#Ankle Braces Aurora

[the-mountain-flower]

APPARENTLY I never posted this on Tumblr, whoops

CW: blood, non-graphic depiction of serious injury, self-destructive behavior & semi-makeshift medical procedure

“I didn’t ask for your help, I don’t need it!”

“Yes, you do!”

Falst gets badly injured, and Dainix tries his best to get him to accept the help he needs.

“Are you going to use the ‘tactics’ card every time I get injured?”

“If I have to, yes.”

Falst groaned, but resigned himself to his fate. This wasn’t the first time Dainix had practically forced him to accept medical help, and given their luck, it probably wouldn’t be the last.

Dainix set him to lie down on a relatively flat, softer patch of land, and knelt in front of him. Falst held back a wince, as the shift in position caused the shrapnel still embedded in his side to move, and his ankle twinged painfully when it touched the ground. He moved his arms to try and bring himself to an upright position, but a firm hand from Dainix caused him to stop.

“Don’t you dare, you have to save your strength. Plus, it’ll make it harder to treat the wound.”

Falst scoffed. Under normal circumstances, he could've pushed him away with relative ease. “I just need to get this thing out and I’ll be fine, nothing too serious.”

Dainix didn’t dignify that with a response, just shot Falst a serious look before taking out the first aid supplies he had on him. Then he pulled back the fabric of Falst’s shirt, where the largest piece of shrapnel had pierced the skin, and cursed outloud when he saw how bad it was.

“Told you,” Falst said, “not so great if the weapon’s still in.”

In the ferin’s side was a large piece of sharp grey metal, and based on Dainix’s initial look at the wound during the fight compared to now, and the shape of the closed area, most of the metal was still inside the body. The wound was almost entirely closed over, so only a portion of the offending material was visible. In the attempt, skin had grown over the edges, uneven where the shrapnel impeded the process.

“I don’t suppose there’s a way to get this out without further cutting, huh?” Dainix asked reluctantly, but already reaching for his knife, knowing he couldn’t risk leaving it in much longer. Thanks to his father’s preparation, he had all the necessities and knew how to use them, and he knew well how to not let anxiety get the better of him in serious situations. Still, a fast-healing condition like Falst’s was something he hadn’t exactly accounted for back home, and he tried his best to make sure his worry didn’t show too much.

“Not really,” Falst responded, “unless you know something that I don’t.”

“And, I'm sorry, but I’m going to have to clean the wound-”

“Ugh! Please tell me you don’t mean that awful stuff you used last time.”

“Unfortunately. Brace your senses” Falst had detested the kitridine back in the caves, but he himself said that he couldn’t heal infection quickly. Dainix used a milder disinfectant to cover the blade of his knife. It wasn’t meant to be used this way, but it was their best option at the time. Then he took the vial of horrible-smelling liquid and prepared it onto its cloth. “You’re going to be okay, right?”

“Just get it over with. I won’t-” Falst paused, then turned his gaze away from the ignan. “I won’t scratch you this time.”

“Alright, remember to breathe.” Dainix took a deep breath himself, one hand prepped with the knife, and antiseptic in the other. “Three,” he started so that Falst could know when the action was coming, “two, one.”

Dainix quickly sliced open the skin over the shrapnel, then discarded the knife so he could extract the metal, which he tossed far away from either of them. Blood speckled the ground in its wake. The instant that was done, he pressed the cloth with the kitridine onto the wound.

During the first part, Falst just barely held back a shout of pain, instead practically hissing through gritted teeth. Once the cloth covered the wound and the kitridine made contact, he nearly screamed like the last time. The world around him blurred, and he could barely hear Dainix’s reassurances over the harsh sound of the antiseptic on flesh, and the searing feeling that accompanied it. His claws raked the ground in front of him and beside Dainix, dirt overturning grass faster than the blood was leaving his body (which wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been, thanks to the damned pressure the ignan was applying).

“Breathe in, breathe out.” Dainix reminded.

“Fuck you.” Falst spat. He was going to regret that later, but he couldn’t focus on anything right now.

“I know, I know.” Dainix tried not to take offense, knowing that Falst was in pain. Despite the thrashing, he kept the cloth firmly over the wound, using both hands to do so. “I’ve got you, it’s going to be okay.”

A moment later, the worst of the effects had passed. Falst was breathing heavily, the ground in front of him completely torn apart, but he was hurting significantly less than before.

One hand still applying pressure to the wound, Dainix brought out a roll of bandages.

“Don’t need that,” Falst muttered, “It’ll close fast, remember?”

“We still want to prevent as much blood loss as possible, and this’ll make it less likely to reopen before it’s fully healed.”

Dainix finished up the bandaging process. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

Aside from my pride? Falst thought bitterly. “Not really. Mostly some scratches that are already gone or weren't that deep in the first place.” He shrugged, lifting himself to sit upright again.

This time Dainix didn’t protest, though he wanted to- he knew Falst was too stubborn for it to make much of a difference. He tried to help steady him, but Falst pushed him away.

Dainix gave his friend a concerned look. He had gotten to know Falst pretty well in the time they'd spent together, and had gotten good at discerning when he was holding something back. “That's all?” he asked, hoping the ferin would open up about how bad it really was.

Falst gritted his teeth. He didn't want to admit it, but…

“Fine, I might've gotten an ankle injury from when it got hit earlier, but it's not a big deal.”

“Let me see.” Dainix insisted. Without waiting for a response, he moved to examine the joint in question. “Which one- oh, never mind.” He saw it almost immediately: Falst's right ankle was extremely swollen and bruised.

While Dainix was examining it to know exactly what got injured, Falst had to bite the inside of his mouth to prevent any audible reactions to the feeling. Thankfully Dainix looked to be paying full attention to the ankle, so he wouldn’t see his flinching.

Dainix grew more and more concerned the longer he examined the injury. For as much as his dad had taught him, this was a little outside his regular wheelhouse. What concerned him the most, was how non-reactive Falst seemed to be.

“How does it feel?” Dainix broke the silence to ask, looking up to gauge Falst’s reaction.

“What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said. Does it hurt a lot, and anywhere specific?”

Falst shrugged. Dainix sighed. Gods, getting this guy to open up was like pulling teeth.

He went back to trying to identify what exactly was wrong- almost certain something had happened to the bone or connective tissue, probably both.

“OW!”

Dainix quickly pulled back his hand when Falst cried out. Falst immediately regretted letting it happen, but the questioning had distracted him from biting it back.

“It’s fine” He tried to wave away Dainix’s concern. “Don’t worry.”

Dainix wasn’t buying it. Falst wasn’t being truthful about his symptoms, and that could only cause more harm if he didn’t open up about it.

“Falst, be honest with me. How badly does it hurt?”

“This is pointless.” Falst pushed Dainix away, trying get up. He was hindered by the wound, and the minute he tried to put weight on the injured limb he nearly crumpled to the ground. Dainix caught him before he fell, trying to get his friend to sit back down.

“Caliban help me,” Dainix muttered under his breath, then said out loud, “Falst, you are not putting weight on this, and if you’re not careful-”

“I can wait until we get back to the others. I’ll be fine.”

“And what if it gets worse before then? Or we encounter something else and you can’t defend yourself because you were too stubborn to accept help?”

Dainix stopped and took a deep, calming breath. He moved one arm so it was supporting Falst, and placed the other on his shoulder, so he could more clearly see his friend’s face.

“Look,” Dainix said, “this isn’t like the caves by Zuurith. As far as we know, our survival doesn’t depend on you being awake and able to fight. That doesn’t mean you can keep going when you need to rest.”

“I can. You seem to be forgetting that I heal fast. I can take it.” Falst’s voice rose in a defensive tone.

“You’re not invincible!” Dainix’s own voice rose in turn. “There are some things you can’t just walk off, in this case literally! I’m almost certain you broke or tore something, but I can’t tell because you won’t be honest with me about how bad it really is!”

“I didn’t ask for your help, I don’t need it!”

“Yes, you do! If I hadn’t noticed it, how long would it have taken until that wound in your side closed with the metal in it? Or if you tried to take it out yourself, how long until you died of blood loss, or an infection?”

Dainix’s voice caught, and Falst noticed for the first time that Dainix almost looked… scared.

“How long until this attitude gets you permanently injured in a way that was easily preventable if you’d just asked for help?! How long until it gets you KILLED?!”

Dainix stopped, finally realizing his eyes were beginning to well with tears, and he was gripping Falst’s shoulder like he was the ferin’s only lifeline.

Falst let himself slump back to the ground, forcing Dainix to let go. He sat next to him, not letting himself meet his friend’s gaze.

“I’m sorry,” Dainix said, “I shouldn’t have shouted like that.”

“Don’t be.”

A moment of silence passed, then Falst asked something in an uncharacteristically soft tone.

“Why do you care?”

This caught Dainix off-guard. “What?”

“It shouldn’t matter to you whether or not I get hurt. So why does it matter?”

Dainix laughed sadly. “You’re really not used to having friends.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Look,” Dainix said gently, “if it had been any of the others that were hurt, would you have done anything to make sure they were okay? Wouldn’t you try to make sure they didn’t get hurt in the first place?”

“Of course!” Falst insisted.

“Well, it goes both ways. I care about whether or not you get hurt, because I care about you.”

“But I can take-”

“I know you can. But so can Kendal, and Tess has natural armor, and Alinua and Erin are skilled life mages. Would you be okay with them doing what you’re doing right now? Do you value them by their usefulness or ability to take damage for others?”

“...No.”

“Then you shouldn’t treat yourself that way. Please, don’t put yourself through more pain just because you feel like you have to. Let me help you get better.”

A few moments of awkward silence later, Falst sighed. He supposed Dainix wouldn’t relent until he let him help. And… maybe he had a point.

“Fine.”

Dainix gave him a gentle hug, careful to not aggravate the wound in Falst’s side. “Thank you.”

Falst didn’t push him away, He found himself content to let it happen, and was maybe a little disappointed when he pulled back.

Dainix went back to inspecting the ankle. “How does it feel, really?”

Falst pursed his lips, then answered, “Awful. It’s hard to move on purpose, any kind of pressure makes it hurt more- like a bruise- and, I think it’s gotten worse since it happened.”

A few moments of questioning and examination later, Dainix deduced that Falst had probably fractured a bone, and torn a ligament.

“Neither are completely broken, but with both of those in the same place it’ll take a while to heal without magical help. Have you ever torn a ligament before, especially this one?”

Falst was reluctant to admit it, but, “I don’t know. What’s a ligament?”

“They’re what connects the bones together.”

“Oh, then I don’t think so.”

Dainix nodded. That was good, even if it meant not knowing how long it’d take to heal on its own. He brought out a new roll of bandages.

“I thought you said it wasn’t completely broken? And the skin’s intact.”

Dainix held up the roll for Falst to see more clearly. “These are compression bandages, different kind than I used earlier. It’ll help with the swelling.”

“Oh.”

This time, Falst didn’t bother to hide his reaction. When Dainix applied the bandages, he let himself tell him just how much he disliked it.

Soon, Falst was well enough that Dainix could help him up, and the two made their way to where they and their friends had agreed to meet up.

When they made it, Alinua, Kendal, Tess, and Erin were already there. Erin was making camp with stone magic, Tess and Alinua were getting a campfire started, and Kendal was keeping watch.

From his position, Kendal was the first to see the remaining members of their party arriving. He called back to the others, “They’re back-” but stopped when he saw Falst’s blood-stained shirt and bandages, and wrapped ankle. “What happened?!”

“I’ll explain later.” Dainix said. While Alinua rushed up to meet them, he gave Falst a serious look.

Falst sighed. “Help me out?” he asked Alinua.

“Like you needed to ask.” The cloud elf’s hands were already glowing green, and as soon as she was close enough she began to command the soul energy around to help him out.

Falst looked up at Dainix as if to say, See? It’s fine.

Dainix smiled. It was a good start.

[girl4pay]

:P

“you’re nothing like them,” declan said. “no one would like you, you’re weird.”

he was braced for a blow to the face, so the kick to his stomach left him breathless. he gagged, and before he could find his voice ronan was already wailing on his behalf.

“it wasn’t even that hard! i didn’t even kick that hard! i’ll tell mom you were being a jerk, you better not tell-” 

he lunged and ronan shrieked.

***

“it’s broken,” ronan screamed, and declan glanced back at the house. the curtains stayed still.

calling ronan a baby would just make it worse, even if he was being one. declan tried to sound nice. “ronan, shut up. it’s not broken, you would see the bone if it was broken.”

it was true-declan had seen the bone when timmy sanderson had fallen from the top of the swingset, and he had told ronan all about the blood and pinkness and sharp white. ronan’s lip quivered as he considered this.

“it’s the other kind of broken,” he finally decided. “i can’t walk, you have to get an ambulance.”

“there aren’t different types of broken. bones can be broken or fine, that’s it.”

ronan choked out a sob and shook his head. “nuh uh. what about dad’s wrist, it was stained but there was no bone showing.”

“sprained,” declan corrected. the ankle in question did look kind of red. declan poked it just above ronan’s shoe, and ronan hissed, the way he had the time he’d slipped in the creek and sliced his hand open on the rocks, so declan knew that the pain was real enough, even if his cries were faked. “it’s not sprained. look, i’ll carry you back and mom will tell you it’s fine.”

ronan sobbed again, then slumped down against the ground in despair. declan waited. finally, he said, “fine,” and declan rolled his eyes. 

he would not stand to climb onto declan’s back, and so declan had to pull him up from the ground, and almost fell. ronan shrieked again and let his legs hang limp, and declan let foul words fall from his lips as he wrestled choking forearms away from his throat.

“mom’s going to ask what we did,” ronan whined into declan’s ear, after he’d been bullied into grabbing on properly.

“just don’t say anything,” he warned, fingers digging into ronan’s thighs. ronan swore. “don’t say that where mom can hear.”

“mom doesn’t care what i do,” ronan said, kicking one sneaker out at a passing dragonfly. “she gave me ice cream for breakfast, and jonathon at sunday school said his mom never would, and she got mad when he asked, but mom never gets mad at me.”

declan wished he could drop him. 

***

“what’s all this?” aurora asked, sailing into the den with baby matthew in her arms. declan had tipped ronan onto the couch, and now he was trying to get the sneaker off ronan’s foot. it was hard work: every touch had ronan hissing and whining, and somehow his ankle looked puffier now. declan pinched his calf, and ronan’s mouth snapped shut.

“there was a bear, out in the woods,” declan told aurora, who gasped in fearful delight. there was no one in the world who believed a lie like declan’s mother. he hadn’t realized most kids got in trouble for storytelling until his teacher had taken him to task for telling what she called tall tales. he was better at it now, figuring out what would be believed and what was too much, but he still worked up the fantastic ones specially for aurora. “he wouldn’t let us go home because he said he had to eat us. we had to fight him. we won, but ronan got hurt.”

“how horrible. were you both very brave?” she asked, elegant hands brushing ronan’s curls back from his forehead. they tumbled back instantly, limp and sweaty. 

“ronan cried,” declan said, and ronan snarled at him.

“crying does not mean he was not also very brave,” aurora soothed, pushing declan’s hands away so that she could hand him matthew and begin to pick at ronan’s shoelaces. after she had eased off the collapsed shell of the shoe, she ran a finger over the hot redness of the skin above ronan’s sock. “well, this does not look good,” she said.

“i told you, i told declan it was broken,” ronan whined. 

declan made a face at matthew, whose tiny fist waved wildly in the air, reaching at nothing. aurora stroked his chubby thumb, then transferred matthew to ronan. “hold your brother for us, there’s a brave boy. it’s not broken at all, my love, just a little twisted up.” she reached for the throw pillows and turned to declan. “bring an ice pack in a towel, please. oh, and i suppose the first aid box.”

the first aid box was in dad’s office, where he kept it in case of accidents. when declan returned to the den, he saw that ronan’s ankle had been propped up on a mountain of cushions, and his head was buried against aurora’s stomach. the kitchen was close enough that he could hear them even over the hum of the refrigerator. “declan lied. we didn’t really fight a bear,” he heard ronan confess, and declan wished furiously that he really had broken his ankle. 

“your brother always tells me such wonderful stories,” aurora said with a laugh. “he’s his father’s very own son.”

“dad’s stories are real, though. declan just lies,” ronan said, but he didn’t sound very sure. 

“all stories are made true in the telling,” aurora said in a wise tone, which meant she’d heard niall say that, once. he could picture ronan’s doubtful sneer. he slammed the kitchen door shut and threw himself over the back of the sofa. 

“there you are,” aurora chided. “come help me with your brother.”

***

“darling, where is our matthew’s birth certificate?” aurora asked, her arms laced around niall’s neck, her perch on his thigh precarious. niall looked up from his phone, and declan ducked his head and pushed around a spoonful of mac and cheese.

“birth certificate? why?”

“i suppose we need one for schools and things, when he grows up,” aurora said, her beautiful face twisted into a frown. “declan was very clever, he looked it all up.”

“was he now,” niall said. declan’s grip tightened on his spoon. the cheese was stringy and cooling, and the smell of it made him want to push it away. 

ronan was having no such difficulty. he had given up eating and was now slowly and carefully shoving an overflowing spoon into matthew’s face. matthew giggled when a macaroni slipped up into his nostril. “what’s a-a birth thingy, what are you talking about,” ronan asked, and niall set his phone down and grinned.

“it’s a special paper, like a receipt. it’s so when child snatchers come to steal you away your mother and i can show them they can’t have you, because we had you first.”

“then you have to find matthew’s,” ronan said, alarmed. “we can’t let child snatchers take him, dad!”

“now you’ve riled him,” aurora laughed, and niall pinched her waist. 

“no, i guess that would be no good,” he said to ronan. “your brother and i will look around tonight, then.”

declan kept his mouth shut, but he knew you couldn’t just find birth certificates the way you could find old arrowheads buried by the creek, or little brownies hiding in basement. he was pretty sure they only gave them to you at the hospital, and he was definitely sure that they made them very fancy and complicated so no one could pretend they’d made one and pass it off as real. 

later, aurora coaxed ronan into clearing the table with her, and niall’s hand fell heavy on declan’s shoulder. declan wished he was brave enough to shrug it off. “come on, son,” niall said. “we’ll look in my office.”

declan waited until they were out in the fields to speak. “you know we won’t find one,” he accused, feeling daring and terrible and tremulous.

“have you been spilling secrets?” niall shot back, and declan scoffed.

“i’m not stupid.”

niall cuffed him up the back of his head for cheek and fumbled with the key to the office. it was dark out, and the stars hung hidden behind thick soupy clouds. there was no moon, no light at all besides the feeble beckoning of the porch lamp. “no, not stupid, just reckless.” that was what aurora had called him the time he and ronan took turns seeing who could jump the farthest off the roof of one of the equipment sheds and ronan had ended up with an egg on his forehead, throbbing and red. “go get my laptop,” niall said, yanking on the cord to the naked lightbulb that swayed and flickered. declan dragged his feet over to the desk and pushed papers about in halfhearted search. “christ, boy, pick your feet up.”

***

it only took a couple tries. a birth certificate was, in the end, another story, and niall lynch was an excellent storyteller. declan watched his father’s hands, but just like with ronan’s dreams, he could never force his mind into seeing the moment of manifestation. there was nothing, and then there was exactly what declan had wanted, as though it had been there all along.

although niall was awake now, he did not move, just like the other times. declan worked the paper free of his grip and tested the weight of it against the true one. 

“it’s good,” he told his father, who grunted, strained. 

[cardinaldante]

Greetings siblings of the church. Friday sucked. It's Dante, I see Aether sent a post while I was unfortunately busy. He didn't give me any sort of medicine when we woke up, so I had a headache all day Friday and just decided to alternate between sleeping it off and glaring at him. Today has been much better though!

The Papa's didn't find out I had drunk- Aether said I could tell them if I wanted to, but I wasnt- so this morning I got up and got the work I shoved off yesterday done. A messanger from the Catholic Church came by, and dropped off a letter for me from DeFroque. He asked to meet Sunday after their church service. I didn't know about that. For starters, I couldn't bring any ghouls. Maybe I could bring Phil, but then again, Phil was bound to one of the Papa's, right? Maybe?? I don't know. Two, all of the Papa's would be busy getting ready for Midnight mass Sunday, so none of them would be able to come with me.

However, Papa Copia told me this union between us and the church needed to work, so I agreed to it and sent the messanger back with the note. I know siblings, it's a stupid idea to go by myself, but I don't want to inturupt the Papa's. I got my work finished and headed down to see Phil first. If he was bonded to someone, he couldn't be able to go- Expecially with what happened to me with Aether. But maybe.. He was in his office when I got there, flipping through a bunch of old looking books.

I told him hello, and appologized for not coming to see him sooner. He only waved me off and asked how my leg was doing. I told him it was okay, but I stil struggled to walk. He told me even with PT, I'd probably have to use a cane for the rest of my life, Expecially since the skin never recovered around my ankle. I mean, yeah, I could get surgery to replace the blackened, burnt skin, but there was a very high risk of the doctors at the hospital thinking the church wasn't taking care of me and taking me away. I would rather just walk with a cane. At least I'd be able to get a fancy one.

I asked him if he could come with me to the meeting of the church on Sunday, and he told me he could. He told me that Christianity and holy water and all that didn't work on him at all, since he'd been up here for so long. he asked if I wanted a spell to keep me safe. See, he'd heard what happened from Aether and Papa Copia and Mountain, suprisingly. Mountain rather came with his own story. He told me that there was a spell that could keep me safe from the influence of holy water and blessings. I had heard of that before. Aether had done that spell on me when we went to get the kids. I told him I wanted the spell done.

After that, he gave me a small check up which just consisted of him helping me change the bandages on my ankle, making sure the foot brace was secure, and helping me back in the wheelchair. My crutches were in my room, but I opted for the wheelchair today when my leg started to hurt too much. He asked if I would be at midnight mass, and I told him probably. I don't know though. Honestly, I've been feeling a little self conscious having to wheel around in my wheelchair or walk with the crutches. We have people with disabilities here and I've been getting alot of help from them and other people, don't get me wrong, but... I don't know. I just feel so...

Sorry siblings, I know this isn't what you want to hear from your favourite Cardinal :DD

Anyways, the rest of the day was boring, and I decided to have a sleep over in Aurora's room. Sodo was there this time, which was very suprising. He told me that this was a one time thing and that he was only there because he wanted to sleep next to Aurora. He said that, and then instantly curled into my side after he fell asleep, warming me up. Honestly, he's kinda a bad lier. I wonder if I could get rain to let the kids swim in his lake- after all, they do need swimming lessons, bit honestly, I'd have to beg or something for that. I know damn well he'll whine and complain about it for the longest time.

[coxwellphysio]

If you need a quality best custom knee brace, Contact “Coxwell Physiotherapy Centre”, a locally owned Physio and massage therapy Centre in Aurora. We are here to serve you knee braces, elbow braces or shoulder braces. We have a wide range of custom braces and walking aids that are sure to fit your body needs.

[infinitycircuit]

Tomie doesn’t remember standing, but she is on her feet. She’s ringing from within, a million bells, lithophones in the lowest pit of Hell where all truth-seekers and puzzle-solvers get their answers. 

She’s going insane, she’s pretty sure. She’s exploded into nanoparticles and she’s standing in hundreds of places right now, living thousands of lives. But for the first time, she can’t tear herself away from the body of Tomie Katsukawa. She is seeing everything. She’s feeling everything. 

She is every final girl. She is every masked murderer. She is big enough to fill a room on her own and she is blazing with love, love, love.

“I can hate all fucking three of you, how’s that?”

And her fathers taught her — after Yone left her, ten years old, sobbing until she made herself sick in a funeral home where boards are joined by pain so old and so deep it aches your teeth just to stand inside — that love is when you ask for what you want. Love is when the other person gives it to you. If they can’t or they won’t, they don’t love you. 

If you don’t ask questions, you’re not in love.

If you hurt someone and don’t apologize, you don’t love them. If you don’t get angry when you’ve been hurt by them, you’re not in love. You’re just scared of being alone.

Tomie was so bad at articulating what she wanted, so bad at talking, period, that her dads worked out a system of giving her choices. Did she want to eat at the table or should they all eat together in her room? Did she want to talk about why she was crying or watch a movie? Would it be better to get a hug right now or spend some time alone?

They taught her to ask for what she wanted and believe in a love free from fear.

Maybe she’s a bad daughter. It’s taken her a couple tries to learn it.

She promises herself she will never be afraid again.

“Because you, Noguchi, guess fucking what? You apologized to me before, too, and said all that shit about not wanting to be that guy, and then just now you called me a stupid bitch again with your life on the line. You are that fucking guy, you are that guy in your blood-black marrow, and you know what that guy does? He apologizes only to take the heat off, and he waits until he thinks everybody else has forgotten, and then he sticks his cock right back in the fucking light socket because he’s too mean and too stupid to do anything else. You are fucking stupid, Alice is right about that, but you are also mean as a starving rat, and you are not ever going to do anything to benefit anyone in this room except them.”

She would point, but she doesn’t have to. Her voice, ragged from crying over Keiji, is rubbing her throat raw. Her puzzle is clutched in her hand.

The fire in her is love for Keiji, who died for her when everyone needed him more. It is love for Aurora, who lay on her bed and wiped her tears with a thumb and agreed they’d go on a practice date, like two reasonable adult women cautious of a head-over-heels fall.

Love for Mugen, who found her hiding in the shed and let her sit with her head on his shoulder while he talked. Love for Akaji, who told her she wasn’t a bitch. Love even for Lindsay Tsai, who she had consigned to the heap until they ate dinner together in front of the fireplace and he let her in on a screening of Smoked Meat: The Lindsay Tsai Tstory (Banned Cut). 

“Them.”

“A girl who talked a big game about how much she looked forward to death, who bragged about the time her sister’s spent taking mob money to chop up corpses and tried to make me guess what her job in the traveling shit-pit is, and then snapped like balsa wood when one thing upset her. When she finally went through one hard thing she couldn’t pretend to be better than, all she can do is wave a knife around and look at us with that fucking face on her face. 

“A girl whose way of loving all of us is to confuse us, to lie to us, to put us in danger, to make promises that mean nothing and then threaten to knife us if we want to get close to people who killed someone she swore to protect. You told me you treated me like shit out of love? I can return the favor, Karasu, baby. You are a moron with a costume, a serial killer journal of ideological scraps and a couple knives, exactly like every one-bit maniac who kills their entire family on the local news. XOXO.”

And it is love for Alice Kishinami.

Alice, who helped her study so she’d be able to attend the film school where the director Kiyoshi Kurosawa taught. They were both adoptees, she discovered, but Tomie’s fathers were warmer than the Kishinamis and they were happy to have Alice in their house for long study sessions, for movie nights, for dinner. Alice loved fighting games, and so did Iemon.

Alice needed someone to throw their arms around her and kiss her cheeks, mwah mwah mah, when she got into med school. Tomie could provide.

They were happy to have her. Tomie was glowing to have her. The pair of them were so young and so smart and so determined. They were poised to be so successful. They were so much the same.

Tomie was sure Alice would be at her wedding. She couldn’t not picture them together as adults.

College got in the way, and Kureha got in the way, and Emma got in the way, and emails went unreturned on both sides. But that only made her adjust the timeframe. Someday she would reconnect with Alice and it would be the thing she’d imagined: Two adults who’d clawed their way to to the top and never stopped and made their dreams come true. Alice would be at her wedding when she was a glamorous older woman with a single white streak in her curls.

When they were paired together as roommates, she was overjoyed. When she began to feel Alice’s thoughts in her head, she thought no one better. 

“And a doctor who thought it was their right to euthanize Kacchan like a fucking dog. Who is taking the spotlight away from Noguchi, just like he’s taking it away from her, fucking dueling banjos with our lives at eight in the morning.”

She still loves Alice Kishinami. It’s too bad Alice Kishinami is dead. Has been dead. Died when Tomie was doing night shoots for other people’s movies and Alice was doing rounds an ocean away.

Tomie has been grasping this whole time and coming up with fistfuls of ash from a hospital crematorium. Jamming her fingers into pits of needles.

She braces her hands against the table and leans forward.

“Because Keiji and I thought about playing this game, a million years ago. We mapped it out for a worst-case scenario back at the beach. It’s called Murder on the Orient Express. A bunch of people commit one murder, creating so much evidence that the detective can’t sort it out. They leave a body with right-handed and left-handed stab wounds. They leave footprints in all different sizes. They give different confessions, or say there's some secret other person on the train who matches all the descriptions at once. The point is to confuse the investigators so much that they give up — or, if you’re on this train, that they pick somebody who was involved but who didn’t deliver the killing blow. Everyone involved agrees to roll the dice together and accept they might die or they might get out.

“I asked Kei who he’d want to get out. He said Kacchan, but Kacchan would never kill anyone, even if Keiji asked him, so it was moot. And he wouldn’t pick anyone else as the killer, either, because if we rolled the dice, Kacchan’s number might come up. I told him I wouldn’t come back to it unless Kacchan died.

“So now I’m back on it. Because I remember the idea, and I remember it was a pretty fucking good one. And I would’ve felt okay about it if we could get, oh, five or six people involved? Everyone we cared about back then, we’d let them in on the dice roll. We wouldn’t risk their lives without telling them.”

Love, love, love, teeth and claws sharpened on love, a knife pushed to its hilt into love. A Texas chainsaw screaming love through the dust and sunset from half a mile away. A surgical saw against an ankle, rasping love, love, love with every pull back and forth. 

“I think Kishinami and Noguchi risked our lives without telling us and they thought we’d all be too stupid to match coats and footprints and bandages and victims all together, even if we found them out. They agreed to a dice roll and they didn’t tell us the prize. 

“So now I think we know it, right? The prize is, get Kishinami and-or Noguchi out of here. If we have half a mistrial, every one of us has a 20% chance of getting one of Dogsaw’s punishments in their place. If we have a full mistrial, it’s 40%.

“You wanted to roll? We can still roll. But everyone’s in on the stakes. Kakeru can see if you’re bullshitting, and if you knife him, he’ll have more help than you do. We see your injuries, whether you have any. We figure out the rest, including where Magnolia comes in. And then everyone gets to decide if we fucking roll.”

She hocks the puzzle across the table like a die, and it skitters to a halt in front of the body-horror cluster that is Alice, Ume and Jinki. Merged, merged, like Society, like Dead Ringers, like people who wished to be together and got their wish.

“We play one big A/B game.” 

And Tomie is here, looking at them, because she wished to be with Alice Kishinami again. 

She got that, too. 

Hell is where all wishes are granted.

[sophfandoms53]

History Repeats Itself AU Pt. 2

Skye and Troy both groaned as their backs slid down the mountains of gold and landed onto the floor.

Lena watched as the children pathetically put up a fight. She laughed loudly at their struggle.

“What a pitiful bunch! Ya know, for the McDuck clans kin, you are both pretty pathetic. Your parents would be so disappointed to see their children failing like this. But me? I rather quite enjoy it!”

Skye and Troy looked at each other in concern. This wasn’t the Lena they were told about from their parents.. but this is who she is now. And they need to stop her, but just the two of them isn’t enough.

Lena fired up her scepter.

“Say goodnight, Clan McDuck.”

The cousins held each other close as they screamed and braced for the impact of Lena’s magic.

“NO!”

They heard feet land onto the money in front of them, as they still waited for the magic to destroy them. They heard groaning and when they looked up they saw,

“AURORA!”

They saw her holding up a purple force field that was shielding them from Lena’s blast.

“Aurora, what are you doing?!”

Aurora growled as she pushed Lena’s magic back with all her might.

“GET AWAY FROM MY COUSINS, MOTHER!”

She managed to knock Lena down for a moment, who landed on a pile of money with a thud. Aurora let her shield down and faced Skye and Troy.

“Guys are you okay?”

The duo looked at her in confusion and fear. They found out moments ago Aurora was supposedly using them to get to Louie so Lena could have control. Why was she helping them?

“You just called us your cousins...”

“And called Lena your mother... Aurora what is going on?!”

“I’ll explain later, right now-.”

“No! Aurora I just found out that you have been using me the past few months to get to Uncle Louie! And now you come in here trying to save the day from this mad woman who happens to be your mother??? We need answers now!”

“I know you’re mad at me Troy! And you have every right to be! But we don’t have time right now! I promise when this is over I’ll explain everything! Right now we need a plan! Okay?”

Troy was desperate for answers but he knew she had a point. He sighed in defeat.

“Okay.. we need to defeat Lena but how? We don’t even know what happened to her.”

Chase and Danny slid down next to their sister and cousins.

“We may not know what happened to her-.”

“-But they do.”

Skye, Troy and Aurora looked up and saw Webby, Huey, Shelly, and Louie.

“Our whole family teaming up! Yes!”

Troy cheered and Chase looked up to the adults.

“So what happened to Lena?”

Louie responded first.

“She’s been corrupted by some kind of dark magic... and she has been for years.”

“A dark curse done by the one and only, Magica De Spell.”

The children could sense the venom from Webby and Louie’s tone. As they all spoke, Lena stood up, grabbed her staff, and flew up into the air and started laughing.

“Would ya look at that! The family is back together again! HAHA! Wow! And here I thought you people would miss out on the fun!”

Aurora looked up at her mother, her fist clenching. She remembered the first 5 years of her life when her mother wasn’t like this. She just wanted her mom back. Shelly looked over at her.

“Okay Aurora, how do we get Lena back?”

Aurora’s eyes scanned her mother and stopped at the scepter. The energy radiating off from it wasn’t stable and felt.. corrupted.

Aurora turned to the family.

“We gotta get the scepter away from her!”

Everyone nodded and began to surround Lena. Lena snorted and laughed.

“Oh this is rich! Look at all of you! You really think you can take me down!”

Lena’s scepter powered up and she began to sway it around as if she was trying to figure out who to take out. She was about to stop once she saw Huey but Webby called out.

“LENA! YOU HAVE TO STOP! I KNOW MY BEST FRIEND IS IN THERE! SHE CAN HEAR ME! THIS ISN’T YOU!”

Lena glared at Webby. But she felt a pinch in her heart at the sound of Webby’s voice.

“Webby... RRGH! NO! YOUR BEST FRIEND IS GONE!”

She aimed her scepter at Webby, and the magic came straight toward her. Webby braced herself but heard a,

“WEBBY!”

She was then pushed away and fell onto the floor. She slowly pulled herself up and saw Louie laying on the ground, groaning and holding his side.

“Oh my.. LOUIE!”

“I’m fine! Just get her scepter!”

She nodded at him and stood up, with the help of Shelly and Danny. Webby then saw Chase and Skye running to help their Uncle up.

“You sure you’re okay, Uncle Louie?”

“Yeah.. don’t worry kids. I’ve been through worst than this.”

“Uncle Louie.. are you sure this’ll work?”

Louie looked over at his niece, she had fear in her eyes and it was present in her voice too. The two of them weren’t exactly on the best of pages right now. After all, Skye did blame him for what happened to her father. Regardless, Louie knew he had to give his niece and nephew reassurance. He looked at Lena and saw she froze in place just staring at him.

“I think Aurora knows exactly what she’s doing.”

He looked over and saw Aurora ontop of a money hill, her hands glowing with a purple aura and that aura slowly surrounded her body as she floated into the air. She flew behind Lena and grabbed onto the scepter tightly and yanked it towards her. This caused Lena to snap out of her trance and turn to Aurora.

“What’s this?!?”

Lena and Aurora floated to the ground as they both yanked and pulled for the scepter. Aurora got the upper hand and felt her mother’s grip begin to loosen.

“ITS OVER MOM!”

Aurora yelled and she got the scepter out of her mother’s grasp, and quickly ran far from Lena, whom she heard yelling about the scepter and how that wouldn’t stop her. Aurora scanned and saw Huey.

“HUEY! GO LONG!”

Huey perked and saw that Aurora was tossing him the scepter. Despite his small panic he ran and grabbed it.

“What do I do with it?!”

“You gotta crack the top! That’s the talisman, it contains the magic! If you do that, Lena will be free from all the corrupted magic!”

Huey looked at the scepter and grasped the corrupted green talisman part and began to squeeze it tightly, he felt his fingers crushing the glass. Slowly but surely and he heard cracking sounds and he tightened his grip and when he did he saw a flash of energy come from it and it burst throughout the bin. Huey dropped the scepter on impulse and he covered his eyes.

Lena began to float in the air, holding her head tightly as a mix of pink and green began to surround her. She yelled as she opened her eyes, slowly feeling the corrupted magic leave her body.

Lena sank onto the floor and groaned as she slowly opened her eyes and sat up. Her eyes where no longer green, they returned to their normal color. She looked at her hands and she saw her pink colored magic returned from its corrupted green. She couldn’t believe it.

11 years of corruption and she was back..

Louie ran over to her and knelt down.

“Lena?”

Tears formed in her eyes as she looked over his tired face. Before they entered the bin.. She almost killed him. She trapped him.

“Louie..”

He smiled sweetly at her.

“Hey.. I’ve missed you.”

“I’m so sorry..”

Her tears fell down her cheeks and Louie pulled her into a hug. It felt so good to have her in his embrace again.

“It’s okay Lena. I know none of that was you.”

“I still have to tell you everything else.”

He pulled away slightly, locking eyes again. He saw all the guilt and fear in Lena’s eyes. It made his heart twist but he knew she was safe. As long as they were together.

“And you’ll get the chance. Just... let me hold you.”

The two cried again as they hugged each other tightly. Then Aurora stepped forward.

“Mom? Dad?”

They looked over at their daughter and smiled widely. They both laughed slightly then Lena spoke.

“Louie, I think it’s time you properly meet your daughter. Louie this is Aurora. Aurora this is your father.”

“Hi-hi Dad.”

Louie smiled at his daughter.

“Hey sweetie. Get into this hug.”

Aurora ran to her parents and they embraced her tightly. Tears falling down all their faces. It felt so good to be embraced by both of her parents. Louie and Lena were relieved to have their little girl in their arms. Aurora smiled as her parents held her close and tightly but she still had one thing left to do.

Shelly walked over to Huey, picked up the scepter and held a hand out to her husband. Huey grabbed her hand and she helped him to his feet.

“Nice work there Hue. Guess all those workouts and health diets you made us go on paid off.”

She giggled as she gestured to the cracked talisman in the scepter, which returned to its regular magenta color. Huey rolled his eyes and smirked.

“You never hear me complain when you decide to climb onto my back while I’m doing push-ups. Don’t knock my health routine. Besides, our son is great because of it.”

“True. Troy did turn out pretty great.”

“He’s got an amazing mother.”

“And an astounding father.”

Huey grabbed Shelly by her waist and pressed his beak gently against hers forming a passionate kiss. The blonde giggled and used her free hand to place it on Huey’s broad shoulder as she kissed back.

“Ewww! Mom! Dad! I’m right here!”

The duo pulled away and laughed at their son, who had his arms crossed and playful glare on.

Huey picked up his son and tossed him onto his shoulders. Troy laughed as he crossed his ankles and held onto his fathers head, taking Huey’s hat and placing it onto his own head. Shelly giggled, she loved her boys.

Webby looked around at the duos with their children and sighed. She was happy for them to have a nice moment of togetherness after this whole battle, but.. she just felt a little empty.. she didn’t have that one person to hold.

“Mom?”

Webby looked down and saw her kids in front of her, smiles on their faces. Seeing her happy little sunshine’s made a small smile come to her beak and she knelt down and embraced the trio into a huge hug, tears forming in her eyes.

“I am so proud of you three!! You did so well! I love you all so much!! My babies!!”

“We love you too mom! After all, you taught us all we know!”

Chase said and his mother made eye contact with all of them. They each had tears forming in their eyes as they all had the same thought.

“You think Dad would be proud of us too, Mom?”

“Oh babygirl, Dewey would be over joyed and thrilled right now. Seeing his kids fight back and be strong. God he’d be more than proud of you.”

“You really think so?”

Webby smiled and kissed her youngest son on his forehead.

“I know so, Danny.”

Lena, Louie and Aurora all pulled away with big smiles on their faces. Their family was together, finally. Lena looked over and saw Huey with Troy on his shoulders, Shelly holding the scepter, Webby and her three kids all walking towards them.

“Hey everyone.. miss me?”

Webby jumped to hug her tightly and Lena gladly hugged back.

“LENA! YOU’RE ALRIGHT!”

“H-hey Pink. It’s good to see you. I know I have a lot to explain but-.”

“It’s alright Lena, a lot of things have gone on for the past 10 years.”

Lena nodded at her best friend. She missed Webby so much. Once again Webby never gave up on her. Lena looked around at the family and she noticed a certain enthusiastic Duck was missing.

“Uh Webby.. where’s Dewey?”

Webby’s smile dropped almost immediately. She grew silent as she looked down sadly, beginning to play with her wedding ring. Lena looked at everyone else and saw they all looked upset, even the kids. When nobody spoke up, Lena understood.

“oh my god.. Webby.. guys.. I’m so sorry.. I didn’t know-.”

Louie sighed as looked at her and spoke truthfully.

“We don’t know anything either. Dewey made some decisions that we don’t really understand but we’re trying to figure it all out. And we’re gonna do that together.”

Lena nodded and looked back at Webby.

“You doing okay Webby?”

Webby quickly wiped a tear away and smiled at Lena.

“Yeah.. yeah.. I just.. still miss him is all. But I’m okay.”

Lena placed a hand on Webby’s shoulder and said something familiar.

“He’ll always be with you.”

Webby smiled. That was exactly what Dewey said to her after they thought they lost Lena all those years ago.. maybe that could mean..

“Yeah he is.”

Aurora walked over to Shelly and quickly snatched the scepter from her.

“What the? Aurora?! What are you doing??”

Shelly asked, shocked at her niece’s action and Aurora spoke confidently.

“Something that should’ve been done long ago. I’m gonna seal it and the corrupted magic in the Shadow-Realm.”

Lena froze.

“I’m sorry, you’re gonna what?! Aurora! That’s way too dangerous! If you do that you’re gonna trap yourself in the Shadow-Realm!”

Everyone gasped loudly and froze. Troy jumped off his fathers shoulders and clenched his fists.

“It’s the only way mom! You can’t do it! You’re too weak right now! If you weren’t I’m sure you’d be willing to do this yourself! But you can’t! I’m our best bet! My magic is strong enough to make sure none of you get hurt.”

“No! You can’t do this!”

Troy yelled as tears filled his eyes.

“Troy..”

“Aurora, please! You just got your family back! Your parents! Your cousins! Everyone! You can’t seriously put yourself in the Shadow-Realm!”

“If I don’t, this curse will just run wild and corrupt someone else! If I can seal it in the Shadow-Realm, it will no longer be of any danger! Besides I can find a way out! After all, my mom did.”

“But what if something goes wrong? And you get trapped in there forever?”

“It won’t. You all just have to trust me. Now stand back!”

Aurora slowly closed her eyes and quietly chanted the spell, her hands glowing again with a purple aura. The magic from scepter and the corrupted magic began to surround her as she continued. She lifted up the scepter and just before she could slam it onto the ground she heard,

“NO! AURORA YOU CAN’T DO THIS!”

Lena screamed desperately, with Louie holding her back. She just turned back into herself and was free. Now she was about to lose her daughter?! She wasn’t gonna let that happen. She saw that Aurora froze and locked eyes with her mom.

“Aurora please! If anybody deserves to be locked in the shadow-realm. It’s me! I’m the monster who kept you from this family! I’m the monster who tortured you and attacked everyone! Let me seal the magic!”

Lena attempted to power up her magic but to no avail. Her magic faded away from her hand quickly but she kept trying.

“Why isn’t this-!”

Louie pulled her back.

“Lena stop! Aurora’s right. You’re too weak. She’s the only one who can do this.”

“What! Are you seriously okay with this?!?”

“Of course I’m not! But... look at her Len. She’s determined.. if there’s one thing I’ve learned from this family.. it’s that when one of them is determined to find or do something.. nothing will stop them. She’ll be okay. We just have to trust her.”

Louie locked eyes with Lena as they both had tears forming. They then heard Aurora speak and looked at her.

“Dad’s right mom. I need you all to trust me. I know deep down you do.“

Lena choked back on her tears and Aurora continued to speak.

“And mom.. you’re no monster. I know this is the real you. This is the Lena who took care of me before giving me the talisman. You told me it would protect me from the darkness and it has. Now it’s time for me to use it for one final time. Mom, Dad, I promise I’ll come back.”

She gave her parents one last smile, which they returned. She then slammed the scepter onto the ground, causing a vibration. She let go of the scepter, held it up in the air with her magic, focused it and turned the scepter back into the talisman. Aurora caught it before it hit the ground and held it close to her chest, and continued chanting the spell. She felt herself get lifted off the ground and her body fading away. She opened her eyes to see her family all smiling with broken faces and tears.

“Thank you all, for everything.”

And with that, she disappeared along with the magic.

The blue duck stopped in his tracks as his eyes scanned the building. His heart beating rapidly out of his chest. He ran to the door, with a huge smile on his face and began to reach for the door knob before stopping to take a breather.

“Okay Dewford.. you haven’t seen your brothers in 8 years.. don’t be nervous.. it’s okay, they’re your family.. it’ll be fine! ...And it’s also the first time you’re seeing your kids... oh boy... okay okay calm down.. just gotta make a good first impression.”

He slowly began to panic. His head spun and his breaths got rapid. He held his head and gained control of his breathing again.

“Okay Dewey.. just calm down.. calm down.. don’t break down.. just be casual. Keep it cool and confident. Nothing too extreme but nothing too bland. Okay okay okay...”

Meanwhile Louie and the family were preparing to hunt down an incredibly special artifact.

“Everyone packed and ready?”

Louie began to explain that the artifact leads to one’s greatest fortune with daring adventure, knowledge, challenges and more along the way. Which gained the excitement of all four of the kids.

“All right kids. Lets go-.”

He opened the door to be greeted with,

“Wassup everyone! It’s your guy Dewey-Dew-Night back at the sce- oh no- I knew that was bad as soon as I started.. can I start over?”

Louie stood at the door, dropping the map to the floor. His body becoming overflowed with emotions as tears formed in his eyes. He shook his head multiple times and blinked rapidly. This had to be a vision! Or a trick! This can’t be real!

Dewey then chuckled nervously and waved.

“H-hey Louie.. what-what’s up?”

This was real. This was really him. Louie never thought he’d see this day. The tears in Louie’s eyes began to fall and Dewey got nervous from the lack of a response.

“Look.. I know you’re probably mad-WHOA!”

“DEWEY!”

The youngest sibling ran towards and crushed his brother into a tight hug, his tears still falling down his face when he felt Dewey hug back, and rubbed Louie’s back as he continued to cry. Louie was shaking in his brother’s embrace. He could barely find words.

“I-I- I can’t b-b-believe it! You-you-you’re okay!”

“Stop crying Louie. You’re gonna make me cry.”

Dewey too had tears in his eyes. It felt so good to see a familiar face after spending 8 years on that orange rock. The brothers laughed lightly. Louie pulled away and wiped his tears.

“Dewey we thought you were-.”

“Dead? Ha, you can’t get rid of me that easily!”

“Dude where have you been?”

“You’ll never believe it Louie! I crashed landed onto Mars!”

Louie’s eyes widened.

“Mars??? But Uncle Scrooge and I sent people to Mars!”

“Well apparently they didn’t look hard enough! I’ve been stuck there for 8 years and I had to rebuild the Siren all from scratch!”

“Don’t get mad at me! You’re the one who crashed landed onto another planet!”

The brothers chuckled, they had a lot to talk about but for now they just enjoyed being reunited.

“I’ve missed you Louie.”

“Yeah we’ve missed you too Dewey.”

Louie looked down and gasped as he caught sight of Dewey’s right leg.

“Oh my god.. Dewey.. your leg..”

“Yeah.. I lost it in the crash.. I’m alright though.”

“And you made it from spare ship parts! Just like how mom did!”

“Well I did use her book after all. It actually really helped the past 8 years. Did you know some space creatures eat gold?”

“Uh.. no? I didn’t know that.. I didn’t need to know that.. but now that I do, I won’t forget it. Thanks for that Dewey.”

The kids stood back and watched as their Uncle spoke to this new character at the door.

“I don’t understand... who is that?”

“Guys... I think that’s your dad..”

The trio looked at their older cousin, their eyes wide. Danny looked back at the door and grabbed onto one of Skye’s arms and was taking nervous breaths. Skye and Chase looked at each other, both with the same look in their eyes.

“That’s not possible...”

The twins, Danny and Troy all looked up and saw Webby standing behind them. She was taking deep breaths trying to calm herself down. Webby walked in front of her kids, holding her breath with every step.

Dewey gently pushed Louie to the side and stepped through the door looking inside the room with a smile on his face.

“Alright Louie step aside! Where are my-.”

He froze as his eyes met with hers. They were both locked in a trance they haven’t felt in years. Eight years since they’ve seen each other, held each other, spoke to each other, kissed each other. His eyes never left hers and her eyes never left his. She was all he saw.

And at the moment? She was all he cared about. He wanted to run to her, hold her as close and as tight as he could, to apologize for leaving and tell her how much he missed her and how much of an idiot he is. But he felt stuck in place and all he could do was stare and say,

“Webby...”

Within just 5 minutes Dewey went from distressing about being a terrible father to panicking over his children’s safety.

While talking with Louie, the two accidentally set off one of the old monster’s they fought years ago.

“What the-? Is that the Colossus of Great Dane??”

“Uh.. maybe?”

“You kept that thing?!?!“

“What! It could’ve been used for a great profit! Louie inc. is all about providing!”

“Louie that thing has been cursed for decades!”

“And so has this family! But that hasn’t stopped us now has it?!”

Dewey groaned and shook his head. After the bickering ended, they quickly gathered to their feet, sprung into action and ran outside.

As they got outside Louie helped lift Dewey up onto the monsters side, then Louie grabbed the kids and put them to the side, telling them to stay put.

Dewey climb up the monster’s body, made his way to his shoulder and recognize the weak spot. He quickly hatched an idea. He hit the heel of his prosthetic foot and revealed he had a hidden knife as part of the heel. He quickly stabbed into the monsters space between its neck and shoulder and began to pry them apart. To help it fall apart faster he began to use his robotic foot to squeeze between the space, unfortunately his legged slipped through, getting stuck.

Troy ran outside with air horns and ducktape causing Chase to raise an eyebrow,

“What are these for?”

“I thought this kind of thing sounded familiar and I looked back at my dad’s old guidebook and I saw he and his brothers helped Grandma defeat the Gilded Man with these. The vibration of the air horn should help Uncle Dewey break apart the Colossus!”

As Troy explained he handed Skye the airhorns to hold and taped them together.

“Dad! Heads up!”

Everyone covered their ears as the sound of the airhorns took over and Skye tossed them up to her father, which he caught.

Dewey took the airhorns and crammed them through the biggest opening he could see and was near the weak point. He succeeded and the monster was slowly beginning to lose balance. He then noticed that Danny would be caught in the crossfire. He gasped loudly and yelled to his youngest son,

“Danny! Get back!”

When he saw his son had frozen in place, Dewey reacted on instinct and removed his prosthetic leg and jumped off the monster, flipping down to grab Danny and held his son close to his chest. His back hitting the floor as they rolled and he felt Danny’s body shaking and his fingers grasping onto his shirt.

The monster fell down over top and next to them so they were safe. Dewey slowly pulled away from Danny but kept his hands on his son’s shoulder’s, seeing the tears of fear forming in Danny’s eyes.

“Daniel, are you okay???”

Danny’s eyes glistened as his tears fell.

“You.. you called me Daniel...”

Dewey smiled softly, tears forming in his own eyes. He gently ran his fingers through Danny’s hair, zooshing it up momentarily before his hair fell back down. Dewey softly held his son’s face and his own soft smile grew wider.

Danny didn’t need a verbal response from his father. His dad’s smile said it all. He hugged Dewey tightly and said,

“Y-yeah I’m okay. Thanks, Dad.”

[eeveevie]

revelations (1/2)

Just as Brynjolf is coming to terms with his true feelings for Fiona, he learns about her true identity thanks to a dragon attack on Riften. She is the Dragonborn. Emotions run high, and he questions if anything they ever shared was real.

Just when things couldn't get worse, Mercer decides this is the best time to take Fiona to Winterhold for a mission. Can her and Brynjolf's already ambiguous relationship recover from this betrayal of trust?

x - x

*I was asked by a few people (because it is referenced in a few of my stories for the pairing) at what point does Brynjolf learn that Fiona is the Dragonborn. This is it! A dragon battle in Riften, that leads to a huge-ass argument about lies/betrayal. Angst-fest incoming! This has some slight references to a story I haven’t published yet, but have 80% written, so it made sense while I was completing this.

There is a follow-up companion piece to this that bridges the gap between this story and "Betrayal and Forgiveness." Basically will be Bryn during the events of "Speaking With Silence". Will be posted as a second part in a few days. *

Brynjolf x f!Dragonborn (Fiona) 

3306 words (under a cut) | Ao3

Part One: To Hide the Truth

The two sat at a table in the Flaggon, content in their silence as they ate their meals and drank their mead, taking in the surrounding chatter of their Guildmates. Brynjolf was perfectly content to stay there all evening if it meant studying Fiona’s face, watching the small secret smile on her red-painted lips, the sparkle of her sapphire eyes when they danced over to meet his. He couldn’t recall a time he had ever felt so content with a person—let alone a woman—not needing conversation to pass the time.

For weeks now he had been slowly coming to terms with the fact that the affection he held for her was much stronger than friendship, that the yearning in his heart went beyond flirting, lingering touches and stolen kisses. Fiona—the talented thief who had joined their ranks all those months ago had managed to sneak in and steal his heart in the process. Mara curse him, he wanted her—in every sense of the way—but something was holding him back. For all the confidence he had in being the Guild’s second, the thought of baring his emotions to the woman he cared for was terrifying, uncharted territory.

When Fiona’s boot twitched against his under the table, he knew she was starting a flirtatious game, one that he eagerly accepted with a small returned tap to her ankle. She bit back a grin as they continued, their feet pressing back and forth against one another in playful pushes for dominance. Finally, Brynjolf crossed his ankles over her own, lightly pinning her feet to the floor. She squirmed in her seat but let out a delightful laugh, head tossing back to expose the column of her neck that he so desperately wanted to kiss and mark as his own. Perhaps he’d find the courage to tell her tonight and act on these damned feelings—after a few more drinks, of course.

Her wide smile faltered with the first shake of the table, the bottles on Vekel’s shelf clinking together, a few falling to shatter on the ground. The bartender turned around startled and upset, but Brynjolf stayed focused on Fiona’s expression as her eyes flicked upward, lips forming a thin line as her jaw clenched shut. Another, more intense rumble echoed through the tavern, this time knocking more bottles and cutlery from the tables and countertops. As members of the Guild began to stand and move out of alarm, Brynjolf watched as Fiona remained curiously still, her eyes still glued to the ceiling.

“What is it?” Delvin asked to nobody in particular. “A quake or somethin’?”

Fiona blinked, quietly answering. “No.”

Before anybody could question her, there was a commotion at the Cistern entrance, a few bodies rushing to make their way into the Flaggon. Sapphire led the pack, her eyes wide as she bent over, breathless. She waved a hand upwards, and in the general direction of where the booming sounds had come from.

“A dragon,” she said. Brynjolf darted his gaze back to Fiona, whose brows had furrowed at the confirmation of what she already expected. Sapphire continued, shaking her head wildly. “I was in the marketplace when it attacked. Barely made it down here—”

Fiona stood up with a start, the chair she was just sitting in nearly toppling to the ground as another tremor shook through the Ratways, more powerful than the previous ones. Brynjolf watched her path for all of five steps before realizing where she was heading, scrambling to stand and walk after her.

“Lass!” he yelped, the two squeezing through the makeshift bookcase door that led back through to the Cistern. Inside, the remaining Guild members were laying low, speaking in hushed tones about the possible events occurring topside. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to help,” she explained plainly, not bothering to stop to turn to face him.

“What are you talking about?” Brynjolf asked in alarm. “We don’t have to go up there—”

“You’re right,” Fiona barked back at him, her tone causing him to pause in his hurried steps to follow her across the walkway to the graveyard exit. “We don’t. But I’m not going to stand around down here and let the city be destroyed when I’m the only one who can defeat it.”

What?

Brynjolf rushed to catch up with her, reaching out to grip her by the elbow. He hadn’t meant to catch her so roughly, but her words didn’t sound like boasting. Fiona stared down at his hand on her arm before her eyes glanced up to meet his. The emotions there only confused him further—determination and fear were to be expected, but sadness and guilt? She pulled away from him again, wordlessly moving to leave the Ratways to the surface. Brynjolf steadied himself with a deep breath before realizing there wasn’t enough potions on Tamriel to calm his nerves—a dragon? He quickly followed Fiona up the ladder, thinking to himself that love made a person do crazy things.

Riften was known for its magnificent sunsets—the way the sunlight caught the lake waters and the foliage of the surrounding trees was truly a sight to behold. And when the evening mist settled in and the bright auroras lit up the evening sky—it any wonder that the town attracted so many visitors to the marketplace and pier just to get a glimpse. Of course, that evening, as the sun was setting, a different kind of shadow swept across the hold, sending the city into chaos.

As Brynjolf and Fiona ascended from the Cistern they were met with the sounds of screams, guardsmen shouting orders to citizens and soldiers, anybody who was able-bodied to help bring down the beast currently circling Mistveil Keep. The dragon’s roars heard loud and clear, relentless as it echoed across the sky. When Brynjolf looked to Fiona, her expression was exceedingly difficult to read as she focused on the dragon’s sounds, as if she was trying to interpret them.

Finally, she glanced at him, a steady calmness to her tone. “Protect the citizens. It’s an Elder Frost Dragon, so don’t do anything reckless,” she paused before adding with precision, “you mustn’t get in the way of its unrelenting force—the shout will break every bone in your body—killing a mortal man.”

Brynjolf listened, his mind rushing a mile a minute as her words started to make sense. He was a Nord, these stories weren’t unknown to his kin—but they were just that—stories, rumors that had been so far removed from him and his life in Riften. Ulfric killing the High King with a shout? The dragon attack in Helgen? The Greybeards suddenly summoning this cryptic Dragonborn? Dragonborn—Vekel had heard she was a Nord woman, but that she had disappeared months ago. Right around the same time Fiona had appeared in Riften and joined the Thieves Guild. When she had come into Brynjolf’s life and changed everything.

“Fiona,” he said her name slowly, and her eyes shined in way that told him she understood that he knew.

The veneer broke away, her bottom lip trembling as she stepped closer to reach for his hand, but he surprised even himself when he flinched away. She braced herself, fisting her hand closed. “I’m sorry for not telling you before.”

Brynjolf wanted to argue—a little late for that—but with the dragon’s screech, they were starkly reminded that this was neither the time nor place. Fiona shot him one last pleading look before sprinting off in the general direction of the Keep, her gaze quickly focusing on the enemy. An overwhelming sense of dismay settled in Brynjolf’s gut, and his heart wedged in his throat—he didn’t want to believe it, that she had been hiding this from the Guild, from him the entire time.

As he rushed across the marketplace to do as she asked, his mind continued to race—Fiona had lied from the very start, and now the last several months of their relationship started to crumble before his very eyes. Was any of it real? Was she just stringing him along? As blissful and content as he had felt earlier that evening, as close as he had been to revealing how he felt about her, now all he could feel was contempt.

“Dovahkiin!”

Brynjolf snapped his head skyward as the dragon swept low across the marketplace, landing on the roof of Black-Briar Manor. It arced its head side-to-side, expelling a large gust of frost that caught a grouping of guards on the wooden planks below, killing most of them instantly. Suddenly, an arrow pieced right between the dragon’s eyes, causing it to rear up in pain, and stopping the flow of ice. The dark ebony color told Brynjolf exactly who had shot it, and he followed the path until he found Fiona crouched atop the Bee and Barb’s roof, a mirror image of the dragon.

It kicked up from the Black-Briar Manor, hovering just long enough for Fiona to fire three more projectiles, all making their mark within the beast’s belly before it soared towards her. Brynjolf anticipated more shots from her bow—she was one of the best archers he knew and could easily hit a moving target, but instead she stood and lowered her weapon.

“YOL!”

A stream of fire blasted from Fiona’s lips, the echoing sound of her voice carrying the heat directly towards the dragon and engulfing it in flames. It shrieked, its large wings flapping in a panicked frenzy to fly away. Brynjolf could only watch in wonder, not realizing he had been holding his breath until he felt dizzy. The lass could breathe fire. He followed Fiona’s movements as she tracked the dragon, moving beyond the city’s northern gates before crashing to ground in a terrific crumble. She leapt from the roof without a second thought, landing into a sprint to follow. He quickly chased after, as did many of the guards, seemingly bewildered at what was happening to their city.  

Beyond the gates, the dragon lay thrashing, dark red blood oozing from its wounds even as the fire Fiona inflicted upon it died out. She lunged at it with a bravery Brynjolf had never seen in any warrior and one he could only dream of having. With one hand clutching the dragon’s neck she used her other hand to plunge her dagger deep within its jugular, tossing her legs across the beast’s head to steady her movements as it tried to toss her away. Fiona continued to cut and stab, her movements unrelenting even as the dragon slowed, her only stopping when the dragon slumped across the ground.

The dragon was dead.

Almost immediately the guards were shouting in celebration, moving to crowd Fiona as she simply stared down at the dead beast. But it wasn’t over. The thick black scales began to disintegrate and within mere seconds, there was nothing left but bones and ash. Swirls of yellow and orange spiraled upwards and condensed, concentrating as they searched for a host. Like a breath, Fiona inhaled the energy, her body glowing alive with the dragon’s soul before in an instant, all was calm, as if nothing had happened.

A guard spoke first. “Dragonborn, it is an honor.”

She didn’t say anything, only turning to find Brynjolf’s gaze where he lingered by the city gates. They stared at each other in silence, even as the crowd of spectators grew to cheer and congratulate Fiona on her victory. But it was hollow to her as she noticed that Brynjolf wasn’t joining in on the merriment. How could he when this power of hers had been unknown to him less than an hour prior? There was no denying it, now that he had seen it with his own eyes. She was the Dragonborn and things between them would never be the same.  

They returned to the Cistern without speaking a word to one another, the tension rising as the silence stretched. As if the Guild could see strain between the two, they strayed afar, a few even scampering away as Fiona briskly made her way to one of the back rooms. Brynjolf followed, determined to have her answer for her deception. As soon as they crossed the threshold of the training room he reached out, this time grabbing her arm much rougher than before. Fiona spun around on her heel, eyes widening in alarm as she blinked up at him, face so different from the fierce warrior that had just single-handedly defeated a dragon.

“I suspect you have questions,” she said slowly, eyeing his hand on her arm.

Brynjolf furrowed his brow, irritated beyond belief. What kind of game was she playing at? Was she playing coy just to get under his skin? He shook her once, but it only made her expression obscure into something akin to fear. “You’re damn right I have questions!”

Fiona yanked herself free from his grip, but did not move away, squaring her shoulders as she met his burning gaze. “I can start from the beginning, when I came to Skyrim, what it means to be—”

“No, no,” he interrupted with a curt, mocking laugh. “I get to ask the questions.”

He began to pace before her in a short path, bringing one hand up to rifle through his hair. “Why did you come to Riften?”

“I was looking for someone in the Ratways,” she started to explain. “Like I told you when we first—”

“Just stop,” he groaned in reply, interjecting her again. He covered his face with a hand, wiping it across his brow before rubbing at his jaw. Their first—second—meeting in the Bee and Barb—it wasn’t something he really wanted to reflect on right this moment. Considering that all his happy memories with the lass were quickly becoming tainted, he supposed it truly didn’t matter. Regardless, he shook his head. “I’d rather you not lie about that.”

“I’m not lying.”

“Why exactly should I believe you?” he asked. “Especially now?”

Fiona’s expression fell, her eyes darting across his face in a silent plea of sorts. “Bryn,” her voice was low. “Brynjolf, you’re the last person I wanted to keep this from. I never expected…I never meant to hurt you.”

“But you did,” he retorted, coldly. He crossed his arms. “I’m not overly interested in the reasons why. Not anymore. I’m more interested in if anything else you ever told the Guild was the truth. What you told me was the truth. If everything we ever shared was just one big fantasy that you never planned on staying in.”

“O—Of course it was the truth!” Fiona’s voice trembled as she stepped closer to him, her eyes widening in surprise at his words. Even he was shocked at his candor, the raw emotion flowing through him. But all the affection he had felt for the woman standing before him was missing, and his heart wasn’t aching with a want to tell her he wanted her—it was aching with a betrayal he hadn’t felt before.  

“How am I supposed to believe that, Fiona?” he asked in a desperate tone. His mind rushed with every detail they had every shared, from mundane to intimate and personal, over the last several months. “Are your parents even dead?”

She slapped him instantly, the sharp sting of her hand leaving a burning sensation along his jaw. Brynjolf immediately knew that he deserved it—guilt fluttered through his veins as he noticed the tears pooling in her eyes. He had seen her cry before, but he had never imagined that he’d one day be the direct cause. So not everything was a lie—but Fiona had still chosen to omit the largest truth about herself, and that was something that Brynjolf could not forget, or possibly forgive.

“I can’t believe I ever thought—” Fiona hesitated, her hand pressing to her forehead, and then to her eyes to wipe the stray spill of her tears that were flowing unapologetically now.

Brynjolf’s anger flared at what she could’ve possibly said, and he waved his hands in disagreement. “Oh no you don’t,” he argued. The sight of her tears made him less guilty, and more annoyed now. “You don’t get to …you betrayed my trust. I’m the one who gets to have second thoughts about our future now!”

“Excuse me?!” Fiona yelped, obviously taking large offense to his phrasing. “Cut the bullshit Bryn. You want to call me out on keeping secrets when you’ve kept plenty of your own as well! And don’t even get me started on playing stupid games with people’s emotions. You want to know how I feel?”

Brynjolf sarcastically rolled his eyes. “Oh lass, please enlighten me!”

“Tafiir,” she hushed, almost in an endearing way—he didn’t understand. Fiona shook her head, dissolving back into her irritation. “Sometimes I feel like I could…I could…”

“What are you going to do?” Brynjolf taunted, leaning in dangerously close to her face. “Shout at me?”

Fiona’s eyes darkened, and for a split second, he feared he had just signed his death-wish.

“If you two are quite done!”

Brynjolf and Fiona both turned, only moving the slightest bit away from one another at the sound of their Guildmaster’s booming voice. Mercer stepped into the room, expression one of disappointment and annoyance—though, he was always generally annoyed with something, Brynjolf thought.

“Fools, the two of you,” he spat. “Lowering yourselves to a lovers’ quarrel.”

Brynjolf bristled at the mention, and made to argue, but bit his tongue at Mercer’s icy glare. He glanced to Fiona and saw that while her jaw was clenched tight in frustration, there was the slightest blush to her cheeks—he tried not to let the appearance change his mind about how he felt about her now.

“I really ought to have split you up a long time ago,” Mercer suggested with crossed arms. “Perhaps this could’ve all been avoided.”

The two remained silent, as if they were children being scolded by their father. Mercer smirked, low grin causing an unsettling feeling to creep up Brynjolf’s spine. What was the Guildmaster planning?

“Fiona. It’s time you traveled with me. Now that you’ve made yourself useful and shown your worth,” he explained. “Gulum-Ei’s information about Karliah is taking us to Winterhold—Snow Veil Sanctum.”

“One way or another, this is going to end,” he said. Brynjolf felt perturbed by Mercer’s statement, but couldn’t place why, the feeling not dissipating even as the Guildmaster stepped away. He glanced back to look Fiona directly in the eyes. “I don’t like to be kept waiting.”  

She stood up straight, swallowing down a lump in her throat before anxiously picking at her armor. It was still covered in dragon’s blood—she would need to pick up some belongings from her home before the trip—Brynjolf watched her nervous twitching and wondered if she was stalling. Fiona looked up at him, lips in a taught line as she held his gaze, silently pleading for him to say something. But he wouldn’t—he was past that, too exhausted to think of the right words to speak—if there were any.

All he felt now was numb. Perhaps some distance between them would do some good…even if that involved Mercer. Seemingly catching the hint, Fiona took a half-step away and then another, slowly moving further and further away until she was almost completely out of the room. At the last second Fiona glanced over her shoulder to peer at Brynjolf, their eyes locking for the briefest of moments. Neither said a word—no farewells, no last-minute apologies. He closed his eyes, if only to move past this moment as quickly as he could.  

When he opened his eyes, she was gone.

x

leave a tumblr kudos? :)

[roses-of-rutherglen]

Uniquely Normal- Chapter3

-Dean-

The morning of September 1st drew bright and cold, the sun making patterns through the hydrangea bush as Dean struggled to move his wooden trunk into the boot of the car. "Mum, dad come on we have to get going!" He yelled back through the open door "also I need help I can't lift this" his dad came to the door smiling and took one side of the trunk as Lauren stumbled out of the door with the three girls clinging to her legs and baby Sammy curling his fingers through her hair as she struggled to the car.

"Are you two going to stand there or are you going to help me" she spluttered almost falling on her face as Hernando rushed to help her whilst Dean laughed on the sidelines shutting the boot. He watched as they managed to detach Scout and Em but Tea stayed firmly koala cuddling her mother's leg until Dean tickled her so much she had to let go.

Ten minutes later, after the baby had been settled in and all the girls were sitting comfortably they were finally off. Dean's mind drifted from the conversations of his sibling and parents beginning to daydream about the new life that awaited him at Hogwarts. 

Would it be like the horror stories of boarding schools he'd heard of in storybooks? Would there be mean teachers, curfew and houses? Questions raced through his mind as they got closer and closer to Kings Cross.

"Hey, Dean?" His mother called back from the front seat "what's up honey? You look stressed." Dean cracked a small smile.

"Little bit, but excited too. I'm going to miss all of you so much" his whole family awed and baby Sammy giggled

"We'll miss you too buddy" replied Hernando trying to direct his voice back towards Dean while keeping his eyes on the road.

"Careful dear" came Lauren's slightly panicked voice as they came to a stoplight with traffic careening through from the other way. Just as they pulled up Dean blinked and the light turned green. As the car began to move again Em glanced towards him, he winked and she giggled.

Soon enough the grand building revealed itself accompanied by Emily's screech of "WE'RE HERE!" Everyone hopped out of the car, Dean's parents attempting to carry all of his stuff whilst Emily Scout and Teagan ran off to attempt to find a luggage trolley.

"Found one! found one! found one!" The high pitches voices accompanied the trundling shudder of metal against the concrete as the girls slammed the trolley into the lip of the path. There came a small “Oops” as Sammy was startled by the noise and started to sob but all of the luggage was soon loaded, including a rather ticked off Aminita, and the family headed into the station.

"Aurora said between platforms nine and ten didn't she?"

"There doesn't seem to be a platform that exists between the two perhaps she wasn't sure which one" his parents commented back and forth as they descended towards the platforms. The struggle going back and forth and beginning to grate on Dean's ears.

"Agh, stop arguing you two I'll just go ask." Dean snapped and walked off towards the nearest conductor. "Excuse me, ma'am? Would you be able to point me in the direction of platform 9 3/4?" She gave him a weird look before muttering "why so many weird kids with that question today?" 

Then shaking her self plastering on a smile stated: "I'm not sure what you're talking about I'm sorry but platforms nine and ten are just over the tracks okay?" She smiled again patted Dean on the shoulder and turned to help some other customers.

Dean shook his head feeling slightly patronized and even more stressed it was around ten-fifteen and he wanted to have time to try and figure out how things worked. But with the luck, he was having he wasn't sure he would even make the train in time. He slowly started heading back towards his parents to tell them the bad news when a slightly familiar voice echoed around him as an Irish boy accidentally knocked into him nearly sending all of his luggage flying.

"Oh sweet Christ, Are ye okay? I did'n see ya there sorry!" Dean smiled waving off the apology.

"It's okay Seamus, accidents happen" Seamus' face lit up as soon as he said his name.

"Dean mate, I recognized ya as soon as I realized who I'd bowled over! It's good to see ya," both boys shook hands.

"Do you know how to get on to the platform? My family and I can't find it and they're getting a little worried." Seamus smiled throwing his arm around Dean's shoulder.

"Well buddy" he started attempting a New Yorker accent "we here are professional" he began to drag him off into the crowds.

"Wait I gotta grab my family, I'll be right back." Dean quickly ran off into the sea of people searching for his family in the ever-growing crowds. Luckily his sisters found him before he could get too lost and his parents came soon after that. 

They quickly wound their way back towards platform nine and ten, the Finnegan family were standing pretty much where Dean had left Seamus except on this side of the tracks. 

" Mum Dad, this is Seamus he's the guy I met in Gringotts when we went shopping in Diagon." Both sets of parents smiled and shook hands as introductions for both families were made and as a group, they headed across the platform.

"Hey Seamus, why are we heading for a brick wall?" Dean questioned pointing towards what seemed to be their destination. Mrs. Finnegan chuckled

"We ain't heading for the wall laddie, that be a barrier, a disguise for the entrance if ya will." She paused gesturing for them all to stop "all ya gotta do is head straight for the wall. Don' take any second chances or wee doubts just head straight for it." She beckoned her husband forwards "Art 'nd I'll show ya how it's done." She turned on her heel, dragging her somewhat unwilling looking husband behind her heading at a steady march towards what still looked like a solid wall, but in a blink and you'll miss it moment suddenly they weren't there.

"Come on now Dean let's go next shall we?" Dean's siblings quickly jumped around his ankles begging him to take them with him. He chuckled

"Can these ragamuffins come to" Seamus scoffed a quick yes secretly glad to spend some time with younger kids as he craved siblings. Together they headed towards the wall.

"You first laddie, you're the newbie here" Dean rolled his eyes but got in position at the edge of the wall and with siblings holding onto his legs shoulders and sitting on top of his trunk they aimed for the brick and braced for an impact that never came.

"Dean! Look at the train! Screamed Scout. Dean chuckled as Seamus came through the barrier and Emily and Tea headed for his legs. His parents came through a few moments after the rest of their family with baby Sammy cooing and reaching to play with the steam coming from the train. The Finnegan family quickly found them again and started to chat as the two boys found where to stow their luggage and animals, needless to say, Aminita did not feel very appreciated at that moment Dean promised he would make up for it later.

The families and boys chatted and got to know each other until the whistle was blown for all students to board the train. Tearful goodbyes, bone-crushing hugs and promises to write were exchanged as the two boys ran for the last open door.

<- Chapter 2 here!! Chapter 4 here!!->

[rezares]

Father || War & Peace

@spindlesandrosethorns​

Reading order of posted threads:

Spill The Tea (August 22, 2019)

Bullshit Cover Story (November 10, 2019)

Bullshit Detective (November 10, 2019)

Wildcard (November 10, 2019)

Word Count: 6281

Date: November 10th, 2019

tl;dr: Rory and Reza arrive in Tunisia, Rory meets Reza’s best friend Hamdi and Reza’s dad! His dad is adorable. 10/10 would die for Abdelmajid.

REZA

And so Aurora had gotten her way and come with him to Tunisia. He was pissed, but didn’t want to express it. Didn’t matter whether he wanted her to be there or not because she was there now. Not like he could afford to buy her a one way ticket back to England.

Not like Aurora’d even get on the plane even if he could and did buy her one.

The plane touched town in Tunis, the capital city, about five hours after it took off from London. They finally made it to his home city of Hammamet an hour later when the train from Tunis pulled into the station. As pissed as he was at Rory, he couldn’t act mad even if he wanted to. The closer they got to Hammamet, the more Reza bounced his legs, full of nervous excitement. 

Even if he was here for one reason (that being murder) he was home! Home home, not fake, Swynlake home, or his mother’s house in Austria. Tunisia! He hadn’t seen his country in five years, and, more importantly, his father. 

“Hamdi should be waiting out front to give us a lift to my father’s house.” Reza said, bolting up as soon as passengers were given the clear to exit the train.

AURORA

Aurora was fully aware Reza was pissed at her. It was hard to miss; she wouldn’t even need to be a sorceress to feel the tension and frustration in the air. Thankfully their seats weren’t directly next to each other, so they couldn’t fight on the flight over. Instead, Aurora had gotten some work done on her laptop for the store and spent the rest of the trip either knitting or napping. By the time they landed in Tunis, she was feeling refreshed and ready to face the rest of the trip.

And her master’s temper.

Fun times.

Or at least, that had been what she had expected. The reality was Reza was so excited to be home that he practically ignored her. She didn’t mind, she was plenty distracted herself by the scenery passing by. Tunisia was beautiful, and Aurora found herself smiling widely as she looked eagerly out the train window.

It was only Reza’s voice that brought her back to the present, and she had to hold back a snort of amusement as he shot to his feet. He was like a big, excitable puppy. “I’m sure he’s waiting for our luggage too,” she said with no small amount of amusement. “Better be sure to grab that before you launch yourself through the door, hm?” She gathered up her own travel bag, slinging it across her chest.

REZA

“I- I- psh- I don’t bolt-” Reza sputtered, before grabbing his bag. Rory’s teasing was immediately forgotten though, because the train doors were opening and Reza was McFucking home for the first time in half a decade and he was so excited to stick his feet in desert and ocean sand and to eat Tunisian food that wasn’t made in his kitchen with subpar European bought ingredients.

Only briefly did he remember that plenty of people in his country wanted him dead. It wasn’t enough to dampen his excitement about coming home.

“Smell that? That’s the smell of the most beautiful, most vibrant, the best country on earth. America who? I don’t know her. The ocean breeze, the spices from restaurants, welcome to Hammamet.” The older sorcerer said, grinning and gesturing around them as they made their way through the train platform. “Or at least, the train station.”

Rory probably couldn’t smell the city yet anyway. It was just a strong memory of his coming back full force.

“I haven’t seen my country in five whole years. Five, can you imagine? I wonder how much my old neighborhood has changed or if my father has finally redecorated.” Reza turned to Aurora for the first time since the airport and smiled. “I haven’t seen him in five years either.”

 AURORA

‘I don’t bolt’ said He Who Bolts as he raced out of the train, and Aurora could only laugh as she gathered her own luggage and followed him at a more reasonable speed. Her own laughter sounded almost foreign to her, and she grew a little more somber when she remembered how little she had heard it in the past several months. If she did laugh, it was usually followed by hysterical sobbing, but not this time. No pressure breaking, no floodgate opening. Just… genuine laughter.

On one level, it was more than a little annoying that the only person who could make her laugh was the same man who had stolen that laughter from her. On another, it just… it felt good. Even knowing what they had come to Tunisia to do.

Aurora caught up with Reza easily, following and ducking so his gesturing arms didn’t smack her in the face. She couldn’t quite smell exactly what Reza was describing yet, but that didn’t stop her excitement. Afterall, she was her mother’s daughter, and the humidity and heat in the air only made her feel at home.

Reza turned to smile at her and her cheeks blushed in reply, the young woman cursing the fact that she couldn’t hide behind her curls when they were (mostly) all up in one of her mom’s old silk wraps. She decided to ignore it, instead giving him a small grin back as she followed a few steps behind. “Well then I’m glad we’re back so you can see each other again!” she said earnestly. Again, not why they came, but a bonus. 

It had been a while since she’d seen Reza smile that wide. He deserved this moment of happiness.

REZA

“You know, it was my father who made me-” go to Austria for medical care, he was going to say, but that was when he was cut off by a shout in his native language.

“Hey, ugly! Who let you back in the country?”

Thunk. Something hit him in the head but it wasn’t heavy at all. Reza fumbled to catch it as it fell after connecting with him - pap, pap, pap went his hands against what he figured was cardboard - until he had it turned right to read it.

Written in Hamdi’s god-awful handwriting was ‘welcome home Reza the dumbass’, featuring less awful doodles clearly done by Hamdi’s wife. Reza grinned wide at the message before looking up just in time for Hamdi to charge him and leap into his arms like the dramatic reunion scene in a romcom.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, you know my back isn’t what it used to be- ah! I hate you so much.”

“I missed you toooooo, my idiot best friend.” Hamdi, a man only five inches shorter than Reza, said, wrapping his legs around his waist and kissing his cheek. “Europe’s turning you white, you’re pale now. How gross.”

“Take that back.” 

Hamdi snorted and signaled for Reza to let him down, which the older man did. Quickly. Like he was trying to drop the other on his ass (because he was.)

“Okay, speak English now. My intern-” because he can’t just say apprentice “-isn’t from here.”

“Is she Ethiopian? I can still BS Amharic.”

“Scottish.”

“No way. Hey, hey uhhh, woman - ma’am. Say something. This clown here’s saying you’re Scottish.” Hamdi laughed, gesturing to Reza with his thumb while grabbing the bag Reza’s dropped when he charged at him with his other hand.

Reza gave Rory an apologetic smile. He should’ve prepared her for the experience that was Hamdi Ben Ahmed. In his defense, could any amount of words prepare someone for Hamdi, though? Trick question.

The oldest of the three sorcerers swiped Rory’s bag and carried it in the direction of Hamdi’s car. 

AURORA

Aurora had been listening intently to Reza when he got hit in the back of the head by a flying piece of cardboard. She gasped, immediately spinning on her heel with a glare to find whoever had thrown it at him. What the hell!? Back in the country for less than an hour and they were getting things thrown at them!?

Her eyes landed on the man with the outstretched arm, and only the radiant joy that was pooling off him kept her from snatching the sign from Reza and throwing it back with all her might.

When he sprinted at them, she nearly threw a punch instead. But Reza was grinning, so Aurora decided this was probably a reunion she was witnessing instead of an attack. The man threw himself at Reza and Aurora yelped in surprise, quickly moving to brace Reza's back before his knee dropped them both to the ground.

When they were both safely on their feet again, Aurora peeked out from behind Reza and watched them converse in rapid Tunisian curiously. She stepped out to his side once again just in time to have both their attentions turned to her.

She blinked at him owlishly before her eyes narrowed, lips pursed in annoyance for a flicker of a moment before she gave him her sunniest, most innocent smile. "Aye, lad, that I am!" Aurora said in her thickest, most unintelligible Scottish brogue. "I'm the only black lass who’s ever lived in Scotland! Ever! Name's Aurora, pleasure to meet ya!"

Still smiling, she raised her middle finger to them both before she looked at Reza with a deadpan expression. "You know," she said, accent back to normal levels of Incredibly Scottish, "I used to like my accent."

REZA

Reza snorted a laugh as Rory went Scottish Extreme, and nearly doubled over at Hamdi’s stunned expression. The silk wrap had him pin her as obviously from the African continent. Scotland? Scotland?

Yeah, Reza would’ve been shocked too, if he was hearing her accent for the first time while she was dressed like a Nigerian tourist visiting Tunisia’s beaches. 

“Oh hush, I like your accent.” Reza assured her. “Hamdi, how’s Dorsaf?”

“Ask her yourself, she’s in the car. Swollen ankles. Told her to just stay home but she was excited to see you.”

“Her sacrifice is noted. When is she due?”

“Uhhh, mid-February. She’s started nesting early this time.” Hamdi lamented as they neared the car, shaking his head and clicking his tongue. “Did Rafika—”

Hamdi suddenly remembered Aurora and...wasn’t entirely sure she was just his friend’s student. Probably not best to ask about his baby mama’s pregnancy in front of her. Luckily, Reza saved him. 

“Y’allah, you always ask me about pregnancy even though you have more children than me. Calm down, habibi.” Reza clapped him on the back and affectionately played with his curly hair. 

“Oh, I’ve weighed the merits of spiking his tea with Xanax.”

Reza whirled around on his heel toward the voice — a very pregnant Dorsaf Ben Ahmed, and almost dropped Rory’s bag in surprise. Dorsaf was just as radiant as ever, and gave off the same warm, calming energy she always had even after five years. 

He pulled her into a side hug and kissed her cheek in greeting. “I’m glad you told Hamdi to shove his concern to come along.”

“Think I’d miss the return of a legend? Nah. We will have you for dinner before you leave for sure.” Dorsaf joked, flipping her braid over her shoulder. “Who’s this, your girlfriend? Hi. I’m Dorsaf, Hamdi’s my husband. We grew up with Reza.”

Dorsaf, a medium, tried very hard to ignore how fucked up Aurora’s aura looked. 

“Oh no, no. This is Aurora, my apprentice. She’s brilliant and terrifying when she’s angry, and Sabiha’s favorite aunt.”

AURORA

He did not like her accent; he covered his ears when she talked for too long! Aurora scrunched her nose and stuck her tongue out at him before following after the two to the car. She almost missed most of the conversation, instead busy looking around at Hammamet curiously. It really was a gorgeous town, the skies bright and clear for their arrival.

The second reunion went much smoother than the first, if only because Dorsaf didn’t throw anything at them. Aurora greeted her with a smile, giving her a small wave as Reza introduced her. Her cheeks went a little red at the assumption they were dating, but honestly, it wasn’t the first time it had happened.

She rolled her eyes at Reza’s description of her, stepping forward so she could shake Dorsaf’s hand. “At least this time he led with ‘brilliant’,” she grumbled jokingly. “It’s wonderful to meet you both.”

REZA

Dorsaf shot Reza a glare. “What do you usually lead with, you bastard?” She said after she shook Aurora’s hand. “Poor Aurora, you must be a saint for tolerating him. He’s a genius sorcerer but needs a Baby’s First guide to human interaction.”

She motioned for them to get in the car.

“Should only be about a ten minute drive to Reza’s dad’s.” Hamdi said, popping the trunk to stuff their bags in. “But six since I’m driving.”

“Hamdi, if you kill me I will haunt you.” Reza quipped. 

Dorsaf snorted and settled into the front passenger seat as Rory and Reza climbed in the back. She turned around in her seat to face them and raised an eyebrow, addressing Reza in their native language. 

“What’s brought you back to Tunisia anyway? I thought you were gone for good.”

“Me too.”

“Do you think it’s safe for you?”

“Doubt it.”

“Then why?”

“...tying up a loose end.”

A tense silence fell between the two as the color drained from Dorsaf’s face and her eyes bore into the older man’s goddamned soul. She closed her eyes and sighed, hand coming to rest over her baby bump as she simply shook her head.

“You’re going to die trying to right a wrong that wasn’t yours in the first place.”

“Isn’t it, though?”

Dorsaf bit her lip, then as if suddenly remembering Aurora was there, slapped back on her warm, tour guide smile. “Reza mentioned you were Sabiha’s favorite aunt now, yes? How is our baby doing? We all miss her terribly.”

“Reza was the first of our friend group to have a child.” Hamdi explained.

“Mm, but the only one never married.” Dorsaf added.

“Marriage is just another piece of paper I’d lose track of.” Reza said. “And who would I marry anyway?”

“You turned down marriage propositions left and right from heads of sorcerer families, what do mean ‘who?’” Hamdi shot back.

“Are we done talking about my marital status?” Reza asked. “You asked Rory about Sabiha, Dorsaf?”

AURORA

“Oh, don’t worry. I annoy him plenty, it evens out,” Aurora said with a small chuckle. She already liked Hamdi and Dorsaf, she had decided. But then, Aurora liked most people.

She climbed into the backseat with Reza, rolling her eyes at the two men’s banter as she got settled. As they began speaking in Tunisian again, Aurora watched the scenery fly by with wide eyes, knowing that even trying to keep up with the conversation now was a lost cause. She only looked back when Dorsaf addressed her in English again.

At the mention of Sabiha, Aurora almost automatically sat up straighter, smiling widely. But as the trio began their back and forth, Aurora wilted a bit again; her conversation with Reza the night of prom still fresh in her mind. She shouldn’t be lighting up at the mention of her sorcery master’s daughter, she shouldn’t feel so proud of her accomplishments.

(The bright, warm lights that had popped up around her head like fairy lights immediately fizzled and died out like little candles blown out by a careless wind, and the fracturing across her chest deepened and spread.)

“She’s doing good,” Aurora said, trying to sound casual. “Um, she’s back at school again, so that’s going well! And she was in our town’s play this last summer. She played Young Cosette.”

REZA

Hamdi saw the reagent appear then fade away just as quickly in the rear view. He knew Reza did too. The younger sorcerer shot the older a brief glare meaning - what did you do to make that happen? Which Reza saw but ignored. 

“And how has she settled into England? Reza nearly broke his back to pay for private English tutoring but she struggled. She never had an English speaker at home to help her study.” Dorsaf said, frowning. “I miss her.”

“We all love his little girl so much,” Hamdi explained. “The lot of us got to watch her grow up. Sabiha was the first child born to any of the squad and we all just adored and spoiled her.”

AURORA

“She’s picking English up really well! Doing the play helped, and she’ll talk with my regulars in English so she gets some extra practice,” Aurora explained. “As for how she’s settled? Um, there’s good and bad days. More good than anything else now, at least.”

Aurora missed her too, like a fucking limb. She had texted Sabiha as soon as they had landed, letting her know they had made it safe and sound, although she was purposefully vague about where exactly they were. But Sabiha wasn’t hers to miss. So she buried that too.

“Didn’t spoil her too badly, she’s the sweetest wee thing I’ve ever met,” she said softly. Her hands tangled together in her lap. “What about you?” she asked. “Reza mentioned earlier you two have kids now as well?”

REZA

“Yes! We have six, or will, once this one is born.” Dorsaf said, rubbing her baby bump and grinning. “Reza actually was the first person to ever hold our first four besides us. He helped out a lot with our first daughter.”

“You say that, but all I did was give you Sabiha’s hand me downs for Awatef and tell you both to stop panicking.” Reza supplied. 

“Hamdi grew up an only child, and I come from a big family, so we both wanted to just make babies until we finally had enough.” Dorsaf continued. “We have three sons and two daughters, and this will be our third daughter.”

Reza’s jaw dropped, his face absolutely lighting up. “A girl!? Hamdi didn’t tell me it was a girl! I’m sure Awatef and Maysoon are excited to not be outnumbered anymore.”

“Oh, thrilled. Dorsaf and I can hardly keep them from asking every day ‘Baba can you tell Mama to have the baby now?’”

Dorsaf pulled out her phone and quickly got to a photo of their five children in traditional Tunisian clothing at some kind of festival. “Our oldest is Awatef, she is five years old. We wanted to have another right away to get a good start on our big family, so our first son, Noureddine is also five, he’s ten months younger than Awatef. Maysoon and Haudar are twins, they are four and are actually almost exactly a year younger than Noureddine. Reza actually named Haydar because Hamdi and I couldn’t stop arguing so we made him decide. Najm is our fifth, he just turned one. Now we are just waiting for Yosra to come.”

“Yeah, and I’m sure you already have the conception date for number seven on the calendar.” Reza joked. 

“How’d you know?” Dorsaf joked and the same time Hamdi snorted “Fuck you, pal.”

“Not like you're much better,” said the sorcerer making eye contact with Reza in the rearview. “Mr. I Hate Kids one minute then the next you’re like ‘I want eight more immediately’ after you have one.”

AURORA

Aurora listened closely to the two as they talked about their family, the small, polite smile on her face hiding the hole that had opened up in her chest. Asking about kids was always a hit or miss for her, and lately? Mostly misses. As she looked at the photo, she ached with longing. She wanted that so much; wanted a family of her own.

Every day that dream felt further and further away.

At least this pain she was well practiced in hiding, and she turned her smile onto Dorsaf. “They’re all so beautiful,” she said softly. “Hopefully they take after their mother,” she joked, giving Hamdi her most innocent smile.

REZA

“See? I told you I’m the hot one in this marriage.” Dorsaf said, sticking her tongue out at Hamdi.

Hamdi opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by Reza going ‘almost home, almost home!’ in Arabic. The younger sorcerer locked eyes with Reza in the rearview and smiled.

The car wasn’t even in park before Reza tore off his seatbelt and scrambled out of the car, damn near getting his foot run over by the back tire. Did he give a damn? Nope, not one single damn. He tore down the little alleyway that led to the staircase to his father’s second floor apartment. 

His father had clearly been watching out the window because Reza was halfway up the stairs when his father threw open his door and shouted ‘The prodigal son returns! Come here, come, come!’

Reza hugged his father so tight his heels came up off the ground. “Baba, I’ve missed you so much- have you shrunk?”

“Hold your tongue or your apprentice gets the bigger bedroom and you’re sleeping on the stairwell.”

Reza laughed wetly, as he’d started to tear up. “Y’allah, this is embarrassing.”

“I know, son. I am a sight to behold.”

“Sh-shut up.” 

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?” His father asked, switching to French, as he was warned Rory spoke French but not Arabic.

“Oh. Oh, right, yes. Baba, Rory. Rory, Baba. Er, Abdelmajid Kasraoui.”

AURORA

Aurora let out a sound somewhere between a yell of shock and a squeak when Reza jumped out of a moving car. She at least waited until it stopped before popping out, sighing when she was sure he was okay. Dorsaf and Hamdi were both laughing, and Aurora shook her head fondly as she stepped the rest of the way out. “Give me like two minutes and I’ll be back for our luggage,” she told them before closing the door and following Reza, albeit at more of a trot instead of a flat-out run.

By the time she made it to the stairwell, Reza and an older gentleman were already hugging on the stairs, and her battered heart went soft at the sound of Reza’s wet laughter and brilliant smile. She stood, hands clasped, on the sidewalk until she heard his father begin to speak in French. She perked up curiously, before trotting up the stairs to greet the other half of the Kasraoui-Muller duo.

“It’s so wonderful to meet you,” she returned in French with a bright smile. “I’m Aurora.”

REZA

Abdelmajid didn’t know where his son got his height from. At 5’7 he stood nine inches shorter than Reza, and he swore he was shrinking with age. He stood on his toes to playfully smack his giraffe of a son upside the head.

“How dare you not tell me you were bringing a friend until the last minute, son! Do you know how much more cleaning I would have done yesterday if you told me you were bringing a pretty young lady into my home? Tsk, baba, so inconsiderate.” But the older man’s words were softened by the love in his eyes. 

He waved his hand at Reza. “Go grab your bags so Hamdi and Dorsaf can enjoy the rest of their kid-free day. I’ll finish up dinner. Early dinner. The cooking I did to keep still.”

Reza gestured to the car with his head. “I’ll grab everything. You go ahead inside, Rory. Put your feet up.” He gently pat her shoulder. “You must be tired.”

He scurried downstairs and grabbed the four bags - one carry-on per person plus one personal item. After a back-and-forth of Reza offering Hamdi money and Hamdi refusing, Reza insisting and Hamdi refusing still, Reza really truly insisting and Hamdi simply not being able to take Reza’s money, and Dorsaf swiping it from Reza’s hand because she would gladly take Reza’s money, thanks, he hurried back upstairs.

“Baba, it smells like you’ve been cooking enough food for Eid. How early did you start?”

“5:30.”

“Y’allah! Do you never sleep?”

“How can I, when my children and precious granddaughter are so far away?”

“Whose decision was that? You practically deported us from our own country.”

“And it wasn’t easy for me either, baba. But you survived, you can walk, and you are even part of your town’s government. You could not have had that life here.”

Reza was silent for a long moment. He set down their bags and sat down on a couch adjacent to Aurora. “We’re being rude to Aurora, speak French, baba.”

AURORA

Aurora smothered a snort of amusement as Abdelmajid reached up to smack Reza upside the head. She was content to stand back and let the two have the uninterrupted reunion she knew Reza had been wanting and expecting before she had invited herself along.

She blinked owlishly at her master as he patted her shoulder before almost pouting at him. She wasn’t a child, she could manage a five hour flight and a train ride. She trotted down the stairs a little after him so she could wave good bye to Dorsef and Hamdi enthusiastically before she followed Reza’s father into his house. “I really am sorry to intrude,” she said in French, giving him a shy smile before Reza came back in. Then, it was back to Tunasian and Aurora was left to look around the room on her own. She took it all in with wide eyes, fascinated by the tidy little home. Something in the air smelled wonderful, and she took a slow breath through her nose as her eyes drifted closed.

Her head whipped around when she heard her name mentioned, some of the curls that had escaped her wrap bouncing against her skin. “Oh, no, don’t worry about me!” she said quickly, waving her hands. “I was the one who invited myself. You two take your time catching up.”

REZA

“It’s fine,” Reza assured her in English. “We’ll catch up when you eventually knock out.”

He winked at her before turning his head to his father, and in the language only they understood, “Baba, mention needing a new scarf in front of Aurora while she’s here and she’ll jump to knit you one. She’s made all of Sabiha’s scarves and hats for the winter.”

“I can’t ask a favor of a guest!”

“She will insist on repaying you for the hospitality, knitting is her go-to. But she’s not familiar with the climate here and probably doesn’t know it can get chilly enough on winter nights for a scarf. I’m telling you this for her sake, not yours.”

Reza knew Rory by now. She’d fret over how to thank Abdelmajid for hosting her without a strategically placed scarf comment.

“Anyway,” he switched to their one mutual language. “My dad’s a better cook than even I am— and much better than my sisters. You’ll refuse to eat my cooking again after his.”

“Speaking of your sisters,” Abdelmajid said, the sadness in his voice evident. “How are they? Are they really well?”

“Yes, baba. Lamia and Rory are actually best friends so she probably knows more than me. Fadela is as bitchy as usual, and stays alive by absorbing the tears of every man she meets.”

“Good girl, I raised her right.”

AURORA

Although she couldn’t be certain, Aurora was pretty sure that Reza had just been talking about her to his dad in Tunasian, the brat, and she narrowed her eyes at him with a pout. She was long used to Reza and his sisters talking about her to her face in a language she could never hope to understand, but that didn’t make it any less annoying. At least wait until she was out of the room!

Her pout faded at the mention of food, the young apprentice perking up with a smile. She had developed quite a taste for Tunisian food after spending nearly a year having dinner with Reza’s family at least once a week. She hadn’t come for the food, but she was certainly going to enjoy it. “Please, where else am I going to get my fix?” she joked. “You’ve seen my attempts at cooking Tunisian food; I will take what I can get.”

She snorted at the mention of Fadela, but nodded. “I’ve got pictures!” she said happily. “You have very photogenic children, sir,” she joked.

REZA

“Where el— yallah. Where else?” Reza said, mock offended, pressing a hand to his chest. “As if you eat anything but Tunisian food some weeks with all the leftovers Sabiha dutifully packs up for you.”

He playfully threw an ice cube from his glass of boukha at her. 

At his children being called photogenic, Abdelmajid’s ears perked up. “Would you like one? My oldest two will be forty soon and haven’t gotten married, it’s embarrassing.”

“Baba!” Reza gasped, choking on the liquor he was sipping. 

“I’m getting old! Even Hamdi got married before you! I want to see you and Fadela at least married before I die.” 

“Aish. Always with the guilt trip. I gave you a grandchild, that should be enough. Who wants a daughter-in-law anyway, you already raised two daughters, do you need a third?” Reza mumbled, switching accidentally to Tunisian midway through before mouthing an apology to Rory. “Please. Show him the pictures before he makes his full sales pitch.”

Once his father was good and distracted, Reza put their bags away in their respective rooms, his, in his old bedroom, and Rory’s in the room his sisters shared. He cracked the windows for airflow as the house didn’t have air conditioning, like most homes in Africa, fluffed the pillows in Rory’s room to make sure they were comfortable, and set out several blankets of varying materials and thickness so she could choose her favorite. Should he bring one to the living room in case she needs a sudden nap?

No, he decided, and walked out of the room. 

He scurried back into the bedroom to grab a blanket and brought it to the couch, placing it next to where Rory had been sitting without a word. 

“So is this less scary than the time you met my mother,  Ammah ‘Rora?” Reza joked, coming up behind the two of them. 

“You met Ingrid?” Abdelmajid gasped. “You poor thing. Did she interrogate you or go straight to fight?”

“She almost pulled her wand on her, baba.”

“Oh my.”

AURORA

Aurora ducked away from the ice cube with a light giggle, sticking her tongue out at Reza. For a moment, everything felt normal, like the last several months had never happened.

And then Abdelmajid asked if she would like to marry into the family and under her blushing cheeks, her smile froze and strained. Thank god she had worn a shirt that covered her chest. She played it off with a small laugh, reaching for her necklace. "I don't think that'll happen," she said lightly, trying to sound joking and falling ever so slightly flat. Thankfully, Reza offered her the perfect opportunity for a distraction and Aurora quickly pulled out her phone.

She spent the next several minutes next to Reza's father on the couch, showing him all the pictures she had taken over the past two years. Her and Lamia's various outings, Sabiha during rehearsal for Les Mis and hanging out in the shop, she and Fadela pranking Reza during lessons. The whole nine yards. It was enough to help her put her heartache on the back burner.

She glanced up briefly when Reza came back in, doing a double take when she noticed the blanket in his arms before he set it down next to her without a word. A part of her melted, the other part wanted to cry. Why couldn't he just continue to be pissed at her? At least then her heart wouldn't have whiplash.

Aurora's cheeks flushed again as they brought up her first meeting with Ingrid Muller. "In her defense, I didn't make a stellar first impression. I may have kicked in the door while cursing Reza out pretty loudly," she admitted, shrinking a little into the couch.

REZA

Reza hummed thoughtfully and chewed on his lower lip. Aurora was right, sure, but he also could’ve been more clear in his text message that he wasn’t mad at her. 

“Meh, it was my fault you were mad enough to storm in the door.” Reza said, shrugging a shoulder. 

“And my mother is notoriously trigger happy. Baba’s just a teddy bear, and a much better cook than her. I won’t be able to eat my cooking again after being back home.”

Reza jumped up to sit on the counter. “So what do you want to do while we’re here? We probably have a few days before— ” before Mekki’s location is locked in on and I do some murder “— business. Hammamet is touristy there’s plenty to do. You can ask Baba to go along with you if I ever sleep in.”

AURORA

Aurora still hid her face in her hands at the memory of her meeting Reza's mom, even as he tried to reassure her. It had certainly not been her finest moment.

Once she could look back up, she shrugged bashfully. "I uh, didn't really have time to put together an itinerary, so I honestly don't know," she admitted. She was here for Reza first and foremost, touring the city second. But she did want to explore! 

She looked at Abdelmajid with a smile. "What do you think would be good to see?" she asked curiously.

REZA

“You mean you didn’t put together a detailed itinerary while chasing me down at the airport? Get your shit together, ‘Rora.” Reza teased, easily, like being around his father again had erased all of the awkwardness between him and Aurora for the better part of this year.

Reza had said that in English, so Abdelmajid only smiled, as he didn’t quite understand all of that. Instead, he turned to Aurora and responded in French. “Every girl in Hammamet has an Instagram picture of them at the Kasbah with the caption ‘Rock The Casbah.’ It’s historic and overlooks the Mediterranean. I can take you one morning. I took great Instagram pictures for my daughters, my son was always too busy working for Sabiha or fighting for social justice to have very much fun. He’s an all-or-nothing kind of person, unfortunately.”

What was with his family and constantly roasting him in front of Aurora? Fuckin’ hell.

“Have him take you to the Medina of Hammamet, the old town. Its colorful, gorgeous to look at, and the restaurants are nice there. The Musee des Religions is good if you want to learn about the history of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity in Tunisia. Historic mosques...oh! The beaches are beautiful.” Abdelmajid waved a hand dismissively. “Just tell Reza to do whatever you think sounds interesting. Tell him I said to do whatever you say.”

AURORA

In cheerful English that she hoped Abdelmajid really couldn’t understand, Aurora brightly told Reza to “Bite me~.” But she was grinning as she did, more than a little grateful that Reza was happy enough to be home that he forgot he was mad with her / annoyed with her / avoiding her.

Aurora turned her attention back to Abdelmajid, listening curiously and giggling as he casually read his son for filth during his impromptu tourist ad. As the older man went on, his voice took on almost a rhythm, and suddenly Aurora felt lightheaded and tired. Fuck, had she taken her meds? She must have forgotten in the scramble to reach the airport in time to catch Reza. 

Without her permission, her head listed to the side, leaning against the back of the couch. Her giggle came out soft and slurred as her eyelids started to drop. “I will,” she murmured, fighting to stay awake. “My mom’s from a beach town. I love the ocean.”

REZA

“Ah, this happens all the time.” Reza explained.

He honestly wasn’t sure how to say the exact word ‘narcolepsy’ in Djerba - the word for Tunisian Arabic - so he did his best to describe it to his father in their native tongue as he moved to scoop up Aurora and the blanket. Abdelmajid seemed to understand and helped Reza adjust the blanket around her.

“I’ll take her to the girls’ old room for a nap. Thank you for cleaning it on such short notice. She all but physically fought her way onto the plane.”

Abdelmajid tried very, very hard not to smack his son upside the head, but alas, his son was just that much of an idiot.

“Ow! Baba?”

Abdelmajid didn’t need to say it, Reza knew. She’s in love with you, you emotionally illiterate jackwagon.

AURORA

She was still awake enough to struggle against being scooped up, but too tired to do more than wiggle a little and whine “Nooooo” in a voice thick and slow with sleep. She was pouting as Reza pulled her into his arms, but that didn’t stop her from letting her head flop against his collarbone as she curled tighter close to him. She wasn’t often awake enough to remember when Reza picked her up, and somewhere in her sleepy mind something soft and warm settled over her.

She felt small and safe and warm, and with one last attempt to thank Abdelmajid for the blanket - which came out more like a Very Scottish Mumble of Sounds - she let herself sink into dark, dreamless sleep.

[kitausu]

Becoming a Prince

11/12

Prince Shiro has a new boyfriend and it just might be love.

Inspired by the royal engagement.

**This chapter was released 2 days early for Patreon supporters**

The next morning, Shiro woke to an empty bed. The curtains were still closed, but he could see from the dim light it was pretty late in the morning and Lance’s side of the bed was cold.

Frowning, Shiro rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked around. The bathroom door was open and dark, and there was an empty plate with crumbs at the little breakfast table in the corner of the room. This wasn’t exactly how he had predicted the morning going. He had expected Lance to be impossible to wake from jetlag, to maybe tease him a little, bring him around nice and slow with his tongue…

Shiro grimaced as he glanced down and saw the sheets tented over his lap. He had become familiar with this, thoughts of Lance and a cold bed. It was no wonder things were even worse with the smell of Lance all around him and soaking the sheets even after just one night.

The lotion he smoothed all over his skin at night was pungent and filled the space with a heady scent marker of where he had been. Shiro flopped back onto the bed, reaching blindly for Lance’s pillow to tuck under his cheek before slipping his hand beneath the sheets.

A brief thought of getting his prosthetic so he could better hold the fabric to his nose flashed through his thoughts before quickly being discarded. He couldn’t wait, not with that scent right there already, not with the memory of Lance just last night on his mind.

Sleep deprived Lance, giddy and easily malleable under Shiro as he stretched and whispered for him, begged in that soft little voice he sometimes used.

Shiro had tried to get him to sleep instead, but Lance had turned those doe eyes on him and it wasn’t like Shiro had a good track record of denying him anything. Especially not that.

As a compromise Shiro had picked his legs up, crossing the ankles and throwing them both over his good shoulder. The space between Lance’s thighs was hot and damp with sweat when he pressed his cock between them and it was one of the best feelings in the world.

Lance had shivered beneath him, Shiro’s cock running along his and jostling him up the bed as his thrusts picked up speed.

Gripping his dick hard, Shiro closed his eyes and remembered the way Lance had whimpered and moaned, how he had braced his hands up against the headboard to keep still, stretching out the line of his body.

The heat under the blanket was making Shiro sweat, his hand moving easily along his cock as he leaked and beads of sweat trailed down his wrist and arm.

Shiro remembered the way Lance had finally opened his eyes, the blue hazy with exhaustion and lust and the way his lips had formed a soundless please as he came between them. Gasping, Shiro’s back arched, his mind playing the image of Lance losing it over and over as he spilled into his fist and against his own stomach.

Slumping back against the bed, Shiro could just faintly hear voices over the sound of blood rushing in his ears.

“Aurora, go ask your dad if we can play outside,” Lance called from somewhere down the hall.

His words were quickly followed by the heavy stomp of feet as the little girl darted past their suite towards her parents’.

Shiro waited, throwing the sheet off to feel the cool air against his skin. He was starting to stand to go clean up in the bathroom when the door opened a crack and one of Lance’s blue eyes peered through the opening.

Lance spotted him sitting on the side of the bed and grinned, quickly assessing the situation. Biting his lip, Lance slowly and teasingly shook his head before closing the door again. Shiro was confused until he heard the sound of Aurora’s rapid footsteps coming back down the hall.

“Is Uncle Shiro awake?” Aurora yelped, now right outside the door.

“Nope, he’s being a sleepy head. Let’s go outside and we can tell the butler to have him meet us in the garden when he wakes up,” Lance assured, his voice already fading as they walked away.

Groaning, Shiro dropped his face into his hands, smiling so hard his cheeks hurt. He was sure he had never been this happy in his entire life.

-

When Shiro finally got cleaned up and dressed, he did finally wander out to the garden, deciding to skip breakfast even though his stomach grumbled at the idea. Lance and Aurora were still out there, playing some kind of fantasy game with Keith that involved jumping over a series of sticks while singing.

Allura were lounging nearby in a pair of shorts, watching the antics from behind her sunglasses as her husband did a very off-key rendition of the national anthem while hoping on one foot to indulge his daughter.

“Sleep well?” Aurora teased when she spotted her brother making his way over.

She shielded her eyes to look up at him from her chair and grinned. Shiro only rolled his eyes and took the seat beside her without response.

It was Lance’s turn to sing, some garbled form of Row Row Row Your Boat serenading Shiro as he got comfortable, Aurora cheering him on from the sidelines. When he finished Shiro watched as Lance turned around and swept Aurora into his arms, tickling her so she shrieked as he and Keith laughed.

Shiro felt helpless with happiness as he watched. Lance with Aurora really was a good look. Unbidden, Shiro thought of him with a baby nestled in his arms, of other kids darting around their feet nearly tripping them as they played.

“Have you picked out the jewels yet?” Allura asked, her tone nonchalant as they watched the two men in their lives and Aurora

Shiro hummed, not willing to concede that she had guessed his thoughts so easily. He sometimes liked to pretend that he wasn’t that much of an open book, even if they both knew it wasn’t true.  

“I was thinking a three-stone setting,” Allura mused, looking at her own wedding ring critically.

“Meddling,” Shiro sighed, but smiled indulgently at his sister.

“If you’re planning on using some of Mom’s you’ll need to…”

“I already called,” Shiro admitted, his eyes focused on Lance even when Allura leaned forward to try to catch his eye.

“Did you decide on a three stone—”

“You’ll just have to wait and see,” Shiro sang just to frustrate her.

Lance had spotted him and was waving him over earnestly. The sun was in his eyes so he was squinting a little, premature laugh lines forming at his temples. When he got closer, Shiro could pick out a few faint freckles popping up across the bridge of Lance’s nose when he kissed him.

“Good morning,” Lance kissed him again when he tried to pull back, one hand in Shiro’s hair at the back of his neck to keep him close.

“Good morning, baby.”

He might have said more but Aurora was at his side, tugging at his shirt to take him over to her game.

“You can’t deny a princess,” Lance laughed as he relinquished him to her mercy.

“Or a prince,” Shiro agreed.

-

Shiro had the entire evening planned out for their anniversary, down to the last second.

He should have known nothing would go according to plan.

“You really didn’t budget time for this?” Lance laughed, his words choking off into a high whine as Shiro hiked his leg higher up around his waist.

“I know, I’m an idiot,” Shiro agreed.

He knew there was a reason they didn’t have time for this, but Lance’s shirt collar had slipped, and the thin skin of his neck was right there. Shiro bit before he could even think, his teeth pressing hard enough to bruise, egged on by Lance’s moans.

“Maybe we should just have our anniversary in bed.”

Shiro stopped, suddenly dropping Lance’s leg and stepping away from him so fast Lance actually gasped in surprise.

“Shiro?” Lance looked concerned as he reached for him.

Shiro could see where his neck was damp with his saliva and his palm itched to reach out and drag Lance back to him.  

“No, nope, we can’t do that. We have to go to the restaurant,” Shiro insisted, tucking his hands into his pockets to avoid the temptation of touching Lance.

“Oookay…” Lance nodded slowly.

He reached up to fix the collar of his shirt before looking down at his pants with a snort.

“How obvious is this?”

Shiro swallowed hard as Lance gestured to the fairly obvious tent in Lance’s slacks.

“Are you wearing underwear?” Shiro asked faintly because, really, it was just too much.

Lance licked his lips and looked up at him from beneath his lashes.

“Define underwear.”

There was a long moment where Shiro just stared at him, every single one of his plans catching fire and going up in smoke because there was no place on this earth where Lance could say something like that and Shiro would just let it go.

“I hope you know you’re ruining my plans,” Shiro chastised as he stooped to pick Lance up and carry him back to their bed.

“I’m not even doing anything!” Lance protested through a laugh.

Shiro tossed him onto the bed just to hear him squeal. Lance looked debauched already, his limbs splayed out, suit jacket rumbled beneath him.

“Show me,” Shiro demanded.

Lance continued to lay there, unmoving, with a smirk on his lips. Crossing his arms, Shiro only raised an eyebrow.

“Show me.”

Slowly, Lance reached down to undo the button on his slacks. He wiggled, pushing the fitted material down his hips to reveal exactly what Shiro had expected.

The front of the silk blue panties was already nearly soaked through. The head of Lance’s cock was trapped by the elastic, the fabric barely containing his dick inside.

“Like I said, I’m not even doing anything,” Lance hummed, slipping the panties down so his cock slipped free.

Shiro dove for the bed, practically growling as he forced Lance’s hands away from his cock and above his head.

“If you’re going to ruin my plans, at least be a good boy and keep those there.”

Shiro squeezed Lance’s wrists hard before letting go. At the very least, if his plans had to be ruined, this wasn’t a bad way to do it.

-

The clock on their bedside table said it was nearly midnight when Lance blinked his eyes open. Shiro was propped up over him on his elbow, his prosthetic likely over on the table where he usually left it for the night.

Lance reached up sleepily, running his hand through Shiro’s fringe. He grinned when Shiro turned to kiss his palm.

“Sorry I ruined your plans,” Lance rasped.

Shiro shook his head slowly, leaning into Lance’s palm where it cupped his cheek.

“It’s okay, the best part still happened.”

Confused, Lance furrowed his brow as Shiro rolled onto his back and reached for something on the nightstand behind him. Lance almost didn’t understand what was happening when Shiro turned and placed the velvet box on his chest.

“What?”

Shiro smiled, nodding his head at the box, wanting Lance to open it.

With fumbling fingers, Lance picked the box up from his chest. The velvet was soft to touch and Lance had a bizarre impulse to rub it against his cheek. Instead, he carefully opened the lid, revealing the ring inside.

Lance stared, one finger slowly reaching out to touch the blue sapphire at the center of the three stones on the ring.

“This is an engagement ring,” Lance whispered, finally looking up at Shiro who was still hovering over him.

“It is,” Shiro agreed.

He was smiling as Lance turned wide eyed back to the box cradled in his palm.

“I had a whole plan tonight. I was supposed to take you out to dinner. We were going to go for a walk in the park and I was going to propose under the same tree my parents got engaged under,” Shiro confessed.

Lance could picture it in his mind, Shiro bending down, holding open the box and he felt tears start to prick the corner of his eyes.

“Lance, I can get out of this bed and get down on one knee if you want. I might need to put some pants on first but—”

“No, no, this is good,” Lance laughed, the tears really coming now as he turned to look at Shiro again.

Shiro leaned forward and kissed Lance’s cheek, tasting salt on his lips. When he pulled back, he was crying a little too, moved by Lance’s own tears.

“Will you marry me?”

It was simple, possibly too simple for someone as perfect and deserving as Lance. But, it was all Shiro had, the honesty of his love for him.

“Yes, of course,” Lance sobbed.

Shiro laughed when Lance nearly threw himself forward, the ring clutched in one hand as he toppled Shiro onto his back.

“Can I put the ring on?” Shiro finally asked, a little breathless as Lance pressed kiss after kiss to every point of Shiro’s face he could reach.

“Yes! Please!”

Sitting up, Lance straddled Shiro’s hips and offered his hand and the box back to him. Shiro carefully pulled the ring from the box and took Lance’s hand in his.

“You know, the stones were from my mother’s collection,” Shiro confided as he slipped the ring onto Lance’s finger.

Lance held his hand up, transfixed by the sapphire and the two diamonds. Even in the low light of evening they glittered as he tilted his hand.

“I love it. I love you,” Lance sighed.

Leaning forward, Lance stretched out on top of Shiro’s chest so their noses brushed together.

“I love you, too,” Shiro breathed, kissing Lance over and over like there wasn’t enough time in the world.

(Lance’s ring is an inversion of this with the sapphire in the middle and the diamonds on the side) 

[sxmnus]

❛ hold still. this might sting a little. ❜ - from crystal

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎ ❝ a-ah -- ❞ she wasn't wrong, the sting hurt more than she had prepped for, which only frustrated her more. how could she have been so careless? aurora had gotten so used to complacency that by the time she got back to doing her actual job, it was clear she was out of sorts. now she was sitting in an alleyway with several gashes on her legs and probably a sprained ankle as the cherry on top. ❝ th-thank you, ❞ she heaved, fingers clenched around her upper thigh to brace herself. ❝ i'm such an idiot. i almost got caught tonight. ugh, that's so frustrating... you really don't have to do this.... ❞

[survivingsusac]

I Got to Decline Something Today

Welllllll, technically it was throughout last week. But “Today” makes for a shorter and bit more catchy title, don’t ya think?

So for a month or so Blina (remember her from the massage that turned me into pudding and my trip to Apple Hill?) has been asking me about whether or not custom inserts would help with my gait and comfort with mobility. I asked the best GP ever (aka: MINE) for a referral to a podiatrist for custom orthotics. To my genuine surprise the podiatry office got in touch with me the next week and got my appointment scheduled within in a month of asking the best GP ever for the referral. I asked her for it on November 26. The woman gets RIGHT TO WORK on my behalf and I absolutely adore her for it.

p>On December 15 I go to my first ever podiatry appointment with Dr. Roya. We talk for a little bit. Turns out she hasn’t the foggiest about Susac Syndrome. I was disappointed to find that, unlike all the other Sutter doctors I have met with so far, Dr. Roya hadn’t fully read my chart and looked into my

Link for your knowledge:

https://www.anatomicalconceptsinc.com/dda-dynamic-dorsi-assist-articulating-ankle-foot-orthosis

She hands me a paper prescription and out of Sutter referral to this Prosthetics and Orthotics guy, Dan, down the street from her office to get fitted for the brace. She says that it’ll be a fight to get insurance to cover it, but that they usually do.

Now, I’m familiar with fighting insurance (can you say IVIg?). But it is precisely because I am familiar with it that I do not feel like venturing down that pathway unless it is absolutely necessary.

Anyway! My thoughts continue on somewhat like this, I have two other fully competent medical team members who know my diagnosis and gait really well without a quick search; I will consult with them before I go seeing this Dan guy down the street.

So the very next day I take my After Visit Summary with me to PT with Jerzy to get his opinion on this whole AFO situation. He gives me a solid no and an equally solid explanation supporting the no. It has to do with undoing all the work we’re putting in two to three days a week at PT.

That night I message Dr. Walks His Cat and ask for his thoughts. He gives me this response in his typical way:

“Hi Rora,

I would personally say that's a bad idea.

You have difficulty lifting your feet (dorsiflexing) because of calf spasticity, not because of foot drop.

The muscles that lift your feet are fine!

So here's the anatomy: The muscles on the front of your calf, particularly the tibialis anterior (TA), pulls the foot up (dorsiflexion), which the muscles on the back of the calf that we're giving Botox to pull the foot back down. Right? Every joint in the body work this way with 2 sets of opposing muscles on each side of it. In order for one set of muscles to work, the opposing set has to relax. But if the opposing set has spasticity, then it can't relax enough to allow the other set to do its job.

In people with a stroke and some people with MS, the front calf muscle (TA) is weak and won't pull up the foot, so those people need an AFO for support so they don't trip over their feet. But in your case, you do not have weak TA muscles. The reason you have trouble pulling your feet up is because the muscles on the back of the calf won't relax and let the TA muscle work. So if you start wearing AFO braces all the time, then the TA muscles won't have to work at all, and when muscles stop working, they become weak. So ultimately, wearing AFOs all the time will actually cause a foot drop over time.

Does that make sense?”

Super brief side bar: I signed ONE message to him as “-Rora” the beginning of December 2020. Now he calls me a little lion and has changed my screen name in My Health Online to “Rora” where it used to be “Aurora”. Doctors can be fun, too :)

But so now I’ve got double the input not to pursue an Dorsi Assist AFO brace. And that’s not counting my own which is that intuitively I thought along the same lines as Dr. Walks His Cat’s logic, but I just wasn't able to make my brain articulate the best sentence to explain my thoughts. That, and, in an effort to be polite to Dr. Mirmiran and not ruin a potentially good first impression I didn't point out that I was in doubt of her suggestion.

So between myself, Jerzy, and Dr. Walks His Cat, I have determined that I am NOT going through the commitment and perhaps hassle of getting fitted for something which would be harmful in the longterm timeframe that Dr. Roya wanted me to use it in.

Which was permanently, BTW @_@

Today’s moral: Put in the work (connecting the dots between doctors) so you don’t have to put in unnecessary work (filling prescriptions and submitting to unneeded evaluations).

Surviving Susac,

Aurora

P.S. Can you see in the way Dr. Walks His Cat talks to me in his messages why I like him so much? He talks science to me and then breaks it down to simple terms, too.

DOES THAT SEEM FAMILIAR TO ANYONE? LOL

[liimitless]

//Have some Mun Stuff While I get my shit together

Stole From: @rxtroskull​

Name: Allysia Star Sign: Capricorn Height: 5′2″ Middle Name: Evianna

Put your Spotify on shuffle. What are the first 6 songs that popped up?

Send Me on My Way - Rusted Root

Home - Phillip Phillips

Runaway - Aurora

And She Was - Talking Heads

If You Want to Be Happy - Bertie Higgins 

Mr. Blue Sky - Electric Light Orchestra

Grab one book nearest to you and turn to page 23. What’s line 17? 

“meanwhile I share a living room with my brother and am lim-” (From More Happy Than Not; Technically Through the Looking Glass was closest, but I haven’t read that yet akdslasjd) 

Ever had a poem or a song written about you?

Gosh, I wish.  

When was the last time you played air guitar? 

It was for a TikTok dance to Funky Town. 

Who is your celebrity crush? 

My true love will always be Chris Pratt.

What’s a sound you hate; sound you love? 

Crying. I hate the sound of crying because someone is in pain and you can feel it when they cry.

Music is cliché. I love, love, love the sounds of cooking. Pans, whisks, pouring and chopping! A symphony of deliciousness. 

Do you believe in ghosts?

It’s possible, but there’s a lot of bullshit out there.  

How about aliens?

Definitely! But, like?? Microorganisms, mostly. We can’t be the only life in the universe, but I doubt there are humanoid creatures coming to Earth. 

Do you drive? 

I’m learning!

Have you ever crashed?

Almost.

What was the last book you read?

To completion: Leah on the Off Beat by Becky Albertalli. Bits and Pieces: Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Do you like the smell of gasoline?

Fuck yeah I do. 

What was the last movie you saw?

In Theaters: Sonic the Hedgehog At Home: Trolls: World Tour

What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?

I sprained my ankle really bad in the 7th grade and had to wear a brace for a while. 

Do you have any obsessions right now?

Uh, most of my muses’ original works. Particularly Onward and Danny Phantom.

Do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong? Yeah, but only IRL. Even if I give them a second chance, I’m careful and easily annoyed by their actions.

In a relationship? Yes! I’ve had a boyfriend for about two months! His name is Eddie and I adore him.

Tagging: Nobody. Steal it, baybee.

[sending-the-message]

If You're Going to Commit Suicide, Don't Do It In Florida. by IEscapedFromALab

I tried to kill myself last night. I grabbed the last of my stash, a relative ton of hydrocodone, Roxicodone, Xanax, vodka and the like and decided I would rather finish it than go through another day. I headed to my favorite spot, the Lake Worth Beach, easily one of West Palm Beach’s best. It’s patrolled, but not heavily enough to catch a junkie whose car wasn’t safe enough to drive there anyways (I caught a ride from a friend).

The beach is a particularly wide and scenic beach, even for Florida, with a pier that was as massive as it was ancient juxtaposed with well-kept modern buildings. As I jumped over an old wooden railing near a corner on the farthest side I had a brief moment to marvel at the glares of pink, purple and orange being pulled across the other corner of the sky. Then I remembered that I was still a fat guy before tumbling onto the ground in uncoordinated pain.

I settled down in a nice spot and took as much as I could at once before vaping some weed while watching the last stragglers and couples leave my isolated corner of the beach. I ate a last meal of one of Havana’s famous medianoche and a mamey milkshake (mamey is a fruit that tastes like caramel). I began to feel my breath get shallow; I got as close to catching up with the dragon as I had in years before putting the cherry on top, my last three Roxicodone. At some point my eyes closed and I happily wondered if I would ever open them again.

It felt like less than a split second before I did, completely and feeling utterly sober as well.

“Son of a bitch!”

I was going to be sober. That meant some nasty stuff was just around the corner for me. The stress of looking at my disaster of a life wasn’t going to be any easier without anything to get high. It was morning, and the sunrise was just beginning to fight its way through the black sky. The sky was covered in ribbons of turquoise, dark orange, purple and white. It reflected on the placid surface of the water beautifully, making it look like scintillating multicolored crushed velvet. The only other person on the beach was a man in a suit, standing waist deep in the water and staring at the sunset.

I stood up and dusted myself off, but felt pretty good considering what I had just done. I was about to begin the long trek to my car when I remembered I hadn’t brought it. I looked over the edge of the sea wall, where people often gathered to watch sunrises, but no one was there. I didn’t see any cars in the parking lot either, but guessed that there had to be maintenance workers parked in the back lot or something.

“Wasted on a Junky”, I thought to myself as I briefly took in the neon steaks in the sky. Florida had the ability to summon visual feats that I am convinced are on par with aurora borealis on certain days of the year.

I was about to get up and start walking around aimlessly to borrow a cellphone (junkies can’t keep up with bills) when I remembered the dude in the suit. My first thought was to chuckle at the fact that I had previously glossed right over the man in the suit, although it wasn’t abnormal for people to do weird stuff at the beach, especially in the mornings. My second thought was “Maybe he has some good drugs. Maybe he’s friendly.”

I took off my shoes and socks and took off my shirt so that it would look like I was just there to swim. Thankfully he had his back to me, and was far enough away from my corner in the bushes that it was unlikely that he saw me. I put my stuff on one of the wooden beach chairs and braced myself for the cold of the water, something I hadn’t felt in more than ten years.

It had been so long that I had forgotten that the water in Florida is almost never cold, not like it is in California or New York at least. As I sunk into the warm water, I was stunned at the array of colors reflecting off of the water. The sun seemed almost in the air now, but the bands of color hadn’t quit, launching ribbons of pinks, oranges, blues and other colors that seemed to dart in between.

The water seemed perfect, warm and heavy but somehow more comfortable than being dry on the beach. I soaked my hair before approaching the guy who I hoped would let me use his cellphone and who appeared to be enjoying the holy shit out of the sunrise, despite a nice looking black pinstripe suit clearly being ruined. He was still watching the horizon, but now that I was closer I noticed that his hair was immaculate.

“Hey, good morning, dude!” I patiently waited for a response, but the man just stood there, watching the sunrise. “Uhhh, I hate to bother you, but is there any chance you have a cell I could borrow? I left mine at home.” Floridians aren’t exactly polite, but it was unheard of for someone to just give you the cold shoulder. My people tend towards the more outgoing varieties of douchebaggery. I became a bit excited as I accepted the happy assumption that he must be on some quality shit. ���Are you alright, dude? Tripping a bit? Maybe you could use a refresher?”

I did some quick thinking about how much weed I might have left and whether it might be enough to entice a stranger into sharing whatever drugs they had, which I was beginning to think might be shrooms or something else enthrallingly hallucinogenic. I took a few steps closer, wondering if he was even aware of me before I got a grip on myself. He was still pretty far out in the water; it was surprising it was only waist deep on him. This guy was either higher than I wanted to be or nuttier than I could realistically be able to navigate and I remembered that there were no cars in the front parking lot.

I took a couple of steps, suddenly feeling as if I was walking against a light current when I heard the water swish rapidly behind me. I turned around and the man was staring at me. He was wearing aviators that reflected the light of the sky just like the water and was clean cut, but he looked painfully familiar. He smiled widely at me, and then suddenly he began to walk towards me, his hands outstretched. I instinctively took a step back, but felt resistance. I looked down and saw the slender ribbons of color seemed to be denser around me, as if they were gathering around me.

A part of me was screaming at me to calm down, take a deep breath and just talk to this guy once he catches up to me. But the phrase “catching up to me” started repeating in my head and I decided to run like hell just in case. The resistance in the water grew and I suddenly felt sharp stabbing pains all over my body. I pushed forward, but when I looked down at the water again I saw my own blood coming out of what looked like small holes. I noticed the tendrils of color seemed to gather near them and I could feel something pushing its way into my skin.

A ragged gasp and broken syllable erupted behind me. It sounded like a computer playing back a recording of a deaf person trying to speak and failing due to some technical error. The man was gaining on me fast and was only about thirty feet away now. I almost stumbled from the surprise of pain near my groin, but forced myself forward even as I felt agony as squirming things popped from my skin. I felt things move desperately under my skin, pushing my fat and trying to hold my legs.

After a few seconds of pain, thrashing and salt water I finally felt the water lowering down to my ankles. I tried to pick up the pace, but it was like I had been stabbed by a syringe a hundred times. As I exited the water I felt a sudden tug on my right foot and saw a tendril of purple, scintillating to blue and orange, leave the water with me before it landed on the sand and jerked away. I planted both my feet on the sand and turned to see how my pursuer was faring.

Suddenly I felt shredding pain in my lungs as I gasped for air. I was no longer anywhere near the water. A fat old man was staring down at me and I was clearly in the corner I had collapsed into the night before.

“You ok?”

I was about to answer what sounded like a Canadian man when I noticed my mouth was filled with sand and blood that I quickly spat out. I felt like I was going to be sick.

“Cell..cell phone? Can I borrow your phone a second?” I managed to get out before coughing bitterly.

“No, no, uhh, sorry.” The man suddenly seemed frightened and was backing away quickly. This was strangely reassuring, as it was something I felt used to. I was about to write it off as a nightmare when I looked down and saw the sand covered in blood. Small pinprick holes ran along every part of my body. I gasped and looked out to the water, but other than an incredible sunrise and some elderly people doing tai chi, there was no one.

I found out later someone had called an ambulance and thought I may have been dead. They patched me up a bit and gave me some water and a candy bar. I managed to fine a pay phone that smelled like dead fish and vinegar and got a ride out of there. After I cleaned up at home, I started thinking about what led me to attempt to kill myself to begin with. I did a quick inventory of my life’s fuck ups to try and figure out where I had gone wrong. Along the way I ended up looking at pictures of myself in High School and College and I saw the man’s face. He looked a lot like me, but not fat at all, clean and with perfect teeth.

[coxwellphysio]

Custom Orthotics Braces Provider in Aurora

If you have foot pain issues and you need a foot orthotics braces, come to the Coxwell Physiotherapy Centre, we are a physiotherapy & a massage therapy clinic in Aurora city. Our braces can help relieve pain that makes physical activity, proper posture, and day to day activities difficult and painful. Call 905-841-7126 for more details. https://www.coxwellphysio.com/orthotics-braces/

[dreaming-of-seth-blog]

Meant for a Life With You

Chapter 2: A Game of Cat and Mouse

A/N If you’re reading this, I hope you enjoy this weird ass plot! Just wanted to write something different.

______________________________

Seth’s point of view:

I follow closely behind the ambulance all the way to the hospital, speeding the entire time. The drive felt like hours, when in reality it was minutes. When we finally arrive I immediately jump out of my car and as my feet hit the ground I see them pulling her out of the back ambulance on the stretcher.

As I begin to rush over to her, I hear one of the EMT’s speaking to a woman in a lab coat, “We have an unconscious 27 year old female hit by a car. Injuries include a head wound on the right side of the head, a few broken ribs, broken left ankle and wrist, possible broken collarbone, and there are non-emergency contusions all over arms and legs.” QMy heart drops and my breath hitches. I can’t believe that I’m responsible for so much damage. The guilt is eating away at me while the hatred for myself is growing by the goddamn second.  I can’t take my eyes off the unknown women they’re wheeling through the automatic doors. The other EMT whispers to the doctor and points to me as I rush to follow them inside. By the look on the doctor’s face, I assume he is telling her that I’m the one responsible.

Before I can get even remotely close to the stretcher, another doctor steps in front, grabs me by my shoulders and says, “Sir, sir you have to stay back.”

“But I have to know if she’s going to be ok.” I say eyes welling up.

“Sir you can’t go in there. I need you to stay here in the emergency room for the police. They’re going to need to take your statement.” he says.  

“Will I be able to get updates on her condition?” I say hopeful not even concerned about dealing with the police.

“I will see what I can do,” He can hear the desperation in my voice, “but I can’t promise you anything at this point. Please, sit and wait here sir.”

I sit and wait in silence for hours. I go back and forth between staring at my hands and the tiled floor of the ER.

As I’m taking my jacket off and throwing it on the chair next to me two cops walk in. They walk up to the nurse behind the desk. He points to me and they head over in my direction. They lead me to a separate room and we talk for almost an hour. They take my statement. I tell them everything that happened. They breathalyze me. I have to do a blood test to confirm there was nothing in my system.

 After they leave I make my way back to the ER. When I return to my seat, I lean forward and rest my elbows on my knees rubbing my face with my hands. I leave my face laying in my hands still exhausted and I stay like this for a decent amount of time. After who knows how long, I hear the sound of shoes on that tiled floor walk up in front of me. I look up expecting one of  the doctor’s with an update on the nameless ballerina, but in fact, it was not. It was a fiery-red haired women staring me at me with tears running down her face. Before I could open my mouth, her arm reaches back and she punches me straight in the chin with full force. A shock wave of pain overcomes my entire face.

Before I can even process what was going on, I stand up from my seat while holding my face I ask, “What the hell?”

“You idiot! You did this! You could’ve killed her.” She pushes me back by my chest. Everyone in the room was now staring at us.

I realize she knows the woman I hit. The first words out of my mouth were, “I’m sorry it was an accident! I’m so sorry.” The pain from her hit was now increasing dramatically from talking

“You’re a fucking monster.” tears streaming down her face even faster.

“Lisa! Stop.” another woman comes running up to her and pulls her away from me. She’s much shorter than the one who hit me. “He’s not worth it!” They look at each other “Come on.”

They start to walk away. The one she called Lisa looks back at me and says, “You better hope she makes it out of this fucker.”

I fall back into my seat. A nurse walks over to me with a bag of ice. He holds it out to me and I take it. “Thank you.” I smile and place the bag up to my jaw. I tilt my head back and wait for news.

______________________________

Nikki’s point of view:

Waking up that night was the worst experience I’ve ever had. I didn’t know where I was. Every inch of my body was in pain. My head was pounding. Then I remembered what happened. I closed my eyes tight to try to forget. My left leg was raised and in a cast. My left arm was also raised and in a cast. “Fuck.” I try to say, but my throat was dry and sore. From all my years of watching Greys Anatomy, I was assuming it was from being intubated. I attempt to move but feel an abrupt sharp pain on my left side. I grab my ribs with my good hand to brace the pain. The pain was so horrible I instantly start bawling my eyes out. I start to panic and become claustrophobic in the casts. Getting restless, I don’t know what to do so I just throw the finger pulse detector off my hand and all of the machines go crazy. I knew this would cause a bunch of people come running in. Two nurses come in to make sure my heart's still beating but during all this chaos I see an old familiar face at the foot of my bed. With tears running down my face I ask, “Doctor Thompson?” very weakly and slightly out of breath.

“Hello Nicole.” He walks over to me and grabs my good hand. He says it with a smile that somehow makes me feel better and calms me down. Dr. Thompson was my pediatrician/surgeon and is also my father’s best friends. He took out my tonsils and my appendix, and was at every single one of my birthday parties when I was younger. He was like an uncle to me. He reminded me of home which made my pain disappear for a few seconds. A nurse brings we water now that I was awake. It felt like heaven to quench my dry throat. Now that I could speak more comfortably, I had calmed down and stopped crying, I had questions.

“How bad is it?” I ask petrified.

“Well, you got lucky kid, it could have been a lot worse. You broke four ribs which should heal up nicely. You hit your head pretty bad but, nothing to be alarmed about, your scans all came up clear. I do want you to see a neurosurgeon in two weeks for a follow up just to be safe. You also had a very small hairline fracture on your collarbone, so be careful with that. Your left side took a bad beating. You also broke your wrist, and you ankel on the left side, your wrist was a  intra-articular fracture, your ankle break was fortunately a stable lateral malleolar fracture...”

“My ankle…What does that mean for ballet?” I interrupt. My voice was shaking at this point because I know he know’s, how important dancing is to me.

“You should be able to dance again, but you’ll need to rest for a while and do a lot of physical therapy. That means regular checkups before you can be cleared to put any extra stress on the leg. But it’s critical to wait until I give you the go ahead. I know ballet is your life but if you ever want that ankle to be as strong you really have to listen to me and not rush the process.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” I say to him with as much energy as my body can handle.

Just as he is giving me the amazing news the lights of my life come shining in. I screech “My babies!.” Aurora and Lisa came running to my side. Dr. T. excused himself from the room and the three of us talk for a while. The nurses and doctors checked on me regularly.

After a while I have to ask,“Now where’s the fucker that did this to me? I heard the nurses whispering he was waiting for me in the ER.”

“Honey there’s something we have to tell you, but you can’t freak out.” Aurora says while looking at me like she’s about to tell me that Santa’s not real.

Lisa gripped my good hand tightly, “It’s Seth MacFarlane.” Lisa closes her eyes and says barely above a whisper.

“Good joke, Elle.” I say rolling my eyes and using her nickname out of pure exhaustion.

“Nikki, she’s not kidding.” Aurora says in the most serious tone I’ve ever heard her speak in. It scared me. “Lisa punched the shit out of him for you though.”

“Stop kidding around.” I say “You know how obsessed with him I am.” I stare at them.

They both look at each other, then back at me. “Come on, stop”

“Wait, so you two really expect me to believe, the man I pretend to be married to in my head, who I’m constantly talking about, whose shows I watch religiously, whose music I worship, who I would basically murder someone to meet… almost killed me… and almost ruined my career for ever?”

They both look at me and in unison say “Yeah.”

The man I’ve been completely obsessed with for over five years now, Seth mother fucking MacFarlane… What are the odds, he would be the one that hit me with his car. I say looking up to the sky, “God if you’re real. Thank you.”

A look almost as evil as the Grinch’s smile comes over my face.

“I don’t like that look.” Aurora states.

“Shhhhhh, you know that's her evil genius look. She's planning something good.” she smirks.

“Get me my doctor please. I’ve got a billionaire to fuck with.” my smile gets bigger and my mind is racing with evil thoughts.