#and they migrate to the bathroom to drink toilet and sink water

[goron-king-darunia]

IRL Achievement GET: Last Resort: "So it's come to this?" Use vinegar and an old broom to clean the fruit fly corpses off the shower walls.

[lovelyparkers]

break ups and make ups

summary: you and peter break up after a falling out about his safety, but you can't stand being apart. crazy shit happens at a party and then crazy shit happens at home leaving you ending up at peter's apartment

warnings: angst & fluff, break ups, 2.3k words

peter was never safe as spider-man, but that's something you failed to realize. he was a hero, so people were always after him no matter what. it wasn't in his control either. but you didn't understand, which is why the two of you got in a huge argument one night after he showed up at your apartment window all bloody and battered. long story short, you told him you couldn't bear to see him like this anymore to which he said it was all out of his control and he was trying his best to be safe. you didn't want to lose him, so you figured it would be best if you both parted ways. there's no doubt you were still in love, it was just a matter of safety according to you. but he would still be getting hurt, and now you wouldn't be there.

—

"y/n! let's go to a party tonight and get wasted! i will also be bringing fresh bread."

"what? mj no," you scoffed at your friend who was trying to cheer you up a week after your breakup.

"dude, you gotta get out of this shit hole, and that's coming from me," she said pointing to herself. (ps i had a dream the other night i was best friends with zendaya and what the fuck i want that so bad)

"is he gonna be there?"

"peter?" she scoffed, laying back on your bed, "that bastard doesn't go anywhere! c'mon just me and you, some drinks, some toast, it'll be great."

"ok fine! but i'm not drinking. toast and you will do."

"thatta girl, let's go!"

so you and mj went on your way to liz's house in the suburbs for a typical high school house party. not your forte but hey mj made it a blast. you two walked in and immediately saw flash at the dj stand being obnoxious. "hey y/n! what goes on?"

you just ignored flash and walked to the kitchen and found liz, said hey and she told you to enjoy the party. mj immediately plugged in the toaster and pulled out two pieces from her fresh loaf she brought.

"i don't get whats with you and toast."

"it's a delightful snack y/n get with it."

you just shook your head at her laughing, while grabbing a water bottle and took a sip. you watched her perfectly prepare the toast and handed one slice to you. and just as you were about to savor the wonderful snack that mj always made perfectly you heard a loud yell from flash.

"penis parker!"

you peeked around the kitchen and saw peter and ned then quickly pulled mj into a corner. "you said he wasn't gonna be here!"

"oh he's here?"

"yes!"

"well i didn't think he would come! you of all people know how he is. do you want me to yell at him and tell him to scram for you? cuz i will."

"what? no! this was a civil breakup and i still very much love him, we don't need yelling!"

mj almost choked on her toast, "wait you still love him?"

"yeah...we broke up because...it doesn't matter! just be cool!"

"alright whatever you say."

peter and ned were walking on over to the kitchen when they spotted you.

"ned," peter held out a hand to stop him, "why is y/n here? with michelle?"

"um maybe because it's a party and everyone goes to these things. not that you would know peter."

"dude..."

"i'm just saying. and why does it matter?"

"because i still love her and i don't know if i can bare to see her right now it's just—"

"spider-man, i know," ned finished.

"hey! what are you two losers doing here?" mj called out to the boys and you pressed your lips together, kicking her foot.

"i said be cool."

"this is being cool. ignoring them is not being cool."

ned and peter walked closer, you turned around just before he came into sight and finished your toast.

"you're here too," ned added.

"am i?" mj took a bite and flared at the two. then she gestured her arms to you, which you couldn't see since you were facing the other way, leaning against the counter. peter knew mj was gesturing to you for him but he just looked at ned who was already staring at him nodding 'yes.'

"no, ned, no," peter pulled ned's arm and they migrated to the hallway, talking and awkwardly waving to class mates that had no idea who they were.

"he's gone," mj said.

"phew. okay you have to help me avoid him."

"hell no. you can't just keep avoiding him, plus i'm not meddling in this."

"c'mon please?"

"i hate teenagers," mj sighed.

"you're a teenager."

"touché." she dusted the crumbs off her hands and headed to the living room to probably go spark up an argument and scare the popular kids away so she would be able to sit somewhere. you were now left alone in the kitchen with your water bottle. you decided to chug it down, because what else do you do in a situation like this? you drink water to avoid talking to anyone. but drinking 20 ounces of water in five minutes meant you had to pee so now you were off to the hallway to go to the bathroom.

you firstly scoped out the hallway: no peter, then walked straight to the door and locked it behind you. you rested your forehead on the door a second, letting out a breath, then turned. and instead of facing the toilet, you were facing peter who was sitting on a stool in the corner, phone in one hand and eyes stuck on you. you froze in your tracks, forgetting about having to pee.

"hi?" you whispered.

"was that a question?"

you scoffed, "no i just—what are you doing in the bathroom?"

"well hi to you...but, the crowd was, you know, stressing me out."

"you okay?"

"i am now." peter kind of smiled, it was barely there but you could see the edge of his lips turn up just slightly. "plus flash is being a dick."

"tell me about it," you laughed lightly.

"so what are you doing in here?"

you blanked then realized, "oh i had to pee." you walked over, pulling your pants down and sitting on the toilet. you were just being cool, right?

"y/n!"

"what?"

"you're—what are you doing!?"

"peeing! please it's not like you haven't seen more than this before."

peter's jaw tightened and he looked to the side to give you privacy and a perfect view of his jawline. once you flushed he looked back over at you at the sink, making eye contact with you through the mirror while you washed your hands.there was a very awkward silence.

"well?" you spoke up, "what are you still doing here?"

peter scoffed, "i wasn't just gonna leave."

"why?" you turned around, leaning on the sink to face him.

"i miss you."

"peter, it's been a week."

"so? i know you miss me too."

"maybe i do."

"so what are we doing?" he asked, getting up to stand closer to you.

"i don't know, what are we doing?"

and with those words, he took a step closer and connected his lips with yours. they tasted like butter, from the toast, and he smiled lightly against your lips. you wrapped your arms around his neck and his hands found your waist, pulling the two of you even closer and moved your lips together at a fast pace. and then it hit you. you stopped kissing back and dropped your arms down, but you didn't push him back yet. "what's wrong?" he asked, pulling back when he noticed your sudden actions, still gripping your hips.

you gulped loudly, tears forming in your eyes, "gotta go."

you pulled his hands off of you and unlocked the bathroom door, running out and then out of the front door. he wanted to chase after you, but he knew you didn't want him to.

you sent mj a quick text that you were going home and called an uber. peter left the bathroom after a minute or so and went to find ned. he was crying already, trying to dry his eyes on the sleeves of his shirt. he told ned that he called may to come pick them up and that she was on her way. ned just nodded and asked peter what was wrong; he explained everything.

the driver dropped you off outside your apartment and you entered the lobby only to find the elevators dark: broken. of course. so you took the several flights of stairs up to the 8th floor. you thought about that kiss, and how great it felt and how much you missed that and him. you couldn't imagine not loving him and the whole way up the flights, you thought about him and what would even happen next. where do you go from kissing your ex?

eventually you made it outside your door, unlocked it, and went in. it was completely dark inside and no one seemed to be home. you checked your phone to see a text from your parents that they had gone to a friends after the realized the power was out, stating that the land lord said it won't be back on for another 18 hours. they also told you to grab some stuff for the night and just stay over peter's, where they knew you would be safe. of course you had to face peter again, the same night you made out in a bathroom.

you hadn't told them about the break up yet. nor had peter told may.

you sighed and texted back an okay and grabbed some stuff for the night and then headed back down the treacherous stairs and walked two blocks and across the street to peter's apartment. you knew he'd be home by now, there's no way he'd last that long at a party. you knew him. and you weren't shocked when may answered the door and gave you a big hug exclaiming how she hadn't seen you in like a week. figures he didn't tell her either. she welcomed you in and told you to settle down in peter's room, that they just got home ten minutes ago. again, you knew him. nevertheless, you thanked may and headed down the hall to his room.

you knocked softly on the closed door.

"yeah may?" he called out, sniffling. he was obviously crying but tried to hide it from may.

you just opened the door and closed it behind you, dropping your bag on the ground as he just looked at you, jaw hanging down.

"y/n? what the hell? what are you doing here?"

"powers out for a day. parents wanted me to stay here."

"didn't tell them did you?"

you shook your head, "see you didn't tell may neither."

he shook his head before laying down and burying it back in his pillow.

" 'm sorry," he said, muffled into his pillow.

"it's okay. i'm sorry too."

"what are you sorry about, i kissed you."

"i liked the kiss but that's not the point. i broke up with you...and i don't think i should've," you said, walking over to sit on peter's bed. he sat back up, facing you.

"what do you mean?" he asked. he couldn't deny he was excited you had said that because he was still in love with you, but this was serious.

you played with peter's blanket, not facing him back. "i know now, after that kiss, that...i just i cant stop thinking about you."

he continued to run his eyes over you, trying to understand.

"i realize now that i was wrong. i know you're never gonna be safe as spider-man and i'm sorry i wasn't there for you like you needed me to be. i was only thinking about myself that night and i'm sorry. you mean so much to me. and i love you."

he grabbed your hand to stop you from pulling at the old sheets, ones you laid on many times before. he rubbed his thumb along your hand to comfort you, seeing the tears in your eyes.

"i love you too."

now you looked up at him, "can we kiss on better terms now?" he shook his head yes, smiling and leaning in to catch your lips. he set a hand on your jaw to hold your lips to his. once again, you moved your lips together and you scooted closer to him, practically on his lap, while still maintaining a heavy kiss. you ran a hand through his messy pillow hair and he sighed.

then may barged in, causing peter to drop from your lips and lean his head down, forehead against yours.

"peter benjamin parker you know what i told you about this door being open."

"i—"

"sorry may, it was my fault. won't happen again," you said, picking your head up and smiling at her. she just grinned back and left, leaving the door slightly ajar. peter chuckled, "i love you."

"i love you more!"

"so can we date again, i just wanna take you out and kiss you more i miss you still," peter exclaimed, pouting his lip.

"of course. i'm glad we worked this out."

"me too."

he smiled at you again, looking down at your lips and returning to a kiss. you were interrupted by may one more time to tell you she was going to sleep, then peter gave you a sly smirk, getting up and fully shutting the door.

ok whew i've been working on this for like five days or sumn i have had writers block ah but this was requested by my bae

i hope you liked it mwah <3

[of-thoughts-and-phobias]

Part Two: Realization

Sorry for the long wait! My phone broke, deleted everything, and now the new phone I got deleted the art I was working on. So no art for this chapter sorry.

A big thank you to my good friend @tinykitty252 for editing this!

Sean woke up on the floor beside his bed with the worst hangover ever. Was it even a hangover? Did he drink at all last night? What was his name again?

Red and green swirled through his vision, which made it hard to focus on anything.

"Ughh,hu" he sat up shaking his head, hoping to wipe away the pain. Nope, nope. Bad idea. Sean shot up and ran into the bathroom, before promptly throwing up in the toilet.

"Best way to start the morning," he thought spitefully, rubbing at his mouth.

He shuffled to the kitchen and filled a semi clean glass with water to wash out the sour taste in his mouth. Afterwards, he put a pot of coffee on and threw a few pieces of bread in the toaster. He downed another swig of water along with a pepto bismol. He sat up on the counter, counting the seconds by the indicator light on the coffee maker. The toast soon popped up, quickly followed by a high pitched beeeeep, so he hopped off the counter and grabbed them both before migrating over to the couch.

There was a wet squelch under his feet which made him jump a bit. It was his hoodie, tossed haphazardly on the floor the night before. 'Oh right,' he thought as he remembered the freak storm that came out of nowhere.

Next to his jacket was his phone. He picked it up and examined it; there was a sizable crack in the protector but that was easily replaceable. Sean switched it on and almost dropped it again.

"4:50??!" He'd missed both uploads! "Great. Just friggin fantastic," he groaned, swigging some coffee from the pot. He pulled up his Twitter to post a quick apology to his fans, and then speeding into his bedroom to get ready for the day.

Now feeling slightly less dead, Sean downed the rest of the coffee and set the pot in the sink to be washed later. He then headed to his recording room to at least get some work done. Camera up? Check. Game up and loaded? Sweet. Alright. In and out, Sean.

In.

And out.

"Okay and a 3, 2, 1 GO!"

As he worked, Sean could feel the tension start to leave his body and he found it easier to breathe.The pounding in his skull calmed down considerably and little by little, his strength started returning to him. Before he knew it, he had finished filming four whole videos! And that wasn't even counting the two that he'd uploaded earlier!

Sean sat back with a sigh. He checked his watch to find it was 9:45. "Some work, eh?"

His stomach started rumbling. He never did eat that toast, he remembered. He went to the kitchen and opened the fridge and good lord when was the last time he went shopping? Let's see here, peanut butter, m&m's, a half empty jar of pickles and what he hoped was a peach. Now, Sean didn't really feel like making a nightmare sandwich and having it exist so once more, he grabbed his keys and went out.

The roads were still wet despite not raining at all that day and the sky was clear for the first time in a while. A few stars were visible against the stark blue sky. The whole street was painted blue and it seemed that the only colors came from inside the shops.

Sean waited for a car to pass before running to the other side. He walked for a bit more until he arrived at a little, run down establishment. Best pizza in the neighborhood if you asked him. The door let out a pleasant chime as he entered and the smell of fresh baked bread welcomed him in.

"Heya Sean!" The guy behind the counter greeted.

"Hey Bruce," he greeted back.

"The usual?"

"Yeah but could you make it a large?"

"No problem."

"Thanks Bruce."

As he gave him the money, Bruce jumped back, flustered.

"Sorry man, y'kinda shocked me there," he said, grabbing the money from the floor.

"Did I? Huh, sorry."

"Don't worry about it," the tall man said, picking up the change he'd dropped. "Here's your receipt."

‘Huh, that was weird,’ he thought as he sat down. He rubbed at his wrists as he waited for his food.

Sean found himself awfully anxious but he wasn't quite sure why. His legs were bouncing, his fingers drumming on the table, his eyes darting to every little thing that twitched. The nervous looking man in the blue sweater had stopped to check his watch every thirty two seconds, poor dude. The barking of a dog a few blocks away followed by disgruntled shouts. He could clearly hear the lyrics from the music coming from one of the nearby apartments. He could perfectly see the wings of a fly circling one of the dangling lights. The lights. Why did they hurt? He was overwhelmed by just how loud everything was. The talking, the laughing, the dinging of the door, the colors, the lights. Why were they so loud?

"Sean!"

Everything stopped. He looked up to see a very concerned looking Bruce holding a fresh pie. Everyone in the restaurant seemed to be looking at them.

"Are you okay?"

Was he?

"Um yeah, m'fine. Haven't really eaten today, heh."

That didn't really ease his nerves but Bruce thought it best to not push it, so he placed the pie on the table and went back to the kitchen.

"T-thank you!" Sean yelled and he was answered by a mock salute.

It felt nice actually having food inside him and somehow Sean managed to eat the whole thing in about twenty minutes.

"You forget to breathe or somethin?" Bruce huffed as he came over to pick up the tray.

Sean chuckled "Absolutely. Nah, I just forgot lunch today."

"Whatever, goodnight Sean."

"Night Bruce."

Sean left the pizzeria with a full stomach and a ding from the door. Congratulations, he thought, you're a human being. Why'd he have to live so far away? If he had to walk any farther, he'd probably have to learn how to drive. ‘At least it wasn't raining this time,’ he mused.

A high pitched piercing noise came from nowhere and hit Sean like a punch to the face.

"Gah!!" He pawed at his eyes. What the-

"Sean.. McLaughlin?"

"Who's there?" He cried, still clawing at his face.

"William McLaughlin?"

"Do I know you?"

He could vaguely see two figures down the alley coming closer to him. A man and a woman by the looks of it. They were moving oddly, like they had no choice. Soon they stopped right in front of him.

"Sean.. William McLaughlin?" Okay now they were starting to freak him out.

"Yes! That's me! I swear if you guys say you're fans I wi-"

The man suddenly lunged at him, pulling him deeper into the backstreets, the woman standing directly behind him, blocking the way out.

"Hey! What're you doing? Let go of me, let go!" The man's grip did not budge. He continued to limp farther down the dark road. Sean started to panic, breaking his fists up and pounding against the man's chest. That did nothing to slow him down, but he kept trying.

"Let me go," He felt his hair rising on the back of his neck and his fingers start to tingle.

"Do you understand me ya fathead? I said " He raised up his fist.

"Let go of me!"

He clocked him right in the face, sending him across the street. "Woah what?"

He looked down at his hands. Blazing green mist flowed around his hands with his veins shining through his skin. What's happening to him? Oh no. Is he dying? Was the pizza radioactive? Was he drunk? What is happening?

The woman clumsily but determinedly ran towards him. Right. Now's not the right time for a break down, Sean. She reached out to grab him. But, grabbing her first, he pushed her away. She sprung back and grabbed him by the neck and pinned him down. The light from the passing cars rapidly illuminated her face. There was something definitely wrong with her, Sean could tell right away, but at the moment he was more focused on not dying than on the woman trying to kill him.

He put all of his strength into throwing her off. How was she so strong? She looked like she hasn't eaten in weeks!

"Ahh!" He yelled, reeling back.

"AAAGHHHH!!" Then everything went white.

When he came to, she was off of him and was trying to get back up. He looked around for the other one, taking note of his surroundings. For one thing, everything was on fire. Did he do that? Trash cans and discarded items were blazing and the water on the ground was steaming. The man from earlier had recovered and was slowly making his way across the street.

Sean ran to the back of the alley, only to be greeted by a ten foot fence. He was trapped.

Well, he thought, I hope these zombies are up for round two. They both jumped at him but he dodged under them. The man swung at him but he easily side stepped it. The man kicked his knee and sent him down, where the woman held down his legs.

"No!" He yelled.

The man wrapped his arms around his waist and started to pick him up.

"No! No no no n̷o̸ N̵̛̿O̴̻̎ ̵͚͝Ñ̸͊Ŏ̵̆ ̷͍̀N̸̈̄O̵͋̇!̵͓͆" power surged through him, burning him out of their grip. He felt like he was being torn apart. He screamed out in pain while they just watched in what could only be seen as confusion.

The street was alive with electricity, bolts of green lighting dancing across the walls. Glass from the nearby windows shattered and the ground below them started rumbling. And Sean was right in the middle of it.

"A̶̅̔ A̴̘̋ A̴̢͆ Ȁ̸̉ Ạ̵͝ Ğ̶͝ H̴͚͝ H̸̏̿ Ĥ̵̤ H̴̓̄ H̵͋̉!!"

They tried to get to him but the pure power surrounding the Irishman wouldn't allow them to come closer. And then.. Just as abruptly as it started

It was over.

The rumbling had ceased, the street had stopped hissing and it was dark once more.

The couple stood unfazed as the fires around them dwindled down into nothing as they looked down at the place where Sean William McLaughlin once laid.

Cold, brisk air rushed all around him, jostling him awake. He felt like he was floating on air. He opened his eyes and saw.. stars? Wasn't he in an alley?

A large rumbling thing whizzed underneath him.

It couldn't be.

'British Airways' was written in dark bold lettering along the body of the plane.

Those weren't stars. They were buildings.

"HOLY-" he was cut off by the plane shooting passed him, practically blowing out his eardrums.

"AHHHH"

Focus. How did this even happen? Last he checked, he was in the middle of being kidnapped!

He felt queasy, which was understandable considering the situation. The wind tugged at his face, pulling tears out of his eyes. This was it, he realized.

He held his arms out in front of him, ready to accept his fate when he noticed something odd. His arms were still glowing slightly, the burning green mist streaming behind him. Great, he still had some of that radiation left. Huh, that was a sentence he never thought he would say.

He focused on the burning sensation in his chest, drawing all of his power to his core. He felt worn out and overtaxed but he wouldn't be feeling anything if he'd just focus!

He thought of home.The nest of blankets on the couch, his recording room, the kitchen. The coffee pot he hadn't washed. Power flooded all throughout him. He recalled him and some friends playing on his Playstation when he first moved in. The God awful curtains he still hadn't gotten around to changing. The elevator that will probably never be fixed.

His apartment. His home.

He closed his eyes and dreamt. And it h̷u̶r̴t̷.

Pure, raw force circulated through his body, pulling it out of the sky and back to the earth.

Around thirty feet outside the complex, an old man was taking out the trash to the dumpsters. It was a pretty uneventful day if he were honest. Nothing really happens around here anymore. He sighed. The street lamps behind him started to flicker. He opened the lid to throw the bags in when a large blast suddenly came from the building across the lane. Emerald sparks shot up from a trash bin, followed by smoke.

There was coughing and wheezing coming from the bin, and it shook with every noise. A hand, followed by another came out the trash, accompanied by the rest of the man. He hopped out the dumpster and immediately keeled over.

He gasped "Young man!"

He didn't respond.

"You! On the ground! Is everything alright?!"

A moment passed.

".. Yeah," he wheezed "s'bad day."

"Better go home while there's still light."

"Thanks.."

Sean waited until he heard the door shut. Then he groggily got to his feet. Through shaking eyes, he saw the familiar glow from his apartment building across the street. He sighed with relief and started crying.

Close enough.

@septilover3 @cookiethedevil @obsidiancreates @reverseblackholeofwords @the-editor-is-bored @ytcoma @caori-azarath @alexis

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[datberlinlife-blog]

The duck

40-39-38 

 Yusuf could hear them shouting in the living room over the music, some people still chatting, knowing they’d started the countdown too early. 

 37-36-35 

He rested his head on the toilet bowl, the cool china a welcome relief on his hot, sweaty skin. He put his arms around the base and wished he hadn’t drunk all that wine. 

 28-27-26 

He heaved, but nothing came out. He had thrown up all his dinner and most of the water he had sipped from the bathroom sink. Someone banged on the door, but he just ignored it. What could he do? There was nowhere else he could go. 

 15-14-13 

The banging person stopped, probably because it was so close. This year was the same as last. As he sat there feeling sorry for himself, he suddenly felt something. In his throat. It felt… fluffy? But it was moving. It was the most unpleasant feeling, like a wriggling ball of hair. His sensitive stomach couldn’t take it, and he heaved again. 

4-3-2

In the bowl, looking back up at him, was a little duck with purple feathers, matted with sick. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Yusuf was still shaking, and the banging had resumed, and there was a little bird swimming in the toilet bowl, staring at him with huge black eyes. Someone started shouting from the other side, so he washed his faced, scooped the duck up, washed him and wrapped him in a towel. He ran out, barging passed a girl with in a sparkly shirt who shouted something at him. He opened the front door of the flat, and ran up two floors, settling in a deserted staircase, where he unwrapped his newly acquired friend.

It was still there. Small and purple. Big black eyes. A little yellow beak that opened and closed. Then a small sound. Not a quack, but a clearing of the throat. “Frohes Neues Jahr!” it said in a deep baritone. Yusuf scrunched his eyebrows together. “Deutsch? Francais? English?” the little duck asked. 

Yusef looked at the duck with a mixture of shock and confusion, his lips frozen in a sort of grimace, until “English” tumbled out like a surprise burp. The duck cleared it’s throat again and exclaimed, “You have been chosen! Congratulations, Mr. Man. We are here to conquer your planet and together, you and I will explain this to your people, so there is no chance of rebellion. My name is Graug and I am the ambassador for Haeron’s People. I have been sent-” Unable to quite understand what was going on, and with a headache that was mounting like pile of ignored homework, Yusuf leant over the duck and threw up on the stair below. As he wiped his mouth, he realised the intergalactic duck was still speaking. “-from Haeron himself, on this mission of great delicacy, because what we really don't want is an uprising of any kind. Essentially, you and I are going to negotiate with your leader-" 

Yusuf held up his hands to interrupt, "Which leader?" The bird stopped and, if a duck could look quizzical, it did. 

"Well, the world leader." It seemed annoyed by the interruption, and began telling Yusuf again about the plan of world domination, outlining the strategy and importance of how the ducks would save the humans from themselves. Graug maintained steely eye-contact throughout, making sure Yusuf understood everything it was saying, but when he closed his eyes and leaned back on the step behind him, the fowl drew breath and thought for a moment. The boy was obviously in shock, maybe that should be addressed. "I know tonight is a night of great celebration for your lot, and that you've never seen something like me before, but everything I'm telling you right now is very important, so if you could please pay attention..." Graug trailed off, partly because it had run out of breath (the air was thin on this planet) and partly because Yusuf had smiled. 

"I've seen plenty of you" Yusuf muttered, starting to wonder if someone had slipped some acid in his drink. The bird gasped. Except it sounded like an inverted quack, which sounds like when you put your hand on the end of a vacuum cleaner. "There are some of you just down the road in fact," Yusuf continued, "I used to feed them when I was little." Graug was frozen. The bird didn't move. Yusuf poked it to see if it was alive, which ruffled it's feathers somewhat, but then it started clicking it's beak. 

"You mean, someone got here before me? How can this be? I took a direct flight, it only took me 22 years to hatch. I don't understand." It had been pecking at Yusuf's trousers, absentmindedly eating the bits of vomit that had missed the toilet and were drying into the denim. All of a sudden, it looked up and snapped its beak to get the boy's attention. "Hey, wake up. Let's go see these back-stabbing-," but his eyes remained stubbornly closed. So Graug bit his nose, forcing him to a reluctant consciousness. Yusuf did some coughing and rubbed his temples, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. “Graug. Why are you here?” The duck looked pissed off. It had just explained all of this. 

“We are here to save you from yourselves-” But Yusef raised his hand and closed the duck’s beak with his forefinger and thumb. 

“No, why earth. Why not somewhere else?” Graug twitched his neck from side to side to break free from the beak clamp. 

“Well, seeing as we’re going to be working together, and I believe in transparency, I’ll tell you. Our planet is a bit... dry... right now. So we need somewhere with a bit more water. And your earth has a lot. But you’re not looking after it very well, so we thought we would kill two foxes with one stone, as it were. Save your planet, and establish a new colony.”

Graug explained that a big meteorite had collided with their planet, which had knocked it off orbit, so the gravitational pull from the sun increased and it became very hot and dry. 10 ships had been sent into space to find a replacement colony, and earth had been found to be the most suitable. 

It sounded like one of the cartoons Yusuf used to watch on Sunday morning. He started to drift off, but then Graug piped up again, “You mentioned there were more like me? Seeing as it was my mission to make first contact, I would appreciate you taking me to them.” After some cajoling, Yusuf picked up the duck and walked down the stairwell. When the came out of the flat it was light outside. How long had they been talking for? He could hear voices drifting out of windows and someone was playing a techno tune down the road, but no bodies were to be seen. At the end of the street was a park, if you could call it that. There were two swings, a bit of dirty, frozen grass and a very unkempt pond. In the middle, two ducks were floating about, kicking their orange legs behind them, dipping their beaks down occasionally to nibble the slim winter pickings. The intergalactic duck in Yusuf's arms was wriggling around, so he let it go. 

Out of his arms Graug tumbled, walking unsteadily towards the edge of the water, stumbling in and swimming towards his brethern. The two ducks regarded Graug with suspicion, holding their ground and giving a quack of warning. Yusuf would never in his life forget what then ensued. The ducks rose majestically out of the water, dancing and quacking like ballerinas in the air. But they were barely flapping their wings; it was as if they were levitating. The air around them shimmered, rippling as its opacity increased and became blurry, as though looking through a frosted window. The water bowed underneath them, parting on either side slightly, and began to froth. 

As soon as it had started, it was over. Graug swam back to him, pulled itself out of the pond with a soggy, purple wing, and waddled over, motioning to be picked up. When Graug was back safely in his arms, it started to shake. Yusuf, thinking the duck was cold, wrapped it in his jumper. But then he realised the bird was crying. "What did they say?" 

In between sobs, the duck cried, "I'm too late. They got here centuries ago!” Yusuf looked over at the other ducks that were looking shifty and had started to paddle over to the corner of the pond with water shrubs, disappearing into the plants. “Apparently Haeron thought I'd gotten lost in the warp, and sent some bloody Jemima to come in my place. She assessed the place and thought it'd be best if we remain undetected and live peacefully side by side. Apparently it's the easy life. We don't have to organise or manage anything like we did at home. We just have to float about and you feed us, and when it gets cold we just go somewhere warm." 

Yusuf felt sorry for the little duck. Partly because those ducks were lying, they weren't migrating birds, they were here all year round, and sometimes kids threw stones at them. Partly because it had just messed up it's life's mission and he knew what it felt like to have no clue about what to do next. Partly because he'd vomited on it early. But mostly because some of that sick would have been bits of duck that his mum had made him for dinner. So he took pity on Graug and gave it a cuddle. He said he would take it home and they could figure out what to do there. It was a new year, he said, a magical time of reinvention. The duck didn't look convinced, but it’s entire life had been broken into pieces right in front of it’s eyes, so Graug tucked it’s beak under it’s purple wing and did some sniffling whilst Yusuf began to stumble towards the nearest bus stop, thinking about what he was going to tell his flat mate.