#and needing to do small concrete things. to know that she's making a difference somehow. to know she exists

[asterdeer]

better ending for "bondage and beta male sexuality": right when britta is feeling down on herself for losing her friends and her activism in one night, abed texts her and tells her that hickey's unlawfully detained him with handcuffs and she brightens up and goes immediately to kill hickey with her bare hands while unwittingly doing a kickpuncher quote about justice or whatever

[seetangus]

Oh how about: Reader loving Azula throughout her mental health crisis and still visiting her in the asylum. So, as she heals, she realizes how much she loves the Reader… and maybe through the story, you could see her reactions to certain things like if R talked about another girl like Ty Lee or something, Azula would feel jelly but doesn’t understand why or if R talks about Zuko she may think she’d like Zuko more like their mother…

idk but it’s sounds fun and I know you are awesome at writing so I bet it’ll be good!

Healing - Azula x reader

[Masterlist]

Azula x gn reader, no warnings

1.897 words, I hope you like it! :)

The metal door closed audibly, its movement making the torches close to it flicker. They barely spent enough light to make things visible in the cell. Now you two were alone.

Azula sat in front of you, tied to a metal chair in a straitjacket. It was a humiliating treatment for a princess, you thought. Still, your heart felt great relief from seeing her again after several months of waiting. It had been difficult to convince the new fire lord Zuko and his comrades to let you visit Azula, as you were considered dangerous due to your loyalty to princess Azula that you had maintained even during the last days of the war. But here you were, finally seeing her, the one your heart ached for, again.

“Hello Azula. I am happy to see you again.”, you said truthfully but very quietly. You did not dare asking her how she felt. Seeing Azula, who had always been so confident and strong in a weak and broken state like this intimidated you.

You could not make out what Azula was thinking. You had been told that she had for some time behaved like a raving maniac, screaming and trying to attack anyone who came close to her. But that phase seemed to be over now. It was obvious Azula was mentally still in a very precarious situation, but right now she was rather calm. At least it seemed like she was.

“What are you doing here, y/n.”, she asked. Your heart jumped at hearing her voice, even if it sounded differently than before. What she said did not sound like a question, but you still answered: “I wanted to see you.” Quieter, you added: “Maybe you need someone to talk to.”

A small silence followed. You could tell that Azula was, even if it had been months, still very stressed and angry about her defeat against Zuko. Still, with a heartwarming effort, Azula tried to initiate a peaceful conversation by asking you about the current situation of the fire nation and other wide-ranging topics. You happily answered all her questions. The conversation got more concrete when she asked about her old friends. Ty Lee, Mai, Iroh and even her brother Zuko. All the ones that had betrayed her. You told about their new positions and how they behaved. You also told her that, as you had remained in your position in the royal palace even after the changing of the fire lord, you were somehow reconnecting with some of them, even if it went slowly.

While listening to you, Azula increasingly looked lost. You would have expected her to be angry at the traitors taking her place in the hierarchy of the fire nation, but she seemed to worry about something entirely different. Nevertheless you talked with eachother until the visiting time was over and the guards ordered you to leave. You also realised your eyes hurt because of the dim light in the cell - it must be painful for Azula to stay here all day.

Having left her cell, a guard told you that they had feared for the worst and were surprised at how calm Azula had been with you. You couldn’t imagine why that was either.

< • ◇ • >

A few weeks passed until your next visit. In that time Azula had changed much; you were told she was still a bit unpredictable, but her violent outbursts had ended completely and she was overall more stable. That had led to the guards daring to attach extra torches to the walls of her cell, finally making the room brighter so your eyes didn’t hurt anymore. The whole atmosphere was different this visit, it was less depressing.

This time you greeted her a bit more confidently and with a smile. It would have been hard not to smile when seeing your loved one feel better. She also looked better than last time - her hair looked less messy and she did not have bags under her eyes. You were genuinely happy it went uphill with her, and you didn’t hide it:

“Hello Azula, you look beautiful today!”

Your warm greeting seemed to have catched Azula off guard; you could see she hesitated a bit before answering, and you even saw her blush a bit, but surely it was only the warm light of the torches combined with your own feelings that made you imagine it. Azula wouldn’t blush. Once Azula answered though, she did so with her old attitude: “Of course I look good, y/n. Did you expect me not to?”

That might not have been the most welcoming and thankful answer she could have given, but at least it proved she really felt better, more like back when she wasn’t here. Ah, you couldn’t wait for when she would boss you around and insult anyone else again like in the good ol’ days.

But enough of the dreaming, back to reality! Azula simply made you tell her anything that you thought might interest her. She said she TRUSTED you on choosing the right topics. That was obviously a very unusual thing for her to say but you took it as a compliment and started speaking, mostly about how things changed under the rule of her brother and how the people she knew behaved. Every time you spoke about Ty Lee or Mai you could see her eyebrows furrow and she did not comment again until you changed topics. When you mentioned that Mai and Zuko were a couple, her whole face lit up and she interrupted you, exclaiming: “Ha! That’s fantastic! Isn’t it great, y/n?” You agreed but Azula suddenly feeling happy for her brother genuinely confused you.

Anyhow, Azula soon seemed to become annoyed by the things you told her about the people she knew. After some time she simply cut you off and said: “Yes yes uncle Iroh’s new tea shop is interesting and I should care but I want you to tell me more about yourself.” At first, you were dumbfounded, but since she seemed to really be interested (and also since it was impossible not to fulfill any request of hers anyways), you talked about yourself for the rest of your visit.

Some time later, the guards opened the door and told you to leave. You had already said good-bye to Azula and turned to go away, but she suddenly made a harsh move with her head, loosening a few strands of her hair that now dangled down. “Oh y/n, before you leave, would you be so kind and fix this?”, she purred with unusual kindness, inevitably making you feel butterflies.

Hesitantly, you turned around and lifted your hand to her beautiful hair, gently brushing it back into place. She just smirked triumphantly and let you leave. You couldn’t put into words how heavenly you had felt that moment, despite the stares of the guards.

After you were gone, Azula thought about what had happened. Why had she done this. Making her hair messy on purpose to ask you to fix it. Not that it hadn’t felt good, feeling human touch after months of deprivation had actually felt awesome, she just genuinely did not know why she had suddenly felt the need to get your attention. And why did she feel so hurt when you talked about Ty Lee or Mai? She did not like not knowing the answer to something, so she was determined to get it the next time you visited.

< • ◇ • >

You did not let Azula wait for long. As quickly as the harsh regulations of the Asylum allowed, you returned. According to the guards, who prepared you for the visit, Azula had been behaving much better: there had been no angry outbursts or attempts to harm anyone at all since your last visit.

Luckily for Azula, her good behaviour had led to an even greater improvement in the furnishing of her cell: the torches had been replaced with lanterns who emitted a brightness that somewhat resembled daylight, making it much more bearable to stay in her cell.

“How do you feel, Azula?”

“I’m well, y/n. Actually, it is very relieving that you are here now, because I can finally ask you some very important questions.”

Naturally, Azula saying your name made you feel butterflies. She sounded almost like her old self again. “I’m happy to answer anything you ask me.”, you assured, excited about what questions she could have for you. You looked at her expectantly.

She also only looked at you instead of asking questions. Well, she did not just ‘look’, she seemed to have… found something on you that interested her very much. More than any question she could ask you.

“Your eyes look very happy, y/n.”, she suddenly said.

You had not been prepared for that. Your eyes widened, making Azula grin. It was not her usual grin, though. It seemed like this grin was not fueled by self-absorption and superiority as it had been until now, but rather Azula seemed to be genuinely happy, feeling real joy. You had never seen that on her before, so naturally you were very happy for her! And for yourself, for being able to witness such a beautiful moment and being part of it.

“Oh I wish the visits weren’t this short.”, Azula said, her gaze still venturing in the depth of your eyes. You were a bit confused. “Azula, the visit has just started - we have plenty of time. Also, I will come back soon! As soon as possible!”, you quickly assured.

Azula tried getting closer to you, but she was restrained by her chains. You had both almost forgotten about them. “Y/n, I do not only want to be with you during visits.”

You were speechless. All your blood was gathering in your head and your voice decided this would be a good moment to give up. “A-azula … I want to see you more often too…” you mustered up all the courage you had. “In fact”, you gulped, “I feel pained in every moment we are separated from eachother.”

Azula smirked and lifted her nose up, making her look as powerful as before; she was clearly enjoying you being flustered. But there was something different, something new in her eyes. Something that had not been there a few months ago, and that had grown each time you visited her.

“You like me, y/n, don’t you?”

Azula lowered her head, and it seemed like there even was a bit of worry or insecurity in her voice when she asked again: “You do, right?”

“Yes Azula, I do.”

You wanted to hug her, caress her and hold her close, but knowing that the guards would rush in and restrain you, it was better to remain sitting. You did not hold back expressing your affection verbally, though.

Azula was, like always, the first one to regain her composure, and you tried to do so as well, although it was not easy.

“Well, it’s settled then.", Azula said.

“... What’s settled?”, you asked, unsure of what she meant.

“When I get out of here,'' Azula answered, “I will arrange that we see eachother much more often than we currently do and that the royal family welcomes a new member. And now tell me again how much you love me, y/n.”

[janovavalen]

I NEED PT2 TO RECKLESS.. MAYBE WHEN THEYRE AT THE GOLD CHAIR THING??

an: GTFO OF HEREEEEEEE THESE R AMAZING WTHHHH IM LITERALLY UP AT 12:54 GOING THROUGH IT SO BAD RN THIBKIJG IF I SHOUOD GO TO BED OR DO THIS RNNNNN OMG OMG OMG YES?

✧NOT LEAVING WITHOUT YOU. || percy jackson x fem!reader

summary: in which the group make their way to their new destination only to run across a bit of a bump in the road.

word count: 7,939 (what the actual…)

warnings: awkwardness between percy and y/n, near death experience, the gods literally shipping y/n and percy lowkey bc why not, slight argument. (a little twist in the story<3)

as the group walked and walked on the endless road somehow thinking they’d get somewhere with this pace. y/n walked in the middle of percy and annabeth.

percy would momentarily look at y/n who didn’t meet his gaze. lot to lie to himself but that probably stung almost as bad as the stinger from the chimera.

deciding to talk along the quiet atmosphere around the group, percy began—‘i’ve been thinking.’ as he started, his words gained all their attention.

‘i didn’t steal the master bolt— you guys didn’t steal the master bolt. we’re pretty sure hades has the master bolt, but he couldn’t have stolen it himself. i mean—we don’t even know who actually stole the thing…or why…or, how deep this thing goes’

as they walked and listened to percy speak who talked his thoughts he looked between the group and let his gaze set upon y/n who turned to look at him the second he turned away.

after seeing grover and annabeth not talk or back him up he came to the conclusion—‘i’m the last person to realize this aren't i?’

‘yup—‘ y/n spoke while still not making contact with percy who turned almost immediately to her direction to see she hadn’t been looking at him which he didn’t want to admit but it kinda hurt in a way.

‘yeah’ annabeth spoke while grover nodded to percy who almost rolled his eyes at how he’s just now catching up.

‘okay, so…maybe when we started my head wasn’t fully in this…but since the river…’ looking at y/n who sucked in a breath and turned her head, she turned to the horizon as percy kept talking—‘it all feels different somehow.’ he boldly claimed.

smiling to himself as he thought of two things—mostly one over the other but maiming the second, he spoke once more—‘he saved me. my dad. i guess i just never really thought that’s something he’d do for me. so maybe i gotta take things more seriously now—‘

as he spoke and the group listened, grover couldn’t help but hear something approaching. y/n seeing his head turn to the road behind them she turned as well to see a small dot in the distance.

‘car.’ grover told them. the sound of the engine becoming more prominent as it got closer.

‘that can’t be a car you hear how loud that thing is?’ y/n squinted her eyes trying to see.

‘that’s not a car, it’s a bike. just let it pass.’ annabeth told them, seeing that they had people looking for them on a most wanted, y/n lightly tapped percy’s arm—‘come on’ she spoke as he turned and followed but not without looking behind him.

the group hurrying to hide behind a concrete block on the side of the road to hide; they all sat down into the grassy dirt. their legs outstretched in front of them. annabeth sitting on the side next to grover as percy sat on his other and y/n sitting next to percy.

‘i’m saying, we’re not just trying to retrieve a thing. o think we might need to be detectives here, too.’ percy looked at the group as they listened to him once more to his continued talk.

‘yeah.’ y/n agreed silently as she fixed her legs in front of her along with her pants that had still felt a bit wet. percy looked at her as she looked down at her legs and he felt a slight twinge in his stomach that felt horrible.

reading her face he noticed she was back to her quiet, and awkward self with him—did she somehow hate him again? he just saved her life doesn’t he at least have his name on a talk to list?

‘why are you being weird with me again? i thought we were doing that anymore.’ he asked out loud. grover and annabeth turned their heads to the two to see y/n look up for a second and only squint her eyes and turn her head back down, letting out a sigh as she began—

‘i’m not being weird?’ she frowned her eyebrows as he nodded a bit.

‘yes you are. you’ve been weird since we left the arch.’ he told. as he said this she felt herself get awkward again and blinked her eyes while turning around.

annabeth could almost laugh at this, grover however had never seen her like this before.

‘oh…i get it.’ he boldly claimed while blinking in understanding. did he possibly? y/n turned to him with frowned eyebrows once more.

‘it doesn’t have to be a thing; you know. that we had to—‘

‘stop! it isn’t that, we don’t talk about that—‘

‘i mean, we’re like friends now, best friends. that seems like a best friend thing to do, at least i think they do?’ percy tried so hard to get y/n to speak to him as she closed her eyes and shook her head slowly.

grover fired his best not to crack a smile or even laugh to earn a hit from anyone so he bit his lip and shook his head—annabeth could practically feel y/n begging for help so she spoke.

‘i saw the fates. back at the arch, i saw the three fates and i saw atropos cut a piece of thread.’ she told them. y/n could almost celebrate when her mind was fed something to distract her.

‘and that’s bad or…?’ percy cluelessly asked them.

‘the fates weave the life of every living thing. when you see a string cut—‘

‘it means one of us is going to die.’ y/n said while looking over at percy.

percy however didn’t catch the hint yet so he claimed—‘we’re all gonna die eventually.’

‘soon. it’s a warning’ y/n told him as annabeth nodded her head.

‘an omen’ annabeth added.

as percy looked at y/b for a bit longer they heard the engine of the motorcycle approaching them from behind.

‘okay guys, we need to talk about this whole fate thing. three old ladies with a ball of yarn can’t know what's gonna happen. what i choose to do changed what’s gonna happen, and i can choose to do anything i….want’ as they listened to the fact the engine didn’t pass them y/n frowned her eyebrows along with annabeth.

‘need some help?’ a man asked.

as the group turned to the brick in front of them as if they could see who spoke they turned to each other before raising to their knees to peer over the brick that stood in their way.

as they poked their heads over the group, they seen a man biker with a long leather jacket that draped over the backside of his black and silver bike. he wore a black helmet and had a large beard on his face.

‘beg pardon?’ grover politely asked.

‘i asked if you could use some help.’ he repeated.

grover looked over at y/n who had wide eyes as she slowly shook her head, which percy noticed and smiled too.

‘nope. no we’re—we’re good. appreciate you asking, though. so long.’ he furnished as the group slowly turned back around to hide once more as y/n gave a awkward tight lipped smile.

the man sighed as he looked ahead of him before saying—‘you don’t seem too good.’

y/n decided to turn and talk this time—‘we don’t need help and we don’t really need anything from you’ she claimed while lowering back down behind the brick and next to percy.

‘you sure? because you guys are so behind schedule’ he scoffed.

as the group heard him say this they immediately rose from the ground to reveal their full bodies and confused faces.

‘i mean, summer solstice is just a few days away. and as much as i’d love to see a good war pop off, as your big cousin, i feel like, maybe, i wanna give you a hand.’ percy frowned as y/n and annabeth knew right away. grover as well but he decided to play a bit cool.

‘cousin?’ he confusing asked as y/n turned to him—‘he’s aries—‘

‘you two girls must be athena’s kids. always gotta be the wisest one in the bunch.’ ares squinted his eyes as he leaned forward on his bike a bit.

‘why would you help us?’ annabeth asked.

‘how do you even know about what we’re doing here?’ y/n asked as well.

‘because i’m doing exactly the same thing as you. zeus sent all of his kids looking out for the master bolt, too. listen dummies, im hungry. there’s a halfway decent dinner up the road. if you want my held you’ll meet me there. but done dawdle. won’t wait forever.’ he finished before placing his sunglasses on.

before he even fully left he gave a look to them before driving away.

‘that’s my cousin? what kind of family is this?’ percy kind of in awe asked.

‘he didn’t want to offer a ride…?’ y/n squinted as she looked off into the distance.

annabeth sighed before tapping grover, ‘come on’ she told them as they began to walk into where he went off to.

ㆍ୨୧ㆍ

after a bit of their walking they finally arrived at a pretty quiet dinner of which they saw the bike of aries.

walking into the restaurant with the sound of the doorbell and a few distant talking from the people inside, percy made sure that the door stayed open for y/n who gave a small nod and smile which he was quick to return.

looking around as they looked for them they were all met with the sound of loud laughing and a table slap. turning to see ares himself laughing at his phone as he had two plates, a mountain of fries and five big cheeseburgers in a stack.

‘guess this is the right place’ percy told the three as y/n walked forward along with grover, annabeth and percy who was close to y/n.

aries let his outburst of laughter die down as the group walked behind him which he acknowledged and looked at them—‘gimme a second, i’m just starting a fight on twitter here.’ he told them. annabeth slid into the booth first then y/n who was followed by percy and grover.

‘nothing makes me happier than a good old-fashioned, burn-it-down fight. ah…okay, done’ he clicked his last words before looking at the them.

‘so your quest is going to fail. ask me how i know’ he grinned at them as y/n rolled her eyes in annoyance then only to reach forward for a fry which ares seemed to not really care about, percy noticed this and suppressed a smile.

‘it isn’t gonna fail—‘

‘sure it is.’ ares cut of percy with a scoff—‘for starters…’ pulling out his phone once more to show a video of percy’s step dad.

‘percy was always troubled, but i never thought he was capable of something like this.’

‘wh—who’s that?’ grover asked percy who stayed focused on the phone, his face frozen in shock—‘my stepdad, what’s he doing?’

‘and in addition to the destruction at the gateway arch…’ a news reporter added before ares scoffed with a smile—‘wait for it’

‘you believe he may also have had something to do with your wife’s disappearance?’

‘a kid that messed up? what wouldn’t he do?’

‘what?’ percy frowned as y/n looked at him in a bit of pity before back at the phone.

‘wild right? the FBI is already spreading your picture around.’ ares added as they still listened to the phone.

‘it’s a camaro. i really—we really loved that car…so much…cut!’ his stepdad cried like a baby over camera as they stopped the recording.

‘i’m gonna kill him’ percy angrily promised as he shook his head.

‘i knew i was gonna like you’ ares nodded his head with a smile.

‘but safe to say, the chances of you three idiots hitchhiking the rest of the way to L.A. without getting arrested are slim to none.’ he told them.

y/n tiredly scoffed a bit while trying to somehow lean further back into the seat.

‘why are you sitting here then? if you had this to say you could’ve said it back at that brick before you rode off into the sun.’ y/n asked and mumbled with a roll of her eyes. annabeth pinched her a bit, leaving her to aggressively push her arm into annabeth.

percy sighed softly and looked at y/n, noticing how tired she was and made his way a bit closer to her without her knowing it. he hoped she’d at least try and lean on him for a bit of comfort compared to this wooden chair.

‘if your supposed to be looking for the master bolt too, shouldn’t you be out there looking for it?’ annabeth picked up for y/n as she frowned her eyebrows.

‘hmm there’s no fear in the two of you, is there?’ he asked the girls who started him down in the eyes with nothing but pure confidence.

‘doesn't matter. whether the bolt’s retrieved or not, zeus is going to war with poseidon.’ he told the four as they all looked at percy who looked at them before back at ares.

‘no. the oracle said if we return the bolt, there wouldn’t be a war.’ percy told ares.

‘is that what she said? or is that what chiron said she meant?’ as ares finished his sentence he noticed percy’s hesitation who looked around the room before back at ares.

‘yeah. your new to the family, young one, so let me fill you in on how we work. see, years before i was born, my grandpa kronos ate my aunt and uncle’s. yeah. then my dad made him puke them back up, then chopped him into a million pieces and chucked ‘em into a bottomless pit, so that kinda set the tone right outta the gate.’ the bunch taking this in as they looked at each other letting ares continue.

‘olympians fight. we betray. we backstab. we will push anyone down a flight of stairs to get ahead. and that’s why i love my family so much’ he smiled as percy sighed and leaned back a little.

‘my dad knows he’s not getting this bolt hack with quests or goose chases. he knows there’s a war coming. and in reality i think he’s okay with that. i think he feels it’s just time for a way; so we’re gonna have a war.’ as he finished his sentence y/n cringed her whole face as he placed a balled fist on his lips and inhaled.

‘isn’t that great?’ he asked then as if they would even agree. well, maybe y/n, she made bets with people on who would win in a war if there ever was one any time soon and she betted on loads of books.

‘we’re completing this quest. we’re stopping this war. you said you can help. can you?’ percy asked ares with his hard face expression.

‘okay, so here it is. there’s an amusement park up the road. i left my shield there. you get me my shield back, and i’ll get you to the underworld by lunch tomorrow with a plan to invade hades’s palace’ he explained to them.

‘you left your shield? like…you forgot it on the merry-go-round?’ y/n squinted her eyes at him once more as annabeth sighed in annoyance at her sisters words.

ares leaned forward and under the light the hung above to get closer to y/n who leaned forward as well.

‘okay. the chirping was funny to me for a minute, but it is getting old.’ ares warned her as she squinted her eyes and tilted her head a bit.

‘y/n…’ percy whispered trying to get her attention but she still looked towards ares.

‘so do we have a deal, or am i killing all three of you so i can eat in peace?’ he angrily shouted a bit at the bunch as percy became a bit nervous and looked around to see y/n biting the inside of her cheek.

‘okay.’ percy accepted leaving ares to smile and lean back—‘great. one catch. i really do need that shield back, so i'm gonna keep the satyr and wise girl here as collateral so you can’t run off—‘

‘what? no your not keeping them that’s not—‘ y/n shouted as she frowned only to be cut off by annabeth and grieve who spoke at the same time with—

‘okay.’

‘no way’ percy said while y/n turned to annabeth and shook her head immediately.

‘we don’t split up again—‘

‘it’s okay.’ grover reassured as annabeth nodded.

‘if he wanted to kill us, we’d be dead by now.’ grover told them as ares grinned at grover who asked—‘can we just walk them to the door?’

ares sighed and allowed it letting a wave of his hand go in front of them giving them the signal to walk.

‘okay look, don’t engage with him—don’t speak too much and don’t try to make friends, he’ll want to get your riled up, get in your head and you can let him.’ y/n tired to stress as grover shook his head.

‘it’s okay. really. i know what im doing. go. get the shield. we’ll be here when you two get back.’ grover told them.

‘there’s nothing to worry about y/n. besides, this will be quick knowing you’ annabeth added as y/n sighed and nodded a bit.

as the two of percy and y/n hesitated to leave the two they slowly turned around to the door before leaving grover and annabeth with the god of war.

ㆍ୨୧ㆍ

as the night sky had fell over everyone and the town, percy and y/n walked to the dimly lit amusement park with the sign that said ‘Welcome to Waterland’

‘i haven’t seen a lot of horror movies but this seems like exactly the kind of place they’d suggest to avoid.’ percy commented as the two stopped and stood in front of the entrance.

‘well…i never seen any kind of movie, is it good?’ she asked while looking over to him as he shrugged.

‘okay then, i’d have to take your word for it—‘

‘wait never? what do you mean never like, never-never?’ he asked almost completely shocked at the fact she’d never seen a movie before.

‘is there another kind?’ she responded as he lightly nodded his head.

‘well, if neither of us is dead in a few days, we really ought to fix that. your missing out.’ he told her almost as a promise as she lightly nodded her head in agreement.

‘in the meantime, we should probably get this over with, though.’ as he walked in front of her she slowly followed a bit far behind.

as percy walked through the metal moving doors right when y/n realized what he just did—‘wait, percy stop.’ she told him as they listened to the sound of ticking above percy.

‘what just happened?’ he asked frantically.

‘just hold still—don’t move at all okay?’ she instructed with her hands out to keep him where he was.

‘let me think…’ she replied. the sound of the metal moving against one another above percy clicking.

‘in the mechanism there, that’s Celestial bronze—‘

‘oh, fascinating. y/n, what’s happening right now?’ percy interrupted not too much interested in the subject of bronze.

‘Celestial bronze is what your sword is made of. if your human, it’ll pass right through you. if your a monster or a demigod…’ she trailed off as percy used the rest of his imagination for the rest of her sentence.

nodding slowly he breathed a bit more heavily—‘well what’s it doing there?’ he asked her while looking up, focused on the bronze.

‘i’m wondering the same thing. safe to say this place isn’t some fun amusement park for everyone. a god built this.’ she finally came to the conclusion.

‘what kind of god builds amusement parks?’ percy asked.

y/n looking around and scratching her brain for a answer she finally answered—‘Hephaestus.’

‘why would Hephaestus build an amusement park?’

‘maybe he finds them amusing?’ she answered with her hands lifted a bit.

‘that’s really not funny, y/n.’

‘it could be a little funny, i’ll say the joke again later and you’ll laugh.’

sighing as he rolled his eyes a bit to focus on the situation in hand y/n still looking at the tucking bronze she mumbled—‘oh…oh, look at that.’ she felt mesmerized by the bronze turning and clicking more—‘that’s kinda cool’ only for percy to get her back to reality—y/n!’

snapping back she closed her eyes and focused a bit more—‘just relax, i’m thinking okay?’.

as the two of them looked up at the clicking she finally sighed—‘i get this. just…push through it.’ she instructed.

hyperventilating, percy turned to her with a look of uncertainty—‘push?’

‘yes.’

turning to do so he stopped before actually going and turned to her—‘cause weren’t you the one this morning who was all, “the Fated says one is us is gonna die and we should take it really seriously?”

looking to the side as she recalled her words she rolled her eyes a bit and in a calming voice—‘percy?’

‘yeah?’

‘just push.’ she told him once more.

sighing with nervousness, he placed his hands on the metal bars and started to walk, pushing them on front of him. the gears of the machine clanging together he finally got thought and hurried his way on the other side before anything could happen.

looking up at the yellow boxed of 0’s one turned into the number 1.

‘what’s was that?’ percy asked with a sigh.

‘the machine isn’t designed to hurt us. it’s meant to scare us. it’s a test.’ she told him as she made her way through.

the one on the yellow boxed turning into a 2, representing the number of people who’d entered.

‘Hephaestus wanted to know any time one of us came poking around his playground. i guess now he knows.’ she commented as they took their last look at the machine and started to walk.

ㆍ୨୧ㆍ

back at the restaurant sat annabeth, grover and the god ares who laughed at his phone.

annabeth and grover gave each other side eyes before he sighed and nodded his head slowly.

‘we’ve met before.’ he told him.

‘been around a long time, little boy. i’ve bet a lot of people.’ ares told him as he still poked at his phone with one finger.

‘i’m 24’ grover told him.

scoffing he replied with—‘good for you.’

giving a tight lipped smile grover continued as annabeth sat back and listened—‘we met at the solstice. on Olympus.’

sighing with a small groan ares mumbled—‘protester.’

‘oh i wasn’t one of the protesters. i’m a fan.’ annabeth looking at him a bit before back at ares who’s finally looked up he replied.

‘i think you got me mixed up with someone else, kid.’ before looking back at his phone, grover shook his head with a small smile.

‘no i don’t’ he stated with a head shake.

sighing ares placed his phone on its face on the table and spoke—‘Satyrs eat tofu. Satyrs worship flowers. Satyrs sing songs about their feelings. Satyrs are no fans of mine.’ he told him with full confidence.

‘Satyrs are children of nature. nature is brutal. red in tooth and claw, right?’ he asked getting a bit more comfortable in his seating next to annabeth who nodded her head as ares looked up at him—‘maybe unpleasant. but that doesn’t make it untrue. you are the champion, all of that. i respect it.’ he told him.

ares squinting his eyes a bit began to speak—‘so what are you like, a casual World War || buff? you’ve seen Saving Private Ryan, have you?’

nodding a bit he looked to the side before looking back at him—‘i prefer the Turbot War. the Lobster War. the Three Hundred and Thirty-Five years’ war. your deep cuts’

‘huh…those are wars where hardly anyone died.’ he noted as grover nodded a bit.

‘i like your mellower stuff. there’s something cool about overwhelming force and a quick surrender.’ he tells him as ares begins to think.

‘no one talks about those anymore.’ he remembers.

‘they should.’ grover told him truthfully while looking him in the eyes, annabeth agreeing.

sighing ares sat a bit closer—‘so tell me where we met again?’ he asked as grover smiled a bit.

ㆍ୨୧ㆍ

back at the quiet amusement park, y/n and percy walked around as they looked at things trying to find where ares long lost shield was.

‘oh wow, look at that. tell me the god of craftsmen didn’t build this. have you ever seen anything like this?’ y/n asked as she was interested and amused at the rides around her.

‘if it belongs to the god of craftsmen, what was the god of war doing here? aren’t they enemies? then why’d he split without his shield?’ percy asked and wondered while y/n listened to his questions.

‘if i’m guessing…ares has always had a thing with—‘

‘aphrodite. she’s Hephaestus’s wife. oh your kidding, he met her here? in her husband’s park? that’s so wrong—‘

‘in so many ways’ y/n sided with him as she and him walked side by side.

‘they must’ve got caught and he had to leave in a hurry. one thing ares was telling the truth about…this family is a mess.’

as she finished—a song started to play, grabbing the two’s attention. as they looked over they see a pink sign that blinked the words ‘Thrisd Ride O’ Love’ with a small heart above it and a tunnel with pink.

y/n felt hers grow a bit sweaty along with percy who’d looked over at her, the sense of him looking catching her attention as her eyes stayed forward—‘don’t you even try to tell me not to be weird about this.’

‘i didn’t say anything’ he said while looking back at the pink tunnel.

‘yeah but i can feel you thinking it…this must be where ares and aphrodite got caught. the shield must be in there. we just…gotta go get it i guess.’ she said.

percy turning to her and when she turned to him he faced forward, sighing he said—‘sure. let’s go check out the scary ghost ride. why not?’ he said while walking forward.

‘it’s a tunnel of love. what’s so scary about that?’ she teased only for him to roll his eyes.

ㆍ୨୧ㆍ

after boarding the boat made for two, they sailed along the water in silence, the only noise being made was an occasional light flicker and the water moving together.

y/n letting her face stay forward to avoid any awkward eye contact, they both heard a sudden thud in the distance making percy turn to her as he adjusted his seating in worry.

suddenly the lights made a quicker more aggressive flicker only to hear the song—‘What Is Love’ played throughout the whole tunnel.

the lights dim and the tension gets very awkward.

‘are you kidding me right now?’ y/n commented as she looked around the tunnel brick walls.

‘feel like i’ve heard this before. i think from an orthodontist’s office maybe?’ he tried to remember.

just then a decorative multicolored light stuck down the tunnel, the pair following its glow. the colors now painted a purple that showed over the two. percy looking at y/n but before he could notice she looked at him back once he faced forward.

just then they focus on a back cartoon figure on the wall with a crown on and multiple legs, it moved along the wall to grow and show a small boy who was birthed from the figure.

‘wait. i know this.’ watching more of the cartoon on the wall he finally came to his conclusion—‘it’s hephaestus’s story.’

the two watching as the cartoon hephaestus hammers down onto something and tried to reach and give what he built to the other figure only for it to turn away—its signs of rejection. perturbing to y/n and he turned only for her to look at him then face forward.

‘rejected by hera. rejected by aphrodite…my mom told me these stories all the time. i remember this. she said…’ as he went a bit quiet y/n turned to him studying his face.

‘what?’ she asked.

‘she said this is what the gods are like to each other. this is the kind of family they are.’ he told her.

frowning her eyebrows y/n asked—‘why didn’t you wanna say that just now? she was trying to keep me away from you guys.’ with a bit of shock y/n let her eyebrows lift up while looking at him.

percy turned away and shook his head—‘maybe you were right. maybe she should have been preparing me better.’ he said.

‘maybe she was preparing you. so when you got to us, you’d be different than this.’ y/n told him as he looked at her for a bit longer he finally turned as the cartoon life story of hephaestus finished with him falling on the ground in failure, the light around them turned off.

suddenly a tunnel of green was in front of them and the duo was shot forward and down the waterfall—screaming in shock as they held onto the boat tighter. both of them being thrusted and moved around aggressively, percy looked over at y/n to see if she was okay and once he say that she was he turned forward, her doing the same.

the opening at the end showing more water—‘is it a bad time to say i barely know how to swim?’ y/n exclaimed while frowning, percy looked over to her shaking his head—‘it’s okay!’

as they reached a more settled but aggressive moving water they looked over to see a stage of a gold chair and a gold woman holding ares shield.

‘there it is. ares’s shield.’ as they looked forward to seeing the end of the tunnel as an empty boat was thrown off the ledge of lightning striking in the air they both looked at each other in worry.

‘jump!’ he said as she took a deep breath in and followed him.

panting as y/n struggled to stay afloat she sunk underwater unable to keep up with the pressure. percy swimming under with his hand outstretched with hers, he heard her yell his name in a muffled voice.

outstretching his hand towards her more a force of water threw itself at her then a bigger one once again only for the both of their worlds to go dark.

ㆍ୨୧ㆍ

waking up with a gasp as they panted for air, the two laid down on their stomachs next to each other on the floor. coughing a bit they both sat up and looked around to see they were face no longer in the water and on the surface of the chair and the woman statue.

‘did you just pull me out of there with that water power stuff?’ she asked while he looked around the floor in confusion.

‘no.’ he said.

‘did you just—‘

‘i don’t know. maybe? i’m figuring this out as i go.’

‘yeah well, u owe you twice…’ she said as the two of them sat to their knees, looking up at the golden statue and the chair in front of it.

‘how are we supposed to get that thing down?’ percy asked as they looked at the shield being held and the chair. y/n studying it she noted—‘these things are connected somehow. it’s a machine but how do you start the machine?’ she asked herself.

the town of them looking around for any clues as to where to begin.

ㆍ୨୧ㆍ

‘i hate kids. all of ‘em. i hate my own kids.’ he told the two as they listened and only could really nod.

‘um, maybe less than other kids, but still not fond of them.’ scoffing as he recalled some of their prayers to him—“look what i made”, “what are butterflies for?”, “my knee hurts.”—he finishes with a groan.

‘i love my job, but that night everyone's kids show up for the winter solstice and i have to sit through their “presentation.” that night is the worst night of the year, every year, by far.’

‘this one in particular, it seems. since one of those kids somehow walked off with the master bolt.’ scoffing ares shook his head a bit—‘says you. who knows who actually took it. plenty of people hate my dad enough to try.’

‘maybe, but not many people could pull it off.’ he reminded as ares took that into account as he turned his head to the side.

‘someone hades could’ve recruited for the job.’ he tries to say only for ares to shake his head—‘says you’ he replied once more.

‘and someone who could slip away long enough to do it without being missed, bold enough to cross zeus, stealthy enough to get their hands on the thing—‘

‘en—enough. not everything is a puzzle that needs to be solved. your as bad as my sister.’ he groaned. the mention of her mom bringing her attention a bit more making her think about y/n.

‘was she always like that?’

‘who?’

‘your sister, athena.’ grover told.

‘what do you mean?’ ares asked him.

‘always making things more complicated than they need to be so people will think she’s smarter then you.’ as the tension got tight and his eyes staring down grover who was growing a bit nervous along with annabeth who almost gulped—ares slammed his hands down onto the table making a loud thump scaring the two as they jumped in shock.

‘thank you! i can’t be the only one who sees it right?’ he asked.

‘no, not at all.’

‘it certainly feels that way sometimes. and seriously, she’s the smart one? really? if she’s so smart, explain the owl. she talks to it, like, all the time. this fat nasty little feathers rodent. and it’s like her best friend’ he told him in aggression as annabeth thought about her and y/n’s mom with a owl.

that might explain why y/n thought about getting one not to long ago, she definitely had to tell her about it later.

‘and we’re so sure that she’s a genius and i, no owl, am not?’ he said as grover replied—‘totally!’

‘it’s like people only see what they wanna see and ignore anything at all that doesn’t fit the story they like to tell themselves.’

‘exactly! like you being the one to find the lighting thief and not her.’ ares had gone quiet once grover exclaimed this making annabeth a bit tense as the two did then looked at ares who leaned forward.

‘what did you mean by that?’

‘by what?’ grover asked as he played confused.

‘found the thief. we both know your friend didn’t steal the bolt.’ he told him.

‘yeah, but zeus thinks he did, which is kinda all that matters, right?’

‘shut up.’ he instructed grover who watched as ares began to think.

ㆍ୨୧ㆍ

as y/n and percy looked at the golden chair, the two of them trying to figure out what to do next.

‘it was a gift with a hidden purpose. hephaestus offered it to hera, but as soon as she sat in it she couldn’t get up. all the gods tried but the machine was too smart. it was too strong. it was too much. even for them.’ percy told y/n who looked over at him with her eyebrows scrunched.

looking up he continued—‘finally, they said if hephaestus let hera free, aphrodite would be his wife.’ looking over at y/n as he licked his lips a bit he told her—‘the chair is the bargain. one of us goes in, the other gets the shield—‘

‘i’ll do it.’ y/n immediately said as she began to walk forward.

‘what? wait a minute.’ percy was quick to grab her wet sleeved arm—‘whoever goes in, isn’t coming out. that seems pretty clear.’

‘i know, that’s why i said wait—‘

‘this isn’t the arch, seaweed braid. your not telling me to stay behind, it didn’t work then and it won’t work now—‘

‘yes, i am and yes it will.’

‘i’m not going to let you do it. it doesn’t work that way.’

‘it’s why you’re here.’ he told her as he scrunched his eyebrows, his eyes looking at her.

‘what’s that supposed to mean…’ she asked him.

‘when choosing my team, i told chiron i needed someone who wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice me if the quest required, he agreed, that was you.’ he told her as she sadly shook her head and faced forward.

‘you were right, i can’t believe it but the fates were right. there’s no getting around his. we dodged it at the arch, barely, but…maybe this isn’t something you can dodge forever.’

‘the oracle chose you. the gods chose you!’

‘stop! it isn't about that.’

‘what could it possibly be about if it isn’t about that?’

‘your better at this than me.’ when he told her this y/n couldn’t help but sadly look at him in the eyes with her brows scrunched together.

‘you just are. and you know it.’ shaking her head in denial he continued to talk—‘believe me, i wish there was slither way this quest succeeds. i just don’t see it.’ he finished as she sadly looked over at the chair, her heart clutched in a way she can’t explain.

as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the pen she gasped when she knew what he was trying to say.

‘percy no…’ she told him while shaking her head. looking up at her ad she kept her eyes focus to his hand with hers pushing it away slowly, he confusingly shook his head.

‘i’ve let you sacrifice your life for mine twice..and i’m not letting you do it again. i owe you a great amount for saving me and this is the way i’m going to do it—‘

‘y/n no this isn’t how it goes—‘

‘it’s how i want it to go! i want it to happen like this and it will. you will get the shield and get out of here to get the bolt and save your mom. you will see her again and you will finish this quest. percy, we barely know each other and you’ve saved me twice. let me return the favor please.’ she told him. he shook his head in denial while his eyebrows frowned only for her to give him a small nod and smile.

placing her hand in his before giving it a squeeze she let go as he could only stare in the spot she was once in and turn his body to where she walked towards the gold chair.

‘can you promise me something?’ she asked while turning around—‘i’m not going to let annabeth get sad and stop the quest.’ he told her as she nodded.

‘i was going to say maybe try and come back with annabeth and get me out this chair? i don’t want to be forever young in an amusement park.’ she tired to lighten the mood, making him scoff with slight tears in his eyes as she smiled.

‘do you really think you had to ask?’ he asked her as she smiled a bit—‘just reminding you’.

turning around to climb up into the chair, she sat down with both of her hands on the sides of it as it started to make noise. looking a bit worried, percy looked at her as she looked around.

‘this is kinda weird. it feels…warm.’ she told percy who had tears forming fast.

looking down, gold started to run up from her shoes and started to make its way up her body.

‘this is a bad idea—y/n stand up!’ he told her.

‘i can’t…’

‘y/n stand up, i mean it!’ he told her more urgently, his face growing more sad but he second as his heart clutched.

‘it’s okay percy…i’m okay….im okay…im—‘ just then the gold finished consuming y/n’s body as she turned into a gold statue in the chair.

shaking his head, percy sadly looked around as he watched the shield fall loose. making his way over it he ignored it and immediately went to work on the gold chair y/n sat still in.

not knowing what he was going he just started to twist random screws and geers. just then a man walked through a door with a beard and a cane.

‘can i help you?’ he asked him only for percy to ignore him completely and try to get y/n out of the chair.

‘do you need some help finding your way out?’ the man playing a flute as it made steps appear out of the water below.

‘so off you go.’ he told him as percy shook his head and started to turn random things once more—‘i’m not leaving without my friend.’

‘yeah that isn’t really how it works. it’s kind of a one way sort of thing. it can’t be undone.’ he told percy who rolled his eyes.

‘how do you know?’

‘because i built it.’ he revealed himself—hephaestus.

‘i’m not leaving here without my friend.’ percy told him once more. ‘and if you aren’t going to help me, could you maybe leave me alone so i can focus?’

‘in spite of what my brother might have told you, i am not someone who’ll be pushed around.’ignoring him as he continued to turn geers and try to get y/n out, hephaestus continued to talk—‘i know her mother was displeased with her recently, but how will your father feel if i told him this?’ he asked percy, making him almost focus on what he was saying.

‘you might not know how he gets, but i do. and this is a lot. even for him.’ standing up for a second percy listened and looked at hephaestus who’s hand held the railing in front of him.

‘you leave out of here with that shield, your a hero, on your way to the greatest glory. he will be proud and your friend might even be forgiven. and all will go back to being as it always has been, always will be, as it should be—‘

‘but it isn’t how it should be! it isn’t! eat or be eaten. peer and glory and nothing else matters. ares is that way, she’s is that way her mother… is that way.’ he told hephaestus who started to look to the side.

‘she isn’t that way. she’s better than that. maybe she was that way once, but she didn’t want to be that way anymore. we won’t be like all of you. i just won’t.’ hephaestus listening to percy as he sadly looked down and turned back to the chair, he almost went back to work only for hephaestus to blow his flute again and the geers started to turn.

clicking and making noise, percy hurried and made his way in front of the golden statue of y/n. her naturally colored eye started to show as she blinked it and the rest of her face coming back to normal, breathing heavily as y/n looked around at herself in the chair, the rest of her body coming undone.

percy happily looked at her as she looked up at him and loved her hands.

getting up as she stumbled forward to percy who grabbed her immediately he held her hands in his while looking over her face with a small smile and a tear dropped from his eye down his face.

‘some of us don’t like being that way either. your a good kid percy.’ hephaestus told him as he held y/n’s arm who worked on standing right.

‘i’ll put in a good word with your dad for you…same with you y/n with your mom.’ as he turned away from the two who looked at him before each other. the door he once went through shut.

ㆍ୨୧ㆍ

at the restaurant the three heard the bell of the door chime through the restaurant to reveal y/n holding the shield and percy close behind her. annabeth let out a breath of relief she didn't know she was holding as grover did the same, ares looking at the two not really believing they did it.

as they walked over to the table, she placed the shield down into the table. y/n and percy looking at ares whilst annabeth and grover looked at percy and y/n.

‘where’s our ride.’ percy started off.

as they walked outside to ares standing behind a semi truck both y/n and percy said—‘your kidding’

ares with a straight face clicked his two fingers together as the doors opened to reveal animals and stacks of hair in buckets and boxes.

‘get in, don’t. i really don’t care. but in a few hours this thing is gonna be at the Lotus casino in vegas. hermes hangs out there, you play your cards right and his personal driving can get you to L.A. in minutes.’ ares told them as he threw a bag at percy who caught it.

‘here. clothes, cash, drachmas to summon hermes. i’d wish you luck, but what good would it do you?’ he told them in his honesty.

‘we’re not gonna fail.‘ percy told ares who grinned.

‘don’t worry. your dad had plenty of kids he stopped caring about once he lost interest. you’ll have lost of company.’ ares tried to make percy feel bad but it didn’t work.

‘we’re not gonna fail, and i’m getting pretty tired of you saying it.’ he started as y/n looked at annabeth and grover.

‘percy…’ y/n and grover said his name in a warning town as ares’ face dropped from its grin.

‘you think you know who i am but you don’t.’ he stated while walking up to ares who kept his eyes trained on him—‘and if you're not careful…your gonna find out—‘

‘percy…’ grover and the two sisters walked up to his side as y/n placed her hand on his arm. percy’s glare not leaving ares’s who stayed the same.

‘so, thank you for the emotional abuse and the cheeseburgers…and the ride! we’re gonna take you up on that, too.’ grover told ares as he looked back at percy who finally walked off as he was being dragged by grover and given a push by y/n.

the group walking into the bus as ares looked at them as they stood in the portable barn, grover asked—‘hey, do you think we could get some paper towels or something, it’s not that nice in here.’ he finished while they looked around.

ares however only grinned before clicking his fingers once more as the doors shut.

‘well…this smells.’ percy commented.

‘if it gets us where we need to go, that's all that matters.’ annabeth told him as y/n nodded.

‘assuming ares was telling the truth.’

grover turned and picked with his hands as he shook his head—‘he wasn’t…not entirely, at any rate. he was holding something back.’ grover told him.

‘how do you know?’ y/n asked.

‘because, i think i got it out of him. i know who stole the lightning bolt.’

[julieverne]

Maura keeps the bullet.

She holds Jane's guts in with her bare hand, the other over her heart to make sure the shock isn't killing her. Her dress is drenched in blood, cradling Jane with her body to keep her off the hard pavement. Danny lies behind her somewhere. He's still, and she loves that for him. Wishes the bullet hadn't gone through Jane first.

But it has, and it's lying there on the cold concrete. Straight through both of them. When she spares him a glance she sees that she got him in the heart, through herself without looking. She's that good. Jane's the goodest good Maura has ever known and as the paramedics take her Maura plucks the bullet from the ground and takes it with her. In case they need it for something. It's not like it's evidence; they have lots of eyewitnesses. If anyone wants it, Maura will hand it over.

But no one ever asks, and she watches the surgery from a corner of the operating room, allowed in because of her clout. She is still and silent in the corner, behind her gown and gloves and mask. She's just a set of eyes that watches Jane's bare chest rise and fall with her breath. Watches as gallon after gallon of blood pumps in and out of her straining heart. Watches as the beeping starts to stabilise, as they close the gaping wound in Maura's heart/gut wound in Jane's torso. Watches as the doctors nod to her and let her take Jane's hand once they transfer her to a bed, watches as she walks beside Jane back to a room. Watches Jane's peaceful face, the perpetual line of worry gone. Angela comes in weeping, grasping for Jane and then Maura. Frank is absent. Maura lets Angela hold her, delivering pats to her back like she's seen Jane do. It comforts her, somehow, until Maura shrugs off her gown. Her dress is soaked in Jane's blood. Angela isn't used to these sorts of things, so Maura apologises and leads her to where Frankie is just waking up in the other bed.

She borrows some scrubs. They know her here. Angela looks less terrified of her when she returns, but she clenches her hand around the bullet anyway. Straight through. Shot to the heart, and you're to blame. Jane had belted that out in the car once. She's so loud and animated that to see her lying still scares Maura.

"I've got her," Maura says softly when Angela looks between the two of her children. "And him. Whichever one." Angela looks at Maura as though her heart is breaking.

"The doctor says you saved both their lives," Angela says, and she's weeping again. Maura isn't sure why, but she's weeping too. Angela holds her as though she can't hold her firmly enough, strongly enough to convey whatever it is she's sobbing too hard to say. Maura doesn't get held a lot. Once by Jane. She liked being held by Jane. But Angela is good at it too, a different kind of good at it. It's something warm that fills her from head to toe, a love and acceptance Maura's never known. "How can I ever repay you?"

Maura wants to say that she wants Angela's firstborn in payment. That she wants Jane, if she lives. But she hasn't even told Jane she wants her, and Jane should be the first to know.

"I did it for them. And me. You owe me nothing," Maura says finally. She runs her hand over Angela's hair, then her back.

"I can never thank you enough," Angela says as she pulls back, wiping at her face. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." Angela kisses each of Maura's cheeks, and then her forehead with each word of thanks. With that, Angela kisses Jane's sleeping face in a way that would make Jane's nose scrunch up if she was awake. But she isn't, so it happens. And then Angela looks at Maura, sees something in her face and she goes to Frankie, to sit by him. Maura takes the chair near Jane, feeling awkward and small in her scrubs and clean face. She has to hold Jane down when she wakes up, pressing the call button.

"Frankie's fine," Maura says over and over. He's not; he's asleep again, knocked out on opiates. His breath still rasps a little and Maura wants to follow up on that when Jane isn't fighting her. She's not trying to hurt Maura, she's trying to sit up and look at Frankie but her stitches - the nurse comes in and stares. Maura holds her hand out to keep her from the line of fire. Maura pushes Jane to the bed with one hand to her chest, takes her hands in hers and kisses her.

Jane stills completely. Maura pulls away and gestures to the nurses to check her over, and Jane stares at her the whole time, Frankie apparently forgotten. Maura worries her thumbnail with her teeth until the nurse nods, updating the chart and pressing the button on the morphine pump, showing Jane how to do it. She'll be out soon, like Frankie is, and it's the best they can do for her until she starts to heal. Maura sits back down and takes Jane's hand again.

Angela's eyes are wide, but she doesn't flinch at the way Maura handles Jane. Maura tells Jane the extent of the damage and her accuracy of the shot that killed Danny.

"Worth it," Jane rasps, looking down at Maura's mouth. "Anything that gets you to finally kiss me is worth it."

+++

Maura keeps the bullet. It stays in her pocket when she has one. She has it put on a chain for a while, then she has it melted down into a wedding ring.

It's been inside Jane, after all. It's part of their story.

[little-paper-ghost-child]

GODS I SPENT TOO MUCH TIME ON THIS

Here’s the first song story I did

It’s shit because I like barely edited it but whatever it’s done and going out into the world

Tw for: murder, child abuse, strangulation, police (idk if I should add more but Weh)

This is the song

Please remember!!! This is not based off of the song specifically and is just what my brain came up with!!

Anyways here you go

Alex combed his fingers through his hair as he stared down at the photo album. He didn't know how George had gotten a hold of it and he figured it was something violent, but it was still a monster load of unwanted evidence and a hurt in his stomach that worsened as he flipped through the pages. He and Ivan never looked happy per say but everything had seemed so much brighter back then, back before he was alex at all. While he scratched out any mentions of demetri, ivan, or emily, Noticeably, Though he cautiously checked every page and pocket, there was no mention of his father.

He had separate reasons for all of them to be defaced, three separate reasons for three separate things.

Demitri was crossed out because he was dead, he was an idea of what could have been and he was lost. His mother had named him that, and he would not let her have that pride, so he had erased demitri as his quietest form of retaliation.

Emily was crossed out because the bitch didn't deserve to be remembered. She didn't deserve anything she had. And still somehow, she got everything she wanted from the children she hurt and there was never a consequence in the world for her. She was a violent disgusting person unfit to be a mother or a person at all and he hoped nobody had to know her ever again.

He crossed out Ivan for much less angry reasons than the other two, he wanted Ivan to be safe. his little brother. He loved Ivan more than the world itself and hated himself for leaving him.

“Coward” is what the voice in his head called him.

“ monster. Coward. You left him to die in her care.” it gnawed at him every second of everyday and he knew he couldn't go back now. Not while there was evidence still.

“Soon”, he thought.

“Soon is good.”

So Alex continued his work of scratching and defacing all three of the people for all three of his reasons..

It was difficult to do what he needed all the time and never what he wanted, he still felt trapped even out of that hellhole,it really felt like the only difference was that the blood being shed was supposed to mean something.

—

George caught him off guard with the blow to the side of the head and Alex went skittering across the concrete floor.

He felt like everything was underwater and everything was all wrong.

“The fuck?” was all he could manage to string together as he tried to push himself up.

“I've had a change in interest,” George said as he lumbered over.

“Somebody knows how to pay better”

It took longer than Alex liked to form a coherent enough thought to make sense of that.

“To kill me?” choked its way out of Alex's throat while he frantically searched his pockets for any sense of self defense. George twitched a little as he wound up for another hit but didn't answer the question. Alex got to his feet and just barely dodged the second punch, He was racking his brain for something he could use- there was no way he could stand a chance in a fistfight. Alex made it to the drawer in his desk and pulled it open scanning for something, anything that could be used and came back with a letter opener. He thought for a second on how he could use something so small, which hurt considering the previous hit to the side of his head that was definitely less than soft, but he figured something out in the end.

As the larger man approached Alex pretended he could hear his little brother cheering him on, telling him that he could do it, but it was a cruel thing to do because a child let alone a child like Ivan would cheer for something like this.

When George trew his third punch Alex used his smaller frame to an advantage and ducked behind him as quickly as possible.he only had a second to do this correctly and so much of him didn't want this.

“Murderer” said the voice in his head.

“You leave your little brother all alone and you murder the man who has been helping you.”

Alex took a breath for nearly a second, jumped, and planted the letter opener in George's neck.

He made a squeak, and promptly fell over onto the cold concrete.

He was frozen, then. he was locked in place staring down at the presumably dead man

That he had thought was his friend.

“It's not your friend if you have to pay it to care” he reminded himself and closed his eyes tight.

Why did it have to be so hard?

Why did stuff like this come up?

Why couldn't everything just be okay?

Alex wanted so badly for everything to be okay, but there was no way to obtain something like that. He wanted it more than anything in the world and he would never get it, and even when things finally seemed to work out, it always went to shit.

Why did it have to do that?

Why did it have to be so hard?

Why did stuff like this come up?

Why couldn't everything just be okay?

It hit him in a second that all the evidence was gone. All the evidence he could possibly get rid of was gone with George, if everything was gone, there was only one place he was supposed to go.

—

Alex got in his car after he had finished defacing anything that he had left remotely close to a normal keepsake. He left the body, he didn't care. He knew where he was going, he remembered being dragged back by walk or car every time he tried to run away. He could practically hear Emily screaming at him that she swore he was trying to get them in trouble.That he was a disgusting excuse for a child. That his father was waiting for him at home.he could never remember anything but angry flashes after that.

Even though he knew the way perfectly, it still took something out of him to get to the right streets. He figured he had a concussion but now was not the time to worry about that. There was that, and there was the voice in his head as well.

“Why would you go back when you are just going to hurt? Murderer murderer murderer.you left little brother all alone to kill your own father, and you couldn't even find him. Why would Ivan want to see you ever again? Not to mention Emily will be there too. Can you really face her? Maybe you want to see her, because for all of the shit maybe you are a mama's boy. You probably failed to protect your brother. You are failing to stay away. Maybe Emily will hurt you again, maybe you deserve it. You probably even liked it when-”

“Shut up”, Alex said aloud. “I hate her and I hate you.”

he looked in the rearview mirror for the last comment, glaring at himself like it would leak through into his thoughts and make them go away. He hated remembering, hated thinking about it at all, hated her voice echoing around his head, but things would never change so he did his best to push her out of his mind for now.

As he turned the corner, one side of the road opened down a lake miles below. Alex weighed the possibilities of anyone finding him if he drove off and into the water, but he had heard that drowning wasn't exactly as quick and easy enough to make it all that tempting.

—

Alex got out of the car before he turned the street corner. He had grabbed his gun from the car, and the voice inside his head bubbled up to hiss at him.

“A gun?” it said. “Murderers use guns. Monsters use guns. What do you think that makes you? What are you going to do with it anyway? You could end up hurting ivan.”

Alex shook his head as if to shake the voice right out of his head and shoved the gun into his belt.

“It was just in case,” he told himself.

“Just in case anything went badly like it always seemed to.”

Seeing down the street he grew up on hurt Alex more than he wanted to think about.

“No” he thought

“Dimitri grew up here.” was easier to think about but only by a little.

Nothing was easy here, it never had been and it never would be but he would take what comfort he could get, and if that was by remembering a dead dream then he would remember but not connect.

As Alex walked towards his inevitable destination he scanned the roads and felt like a little kid again, recounting things that had happened in certain places. There was a tree that dimitri was once sitting under when a branch fell off, there were the bushes where dimitri had been bitten by a stray dog who roamed around, from which alex still had a small scar. There was the spot on the road where the police had been called the first time- and the spot where they had been called the second. And finally, there was the house.

Walking down the driveway he could see the trash bags all up one side of the fence. Piles of empty bottles and cans were shoved under the rotting porch and as he walked down the driveway Alex could smell the house reeked of beer and mold and filth.

“This was a bad idea” said the thoughts in his head.

“Your brother doesn't want to see you anyway. And you know what emily will do when she finds you-”

Alex forcefully shoved that voice out of the way and stared at the door. From inside there was something that might have been a yell, and something glass breaking.

He couldn't stall any longer.

After a minute all too short to prepare himself, Alex opened the door and went in.

—

The smell was worse on the inside.

The carpet was dirty and the ground was littered with all sorts of things that couldn't be safe for walking on, which made him more so glad he had kept his shoes on. Now that he was inside he could see that the disarray of the place had only gotten worse after he left, which made sense considering most of the cleaning was done by Alex himself, but was still upsetting to see. As he moved through the house, he remembered a thousand awful little things. Pins under fingernails, the feel of uncooked, moldy fruits or vegetables in his mouth, little cockroaches and worms that made homes in the mess. He didn't like thinking about it, remembering it made him want to scratch at his skin, made him feel dirty.

Nothing in this house was nice, but nothing had gotten under his skin until he saw the whiskey on the counter.

It was half empty and there was a dirty glass set beside it. Alex gaged like he was trying to throw it up, but there was nothing to throw up. He hated the sight of it, hated the burn of it, he remembered crying, crying made it worse.

For every cry he let out she would always pour a little more into the cup, a little more, a little more, until he stopped crying, sometimes he threw up, sometimes he fell asleep, sometimes he couldn't remember.

Alex’s hand raised instinctively to his mouth.

“you are going to throw up oh no, oh god no you feel sick you are sick and everything is wrong, stop crying you're only going to make it worse it burns you are suffocating it burns it hurts you are going to be sick you are going to throw up-”

The crash of something glass and a strangled yell upstairs broke Alex out of his headspace, and his focus snapped to the staircase. Alex ran up the stairs and turned the corner so fast he almost fell over. He barely even thought as he ran to the one open door, and he barely even thought as he reached for his gun.

—

Emily Volkova had never been a good person. She only hurt and ruined and broke people and things and really anything she could get her hands on. And her own two children were things remarkably easy to get her hands on.

Ivan was on the ground, just barely struggling against Emily, who had her hands around his neck so tight it looked like she herself was straining. She was never particularly strong but she had the advantage of being a grown woman fighting against a nine year old boy, and the advantage that the nine year old boy she was fighting wanted nothing more than for her to love him.

Alex could see ivans mouth moving, trying to choke out words that were lost to his excuse of a mothers screaming. Alex could barely understand what he was saying, but he didn't need to. What he did know was that Emily volkova had never been a good person, and that he was going to make her stop.

The sound of the gun cocking might have been what had gotten her attention, or she had just happened to notice at the moment he was leveling it to her head.

“Demitri, why the fuck are you here?” she said, barely loosening her grip on ivan. Her shock turned to anger turned to vicious manipulation faster than Alex could keep up with.

“Did your little trip go well? you leave right after your father so i have to take care of this stupid fucking kid by myself, why would you leave your own mother?”

“Shut up” was all that Alex said. He had built up all this hatred for this woman in his head but being with her now, seeing her, he hated himself for being scared.

She put on a face like she was hurt before shoving Ivan to the ground and getting up.

“dont tell me to fucking shut up you little shit. You would really shoot your own mother too? In Front of your little brother, the world out there has ruined you demitri.”

She took a step towards Alex and he had to fight himself not to step back, shaking as he tried to hold the gun in place.

“Ivan, close your eyes and cover your ears” he said, trying to see around Emily to his brother, who moved slowly and shakily.

“That's it.” Emily said with a little more fear in her voice.

“Put the gun down, Demitri, you can't do this to your mother.”

“You were never my mother, I was never your son.” was all Alex said before he pulled the trigger.

—

Alex didn't like guns all that much because they were very loud and sometimes made big messes. He didn't like this situation much at all but he had to make sure that Ivan was okay, Alex could wait for later. As he moved his way into the room, he locked eyes with Ivan and felt a gut wrenching tear in his stomach. He could feel how hurt this little boy was. Then, he could see it. The bruises around his neck were to be expected, he had a black eye too. Ivan was covered in bruises, over his arms and legs that Alex could see. He seemed to have little cuts too, burns or razor slashes, cuts from kitchen knives or cut up soda cans might have been in the mix too. Some looked new, some looked old, more than a few looked infected.

“Oh god ivan.” Alex said involuntarily.

Ivan just stared, shaking, scared.

“I'm so sorry.” didn't get a response either.

So Alex sat with Ivan for a moment, a few more, what felt like an eternity, until Ivan reached and grabbed a hold of Alex's coat sleeve, then buried his face in Alex's shoulder. Alex held on like he was going to lose him again.

He never wanted to let go.

Ivan was cold and he was shaking, Alex could feel it radiating off of his body. He felt a pull of guilt, but he buried it, that's not what either of them needed right now.

“I'm going to take you away from here okay?” Alex told him.

“I'm going to make sure that nobody hurts you ever again.”

He scooped Ivan up and carried him slowly down the stairs, whispering gentle reassurances that he knew meant next to nothing.

He just wanted it to be okay,

He just wanted Ivan to be okay.

Alex hated that this gentleness felt like a lie after all that he’d done, but as long as Ivan could be alright again he would fake a whole world.

Quietly reaching the bottom of the stairs, Alex shifted his hold on Ivan to open the door. The doorknob was sticky under his fingers as he turned the knob, opening the door to the porch. From the porch you could see the whole yard, and you could see Domonik Volkov standing in the grass.

—

Ivan could feel his older brother tense, but the way he was positioned, he couldn't quite see.

“What is it?” he wanted to say, but words couldn't find their way to his mouth. A man's voice said something in a language he heard grown ups speak sometimes and Ivan tried to squirm to look, but Demitri held him too close. His older brother slowly, very slowly, walked off the porch to a bush and very carefully sat Ivan down on the dead grass.

“Stay here,” he said to ivan.

“Stay here, and don't look over there, and cover your ears, okay?”

Ivan nodded, and turned in the opposite direction of where he wasn't supposed to look.

Alex gave his hand a tight squeeze and got up.

Ivan tried his best to cover his ears but his wrists were weak and his hands shook so he opted for cradling his face between his bruised knees.

It wasn't good sound protection, he could still hear the two talking, arguing in the language that he didn't know.

There was a word he did know though,

“Monster.” Demitri kept saying.

“Something-something-monster.”

.It sounded so cold off of his brother's tongue that the sharpness felt like a whole different person entirely, sounded more like mother if Ivan had to place it, but he didn't like to place the two in the same category.

There were sirens too now, they started far away but they kept getting louder and louder, and so was the arguing. The sirens eventually stopped and flashy red and blue lights painted the grass around Ivan with a fractured looking glow, but the arguing still went on. Ivan tried to pretend that everything was okay, that somebody was just having a dance party with some nice, police coloured lights.

The argument sounded more frantic now, like they were running out of time to be mad at eachother.

Everything sounded scary, the flashing lights felt dizzying and the yelling was too loud even when ivan tried to cover his ears and then-

The gunshot made everything go dead silent. Ivan squeezed his eyes shut so tight that he saw little spots in his eyelids. Somebody started walking over to the bush and Ivan looked up in hope but it wasn't Demitri, it was somebody that Ivan presumed to be a police officer. The officer scooped Ivan up in his arms and carried him to the back of his car where he gave him a blanket and stale cookie.

Ivan looked out at what he could of the scene, dead grass,lots of blood, the man that must have been the angry voice that weirdly looked alot like his father with a big towel over his face, and then dmitri, being arrested.

The eye contact was short, the brief message that his older brother sent was a fierce look and a nod.a nod as they shoved him into the back of the police car, as Ivan got driven away too.

[cat-fried-fiend]

trans Techno SBI fic part 2

here's the second part to the fic I've been writing :)

<part 1 & part 3>

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

Phil drives like a mad man. Honestly, he’s probably broken at least half a dozen traffic laws trying to reach Puffy as fast as possible. Maybe flying would have been less hazardous to others but Puffy doesn’t drive he can’t find it in himself to care about the law anyways. Most people in his situation would do the same, probably. At least he hopes he isn’t the odd one out, the only one who is completely fretting over this ordeal.

Puffy’s cottage is nestled in the heart of their quaint town but somehow still ringed with a yard of bright flowers and overgrown shrubs that border on trees. It’s a little slice of the country in a place where concrete is more abundant than fresh dirt and Phil relaxes as he approaches the front door. He’d let her know he was coming by but doubts she expects him to still be in his sweats and bathrobe. Still, he didn’t have enough thought to change before leaving, barely remembering to exchange his slippers for shoes.

She answers the door quickly, visibly surprised at his state. But she smiles and greets him kindly and ushers him into her living room. Phil sits awkwardly on the couch shifting his wings uncomfortably behind him. He’s unsure of how exactly he’s supposed to go about this conversation. He’d been in such a panic before that he’d decided to go to the first woman, he knew for help. But now Phil feels like maybe he shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. Maybe Puffy wasn’t affected by her human side this way. Maybe he shouldn’t have assumed that only a woman would know what to do. Sighing, Phil drags a hand down his face, trying to scrub away the exhaustion that came with parenting.

“So…” Puffy starts, somehow having manifested two cups of tea and a plate of cookies, that now sit on the small coffee table separating them. “What was the emergency you needed my help with? Are the boys alright?”

“Oh…Wilbur and Tommy are fine,” he responds, grabbing a cup of tea just so he has something to focus on.

“And Techno?”

“He’s….. Well, that’s what I wanted to ask about. I woke up with him screaming for me. Which terrified me at first since he’s never really done that before but then…. He, well-”

Phil isn’t sure how exactly to tell his friend that he thought the kid he has been taking care of for the last six months, one he’s come to see as he third son, didn’t have the capability to carry children. It’s such a huge thing to miss. Especially when Techno’s already struggling with his hybrid identity. And now Phil’s probably made his identity issues even worse by just making assumptions.

Puffy raises an eyebrow, a concerned expression on her face.

“He’s not…anatomically male… like I thought” Phil wants to curl up and die. But being a parent means facing all sorts of mortifying conversations, so he forces himself upright and persevere. “And ah… he woke up with blood- which is how I realized that-”

Puffy fixes him with a look and Phil shuts his mouth.

“So, your son who you didn’t realize wasn’t anatomically male until today, started his period, and you ran to me for help?” She asks evenly, sipping her tea.

Phil nods, “Ah, yeah that’s… that’s mostly what happened. I- I didn’t know what else to do. I’ve never had to deal with something like this before and I thought that maybe you could help, or at least give me a place for information?”

Puffy hums. “I don’t like that you assumed I’d know what to do but you were right. I can help you. But you’re the one who’s looking after Techno. You’ve got to be the one he trusts for information, not me.”

Phil nods.

“Ok.” Puffy sighs, sipping her tea again. “What’s Techno doing now?”

“Showering. He doesn’t know what any of this is. I’m fairly sure he doesn’t even know the full extent of anatomical differences in humans.”

“Ok… the showering idea was good. Did he seem upset at all?”

Phil feels a flash of guilt. “Yeah… he was really upset with all of it but mainly when I told him about the monthly part. It was the one of the few times I’ve seen him cry so openly.”

“Look, it could be because of the hormones but I think you need to have a conversation about his gender identity or at least give him a basic lecture on human gender and sexuality.”

“You’re right.” Phil sighs.

“I know.” Puffy says with a smile. “Did you ever give Wilbur any information or is still he just confusedly and painfully pining over Quackity.”

Phil represses the full body shudder at that topic. Yes, he gave Wil the talk. Had he possibly been too late and ended up seeing things he can never unsee? Also, yes.  So no, Wilbur was no longer confused about his feelings for Quackity, at least in the gender/sexuality department. Though, Phil still isn’t entirely sure Wilbur knows the difference between a crush, a rivalry, and an obsession.

But Phil doesn’t say that. He just nods and focuses on his tea. They really should get going. It’s already been nearly twenty minutes and Phil’s certain Techno isn’t going to leave the shower until he produces Puffy or a large sum of gold. And as Phil isn’t sure there’s enough gold in the whole server to be enough to lure him out, Puffy it will have to be.

In the end, they wind up dragging Puffy’s younger cousins with them which Phil is a bit unsure about. He’s sure Techno doesn’t want a whole lot of people parading around the house at a time like this. But Puffy refuses to let them stay at home alone quoting that the last time they had, she came back with a quarter of her home completely missing and the rest completely covered in butter and burn marks. So, she drags them out of bed and into Phil’s car, the two of them cursing, and screaming the whole way. Phil sympathizes with them, he too would be kicking and screaming if Puffy decided to drag him out of bed on a Sunday morning before eight AM. Or maybe not, Phil decides, when Puffy fixes the look back at her cousins who promptly stop complaining.

Puffy is kind enough to let Techno use the supplies she has at least until Phil could be reliably trusted to go to the store and get the correct items. Relief slowly drips into Phil’s gut the closer they get to the house, unwinding the knot of worry. Beside him, Puffy is holding a box that she’s filled with whatever she’s deemed necessary and quizzing him on the basic information. Really, Phil should know more but as he hadn’t had the most formal education as a child, it’s lucky he knows this much.

Phil glances in the mirror, trying to be a decent driver this time around. Somehow, despite it only being five minutes since Phil pealed out of their driveway the two cousins are silent. And he realizes why. Behind him, the two smaller sheep hybrids are fast asleep, siting piled against each other in a way that has Phil’s heart melting.

This is why being a parent is worth it.

It’s been about forty minutes since Phil’s left when he finally returns. Anxiety has returned with vengeance over the course of the drive and his gut feels like one giant knot. But the house is still standing in one-piece, warm cedar shingles bathed in golden sunlight, and somehow this lessens the worry he feels inside. Ushering Puffy and her sleepy cousins inside quietly, Phil tries his hardest to keep the rest of the house asleep. He really doesn’t need Tommy waking up right now. After softly directing the two children into the den, Phil hurriedly guides Puffy up the stairs and into his office.

“Phil,” Puffy says evenly, “I know you’re stressed, go make some coffee and read one of the books I brought, I’ll let you know when Techno’s ready.”

Phil sighs, shoulder’s slumping and he allows Puffy to start to shoo him out of the small office.

“Wait-” Puffy says, pausing to rummage through her supplies, “here, give this to Techno, ok?” She hands him a small box that looks to hold some sort of clothes. Phil nods, giving her a tired but grateful smile.

“Thanks for the help, Puffy. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Probably die,” she says with a grin which he matches easily. “Now go…” Phil follows her orders, knocking on the bathroom door. Once he detects Techno’s stifled shout of allowance over the spray of the shower, he cracks it open and sets the box down on the counter then makes a hasty retreat. With that done, he begins a load of laundry. After so many years Phil’s become pretty much an expert on bloodstains and he’s certain that with his skills, nothing will remain as an unpleasant reminder for Techno. He’s just finished getting the coffee pot started and began perusing one of Puffy’s books when he hears someone faintly shout, “save me!” Then a deafening crash. Without a second thought, Phil bolts towards the den, praying that Puffy and Techno are doing fine upstairs.

[things-about-writing]

A Walk In The Park

New to town a brother and his sister take a walk in the park one night. To explore the old overgrown wooded part. But what seems like an eerie test of courage soon becomes a terrifying trip in the park to always remember.

We just moved into Winterbend three weeks ago and it still had the feeling like I was a tourist. Mom and dad seemed to make it a home like we didn't move across the country, dads even in a book club already.

I think my sister could tell I was feeling alone, she always could slipping into my room just as the sun was setting outside. Looking up from my book she had a big smile and two flashlights.

"Let's go for a walk in the park across the street. I heard it's perfect as the fall weather comes in"

"I don't know." I said sheepishly, putting my bookmark carefully in place.

Walking to the edge of the bed Lena grabbed my arm. "Come on, what brother let's his sister go walking in the woods alone?" She said pulling me from the bed without waiting for an answer.

"Really miss dives off cliffs needs her little brother for a walk in a park with streetlights across from our house?"

"We aren't going to that part. This girl at school said there was a part just beyond that. It goes deep into the words is really old and hasn’t got streetlights yet. Why else would we need these?" She said flashing me in the face with the flashlight, before opening my door.

The thing about Winterbend, it wasn't really a city it was a small town. The small town of all small towns I thought. But it was also still surrounded on all sides by national forest most were protected and went for miles.

So while we still had wifi and all the fast food chains. The town still felt somehow closed off. Even driving in felt like entering a different world. The huge tree canopies over the road letting little splashes of sun rays hit the road between their leaves.

The thing was as well, there were two other parks like this one on the outskirts of the town supposedly they made one big triangle or something. Lena and I looked both ways quickly hustling across the street. Walking into the park, she wanted to really go exploring since mom was out with dad and wouldn't be home to nag us about dinner.

Walking through the park we passed a few people sitting on benches reading or talking. I noticed Lena take a quick glance at the couple cuddled up watching the sunset over the trees before her eyes went to the ground. She had to leave her girlfriend and was still managing to adapt better than me to a new place. I felt like a fool even more now, but there was one thing I could do. Reaching up I patted Lena on the back. Giving her a smile as she looked over at me. I heard the soft laugh escape from her before I felt her hands roughly pushing me.

Laughing back at her as the smile returned to her face. "So why do you want to go here anyway? I know you didn't just want to take a stroll in the park"

I looked ahead of us, the sun had almost completely set and the streetlights were more behind us now then in front lighting the way that was more and more being swallowed by the night.

"It's supposed to be super spooky and some kind of test of courage for freshman at the community collage. So if someone in high school does it too. It will probably be something that gets the cute girls looking at him." She said nudging my shoulder.

"Plus oh did you hear he did it with his big sister who was nervous. He's so brave and dreamy." Lena said in a sarcastic sing songy voice.

I won't say the idea of what she said wasn't making me a bit more eager but I would rather run naked down main street then let her know that. Flicking on the flashlights after the last streetlight was well at our back. I could swear the old lady we passed before turning down this path looked scared that we were walking it. She had already gotten up and walked off before I could look at her again though.

The concrete path was getting a lot more cracked and broken as we walked. Lena was flashing her light around. It was strange how everything looked suddenly so much older like it had been left as is. The benches were old slightly rusted metal. The paint chipping not like the wood ones that looked freshly stained in the streetlight area.

The cool fall winds blew against the back of my neck sending a chill down my spine. I zipped up my coat tempted to pull the hood up if the chill wasn't also being helped by the fact that this walked had turned eerie quicker then I expected. The sounds of animals rustling in the trees combined with the old pathway. Had me ready to turn the other way and go home as we got to a fork in the path.

Lena looked at me with a smirk fishing something from her pocket showing me a shiny quarter.

She often flipped a coin for things saying it was easier then fussing with her brain. "I will let you call it."

Before I could protest and suggest a third option the coin was spinning in the air. A sound that was almost like a laugh from the bushes distracted me from calling it. Landing in her palm Lena smacked it against her arm, pulling my attention back as she looked over at me.

"T..tails." I said with a confused voice my brain still trying to make sense of the sound.

"Oh that's bullshit." She said with a sigh pulling her hand away showing the coin tails side up. "Fine which way?"

"Right" I stated with almost a shout managing to stifle back the bit of fear dancing on my words. I know Lena wouldn't want to go back yet and it felt like the choice that will get us away from where that voice or whatever that sound was came from.

So right we went Lena taking the lead, she had turned my way and given me this weird look before taking more sure-footed steps down the path. while I told myself it was just my brain playing tricks on me. Maybe reading a horror book before going on a walk was a mistake. The book being about a brother and sister being hunted in the woods, because now the idea of a creature with fangs and claws waiting to pounce on us like them had my thoughts running so fast, I failed to notice my sister stop before crashing into her back.

Right in front of us was a single streetlight with a bench and a huge weird gnarled stump. "That's strange."

"What are you doing!" I said as Lena started walking closer.

"It's a streetlight, what are you freaking out about?" She shrugged.

"I think you are letting that challenge thing get to your head." She said spinning on her heels walking backwards to the streetlight so she could look at me. Waving her hands in and going Ooooo like a ghost

"Yeah, duh." I said shaking my head trying to shake loose the creepy thoughts in my head while walking towards her.

"Oh wow that's gross. Look how black this water is." Lena said looking down into the hole at the top of the stump as I came up beside her.

Pointing her flashlight dark pool of water. the water inside so dark the light just reflected off the surface. It was almost mesmerizing as I stared at it watching the light reflect off it before suddenly being pulled away.

Looking up I saw Lena walking into the edge of the woods shining her light on the ground looking for something.

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for this!" She said holding up a stick where I was shining my flashlight.

"I wanna poke the water and see how deep it is."

"It's probably only like a few inches it just a rotted stump."

"Oh come on it looks deeper than that, right!"

She was right it did look deeper somehow, since I was curious too, I went along with her idea. "Okay this is about three or four inches let's use this as a marker." She said pointing to a little knot towards the end of the stick.

We watched the little ripples as she poked it into the water the stick sinking down past the knot a little ways before stopping. I pointed my flashlight at it, watching her stir up the water. Instead of dirt it seemed like something even blacker was kicked up off the bottom. A horrible smell came out from the stump filling the air. Lena and I both stepping back as she pulled the stick back with her.

"Oh god what the hell is that smell! It’s like rotten eggs mixed with that casserole mom forgot in the fridge for two months that one time." She said looking at the stick in her hand loosely holding it in her hands away from her body as far as she could.

"Jesus, I have no idea it smells worse than you and dad after chili night" I said pulling my t-shirt up over my nose.

"Fuck you." Lena said pointing the stick at me, the end of it catching my eye.

"Lena." I said letting my shirt fall. “Stop moving it for a second.”

Pausing she held the stick still, so I could hold my flashlight up to it and examine it. "Is… is the stick longer than before? "

"What how could it be…" She replied her words trailing off as she looked at it.

"It is isn't it." She said with a puzzled expression on her face, shining her light on it as well.

The stick was coated in an oily looking black substance. It was dripping off from anywhere that had touched the water. On the end the substance was rigid just like the stick, extending off it by a few inches easily. Lena said she hadn't felt it stab into anything. Anything squishy enough to not notice wouldn’t be just as rigid as the stick I thought getting closer.

That's when it moved not just a little sway from a strand either. This wasn’t from my sisters shaking hand, no, a small tendril rose up off the top of the stick reaching out stretching past the part that wasn't towards Lena's hand. With a loud proclamation of how gross it was she dropped the stick. It hit the ground with a wet slap.

"What is that thing?" Lena stated taking a few steps back, looking up at me.

We both shared a half scared half confused look before our eyes went back down to the stick on the ground. Both of us cautiously going towards it. Kneeling beside me, Lena and I stared at the black substance. It was just slipping off the stick expanding making a puddle on the ground.

Just when we were sure it was only a trick of the mind what we saw before. The tendril came up out of the puddle reaching for me this time. I quickly stepped back almost on my ass in the process.

"Okay you were right this is really strange let's get out of here." Lena said standing up gesturing for me to come with her.

She waited for me to follow then quickly led us away. "Supposedly this will wrap back around let's just keep going." She said gesturing for me to follow.

I stepped around the puddle the stick in it was almost completely covered now and kept pace beside her. The walk was quiet and much more tense now. As the streetlight faded away behind us part of me wished we had went back the way we came. The darkness behind us wasn't eerie it was fully terrifying now. I kept looking around my fearful steps a little shorter not realizing I was falling behind Lena till I once again crashed into her.

"What the hel…" my words cut short by Lena's hand clamping over my mouth.

Grabbing her hand pulling it away from my mouth, I felt her fingers wrap tightly around mine like a vice clamp. Looking at her face I saw her with a scared frozen stare looking over her shoulder behind me. That's when I heard it, what I was sure she heard too.

It was the loud slaps of something on the concrete sidewalk something wet. It was coming back from where we came. The soft laugh and the black substance from before both came rushing back into the front of my mind almost as quick as the goosebumps crept across my skin. My fingers wrapping tightly around Lena's hand. Slowly turning to her she broke her gaze from the long dark path the trees overhead blocking any light from the moon. The sun's comforting light faded over the horizon a long while ago. Just my sister, me and our flashlights.

Our eyes met the sound was getting louder. Each slap echoing off the trees. My sister ever the brave one turned her flashlight towards the sounds. At the same time I felt her pulling me closer, her grip like iron on my hand now.

You know how people say the light brings comfort in times of fear? Well, they clearly weren't ever in this position before. As Lena's light shined onto the path, I felt my body turn cold. There was nothing, it was just a clear path as far as we could see.

The sounds were still coming the slaps were louder and louder each one carrying a weight with it that made my body tense up each time. The light fixed on the sidewalk started to shake, I looked over at Lena I assume I was wearing the same look of terror as her. She was standing slightly in front of me now.

As we stood there it hit me. Just how qiuet the woods around us were now. The rustling from before was gone, even the sound of crickets had faded with the night. Only the sound of the batteries inside the flashlights rattling from our shaky hands.

I'm not sure how much time passed while we were frozen there. Or how long I stared out at that empty cracked sidewalk. My eyes scanning the dark. I noticed a shimmer only for a second, doubling back spotting it again. A soft white shimmer, just at the edge of the darkness. It was small at first and then slowly grew wider and wider.

I knew Lena could see it too, I felt my hand being squeezed tighter. My breath caught in my throat as I realized. The shimmer wasn't a piece of metal or mirror. It wasn't dew in spiders web. It was a smile, an eye less smile that curved and twisted the wider it got. Standing side by side with my sister we watched the smile low to the ground at first, rise into the air growing wider as it did. three feet, then six, then so high it was rustling the canopies.

My legs felt like they were tree stumps rooted to the ground. Our eyes locked onto this smile staring down on us. It was wider than any humans smile could be. I gripped my flashlight the plastic soaked in sweat threatening to make it fall from my grasp if I didn't. The smile froze. A rush of wind blew around us and carried with it a low laugh that sounded overjoyed as it grew more and more demented the smile laughing at us. Even without eyes we knew we were being stared down like prey trapped in the predator’s eyes.

I felt a pull from my sister then when I could think again we were already running the other way. I dropped my flashlight as I felt the same wind blowing against our backs carrying a whisper of "aww don't you wanna…" the rest was lost on the wind and from the sounds of our feet against the ground. We were running harder than any coach had ever gotten us too, my lungs started to burn. I managed to look back once or twice, there was no smile in the dark anymore. But I didn't want to wait and confirm that.

I was suddenly thanking my parents for putting us into sports. As we ran harder neither of us wanting to let whatever that was catch us. We didn't stop running till the familiar glow of a streetlight came into view.

I don't think either of us were sure how long we had run sweat was pouring off our faces like we had just got out of the shower. As we ran out into the streetlights of the park. Working hard to just Catch our breath as the sounds of other people from the houses close by brought a deep comfort a comfort, I didn't think possible from hearing a car backfire or the sounds of tv from an open window.

After we caught our breath Lena, and I looked around we weren't in the park we came in from. Somehow we were in one of the other two almost two miles from the one we were in. I don't think we ran that long. But I didn't care I just wanted to be home. The whole walk home we avoided the side the woods were on. My hand never left Lena's till we walked past the front door.

Our parents weren't home the clock read eleven thirty p.m! we were out on the woods for three hours, it felt like we couldn't have been gone for more than forty minutes. I was drying my hair after a much needed shower, when I heard my door open behind me. I felt my body freeze from the cold breeze that hit my neck our visit to the woods leaving its impressions upon me. I spun around letting out a sigh of relief seeing Lena standing at my door in her pajamas holding her pillow and a blanket.

"Do you mind if I sleep on your floor tonight?" She asked, fiddling with her blanket a little.

" After all that the more the merrier." I stated jumping at the chance to not be the only one in my room tonight, especially since it faces those woods.

That was four weeks ago, Lena slept on my floor a few times since. She insists she's not scared it's just to make me feel better. But I know what happened got to her.

That's why I don't have the heart to tell her about the familiar glow of my flashlight I saw out my window a few nights ago. Or the shimmer of the teeth from whatever was sitting on the otherside of the street holding it.

[selenathrace]

Some 1989 thoughts... Also, if on Spotify I saw someone mention turning off the Normalize Volume Option. I would recommend that too for sure!

Welcome to New York- feels more echoy. Like it's bouncing around a concrete city. I was never a huge WTNY person but I like this version.

Blank Space- is mellowed out. It feels more like she's musing to herself over a glass of wine about it instead of a theatrical production. I love her vocals on this but it feels slower and less urgent.

Style- see blank space.

Out of the woods- this album's Haunted. I like the changes personally but it feels calmer as well.

All you Had to Do was Stay- I like this version. They sound very similar to each other but I feel like they focus on her vocals more with this version.

Shake it Off- sounds very similar to the original. If you don't like the original, you won't like this one. Her voice is a lot more sultry at the "hey hey hey" and I really like that small change.

I Wish You Would- I like this one better. The vocals feel stronger here and her voice shines through more. I felt like in the original there were parts where the music kind of swallowed her singing if that makes sense.

Bad Blood- not going to lie I really don't like the original version of this. But this one I like a lot better, kind of like with Better than Revenge. She sounds more evil here. Less jilted and upset and more "I'm going to get even". Huge upgrade from the original.

Wildest Dreams- has been out for a while but I feel like this is more old Hollywood glamour vibes than the original. Still one of the top songs.

How you Get the Girl- similar to the original but better. Vocally I feel like she shines more than on the original.

This Love- still lovely.

I know Places- this feels more emotional than the original if that's possible. Less of a "we need to run" and afraid and more "angry we have to go" vibes.

Clean- this feels more synthy to me. Like it got the Midnights treatment. I like it but it's different.

Wonderland- got better somehow. This feels a bit like it would go with Reputation well. This is 100 percent the version I will be blasting when going down the highway. She also feels more angry here like she does in Bad Blood.

You are in Love- you can really feel Jack Antonoff influences in this song, even more than the original. I personally prefer the first version because it feels like it focused more on her lyrics choices. But I don't not like this version either.

New Romantics-we've had this. The TV made me really like this song as I didn't love the original version. I feel like this version really focuses on the lyrics in addition to the music and is crisper. The previous version felt like it blended together so much it was harder to pay attention to.

The Vault! Taylor you have been hiding things from us! These are by far my favorite vault tracks so far.

Slut! - when I heard there was a Barbie movie I really thought this was the kind of song that would be on it. I love the way she reclaims the word here and how romantic the song. The references to sticks and stones is a nice call back to You Need to Calm Down. I saw someone mention this is if 1989 and false God had a baby and that's a perfect description.

Say Don't Go- the line of "standing on a tight rope alone" kind of reminds me of Innocence and the sound of this song reminds me a lot of Wonderland. This feels a lot like "how you get girl" but instead of being happy it is sad.

Now that we Don't talk- the opening feels very Midnights vibes to me. This is very much the story of watching an ex from afar and still missing them even though you know not being together is the best. I also want to know who the acid rock dig is at. This feels like a post bejeweled song.

Suburban Legends- more midnights vibes. The opening reminds me very much of ... Question? This feels very 80s and fun even if it's not the happiest song.

Is it Over Now?- Taylor! Where has this been? "You search in every maiden's bed for something greater" "your new girl is my clone" "only rumors about my hips and thighs and my whispered sighs" "if she's got blue eyes I surmise you will probably date her." "Jumping off very tall something's just so you come running" The story of a very dysfunctional relationship but so so beautiful. I'd love if this was a duet with a male singer too for a 2 perspective song.

In the end, 1989 wasn't a favorite originally (Reputation or bust) but I have to say this blew me away and made me fall in love with the album. Also this vault, maybe the best vault we've gotten so far.

[copiouscouples]

Overlooked Chapter 4

Warning: Rated Mature

Colin and Penelope - College AU

Colin is handsome, popular, and the star quarterback. Penelope is none of those things. She’s just besotted with her friend’s older brother. That is until she overhears him talking one day.

Three Weeks Later

Penelope was sitting in her car, eyes glued to the rectangular paper in her hand. She couldn’t believe that this was an actual photo of someone who was growing inside her. A very tiny, small someone who was somewhere in size between a blueberry and a grape. The doctor had assured her that all was well and that her due date was in April.

Everything was sinking in all at once. Sure, she’d had her pregnancy confirmed three weeks ago by the nurse practitioner but there was something different about getting a positive lab result versus seeing an actual picture of who was growing inside you and hearing their heartbeat.

She was going to be a mom.

The last few weeks had passed in a blur. She was going through the motions but she’d been in shock. She hadn’t told a single soul about her pregnancy. Not even the baby’s father. She’d just not reacted. At first, she didn’t know what she should do. Did she want to keep the baby or pursue other options? She’d felt confused and had badly wanted someone to just make the decision for her. But then she realized no one was going to do that for her. And somewhere over these last few weeks she’d decided that difficult road ahead of her or not - she was in this for the long haul. She was choosing motherhood.

And that scared the crap out of her, but looking at the peanut-shaped fetus somehow grounded her. Seeing the concrete evidence of her pregnancy gave her purpose and put her into drive. No more walking around in a daze. She needed to prepare for her child’s arrival.

And she needed to tell Colin and her mom. She didn’t know who she was dreading telling more. With Colin, there was the whole awkwardness of so you thought you were single and carefree. Well, you’re not. You’re somebody’s dad now. And with her mom…she knew she was in for a scolding. Her mom would be mad. Which wasn’t surprising. Not many moms would be elated to find out their 19 year old daughter was pregnant.

And then there was Fred. They’d grown closer over these last few weeks and while they’d kissed a couple more times, Penelope knew there wasn’t anything substantial there. Just friendship. A niggling feeling of guilt crept up her spine. She’d known there was no hope of a future with him due to her being knocked up with another man’s baby and whatnot and not being 100% over said knocker upper to boot. But she hadn’t told him because she’d wanted the comfort and the fun of having someone interested in her romantically. Now, she was kind of wishing she’d have ghosted him weeks ago. But no, he deserved better than that. He deserved someone who would tell him the truth in person.

She put the sonogram back in her purse and sighed heavily. What should she do first? Tell Colin or her mom?

Continue reading chapter on AO3 or FF.net.

[mmoxie]

So, the first character I want to hype up is one that's lived in my drafts for well over a year. You know how sometimes you only get to a concept through venting? This was one of those, and I just kept adding more and more layers to her by venting over and over.

y'all remember dustforce?

Here's the short version: Retail as an industry is a relationship between cheerful rich people, cheerful people with non-retail jobs, and serving as an intermediary, the most beleaguered, miserable, irate, arbitrarily punished class of people still capable of just barely affording an apartment.

This character is one of those intermediaries, and she answers a simple question- what if you were so goddamn angry at your job that you started breathing literal fire?

In I Promise You I Have Given Up, a short story that exists in the Google Notes app on my phone, we meet Dani. Dani wakes up every morning, throws on an apron with a nametag attached, and watches the building she's in try to burn itself down for ten hours. Somehow, it's always her fault. She's gone through the stages of grief about it, or so she thinks.

She's about to roll the odometer.

She doesn't notice as she slides through denial, promising herself that she's fine, she's fucking fine, alright, as her boss rearranges her schedule without warning, as she cuts her own lunch short because nobody else could cover her position for one earth hour, because someone took a jar of pickles all the way to the children's clothing section and smashed it open on the carpet and now it's her problem,

And then she's asked a simple question, while she's doing a little sweeping outside. She doesn't smoke, so she doesn't get smoke breaks, but if she takes a broom with her, she can have a little peace and quiet and while looking busy.

"Is there a reason the display at the front is full of holes?"

Not- god forbid- "Did you know we're selling a lot at the front?"

Not- could you imagine- "Hey, Dani! Your display is really moving product! You're gonna need a refill up there, great job!"

Not- what a world- "Were you able to check on the front display today? I know you keep pretty busy, but it's selling down."

None of those, but is there a reason? That it's full of holes?

Dani considers this for a long moment. Her shoulders are still smoothly rocking, sweeping a rut into the concrete. She feels a quiet peace for a moment, and then... nausea. Heartburn, even. Head for the first aid kit, it's time for a shot of pepto, she thinks.

She opens her mouth to reply to that offending question, and the only thing that comes out is a pressurized blast of eradicating fire. In an instant, there is no boss. There is no question.

For the briefest moment, she was the angriest human being on the face of the earth- and it came out of her, after months and months of suppressing it.

She was relieved at first- a great pressure actually had gone out of her- but then she was terrified. She had just literally reduced her boss to a thin cloud of loose carbon and reeking, atomized effluence. There weren't even bones left.

Was that good or bad? Could she... pretend she didn't know what happened?

Probably not. And she should probably just tender her two weeks' notice before anyone figures anything out. Move across state lines. Get a different job, maybe even change her name.

This flashpoint puts Dani in a strange position. She absolutely doesn't want to hurt people- but what does it mean? Can she be pressurized to that point again? Should she live her life avoiding it, or should she try and... get out of retail by going public and teaching seminars on how to become a dragon?

But her world, as it turns out, is full of small, cumulative injustices. The endless reminders that you aren't good enough, that you didn't do enough. That if the company could make a machine that mashed you into paste, and that paste sold for more than it cost to pay you, they'd be ushering you into the fucking machine!

There will be a follow-up post that talks about Dani in a more objective way, but this post exists so I can link back to it as a primer for her character.

[self-loving-vampire]

I find it kind of funny how, at least from my point of view, a lot of my NPD symptoms are either simply rational behavior or a plain acceptance of the reality I live in.

Though there are also other symptoms that don’t present in the expected ways.

Let’s go through the DSM-5 criteria (only 5/9 are needed to qualify, so people with NPD may not have every symptom and may have all kinds of combinations).

1. Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g. - exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)

I absolutely have a sense of grandiosity, but I don’t feel the need to exaggerate anything (and in fact prefer to gather evidence for things I do or experience even if just to assist my own memory).

The most notable thing is that my sense that I am Just Better than other people is abstracted and separate from any of my actual traits and I know this. I don’t need to have a concrete reason to feel superior, I just do. 

As a result, I don’t need to invent anything in order to feel that way.

Hence why I’m more like this instead:

I am on that level of narcissism.

2. Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love

This is exactly the kind of fantasy that my grandiose taste in music is built to facilitate. 

Still, I was not content to merely fantasize about the success of my designs. I planned for and mitigated potential setbacks as well and stuck with it until I got what I really wanted (which turned out to be really ordinary, but even something as small as that seemed distant to me once since I was just treated as property).

I am currently very happy with where my life is and would not trade my loved ones for anything.

3. Believes that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions).

It is no secret that I am autistic and find it much easier and more enjoyable to interact with other autistic people with similar traits and outlooks. I also kept my distance from all the students at every academic institution I have ever gone to for a variety of reasons and most people just don’t interest me and even feel kind of “dead” somehow.

It’s not really a matter of snobby status judgment so much as a neutral evaluation of mental compatibility though, and I remain polite regardless.

4. Requires excessive admiration

I wouldn’t say this one is entirely true. As long as master is pleased, so am I. His opinions (as well as my own and those of a small handful of people I respect) are the only ones that really matter to me beyond purely instrumental advantages.

In fact, there are certain people that I would be slightly ashamed to be praised by in at least some ways due to extreme differences in terminal values. I think being disliked by such people only adds to my greatness if anything.

5. Has a sense of entitlement (i.e. - unreasonable expectations of especially favourable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations).

I don’t think I do. It is true that if I can get away with it I avoid following rules that make no sense to me (such as the dress code at my high school), however I don’t think this is something that should have been special treatment reserved only for me. I think meaningless rules like that should simply not exist for anyone else either.

Similarly, I often note inadequacies in various systemic issues that affect me, but rather than just wanting to get a unique pass over those issues I would prefer if the issues just didn’t exist to begin with.

6. Is interpersonally exploitative (i.e. - takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends).

I mean, famously so. I have mentioned before how I manipulated my way out of an abusive household and how this was basically my life’s work and most important character arc.

I don’t actually enjoy lying or manipulating people and I prefer not doing it. I found it stressful, and having to do it for so long in order to survive was an obstacle to my ability to form bonds with people. It’s a huge relief to just be honest.

However, I am still proud of it and feel completely guilt-free about doing it. I’m also just pleased about how people who learn about my tragic backstory come out of it simply being impressed by my actions rather than pitying me.

When facing abusers who hold every single advantage over you, you must be able to defeat them before even declaring war. 

This requires you to lie to them. It requires you to take a distanced approach to yourself and master your own appearance, to make your face malleable for the sake of playing multiple roles and concealing your intentions. It requires you to smile at your enemies, to speak against your true feelings.

This is what I did, and I would absolutely do it again if I had to.

7. Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others

I do lack empathy, but specifically affective empathy. 

I do recognize other people’s emotions, I just don’t share them, am not directly affected by them, and sometimes don’t know exactly why they are feeling them.

The interesting part is that my lack of empathy only started around 6 years ago, but I was still very much narcissistic even before then. I wonder why it suddenly vanished like that.

8. Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her

This is possibly the funniest symptom on the list because I do not merely believe that others are envious of me, I know it because they keep telling me that they envy me.

People have told me that they envy everything from my breast sensitivity and my hair to things like my ability to write thousands of words a day several days in a row or my ability to simply enjoy life and find love despite my disabilities.

Even back in school, people used to envy things like my ability to ace exams without studying or making any effort. It really highlighted how much actual work other people had to do just to even approach what I was capable of just doing naturally and effortlessly despite not bothering with class.

9. Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes.

I mean, yeah. Have you seen the URL? I think I’m pretty great and I express this openly. 

At my college orientation I even wore my usual lab coat and introduced myself as an enemy of the gods with absolutely no shame (plus plenty of posing) because I’m just so high on myself.

[the-firebird69]

They said our son is too rich she covers too many bases and it's too crazy and easy but they're going to sit in the meeting and just try and order one and we said that's good. And we have the factories and we're putting people to work and they're not necessarily us and so they said good and we're there too and want to clean product. This is a very small house these would be for inner city Small House apartments and he said too for like a quad Plex and there's plenty of spaces in the cities where the house is gone or dilapidated to no return and it would be beautify it and you'd have an entryway for each in a parking lot for the for all of them on the property and you have to use up the driveway for it and it would be like four or five tiny houses in one and they say that's great and there could be towers with this concept and the top few floors four or five could be sweets let the whole thing and they're like a story and a half or a little bit bigger it's really two stories for regular people's height and it utilizes the space so we are thinking this is the best idea we've heard and it has to be per code and tiny homes me to code and they said when you put more people together it's more dangerous but not if you have ideas to meet the code fire escapes that come off the patios in other words you would have adjoining walkways that you can get through somehow that would lead to a fire escape and people like that and you can close it now we're looking at how to do that and people think it can't be done but it can and we have trouble shooters working on it this idea is terrific and it's fun and people out there will make it work and it will keep them in a nice tight community where they can talk about it and how life is not that bad they'll have everything they want video games TV computers and it'll fit all around the place and it'll be modern and I'll have a washer and a dryer his promise from day one with a tiny home apartment complexes condos quads and towers would be that you each have a washer and dryer and dishwasher then we're going to lay it out like that nobody should be kept prisoner in your own facility by having to go to the laundromat room and put up with whatever happens down there and they really like it and these places would have common areas places to blow off steam and big large living room type place a place you can rent for parties and family gatherings you can have your units have gatherings there and quite often and you can have people put on seminars and and there would know would not be a HOA fee at all he doesn't like the idea there's no reason in an apartment for that and condominiums do it because you're owning it and someone has to pay for it and he says you pay like a management company so he doesn't like the idea of having an HOA we don't either makes enemies instead of HOA you would have a management company and you and they hire people to do the lawn and the cleaning and keep the upkeep and you have a common building so there's two scenarios but really this is a terrific idea and

We're going to put it in the pipe right now and for micro hotels also his idea is that bunk beds and you sleeping quarters and you have a kitchenette shower bathroom but it sleeps like 8 or 10 people and people love that so we're going to go ahead and start

Thor Freya

We need places to live too and they said they can do modular very fast and they have these modular concrete ones they pull together this is incredible but this new idea is going to make life nice and he says you can make tiny house and small home villages and he has designed a few and I heard about it and they're outrageously fun sounding I want to get going on it we have all these electric devices and Harley's little Harley bikes and e-bikes we can race that's a thought too is evike races around the neighborhood and they become formalized with different types of evike and you can have a trail and things like that that would lead off to other tiny home neighborhoods or small home neighborhoods around the pond but it sounds like a good time and p**** defense and gated and you can go in your friend can buzz you in the back I've had enough of this these are great ideas and the tiny home village you can fit a lot of people in there with a lot less hassle I'm going to get going on this now

Bja

This all sorts of ideas for parking but there's never anything that really works at great and he said you could do underground parking and kind of it's really not nice then you said you'd do a parking lot and you have a device in your car and people don't like that the only thing you can do is a driveway so you put it towards the back a little and it makes it look nice that's how you do it and it keeps the car safer

Thor Freya

Olympus

We're going to go ahead and proceed today and elect him his secret identity and level

Bja

And no it's not head janitor

Trump

It's not head fixer either it's not lieutenant no not colonel not generally going the wrong way

Dan

It's not first private it passed it you're way past it

Bg

You're not general adjutant to the prime two-star general either whatever the hell that is I think I know what that is we know what they're saying it is

Preston

You'll never get out of me until I figure it out

Boll

Yeah he's not going to tell that I want I will no

Ken yeah I might eat somewhere tomorrow

Olympus

[ofprevioustimes]

[ @ofimaginarybeings​ ]

Asha had been sailing for over a year when her fleet disembarked in Mereen.

For a long time their journey had no destination. The crew needed to regain their strength, and there was no better way to do that than to raid cities and villages from port to port. Her group was small, but fierce. The dragon tales reached them first in the port of Oldtown, fantastic and easily dismissed - they’d had a good laugh about the way even grown men seemed to believe them - but then the story repeated itself over and over wherever they landed. Something was off about that… Asha might be too old to believe in dragons, but when word of their return was spread through Braavos and Volantis and Slaver’s Bay, one had to wonder if there was something worth investigating, something concrete beneath the foolish gossip, whatever it was.

And at last she’d landed here. 

Just finding Daenerys was hard enough in itself: the world might have sung of one peculiar story to her, but there were a thousand different versions of it, some more absurd than others. She wanted a friendly arrival, so the crew guested in an inn instead of pillaging. There was no doubt at this point that the last Targaryen heir had survived and ruled here, but reaching her had been another endeavor. Countless people lined up to meet her everyday, and Asha never quite liked waiting. She’d looked for second best, but the task wasn’t quite easy. It was difficult to make an impression with her meager numbers, and even the queen’s Westerosi advisors would have looked down on Pyke, she assumed.

But one of her crewmen had found one Ser Jorah, and somehow she was able to convince the man that the meeting was in the queen’s best interests. 

Now she was here, in person, and Asha couldn’t help but think that the drowned god had sent her ship to Mereen for a reason. She hadn’t seen any dragons, but the force of Daenerys’ Unsullied  caught her attention. Oh, if they could sail to Westeros together as allies… The thought was too abstract - she didn’t know the woman, nor her intentions or even the whole extent of her force - but it was a sweet thing to contemplate, even if just for a moment. The bitter taste of defeat had lingered in her mouth too long.

 “My queen”, she greeted, bowing, then stepped closer to the other woman. “Asha Greyjoy, of the Iron Islands.”

[hotshotsxyz]

that old familiarity

(buddie) (671 words) (spoilers for 5x16)

Buck’s insides feel twisted and misshapen. They made it out. They all did. But for a second there… Suffice it to say, people don’t usually survive ten tons of concrete falling on them. 

Eddie’s presence is a soothing balm, though. It always has been, but tonight feels different, somehow. Different, maybe, because Eddie’s different. Settled in a way he hasn’t been in months. He catches Buck’s eye and offers him a half smile, and it loosens something in his chest. 

His girlfriend is standing over by the nurse’s station, Buck knows. He should probably go over to her. Make sure she’s okay, maybe, although he can’t imagine why she wouldn’t be. He stays with Eddie instead.  

Eventually, Hen finds them. The news is good, mostly, but it worries Buck that Bobby’s hurt, even if it is just a pinched nerve. Eddie says they’re lucky, though, and it’s hard not to believe him. 

All at once, Buck is exhausted. There’s some kind of commotion at the entrance to the hospital, but he doesn’t have the energy to pay it any mind. Eddie seems to sense it and leads him to a pair of chairs tucked away in the corner of the waiting room. 

For a while, they sit in comfortable silence, until Eddie finally breaks it. 

“It felt good today,” he says with a breathless little laugh. “I felt good. I can’t remember the last time…”

Buck allows himself a small smile, because yeah, in the second before Lucy called in the mayday, he’d felt good too. Light. Like the detritus that had settled in his chest was finally dissipating, floating away on every exhale. The smoky air outside dispatch had almost tasted sweet. 

“It did,” he agrees. 

Eddie ducks his head and grins, just a little too wide for a hospital waiting room. “I think…” he shakes his head. “No, I know.”

Buck shifts so he’s facing Eddie directly, but he doesn’t say anything. 

“I’m ready,” Eddie says. 

There’s not a thing Buck can do to stop the smile that spreads across his face. “Yeah?”

Eddie nods. “It’s time to come home.”

It’s the best news Buck’s heard all week. Well– unless you count Bobby and May’s miraculous survival, but since Buck was there for that, it doesn’t really seem like news. 

Buck bites down on his lower lip, but it doesn’t do a thing to stop his smile from widening. “It’s damn good to have you back,” he admits, like it’s some kind of secret. Like it wasn’t written all over his face the entire time they were in there. 

“I’m not back yet,” Eddie reminds him gently. 

Buck shrugs. “Sure you are. Now it’s just a matter of paperwork.”

Eddie sobers a little. “You think Bobby’s going to okay it?”

“Eds, he brought you an extra set of turnouts today. He wants you back almost as bad as I do,” he says. 

“Oh, almost as bad?” Eddie asks, a teasing lilt to his tone. 

Suddenly, Buck’s a little breathless. “Yeah,” he says softly, “Almost.”

Eddie’s expression softens, and he nudges Buck’s shoulder with his own. “I’ve missed you,” he says, like it’s simple, like it’s an immutable fact of nature. The sun shines, there are fish in the sea, and Eddie’s missed Buck. 

A few tears spring to Buck’s eyes and he blinks them away. “I was at your place last night,” he protests, a little rough. 

“Yeah,” Eddie agrees. “But I missed being your partner.”

Buck swallows and manages a nod. He thinks Eddie gets it. 

For a while, they sit in silence, just waiting for Bobby to be discharged. There’s something oddly comforting about the familiarity of it all. His family, gathered in one place, no need to talk because everyone in the room understands why they’re there. There was a while when Buck thought they’d never all be under the same roof again. 

Now, though, he knows. They’re going to be okay. They’re going to be whole again. 

It’s just a matter of time.

[collecting-stories]

Inventory - Daryl Dixon

Request: you can write anything tbh! just something small and sweet, if you don’t mind :) (daryl anon)

A/N: This is honestly just random established relationship fluff or something.

The Walking Dead Masterlist

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

You weren’t entirely sure that you liked Alexandria. It felt like someone had captured the old world in a time capsule and you were viewing all the things that you had forgotten about. Shower pressure and hot water and actual running water weren’t things that you took for granted and you’d practically cried in the bathroom when the toilet flushed but all the other parts felt uncomfortable. Like clothing that didn’t fit you anymore. You weren’t Daryl, waiting with his hand on a gun for the moment everything went to shit, but you certainly weren’t about to done a cardigan and act like a soccer mom getting ready for a bake sale either. You would let Carol handle the assimilating and gossip. Or at least the former, the latter, you couldn’t escape.  

“I wouldn’t’ve pegged him as your type.” Olivia mentioned, hellbent on making inventory a gossip session.  

“What?” You looked away from the open garage door to where Olivia was stacking cans of corn and writing down their number in her composition book.  

“Daryl. I noticed you watch him a lot...is that like, you guys got a thing going on or you just looking?” She asked.  

You paused in your rearranging of cans to look back out the garage door again. Daryl was across the street talking to Aaron and Michonne and you tried to formulate an answer that made sense for Olivia and for you. She hadn’t technically asked if you were ‘together’ (that ominous word that felt so weighty when you said it to yourself) but she was definitely asking for a definition. Were you more than friends, absolutely. That wasn’t even something you needed to think about. You certainly weren’t sharing beds with your friends the way you did with Daryl. But he’d never given any definition to your togetherness and somehow, even defining it felt like such an archaic thing. Another piece of the old world pulled from the time capsule.  

“I mean...” you shrugged, “both I guess?” There was a thing, for lack of a more concrete term, but you also liked looking at him a whole lot. You’d been enjoying looking at him for a while now and sometimes on the road you’d thought, if something happened, who would you look for in a crowd. It wasn’t just that you liked the view, it was that feeling of something that anchored you into the moment, made your head a little less dizzy, made all this more bearable.  

“I guess he’s not bad looking.” Olivia laughed a little, her cheeks reddening at the thought and you wanted to agree. He most certainly was not bad looking. And you had told him so plenty of times, in the privacy of your own room. “He doesn’t seem very...” she paused, looking over at you as if she had caught herself speaking out of turn.  

Small talk and social etiquettes felt like something you’d left behind too, far too used to being direct with people. It almost felt odd for her to be so unforthcoming.  

“Friendly?” You asked. She didn’t need to say it for you to know what she was thinking. It seemed to be a consensus throughout Alexandria. The community had differing opinions about all of you but the one thing they all agreed on was Daryl’s lack of acceptable behavior. He wasn’t particularly friendly with any of them (aside from Aaron maybe) and he acted more like a caged animal than someone who was grateful for shelter and protection.  

“Uh, yeah.” Olivia nodded, pink cheeks staining darker, “I mean, I’m sure he talks to you, of course...it’s just, I’ve never found him to be particularly...warm.”  

Warm, you felt like the word echoed in your mind once she said it. You’d never really spent too much time thinking about the way you would describe Daryl, he was just, himself, and that was it. You didn’t linger on what he was, what you expected him to be. Even if you didn’t ever think of yourselves as ‘together’ you knew exactly what you were.  

You thought about offering up a defense for him, explaining that he was warm. He was being wrapped in a blanket on a cold night or feeling the sun on your shoulders in the early morning. It wasn’t something you considered often, that you felt like you needed to name, but you knew it right away. The words came on the tip of your tongue, like you’d been waiting to think them. But you didn’t get the chance.  

Daryl came up the driveway while you were staring at him and the softest of smiles graced your features as you watched him, giving a small wave. Maybe you wouldn’t have thought about it if you hadn’t been talking to Olivia but, as Daryl held your gaze the whole up the drive, you were reminded of when you might’ve categorised his behaviour as more shy than reserved. Now it felt like he held back because he chose to, deciding what parts of himself other people got to see. When you’d first known him it was more a defense mechanism than an ordinary occurrence, and he’d never been comfortable meeting your eye.  

“Did you come to help with inventory?” You teased, already hearing the grumbled response in your mind before he said it.  

“Just passing by,” he replied, glancing over to the far corner where Olivia was still sitting, notebook open in her lap. “Morning.”

You wondered if she was scrutinising the interaction. Trying to see for herself what you saw in Daryl, as if that was possible.  

“I’ll go check to make sure we’ve got all the dry foods from upstairs.” Olivia announced, standing from her spot and bumping her chair back against the sorting table. It rattled but nothing fell over and she went so quickly out of the room she looked like she was power-walking.  

“What’s a matter with her?” Daryl asked, taking your water bottle from the ground by your chair and unscrewing the cap so he could drink some.  

“She was asking about you, weren’t your ears burning?” You joked.  

He glanced down at you, unamused, before finally taking the bait, “why’s she asking?”  

“Said I stare at you all the time.”  

“So quit staring.” He capped the water bottle and set it back in its place before fiddling with different cans on the shelves, pulling them off and reading the labels.  

“Easier said then done,” you replied, grabbing your notebook off the shelf in front of you, “besides, I don’t wanna forget what you look like.”  

“Why? You going somewhere?”  

You scrunched your nose at his words and shook your head, “no, but you are right…saw you talking to Aaron.”

“Think ya watch me just ta spy on what I’m doing.”  

“I’m right though, you two are headed out?” You asked.  

“Don’t make it something it ain’t…I’ll be back in a few days time.”  

Daryl was good at coming back when he left, you knew it from experience. He’d come back when he’d left with Merle, he’d come back when he’d left to find Beth, when he went off on his own to hunt he always came back. As sure as you were that he would leave, you were just as sure he would find his way back again. It wasn’t something you had to think about or reassure yourself of but sometimes it was easier to give in to that worst case scenario that sat in the back of your mind.  

“I know,” you said it like you were promising him, “but that’s a few days without seeing you…who am I supposed to look for?”  

Daryl set down the can of beets he was looking at and walked the short distance back to you. His hand wrapped around the end of your ponytail and he gave a gentle tug, guiding your head all the way back so you were looking straight up at him. You thought it was probably a good thing Olivia wasn’t here, she’d seemed scandalised enough at his presence in the room, you could imagine all the things she’s knock over if she saw him now, one hand holding your ponytail and the other on your neck as he leaned down and kissed you.  

It was a softer kiss than the hold implied and you considered the juxtaposition of Daryl’s softness and roughness your favorite thing about him. It’d taken a while, to see the soft bits, but now you saw them all the time. How he kissed you so comfortably, like he’d always been doing it. His tongue brushing your bottom lip almost teasingly but he pulled away before you could do more, standing back up straight and dropping his hands. He gripped the back of your folding chair and you leaned against his hand, feeling them press into the skin between your shoulder blades, bare from your tank top. You kept your head tilted back, a little more comfortably though.  

“When do you leave?” You asked, half expecting him to tell you he was headed to the gate now. Your brain still felt a little dizzy from the kiss but that was a normal occurrence.  

“Tomorrow morning.” He replied, letting go of the chair to run his knuckles along your spine. “Shouldn’t be longer than a day or two.”  

There was a quieter bumping noise and a soft curse as Olivia peeked back into the doorway, a few boxes of pasta haphazardly held in her arms. “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt.”  

“It’s alright,” you replied but truthfully you were just being nice. Because Daryl had already retracted his hand you felt goosebumps on your skin in his absence, as if your body was trying to chase the sensation of him.  

“Ya need help?” He asked, motioning to the boxes as she dropped them onto the sorting table.  

“Would you mind? I’ve got another laundry basket full of them to bring down here and I dropped like five on the staircase.” She explained, following after him to point them out.  

Daryl disappeared through the door, Olivia right behind him, and you went back to organising the latter half of the alphabetically arranged cans. Olivia tended to be more loose-lipped than her other Alexandria counterparts and you couldn’t help imagining her asking him questions, trying to dig out some part of a person under the cold exterior he’d given off while he was here. Searching for the warmth she thought was lacking. They weren’t gone long, Olivia’s chipper voice carrying down the stairs.  

Daryl came through first, laundry basket piled high and the slightest hint of a glare as his eyes met yours, as if you’d somehow put him up to the task of helping.  

“You can set them on the sorting table,” Olivia instructed, “I’ll go through them once I’m finished the canned goods.”  

Setting them down, Daryl just nodded in agreement. You stopped from saying you’d see him tonight, in case that information was somehow on a need to know basis. But he was obviously being less purposefully withdrawn than you’d thought because he took another sip from your water bottle before telling you the exact thing you’d been too reserved to say.  

“I’ll see ya tonight,” he promised, putting your water bottle back and giving your ponytail a playful tug before leaving back down the driveway.  

You watched after him until he turned the corner and was out of eyesight.  

“I can see why you like him so much…” Olivia finally said, getting your attention as you looked back at her.  

“What?” You asked, wondering if he’d said something to her that changed her mind.  

Her cheeks tinged pink again and she looked down at her notebook, “I wasn’t trying to spy or anything…just, you know, wanted to bring those boxes in.”  

You nodded, prompting her to continue.

“I saw him kissing you…” she let out an airy sigh, “I’d be staring at somebody all day if they kissed me like that.”  

[dauntless-gothamite]

Prove Them Wrong [1/?]

Fandom: Divergent Pairing: Eric Coulter x Fem! Reader Summary: Y/N is a Dauntless transfer from Erudite, and she has a drive, an ambition that sets her apart--it always has, even back in Erudite. She brings her perseverance (and need to prove others wrong) to Dauntless when she transfers, and she uses her mind to make her way through the initiation process. Along the way, she makes friends and enemies, and she finds herself comfortable around the man most people in Dauntless avoid at all costs: Eric Coulter.  A/N: hey, everyone! so some elements of this are based on myself and how I interact with people, mainly because I tend to bond with people who are not well-liked (i.e. I got along well with teachers everyone hated, consistently). I plan to keep most descriptions of the reader vague so you can insert yourself, though! this first chapter is a little bit slow, but I am already well into writing chapter 2, and I am really excited about where this fic is going! Enjoy!!

“Dauntless!” Marcus Eaton called out--Abnegation was hosting the Choosing Ceremony this year--and as your blood hit the burning coals, a series of cheers and claps erupted from the fearless faction. You took your place next to the other Dauntless transfers and snuck a glance at your family. Your parents looked sad--disappointed, almost--but it was nothing compared to the way some parents reacted to their children choosing another faction. Your father caught your eye as he pulled a handkerchief from his crisp blue suit and handed it to your mother, who was just barely containing her tears. Quickly, you looked away. A moment later, a girl with dirty blonde hair sat down beside you. Her loose grey clothing indicated she was in Abnegation, or at least she had been. She was Dauntless now, and so were you. 

A series of names you only half heard filled the room, and before you knew it, the ceremony was over. Then, as if they’d been waiting for the chance to get up from their seats, all the Dauntless rushed out of the building, racing for the train tracks. You and the other initiates stared at them as they began to climb, shocked. Sure, you knew you’d be taking the train, but you’d never thought about how you’d actually get there. Shoving the thought out of your mind, you began to climb, the Abnegation girl from before and a girl from Candor scaling the poles on either side of you. Once you made it to the top, you saw everyone standing in a line, facing away from the train. That’s when it hit you: they were going to run and jump onto the train. This was unlike anything you’d ever done, but it was exciting, and you knew that with the right speed and angle, you’d be fine. When the rails started to vibrate and the train came into view, you took off. 

You weren’t the fastest, but you weren’t the slowest either, and that was worth something. At the very least, you would make the train. Then, out of the corner of your eye, you saw an opening, and without hesitation, you jumped. It was so different from life in Erudite. There, nothing was done without consideration. You had to look at a problem from all angles and weigh the possibilities, consider the outcomes of every scenario, even for the simplest of tasks. Here, you could just do. It was liberating, and you knew you’d made the right choice. Although, it would be damn near impossible to drop all of the habits you’d picked up in Erudite. Some aspects of the scholarly faction were simply a part of you; it would be impossible to erase that. But, for the sake of your survival, you’d have to do your best. 

“Hey,” said a voice from behind you. You turned around and saw a boy with brown hair and dark eyes, which stood out against his pale skin. “I’m Albert,” he said. “But everyone calls me Al.” He stuck his hand out and you shook it.

“I’m Y/N,” you said, glad to have already made one friend. You smiled before turning away to look out at the city; the train provided a great view when it wasn’t in the center of the city surrounded by buildings. While you were looking at the skyline, you saw movement and heard screams of both terror and excitement to your left. You turned to see what was causing the commotion, and you saw people jumping from the train onto a gravelly roof. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Al said as he joined you at the edge of the train. 

“This is crazy,” you agreed. But whereas Al looked terrified, you were grinning, adrenaline from boarding the train still pumping through your veins, making you aware of each and every nerve in your body. Then, with the roof coming up, you took a few steps back, ran forward and jumped. 

Your body hit the gravelly roof hard, ripping a hole in your blazer. Thankfully, it seemed like that was the only thing that broke; your body felt perfectly fine, if a little sore from the impact. You looked around to see Al a few feet away from you, and you smiled, glad he’d made it. The two of you got up and headed to the other end of the roof, where the initiates who had already jumped off the train stood facing a tall man with cropped hair and neck tattoos. “Alright, listen up,” the man said when the last car of the train passed the edge of the roof. If someone wasn’t off of it yet, there was only one stop for them now: factionless. “I’m Eric, one of your leaders here at Dauntless. I will also be overseeing your training, which began the second your blood hit the coals. So, rather than waste any more time, let's get on with it. You want to get into Dauntless, this is the way in. Who is going to jump first?”

At this point, everyone was peering over the ledge Eric stood on, more focused on what was behind him. A dark hole in the concrete far below where we stood. You looked around you, nodding at Will, who you knew from Erudite, happy to see a familiar face amongst all this chaos. As you moved towards him, the girl from Abnegation who had sat next to you earlier stepped forward. “Me,” she said, volunteering to jump first. Everyone looked around with wide eyes while Eric scoffed. 

“The Stiff? Alright.”

Unbothered, the girl stepped onto the ledge, and a few seconds later, she disappeared into the shadowy depths of whatever lay below.

Watching the girl in grey jump first had sent a shock of surprise through you, but it was followed by something new, the desire to try this new and dangerous thing before you, and as the third jumper stepped off the ledge, you found yourself stepping forward, volunteering to go next. As you stepped onto the ledge, Eric raised a pierced brow at you, waited a few seconds for the previous jumper to get off of the net, and jerked his head towards the net, motioning for you to jump. And then, in a silent response, you jumped, a smile unexpectedly gracing your lips as you made contact with the net below, landing with a bounce. You turned to the man standing next to the net who helped you out of the net, and he introduced himself as Four before directing you to stand in line with the other initiates who had already jumped. Minutes crawled by as you waited for the rest of the initiates to jump, and after what felt like forever, Eric landed in the net and directed his cold stare at the initiates lined up as he slid off the net without Four’s assistance--though it didn’t seem like Four was inclined to help him, either. Interesting. 

--

The transfer dorm was small, crowded, and damp--somehow it was exactly what you expected and entirely different at the same time. As everyone claimed a bed, Four and Eric stood near the door, ready to make an announcement. You smiled at the Candor girl with short, black hair who was setting up the bed next to yours, about to introduce yourself when one of the trainers by the door--most likely Eric--cleared his throat, silencing the room. “Welcome to Dauntless, Eric said. “As Four just explained, this is where you will be staying for the next few weeks while you complete your training. You will receive more information about the training process tomorrow morning at the first session, but for now all you need to know about it is that the training room is three floors up, down the hallway, and to the left. Meet in the Pit, which is upstairs, in fifteen minutes for some announcements from Max and dinner.” Then, he left.

“That guy is all business, huh?” the girl you were about to introduce yourself to said lightly. 

“Yeah,” you smiled back. “I’m Y/N, by the way.”

“Christina,” she replied with an outstretched hand. As you shook her hand she looked you over and said, “So, Erudite. What made you want to transfer?”

“Well, it is best for one to go to a place for which they are well-suited…” you trailed off. “What about you, Candor?”

“Candor is a place of words and action, with slightly more words. I wanted more action,” she shrugged. A thud on the bed on your other side distracted you before you could respond, and you turned around to see familiar light green eyes.

“Will!” you said, wrapping your fellow Erudite transfer in a brief hug. You’d vaguely registered his name at the choosing ceremony followed by the word “Dauntless”, but it hadn’t really dawned on you until now that there were fellow Erudite transfers here. “Have you seen Edward?” you asked.

“Yeah, he’s right over there,” Will replied, pointing to the corner of the room. You waved at Edward, and he smiled back as he continued setting up his bed. 

“Amazing,” you said softly, more to yourself than to Will. “By the way, this is Christina, she’s from Candor,” you said, remembering your new friend. Will shot her a smile, and Christina reached out to shake his hand.

“Nice to meet you,” she said enthusiastically. 

“Likewise,” Will replied. Seeing all of your fellow transfers getting to know each other was exciting, and even though you wanted to stay in this room with all of them and get to know everyone else, you knew it was a better idea to start making your way to the Pit; there was rarely a time when showing up early was a bad thing, and leaving early would make sure you got there in time even if you got lost along the way. As you started to head out down the hallway, the former Abnegation joined you, seeming to have the same idea. “Hi,” you said, introducing yourself. “I’m Y/N.”

“I’m Tris,” she replied quietly. “You were in Erudite, right?” she asked.

“I was. And you were in Abnegation?”

“Yeah.” There was something sad about the way she said it, but you decided to let it go; you didn’t really know her yet. As you were thinking of what to say next, Tris interrupted your thoughts saying, “My brother just transferred there. To Erudite, I mean.”

“Don’t worry, he’ll love it,” you said, smiling fondly as memories of the Erudite libraries surfaced in your mind. “You get to spend so much time learning and teaching others, and they actually respect personal space--at least a little bit. I’ll even let you in on a secret: the suits are much more comfortable than they look, I promise.” She laughed a little bit at the last statement, and you relaxed, starting to enjoy her company. 

--

As it turned out, you and Tris had no trouble finding the Pit, and it wasn’t surprising that you were the first ones there. Both of you sat down, and you did your best to ignore the occasional looks from Four and Eric as they stood on a balcony overlooking the Pit with Max, the head of Dauntless leadership and the faction’s representative when the five factions held council, and talked amongst themselves. Soon, thankfully, a few more of the transfers sat down with you and Tris, and they were soon followed by a steady trickle of transfers, the room getting louder with each person who entered. Max walked to the edge of the balcony and called for everyone’s attention, and the room got quiet, a nervous excitement filling your body. 

“Welcome, initiates,” the leader’s low voice filled the room. “We are glad to have you here at Dauntless. Here, you will be trained to be protectors of our city. You will be tested physically, emotionally, and mentally, and it will be hard, but you will come out stronger and braver, which is what you need to be to survive in this faction. Your training starts tomorrow; you will be working with Four and Eric, the initiates who aren’t transfers will be working with Lauren. For now, dig in, you’re going to need your strength for tomorrow.” Cheers erupted across the room, and people got up to grab food before racing back to their new friends. This was the beginning of something new for everyone, and excitement raced through your veins. You were ready to start your new life.