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sfnewsvine · 2 years

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Hundreds of Priests With SF Archdiocese Accused of Sexual Abuse – NBC Bay Area

SF Newsvine Victims of clergy abuse and their advocates gathered on the headquarters for the Archdiocese of San Francisco on Thursday at hand ship a listing they’ve spent years compiling, which incorporates the names of tons of of monks accused of preying on youngsters, abusing a few of them for years.

The listing is 312 names lengthy and goes again greater than 100 years. Whereas most of the accused predators are useless, some stay working at Bay Space church buildings as we speak.

“We’re speaking in regards to the full gamut of sexual assault – sodomy, oral intercourse,” mentioned Dan McNevin, an abuse survivor himself and an area chief of the Survivors Community of these Abused by Clergymen (SNAP). “It may be so ugly. It may be sharing victims amongst monks.”

You may discover SNAP’s listing right here

Among the many names on SNAP’s listing are three monks who proceed to serve within the Bay Space: Fr. David Ghiorso, Fr. Michael Mahoney, and Msgr. Michael Harriman.

As NBC Bay Space’s Investigative Unit first reported earlier this yr, the three monks had been accused in lawsuits filed in a newly opened authorized window made doable a 2019 change in California regulation, which quickly suspended the statute of limitations on baby intercourse abuse lawsuits, permitting potential victims to file new claims by means of the tip of 2022, no matter how way back the alleged abuse occurred.

All three monks denied the allegations in opposition to them straight or by means of an legal professional.

The Archdiocese mentioned in an announcement that their very own inside evaluations discovered the claims to not be credible and that “the allegations weren’t sustained, and accordingly, the monks had been returned to ministry” after briefly being positioned on go away.

Whereas the lawsuit in opposition to Mahoney has since been dropped, the plaintiff’s legal professional mentioned his consumer nonetheless stands behind the allegation however doesn’t need to proceed in courtroom right now.

SF Archdiocese Solely Diocese in California Refusing to Disclose Listing of Accused Clergymen

San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone is the one California bishop but to launch an inside listing of monks accused of sexually abusing youngsters, as NBC Bay Space’s Investigative Unit beforehand reported.

“It triggered me to really feel deep disappointment and intense anger, mentioned Tim Stier, a former priest who served 25 years with the Diocese of Oakland, who left after assembly clergy abuse survivors and studying of their ache.

“I’m pushed by a way of justice for these folks as a result of I’ve gotten to know them and know their tales and know the injury they endure – it goes on day-after-day of their lives.”

Out of practically 200 Catholic dioceses throughout the nation, solely about 10% of bishops have refused to launch a listing of their very own, in response to SNAP. San Francisco, they are saying, is by far the most important diocese or archdiocese among the many holdouts.

From San Diego to Santa Rosa, California’s 11 different bishops have posted such lists on-line, most of them following a 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report that discovered greater than 300 monks throughout the state had sexually abused youngsters, additionally discovering that church leaders helped cowl up their crimes.

Intercourse Abuse Advocates Ship Listing of Accused Clergymen to SF Archdiocese

Within the absence of such a listing from the Archdiocese, SNAP mentioned it was compelled to launch its personal listing, which it had been compiling for 4 years. SNAP’s members had deliberate on marching contained in the Archdiocese headquarters to ship their listing, however had been met simply outdoors the constructing by Peter Barlow, the pinnacle of media relations for the Archdiocese.

Regardless of being regularly requested about whether or not the Archdiocese ever intends to reveal its abuse listing, Barlow by no means answered the query, and as a substitute referred the gang to an announcement he launched minutes earlier to members of the media. The assertion from the San Francisco Archdiocese says, partly, “Our transparency associated to sexual abuse allegations is directed to civil authorities comparable to police and sheriff departments, in addition to an unbiased overview board and our parish communities.”

The assertion made no point out of whether or not the Archdiocese ever intends to reveal which of its monks have been accused of sexual abuse.

Outdoors the doorways of the Archdiocese headquarters, Joey Piscitelli, a member of SNAP, repeatedly questioned Barlow about why San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone has didn’t launch such a listing.

“What I’m asking you is are you going to launch a listing or simply give a response and dodge it? I would like know should you’re going to launch the listing,” Piscitelli mentioned.

“I did give a response,” mentioned Barlow, referring to that written assertion, which fails to reference the notorious listing in query.

“That’s not ok,” Piscitelli replied.

How SNAP Created Its Listing of ‘Predator’ Clergymen

In compiling the SNAP listing of monks, McNevin mentioned he and his fellow advocates relied on lawsuits, legal instances, church paperwork, and interviews with victims to assemble the names of the accused.

Nonetheless, since SNAP doesn’t have entry to the church’s inside information, abuse advocates consider the precise stage of abuse within the San Francisco space is probably going rather more widespread.

This can be a non secular trauma. It’s a bodily trauma. The one approach to get at it’s to speak about it — and the Archdiocese of San Francisco is not going to speak about it.

Dan McNevin, one of many leaders of SNAP, a clergy abuse advocacy group

“A predator is harmful,” McNevin mentioned. “This can be a non secular trauma. It’s a bodily trauma. The one approach to get at it’s to speak about it — and the Archdiocese of San Francisco is not going to speak about it.”

About half of the accused monks are nonetheless alive, in response to SNAP. Amongst those that have since died is Fr. Martin Greenlaw, who pleaded responsible to embezzling from the church within the Nineties, and was just lately accused in a lawsuit of forcing an 8-year-old boy to carry out oral intercourse.

SNAP Nonetheless Constructing Extra Lists of Accused Clergymen in California

McNevin mentioned SNAP continues to compile its personal lists for different dioceses throughout Northern California, spanning Fresno to the Oregon border. To date, they’ve counted greater than 600 names, a tally that has climbed steadily over the previous few years. Again in 2002, across the time of the notorious Boston church scandal, McNevin mentioned they’d fewer than 100 names in Northern California.

SNAP’s members hope releasing the listing now will result in extra victims coming ahead, particularly in mild of California’s 2019 change in state regulation, which now permits baby intercourse abuse victims to file civil litigation in opposition to their abusers by means of the tip of the yr, no matter how way back the abuse came about. The present three-year window has added dozens extra names to these lists, as NBC Bay Space reported over the summer season.

Nonetheless, even when Catholic bishops disclose their lists of abusers, McNevin mentioned SNAP’s lists are constantly longer.

“We’ve gone by means of all these lists, and we’ve not discovered one that’s full,” McNevin mentioned. “It’s a white-wash course of.”

Originally published at SF Newsvine

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mrkeatingsblazer · 2 years

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Stranger Things Spoiler Warning!!!

Mike to El: I love you

Me: no

#im kinda sad #kinda mad #kinda dissapointed #mileven #byler #mike wheeler #will byers #eleven hopper #California gang stays being useless #i have 50 minutes left and im still out here praying for a Will vs Vecna scene #stranger things

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you-usuratonkachi · 2 years

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Issues i have with Stranger Things S4 Vol 1 and 2 writing

SPOILER WARNING FOR VOL 2

Okay, so I stayed up until 3 am to watch Vol 2, too scared that if I waited I would get spoiled something. Ngl, before Vol 2 dropped, I felt like Vol 1 had built up too much plot for it to be resolved in 2 episodes, no matter how long they were, there was way too much to address, too many plot lines opened or brushed upon and I was really doubtful that 2 episodes could solve them all, but I stayed trustful because generally speaking ST is a good show with good writing and going by the interviews I’ve watched, it seemed like everyone had their shit together. Well, after watching Vol 2, I can officially say I had reason to doubt this season could be wrapped up well.

The number one problem of this season is character writing.

The Duffers got so many characters to fit into the narrative and I know it’s not an easy thing to give space to them all in a story. I write myself and I understand that, but despite already having too much on their plate, they decided to add /more/ characters and spent way too long developing side-storylines instead of giving a semblance of relevance to the main characters.

1. The whole Cali gang storyline is useless to further the main plot and it’s blaringly obvious that they didn’t know what to do with them. The only person needed from their group was El and she wasn’t even with them for most of the season. They clearly looked at Jonathan and Will in California, as they thought “El needs to go get her powers back”, and went “so what the fuck are we gonna do with these two?” and thought the only way to give them screentime was by finally bringing up Will’s sexuality. The only reason Mike was there was because 1. it helped that there was one less character to deal with in Hawkins (this way they gave him a semblance of storyline too) and 2. a love triangle was more interesting than Will simply addressing his sexuality for a new character (that would have been one more character to deal with anyway). They could have left Will’s sexuality alone, as they have mostly done until now, but think about it, if they didn’t bring that up for the Cali gang, what was left of the plot for them? Literally nothing. So they purposefully CHOSE to give them no plot and let them be carried by the love triangle storyline and I have issues with that, because what kind of lazy writing is that? If you are going to bring up something like this and make it the only relevant plot-line for a whole group of characters, you MUST give them a status quo, something happening that changes the status quo, a development and the final resolution which HAS to be different from the initial status quo. But what they gave us is Mike in love with El and Will in love with Mike (which we already knew since before. If you didn’t watch the show with your eyes closed, it was obvious that Will was into Mike. As a watcher, I always thought that would never be addressed properly though, because there was no way to make Byler happen, seeing how Mike was framed to have an epic love with El, and I was perfectly okay with that. I didn’t ship them, I wanted Will to grow out of his crush for Mike and get a new love interest that would love him instead), created tension out of their buttholes, because what was the reason for Mike being awkward with Will at the airport and the rest of his ooc behavior? He’s been shown to be clueless about Will’s feelings so his behavior only made sense if he was dealing with internalized homophobia. Except he’s so in love with El so what’s the issue here?? There’s no issue. They made Mike Wheeler behave with no logic, just so it could create tension in the love triangle and make the stale plot-point feel like it was getting a development. But it didn’t. The start of it and the end are exactly the same. Mike is in love with El, WIll is in love with Mike. Nothing changed for any of them. Will simply suffered more. For no reason. The only plot line for the Cali gang is “Will suffers unrequited love. He cries. Some realize it, some don’t. Everything continues as per usual (except three main character developments get assassinated. RIP Will, Jonathan and Mike. You weren’t needed this season)”

2. Okay now that I’ve touched upon the 1st unnecessary love triangle, let me mention whatever the fuck the second unnecessary love triangle was: Steve, Nancy, Jonathan. Another love triangle leading to fucking nowhere. Why. Just why. Same as the first one. The show started with Nance and Jonathan having issues and ended EXACTLY the same. Jongathan is still lying to her, but they are still a couple. At least this one makes you feel like it’s actually leading somewhere different, and how could it not when Jonathan has no plot relevance anymore? I’m surprised they didn’t kill him off this season, but I imagine he was so useless they couldn’t find a relevant way to off him so they are keeping him for now. How can this feel satisfying? The whole tension between Nancy and Steve felt like a cheap affair. It was really disturbing and I cannot phantom why it happened at all. Nancy already knew that Steve has changed. Dude, she was there for season 2 and 3. She didn’t need the six-children-and-a-camper speech for that. They were already good partners in crime. They worked perfectly well as friends.

3. What they did to Eddie’s character is a crime. He was the most likely character to die because there was no way to clear his name, but they didn’t go any surprising way about it. He died alone as he battled off some bats, saying he didn’t run away this time like that was some kind of big accomplishment (no, seriously, if you’re going to make him die as a hero you have to AT LEAST make him go against the main villan, not BATS). He died unseen and UNMOURNED by the end. For no reason other than they had no way to clear his name and it would have been an hassle to keep hiding him around. Nobody cared about his death but Dustin (and the uncle, I’m surprised they remembered him), just because he happened to be the character that was with him.

4. There’s a parallelism in the story that didn’t pay off (okay, a lot of parallelisms that didn’t pay off, but this particularly stood out to me) in El’s storyline. A part from the fact that we have never found out how Brenner survived all those times, but when they have that dialogue as he traps her in the NINA room, El asks him if he ever loved/cared for One as Brenner stays silent. The whole conversation really rang me back to her conversation with Mike, so when I watched I wondered if there was any kind of connection? It’s really the same argument. But by the end as Mike gives her his “i love you” speech (all prompted by Will, using Will’s words, murdering Will’s feelings in the process) that doesn’t seem to pay off in any way, I’m not sure what I was supposed to get out of that blaringly obvious parallelism. So did Brenner love her after all? Or is Mike’s love fake and manipulative?? What was the reason for the parallelism? What’s with the love/care justapposition? What’s the message here??? Uncomprehensible.

5. The Robin and Viki whetever-the-hell-that-was?? Why was Viki even there? For 2 minutes in total. Which made Robin another queer pining for a straight, suffering in the background. YOU ALREADY DID THAT WITH WILL. NO NEED FOR A REPETITION. Plus why, as a watcher, should I buy the Robin/Viki pining, when Robin and Nancy were RIGHT THERE with a proper relationship development. If I had to see Robin pine for a straight, I’d rather see her pine for Nancy?? At least that made some kind of sense and it actually added something to the dynamic of the main group. Of course it would have sucked balls anyway, because again, it’s just a repetition of Will’s storyline, but if they really had to, that would have made more sense. The best course of action was to not give her any love interest at all if they had to make it so half-assed. And I know the ending is meant to imply that Viki is not so straight after all, but that doesn’t make me feel any better about the fact that we got the same gay-pining for the whole season TWICE. There’s only one question and it’s WHY. Wasted screentime.

6. Yuri’s change of heart. Because of a lukewarm motivational speech. Given to him by the other russian in the situation. Am I the only one who does not buy into it? The fact that Enzo (I like calling him this) is the one to tell the guy “you’ve seen what’s at stake”. Enzo doesn’t understand HALF of it, let alone Yuri?? Who’s convinced by the idea that his family is going to suffer as his family has been given no importance whatsoever in the earlier part of the show and he was shown as a lone wolf the whole time? That might have convinced Enzo, but Yuri?? That was weak as hell... but let’s say I buy into it, the airlift was still useless. Everyone was dead in the prison by the end, monsters included, they could have escaped the same way they came in, it’s not like Katinka brought them to America at the end. They still had to catch a plane for that. So?? Another road to nowhere.

7. They used the we-still-have-a-date-to-go-to motivation twice, both with Jopper and Lumax.

8. Jason searching for Eddie with a whole gang to end up with two dudes assulting the two black kinds in the show, one of which is ELEVEN YEARS OLD. All that built up for a racial stand off that, again, amounts to nothing. Since they brought up the entire basketball team, I at least imagined that they would have a frontal stand off with the whole hawkins gang at some point, that would have been interrupted by the actual evil and some people would actually die in the process. Honestly, they should have died as the upside down took Hawkins over. They played up the ending like so many would die at the end, and ONE character properly died. And when i say properly I mean that it’s the only confirmed death, not that they gave him a decent death.

9. Speaking of which, they didn’t show how Max came back to life. One is left to imagine that El kickstarted her heart with the power of her mind, I assume... but I ASSUME. I have no idea why they didn’t show it??

I probably have other complaints but these are my main ones. In conclusion, the season was weaker than it was hyped up to be. Some things were great, but it lacked something that the previous seasons had - the characters finally getting to fight together at the end. That amazing moment that happened in every season where all separate storylines finally paid off together as the characters reunited. It leaves one wondering why they took the decision to ship people to California and have Hopper in Russia. The fact that they were so phisically far made so many characters have no relevant part in the main storyline and, to include them in it, the Duffers CLEARLY had to make so many questionable decisions and write goddafwul monologes (i didn’t put this as a separate complaint, because it falls under the assasination of the Cali gang’s character development, but what was that? Smelly cheese delivered with zero emotion, their reunion after El blows up the NINA facility was so much more emotionally charged than whatever that was). Istg the only character that they managed to give a real, well-done and rounded development this season is Max (and partly El, except again for that whole I love you situation with Mike). I do applaude them for how they wrote Max this season, but at what cost...

#stranger things #stranger things spoilers #byler #before you come for me #i didn't ship byler before S4 #i love mileven #i always thought they were gonna be endgame of course #until the duffers made it so we would question it #and now i question them for that decision #because it was a cheap way to get themselves out of the plot holes they created #hey need to resurrect mike's personality from the grave because what in the world is he now #he has the emotional range of a washcloth #he's one of the mains for fuck's sake #as a mileven shipper i'm just so shocked at how UNCUTE they have made him #he's the shell of what he used to be #he literally has to be poked to do anythingpress on the stomach and the doll comes alive!#and recites everything you said to it previously!#save mike #oh and the ending #don't make me talk about the ending #with jopper and jancy and BYLER IN THE MIDDLE?? framed as a couple #dude what are you doing #like you would go that way for the last season? don't make me laugh #you were so cheap for the whole framing of their relationship #you assasinated their friendship for the sake of drama and you didn't even let it go by the end haha

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toireht · 2 years

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Okay here are my thoughts on volume 2 and season 4 as a whole:

-Will being pushed to the back was so unnecessary. Him and El are kinda the main characters of this show and there was a lot of El which was rlly nice but Will really wasnt there this season and why? Like i genuinely dont understand why. I missed him hes my favorite character

^ And mike and johnathan too?? like usually mike is so important hes like comes up plans and shit and he just wasnt?? there?? and i kinda feel like mikes character was nuked this season. His (and Wills) whole plotline this season was around his relationship with El... come on I want to see little micheal wheeler fight monsters with his friends. and ive also seen a lot of people reminding us how caring he was in season 1 and 2 and yeah. he rlly was and i miss that i dont believe that puberty hit and now mike only cares abt el like his character doesnt make sense anymore and i dont know why

- I honestly lowkey hated the cali plot and i rlly feel like the show would have been a lot better if the byers never moved. like they had to relocate bc of El and Joyce wanted a fresh start or something i dont remember but they very easily could have just not wrote that in. I just think that a lot of problems ppl are having with this season could have been avoid if the byers never moved.

-Aryle... hes definitely great. But i just...you know hes a fun character but thats kind of ALL he is. he is literally just a comic relief and is pretty useless throughout the whole season besides driving the cali gang which could have easily been done by johnathan instead of introducing a whole new character that probably isnt going to stay next season because hes supposed to be in california (which you know this whole problem could have been avoided if the byers never moved)

-the way our characters were split this season was a little weird but also not? like it made sense bc the groups this season were based off of just where everyone was but like i said, i wish the byers never moved. plus all the fan favorites were in hawkins and sometimes it felt like that was the only important storyline happening. like the cali gang just felt so behind compared to what was happening in hawkins

-my whole life would be infinitely better if every season was still set during halloween each year

-As much as i love this show, I think some of its charm has been lost... As our characters (mostly talking abt the kids here because they have always been the main focus since the beginning) have grown up it feels like maybe the duffers and writers of the show have focused a little too much on the fact that they are growing up and having relationships instead of focusing on what the show was originally about. a fun sci-fi show with monsters and kids saving the day and having little lighthearted relationships in the corner. I dont know if my point if coming across right but like it felt like theres just a little too much focus on the characters romantic relationships and honestly i dont care!! i want to watch monsters and kids figuring out how to defeat them in a fun 80s aesthetic! i am tired of the drama between stancy and jancy and as much as i would love byler i would be okay with mileven if they would have focused on their relationship less bc like i said earlier his relationship with el was mikes entire plotline this season. which just makes me sad because i usually love his character. yes even thought hes a little shit thats what makes him so loveable, because hes a little shit and he used to care abt saving all of his friends

This kind of ended in a rant but those were the problems I had with this season. I was definitely disappointed with a lot of stuff in volume 2 but I still enjoyed watching it as much as I could because this show is still really good and means a lot to a lot of people. I hope the duffers can like fix themselves because I would hate to see this show get like ruined because of bad writing in the later seasons.

#stranger things #will byers #mike wheeler #el hopper #will deserves better #i hope all the points i was trying to make actually were there lmao #steve and nancy should just stay away from each other at all times i cant #st4 #st4 vol2

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imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl · 3 years

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Californian Dream (Pt. 10 of 11)

Pairing: Billy Hargrove X Reader

Word count: 2.5 K

Summary: Being part of one of the richest families of California doesn't mean you're happy. Your life is boring, and you're surrounded by meaningless people and their meaningless talk. Even during Summer, with the break you have from college, there's nothing good going on. Nothing but the new pool guy, Billy, the most handsome man you ever saw. You were successfully avoiding him, not wanting to act like an idiot in front of the guy until Billy accepts to be your date for a fancy gala you're forced to attend. The night was going well, even better when he sneaked you out to go to the beach. But a gang of criminals breaks into the party, kidnapping the heirs to the wealthiest families, which includes you. So, for your safety, your parents want you to stay with Billy, living in his apartment until the criminals are caught. And that could take weeks, maybe even months.

Warnings: Light violence

<- Previous part (09)

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“It won't take long now,” Billy mutters, his hand holding yours are you both walk through the beach. Everyone is at the snack bar, eyes on the TV, getting all the details about the most famous gang being finally arrested. “Your father will call and you can go back home.”

“I know.” Moving a strand of hair away from your face, you look down as the ripples reach your feet. “I'll go. Spend the night there and on the next morning I'll tell them.” The plan comes up suddenly because that's the best you can give them. A last night in the house before moving out for good. “I'll tell them I'll drop out of college and look for something I really wanna study. That we're dating and I'll be living with you.”

“Are you sure about this? Because you know they won't let it go that easily.”

“I know and I don't care.” Stopping, you move to stand before him, cupping his cheeks. “I mean, you still want me to live with you, right?”

“I do.” Leaning closer, Billy kisses you, soft and slow. Wrapping your arms around his neck, you tiptoe. “And I need you to know that I won't accept the money your father said he'd give for... Sheltering you.”

“Baby, you can accept it. I don't mind.”

“I can't. Having you at my place was... It is amazing, all the money in the world wouldn't be enough to pay for what you gave me.” Biting your lip, you smile at his words, causing him to raise an eyebrow. “What?”

“You're so romantic.” In a sassy tone, you step back when his face changes, ready to run if necessary.

“Just don't tell anyone,” Billy whispers, and, in a sudden motion, he moves forward, arms around your waist, lifting you up.

“I won't!” You exclaim, laughing as he spins you around before setting you down again. “It'll be our secret.” Whispering on his ear, you giggle when a bigger wave hits your calves.

“I guess the future talk will happen sooner rather than later.” He states, pulling away before another wave soaks your skirt even more.

“Yeah... I guess so.” Clearing your throat, you blush a little to remember what he said earlier. “That, Uhm... About kids.” Wait. You shouldn't bring that up. It's way too soon, and be was probably kidding. “I mean, let's get real first. I'll drop off of college and focus on my job. I like it and maybe choose another course I like. Mmm... That's pretty much it. You?”

Billy gives you a look, shaking his head lightly. Trying to dissimulate with Billy is useless. You're an open book to him, you have been since day one. “Neil was a devil of a father. And I want to be better.” His voice gets darker at the mention of Neil. You don't know the man, but you hate him with all your strength for what he did to Billy. You hope you'll never see him face to face, or else you won't be able to keep from breaking his damn nose. “Of course I never actually thought of it before, but now... You just... You messed me up, ok? In a good way, but still, you messed me up and now I'm making plans.” Rolling his eyes dramatically, Billy sits down on the sand, and you do the same, climbing on top of him. “And that's all your fault.”

“My fault? I wasn't trying to make you fall for me.” Defending yourself, you push him down until he's lying on his back and you're lying on top of him.

“If you were trying, I'd have fallen for you when you gave me that lemonade.” He places a kiss on your nose, making you giggle. “Or even before, when I saw you walking around the house... Avoiding me.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I noticed that, princess.”

“Well, I couldn't talk to you and risk sounding like a complete idiot.” Taking both his hands, you hold them down on each side of his head, ignoring his cocky face. “And it's your fault for being so good looking.”

“Hey, hey! You two!” A yell gets your attention, and when you turn your head to see, you find Stacy and Anne. “We're watching you.”

“Creepy.” You mutter, moving off of him and back on your feet. “But guess the party isn't over yet, and honey, I want to dance.”

“What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't dance with my lady.” In a quick motion, he's back up, arms around your waist as you make your way back to the bonfire.

•••

It takes three days until your father calls you. He doesn't say much, just that the gang is arrested and it's now safe for you to go back home.

Home. That house isn't home, but you comply, not wanting to make them sad or anything. So it's after lunch when Billy is driving you there, not a single thing with you. You didn't even bother to bring a bag to fake it. It'll be only one night, and then you'll sit and talk to them.

When you're moving through the gates, the same feeling you once had comes back. You feel suffocated, surrounded by all the things you don't care about. There will be a few people over, and they'll get into those meaningless conversations again, and they'll be looking at you, judging you. They'll talk about your clothes. They're normal, not insanely expensive. No... Your mother will make you go upstairs and change immediately. The lump in your throat only surrenders a bit when you feel Billy's hand on your thigh.

“You'll alright?”

“Yeah, just... Thinking about tomorrow. I'll talk to them, get my car, and when you're back from work, I'll be there.” That's your goal. That's what you're so damn excited for. Tomorrow evening, which will be exactly like the evenings you've been having for months. And you love every single one of them.

“I can't wait.” He gives you a glance and smiles. Your smile. The one that's not cocky and doesn't have a hidden meaning behind it. Not a sassy one. Just a bright, beautiful, genuine smile, that lights up his whole face.

The moment he stops the car by the front door, you get separated. You knew this would happen, so you're prepared. After hugs, tears, and welcomes from both your parents and the sea of people here, your mother guides you upstairs, making you change into a white dress with sunflowers. You don't complain, you just do as she says. For the last time.

Back downstairs, you see Billy and your father talking by the door. He tries to hand Billy a piece of paper, a paycheck probably, but Billy refuses. After a while, Billy leaves, but not before glancing at you. You know it's only for a short period, but you feel like part of your heart is going with him.

“(Y/N), honey?” Your mother calls. “Won't you answer Mrs. Vanner?”

“Oh, yes...” Shaking your head lightly, you try to focus on... Whatever they're talking about. “Sorry, what was it again?”

“I'm sure you're happy to be back home after so long having to live in such a small space.” Mrs. Vanner says, her fake, wide smile making it really hard not to roll your eyes.

Of course they know where you were now. Mother had to tell them, just for the sake of the gossip. “How can you possibly know the size of Billy's apartment?” You snap, not really trying to keep the sweet tone.

“Oh, please. Mr. Hargrove is the man who washes my son's car. How big can his place be.” She sounds so gentle, so plastic.

You should keep your mouth shut. You should play along, keep up the act until tomorrow morning, just until tomorrow morning. But you can't. You lost the ability to fake it. “Yeah. It is small. Your ego wouldn't fit in it.”

“(Y/N)!” Your mother exclaims, almost choking on her drink. “Where are your manners?”

“That's alright. Living with someone from a different class may have her used to different kinds of behavior.” Mrs. Vanner snaps, in an apologetic tone.

“Something we can agree on!” You exclaim, giving her a big smile. “That's a first.”

“(Y/N), that's enough.”

“I agree with that too.” Putting your drink down, you stand up from the armchair. “I'll head upstairs and rest for a bit.” Without saying anything else, you walk away, the high heels echoing through the empty spaces. But you stop in the middle of the stairs to kick them away before running to your bedroom.

But of course, there's a hell of a dinner. And, of course, you have to be there, nodding and smiling, pretending to pay attention to whatever they're saying. With your leg bouncing under the table, you play with your fancy food. Your mind floats back home. To the apartment. Billy is probably home already, eating what's left of the lasagna you made together yesterday. That lasagna is so much better than this boeuf bourguignon you're being forced to eat.

“Are you excited to go back to college, (Y/N)?” Mr. Eleanor asks, and you silently nod. “I bet you'll be an amazing lawyer just like your father over there.”

“Yeah.” Until they find you a rich husband and you have to abandon your career to turn into a housewife, with nothing to do but to administrate the house and spend rivers of money on useless things.

The dinner goes on for endless hours, and the small get together after has you exhausted. When you excuse yourself, getting to your bedroom, you fill up your tub and spend an hour or two there, trying to relax in a house that doesn't feel like yours anymore. It never did, but now, that feeling is amplified since you found a place you feel at home.

By the time you're in your pajamas, lying on the bed, it's way past midnight. The chattering died and everyone left, but still, you can't sleep. Kicking the sheets away, you get to your feet, walking to the balcony and breathing in the night air when you push the slide door opened. Billy fixed your railing. He was here before you even exchanged a single word with him. And you wish he was here now. With you. You didn't know exactly why you couldn't sleep, but now you do. Billy is always holding you, one way or another, and hugging the pillow doesn't compare. Is it what love is? Losing the capacity of falling asleep away from the person you love? Stepping forward, you let your fingers touch the cold metal, a smile coming to your lips.

California never felt like home. Until you found Billy.

Giving your huge garden a look, taking in the green grass and threes under the low lights, eyes wandering through its extension, you smile. And, in the blink of an eye, you know what to do.

The car keys are in the same place you left them, in a small vase on your dresser. Taking them, you put on the first pair of flats you find, having the decency of trying not to make too much noise on your way out. But you don't care, not anymore. On your way downstairs, you halt on the last step when you see Amelia, in her nightgown, coming from the kitchen with a mug in her hands. She's a little startled and confused, but her expression softens after a while.

“Don't try to stop me.” You say in a low voice.

“Are you going to be with Billy?” She asks, but by the look on her face, she already knows the answer. Amelie knows you too well, a lot better than your parents.

“Yes. I love him.” It comes out naturally, and it gives you a sense of freedom you can't describe. Saying it, here, is amazing.

“Then go, bunny.” Amelia smiles, and you rush to give her a tight hug before making your way to the garage, straight into your pink Cadillac.

You never enjoyed driving as much as you do now that you're going somewhere you wanna be. The streets are only half empty, and you decide to put the top down to feel the night air on your face, only to put it up again when you reach the parking lot. There are a few spaces, thank God, and you park on the first one you find, running up to Billy's apartment, panting after the six sets of stairs leading to the third floor.

But it doesn't matter. You're at his door, and it doesn't matter. You have the key, but the whole keychain is inside, so you have no choice but to knock a few times.

And when the door is open, a very sleepy Billy seems all confused, as if he just saw a ghost. “(Y/N)?”

“I couldn't sleep.” You simply say, keeping your voice as low as you can despite still trying to catch your breath.

His confusion fades away, and a smile takes over. “Me neither.” Stepping forward, Billy wraps an arm around your waist, pulling you inside with him before pushing the door close and crashing his lips on yours.

This was the right decision, as crazy as it seems. When Billy kisses you, you know that everything you did that led to this moment was right. He's pulling you to the bedroom when the phone rings. The damn thing has the bad habit of interrupting you.

“Let me–”

“No. I know who it is.” Cutting him off, you pull away, walking over the phone. You don't think much before answering it. “Hi, dad.”

“Wha– (Y/N)?” He stutters, and your mother says something on the back about her being right. “What the hell are you doing there? Your mother went to your room and you were gone, she almost had a heart attack!”

“I'm sorry. I'm at Billy's.”

“Why in the hell are you there? Get your ass back home now.”

“No.” You state, crossing your arms.

“What do you mean by ‘no’?” He scoffs. “What do you think you're doing?”

“Father, I'm an adult and I know exactly what I'm doing.” Taking a deep breath, you run a hand through your hair. “We have a lot to talk about, and I'll explain everything, I promise. Meet me tomorrow in your favorite restaurant at noon.”

“What? I won't–”

“If you want to know what's going on and why I came back here, you'll go. Tell mother to go as well. Have a good night.” Without allowing him to say anything else, you hang up. Turning to look at Billy, you sigh. “Call in sick tomorrow, because I'll need you with me.”

“I have a couple of days off I can use, don't worry.” He comes closer, pulling you into a tight hug. “I'll be right there with you.”

“They'll say all kinds of mean things, you know that, right?”

“I don't care.”

@multific @dontxfearxthereaper @nope-thanks @nikkixostan @shinydixon @clockworkballerina @infinitelycharmed23 @lilred91

#imagine billy hargrove #billy hargrove x reader #billy hargrove fanfiction #billy hargrove x y/n #billy hargrove imagine #billy hargrove #billy stranger things fanfiction #billy stranger things imagine #billy stranger things #imagine stranger things #stranger things imagine #stranger things fanfiction

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boop-le-snoot · 4 years

Text

PARTY FAVOURS I A VENOMOUS INTERLUDE

Did y'all know symbrock is canon? Well, now you do. Reader's favourite deadbeat surrogate uncle is in town and he brought a... Friend. No warnings, just a boatload of crack and fluff, as usual. Reader being mouthy. Takes place a little bit into the future - around after chapter 32: spoiler alert is useless because we already know a tonybrucestrange/reader quartet is the endgame. 💖💝✨

"What," I had to pause for a second for my brain to catch up with my eyes. "The fuck?!"

It was truly a miracle I could say anything out loud, at all. Words weren't valid enough to describe my shock and confusion. The scene unfolding in front of me resembled and unholy cross between a B-rated horror movies about demonic possession and some deep-sea Eldritch monstrosity.

The eight-feet tall black, oozing dude in front of me? Yes, you, with the teeth. Ctulhu called, he wants his tentacles back.

The creature honest to god rippled, like some nightmare-fuel goth Jell-O, rapidly shrinking in size within seconds. As more of the black tar-like substance receded, a much more human form started to appear under it. Worn jeans, leather jacket, ungroomed beard and the look of a biker gang member coming off a serious bender.

"Uh, Princess?"

"Eddie. Fucking. Brock. Uncle Idiot." I punctuated each word with an increasing widening of my eyes. The world was fucking nuts. Two and two did not compute - Eddie might have looked threatening to some people - like white suburban Karens - even without the... Gooey squid-on-steroids thing he had going on. The man was built like a fucking brick shithouse, but I knew him way too well. Eddie couldn't be that badass to save a life.

"You two know each other?" Tony shrieked indignantly, a coarseness in his voice that indicated only one thing: my boo was well into his third drink. Hell, I didn't blame him - that gaping toothy maw was fucking gnarly.

Hands on my hips, I caught myself slipping into a mute rage, storming over to the 200lbs worth of pure dumbass and knocking him right in the face. "You! Didn't tell! ME!" A black tendril wrapped around my wrist, carefully but firmly securing it and preventing me from causing my non-related uncle any more physical damage. Although I must admit, my knuckles probably were more affected than his jaw. "You! Are! A MUTANT!!! HOW COULD YOU?! How could you NOT tell ME?"

I trusted the man with my soul and most embarrassing drinking stories. Hell, I called Eddie in a stoned haze the very same night I lost my v-card. I just thought we were bros, you know? I saw his whole fucking life implode more than once and personally flew to California to ice his injuries and his hurt ego countless times. I was done dirty in the worst way.

"I'm not-" Eddie's sigh was long-suffering. "I, uh, I have a parasite..." He sounded meek, in the same way he used to describe his drunkenly misconduct when I made our family driver bail out his ass outta jail in the morning.

"TAKE THAT BACK!" A deep gravelly voice thundered, seemingly coming out of his chest?

"Okay, okay," Eddie smiled. It was strangely soft and un-eddie-like. The only person he smiled like that was... used to be Anne. "This is Venom. They're an alien and we're, uh, a thing. It's a recent development." The tentacle unwrapped itself from me as I took an involuntary step back.

Even barring the fact that Eddie was dating an alien, this was way too fucking weird for 3 o'clock on a Sunday. I always knew the reporter was, for the lack of a better word, a little weird but he really took it to new heights. With Thor and Loki looking... Like that, I could see a human dating some sort of a hot alien. But with Ctulhu looking the way he did just minutes ago? Did Eddie seriously let all of those teeth in close proximity of his dick?

I had a "ERROR 404, common sense not found" hanging over me for the longest time. The others were quiet behind me, too, even Tony - one of my boyfriends, the most likely to cause utter chaos, was hanging back and expecting me to do something.

"Venom," I clarified, just to fill the silence with some noise while my brain processors re-synced.

"WE ARE VENOM." The tentacle that was sleek and black now had two completely white eyes and a smaller-scale version of the toothy grin that had drooled all over the common room carpet. Their voice had an interesting effect: it was so deep, the air around them vibrated slightly when they spoke.

I tilted my head examining the appendage. It was considerably less terrifying when it wasn't five times my size. "What are you?" And most importantly, are you a threat to my favourite non-related family member? I left that statement unspoken although it was obvious I was ready to fight it? Them? If need be.

"A SYMBIOTE," They replied, swaying the head-tentacle slowly. "WE LOVE EDDIE AND KEEP HIM ALIVE AND HEALTHY." So, they understood the actual question.

"Which is fucked up because Klyntar usually behave in the opposite way." Hearing Thor swear was, perhaps, even more unsettling than finding out about the symbiote-alien-boyfriend thing my uncle had going on. The thunderer himself was nursing a jug of golden liquid. The good Asgardian stuff, he must've been really fucking bamboozled.

"Okay. So anybody wanna fill me on the details before I beat up my favourite idiot?" I sighed, pointedly looking at Tony.

"I thought I was your favourite idiot!" He immediately retorted, hurt, but nonetheless opened his arms to give me a grounding embrace. We may have sucked face for a few seconds, because why the hell not, Tony was an amazing kisser and his tongue down my throat was very calming.

"Hold up, what the fuck?" Now it was Eddie's turn to act all offended. "Aren't you a little too young for him?"

"You and your most likely carnivorous goth space pudding can fuck right off if you're not going to be supportive of my very inappropriate, very polyamorous relationship with three incredibly hot boomers," I shot back, slipping into some resemblance of normalcy. Me and Eddie go way, way back and shitting on each other's bad life decisions was the founding stone of our bromance. Hell, he was the guy who showed me the wonders of sarcasm at an early age! Wonderbaum!

"There's three of them?" Eddie's voice pitched and he gaped, palming his face.

"SHE HAS A POINT, EDDIE. WE EAT PEOPLE. BEING UNSUPPORTIVE WOULD MAKE US LOOK LIKE AN ASSHOLE." Eddie's buddy stated, sounding almost fed up. So, they were sentient enough to recognize how much of a pain in the ass Eddie could be. I could work with that, disregarding the cannibalism comment, of course. What the fuck was up with that?

"Yes, Eddie, I also periodically bump uglies and trade disgustingly sweet text messages with the Hulk and a badass wizard," I rolled my eyes at the reporter's following gasp and angry muttering. "Venom, I like you."

"WE RETURN THE SENTIMENT. YOUR CHOICE IN MATES IS VERY WISE, CONSIDERING YOU ARE A WEAK MORSEL. THEY CAN PROTECT YOU."

"Shut up, Squid. I'll still kick your motherfucking ass if you hurt Eddie."

The emo space goo laughed, a terse scratching noise, showing way, way too many teeth for me to feel comfortable but I allowed myself to be placed on the couch between Tony and Eddie nonetheless. The initial shock of seeing a talking octopod with fangs passed quickly - I've seen Stephen's "trophies" he brought from his otherworldly journeys and Lovecraftian horrors were, honestly, pretty low on the gross/creepy scale.

"Both of you, explain. For the love of fuck," Tony sighed, emotionally exhausted and drained of his usual bravado.

"Eddie was my dad's friend until he moved to Cali, I've know him for fifteen years, give or take. He taught me how to ride a bike and bake the best pot brownies," I shrugged. There wasn't much to say. "I visited him whenever I could but you know, with school and then you guys, there wasn't that much time to iron out the details." I have Eddie a death glare, pointing to Venom's floaty head with my eyes.

Eddie nodded. "What she said..." And then launched an elaborate tale about some company called Life Foundation, some evil dude named Drake and his own alien pudding named Carnage, who was one ugly motherfucker judging by Eddie's and Venom's combined "ew" face, their aching need for human brains to survive and other, more trivial things, like mental breakdowns in a lobster tank and getting dumped by a fiancé and eating their way through a HYDRA base after being captured and tortured. What a wild fucking ride.

"Sounds like you had a rough year," Everybody's dumbfounded silence was ended by Tony who took a slow swig of his whiskey before speaking.

"Yeah, no shit," Eddie muttered, twisting his black coated fingers in elaborate but frankly pretty shapes. His alien wrapped around his neck like a tube scarf and additional tentacles appeared between Eddie's hands, gently prying them open and enveloping them in a sort of a hug? It was hard to compute, the black mass appeared to be totally amorphous.

"How's your anxiety?" I asked, damn well knowing Eddie's mind tended to run like Tony's: zero to sixty in point five with no clear destination. Having an alien inside of him must've really thrown Eddie for a loop.

"It's, uh, better. Venom helps," The reporter admitted, still staring at his hands but the crease between his brows had disappeared and the expression he wore was kind of fond.

"Good. You know, Venom," I thoughtfully addressed the definitely sentient creature. "Eddie is a bigger dumbass than me, which is saying something. You ought to keep a really close eye on him. If not for me, he'd probably be dead from alcohol poisoning, like, years ago."

"WE ARE AWARE. WE CAN ACCESS EDDIE'S MEMORIES." A head manifested itself on a thicker tentacle, floating over to look me in the face but maintaining a respectful distance and staying out of my personal space bubble. "AND WE ARE THANKFUL. EDDIE IS THE PERFECT HOST. WE LOVE EDDIE."

I felt the corner of my mouth tilt upwards at the alien's proclamation. It was child-like in its blunt honesty but carried a certain weight with it. It told me whoever tries to separate those two in any way would get eaten faster than they could say "SIKE!". And honestly? I would help Venom hide the evidence.

"I literally had you for thirty minutes but I would kill everybody and then myself if you two got hurt. This is too soft, I can't." I snorted, extending a curious hand towards Venom. They looked so shiny. I had to touch them.

And they let me. Venom butted their head into my palm and let me gently run my fingers over their slightly cool, slippery flesh. It felt like putting my hands on a surprisingly sturdy yet bouncy piece of flubber. I purposely avoided the small maw and the endless rows of sharp teeth but managed to accidentally brush against something rough and scratchy - as it turned out, the Symbiote had a very long, very dexterous tongue. And didn't that give me a bunch of interesting mental images.

"Oh my God, NO!" Wanda moaned from somewhere, the voice mortified and disgusted.

"Why are you touching the people-eating alien?" Bruce yelped, entering the room with several people in tow. The scientist looked worried, a little bit green around the edges. The tablet in his hands beeped periodically, signifying the ongoing sciencing bender he was in process of.

"WE WOULD NOT EAT THIS HUMAN. WE ARE FOND OF THE MORSEL." Venom defended, well, venomously. Eddie wisely choose to stay silent, trading a knowing look with Tony.

Stephen Strange sighed, briefly closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose with a jagged movement. "One day, Princess, one day you will stop collecting people that are obviously bad for your health and your future. That, or space in the tower will simply run out." With a deeper, calmer sigh, the sorcerer landed in front of me on the floor, sitting cross-legged and subtly begging for a head scratch. Which meant just placing his always neatly trimmed curls under my free hand. His jealousy was about as subtle as a foot in the face.

"I'll just ask Tony to build more floors, duh," I rolled my eyes with force at the obvious solution, giving into Steph's demands, beginning to card through his hair. It was calming both of us, really.

Bruce came over to give me a kiss and my other boyfriends didn't even grumble about the scientist placing himself in my lap, crawling over both Tony and Stephen to get comfortable.

Our dynamic was unconventional and more than a little weird, but it worked for us and the rest of the team most certainly didn't complain about the vast decrease in conflict that came with the territory. Come to think of it, all of us were more tactile than just a group of friends sharing a house and I was very much on board with that. None of us except select few (looking at you, mister doctor) were hugged enough as children and we were making up for it in spades right fucking now.

"Girl has a type," Wanda remarked, like the messy little shit she was. I stuck out my tongue in retaliation.

The Avengers' brain trust began talking about Venom's slightly inconvenient diet that directly resulted in multiple felonies for one Edward Brock, and as much as I tried to follow the flow and make my own, however feeble, contributions to the scientific side of the conversation, the new life form was much more interesting. I asked Venom several questions and they deemed them acceptable enough to answer - which evolved on both of us absolutely geeking out over the differences in our physiology. The space pudding didn't hold back one bit, insulting the inferior human biology with gleeful gusto.

"They need a chemical called phenethylamine," Bruce sighed, having deduced it through discussion since Venom and Eddie both protested aggressively against any kind of invasive testing. "I can synthesize it. No more head-chomping, no more murder."

It made perfect sense. Except it didn't. "Brucie-bear, you're a brilliant fucking scientist but a shit psychologist." I interrupted whatever came next. "Venom is a person, like me and you and, yes, even Hulk. Tell me this: if you found a way to get rid of Hulk, would you stop sciencing in the gamma radiation field?" I looked my boyfriend straight in the eyes, hoping for a spark of common sense. "Do you see my point? You science, Tony engineers, Steve draws and Clint bakes. Venom hunts. It's who they are, you can't give them a pill to make it go away."

The weight of my word landed in the room like lead, heavy. The only source of sound was the TV, playing the news quietly in the background for the longest time. Those few minutes felt like hours until Thor expectantly turned towards Eddie/Venom.

"IT IS SO. WE ARE AFRAID WE CANNOT INFLUENCE OUR INSTINCT TO HUNT PREY. KLYNTAR ARE APEX PREDATORS." The little black goop sounded almost apologetic. It was hard to hear undertones with their voice being so deep and grating. "BUT WE CAN TRY." Okay, I could totally hear the hope. Finding out the Eldritch horror could make puppy eyes was... Terrifying, to be honest, because they fucking worked.

"Got any better ideas?" Tony asked me sarcastically.

"I do, actually." I leveled a look with Natasha. She understood. "HYDRA goons. The aliens that, for some reason, keep invading New York every month or so. Stephen's adventures in Hell. Do I need to continue?"

"Wait, hold on," Steve raised his palms. "We don't kill HYDRA, we deposit them in SHIELD custody."

I snorted at the naïve Captain. "And what do you think happens to them there? Did you honestly think they just let torturing, murdering, world-domination planning psychos back on the streets?"

Steve frowned in confusion. "They go to prison?"

Natasha choose that moment to step up. "It's not uncommon for them to possess certain enhancements to be deemed too dangerous to be released back into society. Some of them are low-tier mutants and inhumans. Trust me, Steve, the lethal injection is a much more humane treatment than solitary life imprisonment in a ultra-high security prison." Romanoff stated with a trace of compassion. "And some mutants, we can't contain for prolonged periods of time." She added quietly, looking away.

Rogers was staring blankly into the wall, mulling over the information in his head. His intensive thought process was plainly visible on his face. I heard about some kind of fiasco with HYDRA agents suicide-bombing a city in Europe few years ago and Steve was there, along with Wanda and Sam.

"Venom is a whole person, and even if they look like they could be the main character in Call of Ctulhu video game, we can't just disregard them like they are some kind of badly behaving pet. They're my honorary uncle's boyf-sorry-significant other, for fuck's sake," I threw my hands up in the air in exasperation. "Y'all should know I don't fuck with people who give shit to one of my own. Don't disappoint me like that." I finished, feeling more tired than I had in months. I didn't regret giving into the found family dynamic, however I didn't exactly sign up for hard choices like them vs my long lost uncle, y'know?

Great, now I had a headache and three very concerned boyfriends glaring at me for unknown reasons. The urge to pace always manifested strongly within me as the emotional atmosphere rose in the room. With Bruce dangling off my lap, I couldn't do even that and I felt the restlessness blossom into irritation more and more with each passing second of my existence.

Eddie remained silent, looking down. Venom had mostly receded into the reporter's body, save for a few tentacles tightly wrapped around Eddie's palm.

"Alright," Steve suddenly said. "We can work with that."

"Princess, you look like you're either going to cry or yell any second," Bruce said softly, squeezing my shoulder and pulling me closer.

I immediately hid my face in his chest, taking several deep, shaky breaths. "Eddie is family. Y'all are family. It's terrifying to have to choose between the two." I said, after a brief moment of hesitation.

The reporter made some sort of a choked gasp, quickly masking it with a cough - I knew him way too well to miss the way he was fighting back tears of his own. Bruce understood, he really did understand me - hopped off my lap and let me hug Eddie properly, my happy-sad tears soaking through the collar of his tee.

"You're, uh, welcome to stay. I'll have a guest room prepared." Tony cleared his throat, passing his half-finished glass to Stephen who swallowed the liquid in one gulp. My boyfriends were so fucking emotionally illiterate. Disaster humans.

Huh, I really did have a type.

Later that night, I made the mistake of barging into Eddie's room with a bottle of really fancy whiskey I liberated from Tony's overstocked liquor cabinet. Visiting my uncle and boozing and smoking on the balcony, for old times sake, was my plan and...

I failed the mission successfully.

I didn't bother knocking. As soon as I saw a pair of bare feet, my eyes traveled further up on the couch on their own volition. There were so many tentacles, a writhing, oozing silky black mass and Eddie was making sounds, unmistakable noises-

"UNSEE. UNSEE. OH MY GOD, UNSEE, UNSEE." I stumbled back into the common room shivering.

"What happened, is everything okay?" Bucky stood up as soon as he saw me enter the doorway with my face scrunched in a grimace of regret. I felt like I've gone through the five stages of grief in the shortest time possible for a human being.

Somwhere, I heard Wanda's sudden moan full of pain and misery. "Please, stop THINKING about it!"

"Brain bleach, oh my God," I cringed. "Where's the Clorox?! I have decided I don't need my eyeballs-"

"Oooh," Tony's proverbial lightbulb lit up. The engineer sounded like he was about five seconds away from building a space ship and permanently moving to another planet. "They're together-together..." Tony intercepted me nonetheless, doing the most effective thing to make me stop speaking and thinking bullshit. He kissed me. With lots of tongue.

THE TAG LIST IS NOW OPEN! @another-stark-sub @mostly-marvel-musings @vozit @littlegasps @pilloclock @shereadsinquiet @downeyreads @hermione-grangers-wife @individualistfem @sleep-i-ness @capbrie @lillsxd @agustdowney @dee-vn @justanotherblonde23 @fanngirl19 @persephonehemingway @softie-socks @schemefrenzy @letsby @cutenessloading @romeo-the-cactus @jelly-fishy-babie @mikariell95

#party favours #bun writes #tony stark x reader #bruce banner x reader #stephen strange x reader #eddie brock #venom #stephen strange x y/n #tony stark x y/n #bruce banner x y/n #tony stark x you #bruce banner x you #stephen strange x you #venom is babey fight me

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sadclowngorl · 4 years

Text

The lost boys across generations.

This is all just my headcanon, that could honestly change at any minute. 👀. My headcanons are based off the prequel script! Pls read it.

This also includes my headcanon of Werewolves in the lost boys universe!

I'm a big history lover but don't be surprised if I got some stuff wrong, I'm not from California or any of these decades, but did a lot of research on it. So that was fun!

Comment your own headcanons i need more!!!!!

1910's

Having still getting used to the whole vampire gig, they have troubles adjusting to their new powers. Marko breaks a lot of things accidently, Paul accidently floats off when he jumps and doesn't know how to get down.

Dwayne was disappointed in the no sun ever thing, he really did enjoy visiting the beach and the warmth of the sun. So :(.

David was more morally affected of the murder part, he has facing against eating the innocent and eating the guilty. Though he realized how hard it is to tell the difference between good and evil. And after talking to Max about it he figured just not eating family's or children would soothe his morals.

The boys really didn't want to depend on Max for money at first, and seeing as California really depended on Fishing, they'd help sailors and fishermen through the night. Gathering coin from their work and possibly from the others pockets.

Though eventually the workers were sick of their antics and kicked the boys from the fishing docks. By that time they realized how much money Max has and said well why not.

Baseball was introduced to America during this decade and while I hate saying this, they enjoy it. Playing some ball to pass some time and to feel at least a little human.

I hate saying it bc of twilight. Fuck u twilight.

The influenza made the boys learn that they are unaffected by disease and from that they realized how short of a life span man has. So the next decade they lived through it fully.

1920's

Hollywood shined through California, bringing in plenty of blood and fun.

Marko had small gigs as a singer in some speakeasys, he enjoyed the attention and showing off.

Paul learned how to play guitar during this decade and loves it to this day.

Dwayne at one point was scouted by an acting agent but Dwayne quickly declined and oh no..ate the guy. Whoops.

The boys did push back the threat of other gangs marching through Santa Carla, by obviously. Eating them.

Through many decades, Max was very introverted. And stuck to his home in the busy nightlife of Santa Carla.

From gangs and people coming into California. Came werewolves.

1930's

They gained the name 'The Lost Boys' in this decade from the locals.

The stock market crashed, causing many to go into poverty. The boys understood facing the problem of poverty and in this decade decided to leave the needy be.

Instead they tried to feed from the humans who have no worries, and stole from them. Giving the goods to the locals who needed it more.

Much of this decade they decided to stay in the shadows, trying to be even unseen as night.

Along with the fact that Dracula (1931) just came out, they really don't need that kind of publicity. Plus Max prevented them from doing any rash decisions.

Though murder was still very high in Santa Carla because the werewolves were running rapid. While they mainly stuck to the woods, some did travel to the docks, poverty stricken neighborhoods, just to feast.

1940s

Then came the war, the internment camps, the fear.

The boys thrived from this fear.

They easily avoided getting drafted, by claiming to be gay. Which they weren't lying 👀.

By the 40s, they've had vampire foursomes. No doubt in my mind.

When the war ended in 1945, hitchhiking became very popular.

This was the year they got their own bikes, by got i mean stolen.

With their bikes they picked up lonesome hitchhikers, and played as hitchhikers in the night.

Though by the 40s the tension between the vampires and werewolves were high. The groups would constantly test each other which would end in bloody fights. The boys were outnumbered by the werewolves as they breed fast but, they had the skill over the wolves to keep them at bay.

1950s

The tension between werewolves and Vampires are on thin ice. The boys take full advantage of the greaser aesthetic and with it attract more victims.

Though they do attract the rivalry of the werewolves.

After decades of tension, the two's leaders have decided to come to a draw.

Meeting at the lighthouse, Max and the wolves leader decides the territory issues

The vampires take the boardwalk and the beach. The werewolves take the forest, and the mountains.

The only neutral part is the walton lighthouse and ofc like peoples houses.

After that issue is solved the boys decide to leave the wolves alone and focus back on their own feasts.

1960s

While the tension between wolf and vampires has eased, a new tension rises.

Communism, homophobia, raegan, the assassination of Kennedy.

While the political subjects the boys normally stay away from, when polictics decides to stick its nose in the boys way of life. Its a bit teeth grating.

The boys learned to live with hatred but didn't hesitate to eat their enemies, they need to keep the kill count in Santa Carla high after all.

Though they do become the victims of some hate crimes specifically gay hate crimes, along with threats of being arrested for association with communism. Ya know the red scare shit.

Moon landing happen. Or did it?

The boys are contemplating if the moon landing really did happen.

Marko and Paul do try to fly to the moon, get bored not even half way and go back home. Also the sun is always out in space, so not a good idea.

1970s

The boys are introduced to. Weed.

Ofc they love it, along with mari jane comes rock and a different type of crowd to feast on.

Paul seems to fit right in with the crowd of hippies, Dwayne enjoys their very calming nature but David and Marko are indifferent to the crowd.

Marko would rather run in the city than sit and smoke in the woods. While David enjoys smoking, he doesn't enjoy doing it with humans.

Marko takes a lot of advantage of the busting clubs with disco and fresh blood, David does the same but let's the victims come to him.

The group seem to bypass the movement of the Vietnam War, its just another war. War to them, its useless. Just killing each other? No no, thats theirs job to kill humans.

Max during this decade seemed to be looking for another member to join. Though he stays quiet of it and doesn't mention it to the boys.

1980s

Their peak

But also their downfall canonically

They love the art, the music, the people.

Everything about the 80s, they soaked right in.

Well..you guys know how they took to the 80s lol.

#the lost boys #the lost boys dwayne #the lost boys marko #the lost boys david #the lost boys 1987 #the lost boys paul

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utterlyinevitable · 4 years

Note

I’m bored and you’re headcanons are honestly so quality omfg but anyways write a headcanon of ethan and MC having a high school, slow burn love/not love (angsty ✨✨✨ kinda like us with our muses 💀 I’m not sure if Ethan ends up coming out as gay at the end tho-honestly if he did I’m living for it) love you lots! 💖 your tumblr niece

AHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAH no no nope Ethan will not come out as gay 🤣 But I am going to take full on creative liberty with this and you’re just gonna have to deal 😘

Ethan and Becca Meet in High School

Ethan Ramsey was 26 years old and a TA for the school’s science department. He took the part time role on a year’s contract to help pay off some of his student loans before he started residency.

At 17 years old, Becca was a senior at a small-town high school.

Becca was an interesting student - very quiet but intelligent. She surrounded herself with the strangest group boys. Those boys were her lab bench mates, and were incredibly subpar.

More than once Ethan caught the three boys playing games on their laptops and scrolling their feeds instead of paying attention.

He watched her carry them all on her back through the course. And ask for nothing in return.

It made his blood boil - they were clearly taking advantage of their friend.

The next week Ethan persuaded Ms. Cook changed up the seating arrangements.

Ethan took great pleasure in marking the boys Cs instead of the B+ they were used to getting with Becca’s help.

Second Semester, AP Bio was kicking Becca’s ass. She needed help preparing to get the 5 she needed on the exam in order to rank Top 15 in her class before graduation.

So she attended Ms. Cook’s after school sessions.

It seemed half the class needed extra help, so they were split up into groups. Half with Cook and half with Ramsey. Becca was assigned to Ramsey.

As the days and weeks progressed, the after school group dwindled.

After a choose-your-partner lab that day, Becca ended up with the same group of useless individuals.

At study group that afternoon, Ethan confronted her about it: “I don’t know why you let them take credit for your work. Be proud of your accomplishments.” “Being proud gets you enemies.” “You’d rather have friends and compromise your integrity, than showing everyone what you’re capable of?”

That made her think.

“I’d rather come out of high school unscathed.” “You can’t make everyone love you. The sooner you learn that, the sooner you’ll come into your own.” “And who are you, Dr. Ramsey?” “Someone who took every opportunity I could. I advise you do the same.”

Over the next few weeks they got to know one another better. Ethan becoming her somewhat mentor and encouraging her to speak up more and assert herself.

She took all his words to heart.

He was proud and a little taken aback when she found a fallacy in one of their labs and called Ms. Cook out on it. It resulted in it being postponed to fix the errors.

Being a high school senior meant having to choose what college to go to.

She was getting acceptance letters left and right but she had absolutely no clue what she wanted to to with her life.

“Did you always want to be a doctor?” she asked one afternoon. “No. But it’s what I’m good at.” “How did you know it’s what you wanted to pursue?” “As much as I regret saying this, it felt like a calling.” “Hmph. Okay.” “You don’t agree with the notion?” “I don’t know what I want to do. I’ve applied to so many schools and different programs. How do I know which one’s right?”

They talked about what she’s passionate about and what makes her happiest and what careers she thinks she could pursue.

That got her to think. Think long and hard and over a few days.

She had a new outlook on life - she was on a new quest to find her eternal happiness.

May came around and she took her AP exam. She got a perfect score. _

Becca has eyes. She notices how attractive Dr. Ramsey is. Tbh everyone notices - he’s the thirst of the school district. Her girl friends even ask her about him multiple times a week. All she does is roll her eyes and say he’s too old for them.

Becca had been all but dating Bryce Lahela for the last year and a half.

They were friends.

Friends who kissed and touched and spent almost every Friday and Saturday night together with the gang.

It wasn’t a secret that Bryce was completely enamored by her.

He wanted her. Officially. And he was tried of waiting.

One day after school, Bryce was waiting outside Ms. Cook’s classroom for her.

He nodded at and dodged every student that passed him as he waited. She was the last one to leave.

“Hey,” he gave his megawatt smile. “Hey, what’re you doing here? Don’t you have practice?” “Ended early.”

They exchanged small talk and Bryce finally began to lay everything out in a young, round about way. He kissed her to butter her up.

“Be my girlfriend?” “What’s wrong with what we already have?” “C’mon, Becks,” he pulled her in closer by her beltloop. “No.” “No?” “What’s the point? We’re just going to break up before college.” “You don’t know that.”

She rattled off all her reasons why: they aren’t going to the same school, they’re young, she doesn’t want to resent him, she doesn’t want to fall in love with him just for it to end badly.

Bryce went to fight for her but was interrupted by the slam of a door. The two looked up and saw Dr. Ramsey and Ms. Cook locking up for the evening.

She pulled away from him and turned on her heels.

At the bus stop, Becca sat with her head in her hands.

Ethan came up next to her. “For what it’s worth, I think you made the right decision. You’re going to change immensely over the next few years.” “I know,” she grumbled into her palms. “It just hurts.” _

Becca went to Stony Brook and double majored in Chemistry and Biology.

She then attended Med School at UCLA.

Her second year, a familiar name stared back at her from her required internal medicine textbook: Dr. Ethan Ramsey.

Becca couldn’t help the smile as she remembered him. She’d almost forgot about the TA that impacted her life more than she could ever know.

Out of curiosity she consumed all his research. And when she finished everything, she found his direct email at Edenbrook.

She spent an entire weekend wondering if she should email him - Ask if he remembered her and that she followed his advice. She found her calling and it was helping people, just like him. She thought about throwing a joke in there but figured it had been too many years and it probably wouldn’t translate.

When residency came, she only had applied to Edenbrook.

And that’s when she emailed him.

She hadn’t gotten a response for months.

Actually, she didn’t hear anything until her decision letter came.

That same evening she found an email from him at the top of her inbox: Glad to see you’ve found your voice. We look forward to welcoming you to the team.

Ethan vaguely remembered Becca.

Honestly, he blocked the whole TA part of his life out.

Though, once he received her email, he personally vetted her application. And he was blown away. She wasn’t some naïve teenager.

Becca started working at Edenbrook and wanted nothing more than to learn from Ethan himself.

But he was different - jaded and cynical and not as approachable as she remembered.

He pushed her to reach her potential and she pushed his buttons.

They grew closer, especially with Naveen’s case. Basically the slow burn in canon happens.

These two get together, officially, once their jobs at the new Bloombrook Diagnostics Hospital were instated and they were definitely both staying in Boston for the foreseeable future. _

Becca didn’t particularly want to go to her 10-year high school reunion. She went because she was being recognized for her accomplishments with a few other alum.

She brought her boyfriend Ethan with her. “If I have to sit through this, so do you.” “I can honestly say I’ve never been to a reunion.” “Well, you’re my excuse to leave early. Gotta put the old man to bed,” she winked.

She was grateful for him playing along instead of taking another shift at work, and it would be nice to just be a couple for once. Without expectations hanging over them as the heads of their respective departments at work.

They had been in the ballroom for less than 15 minutes before they heard the loud whispers circulating.

Seems like Becca wasn’t the only one who remember the sexiest TA in all of high school history and of teenage dreams.

There were a bunch of intrusive questions being thrown at them and people coming up to them for the low down.

They tried not to be rude in their admonishments but the whole situation was awkward as fuck. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to bring him with her....

But there was no going back now.

And then Bryce sauntered over.

They hadn’t spoken to one another since senior prom when he took her best friend as a date and then hooked up with someone else at the after party.

“Rebecca, you look amazing,” he came in for a hug. “Thank you, Bryce.”

They had awkward catch ups at one side of the table as Ethan sat at the other end fending off questions from other girls and a select group of boys that remembered him.

Bryce and Becca talked about what they’ve been up to, how he’s now a surgeon and what brought him back home.

They lamented about how it’s strange they’re both in medicine and never spoke of that as a career path way back when.

In their long, flowing and unawkward conversation, they settled that it was best they went their separate ways.

They settled on the agreement that they didn’t think they’d end up at the schools they went to if they did date. They assumed love would reign and they’d choose to stay close by, and New York and California were not close by.

With all the long awaited closure finally out of the way, Bryce motioned towards Ethan; “So, you and that guy? How’d that happen?”

She knew what he was thinking and was quick to squash any rumors from starting.

“We work together. Didn’t mean for it to happen, it just kind of fell together.” “You look happy.” “I am.”

Bryce was bold in his next assumption. Knowing Becca as the girl who always spoke about never getting married and being a free bird as her main reasons for never committing to a boy, he wanted to catch her of guard: “Is it love?”

He wasn’t prepared for her answer.

“Yes.”

People change and are allowed to evolve. But it’s hard to imagine someone you once loved as anything other than who they were. And it’s even harder to see them in love with someone else.

#love you the mostest #open heart #open heart headcanons #hc #ethan x mc #ethan ramsey #bryce lahela #asked #you weren't expecting this and i wasn't expecting to write this #what did i just write????#Anonymous #bryce x mc

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werezmastarbucks · 4 years

Text

more like honeymoon [1]

stuck in the prison world together with kai, and it turns out to be awesome

kai parker x reader (ER)

word count: ~4160

warnings: mentions of suicide, suicide, graphic violence, glorification of violence

music: right in the text + darkside by iann dior and travis barker

DON’T WORRY BE HAPPY by Bobby McFerrin segment

You danced, while making sandwiches. This kitchen rocked. They had... they used to have about four hundred types of cheese.

The only thing they lacked seemed to be black bread, so you were forced to make one yourself. Kai was a bit grumpy about it since he wanted to move on to the library, and you got stuck in this hotel. He ended up going without you, while you had a go at making bread, and returned with a hip of books that he threw around in the lobby. He moved all the cozy puffed armchairs together and created a neat nest that didn’t seem to have an end, right in the middle. You were still getting used to how incredibly stylish everything was back in ‘94. The year was absolutely special to you, and you couldn’t have wished for a better year to get stuck in. The best music was already out, the fashion was on its peak, and they already thought of creating relatively skinny jeans - not the kind you enjoyed in the new world, but not the baggy horror of the eighties, either.

It’s been one month and a half that you stayed in the prison world, and it was going very well. So far, it felt to you like a long prepaid holiday with absolutely no restrictions. You were breaking into houses and raided supermarkets, you could visit any cafe and any shop, Kai changed cars every day unless it was a Chevy; maybe there was something dramatically wrong with your head, you had no way of knowing.

You were spreading California cheese on fresh, still warm slice of black bread, dancing goofily to music, and chopping tomatoes.

Kai was resting like a little birdie among the expensive cushions which you knew he’d spot with the tomatoes or the cheese, and you still brought the food out. He gasped, excited, and threw the books away, and you stuffed your faces.

Every day, which was the same day again and again, you discovered the new shades of good in him which was frankly unthinkable before. Kai Parker good; but it seemed like being back in prison either broke him completely, or, more likely, put him back into the environment he knew well. Sooner or later you work out your comfort zone; some people, spending years in imprisonment, learn to live and enjoy the place. Not because they’re weak, but because it’s a survival instinct. Kai’s survival instinct was unbelievably strong.

You listened to music and traveled, and every day you asked yourself when the horror will settle in, and it still didn’t. Looked like, with the right company, and the whole world to explore, the magical prison world could seem like a resort.

COME WITH ME by Phil Collins segment

You were standing on the edge of the Canyon. Kai was holding your hand, clearly thinking about something.

“I can’t believe you’ve never been here before”, he muttered.

You were considering other things.

“Where’s the path again?”

“Right there, where the river turns. There’s a narrow way between the rocks that leads up”.

He looked at you. The sun was slowly going up, climbing over the red mountains, coloring them in insane shades.

“We don’t have to do it, if you’re afraid”.

His face gave a mocking expression as he squeezed your hand lightly.

“I’m not afraid”.

“Then just do it. I gotta say, the first thing I’ll do when we get out, I will marry you”.

You got distracted from your thoughts by this. You looked at him. The rising sun was coloring him, too. Kai had that kind of face which you always wanted to hold. It was just so... holdable.

“You fucking with me?”

He shook his head with a smile.

“No. This place doesn’t even feel like a prison anymore. I love it. Because of you”.

Of course he loved it. He had the whole planet at his disposal, but he wasn’t alone anymore. He still had magic from the merge, and he was high and lovestruck. He was about to jump from the Grand Canyon and fall to death, and then come back and continue his journey.

You’d asked him before which way to die was the most painful. This was about to be your first time dying. Before that, you only witnessed people die.

He said being crashed by a car slowly was probably objectively the most painful. He has never set himself on fire because he wasn’t crazy.

The irony completely escaped him.

Feeling your joints tear, and bones shatter, and all, that’s the worst. But psychologically, suicide was scarier. Knowing that it’s your own hands doing that. Falling from a height like that, there was danger of breaking something and staying alive for a fragment of a second, being horrified by the violent collision with the sharp pieces of rocks, but you wouldn’t probably even notice. Jumping from the Canyon was your idea, and that was why he got so inspired.

You looked at each other. Dying together is fucking symbolic, and this world rocked. For a second there you thought, even if you didn’t know you would resurrect, you would still jump, as long as his hand was holding yours.

You interlocked your fingers not to lose each other too soon, and hopped down. The air whistled and howled in your ears as you fell down. It’s nothing like flying, you thought with disappointment. And too fast, as well. You see nothing but the racing red stone. The feeling of being free is still good, until you crash into the first step of the hard mountain, crushing your skull in several pieces.

The Grand Canyon didn’t hear you two die, it was too big.

It took you the whole day to get out, but it was okay because the next day was the same again.

HEARTS IN FLAMES by Red 7 segment

And the next one. And the next. You discovered something you kinda know, but can’t fathom completely until you actually go there: on the other side of the world, it began with night, because it was the eleventh of May after midnight. Somewhere, the time was going further, and somewhere it was slower.

You rode down the long sandy and stone roads in the deserts, and sped as much as you could, not afraid to crash. You ate at any place you wanted to, Kai showed you the ‘secret’ recipe of making the McDonald’s fries, and he cooked it so well you didn’t see any difference. The process looked disgusting, and you knew, once you got out, you’d never go to McDonald’s again.

Once we get out became a kind of a proverb, a catchphrase you used, hopeful and indefinite, and light-hearted. Neither of you really suffered or felt confined in here; you didn’t know when you’d get out, really, because this time the Mystic Falls gang seemingly made sure Kai never has a chance to walk the earth again. You were just there when they tried to send him away, and you wouldn’t have it.

There are several most important moments in a person’s life, and you knew, in a weird way, that was when you and him got absoultely, ultimately connected. It was your chance to stand up for him for once, and, more importantly, to show him that there is somebody after all who refuses to give up on Malachai. So they sent you away, too. Clutching hands together, as you held his open wound, because Kai kicked and bit better than anybody else you knew, and they had to stab him first, you flew away in a tunnel of white light, didn’t feel anything, and it was ‘94 again.

Once we get out had all kinds of plans you weren’t sure you’d fulfill. Like marrying, and getting a car, and moving away from Mystic Falls. Settling down in New Orleans was yours, and burning New Orleans down to the ground was his, because he didn’t want to live there.

Once we get out was a point in the future very vague and distant, because, three months since you landed in the front lawn of the Salvatore mansion in the past, you had only a spell that was useless without Bennett blood. Somebody, whoever hid the spell, overestimated its importance hugely, and went a very hard way to secure it. Kai found it in Florence, of all places. He couldn’t speak any Italian, and your saying you’re fluent in French only made him chuckle with adoration. Do not let it fool you, his adoring chuckle only meant he thought you were a silly creature. French is no use because it’s Italy, bella, he said. Your ass started arguing that a lot is similar in the languages, and he shut you out with jokes. Then went into the library. You preferred to spend time in the streets, cruising around and remembering everything Anne Rice used to write into them.

The spell was scribbled on the piece of yellow paper and put into The Name of Rose. The backup spell which allegedly could go round the whole blood routine. Kai tried it and nothing happened. You weren’t even that sorry, and you both looked at each other long, promising you would keep looking. But honestly...

The whole world. It was yours.

YOU GOT IT by Roy Orbison segment

You had to carry a big bag with you now with the clothes you ‘stole’ from shops because, even though you could change every day, there were still a couple of things you refused to let go of. Kai was trying to teach you to travel light, but the whole life spent in a usual world still had a hold on you.

You realized you liked sweet life, you liked staying at the big houses where the rich people of ‘94 used to live, with all the rich things they had. The pools were the same, and the mini bars, too. May was warm and sunny, especially so in warm and tropical places, and only in Madrid it constantly rained, again and again.

You realized you still had an overall petrifying respect for the pieces of art, but the prison world was an amazing chance to push your limits. Whatever you destroyed, returned back on its place the next day, because it was the same day. You watched Kai swing a bat at Venus herself. The poor gal didn’t have arms for all you knew. He had no mercy for her. Everything here was like a video game. Kai only did it to show you what it feels like. It seemed like he was determined to use this opportunity to make you completely liberate yourself, but something had a hold on him, too.

You danced a lot, you found it especially romantic to dance in the dim lights of the evening in the hotel lobbies. You could choose anything, anywhere, and yet, so it happened that when you finally got tired of traveling non-stop, you found yourselves in Las Vegas. Kai said, awesome, this city has the best hotels. You really doubted that.

But nothing was better than dancing with him, foreheads touching, in the empty, well-furnished space of the Cesar Palace, and sing to each other. Without other people constantly interrupting, the time and schedules, other faces triggering hatred or anxiety in him, it became so easy to just be with each other. You were high on the free wealth, the opportunities this empty planet provided. You had no idea how much Kai was really enjoying it.

The feeling of closeness was overwhelming, even you felt that. Sometimes you wouldn’t be able to let go of each other for days; Kai kept his journal he understandably abandoned once he got out of here the first time. Now, it was its second go. By the time you have finally had sex to every single song in your 576 songs playlist, it’s been seven months in the prison world.

Las Vegas was cool but it was a desert. However, the desert was simply magical at the end of the day, when the heat settled down, and the dense air cooled a little. You’d drive down the avenues of the empty city to look at the dark and lit buildings. Some of them looked occupied, but there was nobody. You never understood what determined which windows were lit.

CLOSE TO YOU by Maxi Priest segment

“Sometimes I was thinking about killing you”.

You’d be more surprised if Kai had never thought of it. When you love someone, you think about killing them constantly. The one option you never tried before left, which is an absolute no go. The forbidden apple of relationship, the ultimate joy of possession, feeling as the life drains from the one you love. You wondered if it would be scarier than jumping off the Canyon if he killed you. You didn’t know if that was Kai poisoning your mind already, or it was what made you two click in the first place.

“Now you have the chance”, you said. He looked a you, cocking his head, and examined you as if trying to understand if you’re joking.

“You want me to kill you?”

Uttering it was still a little bit too much. You were nervous about falling down that rabbit hole where the whole pushing the borders experiment turns into bloody twisted chaos, and you end up like the children from Gummo. Senseless, pointless violence, filthy, dictated only by lust or ignorance. Kai was far from that still. He was essentially hurt and curious, not filthy. He was bold in the ways he professed his violence. But there’s always this danger of going too far and not being able to pick yourself up anymore.

“I mean, it would be good for you. You know what your cravings do to you if you don’t let the steam off from time to time. Now you can kill me safely and close that door”.

He was thinking about it quietly.

“I’m not interested in hurting you anymore”.

It sounded like a song.

But he listened to you, and listened well.

“By the way, if I can kill you, then you can kill me, too”.

Your head snapped towards him.

“I know you”, he chuckled, “you always wanted blood. But you’ve never killed anybody, have you?”

You shook your head no. Kai was like a serpent playing disinterest, but you could see the tip of his tongue split two ways, showing through his sharp teeth as he spoke.

“It’s a changing experience. Nothing quite like it, a good exercise”.

“Did you actually enjoy hurting others?”

“It felt necessary”, he said simply. “I woud die if I didn’t. Better them than me”.

You looked at him blinking slowly. He was a textbook killer you’ve read about millions of times. The philosophical question of whether that darkness that pushes them towards violence has the bottom and end was still unanswered in the future. You yourself had some gems of unanswered mysteries inside of you. Why were you so attracted to this boy, what made you want to stick with him so much? Why this obsession with being the only one who cares for him? Momma complex much? The saint redeemer? He was just so so cute and murderous and that was it. Maybe you did come from a completely cursed generation after all.

“How would you do it?” Kai asked. You were sitting on the porch of a suburbs house you chose to squat in by the way. It was your ‘pretending like you’re middle class’ week.

“Stab you”, you replied, without thinking. “You?”

“I’ll choke you”, he responded, looking at you. You noted how he didn’t use the conditional, but the future. He has made his mind up.

He took his time, though, trying to intrigue, or unnerve you, perhaps. It’s been about two weeks, or even a month, and you almost thought he forgot about it, which wouldn’t be atypical of him. His thoughts were all over the place.

You really loved this house, resembling any house from a 90s sitcom, with that big family couch in the living room which had the way right into the kitchen.

You finished doing the dishes and put the last plates away. Kai usually cooked, and you did the cleaning, all was fair. He appeared silently, wrapping his hands around your waist, and distracted you with heated kisses. They were heated literally, like he had a fever; you turned to feel his skin, and drowned in the kiss. You felt the itchy hot wave coming up, as his hands slid down your hips, and suddenly, his fingers were on your throat. He broke the kiss, leaving your mouth open, and the next second his face was cold, eyes black like two pieces of coal and you recognized that old Kai whom you met at the Grill. While he was still pretending to be fun, pretending to be nice, before you two got together.

His palms closed on your neck and your brain went in overrun. A part of you knew that was something you had discussed beforehand, and he even chose the right time, just after the sunset, when the kitchen was only lit by the pink-scarlet cloud light. A part of you, the more physical chunk, started fighting him, and the air got blocked out from your throat. The feeling of your own cartilage pressing on your artery was one of the most disgusting types of pain you’ve ever experienced. Your hands flew up, slapping his face, but he could as well be made of stone. The murderousness of Kai Parker was unmatched. Like a bulldog, once he closed his clutch, there was only one way it’d end.

Slowly, as you suffocated, blood throbbing in your eyes, he laid you down, while the darkness was consuming you. Damn, it’s taking so long, you thought with a grudge. You’ll definitely kill this dick back. You knew choking someone takes minutes, but these minutes feel like agonizing hours when it’s you being choked. Just relax and try to enjoy it, your mind said, and you suffocated even further on the inner dying laughter. Your hands were shaking violently as they grabbed his, and you wiggled on the floor. He shook you once, banging the back of your head on the tiles, and you almost blacked out. Your body bent out towards his in a fake desire motion. He put his knee on your stomach to keep you in place and pressed further and you died slowly, confused the hell out, in pain, and a little but irritated.

IKO IKO by The Belle Stars segment

You stood there, looking at the row of knives. A song from the future got stuck in your head, where there were lyrics that went,

that you’ll love me more when I’m dead

Your overall mood has not changed. It was just so good to be together, all the time, like a long, magical [sic!] honeymoon. You did not argue. You weren’t upset. Sometimes you’d get slightly disappointed, entering supermarkets, like this one, and expecting people to be there. After all, you have spent a huge chunk of your life... well, all your life, surrounded by other people.

It was another side of good though, knowing, that Kai is the only other one here. He joked a lot about ‘the last girl on Earth’. He was extremely romantic about it.

One of the knives laid in your palm obediently. It was beautiful: short stirdy grey handle, and the sharp broad blade. You could almost see your own reflection in its perfectly clean steel. There’s something about knives. Something about their inevitability, their thinness. You weighed it in your hand, completely mesmerized. You liked knives and was always the one to chop all the food before Kai could cook it. You were the Chopper in this... family?

You turned to look at him, the tall, lean frame, his black as hell head cocked on the side as he was reading something on a pack of nuts. He never read anything from the packs, so you found it curious. What were you calling yourselves? He was like that demon who slides from below your bed and you hold its cold paw in the dark, questioning, what are we?

The way he looked at you, it really felt like he has reached the end of his path in searching. You’ve never seen him so calm before. And vice versa, he was the only one who ever made you feel like that. It was a unit. He never once called you his girlfriend, and it was different. You never spoke about it, except that one time on the Canyon when he said he’d marry you. He looked very sure about it, but, knowing him, you didn’t think much of it. It was one of the things you’d do once you get out...

You walked up to Kai, and as he turned to you, about to show you something that got him so interested in a plain pack of nuts, you stabbed him in the side of his body.

Kai gasped gently, like it was more of a kick, and, unsure if you’re applying enough force, you pressed further.

His hand didn’t even get down to stop you. Unlike you, he didn’t even begin fighting you. He shot you a short glance, and there was nothing but curiousity in his eyes. He’s died thousands of times. It was horrible to think about it, but he was used to this kind of pain. You asked yourself why you’re hurting him, of all people, but it was cold math. You had to get even, because that’s what you had both decided. Plus, once the blade was inside of him, you couldn’t stop yourself.

You stabbed him again, as he grabbed on a shelf no try and stay on his feet. The second hit went right into his abdomen, and you wondered at the thickness of his stomach; being an innocent child before, you believed that a human body would be like butter, since a knife is sharp and extremely thin. It turned out to be a bit harder than you expected.

Kai fell down and laid on his back, putting his hands aside. You suddenly realized, with bursting heart, that you were the only one person in any world that he allowed to kill him and didn’t even struggle. It was the ultimate demonstration of trust, better than any kind of I love you. The best thing he could ever do.

You sat on top of him, stabbing him again and again, trying different spots. The side proved to be the most vulnerable, and the chest was the hardest to break through because of the ribcage. When the blade got stuck against the bone, Kai was already dead, and your elbow hurt. No matter how much you climbed and how much heavy stuff you carried here, you weren’t becoming stronger, because one day’s excercise does nothing.

The blood was splattering onto his face and yours, and then you got tired, and horror finally seized you. At some point you stopped being curious, and became enraged for no reason, stabbing him blindly, just because he was good being stabbed.

You stopped, panting, and looked into his white face with his eyes open, turned away, drops of his own blood on his chin. Your hands were red as you touched his open wounds, and your own stomach seemed to have sucked on itself with fear.

Why did I do this? What does he like so much about it?

You knew for sure he’d come back. There was no reason for him not to resurrect. But the irrational nervousness grabbed you. You took his chin and turned his face up, looking at him.

I love you so much, and I don’t know why I did it.

His blood was warm and salty. It went well with bubblegum ice cream.

You had no idea that it was invented SUCH a long time ago. You had no hope to find it in ‘94 and felt like an idiot, but a happy one.

You sat on the floor two steps away from him and stress-devoured ice cream for an hour until he finally woke up.

Kai groaned and attempted to get up, lifting his head and looking at the high ceiling for a moment. He then rolled to his side and lifted himself up on an elbow.

“How did it feel?” he went straight to the point.

“Good at first, but then horrible. I think I went a little overboard. I stabbed you about twenty times”.

“I always knew there was something deeply, fundamentally wrong with you”, he said with tenderness. He got up and crawled up to you, attracted by the sight of the half-empty bucket of ice cream.

“I don’t wanna do this anymore”, you said, and felt lonely for a second. “I didn’t really enjoy neither the first nor the second time”.

“Each to his own, I guess”, Kai shrugged, and opened his mouth. You shoved a spoonful into it.

#kai parker #kai parker imagine #kai parker x reader #vampire diaries #vampire diaries imagine #tvd

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naturepointstheway · 4 years

Text

Faith in a Futile Hope (Life is Strange 2; Parting Ways)

Post Parting Ways ending, takes place up to fifteen years after the events at the border. May or may not have a second part. Daniel attempts to look for his brother in Mexico, knowing all this time that the plan is doomed to fail from the beginning.

Also, constructive feedback well-appreciated; using this as testing grounds before AO3, just to see if people think it goes too fast or too slow or something’s missing. (Also, to see if anyone catches what Sean’s trying to do with his drawings he’s sending to Daniel.)

All I can think of to tag is @msmooseberry, but hmu if anyone else wants to be tagged in future LIS2 fics as well. :)

When they take off Daniel’s ankle bracelet shortly after his 21st birthday, naturally, his first instinct is to take off to look for Sean in Mexico—and he would, but he resists.

He’s smart—he knows this is exactly what the government expects him to do—

So he doesn’t.

(The hell it’s hard not to just buy a plane ticket and go.)

Instead, he fantasises about the day he reunites again with his brother—he’d find him the moment the plane’s wheels hit tarmac, the moment he exits the terminal, and all would be well again.

(Sean still sends letters to Beaver Creek—all redirected now Daniel’s moved back to Seattle. Shit. What’s worse—Sean clearly refusing to imagine Daniel perished in the 2020 plague, or Daniel never being able to assure him for real?)

He has faith that Sean still loves him—even after Daniel leaving him alone at the border—but where is he? Faith and fantasy alone cannot guarantee him ever finding Sean in Mexico.

(He believes anyway. It’s what keeps his hope alive.)

He can wait another year.

He can.

Fuck, it aches to walk past travel agencies or see internet ads boasting cheap holiday plane tickets. He could walk in, or click an ad. Just one step or click and—

And he would cave in, he would book a plane to Mexico on the spot.

And so he doesn’t.

A year passes.

He’s now twenty-two—

And still he resists.

God. It’s torture.

He blocks all travel websites, avoids streets where there are travel agencies. It’s so bad, he’d sooner pass a church that looks eerily like the one in Havenpoint, than trust himself to walk past any travel shop.

Only one envelope from Sean this year—

A drawing—

Of Cassidy and Hannah with a herd of rather adorable-looking llama-like animals behind them. Underneath, Sean had written: “Vicuñas! Warm and fuzzy and stupid adorable.”

It’s not cold comfort, but nor warm and fuzzy, knowing at least Sean isn’t entirely alone. That at least he can see the old gang from Humboldt County.

Lukewarm. Lukewarm comfort.

He lets the weeks and months plod on by, he buries himself deep into his first year of university.

A degree—he really doesn’t care much for his studies (Cs get degrees, as the saying goes), but at least it keeps him distracted enough from just flying off to Mexico.

And so another year passes.

Twenty-three, he still doesn’t quite let himself go yet—

Maybe they’re still watching and waiting, expectant. But it’s been two years, hasn’t it? If he goes, he might not end up leading them straight to Sean.

But…what if he did?

It would be his fault, his doing.

They’d capture Sean, throw him behind bars, probably for life.

All thanks to Daniel.

So he resists, still. The agony is beyond unbearable.

But there’s no way he’s leading the government to Sean—he doesn’t trust them, ankle bracelet or no ankle bracelet.

At least Chris is there to distract him—he’s always there for him. Thank god.

Maybe he’ll go next year, but not this year. It’s too soon, too early.

He wakes up with a start on August 15th—Sean would be thirty now.

Thirty to Daniel’s twenty-three.

He’s never felt so old in his life. He’s twenty-three, and Sean has missed out on being there for all his milestones (so far anyway), for all his teen years.

He would be lying if he said he wasn’t jealous of other people who still had their older brother around. If only he’d never taken Sean for granted.

“I took you for granted, and I’m sorry!” Those words from so many years ago still haunts him.

Unlike Sean, he can’t say sorry for doing the same too.

If only he knew where Sean was now.

If only.

Another couple of drawings and a little photo from Sean: the drawing of a glorious waterfall catches his eye, and he practically frames it on a wall, it’s that stunning. Underneath is written: “Angel Falls—the highest waterfall in the world.”

The other drawing is of a group of adorable little monkeys (“Capuchin monkeys” is written underneath) feeding and resting together. It’s actually quite sweet.

But it hurts all the same. At least Sean’s not wasting his life in a 9-to-5 job that has, amazingly, not yet stolen Daniel’s soul.

It hurts. And he’d be lying if he said there wasn’t a healthy dose of jealousy too.

Still, he waits, biding his time still, waiting for the right moment to go.

And so another year flows on by.

Twenty-four, and he still doesn’t know where Sean is, though he knows he must be alive somewhere.

For Daniel receives a couple of photos and a drawing; the photos both have generic blue skies and tropical greenery in the background, nothing that would identify him as being in any particular country.

The drawing—coloured in this time—is of a couple of yellow flowers; one has a little bee perched on a petal. Underneath are two words: “Ipê-amarelo.”

So where is he?

Is he in Mexico?

How will Daniel find his older brother again?

What plan does he even have beyond “take a plane to Mexico”?

How is he going to do this?

These thoughts stress him so much he gets the old nightmares again.

Of cults, of Lisbeth, of Sean with glass in his eye, of borders and vigilantes who hunted them.

Of being trapped in burning churches, being forced to endure punishment for his “sins”, of being trapped in a prison cell and not knowing where he is.

Chris insists that he has to go to Mexico, if not to give him some peace of mind, to give him something in his search. Surely by now, the government has moved on.

Chris tells Daniel he hates to see him in so much internal torture over going to Mexico or not—and he must. It’s not healthy for him to keep forcing himself to stay here in the USA, always wondering, never searching.

Sean would not want him to torture himself like this—

The road is scary, and Daniel is too comfortable in his little corner of the USA to venture outside.

He’s not like Brody, nor his mother, nor his brother—he has little desire to brave it out and travel.

The traumatic journey from Seattle to the border of Mexico all those years ago hadn’t helped matters at all.

But if he stays here, he’ll forever wonder if Sean is in Mexico, or elsewhere.

And so maybe Chris really is right, he really should go to Mexico.

If but for the peace of mind, to let him go on the journey he has to go on. Even if he doesn’t find Sean, at least he’ll know he tried.

So he finally caves in. He books a plane for next year—2032.

It is now 2032—he goes in August, books in a holiday for two weeks, the second-to-last day not-so-accidentally coinciding with Sean’s birthday.

Surely, two weeks is enough time to drive around Mexico (he can rent a car and just drive around the place), and somehow run into Sean.

Mexico isn’t a big place, at least not compared to the United States. But Daniel wonders if Sean is even still in Mexico; it’s been fifteen years, he could have gone anywhere.

Surely he’s wandered far from Puerto Lobos by now—maybe he’s just as likely in Canada as he is at the tip of South America, where only the wide cold ocean separated him from Antarctica.

But at least for now he has to believe, has to hope that Sean’s still somewhere in Mexico. It’s a big, big planet, and he doesn’t know if he has enough bravery to go through dozens of foreign countries just to look for his brother.

It was one thing for Sean to look for him in Nevada—at least that was a place, one next door to California—but at least he’d had an idea where Daniel was at the time.

Now? Daniel may as well throw three darts at the world map and pick the first three countries to try to look for him.

Mexico was as good as any place to start—it made sense anyway, seeing as Sean had always wanted to go there.

He could only hope that he wasn’t about to waste two weeks and a few grand only to find no sign of Sean.

He lands at Aeropuerto Internacional de Ciudad Obregon, and it isn’t the most flattering of places, the little town where he ends up staying for a couple days, but at least he’s here in Mexico. The buildings are sparse and plain, and there is little greenery to see, but the sky is as blue here as it is in Arizona across the border. The houses make him think of matchboxes and lighters and little motels huddled away in some isolated corner of Nevada.

If only he could have taken his own car down here, but he couldn’t, so he’d had to rent one for a fixed price per day—at least his office job back in the States paid him enough to be able to afford this. He can’t exactly live in it like he’d seen people do, but it gives him something to work with regardless.

He can’t help the anxiety that overwhelms him as he navigates a language not his own, but a language that was his father’s and his brother’s. Part of him wants to smack his past teenaged self for refusing to ever learn Spanish, after his brother had tried to use him to cross the border. Instead, he had learned French, much to his grandparents’ delight—both had learned French as high-schoolers back in the day, and were more than happy to help him out, even if they were a little rusty.

Now French was next to useless here in Mexico, and Daniel doubts that Sean was in France or in some other nation like Canada where French was one of the main languages.

Ironically, Chris had been the one to learn Spanish—he would’ve been a very useful presence right now.

Nevertheless, at least Daniel is in Mexico, and Puerto Lobos is not far away, Daniel being able to make his way northward, toward the same border Sean had crossed so many years ago.

Maybe he’s in Puerto Lobos, he hopes, even if some part of him tries to reason that after fifteen years, he might not even be there anymore. Or…maybe he’s moved somewhere along the coast?

Mexico was a bigger place than he had realised: perhaps its small size compared to the US had somewhat tricked him. Its border alone touched four states from west to east: California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. It wasn’t exactly a small island nation stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

But no way Daniel was going to give up—and so he made his way up the west coast, the Gulf of California appearing and disappearing from view depending on what road he ended up on. Maybe, just maybe, he would see Sean along the way.

He can’t help but stop for a good part of a day at Punta Chueca, walking barefoot in the warm sand, the sun hot on his shoulders (it was tank top weather), sitting down at midday to have lunch, and then—fuck it—might as well have a swim too. At least he’d brought along swimwear just in case. He ponders the island of Isla Tiburon, which looks so close he imagines he could just swim right across to it. And he wonders if Sean might be on this island too, but he wants to stay on the mainland, keep going up the west coast.

It’s sort of a blessing that the places he passes through are so small, and it shouldn’t be that hard a task to find Sean, if he was still here. And that was a big if.

At least he’s now less than a day’s trip away from Puerto Lobos.

Puerto Lobos greets him with soaking sunshine, lulling bright blue ocean that melts into the cloudless sky, and a tan, sandy beach that seems to go on forever. It is a lot smaller than he expected it to be; somehow, Sean had made it sound like this big, wide world where he could just get lost and never be found again.

Instead, it’s a little village, perched on the coast of Mexico, forever gazing out at Baja California that appears nothing more than a hint of land like damp watercolour smudged across a blue canvas. There is one little hotel here, with just a few rooms and one staff member who does all the things, but Daniel doesn’t mind. At least he can stop here for a day or so, and drive up and down Puerto Lobos to look for Sean.

He doesn’t know why it disappoints him so deeply when he doesn’t find Sean at all—he’d even shown the photo to some people, and they’d all shrugged or shook their heads, not recognising the man with the black glass eye. Did Sean even still have a black glass eye, or had he replaced it with another colour, or even something that more closely resembled his remaining eye?

It doesn’t take long before Puerto Lobos’ width and breadth is exhausted in his search, but Daniel doesn’t let himself give up—yet. He still has another week or so; nevertheless, he spends the self-same night just staring at a map of Mexico, drawing with bold marker how far he’s been now.

It isn’t that impressive. It’s barely even much of the west coast, and this fills him with a sense of something dropping into the pit of his stomach, and he lets his head rest on the map, closing his eyes, feeling he could just fall asleep here from sheer exhaustion and burn out.

I can’t possibly search all of Mexico in two weeks…how am I supposed to search the world?

He wishes that Sean had at least sent a hidden address to their mom’s P.O. Box, but then he might have forgotten it, or hadn’t wanted anything more to do with Karen. Daniel had asked Jacob through Sarah Lee again and again, but Sean had never sent him an address either.

Nobody, not even their mom, seemed to have an idea where Sean was—not even a cellphone number to call.

It really, really wasn’t helping at all—and he knows now that it would take nothing short of a miracle to find him; if he can’t find him in Puerto Lobos of all places, then where the hell could Daniel look for him?

He doesn’t go any farther north than Puerto Lobos—he doubts that Sean would’ve wanted to be anywhere near the border.

And so Daniel returns to Ciudad Obregon, and he has but a few precious days left to venture southward this time, but with less enthusiasm than before.

He’s not going to find Sean.

He’s never going to find him here—

He could be anywhere in Mexico or the world—if Mexico felt so vast and endless now, how would South America, much less North America and Canada, then feel to Daniel?

This planet is just…way too big.

The towns south of Ciudad Obregon remind him again of the ones he’d seen farther north, and agriculture dots the landscape everywhere he looks. Daniel is sure Sean would never live in many of the little villages he passes through, but he keeps his eyes out anyway—

And suddenly, it’s time to go home—

He hadn’t even covered the entire west coast of Mexico.

When the 15th August comes around, Daniel has given up the search, and instead chooses to spend his day around Playa Huatabampito.

He wishes he could enjoy the palm trees, the setting sun, the lapping waves, and soft, cooling sand as much as the beachgoers here.

But he cannot, because now it’s all over.

It’s over.

Two weeks.

He had failed to find Sean.

All that money he’d wasted on a childish hope, a fantasy only found in fairy tales and fiction.

Today was Sean’s 32nd, and Daniel had failed to be there to surprise him for his birthday.

What a stupid, foolish man he was, to have fallen for his own naïve hopes and dreams—

The dream he’d find Sean in Mexico was as real as any he ever experienced in sleep. He’d fallen for his own stupid naivety, so gullible to believe and fall for his own convictions.

Of course he wasn’t ever going to find his brother. Mexico was way smaller than the USA, but that didn’t mean he’d find Sean any easier. Fuck. He could be anywhere on the fucking planet.

Would Daniel have to search the literal ends of the world for even the tiniest hopes of ever finding Sean? How many years could that take?

Either way—he had failed.

Maybe it would have been better if he’d never tried.

He should give up—there was a reason reunions between long-lost relatives happened only in movies and children’s books. Besides, would they even recognise each other now? He’d forgotten Sean’s voice.

Daniel stares out at the watery sun sinking into the distant horizon, drowning in the ocean, helpless. The otherwise soothing rhythm of the lapping waves does nothing to console him. It only hurts, thinking how in another time, in another life, he could’ve been here—or hell, in Puerto Lobos—enjoying the warm Mexican summer with his brother, perhaps even sharing a beer and pizza together.

But no.

He was alone now.

He’ll never see Sean again. Ever.

Daniel fumbles around for the sketchpad and pen he’d been carrying around since he’d landed here in some stupid hope that just having them in his backpack will give him la suerte—the luck—he needs to find Sean.

Placing the sketchpad on his crossed legs, he opens it to a new blank page, settling back against the lone palm tree behind him. He clicks the pen, a stark image of a lone little wolf cub howling at a bright full moon burning in his mind’s eye. After a few false starts, he begins sketching, the ghost of a wolf form emerging on the page. The world around him collapses to the wolf, like it was the only thing in existence, but for the whoosh of lapping waves, the wind striking his bare arms, and the soft warm sand under him.

When he finishes the sketch, he taps his pen on the page, thinking of a title to go with it. After a few seconds it finally comes to him, writing three words under the wolf’s little paws:

“The Lone Wolf”.

He stays very still, staring at the lone wolf cub howling at a cold, uncaring full moon. A drop of water blots the wolf’s front paw. He tears out the page, closing and dumping the sketchbook on the sand next to him.

“I—I wish I knew where you are. But now I know. I’m never gonna find you.” Daniel swipes his hand over his eyes. “You could be anywhere—and—we wouldn’t recognise each other anyway, right? I don’t even remember your voice anymore, Sean. I’m not even sure how to feel about that.”

It’s weirder still to think that the last time Sean had heard his voice, he still had the high lilt unique to a child’s. Or that his face was forever ten years old in his memory.

Daniel had grown into a full adult man, and yet, in Sean’s memories, he’s forever frozen in time as the ten-year-old he’d left behind. Sean had never seen him grow up into teen-hood, never had the chance to tease him when his voice broke, nor joke that he’ll never be as tall as Sean, nor ever make fun of the scant “beard” he managed at best. He never even saw him dress up for his first prom, go on his first date, discover his sexuality, or even graduate. To his surprise, his high-school graduation had felt bittersweet—yes, his grandparents and even his mother had been there, but…it was still not right for Sean to be absent, to not be there to be proud of him, to see him graduate high school.

Whether prom or graduation, he’d have given anything to have had Sean around.

Now, Daniel had not only robbed himself of having his older brother around, he’d also robbed Sean of watching him grow up into the young man he is today.

God.

It’s—

It’s enough to make him want to scream at the unfairness, to shout “Why?!” at the deaf, mute fates, to make him want to sob until his throat is raw, until his tears dry up and leave him an exhausted, shaken mess.

And so he—

And so he curls up into a ball, pressing his lower back into the tree trunk, pulling his knees up to his chest, burying his face in his arms, only the silent shuddering of his shoulders betraying his state. He feels the paper flutter from between his fingers, but doesn’t care. Let it fly over the sand, roll into the waves, disintegrate in the foam—like he cared.

It didn’t matter anymore.

He’d never, ever see Sean again.

It’s not like he can repeat his teen years over again, so what was the point? He was twenty-five, what more could Sean miss, short of engagement and marriage and graduation from university?

What even was the point if Sean wouldn’t even see him cross the stage for his undergraduate degree? If Sean would never see him marry the love of his life? If Sean would never see him promoted in some nebulous dream career?

They’d all be tainted with the knowledge he had robbed Sean of seeing him grow up, seeing him succeed in life—

All because of a second of impulse, a moment of panic, of not wanting to hurt anyone else—not even the policemen at the border who would have killed him and Sean without remorse.

And now he knew: he had no choice but to give up.

And now tomorrow…

Tomorrow, he will return to the USA, none the wiser about Sean’s whereabouts in Mexico, let alone the whole world.

#Life is Strange 2 #LIS2 #Daniel Diaz #Diaz Brothers

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sad3girl · 5 years

Note

do a headcanon for the byers+el And Hopper BUT not in canon timeline, more like if Hop hadn’t died and that 3 months later was him and El moving in instead of the Byers moving out

I started this and then someone called me and you know tumblr it didn’t save shit, so this is going to be a shitty version of what I originally planned.

I can do canon or AU headcanons you guys just let me know, here we go:

Hopper and Joyce trying to take it slow (and failing)

Hopper finally taking Joyce on that date and it being slightly awkward at first

Then getting over the awkwardness and it turning into the best date of their lives

Hopper kissing her when he drops her off at her place

Joyce getting home with the biggest smile plastered on her face

Hopper getting to his motel room (because his damn house was destroyed) and being glad El was staying at Max’s because if she saw his goofy smile now she would never shut up about it

Hopper taking Joyce out a lot and treating her to all her favorite foods

Always wearing his super fashionable shirts

And getting made fun of by El because of them

Secretly, Will and Jonathan also make fun of him

The kids being super happy for their parents

El staying over at the Byers a lot because Hopper doesn’t want her to stay at motels all that much

El staying over at Max’s a lot too because of that

After the first couple of weeks, Joyce and Hopper start having more dates in, just at her place

Hopper tried to cook once, and it doesn’t go over that well

Joyce teaching El many ways to do her hair

Will and El hanging out and becoming friends

Jonathan teaching Will and El about music

Will and El drawing together all the time

El bonding with Will about the Upside Down and feeling like they don’t fit in

Jonathan driving El to her dates with Mike, and becoming just a bit protective of her

The Byers boys and El constantly teasing Joyce and Hopper

Hopper and El having dinner with the Byers every Sunday

Hopper and Joyce hosting a Sunday barbecue every other weekend for the whole gang

Joyce going shopping with El

Hopper giving advice to Jonathan about pursuing his dreams

Hopper becoming a father figure for Will, who was always verbally abused by his real father

Joyce giving El the talk, much to Hopper’s dismay

Movie nights with the Byers boys and El when their parents go out

Will and El covering for Jonathan when he sleeps over at Nancy’s

Movie nights with Hopper, Joyce and the kids

Mike going over to the Byers to have dinner with all of them

Mike apologizing to Hopper and respecting him

Hopper warming up to Mike, eventually

Hopper and El having game nights with the Byers

Hopper and El having father daughter time

Them going out to dinner, to the movies, and Hopper teaching her how to play poker

Mike actually apologizing to Will and being a good friend again

Mike making more time to spend with his friends, both as a group and one on one

Will telling Mike he was right about him not liking girls

Mike having known for a long time that was true, but not judging him for it (”it may have been true, but I said it like it was a bad thing, and it isn’t, it was stupid and I’m really sorry”)

Joyce teasing Hopper every time El goes out with Mike

Hopper and Joyce being really over the top on the PDA in front of their kids to annoy them

Hopper gradually moving in and while they both notice, neither says anything

Will and Jonathan being completely done with them every time they get cheesy

El never being annoyed at their PDA but thinking it’s romantic

Max spending the night at the Byers a lot because her house reminds her of Billy

Max and Will annoying Mike and El by pretending to be grossed out by them all the time

Max giving Mike advice when he’s an idiot because she feels bad (”i swear if anyone finds out, you won’t be dead but you will wish you were”)

Max and Mike being best friends but acting like they hate each other

Their bickering getting to everyone’s nerves

Nancy and Jonathan spending more time at the Wheeler’s place because it seems like the Byers home is always full nowadays

People in town talking about Joyce and Hopper’s relationship

El meeting Mike’s parents

Ted being shocked to learn his son has a girlfriend (because unlike Karen he pays zero attention)

Karen being so happy to finally meet El (because listening in on their phone calls didn’t do their cuteness justice)

Karen taking a million pictures of them, to the point it gets really awkward, but she is so proud of her baby boy

And obviously Karen showing El Mike’s baby pictures (and El having to pretend she has never seen them before)

Hopper trying to help out by going to the supermarket but forgetting it isn’t just him and El anymore, so instead of buying what was on the list buying only junk food

Joyce telling him to just clean up if he wants to help and to leave the shopping to her

Hopper and Joyce being domestic and married AF

Joyce going to the station to have lunch with Hopper during her break

The Party getting to officially meet Suzie

The girls becoming instant friends with her

Lucas and Max breaking up every other week

Everyone making fun of Lucas for it

The Party playing D&D again

Lucas and Will spending two weeks planning a campaign

Max making so much fun of her boyfriend for being a giant dork

But still playing the game

El getting really into Wonder Woman, and eventually just into comics in general (her favorite superhero ends up being Scarlet Witch, but Wonder Woman is right there too)

Dustin and El going to the comic book store way too much

Steve being the one to drive them and complaining the whole time

But reading a couple of comics while he waits for them

Dustin and El just being the best of friends

Max, Dustin and El being an iconic trio

Will and Mike having really deep conversations

Lucas trying to get El’s advice when he and Max fight

And failing

Instead getting advice from Mike, who knows what to say because Max told him

The Party being normal, carefree kids

El learning to live without her powers

Hopper being there to hold her when it gets too much and she breaks down

El feeling kind of useless without her powers

But having her friends and family to remind her she isn’t useless, and that they love her

Will coming out to his friends and family one by one, after a lot of talking things through with his bestie

Some being more shocked than others (Hopper suspected, Joyce and Jonathan knew, and so did Max, because let’s be honest she came from California)

El not getting why it’s a big deal Will likes boys (”so? i like boys too” “yeah, but you’re a girl” “so?” “i don’t know, that’s normal!” “why?” “because!” “well, that’s stupid” “yeah, i guess it is”)

Hopper becoming even more protective of Will after that

The Byers-Hopper clan going back to school shopping

El wanting everything that sparkles and is colorful

Will laughing at Hopper’s “i’m about to shoot myself” face

Jonathan picking the least amount possible of things so his younger sibling can get better stuff

Hopper and Joyce arguing about whose car they should take when they go out (“mine is newer!” “well mine isn’t a police car Hop” “and mine is bigger too!”)

School starts and El being really nervous

El and Will sleeping in the same room when they are scared, anxious, nervous,etc

Will and El talking about their fears for high school the day before they start freshman year

The Party having an awesome first day of school

Until they leave and Troy corners them

El being confused about what the term ‘fairy’ means

Once Max tells her, wishing she still had her powers

But realizing you don’t need powers when you have fists the next day when Troy calls Will that again

Getting low key high-fived by Lucas and Max while Will chastises her for punching Troy

The Party going out with Steve, Nancy, Jonathan and Robin on Friday to talk about their first week

Things not being perfect, but pretty damn good because they all had each other

244 notes · View notes

achtung-attitude · 4 years

Photo

CHAPTER 31: Hotel California - Part 3

The pain of the effect gradually lessens, yet in spite of his best efforts, Kilo cannot find the strength to stand back up. Pins and needles prickle beneath his skin, crippling his left leg and right thigh, leaving both as useless pieces of flesh.

The cause of this effect, the bellboy named Marsellus, stands over him, a strange figure hovering next to him: a creaking, metallic creature, bizarrely garbed in faded blue jeans and dark glasses. With each jerky movement of its arms, sparks fly out its joints, flashing light across its metallic body. “CALIFORNICATION...” he mutters.

After a moment, he seems to remember that Kilo is in the room. “Oh! I beg your pardon, sir! Perhaps I could fetch you some refreshments to help you relax? We have tea or juice, or something rather stronger? We have a lovely vintage 1896 white--”

Kilo’s answer is to summon SATURN BARZ, but the Stand immediately flickers away. Kilo grunts, trying to force it into being, but in vain. The same power paralyzing his legs affects his Stand, as something like white noise on an old TV set distorts its form and prevents it from manifesting. He grimaces, resorting to crawling towards the wall, pulling himself with his hands.

“Please, sir, try not to strain yourself too hard. You might pull a muscle! In that event, all staff are trained in first aid-”

“Enough with the “sir” shit,” Kilo hisses through clenched teeth. He reaches the wall and pulls himself onto his back to sit up against it. “Drop the act already! If the Congregation wants us dead that bad, just fucking get on with it!”

The bellboy pauses. “... The Congregation… You mean Brother Dust is…?”

“I guess you figured out you couldn’t take us in a straight fight, so you pull this crazy place out of your asses!” he says, smiling bitterly, “Did Dust and that other guy get that scared, they wouldn’t dare handle us themselves?!”

“... Perhaps this is fate, or merely coincidence…? So strange… ten years without hearing from the old preacher, and now, his schemes enter my life once again.”

“What… what do you mean?”

Marsellus shakes his head gently. “I am not with the Congregation, but I used to be. I called Dust my brother, but that was my old life. I left the gang over ten years ago, having found my true calling,” he gestures upwards, at the walls of the hotel.

“That was until… Three days ago, I received a call from him, requesting my aid. To hold one of his... ‘assets’ and keep him safe, until such time as his enemies may be dealt with. And now, it seems, that very enemy has stumbled into my midst as well.”

“One of Dust’s assets?” Kilo says, “... Mann. The big guy! He’s the Congregation’s guy in politics!”

“I suppose so. It really has little to do with me. I don’t know what he plans to do with him, and I don’t rightly care.”

“I thought this Dust asshole was supposed to be smart. What was he thinking hiding his guy in a murder hotel?”

“Oh, he has me to thank for that,” the bellboy says, raising CALIFORNICATION’s finger, allowing little arcs of energy to flash between them, “Regular shocks keep Mister Mann from fully embracing the Hotel, though it breaks my heart. I owe Brother Dust, you see. If not for him, I would never have found my purpose. I live now only to serve as the Hotel’s caretaker.”

“Caretaker?”

“Yes, sir. There have been many employees, most of them former guests, of whom I can be counted as one. But of all them, I was determined to be most worthy of being the Hotel’s protector.”

Kilo scoffs. “Yeah, sure… More like it figured out you was more good to it alive than dead!” The buzzing beneath his skin gradually recedes, and feeling starts to return to his body. He stays where he is, waiting for his moment. “A slave with a Stand, gotta be a useful thing! Did you never even think about leaving?”

“I don’t understand,” Marsellus says, cocking his head. He is genuinely confused, “Why would I want to leave? … Why would you? What’s waiting for you on the outside? The Hotel provides everything you could need: comfort, companionship, beauty. Happiness. Out there, there’s nothing but struggle.”

An edge enters his voice, grating against his throat, “My life is simple here! So unlike my days in the gang! Constantly at war! Struggling over territory, money, prestige, struggling to keep my reputation lest I lose face! And even then, it can all be taken away from you in the blink of an eye! The Hotel…! The Hotel is not a prison, it’s a paradise! A paradise where you can become truly free!”

“Sure,” Kilo spits, “as long as you’re willing to die for it…!”

“Everything dies, in time… The lucky ones among us are able to die for something greater than themselves. Luther understood that. And I’m sure in his final moments, he was grateful.”

“Grateful? You’re sick… I’m sure of that much…” he says, pulling himself to his feet, at last able to feel his legs again. “And if there’s one more thing I’m sure of…” SATURN BARZ appears, still somewhat distorted by white noise, and CALIFORNICATION moves to intercept it.

But rather than attack, Kilo’s Stand slams its clawed hand onto the floor beneath him. Instantly, it melts into slurry and he falls through, landing on a crouch in the room below. “NOOO!!” Marsellus shrieks, and in the same moment, a low groan is heard, seeming to come from all directions. The walls contort like muscles writhing beneath skin. Kilo looks up, and grins in satisfaction.

“Looks like the hotel really is alive, like you said! And if it’s alive, then all I gotta do is kill it! I’ll tear this place down brick by brick if I have to!”

Marsellus sends CALIFORNICATION down the hole, but SATURN BARZ stamps its foot and another hole is melted. Kilo smirks as the Stand’s mechanical fingers fly over his head. Tiny arcs of electricity graze his forehead, but otherwise it misses him completely. He descends through one more floor, leaving the bellboy to stare down at him in impotent hatred.

“DAMN YOU!!” he roars after him, “You WILL be an honored guest, EVEN IF I HAVE TO BREAK ALL OF YOUR BONES AND STRAP YOU TO YOUR BED!!!”

Kilo lands in with a crouch and a roll into a dark room. A fetid odor immediately assaults his senses, making his eyes water and his gag reflex act up. “What the hell…? ” he mutters, covering his mouth with his hand and squinting, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dark.

When he takes a step forward, he kicks into something meaty, causing Kilo to fall and land on his hands. But instead of feeling the soft carpet, his hands squelch and drip into a wet and pus-y subtance. A visceral chill of disgust throws him back onto his feet with an “Ughh!!”, and his backstep hits against something as heavy and organic-feeling as the first. The goo on the floor squishes beneath his shoes. His eyes finally adjust to the low light, and he fights the urge to vomit.

Surrounding him are the rotting and bloated corpses of the recently deceased at the Hotel California. The bodies are in various stages of decay and rot, with some having their organs squeezed out of every orifice, with others merely skin draping off their bones. A shake comes over his hands, which he suppresses by balling them into fists and grinding his teeth.

Kilo dashes straight ahead until he finds a wall, then liquidates and dives out of the charnel room. He runs, wiping his filthy hands along the walls, soon reaching the room where he and his friends are staying at. He kicks down the door, and a wave of relief washes over him as he sees Shizuka and Jerome lounging languidly on the sofa, unharmed, unbothered.

“Whuhh…? Oh, hey Kilo… Did you find what you was lookin’ for…?” Jerome asks groggily as his friend shakes him awake.

“Yeah. I wish I didn’t. Get up, we’re leaving now. Shizuka…” Kilo replies, shaking Shizuka roughly.

“I’m so hungry…” she moans quietly, before being picked bodily up and carried under his arm. After a moment of difficulty, Kilo also lifts Jerome and slings him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Holding his friends tightly, he kicks open the door to the emergency stairwell and runs down to the ground level, leaping over every three steps. Upon reaching the bottom, he kicks through that door as well, bursting into the lobby. The exit lies less than five meters away. A triumphant smirk crosses his lips.

Kilo makes for the door, glancing at the reception desk to see Martha still standing, waiting to receive guests this late into the night. “Good evening, sir,” she says, remaining behind the desk, “How may I help you?”

He ignores her, turning towards the revolving door. Escape is right in front of him. Kilo reaches for the handle and… his fingers close around thin air.

He blinks. Looking up the sight that greets him is Martha’s blank, smiling face. “How may I help you, sir?” she asks.

“What the fu--?!” Kilo exclaims, spinning around. The door is now behind him, and he is standing in front of the reception desk, as if without his noticing, he had been picked up, turned around, placed in a completely different position. Growling, makes for the door again, readjusting Jerome’s position over his shoulder.

He reaches, and once again grasps nothing. His foot kicks off the side of the decorative fountain in the lobby and he nearly tumbles into the water along with his friends.

“What the fuck is this?!” he yells, “Where did the door go?!” Indeed, though he was looking at the revolving door the entire time, it appeared to have simply disappeared in the time it takes to blink.

Martha says nothing, still staring at him blankly, oblivious to any concern. “Could the bellboy’s Stand still be affecting me?! I don’t understand this--!!” he thinks, desperately looking to see if Marsellus is around.

“Whoooa… trippy,” Shizuka says under his arm. She is looking up, and Kilo matches her view. The sight before him opens a cold pit in his gut.

The exit is now on the ceiling. The opening and the glass revolving door moves above him, the stone and plaster around it flowing around it like mucus.

While astonished and horrified at this, Kilo suddenly feels something pulling at him, in the opposite direction of the doorway. He stumbles, regains his balances and sees that it is not him being pulled, but the floor beneath him. The marble pattern beneath his feet is shifting beneath his very feet.

“What is this?!” he yells, ”Is… is this the hotel’s doing too?!”

“Why, of course. Were you not listening before?” says a voice from behind. Before he can turn, he is jabbed in the back by rough mechanical fingers and he screams in pain as electricity burrows through his body. His lungs falter and his fingers twitch. Shizuka and Jerome drop to the floor, and Kilo follows them soon after.

#jjba #jojo's bizarre adventure #jojo no kimyou na bouken #achtung attitude #kilo staples #marsellus quinlan #saturn barz #californication #ch31

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rugrat-club · 5 years

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Bodyguard | D.H

Part one.

Summary: upcoming famous popstar, y/n is on the rising. Between tour buses, sell out shows, writing and producing music, her life is chaos. But her love life turns to a flip when she finds out her bodyguard diego hargreeves has feeling for her.

Warning: inappropriate language, close to smut at the end. Rated T.

Diego hargreeves, who fought crime as a kid. He gave it all up, realizing he needed to be adult not some guy who dresses to throw knifes. He still is the same diego, the knife throwing assassin. But in this life, he wanted to forget his old one. He wanted to forget his father, the torture he put diego and his siblings through. That’s exactly what diego did, gave his old life away, and found a new one. From a police officer to a bodyguard. He worked as bodyguard for a women he called a “goddess”. He was head over heels for the girl, protecting her was his main mission. She was the most beautiful person he’s ever seen in his life, spending the most time with her, just watching the way she laughed, talked, walked, every single thing made him love her. But she wasn’t his just yet.

Y/n y/l/n, a young girl with a dream. At age 16 she got in a plane from philadelphia to lax, walking the streets of la, not a dollar in her pocket but a dream clouding her mind. They told her she wasn’t gonna make it. Years later, Yet here she stood in arena in los angeles, california, where she first started, filled with millions for people, they were here for her. They sang her songs, screaming her name. Looking at the crowd with a tint of love in her eyes, she couldn’t believe it.

“Thank you! South central, and good night.” Y/n gripped the microphone, cheering her happiness into it. The crowd roared as she ran off the stage, meeting diego at the end. “You did amazing.” Diego huffed, grabbing her hand, guiding her back to the dressing room, along with her manger on their trails. Straight to the huge dressing room, the soft tunes of Khalid playing in the speaker. “Y/n, you have a meeting tomorrow at 4 o’clock with vogue magazine.” Pauly walked into the bright room, crowded with clothes and shoes from mid show outfit changes. Plopping in the makeup chair, in a huff. It was never like you had a good minute to yourself. “Gotcha.” You clicked your tongue against the top of your mouth. Diego watched in a giggle at your annoying childless like, owning him a glance from paulie which diego cover it with a cough. “Back to the bus in 40 minutes.” Pauly shook his head, closing the door behind him. Then there was two. “Do you ever wanna punch him in the face?” Diego bit his lip, pointing to the sliver door. “Yes, Sometimes. but he is my manager and he’s only doing his best to help me.” You nodded at the last, making diego giggle. “Respect.” Taking off your high heels to change into your slippers. The loud knock made diego furrow his brows, going into full beast mode. Looking like he was ready to cut whoever was sitting behind that door. Jumping up from the leather couch, with a steady look and sucking in his breath, he opened the door. “Where is she?” The familer voice rang through your ear. Diego swung the door wider, revealing oscar. “You did amazing, mama.” He pushed past diego. Diego rolled his eye, noticing oscar used as same as him earlier. Diego couldn’t help but always feel intimidated by oscar, he was two inches taller then diego, diamond studs pierced in his ear, a large tattoo of a cross on the side of his neck, along with a gold chain. Oscar was known as a fearless guy, reckless. Most people that knew him was scared when he’d show up. He was a leader of a gang, the santos. “Spooky!” You used his street name, opening your arms to invite him in. Diego felt his blood boiling, eyes twitching watching you hug oscar. The smile on your face made it worse, he wanted to be the one to make you smile. He knew oscar was no good for you, it was like a sixth sense. The jealousy he felt was unacceptable. But sometimes he wonder if you was single would he still shoot his shot? Oscar peaked your lips, running his fingers through your hair. “Where your next stop?” Hands placed on his chest. “Airzona” diego coughed making all attention on him. “Y/n, you should get changed, you have to be back at the bus soon.” Oscar turned watching diego like a hawk. “Hermano, you better back up before you get smacked up.” Oscar chuckled, with all seriousness in what he said. Which in oscar didn’t like the idea of diego as your bodyguard. Grabbing his hand pulling him back. “Diego’s right. Spook, I should get back before pauly kills me.” You giggled at the end, trying to lighten him. “Alright, princesa. Call me.” He kissed the top of your forehead. “I love you.” He cupped your face. Shooting him a soft side grin, he began walking out the door. Oscar shot diego a deathly glance. Leaving you and diego in silence. Stareing at your bright pink acrylic nails, avoiding his looks. “I’m gonna go, I’ll walk you to the bus when your ready.” Diego left the room without another word. Sighing quietly, you felt your emotions for diego creeping back up.

Sitting in the back of the bus, it felt like hours since the show but it was only two hours ago. Writing down the random lyrics that came to mind. Hoodie over your head, sleep draining in your vains but you knew you couldn’t sleep, this needed to be done. it felt like you was drowning and no one could see or save you. Covering your broken self with a fake smile. Writing these lyrics down on a paper felt like a have too, not a want too. Losing the most sleep, it was like a routine that couldn’t be changed. Pushing yourself everyday to be a perfect person, one wrong mistake and it was on every headline. One wrong tweet, one wrong comment, one wrong word, and your life could fall apart in a snap. It was living on a tight rope, lose balance and you fall. “Hey. Can i come in?” Diego knocked, before opening the sliding room. Looking up at him through the blurry vision. “Yeah.” You nodded, voice quiet. Setting down the pen on the notepad. Diego took a seat next to you. You two haven’t spoken since the incident in the dressing room, which wasn’t like you guys. Close would be a understatement on your guys relationship, it was late nights in the back of the bus laughing, creeping to each other’s bunks for advice, and so much more. Wishing your relationship was more then friends was useless, ruining the great friendship was something you couldn’t risk.

Everything about oscar was wrong, yes it was nice at the start, the puppylove stage. But now all feeling was gone, it was like not knowing him anymore. “I’m sorry about oscar earlier.” You looked up at him, trying to ignore the butterflies in your stomach waiting to irrupt. “Why are you still with him?” Diego blurted, closing his eyes realizing how harsh his words came out but he wasn’t taking them back. “What do you mean?” You squinted, trying to understand why would he just say that. It was something diego would never do. “He’s in a gang for Chris sake! He’s gonna break your heart one day.” Diego pointed his finger, he huffed his chest like he was dieing to say it since forever. Staying quiet, having nothing to say. A part of you knew what diego said was true. Oscar was dammed for trouble. Eyes turing to the window, watching the trees past in the night. Feeling the tears poke at your eyes, it was just too overwhelming. Actually hearing you had to let oscar go, but that wasn’t why you was teared up, it was guilt from not feeling bad about letting oscar go. Quickly wiping the fallen tears in hopes diego didn’t see. “Your writing a love song?” He peeked at the notebook on your lap. You nodded, still not meeting his eyes. “Is it about oscar?” The question made your heart speed, palms sweat, the nerves creeping up. “N-no. It’s not about him.” You swallowed, knowing damm well the song is for. But you couldn’t admit that to yourself. “Who is it about?” Diego digged deeper, his heart strings being clipped with a scissors. How could he watch someone he loves fall in love twice? Looking up to meet him in the eyes. Breathing hitched, silence flowing, no movement to each of your limp. “It’s about someone I been in love with for awhile.” You couldn’t understand why you said it, it was word vomit. The tension was so thick it could be cut with a knife. He licked his lips, making you glance exactly at his lips. You didn’t realize how close you’ve gotta till you felt his breathing on yours. “This is wrong.” You belowed whisper, lips inches from yours. “Look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t want me to kiss you.” Flicking his direction from your pink lips to your eyes once again. “I can’t..” he leaned closer, letting his lips brush yours. Then going in for all, pulling you closer to him. His lips was everything you imagined, soft was one. It was wrong but it felt so good. You didn’t want it to stop. His hands cupping your face, fingers running through your hair. Heavy breathing through your nostrils. Slowly pulling away, opening your eyes to face him. “I’m sorry.” He choked out. “Don’t be. it was both of us.” Pressing your nails to his cheek softly. Pulling him back in, it was fireworks every fucking time. He grabbed your waist, making you straddle him. His fingers creeping under your hoodie, getting chills at his cold fingers on your bare back. “Say the words and I’ll stop.” “Please don’t.”

#diego hargreeeves #diego hargreeves imagines #diego hargreeves imagine #diego hargreeves blurb #diego hargreeves headcanons #diego hargreeves smut #diego hargreeves x reader #tua #the umbrella acadmey #the umbrella acadmey imagines #the umbrella acadmey imagine

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thirstygirlclub · 5 years

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Duchess - 17

Chapter 17 – Donati

Happy rarely had nightmares. Things that gave normal people nightmares weren’t the sort of things that gave him nightmares. However there was one thing that terrified him more than anything and that was his loved ones being in danger without him being capable of saving them. For this reason, almost every time he had gone to sleep since Catherine had been followed he had had a nightmare about it. The nightmare always played out differently in the end; sometimes he found nothing but a cellphone on the ground where she said she was; sometimes she was on the ground and not moving; sometimes he was watching her being hurt and was unable to do anything about it, like he didn’t exist. Every time he woke up his heart would be racing, his breathing would be heavy and Scrap would be lying across his legs almost as if he knew about the nightmare.

“Are you alright, Mijo?” Mama asked him as she watched him pouring himself some fresh coffee, “You look sick.”

“Nah,” Happy said, shaking his head and fighting back a yawn, “I’m good.”

Happy got his threatening, hard glare from his mother; a glare that was now being directed at him and making him shrink back slightly against the kitchen counter. No one scared him quite like his mother, not even Gemma. Mama had been the one to try and keep him in line when he was a child after his father had left and he respected her for it; she hadn’t given up on him like his father had.

“Just tired,” he elaborated with a shrug.

“Happy Lowman,” Mama said slowly and he knew he was in trouble, “if you do not tell me what is wrong I’m going to call Catherine and she can get it out of you. You know I will do it.”

The ultimate threat. Mama knew he couldn’t refuse anything Catherine asked of him and she would use this to her advantage. He got his talent for interrogation from his mother too although her techniques were perhaps slightly less violent than his.

“Ma…” trying to reason with her was useless but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try but the when she reached for the phone he caved and put his coffee on the counter behind him, “I’m just not sleeping. Please don’t call her.”

“Bad dreams?” Mama frowned and placed the phone back on the small dining table.

Happy nodded slowly and folded his arms uncomfortably. Mama had been awake and waiting for him to get home in the morning only to see their family pet covered in blood so there was no way he could have hidden what he had done from her. He had told her about it; the phone call, the attack, and the conversation he had had with Catherine afterwards, how she had been the first person to validate the feeling of fear when he had to switch prisons… the way she had held him afterwards. He hated being soft and vulnerable but it was different with Catherine; she made him feel more comfortable about it and didn’t laugh at him like he thought she would.

“Oh Mijo… she is safe.”

“I know.”

It didn’t help though because when he slept he wasn’t able to save her. The only thing that would calm him was when he stayed with her after she had danced for him; when he opened his eyes he would see her sleeping peacefully beside him, curled up on her pillow. He would confirm that she was safe by touching her hair or her hand before being able to get back to sleep. But he couldn’t sleep with her every night regardless of how much he wanted too. Vulnerable wasn’t something he was ever going to be happy about.

“I’ll be back later,” Happy said to his mother after a long silence, “love you.”

“I love you too Mijo. Have a good day.”

Happy nodded and slid the kutte over his shoulders so he could go to the meeting Clay had called that morning. He didn’t mind going into the clubhouse on his days off but on that day he would have preferred to have just gone back to sleep or maybe fix the fence in the backyard and the leaky faucet in the bathroom. They were jobs he had been meaning to do for a while but just never got around to it for whatever reason. It looked like they were going to have to wait a bit longer.

He backed his Harley into the line on the forecourt and started walking towards the clubhouse when Juice ran towards him looking excited.

“You gotta see this Man,” he said to Happy, “it’ll blow your mind!”

Happy raised his eyebrows in surprise at how energetic Juice was that morning. They walked together towards the clubhouse and into the chapel to see the guys already sat. They didn’t look excited like Juice did. In fact they looked serious and almost frightened. It must be serious. There was a laptop open in front of Happy’s seat and on the screen there looked to be a family photo. Happy didn’t recognise the people in the picture and looked around in confusion.

“What’s this?” He asked, pointing to the screen.

“You don’t recognise anyone?” Juice asked, almost bouncing in his seat and Happy shook his head, “Look closer. I didn’t recognise her either but it’s been ages since I last saw her. And the bandages and stuff.”

His eyes scoured the photo for a familiar face then he was drawn to a pretty blonde teenager who was smiling and holding a cute toddler with big grey eyes and a mess blonde curls. It was Mrs Duke-Dillinger as a teenager and Catherine looked to be about 2 or 3 years old. When Happy lifted his hand to point speechlessly at the image Juice nodded excitedly. There was someone else Happy recognised too. Greta. She had her arm around Catherine’s mom’s shoulder and smiling proudly. On the other side was a tall, slim man with grey eyes and grey hair in a sharp suit and shiny black shoes.

“She had Catherine when she was a kid,” Chibs said to Happy, almost gently as if not to upset the Tacoma Killer, “she was only 15. Those people are Luca and Greta Donati, her grandparents.”

“Luca Donati,” Clay said in a less gentle tone with clenched hands on the table, “is the head of the Donati crime family out of Queens and Brooklyn. They’re Italian mafia.”

Happy’s stomach dropped to his knees when he thought of all of the problems they had caused for the Duke-Dillinger family over the time they had been in Charming. Over a matter of 8 months they had destroyed their new houses and extorted all of their money from them. Had they known they had connections to the Italian mafia they wouldn’t have been so brash and obvious about who it was that had ruined their lives.

“We need you to ask the girl about it,” Clay continued, “and see what she knows.”

“Catherine doesn’t know anything,” Happy told him and shook his head, finally looking up at his president.

“Sounds about right,” Bobby laughed then stopped when Happy looked at him furiously.

“I’m not spying on her Clay. I can’t. She’s my… friend.”

Clay sat back in his chair and laughed. Happy had never directly refused an order before but Catherine was his friend and she trusted him more than she trusted anyone else in the town. She had told him as much even after he had terrified her.

“We know exactly what she is,” Clay said humourlessly, “and we all think you’ve gone far enough. Your little breakfast dates and dog walking isn’t getting you any closer to taking that virgin pussy. Give it up.”

Kozik put his hand on Happy’s shoulder as he trembled with anger. It wasn’t just anger though; it was a white hot rage that he had never felt directed towards another club member before. Clay recognised the look in Happy’s eyes and shuffled in his chair uncomfortably as he realised he had made a mistake. Hearing anyone talk about Catherine, the girl Happy adored, like she was nothing but pussy and a mouth was one of the things that he couldn’t stand. Catherine being a virgin was something that excited a lot of the guys in and around the club.

“She’s never mentioned New York,” Chibs cut in quickly, “unless she’s talking about a vacation she’s taken. They went for New Years a couple of years ago. That’s it. Nothing else.”

“What about her family?” Jax asked, shifting his eyes from Happy and Clay to Chibs.

“Nothing. ‘Daddy, Mom and Jack’ are all she talks about. That’s it. She doesn’t know she has anyone else. Duke-Dillinger’s ma died a few years ago.”

“Who’s her dad?” Happy asked suddenly as the realisation hit him and he couldn’t believe he hadn’t considered this when she talked to him about it, “Her mom had her when she was a kid. Didn’t meet Duke-Dillinger until she was 20.”

“Some… politician,” Juice shrugged and dragged the computer back over to him, “that got into deep shit when he had sex with a minor but wasn’t arrested. He paid them to have her aborted but it obviously didn’t happen. He’s dead now. ‘Suspicious circumstances’.”

They all knew what that meant. The fear that the family could have a politician assassinated meant jack shit for a biker gang in a small town in California.

Juice clicked a few different things on the screen then smirked slightly when he slid the laptop back over to Happy. On the screen were a series of images that must have been Catherine as she grew up. Chibs also looked over his shoulder and chuckled at the one Happy clicked. She was dancing. There was a fake plastic crown on top of her messy hair, fairy wings on her back and a ballet dress over pink and white striped leggings. Despite the situation, and his previous anger, Happy felt a small smile appear onto his face. He flicked through the other photographs of her getting older. It moved from family photos in New York to ones of her on her own in LA. Cornelia must have sent them to her father. One picture that tugged at Happy’s heart, through pageant photos and photos of her and her family at parties and events, was the one of her posing jokily beside an ambulance wearing a dark blue uniform with a badge on her arm that specified that she was an EMT, tough looking work boots and her hair pulled back like always was when she had left the club after a night of dancing.

“There’s only one,” Happy said quietly, as he moved through the other pictures.

“They weren’t as proud of her in the ambulance as they were when she was winning them money,” Chibs told him.

Happy was proud of her though; he made a note to himself that he would tell her that.

“After they killed this guy,” Juice said while Happy continued to look through the various images, “Cornelia changed hers and Catherine’s names to Dillinger instead of Donati and they moved to LA with Greta. I guess they thought it would be safer than being in New York with all the feds looking over the family. Guess when her birthday is.”

Happy looked up at him and shrugged. She had never told him about her birthday date, just the parties she had had.

“November 2nd.”

The same as Happy’s. He had never mentioned his birthday to her either and he could only imagine the excitable arm slaps he would receive when he told her. She would insist on a joined party, he just knew it.

“She really doesn’t know anything? What about the boy?” Jax asked.

“Nah,” Happy shook his head, “he’s never said anything either. Wasn’t even born until they she was 8. They would’ve been in LA by then.”

Jack knew something though. Happy always had a feeling that Jack was hiding something from his sister but there was no way of knowing what that was.

“We need to talk to the mom.”

Happy nodded and the meeting ended. As the men filed out of the chapel they collected their phones and Happy smiled at his wallpaper as it flashed up when he checked for any missed calls or texts. Catherine had been horrified when she had seen the default background one morning and had forced him to take a picture of her, Romeo and Scrap so she could set it for him. It always made him smile when he saw it.

Suddenly, the peace of the morning was interrupted by the sound of cars skidding to a halt in the forecourt and shouting.

“Cops!” One of the mechanics shouted to warn the club.

And he was correct but it wasn’t Charming PD; it was San Joaquin County. They shouted, guns out and pointing at the men, shouting for them to get out of the clubhouse and on the ground. Outside, Gemma and Viv were stood facing the wall with cuffs around their wrists and officers keeping them there. They were just chatting, seemingly unbothered by the situation, but looked over to their men as they lay down.

“Filip Telford,” the sheriff said, “we are arresting you on suspicion of the kidnap of Catherine Duke-Dillinger. You do not have to say anything-”

“Fuck off,” Chibs laughed and looked at Happy in confusion.

The officers started to cuff the men as they argued about the charge only to be told they were being arrested for being accomplices in the crime. Happy frowned and fought against the cuffs. Kidnap? Was this her family taking them out or-

“Excuse me?!” A familiar, voice said angrily, “What on earth are you doing?”

Catherine appeared out of the work bay. Happy was immediately worried about her but he knew the cops wouldn’t do anything to her. She had her arms folded as she stormed over to the officer with an angry look on her face. Happy thought she was adorable when she was angry.

“Stay back, Ma’am,” the cop said, “this is a police matter. If you don’t want to be arrested I suggest you go home.”

“I can’t go home. You’ve got the people I live with in handcuffs.”

Kozik turned his head to look over at Happy and smirked when he saw his face. Happy liked it when she was bratty.

“Ma’am-”

“Don’t ‘Ma’am’ me! I am Catherine Duke-Dillinger! Do I look kidnapped?!” she held her wrists out to prove she wasn’t tied up, “Am I in danger?”

“Wait-”

“If you don’t untie these men immediately I will call my daddy’s lawyers and get you and your entire department fired!”

When the guy froze, Catherine took her phone out of her handbag and started to swipe through it. She tapped her high-heeled foot on the ground as she put the phone to her ear.

“Don’t worry Mr Chibs,” she said to him, “I’ll sort this mess out. Daddy has the best lawyer in California. Yes, hello? Mr Emerson? It’s Catherine.”

“Ma’am-”

Catherine put her hand up to stop the man talking and continued to speak to the lawyer about things that Happy didn’t even know she knew about. She was using words like, false arrest, probable cause, unlawful detainment and warrant. The officer repeatedly tried to interrupt her but she continued talking louder with her hand still in his face and refusing to look at him until he finally gave in and ordered for his men to start uncuffing the men on the floor and the two women at the wall.

“There has obviously been a mistake,” he told her submissively, “we’ll review the report and speak to the caller again. We apologise.”

With a triumphant smile, Catherine thanked the man on the other end of the phone and hung up. She didn’t say anything to the officer; just immediately went over to Chibs and helped him to his feet kindly before turning and surprising everyone to help Clay. She took his arm and allowed him to lean on her while he stood stiffly. She treated him like he wasn’t a biker gang president and spoke to him like he was any other old man.

“Are you ok, Mr Morrow?” Catherine asked in concern with her eyebrows furrowed and dusting off the front of his kutte for him, “They shouldn’t treat you like that. It’s not fair.”

“I’m… yeah. Fine.” Clay replied gruffly, just as shocked as everyone else.

Catherine nodded then seemed to look over all of the men before walking through the group and watching the police cars leave with a smug smile on her face and her arms folded over her chest.

“How did you do that?” Juice asked incredulously as they all dusted themselves off.

“You just gotta be pretty, rich and not let them speak. Wins arguments with guys all the time,” Catherine shrugged and turned to face them, “Is everyone alright? I bet that was Uncle Jerry’s call. Mom wouldn’t have called the cops if she knew I was safe.”

“What are you doing here?” Clay asked sceptically.

“Oh! I um… I brought you guys breakfast. I was just giving your guys that were working on the cars some when they arrived.”

When they all looked over to the work bay they saw the mechanics with takeout containers in their hands and eating various foods with plastic cutlery. Happy smiled slightly when he noticed the bags of food on one of the picnic benches.

“I got us pancakes,” she said to Happy, the first time she had acknowledged him, “come on. I got you bacon on yours because I know you like it.”

As they sat together, eating and talking, Clay realised something that the rest of the club had known for a long time. Happy liked Catherine. Happy Lowman, The Tacoma Killer, was flirting with the young, blonde girl. He was pushing her, nudging her as they sat together which made her laugh and shout at him. When he wasn’t flirting he had his arm crossed over her back and his hand on the seat on the other side with his body turned towards her and her body turned towards his. They liked each other.

“That’s gonna be trouble,” Clay murmured to Jax and nodding to where Happy was teasing Catherine with his bacon, “if the Donati’s find out.”

“If you were the Italian mafia,” Tig said when he overheard their conversation, “would you rather have Hap watching over your daughter or some rich LA boy that don’t even know how to wash his own ass?”

“They’ve been following her; they probably already know who we are and who he is.” Jax agreed, “If they were worried they would have done something by now.”

Clay hummed doubtfully but couldn’t disagree. They had killed a politician and a lot of other high profile people in New York; SAMCRO probably wouldn’t stand much of a chance.

HMMMMMMMMM- A short but necessary chapter! What do we think?

How much does Jack know? What will Catherine think when she inevitably finds out? Does Clay actually like Catherine now? What do we think of the whole club knowing that Happy likes Catherine?

What will their joined birthday party be like?!

Anyway! I will see you in the next one! See you soon!

Lots of love,

From,

Doe

#happy lowman x oc #duchess #happy lowman #sons of anarchy #sons of anarchy fanfiction #sons of anarchy imagine #sons of anarchy headcanon #happy lowman fanfiction #happy lowman imagine #happy lowman headcanon

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phantomphangphucker · 5 years

Text

I’m Friends With The Monster Outside Of Me - Phic Phight

Prompt Creator: @lunagalemaster Prompt: Phriendship or Pitch Pearl- After very long and heartfelt discussions, Fenton and Phantom decided that they would live their lives as their own people. Years later, Fenton has grown up, but Phantom is still 14. Summary: Just because he’s you, doesn’t make him a good friend

Warning: extreme violence, violence, torture, gore, mass murder, gang violence, drug trade, abusive friendships, character death, murder, ocular trauma, trauma, stabbing, mature

Fenton pours blue wax on the envelope, letting it sit and spread for a second before pressing his stamp into it. Wiggling the stamp out of the dried wax he puts it to the side and taps the envelope on the cherry oak desk. Standing up he smooths out his suit and walks out the large doors. Heading over to his secretaries desk he puts the letter down in front of her and lightly traces a finger across the back of her neck and left shoulder. He doesn’t look at her but he does catch her slight blush out of the corner of his eye. Smirking to himself over toying with the girl, his fake hints of affection always help her to turn a blind eye. As he walks out his lobby he sees the tv playing some clip of Phantom, saving some kids. “Well isn’t that nice of him”, Fenton chuckles at how he used to waste his time with such things. Muttering to himself, “I don’t know why parents even bother with them, they’re not even worth the tax breaks”.

Phantom flies lazily, a bit exhausted after the fight and catching that bus. It always bothers him when the more dangerous ghosts show up. Phasing into the apartment Valerie lets him stay at. “What’s up Phantom, you were on tv again”, Valerie calls from the kitchen. “It happens, I’m just glad no one was hurt. Heck, a few kids even seemed to be having a good time!”, Phantom laughs as he floats his way to the kitchen. He plops down in a chair and lazily rests on the table while Valerie sips her tea. “That’s Amity for you, no ones got flight responses anymore”, she pushes a tea to him knowing he likely hasn’t had anything. “You know ghosts don’t need this right?”, Valerie just shrugs and smiles over the rim of her cup.

A few days later, Valerie is tinkering with a gun as Phantom is floating in circles with an ankle over his knee. “I wouldn’t mind actually looking like an adult. Still getting called a child is pretty damn annoying”, he mutters to the ceiling and Valerie grunts at him. She knows the little ghost gets annoyed by his stature, “honestly, it probably makes people trust you more. Looking filled with childish innocents”. Phantom points at her on one of his passes, “and it makes bad guys think I’m some weak pushover”. At that Valerie just shrugs before she remembers the mail.

“Oh yeah, almost forgot you got mail. Pretty sure it’s from Fenton”, she gets up and grabs the letter sitting to the side and walks to Phantom. “I know you guys split up or whatever, but it’s nice you staying friends”, Phantom laughs and rolls his eyes at her as he eagerly takes the letter. While he’s opening it, “you make it sound like we were dating”. Valerie giggles as she watches him open up the letter, “well, were you? I really have no clue if you two were just secret friends or secret lovers. Still kind of amazing a Fenton being so close with a ghost either way though”. Danny coughs in surprise a fair bit, he had elected not to tell her the full story in case it hurt her but he told whatever he could, “friends, Val. Jesus. Strongly connected friends and nonromantic partners in ghost fighting, nothing more and we still are. Even if he’s moved away”. Phantom can’t help but frown at the letter, for the past while he hasn’t really liked the way Fenton writes. Something about it is just not right, cold or even like thinly veiled insults. It makes him want to drag him back here and go to the movies, or try to get him and Valerie on another date.

Fenton sits at the head of the table and listens to his lackeys plead their cases about what policies should be modified or added. He can’t help but smile faintly as he watches them rip into each other’s ideas, doing everything they can to beat each other down and win. It’s really the only reason he even bothers himself with listening to their ideas, they all sucked after all, but it was incredibly pleasing seeing them fight to appease him. Plus his attention made them feel needed and like he had some kind of loyalty or care for them. People who feel unneeded or unimportant are less controllable, they won’t keep their mouths shut. Some guy who’s name starts with L, Fenton can’t be bothered with names, is the only one with a slightly useful idea. Checking his gold watch, “well, let’s go with the children’s police updates, that one will avoid more losses in the current climate”. They all go silent and nod, instantly falling in line and accepting his choice; as it should be. He lets them see themselves out, chuckling to himself, “I’ll have to give it to Phantom, all his child saving is sure making it easy to scam parents into useless policies. What a useful friend indeed”. Smirking to himself, he fixes his collar as he heads out for coffee and fine cakes.

Fenton finds himself being approached by a larger man in a black suit, while he’s sitting checking over obituaries and reports for ways out of paying out any or all of their insurance coverages. “Fenton?”, the man asks with authority as he sits down. Fenton smirks, folds his papers over once and crosses his legs. He doesn’t dignify the man with a response. The man pulls out some papers, puts his elbow on the table and holds them out to Fenton. “I think we could be of use to each other”, Fenton grabs the papers with two fingers only, making a show of not really caring. Folding out the papers single-handed, he smiles; faint and cruel, “consider me curious”.

“I think Vlad might be up to his shit again”, Phantom groans at the little camera screen. Valerie laughs, “told you the bugs were a good idea”. Phantom rubs his neck, “yeah well it makes me feel like a creep. Anyways it looks like he’s trying to build nanotech, again”. Valerie rolls her eyes and checks over one of her guns before flying out the window, turning to Phantom, “well I’ve got business in California and we both know you can deal with that loon, have fun”, with a little salute she’s off. Phantom shakes his head as the phone rings.

“Dude, it’s been a while”

“Busy life busier future, it would seem”

“Oh please don’t tell me ghosts are popping up in New York now too?”

“No, but it would seem that Vlad is sticking his nose where he shouldn’t”

“Ugh, what the hell does that frootloop want with New York?”

“Testing grounds I think, he really should learn to sow his pets mouths shut”

“Um ew, even I think that’s pretty dark for a joke. But I’ll come down and check it out. Vlad’s supposed to be my problem, not yours”

“Indeed, you’re the hero. I’m the simple businessman”

“Uh...yeah”

With that Fenton had hung up.

Fenton snickers at the phone as he fiddles with the point of a bloody needle, “who said I was joking”. Behind him, a large man in a now bloodied black suit sits crying with bloody thread stitching his lips shut.

Fenton folds out the papers again after wiping his hands off with a silk handkerchief. “So Vlad’s getting himself into the drug industry? Well, I’ll be glad to show him the ropes”, Fenton chuckles as he burns the paper; knowing full well he’ll remember it all just fine. “Can’t have Phantom sticking his nose in what’s mine after all”, he slams the large metal door shut leaving the man to die.

It takes Phantom only two days to arrive. Fenton smirks as he sees Phantoms little icon appear on his scanner, “looks like things can get moving now”. Phantom phases into the centre of the room, Fenton chuckles as he turns his chair to face him, “well haven’t you changed”. Phantom rolls his eyes and crosses his arms, “that joke is so old, you want me to start calling you old Man”. Fenton smirks and puts his chin on his hand, elbow on the desk, “38 is hardly old, at least I’m not the one with white hair”. Phantom flushes green, “isn’t there a problem with Vladdie you should be telling me about?”.

Phantom watches Fenton grin, its a warm looking one but seems almost fake. “Of course, I’m not in the business of wasting time. Simply put, he's sent some of his pets here to scout the area for some kind of test”, Fenton says as he straightens up. Phantom's forgotten just how tall he’s grown, “do you have any clue what he’s testing or testing on?”. Fenton shakes his head and sighs leaning back in his chair, “if I did I would have started with that, seems like that would be more important”. Phantom flies over to the side of Fenton who doesn’t even turn his head to acknowledge him but does look at him. Phantom flips out a tablet and powers it up, showing Fenton the inside of Vlad’s lab. “Well, that certainly seems odd. I’m surprised at you, spying doesn’t become you”, Fenton snickers at Phantoms clearly guilty face. “It’s all Valerie”

“And you’re all complacent, imagine what Vlad would say”, Fenton knows pushing his guilt will keep him up at night enough to not spy on him as well. Phantom glares at him, “I’m nothing like him and we both know that”. Fenton smirks and gives Phantom a (fake) friendly pat on the back, “sure we do”. Looking back to the screen, “well I guess our old friend is playing with some of those samples he got from us back in the day, again”. Phantom blinks and squints at the screen, eventually seeing what his human half already did, “how did I even miss that?”. Fenton shrugs rather amused to see that he still has the unkeen eyes of a child, “I’m certain you were quite busy. You’ll probably want a sample of whatever that is. The fellow I overheard mentioned Dresker buildings”. Fenton clicks open his left side drawer and pulls out some papers as Phantom looks down at them, “I’m not about to let this be a one-sided friendship just because you’ve got the powers. So I went to the liberty of looking them up, new property of DALV it seems”. Fenton taps the company name for emphasis incase his little friend missed the obvious. Phantom nods and grins goofily, “it never will be and I guess I’ll do my hero duties and get this fixed right up”. With that Phantom phases through the roof with a wave, completely missing Fenton snicker and mutter “man, he is still such a child”.

It takes Phantom all of an hour to get there and he is disturbed by what he sees. There are people strung up by blue rope all over the ceiling. In varying stages of complete mutilation, and Phantom feels that if he still had a human stomach he would likely vomit. “Sweet Phantom, what the hell happened here? Did Vlad do this?”, Phantom shudders, seriously hoping that Vlad hasn’t become so twisted that he’d commit mass murder like this. Phantom floats about invisibly and cautiously, looking for anything that might be nefarious; other than the corpses. He does find some papers with test results on them, all positive, “so he’s having the nanobots react to something or maybe the other way around? Well whatever it is, it works and that’s not good”. Shaking his head he decides he’s not going to find anything else here, leaving an anonymous call to the cops with one of the desk phones before leaving.

Fenton is spinning some vials in his fingers as he sees Phantom show up on his sensors. Quickly slipping away his new toys, he begins rifling through papers. And that’s how Phantom finds him when he comes through the ceiling. “Back so soon? Should I be saying good job or be worried?” Fenton looks up to Phantom when he doesn’t respond immediately and sees his rather disturbed and disgusted facial expression. Raising an eyebrow, “worried it is, he didn’t create some dissolving clone of us again did he?”. Phantom shakes his head and shivers, “there was a lot of dead people, it’ll be on the news. I just, I really hope Vlad hasn’t gone this far for power or whatever”. Fenton makes a show of looking displeased, grimacing deeply, before shaking his head and pinching his nose. “Well, hopefully, the officials will figure that mess out”, looking back to Phantom, “I’m guessing you’ll be seeing Vlad about this mess of his?”. Phantom nods but floats down to him and hands him the test results he found, “Maybe you’ll see something I don’t and this is your city so I hope you’ll want to be involved in helping it out”.

Phantom laces his statement with worry, he’s genuinely unsure of Fenton’s feelings about his own city and that worries him. “I’m not a ghost Phantom, you know humans aren’t so protective over their cities. However, you’re right about me wanting to see this through. That and I’m always available to help out if you really need it”, Fenton gives him a nod before looking through the papers. Phantom can tell he meant what he said, sometimes he does forget that humans aren’t as protective as him but he’s glad Fenton cares.

Fenton, however, does not care. Not in the way Phantom thinks he does, anyways. He wants what Vlad has and this is an easy way to get it, besides he’s the one with the means to distribute the sneaky little obedience drug, not Vlad. Fenton sighs to himself and shakes his head, he’ll let the child think what he wants. “Well, he’s definitely dealing with nanobots based off us or more so halfas. I’d say he used some combination of himself and what he had left from us”, Fenton taps the paper and leans back. Turning to Phantom he continues, “this other stuff though? Can’t tell you there. But the reaction it’s having seems like mind control or complacency of some kind”. Fenton intentionally accents his half-lie with a heavy frown. One which Phantom falsely reads as one of worry and disgust, “I don’t like the sounds of that myself. I’m definitely going to have to pay Vladdie as visit”. Both of them frown then, though the gears are turning in Fenton’s head and Phantom never catches the small smile, as Phantom talks, “we both know I can’t get in there with his ghost shield. So, think you’re up to being the hero again for a bit?”. Fenton makes it a point to sigh exasperatedly, “I can’t promise to be light on my feet but very well. Though really, I already told you I would”. They both grin widely, and Phantom is looking forwards to making some jokes at his others expense. While Fenton’s looking forward to making himself that much more dangerous and in control. Drug-induced complacency is something he can work with quite nicely indeed.

Phantom lays on the cherry oak desk as Fenton dusts off the ectoweapons he kept with him. Phantom mutters to himself while rapidly clicking a pen, “I really wish I knew what happened to all those people, though I’m glad I didn’t see it”. Overhearing Phantoms mutterings Fenton smirks, remembering his little phone call and what came of it.

—Flashback to yesterday—

Fenton flips through the papers his secretary had delivered to him and of course he had made sure to eye her short skirt when she was looking, he had seen her blush and giddly walk as she’d left his office. Sufficiently kept under his thumb.

“Dresker huh? Well I can work with that”, still flicking the papers, he gets the phone from under a secret compartment and makes a call.

“Consider yourself busy today”

“Of course”

“Dresker is ready for pick up and needs their paperwork filled”

“Pick up car or pick up truck?”

“Pick up trucks and no idle chitchat”

“You don’t have to worry about anyone mouthing off sir”

“Indeed I don’t”

Fenton hangs up with a smirk on his face, Vlad might be powerful but Fenton dealt in death.

He spends about ten minutes finding clients for his secretary to call and give them the bad news, bad for them at least. Then flips on his secure live feed to the cams his lackeys have; courtesy of an unaware Tucker. “The government really should fear that man”, Fenton’s smile deepens as he watches one of his lackeys shove a pair of pliers through some poor pets eye and some other pet gets strangled with her own necklace. “Well, isn’t this quite a lovely mess”.

Eventually, it seems they’ve found what he’s looking for. He pushes a blue button on his screen to indicate to them his intentions. He can see one lackey pick up the vials while another looks at them and smirks, “now I wonder just what these will do”. Fenton watches as the lackeys string up every person in the building, after killing them of course, can’t have anyone talking after all. Turning off the screen, feeling quite content with himself; he waits for White to come make the delivery drop off.

—Return to present—

“Ready?”, Fenton asks as he tucks his ectogun into a hidden belt, next to his own specialty one. Phantom springs up off the table, putting away the pen as Fenton humorously shakes his head. “I don’t think you’re ever going to grow up”, Phantom rolls his eyes at that and flies them both through the ceiling. It takes them a bit to get to Vlad’s mansion and Phantom never feels the plasma cutter strapped to Fenton’s back.

Landing on the ground, Phantom hands Fenton a Spector deflector; which Fenton eyes with amusement, “yes of course, don’t want things to get handsy”. Phantom grimaces at what he thinks is yet another off-putting joke, “How is it that your humour is darker than the half of us that literally fights the dead”. Fenton snickers, “Oh I don’t know, I’d say my days are murder”. Phantom rolls his eyes and taps on the anti-ghost shield, “poor taste jokes aside, if you can just find the deactivation switch then I can deal with Vlad. Ghostfight and all that jazz”. Fenton smirks, “yeah, sure thing. While you’re up to that I can snoop for anything questionable”. Phantom holds his fist up for a fist bump and Fenton chuckles but decides to humour his friend. Fenton’s sure Phantom wouldn’t be so keen if Phantom knew just how much blood was on his hands.

Fenton walks casually smirking all the while through the force field, Spector deflector on and both guns charged. Though he has no intention of using the regular anti-ghost gun, because today really is going to get handsy. While he slips inside the door he mutters, “who said I was joking” as he cracks his knuckles. He can’t help but smile, it’s not too often he gets his hands messy so directly.

Heading down to the lab first, as it doesn’t take much more than some cutting to get through the floor into it, “man, Vlad isn’t even trying”. It doesn’t take long to find all the research, samples and machines to make more of both the drug and nanobots. Promptly climbing out of the hole in the ceiling, Fenton cuts a hole in the wall as well to get through the back of the building. Leaving everything but the plasma cutter in a box, which he had stationed years back, outside and hidden from view. White will pick it up come the morning. Waltzing back through the hole, he makes his way to the main objective.

Phantom sits fiddling with his thumbs and shooting leaves with ectorays, “we so have to go for some good New York pizza after this”. Even though he seems relaxed he can’t help but worry about Fenton, “Vlad’s known for violence and even with ghost powers he’s hard to beat or hold off”.

Fenton doesn’t even bother with looking for the deactivation switch, knowing full well it would be in the old man's desk. Muttering as he approaches the man’s office with his hands in his pockets, “it would be pretty foolish to put it anywhere not within his easy reach”. As he’s pushing in the doors Vlad lifts his head up and raises an eyebrow, “Why Daniel, what a nice surprise. I haven’t even seen you in human form for a while. I was starting to wonder”. Fenton chuckles, “don’t waste the effort old man”. Fenton goes and sits straight down on Vlad’s desk earning a puzzled and slightly concerned look from Vlad, as Fenton speaks, “you know I live in New York now and since you can’t seem to keep your little pets mouth shut, I had to sow it shut for you”. Fenton smirks at the clear shock and heavy concern lining Vlad’s face, “Daniel whatever do you mean, I can clearly see you all over Amity news? And while I approve of your suit, I’ve never known you to wear them”. Fenton laughs and it’s a rather cold one, he’s going to enjoy this, “Oh don’t you know? There’s two of us now. One plays hero down in Amity and the other runs the largest life insurance company in New York”. Danny waves off Vlad shocked expression, “as for the suit, well tricking people out of their money is quite lucrative. Though running the entire illegal drug trade helps too”. Fenton slides off the desk, walks around to Vlad’s side and bends forward so their faces are next to each other, “your pet seemed quite eager to please you, thought that I could help with the whole distribution of your little drug. Which is quite true and I do fully intend to do just that. Didn’t really turn out so well for him though, judging by the date on the calendar he’s probably dead by now”. At this point, Vlad gets up and puts some distance between the two of them, while Fenton puts his hands in his pockets and smiles. “If it makes you feel any better the Dresker pets didn’t fair any better. Phantom got to see that for himself”, Fenton laughs as he steps closer to Vlad, “funny thing?! He thinks you’re the one who did that! He’s genuinely concerned you went too far”. Vlad finally speaks up as Fenton shakes his head, grinning, “you’re not Daniel”. Earning a single laugh from Fenton as he tilts his head back, “Oh but I am, I’m full Fenton and he’s full Phantom. The only reason I’m here is because he can’t get through the shield, being full ghost and all. It’s so nice to be needed, not so nice for you though”. Fenton slowly takes off his suit jacket, folds it and smooths it out as he lays it over the back of a chair. Speaking while taking a few long strides towards Vlad, letting his height and muscles show,

“But I’d think you’d be proud, one half of your little badger manipulating the other half. I turned out pretty damn good at chess”. Fenton has Vlad backed up against a wall, nearly touching him and towering over the skinny older man. “He hardly even knows about the drug, just the nanobots. Doesn’t know that you need both. That the nanobots give a person control over anyone with the drug in them. I sure do though and made sure he didn’t”.

Vlad phases through the wall and appears behind Fenton, “so that must mean you’re all human then, meaning you’re sorely outmatched here. I’m guessing you want to strike a deal then. Though boy, you should know by now that threats are wasted on me, I know you too well for that”. Fenton turns around casually and grins at Vlad, “you’re right about the human thing. Perfectly normal human living a perfectly normal human life. Your pet was pretty interested in setting up a deal for you, so what makes you think I’m looking to strike a deal with the old man himself?”. Fenton nonchalantly picks at his fingernails not even looking at Plasmius while Plasmius furrows his brows, “a normal human can hardly do anything to me and again you’re all hot air, like always. Why else would you be here?”.

“All those dead little pets of yours, strung up like puppets, would have to disagree. I don’t do people’s dirty work Vlad, people do it for me. And you will too, you’ll fall in line like a good little dog. Though all I really need from you is for you to be dead”, Fenton smirks as Vlad lunges to grab him. “Your jokes have gotten weak, Daniel”, just before Vlad manages to touch him Fenton laughs. “Oh no, I wouldn’t do that if I were you”, Vlad grabs him anyway and gets promptly shocked. Fenton kicks the downed halfa part way across the floor with a smirk, “Now that wasn’t very smart of you, was it?”. Vlad gets up and glares with a smirk, “I don’t have to touch you to hurt you, you know this so what will you do now; chess player”. Fenton grins and speaks laced with venom, “ooo I’ve earned my own nickname, how special”. Fenton goes and sits in Vlad’s chair before continuing, “well I could just let Phantom in, that was his plan after all. But that would make it kind of hard to get what I want, now wouldn’t it? Well, not really I guess. I already had your little drug so the only other thing I really needed was the nanobots, well that and the tech plus the resources to make more. On that note, you really shouldn’t underestimate humans so much”. His statement is accented by a sudden explosion down in the lab.

As Vlad spins around facing the direction of the explosion Fenton springs, instantly landing a punch clean to the back of Vlad’s head. That combined with the belt electrocuting him sends him to the floor. Fenton waste no time in slamming his steel-toed dress shoe into his chin, sending Vlad’s head slamming into the wall. “You know I’m impressed that your little nanobots will not only strengthen a halfa but also give a regular human ghost powers, I think I’ll find that quite useful”, Danny says as his footsteps glide towards Vlad. Who quickly manages to phase through the floor, reappearing by his desk looking a little worse for wear. At the sight of Fenton turning his head to him with a playful smile, “unfortunately for you, it won’t be very useful to a deadman”. Vlad, officially deeply concerned for his own safety, slams his hand on the shield deactivation button.

Phantom leans on the shield as he waits, “jeez, Vlad must be getting better at hiding things. Or at least that’s what I hope is taking him”. When he suddenly falls backwards as the shield is deactivated, “spoke too soon I guess”. Phantom launches himself off the ground straight through the front doors and starts his search of the house. Not clueing in that he should have gone to the office first.

Fenton laughs, “not really sure that’s going to help you, old man. We’re both Danny’s after all, and you’re the arch enemy. Pretty easy to see who he’ll believe, if he makes it here quick enough anyways”. Vlad shoots a couple of ectoblasts at Fenton, but Fenton never did fall out of practice. Easily dogging the blasts, he throws a chair at Vlad’s face and immediately jumps at him. By the time the chair is no longer blocking Vlad’s sight, Fenton’s fist collides with his face. “I’m definitely fine with things getting handsy!”, Fenton chuckles as he pulls out the plasma cutter; which just so happens to also be made to cut through ectoplasm. “Phantom might get a kick out of this! A plasma cutter for Plasmius!”, Vlad flies across the room and glares at the crude tool before firing at both it and Fenton. Fenton rolls out of the way quite easily though and kicks a globe at him, Vlad simply flies backwards a bit to avoid it, “you’re wasting your time! You can’t get me long distance and you know it!”. Fenton laughs and reveals the ectogun but instead of grabbing it he pushes a button on the belt and the wall behind Vlad explodes. Sending Vlad flying across the room and landing right next to Fenton, who promptly hacks off his legs with the plasma cutter.

Phantom snaps his head to the left as he hears an explosion and screaming, “Oh Phantom no, is Vlad trying to blow him up?!”. Turning he bolts towards the office, by the time he gets there and phases in. He’s met by the sight of an unconscious Vlad missing his legs and what looks like a weird skinny blow torch in his eye socket. With Fenton holding his shirt with one hand, punching him on the plasma-cutter-free side of his face with the other hand. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!”, Phantom yells, as he is too startled to do anything other than float a few inches in.

At hearing Phantoms voice, Fenton drops Vlad in a heap on the floor. He turns to face Phantom and steps sideways away from Vlad and towards Phantom, blood and ectoplasm splattered all over him. “I could say I used whatever I could find to fend off a psychopathic halfa, but that would be a pretty pointless lie”, Fenton chuckles as he wipes his hands off on his pants. Finding that, since they’re already covered in gore, they aren’t sufficiently cleaning his heads off; he bends down and picks up one of Vlad’s books. Tearing out a few pages to clean his fingers and palms. While Phantom gapes at him, “did you? Did you attack him?!”. Fenton laughs cruelly, “Oh come on Phantom what did you expect, child? You were always the good one, I well”, Fenton chuckles as he pulls out an unusual gun with a faint glow, “I was always the liar”.

Fenton lazily points the gun and shoots Vlad’s slumped body, in the head; never even taking his eyes off Phantom. “WHAT THE HELL!”, Phantom cries as he shoots himself towards Vlad. Fenton shoots him again purely because Phantom had the audacity to question his actions. “You can leave now if you want, he won’t be doing anything anymore. Though I must say, we really are the best friends we’ve ever had”, is all Fenton has to say to Phantom, as Vlad’s heart stops.

End.

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