespected and humiliated.

“This can't be.....He got hickeys and she got hickeys and she's naked in my bathroom. Mama ain't around. She buying him clothes. She's in family pictures and hangs out with the Eriks friends....“

You didn't want to think about it but maybe Erik was being unfaithful. The rude way his been speaking to you and he's been so quick to defend FrIda too. No matter what happens moving forward your first priority was your children now.

What would you do?

Tags : If you didn't want to get tagged am sorry.

@thebeautysurrounds @hearteyes-for-killmonger @imaginewhoever @myboyfriendgiriboy @sweetsexysavagery @killmoncoochie @killmongersaidheyauntie

#killmonger #erik #erik x reader #black panther #Erik Stevens #Erik killmonger x Reader #tchala #mbaku #e

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