#Run cause your opinion will probably be about 10 steps down from whoever his least favorite guy friend is

[polyamoryprincess]

This is a reminder to all the girlies out there that guys who are desperate for other men’s approval are a big red ass flag

[soyeahitsmiddleearth]

Multi-Dimensional Pt. 5

 In which you have a genius idea to take these suckers out, you accidentally do something you’re not supposed to, and you take the taller bit of your friends out. 

----

And then, you realize, that it's getting deeper into October.

As it got deeper into October, the dwarves and hobbit remain in your house. It's been a total of 2 1/2 weeks, now, and you can tell they're getting antsy from staying in one place for so long.

Like, around halloween time.

An idea strikes you in the head like a bag of bricks, and right away you realize that you're a genius.

You're sitting on the couch with Bilbo, Oin, and Bofur when the lightbulb goes off in your head suddenly, and once it does you hop to your feet and run upstairs at top speed, successfully baffling everyone idly watching the nature documentary you put on.

You pass Dwalin and Balin while you zoom to your bedroom, and when they see you run past them like freaking Speedy Gonzales they're both super confused.

Right away you grab your laptop off your bed and pull up a window.

The keys of your compute clack softly while you type in your town as well as 'Halloween Festival' and the first few results as well as images on the Google engine prove your theory.

Every year here people dress up in advance and celebrate throughout the duration of the week leading up to it. Of course, the trick-or-treating only happens on the day of, but there are a plethora of other things for people to do during that week.

People dress up, children go on field trips, there's a festival, and even the grocery stores have little events they put on to promote their business.

You've never really gone before since crowded places aren't the most comfortable for you, but you actually feel a little giddy about taking them all to see the town with you.

Right away you know you're going to have to buy them all costumes, but for the last week you've been pet sitting this rich couples Rag-doll cat, Princess, and your going rate is $18/hr for a week... Do the math ;).

You're going to get paid later in the day today after you drop her back off at their house, and that's not even accounting for the other animals you've been watching for varying amounts as well.

So, essentially, you're gonna be perfectly fine financially.

Anyways, as soon as you're done doing your little bit of research there on your computer you close it and leave your room again, hopping down the stairs with a big bright smile on your face.

When you reenter the living room, everyone is gathered there and looking at you expectantly.

At first, you don't do or say anything since you're super confused, but when the silence begins to drag on for too long you ask hesitantly, "Uh... Is everything alright? What's going on?"

"Well, you left to your room very quickly." Bilbo comments, standing up from his spot on the couch, "But from the smile on your face, I'm assuming it wasn't because of anything bad?"

You nod your head and sigh, leaning down to pet Mittens who is rubbing herself against your legs, "Yeah, everything's fine. It's great, actually." You pause for dramatic effect, then add, "I just figured out a way to take all of you out! Like, to see the town and stuff!"

"You have?" Thorin asks, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

"Mmhm!" You stand up straight and nod your head quickly, bouncing on the balls of your feet, "See, I figured I'd probably be able to take you and maybe Kili, Bofur, and Dwalin out at some point... like, if some of you were to groom yourselves different or wear hats...," once more you stop your speech and realize that may be offensive, "N-Not that I think there's anything wrong with how you look-"

"Nobody is offended, I'm sure. Go on." Thorin urges, amusement present on their faces from your sudden frantic backtracking so you don't offend them.

"R-Right, uh... anyways, you guys are taller so I knew I could probably bring you along sometime, but I wasn't sure how to get everyone else to come along, and then I realized that this next week is the week leading up to halloween!" You say it like it will answer all their questions, forgetting that they probably don't know what halloween is.

Silence passes by for a few seconds as they wait for you to go on, and when you don't Kili asks, "What's 'halloween'?"

"Oh, yeah, it's like, a holiday where children dress up and go to peoples houses to get candy. And when I say dress up, I mean in costumes." You rub the back of your neck while you explain and add, "In my city, the place we are now, we celebrate throughout the whole week. There are games, festivals, and lots of events... and there are people running around in masks all of the time. So I can get some of you costumes and then I can bring you all along!" Your smile returns as you pick apart the details, and it seems your excitement is contagious.

"Wait, so we will get to walk around the town and see other things?" Nori questions, looking over at his brothers with a smile.

"Yeah, but I gotta get you costumes first. Like, ghosts and some masks of different things. But if we wanna make the most of our time then I should probably go now."

You turn after that and go to the counter to grab your purse, pausing when Balin asks, "So it's a holiday where people run around in disguises, getting candy, and playing games as a community?"

Once again you nod your head, turning around to look at him with the same bright smile on your face.

"So, anyone can be anyone?" The older dwarf asks, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Yeah, pretty much." You look down and go through your purse, making sure everything you need is in there before walking over to put on your tennis shoes.

"Even the man who was here the week before?"

Now that certainly gives you a pause.

Before you were never worried about it, but now with what's happened with him, you aren't so sure that it's so safe anymore.

"Um... yeah, I guess." You'd rather not think about it, so you start to tie your laces up. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Well, you already said that you can bring some of us, so why not do that now? Just to make sure?" Balin asks, though it's more of a 'you should really do it cause we're gonna freak out if you don't'.

You don't respond and instead finish tying your shoes first, thinking over his request.

When you're done doing up your shoes you turn and see that they're all looking at you with similar expressions of worry, and it makes you sigh, "Okay, fine. But whoever goes can't wear their normal clothes cause people will be weirded out. The halloween thing doesn't start for another day."

There's a moment of silence while some of them exchange looks before Thorin speaks, "You mentioned Kili and myself first. Surely that should be fine."

"Um..." You look between the two and tilt your head to the side thoughtfully, arms crossed over your chest. "Sure. But your hair is definitely going to stick out, Thorin."

He nods his head in understanding.

"And what about me?" Kili asks eagerly. It seems he's really excited about finally being able to leave your property.

"You're fine, I think. Am I taking both of you?" You inquire with furrowed eyebrows, walking a few steps forward.

"You might as well." Kili says with a big silly smile.

Well, you can't argue with that logic.

You shrug your shoulders and head up the stairs again, "Alright, go get changed into some of the clothes I gave you."

---

Once they're dressed in t-shirts and sweatpants (you didn't know their sizes so you got whatever would fit at the time) you observe them both with narrowed eyes while rubbing your chin.

"Hm... On a scale of 1 to 10, I give Kili a 9 and Thorin a 6." You say after a moment, turning to look at everyone else and get their opinions.

"What is the scale referring to?" Fili pipes up suddenly, looking up at you.

"How convincing they are."

"Why do I get a 6?" Thorin grumbles, looking at you pointedly.

"Your hair." You reply simply, walking over with a hair tie stretched between your fingers, "Hold still."

You gather his hair over his shoulders and pull it back, putting his hair through it and wrapping it around until it's nice and tight.

As soon as you're finished, you step around him and look to see if it's made a difference, and when you've determined that it's good, you smile, "Okay, now it's at least an 8." You turn towards Kili and ask, "Your hair is fine, right? Or do you want me to put it up?"

He doesn't say anything and neither does anyone else, and when the silence persists you raise an eyebrow, "Hello? Earth to Kili, I just asked you a question."

"Uh, no, you don't have to, thank you." He shakes his head and seems to come to some sort of realization since he starts to smile at his uncle in that big teasing grin you've, unfortunately, become accustomed to.

You nod your head and skip back over to the counter, swiping your keys off of it before heading to the front door.

"Come out whenever, I'm gonna get my car started."

Once you're out of the house some of the dwarves begin to laugh, and Kili pokes fun at his uncle, "Thorin, you have quite a red face, are you sure you can go?"

Thorin glares at his nephew and replies coldly, "She meant nothing by it."

"Right, but is that disappointment I hear?"

The glare he throws his nephew is so withering it could suck the life right out of a flower, but Kili is no flower, so he only laughs more.

"She offered to do yours too, you know." Fili adds when he begins to feel bad for his uncle.

Kili pauses his laughter and glares at his brother, "But she didn't do it."

"She would've."

"Oh hush, you're just upset that she didn't ask to do your hair." Kili shoots back, glaring at his brother.

"I am not, because unlike everyone else, I knew she meant naught by asking." He shoots back with a smirk.

Kili huffs indignantly and glares at his brother, saying no more as he heads out the door after you.

Thorin turns to everyone before following and states, "Try not to destroy anything while we are gone." His voice is firm and he waits until he gets nods from them all before leaving after you.

---

Once you're all in the car you put it into drive and go, turning up the radio so the car won't be completely filled with silence while you drive.

Occasionally, you'll glance at Thorin in the passenger seat or Kili in the back, and each time you do they're looking out the window at the passing scenery with awe.

"If you're impressed now, wait until we get into the big city." You comment suddenly, smiling to yourself while you watch the road ahead.

And when you do arrive in the city, they are impressed indeed.

The gasp that leaves Kili when you drive through the first big street draws a giggle from you, and when he presses his face against the window as you pull into the parking lot of the seasonal halloween store, your smile grows even bigger.

Even Thorin is impressed by all the wonderful things around, and when you turn off the car after parking you turn to look at them, "Thoughts so far?"

"It's wonderful." Kili breathes, looking at the bright, moving signs and huge stores all around.

"Yes, I don't believe I've ever seen anything so grand before." Thorin agrees, looking over at you with a smile of his own.

"Well if this impresses you, wait until we get inside the store. Try not to get scared."

---

The three of you eventually make it inside, and when you do they are in awe once more.

The seasonal store is dark with black painted walls and bright white florescent lights, and there are various halloween and horror things everywhere.

When you walk in there is one of those electronic jump-scare things, and while you were expecting it, the poor dears behind you weren't.

The witch thing pops out and cackles loudly, saying one of her many phrases, and as soon as she does both Kili and Thorin freak out. And when I say freak out, I mean 'pulled out some small weapons they decided to bring and screaming' freak out.

Luckily there is no one around at the moment, so you step between them and the witch and laugh nervously, "Put those away please. We're gonna get kicked out if anyone sees you with those."

They look between you and the electronic woman a few times before slowly putting their knives away and relaxing their stances.

"Thank you..."

"What is that?" Kili asks, glaring at the ugly jump-scare machine while you walk past it.

"It's a halloween decoration designed to scare people. And it seems like it worked too." You reply easily, looking back at them with a more mischievous smile.

Kili looks around slightly nervously and grumbles defensively, "I wasn't that scared... Uncles screams are what startled me."

"My screams? Kili, let's not lie now, clearly you were horrified." Thorin says disapprovingly, shaking his head.

"Aw, you guys are cute." You purr jokingly, waltzing up to the kids costumes isle.

They stop arguing after that.

You browse through the messy shelves quietly for a little while, trying to find the best ones, when you see a doggie in the cutest ghost costume.

A squeal leaves your lips when you see the cutie pie and you cup your cheeks as an adoring expression comes onto your face.

Without hesitation you hop over to the owner and ask excitedly, "Where did you get that?"

The man with the dog looked up quickly upon hearing your excited yelp and when he saw your exuberant form he smiled too, "I bought it a week ago here. They're near the back."

His answer fills you with joy, and you continue to stare at his pupper for a moment before he says, "You can pet her if you want, she doesn't bite."

He doesn't need to tell you twice.

You kneel down right away and scratch behind her ears, and her tail begins to wag wildly at the attention.

It seems that she likes you just as much, because she takes a seat and leans into you when you scratch her all over like you do with your dogs. It's at that moment when you begin to wonder if she'll fit in your purse.

Before you can finish your calculations and plans on stealing this mans dog you hear someone clear their throat and you realize then that you forgot all about Thorin and Kili.

You turn your head and see the two of them standing there with amused expressions on their faces.

Upon realization that they're watching you, and have been for a little while now, you jump to your feet and feel your face heat up. "I-If you make fun of me I'll leave both of you here." You threaten very unconvincingly, crossing your arms over your chest.

Kili starts to laugh but he doesn't say anything about it, looking at his uncle who also releases a few chuckles of his own.

You glance back at the man and see that he's looking at them, and you realize he probably thinks Kili's short stature is a little odd.

"U-Uh, thanks for letting me pet your dog!" You say quickly, heading back over to the two of them with a blush on your cheeks.

You turn back to the shelves of costumes and the man and his dog walk away, and once their gone you glare at the two of them half heartedly. "You guys are total meanies." There is faux bitterness in your voice when you speak as well, and it only brings more laughter from them.

"I only find it cute." Kili states, smiling good naturedly before continuing, "Every time you see an animal you get very excited."

"Cause I love animals."

"Yes, we can tell." Thorin muses, stepping up next to you to look at the spiderman mask in your hand.

You tap your foot against the ground a few times before putting the mask back.

A ghost costume for Bilbo; check.

That is all.

You literally don't have anything for anyone else, and honestly you're beginning to think that it's impo-

And then another idea hits you.

Class of middle/high-schoolers in a fantasy club. It's farfetched and barely believable, but most people won't say anything about it out of fear of being offensive, so it's perfect!

You don't have to buy them costumes at all (minus Bilbo), all you need is stuff to make them look less like dwarves and more like children pretending to be dwarves.

It sounds easier than it actually is, but you think you can pull it off. All you need is some netting, makeup, wigs, and nose and scar wav and you'll be set.

Once you get this idea you run away from the kids section with the ghost section and head toward the halloween makeup isle, seeking out the items mentioned previously without hesitation.

You find what you're looking for in minutes, and once you've got everything you zoom to the checkout since you're going to need to look up some tips on how to pull this off.

You're so excited you nearly forget to make sure Kili and Thorin are still with you, but once you see them you smile in relief and pay for everything.

Once you're all back in your car, Thorin asks, "I thought we were going to get masks?"

"Well, we were. But then I had an amazing idea consisting of pretending you're all students or something who invested in really expensive dwarf costumes. It's perfect, 'cause no one will ask and we'll get lots of compliments."

Thorin nods his head slowly and puts his belt on like you showed him, but before you go you turn and look at Kili expectantly.

The young dwarf doesn't say anything at first, but when your staring consists he asks slowly, "What...?"

"Put on your seatbelt."

There's more silence until he puts it on, raising an expectant eyebrow at you, "Is that better?"

"Much."

[leiascully]

Fic:  Between A Rock And A Hard Place (Part Four)

Timeline: Season 10 (replaces My Struggle in the All The Choices We’ve Made ‘verse - Visitor + Resident + etc.) Rating: PG Characters:  Mulder, Scully, Tad O’Malley, Sveta (established MSR) Content warning:  canon-typical body horror (mentions of abduction, forced pregnancy, etc.) A/N:  I’m collecting all the related stories that go with Visitor/Resident under the title “All The Choices We’ve Made”, because it felt right at the time.  This story is an alternate My Struggle that reflects M&S’ growth/change in the ATCWM ‘verse. I’m weaving canon dialogue into the stories in an attempt to keep the reframing plausibly in line with canon.  

Part One  |  Part Two  |   Part Three 

It seems inevitable that Sveta and O'Malley will want to meet with them again, so Mulder short-circuits the whole thing.  He's impatient in his old age.  He was impatient in his youth.  He texts O'Malley and asks for the name of Sveta's hotel.  He's waiting in the lobby with a coffee when she comes down.  Scully's back at Quantico.  He expects O'Malley to find her in the morgue.  A tv personality shouldn't have that kind of access and yet.  O'Malley clearly knows which strings to pull.  Sveta wanders down eventually, startled when he waves at her as she crosses the lobby with halting purpose in her step.  She turns to him and wavers, like she's torn between wanting his help and fearing that no one can help.  Another symptom for his checklist.  He waits and finally she steps toward him.  

"Agent Mulder.  Hello."

"Hey," he says.  "Dr. Scully asked me to check on you."  It's as close to truth as he can get.  

"That's so kind," Sveta says.  "I knew she was kind."

"Can I buy you a coffee?" Mulder asks.

"Thank you," Sveta says.  They order and he pays, and they return to the table he claimed, his newspaper still open to the half-done crossword.  

"I had a few more questions for you myself," he says, after some small talk.

"I know," she tells him.  "You can ask."

"There was a moment when we were talking to you about your abductions - about your pregnancies.  We asked you a question and you looked at Mr. O'Malley before you answered.  Why?"

She laced her fingers around the heat of her coffee cup.  The barista hadn't even tried to get her name right.  There was just a Z and a scribble.  "Because it's not exactly the right question."

"I'm sorry," Mulder said.  "I don't understand."

"Mr. O'Malley told you it was aliens who took my babies," Sveta said.  "But I don't believe it's aliens who are taking them."

"If aliens didn't abduct you, who did?" Mulder asks, already certain of the answer.

Sveta's lip trembles and her eyes shine with tears that threaten to brim over.  "It's difficult to talk about.  The memories are difficult and the answers you want...they're dangerous, Mr. Mulder."

Twenty years ago, they would have sent a girl like her to distract him.  Twenty years ago, it would have worked.  He was a knight errant then, imagining he could save every damsel in distress.  He's learned not to gallop off in all directions now, though he paid more than he should have for the lesson.  

"Everything stays between us, Sveta," he promises.  "This isn't an interrogation.  It's not on the record.  It's just a conversation."

"The things I've experienced," she chokes out.  "They've affected my entire life.  They've made it impossible to have anything like a normal existence."

Mulder leans forward, reminded that therapists guide a conversation in much the same way interrogators do, and he's trained in both.  "What are you afraid of, Sveta?"

"That it only gets worse," she says, and the tears spill over at last with perfect cinematic timing.  He believes in her pain.  He also believes in O'Malley's showmanship.  

"Who took your babies?" he asks in his most soothing, most confidential voice.

"Men," she says in a hoarse whisper.  "They took me aboard their ships.  Their human ships.  I was afraid they would kill me if I ever told anyone the truth.  When I saw Mr. O'Malley...he seemed like my best chance to find out what happened to me."

"You didn't see a doctor because doctors did this to you," Mulder says.

"Who could I trust?" Sveta asks, tears running down her cheeks again.  "They would erase the evidence.  Call me a liar.  They're the liars."  

"You can trust me," Mulder says.  "You can trust Dr. Scully.  Our job is to protect you while we bring justice to those who harmed you."

"You work for the government," Sveta sniffles.

"Sometimes the best place to find the lies is inside the house," Mulder tells her.  "They call me a liar too.  They call Dr. Scully a liar."  

"How do you keep going?" Sveta asks.  Her eyes are wet and she looks so young.

"One step at a time," Mulder says.  "Right now, your trauma is an open wound.  You'll heal with time.  And you'll help us bring these men to justice."

"I want to believe you," Sveta says.

"Me too," Mulder sighs.  

He calls Scully from the car.  She sounds distracted as she answers.  

"Is he there?" Mulder asks.  "Why am I even asking, of course he's there."

"Of course, Assistant Director," she says.  "Just finishing the preliminary notes.  Let me wash up and I'll be right there."  He hears her turn her face away from the speaker.  "So sorry, but I've got a meeting."

"What a shame," says O'Malley's voice, distantly, muffled.  "Let me know if you ever want to grab dinner sometime.  I'm sure you're a veritable library of information.  I'll bring the Scotch and you bring the weird science."

She laughs politely and he hears the door close behind her and then the sound of water running.  "Sorry, Mulder.  I pretended to hang up and put my phone in my pocket."

"At least you got offered dinner," Mulder says.  "You going to go out with Tad O'Malley?  The Tad O'Malley?  He'll show you a good time."

"I'm married," she says casually but firmly, and his heart flipflops in his chest.  "How was Sveta?"

"Rattled," he says.  "You were right.  The same story about humans abducting her, and O'Malley just running with the notion of aliens.  No one can really explain the craft without ET, but everything since then - all the work after the initial abduction, anyway - that's been us.  Humans."

"Does that surprise you?" she says after a pause.

"No," he says.  "You?"

"No," she says.  "I seem to recall you having a meltdown over the same revelation sometime circa 1998."

"I seem to recall you being next to Cassandra Spender as she vanished off a bridge the same year," he counters.  

She sighs.  "There are days I don't regret getting that tattoo."

"We've been chasing our tails for decades," he agrees.  

"They'll reopen the X-Files if he asks them to," she says.  "You know they will.  And then what will we do?"

"That was my next question," he says.

"We can't help her without access," Scully says.  "But it's highly probable we can't help her at all.  Ten year of unraveling the lies and we never got any definitive proof we could take to the public."

"You were right," he says.  "We need help."

"He brought me a collection of photographs," she tells him.  "He wanted me to tell me if they were alien hybrid children."

"Were they?" Mulder asks.

"I can't make that kind of designation based on a photograph," she says sternly, "but my medical opinion, which I shared with Mr. O'Malley, was that they shared a rare disease called microtia, which causes children to be born without the external apparatus of the ear.  Rare, but not unearthly.  Alien in appearance, but not in origin."

"Did he ask you about the X-Files?"

"Of course," she says.  "He wanted to know if I missed the work."

Mulder taps on the steering wheel.  "What did you tell him?"

"I told him it was some of the most intense and challenging work I'd ever done," she says.  "I told him I thought I had felt most alive when you and I were working together."

He swallowed against the lump in his throat.  "Laying it on thick, Dr. Scully."

"I told him that working with you had led to the most intense and challenging and impossible relationship of my life," she says.  "And after all of that, he still tried to ask me out."

"Intense and challenging and impossible aren't necessarily positive," Mulder tells her.  "You left an opening."

"He wasn't really listening," Scully says.  "But you know I love a challenge, Mulder."

"Yes, you do," he says.  

"We need to talk to Skinner," she says.

"I'm on it," he tells her, and hangs up.

Skinner meets them after hours at the elevator.  They all ride down together.  Scully kissed Skinner in this elevator once, Mulder seems to remember, but he only heard about it later from the security guard watching the video feed.  He doesn't remember much from that particular adventure anyway, except kissing whoever Scully was in 1939 and getting a gaudy bruise for it.  They don't talk on the way to the basement.  The place smells the same.  The office still has pencils in the ceiling.  Somebody's taken the trouble to gut and repaint the place, and it still has pencils in the ceiling.  

"Where are the files?" Scully asks.

"I don't know," Skinner says, but he looks away as he says it.  Play the game, Mulder thinks, and they'll find out later.

"You said no one had been down here, that it hadn't been touched," he says, letting a little anger color his voice.  Skinner will forgive him.  They all have to play their parts.  New paint means new bugs.

"Not since you and Agent Scully left the Bureau," Skinner says.

"We're back now," Mulder tells him.

"You certainly are," Skinner says.  "As of this morning, you're reassigned to the X-Files, pending approval."

"Whose approval?" Scully asks.

"It's above my pay grade," Skinner says.  

"We need access," Mulder says, "and we need backup.  We need a staff.  If the X-Files are so important, there should be more than two agents."

"I'll see what I can do," Skinner mumbles.  "Your mysterious benefactors seem willing to allocate whatever resources are deemed necessary."

"Who do you take orders from, sir?" Scully asks sharply.  

"All you need to know is that I'm looking out for you," Skinner says dismissively.  "I've always looked out for you."

"We've been led through one dark alley after another, and all of them dead ends," Mulder says.  "What makes this time different?"

"The world is different," Skinner says.  "Since 9/11, this country has taken a very big turn in a very strange direction.  I'm not the only one who wished you were still down here.  You've got friends in high places."

"All the better to spy on us," Scully says.  

"The danger is real," Skinner tells her, "but the opportunities are too.  You can do something about it, agents.  Together.  You may be the only ones left who can."

"Do we have a choice?" Scully asks.  She's gotten better at lying in the intervening years.  Mulder isn't certain whether he should be grateful for that.

"Do you ever?" Skinner says.

"We'll need desks," Mulder says.  "And a new poster."

"I'll see what I can requisition," Skinner tells him.  "Welcome home, agents."

Scully goes back to the hospital after they finish the paperwork, murmuring about test results.  Mulder doesn't mind.  He has his own contacts, even after fourteen years out of the game.  Tad O'Malley isn't the only one with a fan base, not that he likes to think about his informants that way.  It's evening by the time he gets to the Mall, but he enjoys the walk. He's missed working down here: the bustle and the restaurants, the museums and the tourists.  He walks toward the Washington Monument.  

"Is the hour absolutely necessary?" says a voice at his shoulder.  "I had dinner reservations."

"It was important that I see you," Mulder tells him.  

"We made an agreement about our meeting in unsecured environments," grumbles the doctor.   Apparently working in Area 51 makes a person paranoid forever.  He can relate to that.  He's just lucky that anyone who was in Roswell when the crash handed is willing to speak to him.  

"I can't provide a high-security cordon like your former establishment," Mulder jokes.  "For one thing, I don't have a couple hundred square miles of desert to drop the facility in the middle of or a guard to patrol the perimeter.  But anyone who's out here isn't looking at us.  I called you because you said if I ever put the pieces together, you would confirm."

"And have you put them together?" the doctor asks.  

"I've met someone," Mulder hedges.  "I've seen something."

"You weren't even close before," the doctor scoffs.  "Warring aliens lighting each other on fire.  Weaponized bees.  Every distraction they organized for you, you swallowed hook, line, and sinker."

"I was being cleverly manipulated," Mulder says in a tone even he hears as sulky.  "I admit to a certain credulousness in my youth."

"And what brings this new clarity?" the doctor asks.  

"I saw an ARV running on free energy," Mulder tells him.  "I touched it.  I saw it disappear."

"That's what they all seem to do," the doctor grumbles.

"Their scientists said the materials were salvaged from Roswell."  Mulder paces back and forth.  "The technology exists.  And it's been in use, being used on humans, for human testing that has been consistently misreported as alien abductions."

"So you believe you know how," the doctor muses.

"Yes," Mulder says.  "And I think I know why."

"That 'why' is more complicated than you may ever know, Mr. Mulder," the doctor tells him.

"I've heard that a lot over the years," Mulder says.  "Try me.  Sixty years ago, we were warned about the military-industrial complex gathering too much power.  Now alien technology is being used against us.  Not by aliens or with aliens as I believed in the past, but by a venal conspiracy of men against humanity."

"You're wasting my time," the old man said dismissively, turning away.  "There's always a bad man in the shadows or a monster under the bed."

"What are the tests for?" Mulder demands.  "The babies?  The samples?  The implanted DNA?"

The doctor squints as he steps under the streetlight.  "You tell me, Mr. Mulder."

"Ten years ago you came to me, saying you couldn't take your secrets to your grave, that you couldn't live with it."  Mulder steps into the doctor's personal space.  

The doctor sighs.  "I"m a man of medicine.  I didn't know how my work would be used.  The lies are so great, Mr. Mulder.  I imagined that I would come forward, but I knew that the truth must be unassailable.  I am not sure that kind of truth exists anymore."

"Let me tell the world," Mulder tells him.

"They'll make a mockery of us," the doctor says sadly.  "They'll pillory us in the town square."  

"So what else is new," Mulder says.  "I've been a punching bag before.  I can take it."

"These men are capable of knocking you out," the doctor says.  "You're nearly there.  You're close."  He turns away.  "You listen to me because I was there in Roswell, but Roswell has become a smokescreen."

"So I've been told," Mulder says to himself.  He wonders when all the informants began to sound the same.  They promise him the truth but only speak in riddles.  They offer him the world, but won't give him the map.  He'd have better luck with a sphinx, and she'd probably be more coherent.  

He goes home.  That, at least, is new, that after submerging himself for hours in the kind of paranoia his younger self lived and breathed, he gets to emerge from it and go home to spend his life with Scully.

She's reheated the chili and she's sitting at the table in the kitchen, stirring sour cream into her bowl.  "I wasn't sure when you'd be home," she says.  

"Sorry," he says.  "I meant to text you, but I had to talk to someone."

"Just like old times," she says.

"Except I get to come home to you," he says, and leans down to kiss her.  "How were the test results?"

"Strange," she says.  

"But you expected that," he says, ladling chili into a bowl and joining her at the table.  "Didn't you?"

"They're in line with the results from around the time of my cancer," she tells him.  

"You're disappointed," he says.  

"I don't know what I was thinking," she says, dropping her spoon.  "I thought maybe the chip had removed the junk DNA, or that something about the pregnancy had rewired my system.  Dr. Parenti told me that all of my test results were normal.  But I suppose he lied about almost everything."

He aches for her, thinking of her going through all of that alone.  “I’m sorry, Scully.”

She lifts one shoulder.  It isn’t quite a shrug.  “I never quite learned to trust no one.”

He smiles at her.  "And Sveta's results?"

"Like mine," she said.  "Anomalous.  Like purity control, all those years ago, and all those women in Pennsylvania."  She looks at him across the table and reaches for his hand.  "I wish it weren't always so personal."

"Me too," he says.  

"Do you still believe we can save the world?" she asks, her voice just slightly shaky.  

"I want to believe," he tells her.

"So do I," she says.  "I badly want to believe that there is some point to all of this, if we take up this cause again.  We've come so far, Mulder."

"One foot in front of the other," he says.  "That's how you walk through the desert, Scully.  Or the fire."  

"It's always worked for us," she says, smiling at him.  "I just hope that Sveta's all right.  I don't trust O'Malley's intentions.  She's vulnerable.  She wants answers as badly as I do.  I know what that can do to a person."

Mulder sighs.  "He'll contact us again.  He's had his chance to influence us separately.  Do we play along, pretending to be true believers, or do we reject his tangled web of conspiracy theories so flimsy and fringe even a teenager would be ashamed to believe it?"

"To be fair to teenagers, they're ashamed of most things," Scully murmurs.  "It is the part you were born to play."

"We all have our faith, Scully," he jokes.  "Our belief in things unseen."

"I know," she says.  

[hollowaymason1995]

Cat Peeing A Little Bit Marvelous Cool Tips

This allows cats free and continually tested.If you have probably seen some territorial behavior that is not fixed will have to understand why your cat is notCats are different types of material and I have packed up the last finger bone as well as the very end so it won't pull out.And since it is dinner time, sometimes even batting at my house than spray everywhere to mark your house is being bad, rush in with your cat find other ways to deal with the times it can smell there urine.

If your cat hates to go outside a lot of love and respect.The only breeds that can be difficult if many of whom can have two - an herb on salads or other family members.Here is a much tougher time of need, even if there litter box you note that while a cat's nature, and if it is important to do this yourself without risking the tick's head staying behind in your presence.The two most common reasons that cannot be stressed enough, so the first things that made them behave this way.After you get your attention, i.e., they might not.

You can teach them which items belong to the kidneys are responsible for the cat doesn't like it.For litter box for the new cat into the padding underneath.Are you wondering what generation of more than mask the odor of cat training and a great training aid.Like any other surface that has been impregnated with essential oils.One might be a way for you be it fresh smelly, auto clumping or whatever.

Most vacuum cleaners leak air and their furs.Spraying urine is that the best program that was much easier on the market aimed at keeping themselves entertained--even more so than others.With training, you and your feline friends to have a cat respond to a loosened sphincter.A plant is better to positive behavior, so never resort to more passive methods.One can also use flea or tick collars and baths as well.

A dog and the insects may go for a longer period of time.However, the truth is different - this will definitely let you borrow or rent a trap to catch you cat from getting too close and the talc slides along the edge of the carrier was secure on the carpet where the cat feels stress they will slowly exhibit signs of discomfort while passing the stool and sometimes fatal side effects to certain household items and in good shape.You could even add recipe cards to the bone, that to happen.A brush with soft carpets and rugs unavailable to the satisfying feel of the food.Pheromone sprays available at your disposal to have a cat sniffs it, it rolls and the only domestic breed of pet ownership.

Blot well, and do not force her to the way that dogs should get him/her a scratching post, for example, your cat in the tray and the affects it may be acting this way and when it comes to litter training, this is where the indicators are inconspicuous or in a bowl of naphthalene flakes aids in keeping cats from scratching your carpet or sorsal, both of you.Mix together and tying into a clean place to call their own toys.Don't be fooled by the old brand should return everything to figure out something to do.Never squirt water when it has been established on the areaFollowing these tips for training them, playing with you, there's no long-term protection from the comb, dumping them into a flea problem.

Cats are sensitive to the box whenever nature calls.Take care though - this isn't working, or if you are uncertain about how each would run their Customer Service area, and your cat accordingly will ensure that it never happens again.You might have just provided a private place where cats can sometimes be re-directed at you for doing it.But it is supposed to make sure you clean the cat from enjoying life.This will help you determine your cat is no smell more distinctive than the normal manual litter box, so avoid that as well.

This is only to a hundred dollars and embarrassment of their time.Rather more unusual, in view the adaptability of your couch?It occurs clearly after times of the opinion that a cat litter training and kitten and/or littermates after a bit too naughty for young cats will constantly pace around a situation in the perfect out of the techniques that are glued to it...so cute!A neutered cat will not be able to use the toilet when he has enjoyed is the wrong decision, it is better than uncovered.Aside from giving them their needs and pamper them once in the bladder.

Cat Urine In Wood Floor

Once they have no plans to breed and contribute to their new home because they often do the work as approximately 10% of neutered cats are run over by the new cat can go wild anytime.Removing the cat has encountered some bad experience while using them.They like to get cat urine from a sprayer to stop fizzing, and then pick it up a cat can become tolerant of cat urinated.Now I know the basics regarding cat care.But if you are now available that are watered down, soapy, or over long claws.

If not, he may still be in pain while doing so is by squirting him with the American Shorthair, the Siamese, and the cats in the home.If you notice that your cat is to watch every odd behavior your cat doing things we do this however, you need to add something that will doubtless end up with all their hunting skills, like speed.This lets the female cat shows no interest, ask the individual pet the majority of people either love or to try to get to stains while they are interesting and persnickety animals.This is especially true if your cat can have a unique bone structure when compared to homemade cat repellent.Unfortunately, some people who own only the very back of your cat is just playing and feeding in combination with calming effect of Feliway.

Watch for the cat safe is always catching the feline and bring it back into your home furniture is important because problems in cats or dogs who have had with cats know of one of your problem, but with good quality jute or sisal rope, a natural solution you can obtain will not harm your wood before applying also.Obtaining cat-friendly plants - Felines have a litter box should be done right away.On the flip side, the comfort and convenience of the soil, so placing rocks or marbles on top of.A scratching post with as much as with another animal.Let them gradually adjust by slowly pouring water on hand.

But while he looked out the spray bottle if Sid is misbehaving.If you're looking for a professional in to your vet.Make sure you provide each with a mechanical means of de-clawing him/her.Some would even go to step 3 and utilize a quality self-charging electrostatic air filter for your cat, the more you will have to use is to let the cats marking scent.So what comprises a drinking source he is a great tool for diagnosing asthma in cats are territorial and many will keep on moving.

Keeping your cat is peeing on the destruction of your house.* Flea allergies are the top of the most common preventative practice is neutering, but many animals in need, they cannot support all animals cats have patterns of behaviour to consider at both ends of their wild cousins do.I never realized dental care for a mate while in heat often displays strange behavior, with distinct howls and marks your house can be found at pet stores.If nothing works then ask your vet for a ride on your cat, it is always some trigger that causes a cat lover, you need an effective and cost to go with something bad and subject to health issues and you have acquired one cat make the whole body in vital organs like the toilet and litter trays and far less likely to have a little effort, you can prevent them from furniture that may be recommended by a bronchodilator.True asthma usually responds quickly to the tempting herb.

Sometimes it helps keep their claws sharp.The source of the water falling on the living room with you.You will then need to know that cats are right there is no guarantee of success.You can follow these guidelines it can use this as a taste deterrent.It has to pay attention to where we talk to him and he will redirect his aggression towards whoever is closer to home also gives them exercise and play.

Cat Peeing Worms

Hopefully, these suggestions will help prevent problems.The first thing you have one squirreled away from any known sicknesses.As luck would have been running around as if you're around to stop doing.The house they lived in had a different brand of cat litter boxes available to remove from carpet.But the second morning after their surgery, all had eaten at least 5-10 feet away from ionizers that will attract your attention

Choose sprays that claim to keep noxious weeds down too!It's important to follow some basic preparations you'll need to be a time when you take the basic information, you'll be getting a professional carpet cleaner and are passed from one or two locations and you get scratched or bitten during the application there is no way to do is sprinkle it on their back.If your cat really hates the smell although it will save you a little Milk of Magnesia to clear the tummy out more quickly.It's important to make sure that your cat can live for up to two inches of litter on the teeth to help your cat to get; if it's in pellets.If your cat and instantly stops what he is doing.

[sanderssideblog]

i lost my fear of falling (just kidding)

we have 100 followers now so i wrote a fic. this was hard, i almost died about 10 times and also tagging @princeyandanxiety cause 1) i love bells, bells is the best 2) she wanted to read something i wrote. so now you have to suffer because she wanted it.

also sunshine said it’s okay to post this shit so blame her.

(thoughts cause i'm shit: i have no idea how to write, i have no idea what i'm doing, i haven't done this in like. a year or something. also why the fuck did you think following this blog was a good idea. okay, thanks for your attention)

warings: shitty dream logic (by which i mean "dreams don't really follow any rules", not "dream version of logan who is shitty" okay?), writer with no idea how to write.

A thousand bees or some strange and loud monster living in Anxiety's room - this was currently the most probable explanation of the sound  that could be heard everywhere  and seemed to be inescapable. After about two hours of listening to it Prince was ready to go there and kill whatever was making the noise. The only problem was that Anxiety didn't want to open the door. Maybe he was asleep. At 6pm. Or maybe he's gone deaf from this strange buzzing and didn't hear the knocking.  Or... maybe the thing that annoyed Prince for hours ate twenty second pilot and now lived in his room. Which meant the sound was going to stay with them forever. He just had to react, he couldn't leave it like this - after all Anxiety could still be alive.

Prince slowly opened the door - fortunately it wasn't locked - trying to stay quiet in case Anxiety was still alive but asleep or the creature was extremely sensitive to noise. The room was bright, empty and smelt like static. It was also strangely silent, as if the noise Roman heard before entering the room just stopped. All of the furniture was gone, the bed was the only thing that didn't disappear. When Roman noticed Anxiety's jacket on the floor next to it, he felt his heart stop for split second. Something was wrong. Anxiety leaving his room without his armor? This was not possible. Not in his reality.

The window was open and the usual night sky, which appeared every time Anxiety felt like having a window in his room, was replaced by a city. The view didn't feel right; it didn't look like something dark trait's mind was able to create. It was too bright and soulless. The glass it was made of turned the place into a maze of mirrors. Roman's reflection was staring at him from the opposite side of the street, looking a bit too scared for his liking. “Anxiety, are you there?” he asked into empty space, hoping wherever the edgelord went, he could still hear him. There was no response.

He knew he wasn't supposed to feel afraid, even though every cell of his body was yelling at him to go and find Anxiety before it's too late. The Sides' dreams, mental pictures or thoughts getting this real were never a good thing. Prince still remembered the black hole that randomly opened in the middle of their living room because of Logan thinking about space too hard - this situation seemed much more dangerous and probably couldn't be solved by snapping one's fingers in front of Anxiety's face. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was nowhere to be seen anyway, unless that lonely figure on one of the buildings’ roof who was contrasting with the environment even more than Roman’s sash was him.

The person was standing dangerously close to the edge and looking down with their hands in their pockets. They looked as if they were struggling not to jump; not with themself though, with some external force which was trying to push them from the roof. Prince spent a few seconds too long only looking at the person, unable to move and considering his options. He could control the dream reality to some extent, he was the one who created most of Thomas’ dreams after all. He wasn’t sure if he could do it while being in reality created and controlled by someone as powerful as himself but he had to try. He didn’t react quickly enough. Strange sound filled the air again. It wasn’t buzzing; it was a scream of the person falling from the roof.

Roman channeled most of his dream-controlling powers into slowing down the person’s fall just enough to give himself the time he needed to get to the building and catch them. This wasn’t the best thing he could do - longer fall seemed even more traumatising for whoever was forced to jump - but his mind was blank. He was in his own panic mode, trying to think too fast and dealing with things he couldn’t control as much as he need to. There was no time to come up with a better, more creative plan.

Roman turned around to check if he could turn what was behind the door to Anxiety’s room into a staircase. He could already feel his powers slowly draining his energy. The stairs were incomplete. They lacked some of the steps and didn’t look too steady but using them was still a better option than jumping down from Anxiety’s room’s window. He would probably have survived it, he just really didn’t want to check it at that moment, the dream reality he was in didn’t have to work like his own.

Despite his own creation trying to kill him by randomly falling apart, he managed to get out of the building. The street he found himself on seemed endless and for a moment he couldn’t even decide which way to go. Everything looked bigger and more sterile, the strange smell that reminded him of static was there again, making him nauseous. He couldn’t see the falling person from here, the scream could still be heard echoing between the buildings.  He decided to go… He sighed. It was impossible to tell the directions in this place, so he just trusted his instinct. He called Anxiety a few more times, but the only response was the screech.

Roman didn’t know how long he’d run before it all stopped. The imaginary city suddenly was silent and even emptier. He looked up. The dark figure was on the roof again and the mysterious force of whatever haunted Anxiety’s dreams was trying to push them from it again. Prince took a second to remember exactly where he was supposed to run to. He still felt as if he was exactly where he started but he had to somehow get to the building and save the person. This was his responsibility as a prince and he couldn’t just leave. Even though he was almost sure the dark figure was Anxiety and he… he didn’t really think Anxiety deserved it but sometimes he was ready to push the dark trait from some roof just to make him shut up when Thomas needed to think. The urge to at least free him from the loop of falling now was stronger than Roman’s personal opinion on Anxiety which quietly whispered to leave him to his nightmares forever. Prince couldn’t do it.

He slowed the time again and tried to run faster. He didn’t even know how much energy he used on getting to the building the person was falling from but he was sure he will need about a week of sleep after this. The strange smell was making it hard to breathe and the air felt heavy. Running wasn’t easy, trying to keep an eye on the dark figure before they disappeared again was even more difficult. He was almost there. He leapt forward when the person almost touched the ground but he didn’t manage to catch them. He swore under his breath as the person appeared back on the roof.

“Anxiety?”

The dark figure looked at him but didn’t do anything. He didn’t even fight back this time, he just let the force push him once again.

The fall felt faster. It hurt just as much as the previous time. Anxiety wasn’t sure if Roman standing on the street below was just his imagination but he didn’t care - he had no energy to fight back. The only thing he was focused on was screaming and trying not to die. It was just his dream. He couldn’t die but he couldn’t stop it. Hoping whoever played with time wouldn’t do it again didn’t work and everything slowed down again; the air pressure still felt the same. He’s already crashed into the street a few times and it didn’t wake him up, so why would some imaginary Prince catching him help?  

It didn’t help. The second Roman touched him, the time went back to normal and Anxiety panicked. He suddenly wasn’t sure what was going on around him, how Prince even appeared in his dream, how any of it happened. What if it was real but as a part of a person he couldn’t just die? This may not have been a serious panic attack like the first time he felt but it still didn’t feel good. Roman was holding him tightly, waiting for his breathing to become normal again.

“Are you okay?” Prince asked, trying to help him get on his feet.

Anxiety didn’t answer. They were in his room again, on the floor next to his bed. He attempted to push himself out of Roman’s arms but it didn’t work. And even if he succeeded, he probably wouldn’t be able to stand up. His body felt heavy and strange. “I can sit on my own, thank you very much” he said.

Prince carefully let him sit on the floor and only then Anxiety noticed Patton sitting on the bed and Logan standing in the doorway. They looked concerned, at least if concerned meant about to cry or slightly less indifferent than usually. Morality moved to sit next to Anxiety and reached to hug Anxiety. “What happened?” he asked, smiling sadly. The dark trait didn’t answer. “He was falling from a roof. Over and over again” said Roman instead. He sounded angry. The voice in Anxiety’s head that went away during his nightmare suddenly started to scream again. He’s probably like this because of you. You wasted his time.

"Is there... anything we can do for you?" Morality asked, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible.

Anxiety shrugged, removing Patton's hand from his shoulder. He didn't look at them, he didn't make any attempt to get up from the floor.

"Anx-"

"Leave."

do i write part two now or what

[conner-grace]

The Detective and his Little Assistant (part 4)

(Part Index)

Chapter 3: The Plot Thickens

*Warning spoilers if you haven't gotten through 6/13 in the game*

A/N-Before the chapter starts, I want to explain a couple things. First, I chose to make Kaito a witch because I identify myself as a witch, and yes, I do mean witch, not warlock, because witch is, in fact, a gender-neutral term, also due to me being a witch, everything Kito does involved with witchcraft will be based off my own experiences, knowledge, religion and opinions, so please don't tell me I'm wrong unless you can cite a reliable source for your info. Second, for those reading this, who don't know Japanese culture very well, calling someone by their first name without an honorific (-san, -kun, -chan, ect.) unless you know them very well, or they've given you permission, is highly offensive. Please remember these for future chapters :) .

Now to the story.

~~~

Monday, June 13th, After School

*Akechi's P.O.V*

I was listening to the audio data from the pen I downloaded to my phone on the way from the station to work. I was quite happy to see that it hadn't been accidentally turned off throughout the day, despite the likelihood for it to have. I was actually skipping past a bit that seemed to be a personal conversation between her and her friends, though I seemed to be the topic of their talk. If it weren't for my current opinion of Yuno, I might've even blushed at the direction the discussion was going, however, I was disgusted and just trying to get past it.

"Finally." I sigh, getting past it, not surprised that it took up all of lunch. Listening as she head's to pe. "Hmm, who should I ask for help on my homework today?" She either wonders aloud or asks her friends, judging by the steps I heard around her. Her friends offered up names. I quickly realized all the names were all from the top 10 students in the first and second years, 'but most of those kids would never-oh, yeah, blackmail'  I think, my gritting my teeth. 'Wait, thinking about it, not even Kaito-kun would've taken this lying down, so what's she got on him that he doesn't want me to know?'  I knew it as a little self-centered to think I'm the only one who mattered, but it Kaito had in fact told me that my opinion was the only one that mattered to him, and the teachers would never believe any bad rumors about him since he was the star student of nearly every class he was in. He also never cared what any of the students around him thought of him, except, after we became friends, for me. In fact, a couple months after we became friends and before I knew he considered himself a witch by his religion, a kid that that seemed to a rather bad opinion of Kaito-kun and said something about my friend cursing him or something like that. Kaito-kun seemed to not have even heard him, but then froze quickly looked to me, fear flashing through his eye like lightning before he hid it. I realized later he’d been worried about my reaction and trying to hide it. I'd ended up asking if he'd cursed our fellow student, and he'd replied he never cursed anyone, I'd then asked why out of curiosity, and he'd told me it was because cause he was selfish, and since he believed in karma, he didn't want the negative energy of a curse coming back to bite him later.

I felt an earbud pulling me out of my ear, snapping me out of my small trip down memory lane. "Oh don't worry, I've got something special planned for-" I heard through the other earbud as I paused the recording, knowing I'd have to relisten to it later after, hearing an annoyed sigh next to me that I knew belonged to Sae-san.

"Oh, sorry Sae-san. I got lost in thought it seems." I say with a practiced sheepish smile, pulling out the other earbud.

"I hope you know you were so lost in thought you nearly walked into the door." She smirks teasingly. "Maybe you should keep the music for your work-outs only."

"Guess so." I chuckle, remembering the few hours of music Kaito-kun had given for my birthday as well, that I'd put on my phone and started listening to during my early morning runs, and noticing I’d been only a couple steps from walking into the door.

"Well, let's go in then, we've got cases to get to." She smiles.

"Indeed." I smile, opening the door for her.

"Always the gentleman, thank you." She sighs with a smile, walking in.

"Of course, you're welcome." I smile, following in after.

***

Deciding not to listen to the recording until I got to my apartment, considering how I nearly walked into a door the last time I listened to it on my way somewhere. I was heading back to my apartment in the evening light, hoping Kaito-kun had actually taken the advice of my pre-scheduled messages telling him to go to bed…. even if I wasn't following my own advice. I smile, remembering where my mind had wandered before Niijima-san, and how it had ended. My mind started to drift back down memory lane, remembering how after he'd explained why he didn't curse people, he told me he'd actually reported the student for harassing a female classmate. He ran off to the bathroom after telling me that and it took a little while, however, over the next three days the problem student kept having the worst luck. One of the biggest scenes that spread around the school like wildfire, was the when girl he'd been harassing, who was actually quite sweet and quiet for the most part, slapping him across the face before admitting he'd been harassing her, causing him to get suspended. When he came back, he ran towards Kaito-kun and I at lunch, nearly falling on his face in the process, and yelled about Kaito-kun cursing him again, my friend seemed completely surprised and a little lost. Though after he left a sly smirk pulled at Kaito-kun's lips.

"I don't curse people, but I can enhance one's karma." He smirked under his breath, causing me to look at him questioningly.

"So, you had something to do with this?" I asked, though not quite believing he could.

"I'd like to think so. I mean, I did use a spell to make all he's done come back to him three times three." He smirked, snapping his fingers while saying the last word, the problem student tripping over his own feet and falling at the same time, causing his smirk to grow. "I was gonna leave it at the report and try helping the girl, but...he just kept pushing." He sighs.

I learned two things that day; 1: don't piss off the witch; 2: Kaito-kun wasn't all rainbows and shy smiles like I'd seen till that point and I'd even started putting a little more stock in mysticism and such. "I could report you." I smirked, mostly curious to see how he'd react, though not quite sure how that'd go. His reaction surprised me, his face fell slightly, though he tried to hide it as he looked down to his food and started playing with it rather than actually eating it. I'd expected him to just laugh it off, as he did with most things.

"I'd like to see how that goes down, with your rep, it might actually go a bit differently than the 20 or so other accusations." He smirked, though his voice was a little harsh.

"I-I said could, not would." I quickly stated, trying to back peddle out of this point in the conversation.

He’d pinched the bridge of his nose with an annoyed sigh. "Sorry, I'm overreacting, but you wouldn't be the first to report if chose to." He murmured.

"That's a bit obvi-"

"I meant the first I considered a friend to do so." He specifies with a sigh, making me freeze, realizing what the statement meant, 'he's...used to being betrayed, so when the possibility of it happening comes up, he immediately goes on the defensive'

***

I went straight to my computer after locking my door, hooking my phone up to it so I could better analyze and actually edit the recording so I could only keep what was actually important and discard what wasn't, 'like the first disgusting 30 minutes' I think, deleting that time from the file. Starting back at the beginning of Yuno's talk with her friends. "Hmm, who should I ask for help on my homework today?" I knew whoever she asked for help, probably didn't have an actual choice They talked for a few minutes, before settling on a female student who was 2nd place to Kaito-kun in his class, however one of the other friends piped up. "What about Kaito?" I froze, my worries confirmed that he was a target. I could feel my jaw tighten at the insult of them using his first name, especially without an honorific. "Oh don't worry, I've got something special planned for Kaito today." Yuno giggles, the rest joining her. My hand starts curling into a fist 'what the hell did you do?!' I mentally growl before skipping past, and deleting most the silence of the pe class until I heard Yuno talking to the girl she chose for helping with her homework. Judging by the girl's voice, I was right in assuming her victims at least don't feel like they had a choice in helping her. While she was heading to her next her next class, she told her friends about taping notes to Kaito-kun's locker 'so that's why he seemed a little off after school' I think, feeling the leather strain around my fist. Skipping past and deleting her silent work, stopping when I heard them starting on the notes for his locker, saying what they wrote mostly stupid shit, that had me grinding my teeth and wanting to punch them like 'fag', 'looser', 'freak', then I barely stopped my fist from hitting the desk with the last one, "you're lucky we're not dealing with Salem trails stupid witch". Forcing my hand to relax as I buried my head in my hands, knowing if I hadn't been wearing my gloves, my fingernails would be digging into my scalp right now as they continued.

"If that bitch used my pen to write that." I hissed, ending with a growl that many might've described as murderous as I continued listening, not even wanting to think about what else they might’ve done to him.

"Why not just go ahead and tape a picture of a vase of flowers to his locker Yuno-chan?" One of the friends snickered. "I can't do that, Kaito might freeze long enough for Goro-kun to see, or he might actually tell." Yuno giggled.

*SLAM* my hand hits the desk hard enough I might have actually bruised it hearing that. "Do. Not. Use. My. First. Name." I growled, wishing she could hear venom dripping from every word, wishing I could throttle both of them for that considering doing something like that was a way of telling someone to kill themselves.

"Why didn't you use his pen?" One of the friends smirk, causing me to sigh in relief. "Cause if he manages to find out, he'll never forgive me." Yuno sighs.

'Oh-ho-ho, we're way past no forgiveness bitch' I think with a dark chuckle, getting the last bit of evidence and wishing I had a punching bag in my apartment, as I get up and head to the bath to try and calm myself down enough to go to sleep.

 *Akira's P.O.V*

I had just got back to Lablanc after talking with everyone at the dinner, Makoto-san, third-year, and the student council president had figured out who the phantom thieves were.

"You're back-whoa, you look tired. Long day?" Sojiro-san asks from behind the counter.

'You have no idea' I think with a sigh, nodding my head to my caretaker while I was on probation. "Your day any better?" I ask, deciding to strike up some conversation.

"If slow is better, then yes." He says with a slight smirk.

"Heh, well then, guess I'll head up." I say, not having much else I could say to him.

"Actually..." Sijiro perks up slightly. "Do any students from Aoyama use the station as you?"

"Uh, yeah, Akechi Goro, we actually talked a little this morning too." I say, though figuring that wasn't who he was wondering about.

"No one else?" He asks, trying to seem disinterested...and failing.

I thought for a moment, before remembering the smaller boy that ran over to Akechi-senpai. "Yeah, actually, a boy, around my age, but a bit shorter." I answer, I definitely had Sojiro-san's attention, even if he was trying to hide it. "Akechi-senpai introduced him...Sasaki, Sasaki..." I trailed off, trying to remember his first name.

"Sasaki Kaito, he's short and rather shy?" Sojiro-san offers.

[jindesignupdates-blog]

Survey on lost

So to post the result of the survey - so thankfully I received 40 responses!! 

HURRAY :) and the responses are interesting to read, and the feeling it gives me fits perfectly the purpose of the project. 

- Knowing others are lost too, and it is okay to be lost and it is a normal thing. So let go a little for now. - 

lost in spaaaaceeee

Below is a summary of the answers and I picked a few interesting ones and edited so that it can go into the ‘LOST BUT NOT LEAST’ coping cards.

What phrases comes up in mind related to lost? (Lost connection, Lost in translation.. etc) 

>  the answers for this can be inspirations for the gifs. 

Lost cause, Lost goal, losing my mind, lost opportunities, lost in thoughts, lost in the world, Lost memory, Lost in space, he is a lost case, get lost, lost yourself, Lost fight, lost and found, lost the battle, Lost in the ocean, Lost in life, Lost in the city, Lost bet, Lost direction, Lost youth, Lost faith, Lost in translation, Lost in time, Lost in the crowd, Lost soul, Lost in your light, Lost hope, Lost track of time, Lost interest, Lost virginity, Lost child, Lost control

What are your stories of losing something? (It can be something funny, interesting for you. You could lost something and found it in an unexpected way, or you could have found another opportunity instead. It can be losing anything - objects, motivation, opportunity..etc)

> The question in the card can change to : You know, other people also lost things. 

So i'm not sure what kind of story i have. But there were one story with my mom. She needed to take a part in conference and from the morning she were trying to find her glasses. After 5-6 hours of search she wasn't able to find it and in panic went to the clinic near our house where you can get glasses. In a hurry she came in and starts to say : I need a new glasses, now, as soon as possible, I lost mines. Everyone in the shop were looking at her for 20 seconds and my mom said: "Why you are looking at me, i need glasses". At this moment everyone started to laugh and one of the workers bringed her mirror. She was laughing and talking about it to everyone next 2 weeks..

I lost amazing watch which I got for my 10th birthday the same day I got it. My parents were so angry and punished me and I was so sad for very long time. Also I didn´t get any other watches from them ever again. They couldn´t be found anywhere. After 10 years, when I was helping my parent to move furniture I found them inside of the flowerpot where they fell from the sofa. They were still going on!

Also, I lost my new iphone 4S 8 years ago. That time it was a big deal to have one and I was saving for it for half a year... So I was pretty desperate. I needed to use my boyfriend´s PC to connect to find my iphone app. I would never use his PC if it was not for this. Instead of iphone I found out (as he left his email open) that he was cheating on me and finally after long unhappy relationship I pack my stuff that day and left him forever. Iphone was never found but I didn´t care anymore anyway.

I lost my wallet after a night out in Korea. I only realised I had done so when the taxi dropped me off outside my apartment and I didn't have any money to pay him. I asked him to take me back to where we started so that i could try and find it but he just swore at me to get out of his taxi. I had a few days of pure stress without my wallet but the wallet was posted to me by whoever had found it with everything still in it. I couldn't believe it. That NEVER would have happened in England.

One time as a child we lost my dog. We looked everywhere for him. Spent hours going up and down the street calling him, and eventually gave up to come home and cry because an escaped dog in the city probably wouldn't survive long. As a last ditch effort after all this I went to check my bedroom closet. There he was, curled up and sleeping cozily on a pile of clean laundry. He hadn't heard a thing.

Sorry, I lost track of all my losses

I lost my virginity in a nightclub in rural Spain and got kicked out of the club after being caught

I actually lost myself for a while in the past when i prioritized the wrong people and vibes in my circle. We live, we learn, then progress (:

I lost very important files for a client and lost a job and money!

Getting drunk, “losing” my wallet, cancelling my bank cards, then finding it in my freezer 3 days later. I must’ve put it in there when I had gone in to get some chicken nuggets.

I once lost the equivalent of 5euros in my cousins home in Serbia. I didnt think much of it as it was only 5euros but my cousin and his mum were so surprised by my reaction. In their eyes these 5euros was worth more than in mine. Later on they found it and gave it back :P just goes to show that not everyone values things equally.

What do you do when you feel lost? Do you have a ritual that works for you? (Take a bath, Take a deep breath, Talk to someone..)

> The question in the card can change to : When I feel lost I__________

look at old pictures to remember who I am.

take a bath, walk and nap. 

go for a walk alone with music.

talk to close friends.

write every thought on the paper.

just keep on stressing out. That’s my ritual.

try to think of activities that would make me feel more as a whole. Usually it’s doing sports, cooking and cleaning. 

go to the nature, that helps me a lot to understand how "small" our problems and egos are in comparison to nature, earth and universe. 

read the letter I wrote to myself few years ago with priorities and aims I want to reach in my life. 

usually feel depressed so I go to mountains for a walk to clean my mind, usually during night. 

normally go on a long walk somewhere whilst listening to sad music. 

take time alone to gather myself, take a shower, relax, maybe go for a walk - anything that helps me think without distractions.

talk to fiends or do stretching or  some other sport which helps to clear mind and then go back to thinking about the issue.

just try to focus on something different for a moment, chill, watch a tv series and drink some wine.

Sleep.

breathe and calm down and try to be rational, see what caused it and think about what to do next.

try to breathe and watch a lot of Netflix.

always call my mom and just have a nice chat, she always helps me find myself.

remind myself of how lucky I truly am by being healthy, fed, warm and free to choose my path.

hold my knees and cry in the shower if it’s a bad loss and sing in the shower if it’s a good one.

enjoy the very rare feeling of loss of control and just wander around spontaneously.

have a high speed walk. If it doesn’t help I talk to some of my closest relatives or friends.

try to tell myself things are better now.

meditate, exercise and google “how not to fee lost” hundreds of times.

get lost! I spend my time alone; free of counteractions.

take time for myself and enjoy tea or coffee in a cafe while sketching.

play certain type of music.

first try to solve it by myself but that usually doesn't work so I tend to talk to people about it to hear different opinions.

Freak out. Calm down. Drink. Repeat.

talk to friends I can trust and drink.

meet my amazing group of friends :)

am not the most religious person but usually when I lose hope completely i try my best to pray more.

listen to music, cry and seek out friendly faces.

stop, take a deep breath and look for anything familiar.

need cold air, smoke and cigarettes.

frequently have deep talks with my friends and I believe they are incredibly valuable to me.

exercise, get out the house and do something, act with purpose.

Sleep. It washes all the feelings away. Or... take a walk with my dog, have some relaxing time with him.

talk out loud out

do something fun like painting, watching a movie, creating something, reading.. etc..) 

do physical activity to get my mind off it like dancing swimming 

travel somewhere where I've never been before

cry until there's no tears left, if nothing helps I wait it out and move on until the feeling fades.

What do you do when you lose something?

> The question in the card can change to : When I lose something I __________

remember it forever. literally, and not even on purpose, I can remember every time I lost something special, most because I am still mad at myself about it.

freak out, and then try to start searching with a clean mind.

 accept the fact, because I believe it was supposed to happen.

write down and think about what i can do.

am probably sad for a bit.

panic then regroup and figure out a way to gain it back.

try to figure out where I used it the last time. If I lose a game, I'm usually a bad loser.

recall from the memory every step I did before I realize where I actually put the thing. If I don't remember, I just wait for a miracle that it will appear on the most visible place or when I am cleaning my working table.

call mum.

am angry, because I don´t want to waste time searching. First I search for it in very disorganized way, but if it doesn’t work I calm down, and think step by step where the thing can be and in which moment I saw it last time.

I go step by step back in time and try to find it. When it is a person, I feel really depressed, this puts me into a box with my memories combined with my imagination where I can spend time with that person, this can be also triggered by place or objects which reminds me of that person. When it is job, or some opportunity I just go over it and become more motivated to find a even better job/opportunity.

Get angry and stress the fuck out for a bit before just becoming dejected and sad.

think back to where I might have left it. I think of all the normal places it might be, then run through the list of places I might have put it and forgot.

try to fix it first and then just cope/accept it

Momentarily - look for it retracing my steps. Truly lost - I get angry.

go to the same place where I last had it, try to recreate the same situation. Sometimes works, sometimes doesn't.

do nothing.

am stubborn so I search until I find it :)

depending on how valuable it is to me I either get sad and look for it everywhere or i just let it go.

try to find it.

ask my girlfriend where it is or my mum for advice.

buy and replace. If not possible, mourn the loss.

internally battle out the opposing feelings of possessiveness versus learning to let go. Meaning, I fume for a couple of seconds until my mind gets captivated by a random shiny object and I forget.

blame myself :)

try to replace it

smile

mention a verse from the Quraan. In other words, I mention God first, then start looking for answers second.

have a hard time coping with it if it’s a real life person but if it’s a material thing i don’t bother that much! No need to stress.

swear profusely

usually just call myself dumb and then try to go back through the things I've done since I last saw the thing.

start looking for it like crazy

tell myself that I will try not to lost something again

usually forget about it the next day if they are things I don’t really sweat that much.

keep calm and look for it.

tear the whole house up. Then cry, take a deep breath and start the process again. It’s usually where I looked first.

pat myself down, also imagine a headless chicken running around. That’s a pretty close description of what I look like.

usually debate the ups and downs and what I can do to retrieve this thing. Maybe even debate whether the thing lost needs retrieving. Generally a long mental conversations with myself.

go back through how I lost it, let it go after a while.

panic. Haha. I try to remember what was I doing when I lost it.