#at which point we were like uh. hey kyle. you... got something you wanna talk to us about?

[aro-culture-is]

Aro culture is wanting to complain about not getting to see much of a favourite celebrity in a TV series after a certain point until the new season next year, but not wanting people to think that means you have a crush on them. Alternatively, aro culture is wanting to gush about celebrities you like without people automatically assuming it's a crush.

.

[ca-8]

Yakko x Reader Scenario: When You First Meet

'This is it. The beginning of the end.' 

Gripping on the straps of her backpack, (Y/n) exited the bus and stared up at the water tower that displayed the famous Warner Bros. logo. As expected, it emitted a smug aura onto the entire area; however, surprisingly, there was a slight twinge of mystery to it as well. But she didn't have time to ponder about it, so she only gave it an uneasy look and headed straight for the entrance.

Her heart stopped. She knew the place was going to be busy, but it was like an entire New York City packed in one section! So many writers, producers, actors, large men carrying heavy sets, every type of person working in film was scattered all over the place. It was like an ocean, with the people as marine life doing what they're designed to do, and (Y/n) being the puppy that was abandoned at sea.

The moment it all settled in, an involuntary realization invaded her thoughts. 'I don't belong here.'

The young girl reminded herself to breathe and rushed over to a vacant wall, then pulled out her phone. She had already sent her mother about a thousand messages telling her she was here, but since she hasn't responded, a few more shouldn't hurt. Fingers rapidly typing away, she bit her lower lip, already wishing she had stayed on that bus. 

"Oh, you're just gonna love it!" Her mother's squealing voice had already filled her skull. "You're so talented, I know you're gonna fit right in."

'Yeah, standing around all day with a bunch of people I don't know while doing something I suck at is exactly how I wanna spend my summer.' She let out a soft sigh. 'It's fine. Just shut up and make her happy, (Y/n).'

Several attempts of calling and texting later, no response. (Y/n) sighed again, and her eyes wandered over to the bustling crowd. 'No way. Absolutely no way.' But if she wanted to get the day over with, absolutely yes way.

First, she walked up to a lady looking down at the clipboard in her hands. "Um, excuse me," (Y/n) said. 

The lady's head snatched up. "KYLE!" she yelled, her eyes now ablaze with fury, "YOU IDIOT! THAT GOES IN THE WAREHOUSE ACROSS THE STUDIO!" And like there was nothing but a breeze behind her, the lady stomped off to the poor soul that had to face her wrath.

The breeze took a step back and ran around the corner. 'Maybe I'll find someone else instead…!' (Y/n) stopped and spotted a man sitting on the steps that lead to the entrance of a small building. She swallowed whatever was left in her mouth and reluctantly approached him. 

"E-Excuse me, sir?" she stuttered, hoping her voice was louder than the last time. As she got closer, (Y/n) noticed he was chuckling, and his gaze was glued onto a small piece of paper. 

"I...I did it…!" he said. She yelped and shrinked back when he suddenly jumped to his feet. "I FINALLY DID IT! WE'LL SEE WHO'S REGRETTING THE DIVORCE NOW, MARGARET!" And with a manic laugh, the man dashed into the building. 

'...Or maybe I'll just find it myself.'

It wasn't too long before (Y/n) got herself lost. Despite the help of maps that were stuck to some of the buildings, all of them seemed exactly the same. It was like a maze, and with each passing minute, she was more and more convinced that there was no finish line. Even worse, her mother was too busy to respond to anything she sent her. 

'Oh, what should I do?' (Y/n) thought for the thousandth time. No matter how hard she pinched or held them, her arms refused to stop trembling. Not too long ago, the outside of the studio became deserted and she'd hate to walk in a warehouse and possibly interrupt something important, so asking for help again was out of the question.

...Or, perhaps it wasn't. 

A tiny, hopeful smile crossed (Y/n)'s face when she heard the sounds of frustrated grunts around the corner. It was the first time she was so relieved to see a stranger. 

And thank god that stranger was a security guard. Though she wondered why he had a giant net in his hand, she shoved the curiosity as far in the back of her mind as she could and reached up to gently tap his shoulder. 

"Um, excuse me sir?" she asked as loud as she could. 

His head whipped around, revealing angry eyes and a scowl that said he was ready to kill. But right as his gaze landed on her, it changed within an instant. 

"Oh, hello!" he said with a bright smile. 

(Y/n) blinked, cocking her head. ‘What was this guy up to?’

"I'm sorry to bother you, but do you know where (M/n) (L/n) is filming? I'm her daughter, (Y/n), and I'm trying to look for her. She's not answering her phone either."

His joyful expression slowly melted into a confused one. "Uuhhh…(M/n) (L/n)?”

“Yes. She’s a part of Animal Kingdom? Do you know where that’s being filmed?”

“Oh! I know there’s a zoo around here called Animal Kingdom! I don’t think you’ll find it in a film studio, though.”

(Y/n) frowned. “...No, I mean the show. Aren’t they filming in a warehouse today? Do you know where that is?”

“Who’s ‘they’?”

Her eye twitched, and she was just about ready to drown the entire studio in the nearest ocean. “N-Nevermind, I’ll just-”

As if the universe wasn’t satisfied with tormenting her enough, the security guard suddenly launched up into the air and flew into the sky. Right before her eyes, the heavens were coated with explosives of every color that ever existed. 

“Oh my god!” (Y/n) yelled. ‘Who strapped fireworks on that guy?!’

“Oh, I knew you’d love it!”

Her eyes were ripped from the loud fireworks show as she was immediately smothered in a hug. “It’s so nice that another girl’s here! All the other ones here are either too busy or just keep shouting about a restraining order for some reason. I dunno, but anyway, I just know you're gonna love it here! Anyway, my name’s Princess Angelina Louisa Cantessa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo Besca the third! But since we're friends now, you can just call me Dot.”

This confirmed it. This was a trap set up by her mother to deliberately drive her insane, because how else can someone explain the nut jobs and talking dogs in pink dresses? 

A combination of those two things happened to be clutching her head and digging her face into hers. “...Huh?” (Y/n) mumbled.

‘Dot’ jumped off of her and smiled widely. “Sorry about Ralph by the way. I figured out you were coming at the last second and I really needed someone for your welcoming gift.” she said.

(Y/n) glanced up at the sky where the fireworks were slowly dying down. “Um...Is he gonna be okay?” she asked.  

“Of course he will!” her backpack said.

The teen screamed and threw her bag on the ground. A hand popped out and unzipped it with impossible ease, then a taller boy version of Dot jumped out, pulling up his long brown pants and flashing a grin. 

“H-...H-H-How did you…?!” (Y/n) stuttered, pointing at him. 

“What? Never heard of cartoon logic?” he said, approaching her. “And Ralph’ll be fine. His skull’s so thick, concrete’s the last thing that can kill him.”

“What-?”

“Anyhow,” he walked over to Dot and put an arm over her shoulder, “The name’s Yakko, this here’s my beloved baby sister Dot, and this is-” He stopped, staring at the empty space to his left. He leaned into Dot, whispering, “Say, uh, you don't mind looking for Wakko, do ya sis?”

Dot glanced at (Y/n) for an uncomfortable moment and suddenly shot her brother a glare. "I've got eyes all over this studio, Yakko," she warned, slowly stepping away.

Now (Y/n) certainly knew she didn't see pairs of eyes appear around every inch of her sight. 'Oh god, I didn't breath in drugs on the way here, did I? Actually, that would explain whatever the heck's going on.'

Yakko smiled as he watched his sister leave and turned to (Y/n). He walked closer to her, and she realized that his half-lidded eyes had a strange glint in them. “Sooo, your name’s (Y/n), right? A pretty name for a pretty girl.”

(Y/n)’s face heated up. ‘First I get lost, then see a guy get blown up, and now some other guy’s flirting with me? ...To be honest, this is still better than what Mom had planned for today.’

“So what brings ya’ here?” he asked.

“O-Oh, well, my Mom was supposed to give me a tour of the studio, but I’ve been giving that to myself all day. I tried finding her, but I’m pretty sure I’m nowhere near it by now.” Her eyes wandered over to the ground, but a realization made them perk back up and over to Yakko. “Hey, do you happen to know this place by any chance?”

“Know it? Please, my sibs and I live here, we know this place by heart and soul!” He mumbled something else, along the lines of “Basically made our hearts and souls”. 

Her heart jumped; finally, a piece of good news. “Really?” she said, a smile spreading across her face.

He nodded. “So where do ya’ need to go?” Before she could answer, he pulled out a piece of folded paper and moved in so close, their shoulders were smooshed together. Yakko unfolded it, and it turned out to be the biggest map (Y/n) has ever seen. “Well, from here, you’re gonna need to take a right and continue straight until you get to the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts exhibit. But be careful, I heard some of them escaped, and if anyone asks if you’ve seen any of them, don’t tell them I gave one to Dot as a late birthday gift. Anyway, you take a left from there, then a right where you’ll see the lot where they used to shoot Game of Thrones. Now this is only a rumour I’ve heard, but I think some of the producers are still on that set. If you happen to see them, do not, I repeat, DO NOT mention season eight, or maybe just don’t mention the show at all. Actually, don’t even look at them. As a matter of fact, you probably shouldn’t even go there at all, just keep heading straight until you get to the D.C. Universe lot. Then you just take left there, then a sharp right over over, then you keep going straight until you get to here, turn up over there, turn right there, and then you’re there. Did ya’ follow all that?”

(Y/n) stared at his face, which was practically radiating with enthusiasm, and she felt her eye twitch again. “...No,” she said, shaking her head.

His smile dimmed, but it became just as bright as the sun again a split-second later. “Ah well, maps are gettin' old anyways,” he said, throwing the map over his shoulder. “WAKKO!!”

And, low and behold, another anthropomorphic dog popped out of nowhere, and (Y/n) was starting to question if there was an army of them hidden somewhere. But she had to admit, it was pretty cute how this one was dressed in an oversized blue sweater and red hat. 

“Tablet, please,” Yakko said politely, holding out his hand. 

‘You're not gonna walk me there-?'

Wakko suddenly held his head back with his cheeks puffed out, then leaned into Yakko’s hand as he forced out a small object from his mouth. After an incredibly uneasy moment, a tablet glazed in spit was in Yakko's grasp. While he praised the little guy, (Y/n) forced back the urge to vomit.

“E-Ehhhh…?” She couldn’t say anything else while her gaze frantically went back and forth from Wakko and the regurgitated tablet. 

“Oh! Where are my manners?” Yakko said. “(Y/n), this is my dear little brother, Wakko. Wakko, this here’s our new special friend, (Y/n).” 

“Hello!” Wakko greeted, who was suddenly in her arms. “You’re really pretty!”

“Ehh? Thank you? I guess??” she said apprehensively, and finally managed to make eye contact. Despite his...quirks, he's actually a little adorable... She let herself grin a little.

The moment of semi-peace was ruined when she took notice of Yakko’s narrowed eyes. “ALrighty, (Y/n)!” he said loudly, grabbing his little brother by the collar and gently setting him on the ground. “Animal Kingdom, right? Let’s get ya’ right over there.” He moved right beside her and taped the screen a couple times. 

“Um, what’re you doing exactly?” she asked.

“Doing what every person does to get somewhere nowadays.” He grabbed her waist and pulled her against him, and (Y/n) flinched from his touch. “Please keep your arms, legs, and personal items inside the tablet at all times.”

Just when she was about to question him for the hundredth time, he pressed the screen again, and her vision became nothing but white. Her body felt like it was launched into a tornado; a strong force of wind thrusted her back, and somehow, the boy’s arm kept her from flying off from his side. A second later, her feet were back on the ground, the sky was where it needed to be, and reality was back in place. 

Except for (Y/n)’s mentality. 

She stumbled around, trying to find her balance as the world unbearably whirled around her. Finally, she shook her head, and quickly turned back towards Yakko, whose face tried to tell her whatever happened was perfectly fine and normal. 

“What was THAT?” she yelled, staggering towards him and gripping his shoulders.

And he still had the audacity to have that 'why-are-you-freaking-out-so-much-we-do-this-every-Friday' smile. “Thank you for attending Warner’s Travel Tours! I would say my Agent Ralph’ll take your bags, but I left him alone with my sibs, so he’s probably in the middle of the Pacific Ocean by now.”

(Y/n) could only stare at him. Her mind was twisting and turning, trying so hard to make any sense of what happened but only making her headache grow larger and larger. And then, her thoughts just went blank.

She smirked. Then giggled. And a few seconds later, she had burst out laughing whilst holding her stomach. (Y/n) looked back up at Yakko, wiping a tear from her eye. “Th-Thank you…” she said, catching her breath. 

His smile had grown and she thought his white cheeks were red for a moment. Yakko had opened his mouth, but whatever he was about to say was cut off by a net suddenly covering his entire body. Ralph was behind him, his skin and clothes burnt and ears practically smoking. “You’re coming with me, Warner!” he said.

And yet, Yakko only grinned. Like physics was his enemy, he disappeared from inside the net and appeared sprouting from the security guard’s back, cheerfully waving at (Y/n). “I’ll see ya’ around, yeah?” he said, then ran around the corner with Ralph sprinting right after him.

(Y/n) giggled and reached for the straps around her back. But when she only felt the (f/c) fabric of her shirt, her smile dropped, and a deep sigh escaped her lips. “Great…” she whispered.

“(Y/N)!” 

She gasped as a pair of arms squeezed the life out of her. Her mother spun her around to face her gleaming smile, which was immediately replaced by an apologetic frown. “I’m so sorry I didn’t get your texts! That scene took forever, but I’m glad you found your way here! You’re so smart! Anyway, I know we don’t get as much time now, but there’s still so much we’ll be able to see!...”

She rambled on and on and on and on. Her daughter’s shoulders slumped and she followed her to where she wanted her to go, but the frown on her face didn’t last long when she remembered the fun she had just a few seconds ago. ‘Maybe this summer won’t be that bad.’

[snake-rot]

(EXCLAIMING)

(ORCHESTRA MUSIC BLARING)

(GROANS)

(WHIMPERS)

(GRUNTING)

(MYSTICAL INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)

(GROANS)

(COUNTRY ROCK MUSIC PLAYING)

(COUGHS)

Sweet home Alabama

Where the skies are so blue

WOMAN: Excuse me, sir, is there a commode?

Sweet home Alabama

(GRUNTING)

Lord, I'm coming home to you

(GRUNTS) Justin!

Quick, honey, take my picture. I got the pyramid in my hand.

(CAMERA CLICKING)

Yeah

Justin, you get back here right now!

No, stop!

GUARD 1: No, no, no! Stop him! GUARD 2: Go back! Don't climb!

(JUSTIN IMITATING AIRPLANE WHOOSHING)

Wait, wait.

Hold on. Easy, little boy.

Okay, stop, child! Stop right there. No!

(GASPS)

No, no, no, no, no! Oh! There he goes.

(GASPS)

Justin!

I've got him! I've got him!

(JUSTIN GRUNTS)

(AIR ESCAPING)

Outrage in Egypt tonight as it was discovered

that the Great Pyramid of Giza had been stolen

and replaced by a giant inflatable replica.

There is panic throughout the globe as countries and citizens

try to protect their beloved landmarks.

Law enforcement still has no leads,

leaving everyone to wonder, which of the world's villains

is responsible for this heinous crime?

And where will he strike next?

Gru: Freeze ray! Freeze ray! Freeze ray! [laughs evilly] Fred: Morning, Gru! How you doing? Gru: Hello, Fred. FYI, your dog has been leaving little bombs all over my yard, and I don't appreciate it. Fred: Sorry. You know dogs. They go wherever they wanna go. Gru: Unless they're dead. [laughs] I'm joking! Although, it is true. Anyway, have a good one. Fred: Okay. Yeah. Steamrolling whatever Gru: [groans] You've got to be pulling on my leg! Margo: Hello! Cookies for sale. Gru: Go away. I'm not home. Margo: Uh, yes, you are. I heard you. Gru: [gasps] No, you didn't. This... [monotone] is a recording. Margo: [scoffs] No, it isn't. Gru: Yes, it is. [o.s.] Watch this. Leave a message, beep. [Edith kicks the door] Gru: Ow! Agnes: Goodbye, recorded message. Margo: [o.s.] Agnes, come on. Gru: Huh? [screams] Kyle! Bad dog! No! No, no. Sit. My muffin. Dr. Nefario: Gru! Gru: Ah, Dr. Nefario. Dr. Nefario: I know how you must be feeling. I, too, have encountered great disappointment, but, in my eyes, you will always be one of the greats. Gru: What? What happened? Dr. Nefario: It's all over the news! Some fella just stole a pyramid. They're saying he makes all other villains look... lame. pause Gru: Assemble the minions! [throws Kyle off of his arm] Minions, assemble! Minion: Okay. Okay. Hey! Gru: Looking good, Kevin! How is the family? Good? All right. That's my Billy boy! What up, Larry? Hello, everybody! Yeah, all right! Simmer down. Simmer down! Thank you, okay. Now, I realize that you guys probably heard about this other villain who stole the pyramids. Apparently, it's a big deal. People are calling it the crime of the century and stuff like that. But am I upset? No, I am not! A little, but we have had a pretty good year ourselves, and you guys are all right in my book. Minion: Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Gru: No, no raises! You're not going to get any raises. What did we do? Well, we stole the Times Square JumboTron! Nice! That's how I roll. Yeah, you all like watching football on that, huh? But that's not all. We stole the Statue of Liberty, the small one from Las Vegas. And I won't even mention the Eiffel Tower! Also Vegas. Okay, I wasn't going to tell you about this yet, but I have been working on something very big! Something that will blow this pyramid thing out of the water! And thanks to the efforts of my good friend Dr. Nefario... Dr. Nefario: Thank you! Gru: There he is. He's stylin'. Now, we have located a shrink ray in a secret lab, and once we take this shrink ray, we will have the capability to pull off the 'true crime of the century. We are going to steal... The Minions all pull out their weapons in response. Gru: Wait, wait! I haven't told you what it is yet. One of the Minions, Dave, shoots his rocket launcher at a crowd of Minions. Gru: Hey. Dave, listen up, please! Dave: Ditto. One of the Minions Dave shot walks over to him and punches him on the shoulder. Gru: Next, we are going to steal, pause for effect, the moon! The Minions cheer in response. Gru: And once the moon is mine, the world will give me whatever I want to get it back! And I will be the greatest villain of all time! That's what I'm talkin' 'bout. [picks up his phone] Yes? Dr. Nefario: Hello, Gru? I've been crunching some numbers, and I really don't see how we can afford this. It can't be done. I'm not a miracle worker. Gru:Hey, chillax. I'll just get another loan from the bank. They love me! Margo: Edith, stop it! Edith: What? I'm just walking. Girls: Hi, Miss Hattie. We're back. Miss Hattie: Hello, girls! Agnes: Anybody come to adopt us while we were out? Miss Hattie: Hmm... Let me think. No! Edith immediately puts a mud pie on Miss Hattie's desk, much to her displeasure. Miss Hattie: Edith! What did you put on my desk? Edith: A mud pie. Miss Hattie: [sighs] You're never gonna get adopted, Edith. You know that, don't you? Edith: Yeah, I know. Miss Hattie: Good. So, how did it go, girls? Did we meet our quotas? Margo: Hmm... Sorta. We sold 43 mini-mints, 30 choco-swirlies and 18 coco-nutties. Miss Hattie: [gets up] Okay.

Well, you say that like it's a great sale day. [furious] Look at my face! Do you still think it's a great sale day? Edith rolls her eyes in response. Miss Hattie: [hangs up a portrait] Eighteen coco-nutties. I think we can do a little better than that, don't you? Yeah. We wouldn't want to spend the weekend in the Box of Shame, would we? No. Girls: No, Miss Hattie. Miss Hattie: Okay, good. Off you go. Go clean something of mine. Girls: Hi, Penny. Penny: Hi, guys. Gru: Hello, Mom. Sorry, I meant to call, but... Gru's Mom: I just wanted to congratulate you on stealing the pyramid. [Gru sighs in disgust] That was you, wasn't it? Or was it a villain who's actually successful? [laughs] Gru: Just so you know, Mom, I am about to do something that's very, very big, very important. When you hear about it, you're going to be very proud. Gru's Mom: Ha! [sarcastically] Good luck with that. Okay, I'm outta here. [hangs up the phone before sending her karate instructor flying] Gru: Gru to see Mr Perkins Receptionist: Yes, please have a seat. Neil Armstrong: That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. Young Gru: Ma, someday I'm going to go to the moon. Gru's Mom: I'm afraid you're too late, Son. NASA isn't sending the monkeys any more. Vector: Hey. I'm applying for a new villain loan. Go by the name of Vector. It's a mathematical term, a quantity represented by an arrow, with both direction and magnitude. Vector! That's me, 'cause I'm committing crimes with both direction and magnitude. Oh, yeah! Check out my new weapon. Piranha gun! Oh, yes! Fires live piranhas. Ever seen one before? No, you haven't. I invented it. Do you want a demonstration? Shoot! So difficult, sometimes, to get the piranha back inside of my... Receptionist: Mr Gru, Mr Perkins will see you now. Gru: So, all I need is money from the bank to build a rocket. And then, the moon is ours. Perkins: Wow! Well, very nice presentation. I'd like to see this shrink ray. Gru: Absolutely! Will do. Soon as I have it. Perkins: You don't have it? And yet you have the audacity to ask the bank for money? Gru: Apparently. Perkins: Do you have any idea of the capital that this bank has invested in you, Gru? With far too few of your sinister plots actually turning a profit. How can I put it? Let's say this apple is you. If we don't start getting our money back... Get the picture? Look, Gru, the point is, there are a lot of new villains out there, younger than you, hungrier than you, younger than you. Like that young fellow out there named Vector. He just stole a pyramid! Gru: I've got it. I've got it. So, as far as getting money for the rocket... Perkins: Get the shrink ray, then we'll talk. Minion: Suckers! Suckers! Gru: We got it! What? Hey! Hey! What! Hey! No, no, no! You! Vectors: Now, maybe you'll think twice before you freeze someone's head! So long, Gru! Gru: Quick! We can't let him get away! Up ahead! Up ahead! Fire! Fire, now! Vector: You missed me! Gru: Come to papa! Take that. Vector: How adorable. Gru: Got you in our sights! Like taking candy from a... What? Vector: Hey, Gru! Try this on for size! Gru: That's weird. What is going... This is claustrophobic! No, no, no! Too small! This is too small for me! [groans] I hate that guy. Margo: ...and please watch over us, and bless that we'll have a good night's sleep. Edith: And bless that while we're sleeping, no bugs will crawl into our ears and lay eggs in our brains. Margo: Great. Thanks for that image, Edith. Agnes: And please bless that someone will adopt us soon, and that the mommy and daddy will be nice and have a pet unicorn. Amen. Margo/Edith: Amen. Agnes: Unicorns, I love them Unicorns, I love them Uni, uni, unicorns I love them Uni, unicorns, I could pet one If they were really real And they are So, I bought one so I could pet it Now it loves me Now I love it Gru: Don't you... What the... Good luck, little girls! Edith: Whoa! Cool. Margo: Hi! We're orphans from Miss Hattie's Home for Girls. Vector: I don't care. Beat it! Margo: Come on! We're selling

cookies so, you know, we can have a better future. Vector: Wait, wait! Do you have coco-nutties? Margo: Yeah. Gru: Light bulb. Dr Nefario! I'm going to need a dozen tiny robots disguised as cookies! Dr. Nefario: What? Gru: Cookie robots! Dr. Nefario: Who is this? - Gru: Oh, forget it. Mrs. Hattie: Well, it appears you have cleared our background check, Dr Gru. And I see you have made a list of some of your personal achievements. Thank you for that. I love reading. And I see you have been given the Medal of Honor and a knighthood. - Minions: Me, me, me. Me, me, me. Minion: Kevin? Mrs. Hattie: You had your own cooking show and you can hold your breath for 30 seconds? It's not that impressive. Minion: Idiot! - Minions: Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Mrs Hattie: What in the name of... What? Gru: Well, here's the dealio. Things have been so lonely since my wife, Debbie, passed on. It's like my heart is a tooth, and it's got a cavity that can only be filled with children. I'm sorry. You are a beautiful woman. Do you speak Spanish? Mrs. Hattie: Do I look like I speak Spanish? Gru: You have a face como un burro. Mrs. Hattie: Well, thank you! Gru: Anyway, can we proceed with this adoption? So, so excited! Mrs. Hattie: Please tell Margo, Edith and Agnes to come to the lobby. Margo: I bet the mom is beautiful! Edith: I bet the daddy's eyes sparkle. Agnes: I bet their house is made of Gummi Bears. [Edith and Margo look at her curiously] I'm just saying it'd be nice. [picks up a Cheeto] Aww. My caterpillar never turned into a butterfly. Edith: That's a Cheeto. Agnes: Oh... [eats said Cheeto, making Edith and Margo recoil in disgust] Miss Hattie: Well, Debbie was a very lucky woman. [pause] Gru: Who's Debbie? Mrs Hattie: Your wife. Hi, girls! Girls, I want you to meet Mr Gru. He's going to adopt you. And he's a dentist! Agnes: Yeah! Margo: Hi. I'm Margo. This is Edith. And that's Agnes. Agnes: [sing-song] I got your leg, I got your leg! Gru: Okay, that is enough, little girl. Let go of my leg. Come on. You can do it. Agnes: Higher! Higher! Gru: Just release your grip. Wow! How do you remove them? Is there a command? Some nonstick spray? Crowbar? [sighs] Okay, girls, let's go. [They drove off in the distance.]Vector: Uh-huh! Oh, yeah! Pretty impressive! What are you looking at? Boo-ya! You got shrunk, tiny mouthwash! Take that! You done been shrunk! (His phone rings) Yello? I got the shrink ray, all right. No, I'm not playing with it. Gru? Don't make me laugh! No. P.S., he is not getting the moon, and P.P.S., by the time I'm done with him, he's gonna be begging for mercy. (Shrinks a toilet) Okay, bye. (Hangs up) Look at you, a little tiny toilet for a little tiny baby to... [The toilet pops out and water sprays him.]Vector: Curse you, tiny toilet! [Gru and the Girls arrive at Gru's Home.] Gru: "Okay, here we are. Home sweet home. Margo: So... This is, like, your house? [realizing] Wait a sec... You're the guy who pretended he was a recorded message! Gru: No, that was someone else. [Margo gives a skeptical look before she, Edith and Agnes enter Gru's house, with Gru following suite.] Agnes: [scared] Can I hold your hand? Gru: Uh... No. Edith: [looks around] When we got adopted by a bald guy, I thought this'd be more like "Annie". Gru: No, hey! [screams] Kyle, these are not treats. These are guests. Girls, this is Kyle, my... Dog. Kyle snarls in anger. Agnes: Ooh! Fluffy doggy! [approaches Kyle before he runs away, much to her disappointment] Margo: What kind of dog is that? Gru: He is a... I don't know. Margo: Do you really think that this is an appropriate place for little kids? 'Cause, uh... It's not. [Edith sees a closet that is sharp and goes in it.] Gru: No! No! Stay away from there! It's frag... [He sees juice spilling on the floor.]Both: (Gasps) Gru: Well, I suppose the plan will work with two. Edith: [muffled] Hey! It's dark in here. [Gru opens the iron maiden, revealing Edith, who spits out a straw]Edith: It poked a hole in my juice box. [They went to the

kitchen.] Gru: As you can see, I have provided everything a child might need. All right. Okay. As I was saying... (Edith knocked a bottle down) Gru: (Cont'd) Hey! Oh. Edith: Somebody broke that. Gru: "Okay, okay. Clearly, we need to set some rules. Rule number one. You will not touch anything. Margo: Uh-huh. What about the floor? Gru: Yes, you may touch the floor. Margo: What about the air? Gru: Yes, you may touch the air! Edith: (Gets out a laser gun) What about this? Gru: (Screams) Where did you get that? Edith: [shrugs] Found it. Gru: Okay. Rule number two. You will not bother me while I'm working. Rule number three. You will not cry or whine or laugh or giggle or sneeze or burp or fart! So, no, no, no annoying sounds. All right? Agnes: Does this count as annoying? [popping] Gru: Very! [sighs] I will see you in six hours. Margo: Okay, don't worry. Everything's going to be fine. We're gonna be really happy here. Right? Agnes? Gru: Question. What are these? Dr. Nefario: A dozen boogie robots! Boogie! Look at this. Watch me! Gru: Cookie robots. I said cookie robots. Why are you so old? Dr. Nefario: Okay. I'm on it. Margo: Hello? Agnes: TV! Margo: What is that? Edith: Whoa! That is cool! Come on! Agnes: I don't think he's a dentist.Dr. Nefario: We've been working on this for a while. It's a anti-gravity serum. I meant to close that. He'll be all right, I'm sure. Gru: Do the effects wear off? Dr. Nefario: So far, no. No, they don't. And here, of course, is the new weapon you ordered. Gru: No, no. I said "dart gun," not... Okay. Dr. Nefario: Oh, yes. 'Cause I was wondering under what circumstances would we use this? But, anyway. What I really wanted to show you was this. Gru: Now those are cookie robots! Agnes: La, la, la, la I love unicorns Gru: What are you doing here? I told you to stay in the kitchen! Margo: We got bored. What is this place? Edith: Can I drink this? Dr. Nefario: Do you want to explode? [Edith kicks him in the shin] Dr. Nefario: Gru! Gru: Get back in the kitchen! Agnes: Will you play with us? Gru: No. Agnes: Why? Gru: Because I'm busy. Margo: [scoffs] Doing what? Gru: Umm... Okay, okay, you got me. The dentist thing is more of a hobby. In real life, I am a spy. And it is top secret, and you may not tell anybody, because if you do... Edith: What does this do? [She fires a laser and it hits Agnes's unicorn and it burns to ashes]Gru: Hey! Edith: Whoops. Agnes: My unicorn! You have to fix it. Gru: Fix it? Look, it has been disintegrated. By definition, it cannot be fixed. [Agnes gasps in shock, then starts holding her breath] Gru: That's freaking me out. What is she doing? Margo: She's gonna hold her breath until she gets a new one. Gru: [sighs] It is just a toy. Now stop it! (Agnes faints) Gru: Okay, okay! I'll fix it! Tim! Mark! Phil! This is very important. You have to get the little girl a new unicorn toy. Gru: Hey, hey, hey! A toy! Go, and hurry! What are those? Gru: They are my... Cousins. Jerry! Stuart! Watch them and keep them away from me please. [The three minions put on a disguise and head to the store.]Minions: Wow!- Wow! [Meanwhile the two minions and the girls are tossing toilet paper at each other. Gru comes up and he sees the Girls and the two minions having fun.]Edith: It was your cousin's idea. Jerry: What? Gru: Okay, bedtime. Girls: Aww... Minions: Aww... Gru: Not you two! Minions: Yay. Gru: Okey-dokey. Beddie-bye. All tucked in. Sweet dreams. Margo: Just so you know, you're never gonna be my dad. Gru: I think I can live with that. Edith: Are these beds made out of bombs? Gru: Yes, but they are very old and highly unlikely to blow up. But try not to toss and turn. Edith: "Cool." Agnes: Will you read us a bedtime story?" Gru: No. Agnes: But we can't go to sleep without a bedtime story. Gru: Well, then it's going to be a long night for you, isn't it? So, good night, sleep tight, and don't let the bed bugs bite. Because there are literally thousands of them. And there's probably something in your closet. Margo: He's just kidding, Agnes. Agnes: It's beautiful. Gru: Girls, let's go.

Time to deliver the cookies! Margo: Okay. But first, we're going to dance class. Gru: Actually, we're going to have to skip the dance class today. Margo: Actually, we can't skip the dance class today. We have a big recital coming up. We're doing an excerpt from Swan Lake. Agnes: Yeah, Swan Lake! Gru: That's fantastic. Wonderful. But we're going to deliver cookies! Come on! Margo: No. Gru: No? Margo: We're not going to deliver cookies until we do dance class. Really? Gru: Well, I am not driving you to dance class. So if you want to go, you are going to have to walk yourselves. What are you doing? Margo: Walking to dance class. Gru: Ya? Okay, fine. You just keep walking, because I'm really not driving you! Margo: Okay. Gru: You're going to suffer the wrath of Gru! Seriously, I'm going to count to three! And you had better be in this car! Here we go! One! Two! Teacher: ...three, four and five. And lift, and stretch. And one, and two... Agnes: Here you go. Gru: What is it? Agnes: Your ticket to the dance recital. You are coming, right? Gru: Of course, of course. I have pins and needles that I'm sitting on. Agnes: Pinkie promise? Gru: Oh, yes. My pinkie promises. All right. Our first customer is a man named Vector. Margo: But he's a V. You know, we're supposed to start with the A's. Then we go to the B's. Then we... Gru: Yes, yes! I went to kindergarten. I know how the alphabet works! I was just thinking that it might be nice to deliver Mr Vector's first. That is all. Almost over. It's almost over. Vector: Girls, welcome back to the fortress of Vector-tude! Do you have my cookies for me? Margo: Four boxes of mini-mints, two toffee totes, two caramel clumpies and fifteen boxes of coco-nutties. Vector: Exactly. I'd like to see somebody else order that many cookies. Not likely. Name one person who ordered more cookies than me. Margo: That'll be $52. Vector: Right. Seven, eight, nine... Tic Tacs! Where was I? Seven, eight, nine... Agnes: Why are you wearing pyjamas? Vector: These aren't pyjamas! This is a warm-up suit. Edith: What are you warming up for? Vector: Stuff. Agnes: What sort of stuff? Vector: Super-cool stuff you wouldn't understand. Agnes: Like sleeping? Vector: They are not pyjamas! Here you go, 52 big ones. Bye! Gru: Come on! Vector: What the...? Quiet down, fish. Down, boy!Gru: [laughs] We did it! Come on, girls, let's go! Margo: But what about the other people who ordered cookies? Gru: Life is full of disappointments... For some people. [chuckles ominously] Agnes: (Screams) Gru: Don't do that! Agnes: Super Silly Fun Land! Can we go? Please? Gru: No. Edith: But we've never been. And it's the funnest place on earth! Gru: "Don't care." Girls: Please? Please? We'll never ask for anything else, ever again! Pretty please? Please? Come on! Come on! Gru: "Light bulb." Edith: Come on! Gru: "Goodbye, have fun. [He began to leave. But a attendant of the roller coaster stopped him.]Carnival Ride Worker: Sorry, dude. They can't ride without an adult. Gru: What? [groans] [Soon Gru gets sick from the roller coaster ride.]Agnes: Oh, my gosh! Look at that fluffy unicorn! He's so fluffy, I'm gonna die! Margo: You've gotta let us play for it! Gru: No, no, no. Agnes: Come on! Gru: How much for the fluffy unicorn?Carnival Barker: Well, it is not for sale. But all you gotta do to win it is knock down that little spaceship there. It's easy! Agnes: Yay! Again! Margo: Wait! Edith: Come on. One more time! Agnes: Just one more. I accidentally closed my eyes. I hit it! I hit it! Edith: That was cool. Awww. Gru: Whoa, whoa, whoa. What was that? She hit that. I saw that with my own eyes.Carnival Barker: Hey, buddy, let me explain something to you. You see that little tin spaceship? You see how it's not knocked over? Do you know what that means, professor? It means you don't get the unicorn! Somebody's got a frowny face. Boo! Better luck next time! Gru: Okay, my turn. [Gru uses a fire gun and it blows up the whole booth.]Gru: "Knocked over!" Agnes: It's so fluffy! Yeah! Margo: That was

awesome! Edith: You blew up the whole thing! Agnes: Let's go. Let's try another game!Dr. Nefario: Gru, do you mind if I have a quick word? Gru: Okay, girls, go play. I got the shrink ray! Cotton candy! Dr. Nefario: We have 12 days until the moon is in optimum position. We can't afford any distractions! Gru: Get me Perkins. Sorry to bother you, Mr Perkins, but I figured that you would want to see this! Mr. Perkins: What? Well done, Gru. Rather impressive.Gru: Now, the rest of the plan is simple. I fly to the moon. I shrink the moon. I grab the moon. I sit on the toi-let. What? (girls start laughing) Sorry. Sorry! Could you excuse me for just one second? I told you not to touch my things. I told you, I told you. I've told you a thousand times. Margo: Hey, can we order pizza? Gru: Pizza? You just had lunch. Edith: Not now, for dinner. Gru: Dinner? Just... Fine, fine, fine, whatever. Just get back in there! Margo: Can we get stuffed crust? Agnes and Jerry: Stuffed crust!Gru: I'll stuff you all in the crust! Agnes: [giggles] You're funny! Gru: Just don't come out of that room again! All right. Sorry about that. Where were we? Mr. Perkins: You were sitting on the toilet. Gru: No, no, no! No, I'm sorry. It was a little attempt at humor. I know how much you like to laugh... [Mr. Perkins glares at him] Inside. Eh, now, I was saying... [the door suddenly opens] You don't seem terribly focused, Gru. Believe me, I am completely focused. Right? Edith: Hello! Mr. Perkins: What? Edith: That guy is huge! Agnes: Are we on TV? Mr. Perkins: What are those? Children?Gru: What are you doing? I told you to stay out of here! No, no, no! *Agnes: Freeze ray!Mr. Perkins: Mr Gru? Gru: Okay. As I was saying... Mr. Perkins: No need to continue. I've seen quite enough. Gru: But my plan... Mr. Perkins: Is a great plan. I love everything about your plan, except for one thing. You. Young Gru: Look, Mom, I drew a picture of me landing on the moon! Look, Mom, I made a prototype of the rocket out of macaroni! Look, Mom, I made a real rocket based on the macaroni prototype! Gru: I don't understand. Mr. Perkins: Let's face reality, Gru. You've been at this for far too long with far too little success. We're gonna put our faith, our money, into a... Well, a younger villain. Gru: But I... Mr. Perkins: It's over. Goodbye, Gru. Gru: Now, I know there have been some rumours going around that the bank is no longer funding us. Well, I am here to put those rumours to rest. They are true. In terms of money, we have no money. So how will we get to the moon? The answer is clear. We won't. We are doomed. Now would probably be a good time to look for other employment options. I know. I have fired up my resume as I suggest that all of you do, as well. What is it? Can't you see that I am in the middle of a pep talk? Yes! Yes, we will build our own rocket using this and whatever else we can find! Grab everything! Hit the junkyards! Take apart the cars! Who needs the bank? Let's go. Let's go! Mom! What are you doing here? Gru's Mom: And here he is in the bathtub. Look at his little buns. Gru: Mom. Not cool. Gru's Mom: And here, he's all dressed up in his Sunday best. Margo: He looks like a girl! Gru's Mom: Yes, he does. An ugly girl! Agnes: You're funny! Edith: Yes! Mine's shaped like a dead guy! Receptionist: Mr. Perkins, your son is here. Mr. Perkins: Send him in. Vector: Hey, Dad. You wanted to see me? Mr. Perkins: Yes, I did, Victor. - Vector: I am not Victor anymore. Victor was my nerd name. Now I am Vector! Mr. Perkins: Sit down. Do you know where the shrink ray is? Vector: Duh! Back at my place. Mr. Perkins: Oh, is that right? Back at your place? That's cool. I guess Gru must just have one that looks exactly like it! Vector: What the...?! Those girls sold me cookies! Mr. Perkins: Do you have any idea how lucrative this moon heist could be? I give you the opportunity of a lifetime, and you just blow it! Vector: No, I didn't. Mr. Perkins: Oh, really?Vector: You just wait until Gru sees my latest weapon. Squid-launcher! Oh, yeah! Man:

There's a squid on my face!Vector: Don't worry. The moon is as good as ours. Gru: Come on now, it's bedtime. Did you brush your teeth? Let me smell. Let me smell. You did not! Put on your PGs. Hold still. Okay, seriously! Seriously! This is beddie-bye time, right now. I'm not kidding around. I mean it! Edith: But we're not tired! Gru: Well, I am tired. Agnes: Will you read us a bedtime story? [pause] Gru: No. Agnes: Pretty please? Gru: The physical appearance of the "please" makes no difference. It is still no, so go to sleep. Edith: But we can't. We're all hyper! Margo: And without a bedtime story, we'll just keep getting up and bugging you. All night long. Gru: [sighs] Fine. All right, all right. Sleepy Kittens. Sleepy Kittens? What are these? Agnes: Puppets. You use them when you tell the story. Gru: Okay, let's get this over with. "Three little kittens loved to play, they had fun in the sun all day. "Then their mother came out and said, 'Time for kittens to go to bed."' Wow! This is garbage. You actually like this? Agnes: Keep reading! Edith: Come on! Gru: All right, all right, all right. "Three little kittens started to bawl, "'Mommy, we're not tired at all.' "Their mother smiled and said with a purr, "'Fine, but at least you should brush your fur."' Edith: Now you brush the fur. Gru: This is literature? A 2-year-old could have written this. All right. "Three little kittens with fur all brushed "said, 'We can't sleep, we feel too rushed! ' "Their mother replied, with a voice like silk, "'Fine, but at least you should drink your milk."' Agnes: Now make them drink the milk. Gru: I don't like this book. This is going on forever. "Three little kittens, with milk all gone, rubbed their eyes and started to yawn. "'We can't sleep, we can't even try.' Then their mother sang a lullaby. "'Good night kittens, close your eyes. Sleep in peace until you rise. "'Though while you sleep, we are apart, "'your mommy loves you with all her heart."' The end. Okay, good night. Agnes: Wait! Gru: What? Agnes: What about good night kisses? Gru: No, no. There will be no kissing or hugging or kissing. Margo: He is not gonna kiss us good night, Agnes. Agnes: I like him. He's nice.Edith: [turns off her light] But scary. Like Santa! Dr. Nefario: Only 48 hours till the launch, and all systems are go. Gru: About that, I was thinking that maybe we could move the date of the heist. Dr. Nefario: Please tell me this is not as a result of the girls' dance recital, is it? Gru: No, no, no! The recital? Don't... That's stupid! I just think it's kind of weird to do it on a Saturday. I was thinking, maybe a heist is a Tuesday thing, right? Dr. Nefario: Gru, you and I have been working on this for years. It's everything we've dreamed of. Your chance to make history, become the man who stole the moon! But these girls are becoming a major distraction! They need to go. If you don't do something about it, then I will. Gru: I understand. Dr. Nefario: Good. Minion: Butt. Butt. Butt. Gru: All right. Now, when we put our cups together, we will make the "clink" sound with our mouths. Ready? Edith? Gru: and Edith: Clink. Gru: There we go. And now we drink. And Agnes? Gru and Agnes: Clink. Gru: Very good! Excuse me, girls. Girls: Come on! Gru: Don't worry, I'll be back. Keep clinking. - Clink, clink. - Clink, clink.Gru: Miss Hattie, what are you doing here? Miss Hattie: I'm here for the girls. I received a call that you wanted to return them. [Gru gives her a quizzical look] And also, I did purchase a Spanish dictionary. [swats Gru's head with the dictionary] I didn't like what you said. Gru: But... I will get the girls ready. Agnes: Don't let her take us, Mr. Gru! Tell her you wanna keep us. Mrs. Hattie: All right, girls. Come on, let's go. Margo: Goodbye, Mr. Gru. Thanks for everything. Dr. Nefario: I did it for your own good. Come on, let's go get that moon. Gru: Right. What is this for? The recital? I am the greatest criminal mind of the century. I don't go to little girls' dance recitals! Dr. Nefario: Opening launch bay

doors. Commencing launch sequence. And we are good to go in T minus 10 seconds. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six... Vector: Oh, yeah! Gru: Nice work, Doctor. All systems go. Vector: Boo-ya! My flight suit. Oh, yeah! Once again, the mighty... Gru: I've got it! I've got the moon! I've got the moon. I can make it. Dr. Nefario: Wait a minute! Jerry: Kevin! Gru: Come on! Come on! Agnes: He's still not here. Margo: Why would he come? He gave us up. Agnes: But he pinkie promised! Teacher: Girls, girls, places. Edith: No, we can't start yet! We're still expecting someone. Agnes: Can we just wait a few more minutes? Teacher: All right. But just a few more minutes. Margo: He's not coming, guys. Dr. Nefario: Gru! Gru, can you hear me? Quick, we have to warn him, and fast!Gru: Okay, okay. There's the library. That's Third Street. The dance studio... There! There! There it is! Janitor: Sorry, buddy. Show's over.Gru: Over? Gru: Vector, open up! Vector: First give me the moon. Then we'll talk. Agnes: Mr. Gru! Vector: Zip it, Happy Meal. Gru: Now, the girls. Vector: Actually, I think I'll hold on to them a little while longer. Gru: No! Vector: Oh, yeah! Unpredictable! Gru: Listen close, you little punk. When I get in there, you are in for a world of pain! Vector: [laughs sarcastically] I'm really scared. Agnes: He is gonna kick your butt. Vector: What? He punched my shark! Dr. Nefario: There he is! Hang on, Gru. Oh, no! Gru: Vector has the girls. Go! Dr. Nefario: What happened to the ship? It's big again! Not as big as the moon is going to be! Gru: What? Dr. Nefario: The larger the mass of an object, the quicker the effects of the shrink ray wear off! I call it the Nefario Principle. I just came up with it now, actually. Gru: Oh, no! Margo: Did you see that? Girls: Vector! Help! Vector! Over here! Vector: Hey! What are you girls doing back there? Girls: The moon! Watch out! Vector: Ouch! Gru: Get as close in as you can. You got it. Margo: Mr Gru, up here! Agnes and Edith: Mr Gru! Gru: Okay, girls! Girls! You're going to have to jump. Edith: Jump? Are you insane? Gru: Don't worry, I will catch you. Margo: You gave us back! Gru: I know, I know. And it is the worst mistake I ever made. But you have to jump now. Margo: It'll be okay. Gru: Okay, girls. Margo: Jump now! Gru: Margo, I will catch you. And I will never let you go again. Vector: Not so fast! Gru: No! Margo: Let me go! Gru: Margo! I'm coming, Margo. Hang on! I got you.Vector: No! Oh, poop. News Reporter: This time, good triumphs, and the moon has been returned to its rightful place in the sky. But once again, law enforcement is baffled, leaving everyone to wonder, who is this mysterious hero? And what will he do next? Gru: Okay, girls. Time for bed. Edith: Come on! We want a story. Agnes: Three sleepy kittens! Gru: Oh, no! Sorry. That book was accidentally destroyed maliciously. Tonight we are going to read a new book. This one is called One Big Unicorn by... Who wrote this? Me! I wrote it. Look, it's a puppet book! Here, watch this. That's the horn! Agnes: This is gonna be the best book ever! Gru: Not to pat myself on the back, but, yes, it probably will be. Here we go. "One big unicorn, strong and free "thought he was happy as he could be. "Then three little kittens came around "and turned his whole life upside down." Edith: Hey, that one looks like me! Gru: No, what are you talking about? These are kittens! Any relation to persons living or dead is completely coincidental. "They made him laugh. "They made him cry. "He never should have said goodbye. "And now he knows he could never part "from those three little kittens "that changed his heart. "The end." Okay, all right. Good night. Margo: I love you. Gru: I love you, too. No, no! All right. Didn't I get you already? They're very good! Gru's Mom: I'm so proud of you, Son. You've turned out to be a great parent! Just like me. Maybe even better. Gru: No, I'm fine. Go ahead. No, no, no! THE END Hey, Carl! Hey. No, no, no. Me, me, me. John? No, no. Me, me, me. Oh,

poop. Oh, no! Stop! Stop! Hello, I am Gru. Back to work, back to work! Back to…

IS THIS THE ENTIRE FUCKING SCRIPT?

[yespleasetommyshelby]

Love in the 21st ~ Jay Halstead Fic ~ Four

It's been an hour since we got the news that Antonio's son, Diego went missing from an alley behind his mothers restaurant, someone who we are assuming is one of Pulpo's associates is demanding Pulpo's release by midnight for the life of Diego, like the life of a little boy is worth less than the life of a sick son of a bitch who likes cutting heads off.

"Hey, I got something." Adam said standing up from his desk and heading over to the board which so far only has Pulpo's and Diego's picture on, slapping on one more. "This guy, Ernesto, he's a midlevel in the dealing scene but he's got his eyes on a spot in Pulpo's gang." He finished just as Hank, Al and Antonio left his office.

"Boss, if we can get this guy we could easily flip him into telling us what he knows about the gang and who might have Diego." I suggest giving Antonio a small hopeful smile as I said his son's name.

"That's a good idea Platt, we just gotta find the guy first." Al nodded giving me a little confidence that I know I'm not wasting mine and their time being in intelligence.

"I got an address." Adam pipes up sticking his head over the top of his computer. "It's a stash house, a CI  just texted saying he'll be there to pick up  some gear in the next hour or so." He said standing up.

"Alright, Platt and Ruzek you sit outside the front, wait till he gets close then make you're move. Don't spook him too early." Voight instructed pointing at the two of us. "The rest of us will wait close by and keep eyes on the scene. Let's go." He almost yelled as he walked away.

We all scrambled grabbing our coats and guns before going down to the armory and grabbing our vests just in case anything goes wrong. Just as I'd finished doing my vest up a pair of hands steadied themselves on the straps around my waist, looking over my shoulder I saw a pair of spar killing blue eyes, Jay.

"Hey, just checking that it was done up properly, don't want mini Platt getting shot now do we?" He chuckled slightly patting my waist before letting go and rechecking his own vest.

"I also doubt you wanna get shot yourself Chuckles, so," I started as I stepped forwards noticing that one of his straps was only half on pulling it off of his shoulder, I strapped it back down in the right place. "You might wanna check you're own vest before worrying about me." I winked at him quickly before turning around and waiting for Voights call.

"Alright! Let's move out." His voice came just as I'd expected, running over to the SUV I jumped in the drivers seat before Adam had even reached it.

"Wait, wait, wait, you're gunna drive?" He asked sarcastically as he climbeed into the passenger seat looking over at me with wide eyes.

"And what is wrong with me driving Ruzek?" I asked turning the key in the ignition whilst watching him, a small smirk on my face.

"Nothing, but after your batting phase at the store who am I to question you?" He shrugged laughing as he looked into my narrowed eyes.

"Hold on tight." I grinned at him before slamming the pedal down and wheel spinning for a second before shooting off, me laughing at the white knuckle grip he had on his door handle.

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

"So, where were you placed before the 21st?" Adam asked as we sat watching the entrance to the stash house, so far it's been forty-five minutes and nobody has gone in or come out.

"I was at the 31st District, not even nearly as exciting though." I shrugged looking over at him to see he was already watching me.

"How come you transferred?" He asked as he scratched the stubble under his chin.

"Uh, let's just call them 'unprofessional arrests." I laughed slightly shrugging at him, him laughing along.

"Like your baseball practice?" He asked with a smirk and raised eyebrow like he already knew.

"Would you stop calling it that." I groaned with a slight laugh. "But yes, like that, according to Trudy Intelligence was the perfect spot for me." I smiled before something caught my eye. "Isn't that him?" I asked lifting my binoculars to get a closer look, it was him.

"We got eyes on the suspect, he's walking towards the front entrance now." Adam spoke into his radio as he get ready to open his door.

"Stand by, wait for him to get closer." Voight's gruff voice instructed though the radio making Adam shake his head.

"I can get him now." He muttered without taking his eyes off of Ernesto.

"We just  gotta wait Adam." I sighed knowing that he was getting impatient, especially with the guy being right there.

"Screw waiting." He mumbled before opening his door and climbing out.

"Adam wait!" I called getting out of the car just as Ernesto took off.

"Suspect is running, heading east away from the front entrance, officer Ruzek is in pursuit." I called into the radio before jumping in the car and racing in the direction that they were heading.

----------

Long story short, the plan failed. Adam went in for the arrest too early and spooked the guy, there was a pursuit on foot but as Erin tried to block his path she was smacked in the head with the butt of the gun and the guy got away, to say Antonio was pissed was an understatement.

"This is your fault!" He yelled pointing his finger in Adam's face once we got back to the bullpen, Al and Jay holding him back by an arm each.

"Walk it off Antonio!" Voight's gravely voice demanded as he walked up the stairs behind the ongoing commotion.

"Sarge." Dawson started before he was cut off. "I said now, Detective." Was all Voight had to say for Antonio to grab his jacket and storm out.

"I need some air." Adam muttered as he walked towards the stairs, hearing the gate slam a few seconds later I looked over at Erin, Jay and Al who were all watching what had just happened.

"Go talk to him." Al said looking directly at me.

"What? Why me?" I asked confused seeing as I was still new to this whole intelligence thing too.

"Because he seems to connect with you more than any of us at the minute, plus you're both new, it might be some comfort to the kid." Al said wisely before motioning to the stairs with his head.

"Okay, where do I find him?" I asked unsure, having no real idea of where to start looking.

"Try the changing rooms, seems to be where everyone hides." Jay suggested sharing a knowing look with Erin, must be some kind of inside joke type thing.

"Uhm, okay, I will be back then." I said quietly as I made my way down the stairs, through the gate and down to the sergeant's desk. "Hey Trudy, did you see where Adam went?" I asked looking around to see if I could spot him in the lobby.

"I think he went to the changing rooms, one second." She told me before turning back to the two patrolmen I had met on the first day. "Atwater I am telling you that there is no chance that you can swap shifts tomorrow it's too short notice and It's not really my problem what you're missing out on." She said to Kevin before turning back round to me. "Anything else Kyles?"

"What's tomorrow Kevin?" I asked looking up at him since he's at least a head taller than me.

"My little sisters got some kind of sports and activity day at school tomorrow, she didn't tell me till yesterday afternoon and she's been begging all night." He sighed rubbing his hands over his face as Kim patted his shoulder.

"I'll do it, I'll cover the shift, no need to swap." I said smiling at him before turning to Trudy. "I can do that right?" I asked unsurely.

"You can, but you'd have to go out on the beat, uniform, partner and all. You okay with this?" She said nodding down at Kim.

"That is absolutely fine sergeant." She nodded sending me a small smile.

"Fine, whatever." Trudy sighed defeated before a crash was heard coming from the changing rooms, Adam.

"Oh shoot, I totally forgot, I gotta go talk to him." I said motioning down the halls with my thumbs as I backed away from the desk slowly. "I'll see you guys later!" I called turning round and practically sprinting into the room.

"Hey." I said quietly as I spotted Adam sitting on one of the benches with his head in his hands, a bin lying on it's side a few feet away, I'm assuming that's the source of the crash we heard a minute ago.

"Hey." He mumbled looking up at me before rubbing his hands over his face.

"Wanna tell me what's up?" I asked as I took a seat next to him.

"It's my fault Kylie, I'm the reason that he got away." He sighed bowing his  head to the ground.

"Hey, you can't pin this on yourself, I don't know about you but I wasn't expecting him to run." I began placing my hand on his shoulder and rubbing slightly. "He may have got away but we're still going to find Diego and bring him home safe and sound." I reassured him making him lift his head and look at me.

"But we could've already had him by now, if I hadn't rushed it." He groaned looking up before back down to me.

"You can't think like that Adam." I sighed standing up and holding my hands out to him, looking at me sightly confused he took hold of my hands and pulled himself up. Letting go of one I pulled him slightly by the other. "Come on, we've got a little boy to find."I told him letting go completely before leaving the changing room, Adam right behind me.

As we walked up the stairs back into intelligence Jin came running in with his laptop, placing it on Antonio's desk we all gathered round, It was a video of Diego, his hand and legs were tied to the chair with rope.

"When was this filmed?" I asked looking over at Jin.

"It's happening right now, it's a live stream." He said looking over at Dawson who stood up and stormed into Voight's office, slamming the door behind him, Voight following a few seconds behind.

"Uh, any chance we can track where it's coming from?" I asked getting back to the case at hand.

"I'm trying, but it's pinging different locations around the world." Jin said sighing.

Nodding my head I sighed and made my way into the break room to make myself a tea, as I'd reached the kettle I heard the door close turning round I saw Adam walking towards me with a small smile on his face.

"Thank you, for uh, earlier." He shrugged reaching up and grabbing his own mug before pouring the coffee.

"We're a team Ruzek, I'll always be here for you to talk to, no matter what." I smiled up at him leaning back against the counter.

"I appreciate it, I really do." He said quietly as he looked down.

"Guys, Antonio's got something." Erin said opening the door and poking her head through, motioning back to the bullpen.

Walking back into the bullpen I couldn't help but feel eyes on us, looking over I spotted Jay looking between me and Adam with a blank expression, okay then.

"My CI gave us info that they could be hiding Diego here." Antonio said slapping a picture of a rundown hotel up on the board. "It's an old hotel that's not been used for a couple years."

"Alright, Let's go get Diego." Voight said patting Antonio's back before leading the way out of intelligence.

[amanda-glassen]

The Wonder Years: Part 8

While getting ready for her first school dance, twelve-year-old Olivia starts a path toward discovering who she is truly meant to be. Parts 1-7 can be found under the the tag #alex and liv: the wonder years

Thank you @ghostwritingcabenson​ @imaginaryoperagloves​ @cabensons​ @oliviaswifey​ and my lovely anon for all of your really sweet comments and tags.

Cover courtesy of my tumblr wifey @ghostwritingcabenson​

Seeing the brightly colored frozen yogurt shop put Olivia at ease because it was the setting of some of her best childhood memories and now she was going to experience it with her girlfriend.

Olivia did as Jamie had done for her mom and opened the car door for Alex. That small act of chivalry earned a big smile and a ‘thank you’ from Alex, which made Olivia feel as if she had butterflies in her stomach. 

“Babe, why don’t you take Alex inside?” Jamie suggested. “I want to stay out here and talk to Ollie.” Uh oh.

“Come on, sweetheart,” Serena gestured for Alex to follow her. “We can get first pick of the toppings.”

“Yeah!” Alex said excitedly. “I want chocolate chips and chocolate brownie bites.”

“Is everything okay?” Olivia asked, worried that Jamie had a suspicion that she and Alex were hiding something.

“Everything is fine,” Jamie responded. “This is a good talk, I promise.” She pulled a twenty dollar bill out of her wallet and handed it to Olivia.

“Cool! Twenty bucks!” Olivia folded the money and put it in her pocket. “Thanks, Jamie. I was saving up to buy a－”

“It’s not for you, kid,” Jamie interrupted. “It’s for you to treat Alex.”

Olivia tried to hide her disappointment. “But my mom always pays for frozen yogurt.”

Jamie made a failed attempt at stifling her laughter. “Think about it, kid. What’ll score you more points, you paying for her frozen yogurt or your mom paying?”

“Me, I guess,” Olivia groaned. “There goes my new bat.”

Jamie shook her head and wrapped her arm around Olivia to guide her toward the entrance. “I have so much to teach you, Ollie.”

Alex and Serena were already choosing their toppings when Olivia and Jamie entered the frozen yogurt shop. Olivia noticed that her mom had gotten their usual and she was eager to get the same－chocolate flavored frozen yogurt with Oreo crumbles, gummy worms and Fruity Pebbles－a tradition in the Benson household that they had named Dirt and Worms. 

“Mom, I’ll pay for me and Alex,” Olivia told her once all four cups of frozen yogurt were on the counter and ready to be weighed.

Serena took her debit card out of a pink and white polka dot Kate Spade wallet. “It’s okay, baby, I’ll get it. Save your money for that bat you’ve been wanting.” Olivia noticed her mom and Jamie exchange glances and she hoped Jamie could read her mind because she no longer had the slightest idea what to do. “On second thought, it’s probably not cool for your mom to pay for you on your first date.”

“I got this,” Olivia tried to say as smoothly as she could while she pulled out her twenty dollar bill and placed it on the counter.

“And I’m getting yours,” Jamie told Serena. “You already paid for dinner. We’re supposed to be in an equal partnership here.” After Alex and Olivia’s cups of frozen yogurt were paid for, Jamie inserted her card to pay for hers and Serena’s. 

“I paid for us to eat at Hot Dog On A Stick, not some expensive restaurant,” Serena reminded her. “That’s all we had time for after Barnes & Noble and GameStop.”

Jamie picked up their frozen yogurt cups and carried them over to the table. Olivia figured she should do the same for Alex until she saw Alex already eating brownie bites from her frozen yogurt. Better not take that away from her. “I learned an important lesson today, Ser. If I value my life, I will never attempt to take one of your fries. Is it the same with frozen yogurt?”

Serena scrunched her nose. “Yours is vanilla with strawberries, blueberries, and bananas. No wonder you want to steal some of mine.”

Within seconds of sitting down at the table, Olivia’s phone started to vibrate. It was a text from Elliot confirming he'd be at their secret meeting, but Olivia didn't want to risk her mom seeing a message from her dad come through so she decided to put her phone in her pocket. 

"What's this big science project about?" Serena asked them. "I've never seen an assignment have that effect on Olivia."

Olivia was in the middle of chewing a gummy worm, so she was grateful when her quick thinking girlfriend decided to answer. "It's the end of the year project which is worth 25% of our grade. Mrs. Rodriguez is supposed to give us more details on Monday, but my brother had her class three years ago and he said she lets her students pick the topic. Sometimes that's harder because the possibilities are endless. She also doesn't like us to pick partners because someone could get their feelings hurt if they aren't picked, so she puts us in alphabetical order. If she does that, it's fine because I'll get to work with Olivia. Alphabetically there's no one in between us. We should start brainstorming, Olivia."

The last thing Olivia wanted was to think about a science project that wasn't due for another month, but her girlfriend’s enthusiasm was contagious and the project was the only thing keeping her mom from asking questions about what was actually on her mind.

Olivia felt her phone vibrate again, except this time it wasn’t a text from Elliot or any of her other friends. It was another message from her dad that read, “Hey Sport. Wanna get some pizza tomorrow?”

“Who’s that, baby?” her mom asked her. 

“Just Elliot,” Olivia said nonchalantly. “He’s asking if I’m still coming over tomorrow to watch the game. I have to go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

Olivia was grateful that the bathroom was a single stall so nobody could follow her in there. She pulled out her phone from her back pocket immediately after locking the door behind her and started to respond to her dad. “Yeah can we go to Another One Bites the Crust? That’s my favorite. I can meet you there at 1.”

She waited two minutes before another response came through. “Daddy/daughter day tomorrow at 1. They have those rotating basketball hoops outside. Bring your A-game.”

When she returned to their table, a feeling of guilt hit her hard and suddenly. She occasionally hid things from her mom like when she didn’t tell her she had a girlfriend, but this was the first time she had actually lied to her. It was the worst she had ever felt in her entire life and she knew that lie was only the first of many that she’d tell her mom that weekend.

Serena asked Alex about her siblings and Olivia heard Alex talk about her older brother who was fifteen and nice to her and her younger brother who was almost nine and kind of annoying. Olivia loved to hear Alex talk about her home life and her friends and her favorite movies and TV shows, but that night her mind was on her dad and how much fun the two of them were going to have the next day eating pizza and playing basketball.

“Do you have any brothers and sisters?” Alex asked Serena.

With Serena distracted by Alex’s question, Jamie took it upon herself to attempt to steal a gummy worm, but her attempt was soon thwarted by Serena gently smacking her hand. “Hey! Nope. Hands off my worms. If you wanted gummy worms, you should have added some to your frozen yogurt.”

Olivia handed Jamie a couple of her own gummy worms. “Here, Jamie. You can have some of mine. I have a whole bunch.”

Jamie took the worms and held them up to show Serena. “Unlike you, your kid actually shares.”

“What can I say?” Serena smirked. “My kid is better than me. That means I’ve succeeded as a mom.” She held Jamie’s hand on top of the table before turning to Alex. “Sorry, Alex, before we were so rudely interrupted by my gummy worm thief, I was going to tell you that my brother Kyle is two years younger than me and my sister Lexie is one year younger than me. The three of us are really close, like best friends. Kyle and I live in the same building, but Lexie moved back to California after college. She lives in Santa Monica now.”

“Lexie Benson is your sister?” Alex asked, wide eyed and completely in disbelief. “Lexie Benson, the YouTuber? I’ve seen every single one of the videos on her YouTube channel! She does these really funny videos where viewers can request what era or theme they want and she does these in-character spoofs about－” Alex started to blush. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this. She’s your sister so you know all about her channel and her videos. Wait, I think I’ve even seen you in some of them!”

“Yeah, she’ll force me every time I go out to Santa Monica,” Serena smiled at her. “And don’t apologize for getting excited over something. I’ll tell Lexie about you next time I talk to her.”

“Babe, your phone,” Jamie told her as she looked down at Serena’s phone and noticed an incoming video call. 

“It’s my mom,” Serena groaned. “If I don’t answer, she’s going to keep calling.” She swiped across the screen to answer. “Hi, Mom. I’m out right now with Olivia, do you mind if I－”

“Where’s my grandbaby?” Mrs. Benson interrupted her. “I want to talk to her.”

Serena handed the phone to Olivia. “Hi, Grandma!” Olivia said excitedly. “Wanna see my girlfriend Alex? She’s having frozen yogurt with me. Me and her went on our first date tonight.”

“Hi, Mrs. Benson,” Alex said after scooting closer to Olivia. “Pleased to meet you.”

“You’re adorable!” Mrs. Benson responded. “And so well mannered. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Alex. So, tell me, how is my grandbaby on a date? Does she hold open the door and pull out your chair?”

“She’s a perfect gentleman and she’s so cute and sweet and she got me a rose and frozen yogurt tonight,” Alex beamed. “I like Olivia so much.”

Olivia felt butterflies in her stomach and she wanted nothing more than to kiss Alex if they were alone. “Doesn’t Alex look like a princess?” Olivia asked.

“She looks like Princess Grace,” Mrs. Benson told her granddaughter. “She could be a classic Hollywood starlet. And you look so handsome and grown up, my darling grandbaby.”

“Jamie cut my hair,” Olivia said excitedly.

“Jamie,” Mrs. Benson said in a teasing tone of voice, hoping Serena would hear. “Tall, dark, and handsome, herself, the one woman I would consider switching teams for.”

“Mom,” Serena groaned and Olivia couldn’t help but laugh when her mom put her head down on the table in embarrassment.

Olivia handed the phone over to Jamie. “Hi, Melanie. You’re looking beautiful as always. Where are you? I can see the sunset behind you. Are you on vacation?”

“Oh, no, I’m just on our rooftop,” Mrs. Benson said nonchalantly. “Didn’t my daughter tell you about the beach house in Malibu?”

Serena took the phone from Jamie. “I have to go now, Mom. Alex has to get home soon.”

“Not so fast,” Mrs. Benson told her. “Since you neglected to tell me when your spring break was, I looked it up on Columbia’s website and saw that it’s the week after next. I’m booking your flight to LAX. You can bring Jamie so I can finally meet her in person and my grandbaby can bring her little girlfriend and before you object and say you had something planned for my grandbaby, I will save you the effort and say nothing you can plan in that gloomy state you insist on living in is as much fun as the kids will have at the beach and at Disneyland.”

“Disneyland!” Alex said excitedly. “I’ll ask my mom if I can go as soon as I get home.”

Olivia’s dream of riding the teacups together and buying Alex a pair of sparkly Minnie Mouse ears could finally come true. “Please, Mom. Please can we go? I’ll do anything.”

“Don’t be the bad guy, Serena,” Mrs. Benson told her daughter. “I can hear how happy the kids are.”

“It’s 9:45 over here, Mom,” Serena said in a frustrated tone of voice. “I have to hang up now so we can take Alex home. Bye, Mom. I love you. I’ll call you tomorrow.” Serena set her phone on the table and then turned to face Jamie. “One thing I hate about smartphones is that you can’t angrily close them when you wanna hang up on someone. Nothing gave me more satisfaction as a teenager than hanging up on my mom with my pink bedazzled Motorola Razr phone whenever she nagged me about something like she is right now. She completely undermines my parenting every chance she gets. What if I had something planned for Ollie?”

“At least you knew how to use that phone because, apparently, you can’t use this one,” they heard Mrs. Benson say. “I’m still on the line, Serena. I’m booking your flight and I’m not taking no for an answer.”

Olivia looked across the table at her flustered mom and at Jamie who was trying to contain her laughter. The short interaction with her grandma had made all of her negative feelings go away. Tomorrow, she’d spend the afternoon with her dad and, as long as they could convince Mr. and Mrs. Cabot, she’d soon be at Disneyland with the love of her twelve-year-old life.

[stones-x-bones]

Place Your Bets (Pt. 1) || Mina and Bex

TIMING: Current PARTIES: @drowningisinevitable​ and @inbextween​ SUMMARY: Mina and Bex go to the Stacked Deck for a little fun away from all the stress. CONTENT: Underage drinking

It wasn’t that Mina didn’t normally take a lot of care into her appearance. Except for the few occasions when she had to wear sweats to class because she slept on campus, she was usually always dressed nice and relatively put together. She didn’t go overboard, but she always made sure to look presentable, especially when she went to play cards. But she never labored over the decision of what to wear like she was. She attributed it to the fact that she rarely had company and wanted to look impressive. She still felt a bit silly as she revolved between sitting on the bed in her room at Morgan and Deirdre’s staring at her clothes and pacing while she stared at her clothes. This was silly. She shouldn’t be nervous. But she was also always nervous, so it made sense. Nice, long-sleeved blouse, skirt, and tights. There. She decided. She fixed herself up, did it again, checked in the mirror. Smoothed down the nonexistent wrinkles in her skirt. 

Finally, Mina was bordering on being late to get Bex, which was ridiculous because they were in the same bloody house. Grabbing her keys and checking in the mirror once more to make sure her sleeves were buttoned, she walked to Bex's room. She… hesitated before knocking but eventually figured out how to do that properly. Why was she behaving like this? She’d been hanging out with Bex for days. She’d been keeping her company through everything. Why was she like this? When the door opened, she said, “Hey! Hi. Ah, hi.” She gave Bex a smile. “Are you… ready?”

When Mina had first asked Bex if she wanted to learn how to card count with her, she hadn’t thought about the fact that most gambling was done at a casino. And Bex, well...Bex wasn’t twenty-one yet. And that really should’ve been the end of the conversation, but it wasn’t. And in the end, that wasn’t even what Bex was nervous about. She’d been to casinos before, as young as being 8 years old. Sitting on the floor next to her mom, who was glued to a slot machine. One more pull, darling, one more. So it wasn’t the place that made her nervous, and it wasn’t the person, because, well, she liked Mina. And she liked spending time with Mina. And she liked being around Mina and she thought about Mina like all the time. Kyle had been gracious enough to point that out to her. So it wasn’t that. But something was making her nervous, because she’d changed no less than five times and had asked Morgan no less than three which shoes went better with which dress and which jacket looked nicest, which one covered up her scabs the most. Finally, she’d settled-- and just in time. The knock at the door came as she was just finishing putting up her hair, sliding the last pin in. She’d even spent extra time on her makeup.

Her face lit up at the sight of Mina behind her door. “Hey!” she said excitedly, biting her lip gently as she nodded. “Ready!” She sidled out and shut her door, taking Mina’s hand when she turned back around. “You look really nice,” she noted, leaning over to press a kiss to her cheek again. “Shall we?”

Mina thought that Bex looked really pretty. Of course she thought Bex looked really pretty. Bex always looked really pretty. That wasn’t even a question. “You look really nice, too,” she said, her cheeks heating a bit from both the compliment and the kiss. “Absolutely!” It wasn’t even a lie, despite the nerves. She held out her arm for Bex and began walking them to her car. “Are you sure you want to do this, by the way? We can do something else. I think our luck with movies has improved, or we just get something to eat somewhere.” Something laid back and easy. She backtracked quickly. “If you want to go to The Stacked Deck, though, that’s also fine! I just don’t want you to get bored.” There was also the fact that one of the card sharks was a couple of leprechauns that acted as if they were one person, and a few of them didn’t like her after an incident with a leprechaun colony last year. The one on top tended to give her the occasional look, and she couldn’t understand how any of the humans in the establishment didn’t realize that it was a stack of leprechauns in a trenchcoat, for crying out loud. “I’m really up for anything.”

“No, no! I’m sure!” Bex said, squeezing Mina’s hand. Couldn’t help but wonder if maybe the suggestion was because of what had happened to her. She wasn’t going to let that get to her though. “I wanna go. I wanna see how you do it.” She gave a toothy smile, hoping to encourage Mina-- she’d noticed over their time spent together how tentative the older girl was when it came to talking about things she liked and enjoyed (not to mention the hours they’d spent online teasing about it), but the way her eyes lit up when she’d talked about theorems and card counting made Bex want to do nothing more than make her smile like that again. She deserved to smile like that again. “I want you to teach me. You said you would. I know it’s not a p-word, but you’re not gonna go back on it now, are you?” She gave a false pout, sticking out her bottom lip as they headed to the car. She slid into the passenger’s seat and folded her hands into her lap, the way she always sat in the car, taking up as little space as possible. “So? To the Stacked Deck?” She wondered when would be the best time to let Mina know she couldn’t technically get into a bar, let alone a casino bar combination. Maybe when they got there? Maybe after she flashed her ID and the bouncer read the name. That was the one good thing about her parents being filthy rich and powerful. She reached across and took Mina’s hand again, her heart pounding in her chest-- which hurt less today, so that was nice. What a ridiculous notion, to be so nervous.

“Okay, then,” Mina said, taking a deep breath and giving Bex a small smile. “That I can do.” And, if she showed out just enough to possibly impress Bex a little, then it would probably be worth it. “Of course I will! I try to keep my word, when I can.” She rolled her eyes a bit. “‘P-word.’ You can say it, you know. That won’t do anything. I just ask that you don’t go around making any, especially not with me. Though I’d never make you keep one.” Even when it would serve her better to make sure Bex kept a promise to her. I’ll tell you before I do something, I promise. Mina couldn’t make Bex do that. She wasn’t planning on holding anyone to any sort of dangerous promise or bargain ever again. It had happened to her; she didn’t want to do that to anyone else. “To the Stacked Deck.” She gave Bex’s hand a squeeze before she started driving. The drive felt both too long and too short, but they made it. Mina grabbed her clutch and walked over to Bex and held out her arm, smiling and happy and nervous, the feelings fluttering in her stomach an awful lot for her to be doing something that she did relatively often. “Ready?”

“Well, no one told me that,” Bex argued weakly, frowning. But she wasn’t actually upset, and she couldn’t hold the frown long enough to even pretend she was, a smile bursting its way through. “But what about the really important ones? Morgan said those were okay, as long as you trusted the other person.” Though maybe now wasn’t the time to get into all that. Her heart hammered in her chest the entire way to the bar, and she slid out, taking Mina’s arm and wrapping both her arms around it. This was her second time outside of the house since the incident with Kyle, but those nerves were wrapped up in different  ones, so, really, the scariest part hadn’t even happened yet. “Ready! Well--” she started, then paused, pulling Mina off to the side when they got a bit closer, but hopefully not close enough for the man waiting outside to hear, “actually, I should probably let you know, uh, I can’t actually get technically get into the bar without a little, um…” she didn’t wanna say bribery, even if that’s what it would be at its base, “finagling?” She shrugged, giving a nervous smile. “I’m sorry, I should’ve told you before, but I really wanted to come with you and hang out with you. Forgive me?”

“Well, you didn’t ask,” Mina said laughing. Not that she thought that was a common thing to really ask and talk about. It wasn’t normal. Promises shouldn’t be things that carried so much weight. Still, it would be so much easier if Bex would just ask things, sometimes. “If it’s life and death, don’t make a promise. Honestly, I would say that the important ones shouldn’t be promises. Not unless you’re okay with consequences.” She allowed Bex to pull her aside, her smile turning into a worried frown. “Wait, finagling? Why…” Usually, the main problem with getting into bars had to do with being carded for-- Mina’s eyes widened. What was the age to get into bars in America again? She knew this, of course she knew this. “Bex, how old are you?” Oh, this could be bad, right? “I forgive you,” she said immediately, without really thinking about it. Not that there was anything that should be forgiven. “Okay, alright, ah, okay. How much-- I mean, how much trouble would we get in if you went in there?”

“I’m twenty!” Bex said hurriedly when she watched Mina’s eyes go wide. She waved her hands in front of her a little, trying to diffuse any worry that might have popped up. “It’s only a year off, I’m not that young!” Though she wasn’t sure why the thought bothered her, of her being whatever too young to hang out with Mina was. She didn’t even know how old Mina was, anyway. How had they gone this long without disclosing that? It always seemed like there was so much other stuff to talk about, didn’t it? Holidays and whose rambling was more fun to listen to and how nice Mina looked working out. Did it really matter? “Besides, I’ve been to casinos and bars before. It helps having rich parents and an old name.” She looked from Mina to the bouncer, then back to Mina. “Um, depends? If we don’t get caught, none!” she said, brimming with a smile that came with experience. Being locked into a room had never stopped Bex from wanting to get out and explore, though she mostly did it at school where she knew the punishment would be far less. “It should be fine, anyway. Most people in White Crest know who I am, or at least, who my parents are.” She reached out for Mina’s hand again, and found herself a little less sure of an answer she should have been one-hundred percent about. “Do you trust me?”

The relief Mina felt was legitimate. “Oh, good. Okay, that’s good.” She hadn’t thought Bex was young-young, but the whole not being able to get into a club thing had thrown her, if only momentarily. “I… can’t really say anything. I’ve definitely been to bars and casinos before turning the proper age.” Her and her dad had actually lived above a bar for a time in Germany, and she’d only been about fifteen at the time. No one had really cared, then. Of course, things were always quite lax with hunters. “If we don’t get caught, right,” Just what did Bex intend to do to get in? Mina could always force the bouncer into a promise, but she wasn’t as well-versed in wordplay as most of the others in her species. And she doesn’t want to do that. She doesn’t. There wasn’t much she could do. She looked at her and Bex’s hands. “I do trust you. Of course I trust you.” That wasn’t even a question. She squeezed Bex’s hand and gave her a smile. “Alright. Alright, let’s do this, then.”

“How old did you think I was?” Bex asked, raising a brow. “How old are you, anyway? I...don’t think you ever told me.” Not that it mattered, really. Her father had been ready to ship Bex off to someone when she was 18, but her mother had insisted she finish school first. “We won’t get caught. I might not look like it, but I’m really good at not getting caught. People never suspect the well-behaved ones.” She squeezed Mina’s hand. She trusted her. This was the most excited Bex had been in ages-- months, maybe even years-- and she wasn’t about to let a small thing like age ruin it. “Great! Follow my lead!” She tugged Mina’s hand and led them back over to the front doors, forgetting herself and perhaps moving a tad faster than her body was capable of at the moment. At the door there the big, burly man in sunglasses put a hand. “IDs?” Clearing her throat, Bex drew herself up and put on the face she’d been taught to in public-- soft and sweet and charming. “Actually, I’m supposed to be meeting my father here. Is he in?” It was perhaps a dangerous game, considering she hadn’t talked to her father in over a month, but the bouncer didn’t know that. She leaned around as if to glance inside, then looked back at the bouncer. The man didn’t look convinced quite yet.  “It’s Ochsenstein. Rupert Ochsenstein,” Bex went on. “You know, the one that one of the VIP rooms is named after?” 

Sputtering, the bouncer nodded. “Right, right! Of course! Miss Ochsenstein. I don’t believe he’s here yet, I can show you in, though, if you--” Bex tugged on Mina again and started moving past him. “Oh, no, that’s okay! My guide here is going to show me there. She’s a hired hand. Do you need her ID, too?” she asked, batting her eyelashes. The man looked between the two of them, then shook his head. “All good. I’ll let your father know when he gets--” But the door was already closing as Bex dragged Mina inside. She turned to look back over at her. “Guess they’re good for one thing, huh?” 

“Twenties?” Mina said, though she was unsure. “I mean, I knew you were an undergrad…” She hadn’t really thought about it much beyond that. Bex just seemed her age. “Ah, twenty-four, as of September.” She flinched, a bit. She would have cancelled her last birthday if she could. “Okay, alright, this will be fine.” And, really, she believed that enough that it didn’t make her feel all that sick. She allowed Bex to take the lead and was honestly more than a little impressed. The younger girl was terribly believable. For her part, Mina managed to give the man a shaky smile as he looked at her. She couldn’t really say anything without risking getting sick, and it wasn’t like Bex needed help with this. She gave the bouncer a smile as Bex dragged her into the building. She was more worried about whether or not Bex should be dragging her about, but she decided not to comment on it. “That was impressive,” she said, giving Bex a grin. “Much better than I could have done. Do you do stuff like this a lot?”

“I was on my own a lot as a kid,” Bex explained, sticking close to Mina now that they were finally inside. She’d forgotten how overwhelming public bars could be, and knowing the White Crest community, there was bound to be someone here she knew. But...she didn’t need to worry about that right now, did she? She wasn’t even talking to her parents. She was safe with Mina. “I had to learn how to navigate things without help, so, um, yeah? I guess.” She shrugged, stepping closer to Mina as someone sidled by them. “Okay, you’re turn to take the lead,” she nodded, sweeping her gaze around the bar before looking to Mina expectantly, eyes still alight despite the nerves building inside of her. She didn’t want to worry about all the things she normally did, she wanted to enjoy every moment of this night because it’d been so long since she’d just done something for fun. Just done something because she wanted to. And after the week she’d had previously, she just wanted to forget all the bad for a night. “Where to first?”

“Well, it was very impressive,” Mina said. “I could never do anything like that.” Despite their similarities, there were a lot of differences between Mina and Bex that became more and more obvious the longer they got to know each other. Not bad differences; at least, she didn’t think so. But she was beginning to realize that Bex’s parents and Mina’s dad were on two very different levels of strict when it came to parenting styles. Maybe not as different as Mina would like, sometimes, but still different. “Right, I can do that.” She looked around. The leprechaun card shark was at one of the blackjack tables, but there was another blackjack table open where she could avoid them. The woman dealing was also on friendly terms with Mina, which was nice. “You count cards with blackjack, so we can start there,” she said quietly, making sure that no one around them could hear. A few people waved at Mina as they walked by, and Mina returned the gesture with a smile. It had been a few months, but she used to frequent the Stacked Deck relatively often. She was familiar with several of the people there. “I’m admittedly much better at blackjack than poker. But that table’s not too crowded, and I like the dealer, and she likes me. Plus, there’s a card shark at the other table that most definitely doesn’t like me. Does that sound good?”

Bex just grinned, trying to hide her blush. She didn’t hear too many people call her impressive, considering she didn’t have many impressive qualities, she didn’t think. “Blackjack,” she repeated, “got it.” She had only ever played cards casually with other people, like other students. The closest she’d come to gambling was a game of strip poker she’d joined when she first got to University, but had chickened out halfway through when she’d lost another hand and had to ante up either her pants or her bra. “I’m really bad at cards, so I’ll just watch. Is that okay?” she asked as they headed over. She noticed people waving to Mina, greeting her, and it was apparent, then, that whoever was here wasn’t going to notice Bex. A bit of relief flooded through her, but she kept close. Being close to Mina always made her feel better. “What’s a card shark? That sounds like something not good, actually.” 

“Yep! It actually uses quite a bit of math, so it works well for me,” Mina told the younger girl, squeezing Bex’s hand in a familiar gesture. The Stacked Deck tended to use about six decks of cards; not the maximum number, but not the lowest by any means. She didn’t usually have a problem with keeping up with the decks, though, not at this point. She could do an entire paper on statistical analyses of cards at this point, but it would just be too short. “That’s fine, though I can’t promise it’ll be super interesting. I’m a pretty tame gambler.” Unless there was an opportunity that she couldn’t pass up on. She smiled. “Well, I mean, technically I’m a card shark, though I’m not exactly cheating. They’re manipulating the game like I am. But I’m better.” She was, too. It wasn’t necessarily bragging, but she was a bit pleased by the fact that she could beat a few leprechauns at the game. Really, they should stick to poker. They’d do far better against her in poker. 

“Well, you are the math expert,” Bex said, sliding into the spot next to her, “so I’ll just leave it to you.” There were only a few other people at the table, and a stack of chips was placed in front of them, and Bex looked to Mina. She was excited to see Mina in action, and by the way Mina was talking about everything, she knew the other girl was excited, too. And it always felt better to share that excitement with someone else, didn’t it? Bex could understand that feeling. She’d grown up such a lonely child, even just the idea of sharing something someone else enjoyed made her heart stammer. Or maybe it was just because she was with Mina. She recalled their visit to the falls, and how every moment had made her heart flutter. Even when Mina had seen her bite, eyes staring wide. Bex had never wanted that night to end. She looked down at their hands intertwined, then around to the table, noticing everyone else had both hands preoccupied with holding their cards and placing their bets. She let go of Mina’s and slid her hands into her own lap, leaning into her. She didn't want to assume anything, she didn't know if Mina might feel the same. Or if what she was feeling was really-- “So what first?” she asked, cutting her own thoughts off, wide eyed with wonder.

“I think ‘expert’ is pushing it a bit. I”m hardly an expert,” Mina said as she ducked her head. She got comfortable in her seat, though, and placed her bet as her cards were put in front of her. Two eights. What a bad move to start out on, but it was something she could work with. She frowned at the cards. “So, the goal is to get as close to twenty-one as you can without going over. The number cards are counted at face value, kings, queens, and jacks are all tens, and an ace is a one or an eleven, depending on what works in your favor. My value right now is a sixteen, which isn’t the greatest number to have because if I ask for another card, it could easily go over twenty-one, but if I keep the sixteen, the dealer’s cards could easily be over that.” She motioned with her fingers to split the pair of eights and laid down another chip. “Pairs can be split, though, so I can make this work.” She paid attention to the other players as well as the dealer and the deck, doing the calculations in her head as the dealer laid a queen and a six down on Mina’s split eights. She let the eighteen stand. From the rest of the table, the next card should be low enough. “So, I’m going to hit,” she motioned with her hand, and the dealer rolled her eyes through Mina’s explanations. Another six was laid down, and Mina grinned. “And now I’m going to let both hands stand, so I’m not going to do anything with them, and I’m going to see if this paid off.” She knew it would. 

As Mina explained everything, Bex did her best to pay attention. And it really wasn’t that she wasn’t interested in what Mina was saying, it was just that there were other things she wanted to pay attention to more. Like the gleam in Mina’s eyes as she explained what she was doing and how to do it, and that sly hint of confidence that even Bex caught when she declared she was letting her cards stand. Bex had never seen Mina so relaxed, so in her element-- she wanted nothing more than to make sure this lasted as long as possible. She took a moment to glance around at everyone else’s hands and wondered what information Mina was taking in from them, and how it was that she knew her hand was going to pay off. And when the cards flipped and Mina’s hand won, Bex felt a smile grow on her face. “You did it!” she exclaimed happily, before noting all the grumpy looks from everyone else around the table and sank back into herself. “You’re amazing. How’d you know how to do that?”

It was impossible for Mina to not feel happy, just like at the falls. Between the fact that her hand won and between the fact that Bex seemed so happy for her, and she didn’t seem bored, which was what she’d mostly been afraid of, everything was going better than she hoped. She couldn’t imagine that watching a card game was particularly interesting for someone who didn’t enjoy playing cards, but Bex didn’t seem to mind; she actually seemed to enjoy it. “I’m not! I was just--” She went ahead and laid down another chip, less concerned about this bet than the last one. She figured the numbers were going to run on the higher end, anyway. She looked down. Seven and a jack. She let it stand. “I was just playing the game.” She didn’t want to win too many hands in a row, especially with the way the table was. If she won too many, especially since she just got there, it would draw far too much attention in her direction. Card counting wasn’t illegal, but it was frowned upon, and it could get you kicked out pretty quickly. She looked at Bex, smiling, and asked, innocently, “Luck?” She raised an eyebrow a bit. “I usually don’t do so well on the first round, you know.” Because she didn’t try to; she just wanted to be impressive this time around.

“You are,” Bex insisted, lifting a hand to rest on Mina’s arm. “Trust me, I know.” She scooted her chair a little bit closer, finding that she didn’t even care about all the stares around her. Most of the people were more concentrated on the game, anyway, and on Mina, who had come in with a hot hand, it seemed. “Luck is only half of it,” she mumbled so hopefully only Mina could hear, “you should give yourself more credit.” She turned to watch her other hand lay down and saw that she didn’t ask to hit on a seventeen, scrunching her brow. “Is that too high to hit on, then?” Someone made a disgruntled noise and Bex shrunk a little more again, leaning into Mina as if trying to disappear into the other girl. It felt almost like a reflex, as if any strange noise, now, meant something bad. She was her only anchor, her only solid rock keeping her grounded and safe. It didn’t matter what else happened, she was safe here, and she was happy, and so was Mina, and that was what counted. They're was nothing here that would hurt her, and she knew if anything tried, Mina would stop them. She tried to take comfort in that fact, turning away from the disgruntled man. “Sorry, I’m just trying to learn,” she mumbled, casting a grumpy glare over at the man who had rolled his eyes. “Everyone has to start somewhere, right?” 

Blushing, Mina cleared her throat a bit and said, quietly and just for Bex, “Yes, well, it is a bit more than luck. Though, I usually don’t play this good alone.” Not at first, certainly. She watched as a person further down the table won the hand. “Seventeen is risky because if you get any number higher than a four, you automatically lose. If you don’t know what number is coming up, it’s best to just let it stand and not risk it.” Which, she knew the probability of a number greater than four was pretty high, so she hadn’t even bothered. She cut her eyes to the man grumbling down the table, a face that she recognized but not a name to go with it, before she looked back at Bex and reassured her, “It’s okay, you don’t have to apologize. It can be difficult to get in the beginning.” When the man gave a loud, obnoxious snort, Mina realized, quite abruptly, that she was going to be taking all of his money. She didn’t even need to, but she was certainly going to. She might even want to do worse, but this way wasn’t violent, and this way only had the slightest chance of her getting them thrown out. She matched his bet and looked at Bex, smiling, “Ask anything that you want to. It’s quite alright.”

“Really?” Bex asked, unsure what she meant in the moment before she realized. “Oh.” Her cheeks flushed a little and she smiled to herself. As much as she’d enjoyed going to the movies or the falls with Mina, she had to admit she liked this much better. Not only could they talk, but Mina seemed to be thriving, and there was nothing more Bex wanted than to see her smile like she had when Bex had first asked her about all this. She owed her, anyways-- not only had she sat through two Jurassic Park movies with her (and that was pretty impressive, considering Bex could not, for the life of her, get herself to shut up during them), she’d literally saved her life. Even if Mina never admitted it or agreed to it, Bex owed her. She watched all the cards flip and Mina’s hand won again. For a brief moment, Bex’s eyes met with the grumpy man’s as he threw his chip into the pile disgruntledly. And in that moment, a sentence popped into her head, one that she hadn’t thought herself. A moment of fear came over her, but the thought came and went. Blinking, she turned to look back at Mina. “What’s an ace up the sleeve?” she asked under her breath.

“Absolutely!” Mina said as she took the chips. She felt more than a little smug, though, by beating the one man she was beating the rest of the table, and she had no intention of letting up on it until he left. She couldn’t beat an out of control werewolf like she desperately wanted to, but she could at least do this. She felt just a bit guilty, but not enough to really stop. She hadn’t been lying, before; she could be of a card shark, too. She was usually just a little kinder about it since, more often than not, it led to her being kicked out of places. She not only matched the man’s bet but doubled it, smiling sweetly at him as she did. She wanted him to know she was playing him. He didn’t seem particularly happy about that fact, though there was a glint in his eye that she didn’t like. At Bex’s question, she looked back and frowned. “An ace up the sleeve is like a secret weapon,” she said. She watched the man closely, looking at his hands. “Or,” she said, her voice a bit louder, “it’s an actual ace up the sleeve, and that’s actually considered cheating, holding onto cards to use for another round.”

Bex usually considered herself a relatively observant person, especially because her well-being often depended on it. But she hadn’t noticed much about the man until Mina spoke up and pointed out that the man had a literal card up his sleeve. She hadn’t even noticed, and neither had anyone else. Maybe her magic had finally done something good, if still unintentional Maybe she was getting better at controlling it. Maybe she could use it again, but-- she didn’t want to ruin any part of this. She just wanted something nice with Mina. So, Instead she just glanced from Mina, to the man, to the dealer, who was now glaring down the rude man. “Um, I heard him say it,” she piped up, unable to help a tiny smug grin from smearing onto her lips, “he mumbled it under his breath while he was insulting my intelligence.” People often assumed Bex would just bend to their will or not have any sort of backbone, because she was a relatively unassuming looking person-- but when there were no vigilant eyes on her, and she could be herself, she had decided to never bend to anyone. She’d had to fight enough of her own battles growing up, chasing people away from her who thought she was an object, and standing her ground in restrooms when angry moms with ugly purses decided she didn’t belong. And with Mina beside her, he didn’t seem so intimidating at all. 

The dealer waved over some security guards and they frisked the man, finding not one, but two cards up his sleeves-- an ace and a jack. He was then forcefully removed from the table and Bex turned away and hid her face against Mina for a moment, until they walked away. “Just in case,” she said quietly, their faces very close together. She swallowed, lingering for a moment before her cheeks burned too much and she leaned back. “Can we still play?” 

Maybe Mina just hadn’t been paying attention while the man was talking because she hadn’t heard anything or maybe it was just a Bex thing, but she was glad that Bex had picked up on it. She may count cards, a generally frowned upon practice, but she couldn’t stand people that cheated at anything. “That was brilliant,” she told Bex, smiling from ear to ear. She watched as the man was thrown out, and she couldn’t help but feeling more than a little pleased. It was almost better than playing him for his money. As it was, she doubted he’d be allowed back in the Stacked Deck anytime soon. She did her best to hide Bex from the guards in case they decided to look too closely, to see that Miss Ochsenstein (her dad had a room named after her, here and in a lot of other places and, wow, that was strange to think about) wasn’t where she was supposed to be. It took her a moment to realize just how close the two of them were. She blinked, a tightness in her chest that felt like it had been present since the falls. She looked away, glancing at the cards that came out of the man’s sleeves. “That’s, ah, that’s a blackjack. His cards. If he’d laid them down, he would have definitely won.” She looked over at the dealer, who was already getting back to business as usual. People got thrown out of the Stacked Deck on a pretty regular basis. “Yes, of course, we can still play.” She still wanted to see if she could get a few more wins before someone caught on. Mina didn’t make big gambles, usually. She was playing a dangerous game.

The word brilliant made Bex’s face flush even more and she glanced away, as if trying to hide it. “Oh, no, I just-- you know, happened to hear him. In, uh--,” she glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to them, and tapped the side of her head, “in my head.” Gave a crooked smile before focusing back on what Mina was saying, trying to concentrate on looking at the cards and not the smile plastered on Mina’s face. It made her chest tighten and flutter at the same time. Just like at the falls. They were feelings she both wanted to ignore and embrace, because they made her feel good and she wanted to lean in and-- “Blackjack,” she repeated, snapping herself out of her thoughts, “right. Is it-- is it only blackjack with those two? Or can you get it anytime you hit twenty-one?” She turned her gaze up to watch the dealer again, then over as someone else-- another relatively grumpy looking man-- sat down at the table and slid in his tokens. Bex watched him for a moment as he turned up his cards, set them down, took a drink, and tapped the table. An impatient man, she could tell. She looked back at Mina’s bet and saw that he had matched hers. “You know,” she mused quietly, “I think you’re the brilliant one.” She’d watched her mother gamble quite a bit, and she’d never been any good at it, and she’d always lost at cards. But Mina was so confident, she knew exactly what she was doing. Bex wanted her to win so bad-- she wanted to watch the smug grin on everyone else’s faces get wiped away.

“Well, that was far better than anyone else did. If it wasn’t for you, he’d have gotten away with duping the house.” Not that Mina was doing much better. She wondered if the dealer knew she was playing the system. It wouldn’t be long if she didn’t know already. She couldn’t exactly play the wide-eyed innocent routine that she usually played when she first walked into a new place, always fueled by nerves and excitement. No one ever thought to ask her if she’d played before, so she’d never really had to lie. Mina didn’t look like a gambler, and she wasn’t! She was just a mathematician that occasionally enjoyed having a bit of fun. She smiled at Bex, at her abilities, at her magic and humanity and brilliance. Mina could understand every theorem in every maths textbook on the planet, and she’d still be unable to comprehend just how amazing she thought Bex was. “So, blackjack is when you have an ace and any card with ten as its value: tens, jacks, kings, queens. As long as it adds up to twenty-one with only the two cards. Any other time you hit twenty-one is great but it’s not blackjack. She didn’t really look down at her cards before she hit, figuring she had a decent idea of what card would be laid down. Really, the dealer should shuffle her deck. She was making this easier than it needed to be for Mina. The man down the table groaned in frustration. He should have picked the table with the leprechauns. At least it was possible to tell that they were ruthless. Mina’s dad used to tell her that her best feature was the fact that no one could tell she was dangerous until it was too late.

As the chips were slid in Mina’s direction, she looked at Bex, feeling terribly, overwhelmingly warm. “Hardly,” she said, laughing breathlessly, trying to not look at Bex’s lips. “I mean, anyone can play cards! It’s really just about taking the time to learn how the game is play, and figuring out which strategies work, and--” The man cut her off, asking if she was going to lay down her bet any day now, girlie, causing Mina to throw a few chips in. “Really, I mean, really it’s not that big of a deal,” she lowered her voice just for Bex, “especially if he can do it.”

Bex just smiled, unable to hold it back anymore. If she wasn’t careful, she’d forget herself and be unable to hold back other things. She kept her eyes on the table, instead, and pretended like her face wasn’t beat red and on fire. She hoped Mina didn’t notice, but she was pretty sure Mina wasn’t even paying attention to the table anymore. Instead, Bex focused on her explanation again, finding it so, so easy to let herself drown out everything else and only listen to Mina’s voice. “Okay, so, only if you get a ten value and ace. But twenty-one still wins? What if someone gets Blackjack but someone else has a twenty-one that’s not Blackjack? Who would win?” She looked up at Mina then, her gaze catching the man in the corner who was rolling his eyes and glaring at both of them the way Bex’s father often glared at his newspaper before complaining about how tainted the town has become. The chips made a clicking noise as they were all pushed towards Mina and Bex reached out to start stacking them back up in neat little piles while giving the man a cheeky grin. She glanced to Mina out of the corner of her eye.

“You should give yourself more credit,” Bex said, making sure to loudly click the chips as she stacked them, as if to show them off, “any old person might be able to play the game, but it takes a real genius to win.” She wasn’t usually this confrontational, but Mina made her feel good enough to give the man a pointed look as she dropped the last chip on and scooted them to Mina. She watched his jaw clench and almost immediately regretted it, sinking back into Mina-- fear very often won out inside of her head, and even if he didn’t have the eyes of a wolf, she couldn’t be sure. “Either way,” she said a little quieter, “I think you’re brilliant.” The cards were flipped again and Mina’s hand won...again. “Case in point.”

“The blackjack wins because it’s only two cards. It doesn’t need to be hit again,” Mina said, trying to stay focused. “It’s the highest value you can get with two cards, and the less cards you have, the better. More cards means there’s a chance you could overshoot the value and have a bad hand.” She almost couldn’t care less about the game, though she did a preliminary scan around the rest of the table. She locked eyes with one of the men as he glared before she looked away quickly. She could have easily stared him down or smiled or even asked him if he needed some help, but she had never worn that kind of cruelty well. Instead, she simply looked at the chips from the previous round. Then she looked at Bex, who seemed happy, and that was nice, wasn’t it? Knowing that she made someone genuinely happy, even if there was still a bit of underlying stress? She could be okay with that. She wouldn’t, but she could, and that was dangerous. She put down her chips again and resigned herself for a less involved round. She wasn’t going to win, but neither was the newest man at the table. He doubled down even though it was a stupid idea, causing Mina to mutter, “I wonder if he can even play at all,” as the dealer gave him a card that sent his number over twenty-one. She might have played it safe and not one the round, but at least she wasn’t playing it foolishly. “I’m not,” she insisted. “I just know numbers.”

“Oh, yeah,” Bex said, nodding, “that makes sense, actually. Sorry, stupid question.” She watched Mina examine the table and noted that she wasn’t trying as hard this round. Were they getting suspicious? She hoped not, she was having so much fun and it seemed like Mina was, too. And that’s what really mattered, right? All Bex wanted was to make people happy-- her mom, her dad, her friends. But it really only seemed like Mina was the only person she could make happy. Sometimes it even seemed like she could barely make Morgan or Nell happy. She didn’t know how to be what they wanted her to be, but Mina didn’t expect Bex to be anyone but herself. Still, she wasn’t sure she could be even that, even for Mina. And, maybe, she wanted to be something else for Mina, with Mina. She didn’t win the round, but she didn’t lose, either. No, the man who kept glaring at them did. One bigot replaces another. She tugged on Mina’s hand. “Can we go get a drink after this?” she asked quietly, not wanting to be under the scrutiny of this man anymore, despite enjoying watching Mina wipe the table with him. “Once you’re done taking all his money?” she felt a little smile pulling onto her lips, couldn’t help it. “Oh, but isn’t that brilliant?” she asked, blinking. “Knowing numbers? Do you know how many people struggle with numbers? I think it’s amazing,” she said, squeezing her hand, the words slipping so easily from her lips, “and so are you.” 

“It’s not a stupid question. You really can’t ask me any sort of stupid question,” Mina said, and she meant it; she didn’t think it was possible. She’d answer any question that Bex asked, even if it was one that she never wanted to. The man snorted, and Mina turned to glare at him. “Yes, can I help you? Would you like me to show you how to play the game? Because I think you could use a bit of instruction in basic arithmetic.” Really, if he was just in a sour mood because she was beating him, he could at least be more subtle about it. At least this one didn’t seem liable to start cheating. He was just rude and testing her patience. She felt Bex tug on her hand and immediately looked over at her. “Oh, absolutely. We can do that now, if you’d like?” It was… probably best if they left, she thought, watching as one of the pit bosses started circling towards their table. She recognized him. He’d gotten close to throwing her out before. Or was he the same one that had been there with her and Luce? She wasn’t sure. “Knowing numbers isn’t brilliance, I assure you. It’s just something that I do for fun. It’s not useful for survival or anything.” But she frowned as she said it. That wasn’t true in the same way it had been a year ago. Mina… didn’t know how to feel about that. She shook it off. “I think knowing about the Neolithic era is far more brilliant, you know.”

Bex felt rather childish in the moment, but she wanted nothing more than to stick her tongue out at the man who kept snorting at them. She wasn’t about to let him ruin their night, though, so she kept it to herself and couldn’t help the laugh that came out of her when Mina spoke up. She bit her lip and nodded, sliding from her spot as she collected all the chips Mina had won from the few rounds they’d played, pointedly sliding the large stacks together. “Wow, you did so well,” she said a little loudly, perhaps rather high on the feelings between them, her feelings for Mina. “Drinks are on you, then?” Once they’d gathered up all the chips into a bag, she took Mina’s hand again and pulled her towards the bar, away from the prying eyes and the unwanted commentary. For some reason, she wanted Mina all to herself right now. “You know,” she said, her voice a little more even now that it was just them again, “something doesn’t have to be useful to be brilliant. Knowing about a bygone era nowadays is no more useful than knowing the quadratic formula. And besides,” she stopped turning to look at Mina, “you get this funny look on your face when you talk about math or theories and that, alone, is worth it.” 

“Well, obviously I wouldn’t make you pay,” Mina said, though she leaned in closer. Teasingly, and so that no one else could overhear them, she added, “Though, don’t think I haven’t forgotten why you technically can’t get in here, you know. It might be drink, as in singular.” She was mostly joking. Though Mina rarely drank, she’d started partaking in alcohol when she was younger than twenty-one. Of course, things were different for her, and she’d spent most of her life in places where the drinking age was lower. Plus, she metabolized things differently than most humans, whether that was due to not being human on near constant hunter training for most of her life. So, she was only mostly joking. Still, the thought of potentially getting caught doing something illegal, even with the multitude of illegal things she’d done… chaffed. She didn’t like it. There was also the fact that Bex was still recovering from her injuries. Mina had heard that alcohol and painkillers didn’t mix. As they walked over to the bar, she said, “Okay, but yours is far more interesting, and you explain things well, and it’s nice. I like it. And useful things are-- In the grand scheme of things, it’s--” Mina didn’t really know what she was trying to say. Instead, she scrunched up her nose a bit, fighting off a smile. “A funny look? That’s-- Hey, no. What kind of funny look?”

“Oh, well,” Bex started, batting her eyelashes, “I would never ask you to do anything illegal. I’m the child of two lawyers, after all. That would be blasphemy.” But she had smiled through the entire thing, because who cared? She didn’t need a drink, it wasn’t even that she really wanted one-- anything would do. It was just about the natural ease in which she seemed to fall in to sync with Mina, like always. Or how fast her heart was beating in her chest, or how warm her cheeks felt, or how her face was probably going to hurt from all this smiling by the end of the night. But after everything that had happened-- the movie, Frank, being asleep for weeks, her parents, the falls, Kyle-- Bex felt as if she deserved at least one night where she could just be happy. And that, alone, was such a rare thought. “I think that’s actually a matter of opinion,” she pointed out once her thoughts finally circled back around to the conversation, “I’m more than sure there’s people here who would rather hear about algorithms over cavemen. Though, did you know, the earliest form of card game entertainment dates all the way back to the ninth century? In the Chinese Tang Dynasty. They wrote on leaves and called it the ‘leaf game’.” Bex gave a cheeky grin, shrugging, as she headed towards the bar again. “I dunno. It’s so hard to describe. It’s cute, though. Maybe if you made it again I could take a picture and show you. Add it to our album from the Falls.” 

There was that feeling of being too warm again, right in Mina’s chest where she didn’t think it belonged. She was growing to believe that she didn’t mind it, though, and she couldn’t decide if that was worse or not. It was worse, though, that she knew Bex probably wouldn’t have to ask Mina to do something illegal. She might just do it. “You know, I almost believe you. Almost.” But she’s unfathomably happy, despite being too warm. Impossibly happy, really, she absolutely shouldn’t be this happy. “I’m sure there are people who prefer to hear about algorithms over cavemen; in fact, I think my program has most of them, and we’re a very small program. I just think I might be included in the number that would rather here about cavemen.” Not for any particular reason that she cared to linger on. Mina already knew algorithms. She didn’t know anything about cavemen. “What kind of symbols were on these leaf playing cards? Did they use kings and queens and jacks, or did that come about later?” She made another face, though this one was genuinely displeased. “Oh, no, no more pictures. I can’t stand having my picture taken.” If she thought about it, there was probably about three legitimately taken photos of her on the entire planet, and one of them was of her and her dad as her phone lockscreen. Another one was her student ID. The last one was the one from the falls that made her smile. Wilhelmina Fitzroy did a really good job trying not to exist. “What do you want to drink?” she asked as they got to the bar.

Bex grinned, wide and toothy. “I’m just an innocent girl,” she teased, “how could you not believe me?” As they made it up to the bar, she turned her back and leaned against the bar to face Mina, contemplating an answer. “Alright, alright, you got me there. My point is that I’d rather hear about algorithms from you then any of the other math nerds. And, well,” she shrugged again, watching her face closely, “I don’t think I’d mind telling you about cavemen.” The bartender was still busy, so it seemed they had a bit more time until they got service. Her father usually never had to wait, at least not in places like this where they knew his face. “They used numbers, actually. But even as far back as then, they were still assigned suits. Four them! Um-- lemme try and remember, it was…” she trailed off a moment, trying to pull her memory up. “Coins, strings or sticks,” she put up two finger as she counted off, “myriads and ten-myriads I think? Don’t quote me on that, though.” Bex furrowed her brow, frowning teasingly. “Okay, no pictures. For now.” Bex could understand that, though her discomfort with photography had long since been burned out of her. The amount of photos she’d had taken was far too many. “I’ll just have to do my best to describe it, then. And, um-- something fruity?” 

“I don’t know, actually, now that you ask,” Mina said, feeling dazed. She leaned forward against the bar, turning to face Bex properly. Bex’s eyes were so pretty. Mina blinked momentarily, catching herself. Then she put a hand to her chest, feigning offense. “Other math nerds? Are you calling me a nerd?” She tried to sound indignant, but she was laughing, just a bit. “Math nerd, funny looks. You know, it could be considered very rude to tease the person who’s buying you drinks, you know that?” Not that Mina found it rude at all, actually. “Did it go up to ten? The numbers? How many cards were in a suit? Also, what, exactly, is used to represent a myriad? Because I only know the word as meaning a, ah, large number.” It was silly, the way her brain immediately associated that word with a musical. “Oh, I’m absolutely quoting you on that, for sure, if I ever write a paper on the history of the leaf game of the Chinese Tang Dynasty. You’ll be the first person I cite. What’s the typical citations for American historical papers? Do I put your last name first or your first name?” The bartender was slowly but surely making his way toward them. Mina found that she didn’t particularly mind the wait. “I take terrible pictures. You know this. The best one that I think that’s out there is from when I was about six, and I was missing a tooth. Absolutely dreadful. Ah, okay, fruity.” When was the last time Mina had a fruity drink? When was the last time she had a drink? “Have you had a cosmopolitan before?”

Bex couldn’t help but laugh. “Cute math nerd, I feel like I need to add that addendum. But yes, nerd. I mean, though, if you’re a nerd, I am, too.” Another laugh escaped her lips as she watched Mina, enjoying the smile that was on her face probably more so than her own. It was the kind of smile that reached her eyes, and Bex wanted nothing more than to make sure it stayed that way. “You’re right, it could be. But I somehow don’t think you mind,” she teased back, giving a wink. She leaned an elbow on the bartop and put her hand in her chin as she looked over at Mina. If she was lucky, this night would never end. “Yes! The numbers were two through nine, and then the myriad was all tens and the ten-myriad was kind of like what we think of now as face cards. I believe they were symbols that look like a bunch of circles stacked on top of each other.” At that, she almost snorted, giving a feigned indignant huff and playfully pushing against Mina’s shoulder. “Don’t you dare. But if you do, it would be the Chicago Manual.” Gave half a smirk, reaching over to brush a piece of hair from Mina’s face. “I think you take great pictures,” she mumbled, “even with a funny look on your face.” And somehow, she got lost for a moment, just standing there, looking at Mina-- the color of her eyes, the shape of her cheek bones, the curve of her lips. Her hand was still hovering near Mina’s face, fingers brushing against her cheek. She could have stayed like that, too, if the bartender hadn’t chosen now of all times to come over, making a loud noise as he set a bottle down. “What can I get you ladies?” he asked, and Bex pulled away quickly, clearing her throat. “Oh, um-- cosmopolitan. That sounds-- fine. Yeah. If that’s what you’re having,” she deferred to Mina, tucking her chin to her shoulder as she tried to calm herself down for a moment. Her heart was beating way too fast

“Oh, well, I mean, that’s-- That’s a welcomed addendum, certainly, but the nerd is still there.” Please, Mina begged herself, don’t do anything embarrassing like blush or get scaly. Please. I’m begging. “You seem incredibly sure of that statement.” Which, in Bex’s defense, she should be. Mina absolutely didn’t mind. She didn’t mind much of anything, at the moment. She couldn’t bring to mind much more than: don’t get weird and try to pay attention. So she focused on Bex’s words about numbers and circles and ten-myriads. “Okay, yes, this does sound familiar. That’s incredible, actually, the way things have managed to somewhat stay the same, even over centuries.” Her heart was beating a bit faster than normal, and the push caused her hand to twitch, reflex trying to take over before she smiled it off, laughing. “Okay, Chicago Manual. An entire citation format, named after a city of all things. And not even a particularly good one, either. Which, Chicago is okay, but--” She went impossibly still as Bex’s fingers brushed a piece of hair away and just… stayed there. Fight or flight, they said. They often forgot to mention that freeze was a well-used third option, though not the most self-preserving. “I-- Well-- I don’t--” She was saved from her stumbling by the bartender. “Ah, right, yes. Two. Of those. Cosmopolitans.” She handed the bartender more money than was necessary to ensure that he didn’t attempt to ask for any sort of IDs as she attempted to lower her heart rate. Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous.

[ghostly-cabbage]

Frigid (Chapter 1)

Danny Phantom fanfic

Genre: Horror, Angst, Enemies to Friends

Fic Rating: M (Language, Underage Drug Use, Violence and Gore)

Summary: Wes and his brother Kyle have just moved to Amity Park. Wes is only worried about fitting in, but all the ghost nonsense is making that harder and harder. Something weird is going on in this place, and his chemistry lab partner is no different. Seriously, what the hell was up with the Fenton kid and why did everyone ignore it?

Danny is a junior in high school, and pressure is squeezing in on all sides. Keeping good enough grades to graduate, and dealing with the snoopy new kid wasn't bad enough, but he's starting to feel like his parents are getting closer to figuring out his secret. Jazz is off at college and he didn't realize just how helpful it was when she was home to cover for him.

Danny's been able to keep his secret at school for one reason, and that's that no one cares to watch him close enough to connect the dots. Wes is different.

AO3   FFN

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"The air is different here," Wes said, looking up at the swath of stars across the sky. Kyle exhaled a plume of smoke that clouded the view. 

"Shit. Don't get all poetic on me now." Kyle coughed his way into a laugh and Wes kicked his shin just hard enough to hurt. 

"Ow!" 

"Shut up dude, I mean it's colder here. More humid or something too." 

"Yeah, definitely nothing like home." Kyle swung his legs back and forth off the brow of the roof. "How was your first day of school btdubs?" He offered Wes the joint pinched between his fingers. Wes waved him off. 

"Thrilling, nothin' like being the new kid," he said.  

Kyle shrugged and took another hit.

“‘S not so bad, my day was chill,” he croaked out while trying to keep his breath held in. 

Wes scrunched his nose at the smell. “Jesus dude, that stuff smells worse than normal.” 

“Yeah—” he puffed out the cloud of smoke “—the shit here isn’t as good. Missin’ that green triangle right about now.” Kyle let out a wistful sigh. Wes almost wanted to ask how he’d found a dealer already, but it was Kyle. He always found someone. It was like his supernatural ability to sniff out someone who’d sell to minors.

 “Anyway, basketball tryouts are at the end of the week, right? Cheer up my man, you’ll get mad chicks once you make the team.” Wes shot him a glare. Getting chicks was the last thing on his mind. He was more preoccupied with the fact their dad uprooted their entire lives to move to fucking Illinois. Illinois!

“Whatever dude.” There was a brief silence, before Kyle bumped his shoulder into him. He took another deep drag off his joint, the static burn filling the air like white noise. The stars continued to glimmer coldly in the sky, and it sent a pang of homesickness through him. It was bullshit. 

“Any classes you like?” 

“Psh. Hardly… Well. There’s a photography class—” 

“Didn’t you mention something about chem at lunch?” 

“Oh. That.” Wes started to get angry just thinking about it. “Yeah. Chemistry two. Apparently we have to have a lab partner for the whole semester. Which wouldn't be a big deal but I got stuck paired with a dude that’s ‘banned for life’ from using the chem equipment.” He used his fingers for the air quotes. “So I’m probably gonna have to do everything.”

Kyle took a breath like he was about to say something, but Wes pressed on. “What the hell do you even have to do to get banned for life from using the chemistry stuff?” 

“Dude! Maybe your partner got busted for making drugs! That Breaking Bad kinda shit! That’d get him banned fer sure fer sure.” His words slurred around the edges.

Wes almost laughed. “You’re high Kyle. If you saw him you’d understand. This guy isn’t a drug lord, trust me, he’s a twig. No way he’d be involved in anything dangerous. If that guy does anything more exciting than video games I’d eat your hat.” 

Kyle gasped. “Brooo!” 

“What?”

“Somthin’ to eat sounds wicked. Wanna swing by that... Nasty place, what’zit called? We saw it on the way in.” 

Wes rolled his eyes and heaved a sigh. 

“Nasty Burger?”

“Nasty Burger!”

“As a majority of you are aware, it’s a new school year, which means as per new school district regulation it’s time to report to the gym for the annual ghost safety course, and later today at an unspecified time there will be a ghost drill.” Mr. Lancer droned at the front of the class. The other students around Wes all groaned like they’d been assigned a pop quiz, rather than that being the most batshit crazy thing they’d ever heard. Uh, what the hell? He raised his hand. 

“Yes, Mr. Weston.” 

“Did... you just say ghost safety course?” Kids around him chuckled and shared knowing looks. It was like he was on the other side of an inside joke.   

“Regrettably so, Mr. Weston. Everyone single file to the gym please. Leave your bags here, you’ll be back before the third period,” Lancer said as he gestured to the door. Wes stayed sitting for a few seconds longer than the class, trying to make sense of what he’d just heard. Ghosts? Like actual ghosts? 

“Hey, Fenturd, can’t wait to see how your parents fuck it up this year!” Wes turned towards the back of the classroom to see a tall broad shouldered guy, Dash if he remembered right, shoving past Danny Fenton, AKA his chem lab partner. Danny lurched to the side, stumbling into a desk. There were two other kids that Wes hadn’t seen before standing behind Danny, a goth girl and a dweeby kid in a beret.

“Bro, I still have the picture on my phone from when they couldn’t get Mr. Fenton out of that ghost netting,” said an equally massive asian guy. The small knot of kids around them all laughed and filed past Danny and his presumed friends. Danny was glaring daggers at the back of Dash’s head. 

So… Danny’s parents were the guest speakers, and they were giving a talk on... ghost safety… Seriously, did anything here make sense? Wes followed after the crowd, trying to wrap his head around it. The odd trio started following a few paces back.

“Great. Just what I need to kick off the year again,” Wes heard Danny grumble. 

“Oh come on Danny, It wasn’t that bad,” the goth girl said. 

“Nah, it was pretty bad.” 

“Tucker!” 

“What?!”  

Wes tried to continue listening to their conversation but the person in front of him turned around to look at him. 

“You’re the new kid right?” She asked. She had long blonde hair and perfect makeup. 

“Uh, yeah. Wes.” 

“I hear you’re trying out for the basketball team, right?” A few of the popular kids walking in front of her glanced over their shoulders to look at Wes.

“Y-yeah. I was point guard on my last team back home.” 

“I don’t know what that means.” She tossed a lock of hair behind her shoulder. Her eyes were burning into him like she was personally judging where he fit into the social caste system of the school.  “But good luck. I’m Star, by the way. My boyfriend’s on the football team so don’t get any ideas.”  

“Oh please Star, you’re like, totally out of his league, basketball team or not,” a new voice cut in from just in front of Star. Another girl with dark wavy hair turned to look at him. She had dark olive skin, almond eyes and thick eyelashes. “I’m Paulina, but I’m sure you’ve heard all about me already. People are kind of obsessed with me, they can’t help it.” She said it with a smile and a cute giggle to punctuate her sentences. He’d seen her in homeroom yesterday, and he knew right off the bat she was top of the hierarchy, her and Dash both seemed to have a pretty solid hold on their popularity. If he was going to survive here he needed to make sure they liked him, or at the very least had nothing bad to say about him. 

“I can see why, it’s nice to meet you,” he said. The two girls shared a look, shrugged and turned their attention away from him. 

He let go of the breath he’d been holding, feeling like he’d just passed some sort of test.  He’d never exactly been a popular kid. In elementary school he was small and easy to pick on. Unless Kyle was around, who had a nonchalant courage about him, even as a kid. It’d taken a lot of work for Wes to figure out how to fit in just under the radar of the big fish. 

He stepped into the bustling gym along with the rest of the Junior homeroom class. The bleachers were pulled out, and the class dispersed to find their place to sit. Wes bobbed his head over the shoulders of other students looking for Kyle. It took some work but eventually his eyes landed on his brother. He was lounging, taking up two seats worth of space on the far left side of the bleachers. He made a beeline for him, and took the stairs two at a time. The clamor of the student body filled the room, and when he sat down he had to speak over it. 

“Dude, can you believe this? A ghost assembly?” His brother had never been the most believing of the supernatural. But this place, openly acknowledging the presence of ghosts? He’d like to see Kyle try and refuse to believe now. 

“Yeah man! This school must really love Halloween.” 

And there it was. 

“Kyle. It’s September.” 

“And? Bro they got the Halloween decorations up at wally-world already, why not have a fun Halloween thing?” Wes frowned, and clicked his tongue. He propped his chin against his hand and watched as the school started to settle. His eyes wandered the rows until he found the goth girl. Danny and the kid she’d called Tucker were with her. They were sitting in the section over a row down. Danny had his hands stuffed into the pockets of his black NASA hoodie, and a pinched look on his face. He couldn’t exactly say he blamed the kid, the thought of his own dad showing up to give a presentation made him shiver in horror. 

They’d set up a stage in the center of the gym. Principal Ishiyama stepped up to the podium, and tapped the mic. 

“Hello students of Casper High! For incoming freshmen, allow me to officially extend a warm welcome, and to all returning students, welcome back!” She was way too chipper for the time of morning. “As many of you know we have to review some safety precautions. Now, this may not be new information but I expect you all to pay attention and be respectful regardless. With that, allow me to introduce local ghost experts: Jack and Maddie Fenton.” Ishiyama moved back, clapping for the guests. The crowd gave mixed reactions. Most people looked like they were only applauding out of awkwardness. Wes was definitely included in that category. 

A man and woman with brightly colored… jumpsuits? Hazmat suits? Whatever they were, came forward. The man was intimidating from the pure size of him alone. Jesus christ, he looked like a NFL linebacker. Next to him, was a slight and fit woman. She spoke first, standing at the podium. 

“Good morning everyone! My husband and I are honored to be welcomed back to run through the safety course with you kids!” Mrs. Fenton was peppy and direct with the way she spoke and the way she moved. “As of last year the manual ghost alarms were installed around the school.” Maddie motioned to the projector screen behind her that had been lowered from the ceiling. “As you can see here.” The picture on the projector showed huge red buttons ringed by yellow and black caution trim. Wes had seen them around before, but he’d figured they were for... tornados or something, they had those here right?

“If you see a ghost you are encouraged to press this button so that the school can evacuate and the correct professionals may be notified.” 

“By that she means us!” Mr. Fenton shouted, popping up in front of the projector. She moved on as if the interruption hadn’t even happened. 

“Whatever you do, do not engage with a ghost. Ghosts are highly dangerous. Even a low level ecto-entity can be a threat to your life and well-being!” Her voice was grave, and practically oozed with conviction. Wes looked over at Kyle, gesturing towards the stage, incredulous. 

“Really? Nothing to say about this?”

“What can I say, they’re pretty dedicated. Dude, Wes, it might be an ARPG, like remember the Halo 2 ‘I love bees' thing?”

“I hate you. This isn’t even anything close to—” 

“Shh!” Someone who sounded like a teacher hissed at them. He turned his attention back to the presentation, annoyed. 

“Now, let’s go over what to do if you think you’ve been possessed or otherwise overshadowed by a ghost! First thing to look for are gaps in memory or consciousness. Changes in mood or violent tendencies can also occur. Keep an eye on your friends and loved ones. Remember that no one is immune to being overshadowed by a ghost, unless you purchase a Fenton Specter Deflector available on our website!” Almost out of nowhere, the woman pulled out what looked like a metal belt. There was silence in response, and she cleared her throat. 

“If you or someone you know has been or is currently possessed please seek help immediately, go to your teachers or parents.” Wes watched as she moved on to the next subject, talking with the fervor and simplicity of an expert. Screw whatever Kyle said, this wasn’t just for shits and giggles or some halloween event. Something was different here. The other students, despite seeming bored, looked like they fully believed her. Maybe people here would actually believe him about what happened when he was a kid. 

The hazy memories crept along his skin, making the hair on his arms stand on end. His dad told him he had an active imagination. He knew it wasn’t that.

“Finally, let’s go over what to do if a ghost fight breaks out!” 

“A ghost fight?” he echoed, brows furrowing. 

“As we’ve said, do not engage or interact with ghosts for any reason—”

“Hey, what about Phantom?” Someone from the crowd shouted. A murmur of agreement rippled through the students. 

“Who’s Phantom?” He wondered out loud, and a guy sitting in front of him turned to give him an affronted look. 

“We strongly discourage interacting with Phantom especially! When it comes to ghosts, it’s simple. There are no good ghosts! Ghosts are ectoplasmic post-human impressions driven only by their obsession! They are not human and don’t care about the havoc they wreak.”  

The crowd murmured again, the disapproval evident. A few kids shouted unintelligible things, but they sounded defensive. Wes didn’t get it, the Fenton lady seemed to know her shit, why argue? 

“Quiet! Quiet please!” Ishiyama called over the voices. Eventually the students settled, and the Fentons wrapped up their presentation. Everyone seemed disappointed that nothing embarrassing happened, until Mr. Fenton underestimated the height of the stage, and face planted onto the gym floor. The students broke into an uproar of laughter, and Ishiyama rushed to the mic to dismiss everyone back to homeroom. Wes couldn’t hold back a laugh, and glanced over to see Danny hunching up his shoulders. If Wes had to describe someone that looked like they wanted to disappear, it would be Danny in that moment. 

The walk back to the classroom was uneventful, though he was pretty sure he heard Mrs. Fenton repeatedly calling out “Danny sweetie!” Wes was really glad he wasn’t that poor bastard, talk about humiliating. He tried to ignore the pang that twisted inside his stomach. Still, it must be nice to have a mom around. 

Fifth period started in four minutes, and Wes was stuck fiddling with the lock on his locker. The damn thing looked like it’d been fished off the titanic. The wheel made an awful squealing noise when he twisted it, and even when the lock popped, he had to yank on it to get it to unlatch all the way. He put in his combo for the third time and pulled. It came undone and if it weren’t for holes on the handle he’d have gone stumbling backwards. He opened the locker and was just about to grab his History textbook, when an ear splitting alarm blasted from the overhead speakers. He jumped and spun around, hands coming up to cover his ears. 

It wasn’t like a fire alarm, instead of the shrill school bell ringing, it was a long whooping siren that echoed up and down the halls like a nuclear strike was incoming. Wes had to hand it to them, it sounded creepy as fuck. The emergency lights flashed in the hallways, and the kids around him started to make for the exits.  

“Your attention please,” an automated female voice came over the speaker, offering  a brief respite from the siren. “A ghost has been sighted in the building. Please evacuate or get to safety as soon as possible.” Holy shit, was this really happening? The siren began its wailing again. His heart thundered in his chest, and he looked both ways up and down the hall. He didn’t see anything, except for Lancer standing at the end of the hall, directing students to an emergency exit. Wes remembered then that Lancer had said something about a “ghost drill”. Of course that’s what this was. Just a drill. Wes let out a shaky breath, and went to close up his locker before he headed out. 

Which in retrospect wasn’t the greatest idea. In less than a second, something changed. The hall felt darker, and the air grew cold. Not cold like someone left the window open, cold like he’d just walked into a meat freezer. It prickled against his skin, and he felt a deep sense of dread sink to the bottom of his stomach. 

“Little lamb…” Murmured a soft voice. It echoed up the hall, and Wes forced himself to turn and look. He shouldn’t have, he really shouldn’t have. It was the shape of a woman, but she was floating a foot off the ground. She had stringy hair, and bangs that partially covered her empty eyes. In her hand looked like a shepherd's crook. Wes slammed his back against his locker, his knees locking up. He felt his hands start to tremble. Not again, he didn’t want the nightmares again.

The hall was empty, the last few terrified kids were gone. 

“Little lamb... separated from the herd… Don’t you know there’s predators?” Her voice echoed unnaturally, it’s clarity sending chills across his skin. She was hardly speaking above a whisper, but it was rough and cracked, like something had happened to her voice. But the thing that was worse was even at barely a whisper, he could somehow hear her over the sirens. Like she was right next to him breathing the words into his ears. 

The alarm cut out and the automated message looped. The woman—ghost lifted her crook to point at him. “Little lambs have to come back home,” she said. The sound of panting and low growling filled the hall. A green shape, low and lean flew out from behind her. It closed the gap between them in three strides flat. It’s eyes glowed red, and white teeth slavered toxic green. Wes’ voice stuck in his throat and he couldn’t scream, he squeezed his eyes shut and hoped he’d wake up.

Wes felt the air stir in front of him, and he heard a meaty crunch followed by a deafening caterwaul. His eyes flashed open to see the mountain lion-like creature picking itself up off the ground on the other side of the hall. And directly in front of him, it was another human shape, another ghost. They had white hair and a black jumpsuit on. 

“Bad kitty! What, did someone forget the catnip?” It was a guy’s voice that echoed around the hall. The shape cast a glance over his shoulder at Wes. He gulped down a breath, it was a boy about his age. His eyes glowed the same neon toxic green that painted the hall in its supernatural light. He looked like he was about to say something, when the big cat hurled itself at his flank. Its massive front paws slammed into his midsection and they disappeared into the wall. 

The shepherd moved towards him, and Wes felt like he was going to pass out or throw up. Maybe both, both sounded okay. She was focused entirely on him as she drifted over the floor. She was four feet away, and the expression etched onto her dead face made his stomach twist. This was worse, this was way worse than even the nightmares. Her empty eyes leaked tears. 

“It’s dangerous. There’s predators.” She lifted a hand like she was trying to reach for him. A blast of green light suddenly filled his vision, and the girl let out a scream. She was slammed backwards into a set of lockers and she slipped down to the ground. Wes’ gaze snapped to where the blast of energy had come from and saw the ghost boy. He was floating six feet off the ground, and his right hand was glowing green. He had a long deep slash across his side that was oozing and dripping globby green ectoplasm. 

“I’ve never seen you before,” he said. “What do you want?” his tone of voice was firm and sharp, it felt like ice. The girl looked up at the boy. She opened her mouth and screamed. It was a raw terrible thing that petered off into an agonized gurgle. The ghost boy arched a brow, but before he could say anything else the Shepherd melted into the wall. 

“Shit,” the ghost puffed. He turned his eyes to Wes and he stiffened again. Right, he wasn’t exactly out of the woods yet. “You must be new here. Piece of advice, run away next time, okay dude?” The ghost boy looked up at the ceiling that still had the alarms blaring and rolled his eyes. In the next instant he shot through the wall where the shepherd ghost had disappeared. 

Wes let out a breath and sunk to the floor, shivering from head to toe. What the hell was that?    

[goliath-de-senfina-sango]

New People

Danny personally felt that he was well within his rights to be a bit weirded out by what was going on.  He was on his way to school, getting interrupted by some half-formed spider ghost with threads all over the place that he had to dodge out of the way of before he could even get close to shooting it, Tucker was freaking out and Sam was doing her best to shoot away the webs that Danny actually got caught in.  It took quite a bit of time to squish much of the bug and then get it in the thermos.  During this time, Danny got hit by its pincers and bitten, and the wound was exposed and dripping ectoplasm and some thick purple goop that he assumed was venom.   Things were the standard amount of bad.

The unusual thing was when a ghost with blue skin, pink eyes, and rippling hair that shifted colors between red, yellow and orange flew up to him and gently grabbed his arm.  And then he pulled out a cotton ball from his pocket and started dabbing Danny’s wound.  “Yikes, this is a nasty bite.  You’re Danny Phantom, right?  The bridge spirit?”

“Uh,” Danny looked down at his friends, who shrugged, weapons trained on the newcomer.  “Yeah, I’m the halfa Danny Phantom.”  The guy snorted and Danny scowled.  “What’s so funny?”

“Halfa sounds like something my son would’ve called it when he was 7.”  Once the cotton ball was soaked through it was put in a ziplock that vanished off to somewhere and a water bottle was poured over it instead, followed by a cloth.  “I’m Dr. Jason Pace.  Nice to meet you.”

Danny stared at the man while he cleaned his cut with wide eyes.  “There are ghost doctors?”  It felt like a dumb question, doctors died as much as anyone else, but with all the violent ghosts that came through it was weird to see someone who specialized in helping people.

“Death is hardly enough to keep a medic from helping people who need attention,” Jason said with a chuckle.  “When I woke up in the Infinite Realms I met this big burly werewolf in a hoodie who said he was here to take me where I’m supposed to go but he got to me late, and I thought ‘wow, psychopomps are real and they can be behind schedule.’”

“Did.  Did this werewolf happen to speak Esperanto?”

“Yeah, said his name is Wulf.  I told him that wasn’t very original and he agreed.  Then I told him that I needed to see my husband and he cut open a hole back to the living realm about two weeks after my death, and after a very passionate and emotional night, I headed back into work and just sorta.  Kept doing what I do.”  He hummed, holding up the cloth and setting it on fire before tossing it behind him, where Danny watched it turn to ashes before it made it five feet above the ground. He swiped the purple goop with a q-tip, and then a bunch of vials of glowing liquid appeared from thin air, spinning around him in a lazy orbit.  “Poisonous and venomous ghost animals are horrors and ecto entomologists can kiss my ass if they wanna preach about preserving species.”

“What… are you doing?”

“Ah that’s what it is- you’re going to feel numb in a couple of seconds, which is perfectly normal, but then your core will start to go … well let’s just say I’m glad I got to you in time.”  One of the vials stopped, the swab burned up like the cloth, and a syringe was put into play.  “This is an antivenom.  Please don’t squirm, or this will hurt more.”  Jason pressed the needle over where a vein should’ve been, and Danny hissed at the sharp prick of pain.  Then a lollipop of all things was presented to him.  “Hope you like blueberry.”

“So, what I’m gathering is that you just wanna treat people and you came up to me cause I got bit by a spider.  I don’t remember my folks ranting about a doctor ghost tricking the people at the hospital into dastardly plans so I’m gonna guess you’re not from around here.”

“Oh, this isn’t why I came to your town of course, but yeah this is the thing I’m gonna be doing.”  The syringe needle, once removed, was disintegrated like the rest, and a bandage was stuck on Danny’s arm before his suit could reform around it.  “You should be good… and don’t worry, I don’t mess with people’s heads.  I just help people.  And yes, I know how to help bridge spirits like yourself.”  He held out a business card and gave a two-fingered salute.  “Give that a little charge if you need me.  Bye!”

They watched Jason fade from sight and Danny stared at where he’d been with wide eyes, blinking rapidly.  “What the f-”

“We need to get to school!”  Sam shouted, drawing his attention down to his best friends.  Danny dove down and scooped them both up, turning invisible and flying toward the school.  “Oh, wow, ok.”

“So that was weird, right?”

“That was really fuckin weird, yeah,” Tucker said.  “I guess it makes sense that there’d be ghost doctors, hospitals are the evilest places.”

“I’m glad he’s here,” Sam said.  “Maybe he’ll be able to help you keep up with your habit of crashing into things.”

“I don’t have a habit thank you. My enemies have a habit of yeeting me into things.  There’s a difference.”

“You can turn intangible and go through things instead of slamming into them so.”  After that fun and lovely argument, Danny almost forgot the weirdness of Dr. Pace.

 That is until Lancer introduced the class to a very tall boy with brown hair, tan, freckled skin, and pink eyes.  Pink eyes that were glowing ever so softly. “Hello class, this is Kyle Pace. He’s an exchange student from Pittsburg.”

“Hey there,” Kyle said with a wave, smiling wide enough that everyone could see his canines were much longer and too pointy to be human.  “My last school was Three Rivers so uh I’m kinda not used to this kinda school, so if I’m weird I’m sorry about that.”

“Not a problem, Kyle.”  Lancer patted the large boy on the back.  “Your classmates will be doing their best to help you adjust, I’m sure.”  No one missed the look Lancer gave them, and no one even really considered caring.  Danny, Sam and Tucker were all staring at Kyle with varying degrees of subtly. “There’s a seat between Danny Fenton and Dash Baxter over there, Mr. Pace.  I’ll make sure you get a study guide to catch you up on where we are.”

Kyle nodded and plopped down in his seat, bookbag set down next to him, and the class moved on as though this were normal.  Well, Wes was fuming at the back of the class but no one paid him any attention.  He looked like he was paying attention, and after a while, Danny decided he should do the same, but the glow in Kyle’s eyes and the way Danny’s ghost sense was stuck in his throat, almost alerting him to a ghost but not, messed up his focus even worse than a regular old attack.

When Lunch rolled around, they had a chance to actually talk about it.  “So uh, when Dr. Pace said he had a kid,” Tucker said, “Do you think he meant like after he died?”

“My ghost sense says yes, which is gross to think about, but also kind of an existential crisis going on.”  Danny pushed his food around on his platter, staring at it and through it.  “How the fuck does that even work?”

“Well if Box Lunch,” Sam said with a shudder, “Can exist then maybe… what did he call it?  Bridge Spirits?  Maybe they can happen, ya know, naturally?”

“This validates everyone who wants to fuck Phantom,” Tucker said with a mouth full of meatloaf from home.  Danny punched his arm without looking and took satisfaction in his yelp.  “I’m just sayin.”

“Swallow first, and then - novel idea - don’t say it.”

“I saw him leave algebra with Dash and Dash’s hair isn’t looking so perfectly combed right now,” Tucker said anyway, earning a kick in the shins from Sam.

Danny groaned.  “Can we talk about something else?”

The universe did not agree with their subject of discussion moving away from Kyle, however, as he strode over to their table and plopped down next to Danny.  He had a lunch box filled with clearly homemade food that looked like it was cooked by a chef compared to the lunch meat on Danny’s platter.  He tossed an arm around Danny’s shoulders and gave them all a cheerful, “Hey there!  How’re you guys doing?  I saw your spider backpack and I know appearances aren’t everything but,” he pointed at Sam with a lazy grin, “do you like snakes?”

“Uh, yes?”  Sam looked between Danny and Kyle, likely assessing how dangerous he might be.  “Just not your kind of snake.”

“Pardon?”

“People who hang out with Dash Baxter tend to be just like him.”  Sam folded her arms and scowled, and Tucker rolled his eyes.   Kyle just frowned and looked over at the A lister table, making eye contact with Dash for a moment.

“Only impression I got outta Dash was attractive when he’s not talking, what kinda guy is he?” Sam was all too eager to share that and so was Tucker.  Danny watched as Kyle’s expression grew darker while staring at Dash, eyes beginning to glow brighter until he turned back to the table and covered Tucker’s mouth.  “Aight, an asshole.  Got it. Y’all know that’s all like, illegal, right?  Someone can record him doing this shit and either call the police or threaten it.”

“I mean, we could but then the other A listers would be out for us,” Danny said.

“I dunno what the A list is supposed to be, but I’m betting it’s something really stupid, and I have ta say: can we talk about snakes now?”  Kyle stuffed food in his mouth, and then the conversation about which snakes were cuter, cooler and more dangerous began.  Danny zoned out, stretching his senses to confirm the current of ecto energy under Kyle’s skin and wondered how to bring that up.

Before Danny could ask Kyle if he was possessed or just Like That, Dash Baxter’s voice caught his ear.  “Hey, Kyle, why’re you hangin out with these losers?  You should-” that was as far as Dash got before a pink bubble appeared around him and Kyle turned around to shove the bubble.  It rolled along the floor until it bumped into the A lister table and then popped, leaving Dash to fumble into his seat.  Then Kyle turned back to the table.

“I really want a pet snake, or like even some fish, but Dad doesn’t trust me and Pop thinks that I should learn to be responsible first before I go asking for a pet.  Like, aren’t parents supposed to use pets as a test of responsibility?”

“Some parents think that,” Sam said, her salad finished and her protein shake almost done, “but it’s unfair to put all that on a kid.”

“So,” Tucker said slowly, “everyone is staring at us and I’m kinda wondering if we’re gonna talk about you putting Dash in gay baby jail.”

“Is that weird?”  Kyle raised a brow, and Danny snorted.  “I just really didn’t wanna talk to him if he’s an asshole like y’all said and the bubble popped pretty quick.”  Kyle looked around at the dead silent cafeteria, and his skin began to glow.  “Why are people starin?”

“Because you just blew your cover, ghost!”  Valerie snarled across the cafeteria, and it exploded into chatter.  Kyle flinched at the noise and a bubble appeared around the table that blocked out the noise.

“What the fuck?  What’s going on?”

“Uh, dude, they don’t know about half ghosts.”

“But you’re a bridge spirit too!”

“They don’t know that!  I’ve got a secret identity to keep!”

“I- wow, ok spider-man.  Alright.”  Kyle took a breath and dropped his shield, floating up above the crowd of teens.  “HEY!”  The crowd when slowly quiet as Kyle waved a glowing hand around to get everyone’s attention.  “MY DUDES!  Thanks. So uh, yeah, I’m not sure what y’all think I am, but I can explain pretty easy.”

“Oh I’m certain you can, ghost, but we’re not interested in your lies!”

“Excuse you, I don’t lie anymore than you do.  Anyway, when a living human and a ghost love each other very much-”

“Are you saying your mom or dad banged a ghost?!”  Dale was always so eloquent, it had Danny wondering how he had such bad grades.

“Yeah,” Kyle shrugged, hands stuffed in his pockets.  “I don’t have a Mom though, Dad and Pop just figured out that ghostly physiology is malleable and they wanted a kid.  I’m done talking about my conception now, cause that’s gross, but like, this is a basic thing to understand.”  Kyle floated back down to his seat and crossed his legs.  “I swear I heard at least five girls around here want to start a family with Phantom, and I just gotta wonder: y’all did know that’s possible right?”

Silence eerie as a horror movie washed over the cafeteria.  People processed what they’d been told and some of their minds tripped over themselves trying to do so.  Kyle turned back to Sam and started complaining about pets while chatter erupted around them all, and Danny slammed his head against the table.

[thatdarncatchronicles]

That Darn Cat | Issue No. Five | Waking Up to Ash and Dust

Warnings | Mentions of blood

Rating | K+

Genres | Family, Friendship, Adventure, Whump

Guest Stars | Harvey Bullock, Selina’s Bedside Manner

Word Count | 3K

Summary: Direct continuation of last issue. Jim and Selina are trapped in the ruins of a collapsed apartment complex. Cue concussions, puking, and brave Selina being brave.

Selina woke to the burning of her lungs as they strained for oxygen. She gasped for breath, but there was a crushing weight preventing her lungs from expanding more than a fraction of what they should. Grunting with effort, she struggled up onto her elbows and some of the weight slid away.

As she greedily sucked in air, she took stock of her surroundings. It was dark. The air she breathed was full of dust, and she coughed. The weight on top of her was warm and limp, like a—shoot.

Like a body.

Jim.

Selina scrambled free of the weight, and it slipped to the ground with a soft thump.

No, no, no, no, no. "Gordon?"

No response.

"Come on, Gordon. This is really not the time for napping." Don't be dead, don't be dead, don't be dead. She patted frantically along his frame until she found his neck, then, jabbing two fingers beneath his jaw, she waited, breathless.

There.

Jim's heartbeat thumped slow and steady beneath her fingertips and Selina fairly gasped with relief, slumping forward until her forehead came to rest on the scratchy wool of his coat. "See, Detective? I told you this would be fun."

When Selina had caught her breath and the panic had subsided to a manageable degree, she set about assessing the situation. The first order of business was light. In the pitch-black around them, she could neither see what was wrong with Jim nor look for a way out. Jim's flashlight was buried somewhere in the wreckage, and she didn't hold out much hope of finding it at all, let alone finding it in working condition. And of course, the one night she left her night-vision goggles at home, this would happen. That left Jim's cellphone. She had seen him put it in an inner coat pocket back at the apartment.

Feeling around until she found a lapel, she jerked until it was free of his weight and froze when she felt something small and hard in the coat's fabric. "Score!" She pulled the phone free and flipped it open, grinning when the screen lit up, even as she turned away from the sudden brightness. "Now we're talking."

When her eyes adjusted, she searched the screen for the flashlight setting and aimed it at the far wall before turning it on. Suddenly she could see all the rubble surrounding them, their enormous shadows morphing like monsters in the beam of her light. She was relieved to see that they weren't as closely walled in as she'd feared—maybe there was an easy path out of there.

But first, Jim.

Selina knelt at his side and took a deep breath before turning the phone on him.

Jim was sprawled on his stomach, covered in dust and plaster. A beam was propped at a diagonal angle about two feet above him, and it seemed to have kept most of the larger chunks of cement and whatnot from falling directly onto him. She didn't see any gaping wounds. That, at least, was a plus.

She reached out and brushed away some of the rubble, leaving gray streaks on his black suit. "I'm gonna turn you over, okay?" She didn't know why she was talking to him when she obviously wasn't going to get a reply, but she did it anyway. "You ready? Here goes." Setting the phone on the ground, she locked her fingers around the shoulder on his far side and gave a mighty heave. It was easier than she expected, and he flopped loosely onto his back, head lolling to one side.

A leaden weight sank to Selina's gut.

The left side of his face was covered in blood, and when she turned it to get a better look, she saw that the side of his head was soaked, as well. The sharp shadows must have disguised it before. Exploring further, Selina found that the source was a rough gash beginning at the base of his left ear and wrapping around to end just above his left eyebrow.

Selina gave a sympathetic wince. "You, my dude, are gonna need some serious stitches." She ran a hand over her mouth as she considered their options. Bullock. She should call for help.

Turning off the flashlight, she found Jim's contacts and was pleased to find Bullock's number at the top.

He answered on the eighth ring. "Jim, darn you, if this is about the case, I told you—we will check it out in the morning. During actual work hours. Like sane people. I know this will come as a shock to you, but some people in this city actually need their sleep, and I'm one of them. Believe it or not, you are too. You should really—agh, what am I doing. This is useless. I'm gonna set a curfew—no calls past nine. No, eight. Ever. Under any circumstances." He paused for breath.

Selina, whose eyebrows had been climbing steadily throughout his speech, took that as her cue. "Are you done?"

There was a pause. "Who is this??"

"Selina Kyle."

"Cat?? Why do you have Jim's phone?"

"Funny story, Detective; I was hoping you'd ask."

"Well, I'm asking! Get on with it."

Selina settled her fingers against Jim's neck as she spoke, the steady reassurance that she wasn't completely alone dulling the fear churning in the pit of her stomach. "We're in an old housing project on Sixteenth Street. Your partner got it in his head to chase down that lead on his own. Shocking, I know. Anyway, we found the guy and killed the snake. Her name was Edna."

"Uh-huh. Selina. Why isn't Jim the one telling me all this?" The detective's voice had a hollow tone to it, like he already knew the answer.

Selina's eyes squeezed closed as a hot tear escaped, scalding a path through the grime on her face. She fought to keep her voice casual as the fear threatened to spiral out of control. "That's the thing. The building kinda...collapsed. On top of us."

There was a series of impressive expletives on the other end.

"We're okay. Kind of. I haven't been able to find out if we're trapped or not, yet. Gordon's...There's a giant cut on his head, and he's unconscious. He’s not lookin’ too hot."

There was shuffling on the other end of the line. "Okay. You hang tight, kid. I'm on my way. Don't try to get out—you don't wanna shift anything that might make things worse. Are you okay?" A door slammed.

Selina was suddenly aware of how sore she was. "I think so."

"Hang tight. Help is on the way."

"Will do." Jim stirred beneath her fingers. "I gotta go—he's waking up."

"He's—Selina. Wait, Selina—"

But she was already ending the call, scrambling to find the flashlight app. "Gordon? You with me?" She moved her hand to his face, giving it a few light taps. "Detective?"

He groaned.

"That's right. Time to rise and shine." She found the flashlight at last, and Jim flinched away from the sudden light pointed directly at his face. "Sorry." She flipped the phone so that the beam was pointed towards the rubble overhead.

Jim stilled.

"Nope! Uh-uh, Gordon. You open your eyes or I will open them for you and shine this flashlight directly into them."

There was another groan, which may or may not have been an attempt at words. Selina opted to treat it like one.

"You heard me. I always make good on my threats, Detective."

Jim opened his eyes.

"Hey, there."

Jim frowned and blinked up at the man-made cavern.

"Hey. You with me?" She tapped his face again. "Over here."

It took a minute and more tapping, but eventually, Jim's gaze drifted over to land on her. "Hi."

"Hi. Welcome back." You really scared me.

He swallowed and moved as if to sit up. "Back. We're...Where?"

She put a hand on his chest, but she needn't have bothered. Jim didn't make it two inches before dizziness seemed to get the best of him and he eased back down.

"We're in the projects on Sixteenth. Do you remember what happened?"

Jim thought for a moment. His eyes grew wide. "Edna."

A laugh bubbled up in Selina's throat. "Yeah. Edna."

"Biggest—mmm." Jim closed his eyes. "Biggest snake've ever seen."

"You and me both." She didn't miss the slur in his words. "How are you feeling?"

"Kinda like a building fell ontop'a me."

"No fooling? What do you suppose brought that on?"

Jim opened his eyes to level a very done glare at her.

She grinned.

He frowned.

She shook her head. "What?"

Jim's arm twitched once, twice, as if he were trying to lift it. After the third attempt, he settled for raising his hand to tap a finger against his cheek. Selina mirrored his motion on her own face and winced when her fingers brushed a cut. Jim was still frowning.

"It's fine." She probed it further. "It's not deep."

His hand flailed lamely against the ground. "The rest of you?"

"I'm good. A little sore. I'm told that happens when grown men tackle you to the ground like quarterbacks."

"Sorry."

She shrugged. "I'm alive. And an awful lot better off than you."

His hand went to his head, but Selina smacked it away. "Yeah, bad idea. It's ugly enough without you clawing all over it."

"Bad?"

"Well," Selina considered it for a moment. "I'm no doctor, but it looks like someone carved the Grand Canyon on your face."

"Bad."

"Yeah."

They settled into silence and Selina felt a lump building in her throat.  She squeezed her eyes closed and took a deep breath. This was fine, they would be fine. In, out. "Help is coming." In, out. "Help is coming."

Jim squeezed her hand. Her eyes shot open. She hadn't realized her hand was still on his chest.

If Jim noticed her embarrassment, he didn’t show it. "We're gon' be okay, Selina."

She smirked. "I know." The lump eased a little at the certainty reflecting with the glow of the flashlight in Jim's eyes. "You should have heard the rant Harvey went on about you calling during the night. Said he was gonna give you a curfew."

The corner of Jim's mouth quirked up, but his eyes slipped closed.

"Hey!"

He jerked, eyes flying open and finding her own. "Wha's wrong?!"

"No sleeping! You got us into this mess. You're not leaving me alone in it."

"F'course not," Jim said indignantly as his eyes closed again.

Selina huffed. "Of course not. Can you sit up?" Without waiting for his reply, Selina slipped her hands under his arms and dragged Jim a few feet to the nearest wall—or, what was left of it.

She helped him to lean against it and pulled back to look at his face. It was hard to tell in the dim light, but she thought he looked paler than he had a moment ago. "You good?"

Jim blinked. "I think I'm gon' throw up."

He did. Selina wrapped an arm around his shoulders to keep him from toppling over. "Well," she said brightly in-between heaves, "on the plus side, puking is better than passing out." She gave his back an encouraging pat.

Jim shot her a venomous side-eye that clearly communicated his differing opinion.

After another minute or two, the heaves subsided and Selina propped him, panting, back against the wall and proceeded to root through his jacket pockets.

"What," Jim took a deep breath and swallowed, attempting to swat her away with hands every bit as animated as dead fish. "What're you doing?"

"You got a hankie?"

"What?"

"A handkerchief. You got one?"

"Oh." Jim reached into one of the pockets at his waist and withdrew a folded white cloth. His efforts were clumsy, but he managed to get his face mostly clean.

Selina grimaced. "Sorry. Don't have any water."

Jim rolled his eyes and looked like he regretted it instantly. "Wha'sa matter, you didn't expect to get trapped under a building tonight?"

"Funny. To be fair, I did warn you. There's a reason people stay away from this place." Selina studied their surroundings. "Bullock said he was bringing help. That was a while ago. I guess they oughtta be here soon."

As if on cue, the cellphone rang. Selina almost dropped it in her hurry to pick up.

"Selina?"

"I'm here."

"We're outside. The fire department is trying to find a safe way in now."

"Maybe they could try a little faster."

"Yeah, working on it. Jim, is he—"

"Ask him yourself." She shoved the phone against Jim's ear. "It's your buddy."

Jim only got out a placating "Harvey—" before Bullock reamed into him. Selina rolled her eyes as the scolding session dragged on, Jim's only response a series of confused blinks from which his eyes took longer and longer to reopen. After a minute or two, she pulled the phone away and snapped her fingers in Jim's face as she put the phone to her own ear. "Thanks, Detective. You tell great bedtime stories. But don't you think your time would be better spent on, oh, I dunno, finding us a way out of here?"

"Right, right. You're right. I'm just gonna…" He trailed off.

"Yeah. You do that." She clicked the phone shut, and turned back to Jim, growling in frustration when she found his eyes closed. "Hey. Gordon." More snapping. "Jim!"

He jolted, head rolling against the wall to frown at her.

"You gotta stay awake."

His expression became so petulant, she would have found it endlessly funny under a different set of circumstances. As it was, it was still pretty amusing. "But I'm tired."

"Yeah? Then maybe you should try actually sleeping at night, instead of chasing down serial killers all by your lonesome."

"I wasn' all by my lonesome."

"No?"

"Mm-mm. You were there."

"You didn’t know that when you left!"

Jim just shrugged, and they settled into silence broken only by the faint calls of the relief workers outside and her occasional “hey.” Selina passed the time tapping Jim's face, snapping in it, or shaking him gently.

When she shouted "Hey!" for what must have been the millionth time, Jim huffed. "Hay'z for horses."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Serious—are you serious right now??"

Jim frowned. "Think my filter's broken."

She snorted. "I'd say so."

As the words left her mouth, there was a loud groaning, a scrape, and then both she and Jim shielded their eyes from the sudden window of light that pooled into their prison.

Bullock was the first one through the narrow opening in the wall. He was kneeling at Jim's side in an instant, checking him up and down and swearing like a sailor when he caught sight of the blood crusted on his partner's face. Jim just muttered an intelligent "Harf," and tipped forward to faceplant in Bullock's shoulder.

Bullock's hand came up to cup the back of Jim's neck with a gentleness Selina didn't know he possessed. "You're gonna be okay, buddy, you hear me? I ought to smack you a good one upside the head, but it looks like the building already did a pretty good job of that.” Selina quirked an eyebrow. Someone should tell ol’ Harvey that his threats would carry more weight if he didn’t use such a soft voice to deliver them. “What were you thinking, anyway, going after this guy without any backup? Huh?" He jostled Jim a little.

Jim mumbled something unintelligible into Bullock's coat.

"What's that? Didn't quite get ya there, bud."

Jim let out a long sigh, and Selina guessed it was meant to sound annoyed, but mostly it just came across as sleepy. "I...had backup."

Bullock's eyes turned on her for the first time since he entered, and the respect she found there took her by surprise. She squirmed.

But whatever he was about to say, she was saved when the EMTs burst through the opening and Bullock was obliged to surrender his partner to them, albeit reluctantly. "The medics are here, buddy; they're gonna fix you up. You're gonna be just fine."

Jim just nodded as the EMTs carefully eased him away from Bullock and onto the waiting stretcher.

What happened next was a blur that Selina wouldn't remember much of, later. What she would remember, however, was the look on Bullock's face when he told her that she'd saved Jim's life, and the way Jim winked at her when they rolled him by on the gurney. She would remember how she had tossed him a mock salute, and how he smirked before his eyes slipped closed. She would remember Bullock grabbing her by the arm when no one was looking and telling her to scram before social services showed up.

And she would remember the sunrise that morning, how the red sun had pierced through Gotham's usual smog to dazzle her eyes and her heart with its brilliance.

A/N:

That’s all for now, folks! I’m not super inspired right now, so if you have prompts, I’d love to hear ‘em! :) If you missed the last issue, I’ve got it linked below.

As always, I love you. Eat cake. Drink water, and maybe some orange juice. You are beautiful and wonderful and we need you, so take care of yourself. Till next time, loves. :)

Make sure to follow @thatdarncatchronicles​ and #thatdarncat (no spaces!) to never miss an installment! :)  Issue No. 4 | Jericho: https://thatdarncatchronicles.tumblr.com/post/621465616681992192/that-darn-cat-issue-no-4-jericho

Issue No. 3 | An Unexpected Party:

https://thatdarncatchronicles.tumblr.com/post/621198286498512896/that-darn-cat-issue-no-3-an-unexpected-party

Issue No. 2 | A Hint of Pesto Aioli:

https://thatdarncatchronicles.tumblr.com/post/620559916396052480/that-darn-cat-issue-no-2-a-hint-of-pesto?is_related_post=1

Issue No. 1 | Of Spaghetti and Sneezes:

https://thatdarncatchronicles.tumblr.com/post/620372790294528001/that-darn-cat-issue-no-1-of-spaghetti-and?is_related_post=1

[adolanables]

Flame - Part 12

Masterlist

It was barely past 9 o’clock and you were completely off your ass drunk. Clay had taken you and his friends to the opening of a bourbon bar downtown. Being the quarterback of the college football team meant he got invited to nearly everything, so when he asked if he could bring a few friends, they immediately said yes. Your poor little body was so used to drinking the cheapest liquor on the market, it didn’t know what to do when you were sipping on a $80 bourbon on the rocks. Maybe four glasses in and you were nearly falling off your bar stool. 

Clay had gotten distracted by the beautiful bartender and honestly you were grateful. You had called him to be a distraction, but when he picked you up you realized you didn’t want a distraction - you wanted Grayson. So, the moment you got into the bar, you downed your drinks - knowing you’d be heading to meet Bridget and Kyle soon. 

-

“Yo, Dolan - you gotta see this.” Ethan’s conversation with a nameless girl ended abruptly as an older fraternity member named Justin tapped him on the shoulder. He had an amused glint in his eye letting Ethan know there surely was something funny going on. 

When he pushed his way through the crowded living room, the last thing he expected to see was you standing on the pool table downing a bottle of vodka you surely did not bring. Justin stood next to Ethan, completely unaware of who this girl was to him. He tapped the younger boy on the shoulder again, “How much you wanna bet we can get her to show her tits?”

“Bro.” Ethan snarled, smacking his friend in the chest aggressively. “Not cool, dude - she’s clearly out of it.” He glanced around the room in a panic, when his eyes connected to Bridget’s he felt a sense of relief was over him. Two steps towards her and she was tugging on his arm rapidly. 

“Ethan, get her down!” Bridget wailed, clearly very intoxicated herself. Ethan groaned internally, realizing she wouldn’t be much of a help. 

“She hates me, Bridget!” Ethan groaned, glancing up at you stumble on the table and giggle. Completely unaware of anyone around you. “She’s gonna fall.” 

“G-et  her!” Bridget hiccuped, punching Ethan in the shoulder again. 

Rolling his eyes, Ethan reached towards your legs on the pool table, eliciting a yelp from your mouth. As you realized who was pulling you off the table you flailed your arms, trying everything you could to get away from him. “Let - me - down!”

As he steadied you on your feet, he let out a breath through his nostrils. He couldn’t understand how you could be nearly blacked out and still look like that. Clearly a sweaty, drunk mess, but god he wished he had made you his when he had the chance. “Logan you need to go home.”

“Don’t tell me wh-at - to do!” The fire in your voice made the entire room go silent, Ethan was hyper aware of everyone listening, but you certainly weren’t. “Go fuck your self!”

“Shit.” Justin breathed, honestly getting a little turned on at how pissed off you were. He went to take a step towards you, but Ethan held up his hand to stop him. 

“Logan, please.” Hands held up in defense, Ethan begged you to be quiet. “Can we go outside?”

As badly as you wanted to say no, Bridget’s bright red face popped up behind Ethan - letting you know she was painfully embarrassed by you. A pang of guilt ran through you as you glanced around the room and saw literally every single person staring at you. Connecting your eyes back to Ethan’s, you nodded quickly, gripping his arm tightly as he pulled you outside. Never in a million years would you be clinging onto him like this, but it felt like your ankles were turning into jello and you were absolutely going to fall over without someone supporting you. 

“I’m getting you a ride.” Ethan huffed, wrapping an arm around your waist as you collapsed into him - all the alcohol you had just chugged hitting you extra hard. 

“No, no.” Pointing a finger his face. “Uber driver gonna kidnap me.”

Ethan shook his head at you as you rested your head on his upper arm, a small hum of an unknown song leaving your mouth. “Hey - yeah - uh… we’ve got a problem.” Ethan waited for his younger brother to respond, he was still trying to wake up as it was nearing midnight. “She’s falling over herself drunk - please? I cannot drive right now and I don’t feel comfortable putting her in an uber.”

-

“Eeeethan,” You pouted, stomping your feet. “I don’t wanna stand.”

“I’m literally holding you up.” He huffed, adjusting you further so most of your weight was on his side. 

Seeing him and Grayson’s shared car pull up slowly was probably the best thing he had seen all week. Sure, he’d give anything to have you - but not like this. Grayson didn’t get out of the car, knowing Ethan was very capable of getting you into the front seat. To his surprise, it took Ethan quite a lot of effort to get your flailing limbs secured into the seat. 

“I said - I don’t wanna!” You huffed, folding your arms as the older twin buckled you in. “He hates me, Efan!”

“Thanks, Gray.” He sighed, turning away to head back into the house. 

You watched him walk away before feeling the vehicle beneath you start to move. Whipping your head around to look at the side of Grayson’s face made your stomach churn and you weren’t sure if it was the liquor or him. 

He caught your eye out of the corner of his and let out a puff of air through his teeth. “Please don’t throw up.” 

“Not gonna.” You shook your head, shutting your eyes tightly. “Just cry.”

“Log-” Grayson could barely get a word out before you started wailing, full-on, newborn sounding, wailing. Even drunk you knew how embarrassing this was, which only made you cry more. “Hey… hey please.” His voice was just barely above a whisper as he pulled into the parking lot, not sure how to help you. 

“I love you.” You whimpered, shoving your face in your hands to surely smear your mascara all over your face. Making Grayson freeze in his movement - you had never said that to him before and hearing it while you were sobbing and drunk made him feel a million different ways. When he didn’t respond you felt like you were actually going to throw up so you shoved the door open and took off towards your dorm. 

Expectedly, you didn’t make it very far. As soon as you stepped up onto the sidewalk, your ankle gave out, your knees connected with the concrete and so did the side of your face. 

“Logan!” Grayson gasped, shutting the car door and jogging after you. The only thought going through his head was how much of a handful you were, but he couldn’t lie and say he didn’t love it. “Shit, you’re bleeding.”

“Ouch.” Rolling over onto your back on the cool pavement would usually have been the most shocking thing about this moment, but the large scrapes on your knees and the pavement burn on your forehead seemed to be taking the cake. “Fuck.”

“Baby…” Grayson’s facade of being hateful towards you faded for just a moment as he pulled you up into his arms. “It’s okay… it’s okay.” His lips pressed into your hair, legs carrying you all the way back to his room.

“She’s gonna be the death of me, E.” Grayson’s voice was barely a whisper, but you still heard him - the sunlight peeking through the windows had stirred you, but your eyes remained shut. “I can’t get enough - I know she hurt me and that she’s a lot to handle… but I can’t imagine wanting anything else.”

“She is quite a handful.” Ethan chuckled, running a hand through his hair as he glanced over at your sleeping body in Grayson’s bed. “I don’t know man… I think it’s just a shitty situation - I know she never would’ve slept with me if she’d known how you felt.” The older brother sighed as Grayson started fumbling around in his drawers for clean clothes. “She didn’t want to tell you and hurt you… but I don’t think she’d ever do something like that again. It’s pretty obvious how much she cares about you.” As much as Ethan hated the idea of not being able to have you, it was getting pretty hard pretending Grayson didn’t deserve you. 

“I know.” Letting out a puff of air as he slipped a hoodie over his head, Grayson nodded. 

A few minutes later, you heard Grayson say goodbye to Ethan who was going to grab breakfast with Crystal. Letting out a soft squeak and a yawn, you rolled over, immediately making eye contact with Grayson as he stood a few feet away from the bed.

“Good morning.” He smirked, gently setting an unopened water bottle down by your head. When you winced at the sound of his voice he rolled his eyes. “I can’t even imagine how hungover you are, so there’s advil on the night stand as well.”

“Very.” Your voice was hoarse and crackly as you reached for the small pills and chugged the water. “I’m so… so sorry about how I behaved last night.”

“You remember it?” Whipping his head around to look at you with wide eyes, Grayson was sure that you were blacked out.

“Bits and pieces.” After setting the nearly empty bottle down, you forced yourself to sit up. “I remember busting my face on the concrete… probably why I have this piece of napkin taped to my face.” You could feel the homemade bandage tugging at your hair where the tape had been misplaced - there were two more on your knees. 

“Yep. That one on your face is pretty bad… hopefully it doesn’t scar.” He teetered back and forth on his socked feet, feeling suddenly extremely awkward once again. “Do you remember sayi-”

Before he finished you interrupted him, closing your eyes in embarrassment. “Yes, I remember - and yes, I mean it.”

Grayson took in a quick breath of air at the realization that you weren’t just drunk talking. How on earth could someone like you love someone like him? Even after everything that had happened over the past few months, he couldn’t understand how he possibly got you of all people. “Seriously?”

The amazed look on his face made you giggle. He was so cute, so kind, and yet somehow seemed to come off as an awkward teenager and a man at the same time. Honestly, the first time you’d met him, you’d written him off as a nerdy boy with no potential. The longer you got to know him, you realized his intelligence and apathy towards outward appearances didn’t make him weird. Actually, you liked it. He was such a sharp contrast to everything about you that the two of you thrived off of eachother. You brought him out of his shell and he helped you reconsider decisions that could end badly for you. It was a perfect balance of danger and safety. 

“Yes, seriously - I would ask you to kiss me right now if my breath didn’t smell like whiskey and dead animals.” Rolling your eyes and shoving yourself out of bed, you managed to trap him in a hug. The strong expanse of his chest welcomed your head easily, arms wrapping around you tightly and a big smile creeping across his face. 

“Go back to your room and shower, yea?” Leaning down to press a kiss to your forehead, he pulled away from you. “I think we have a lot of lost time to make up for.”

-

Ten hours and two separate showers later, Grayson was knocking on your door with his backpack on his shoulders and damp hair resting on his forehead. As you opened the door, freshly clad in a pair of black leggings and a white sweatshirts, Grayson let out a breath of air. Seeing you with no anger in him felt good and different. It was almost like he was seeing you for the first time all over again. Your olive skin was brought out by the white of the fabric, straightened black hair trailed down your back easily. He almost didn’t notice the bright red rash on your forehead. 

“You packed a bag yet?” He raised an eyebrow at you, propping himself up in the doorway as you slipped on a pair of vans. Bridget had been MIA all day - probably cooped up at Kyle’s since his roommate had already gone home for winter break. 

“Sure did.” The black duffel you threw over your shoulder was relatively empty, the only thing in it was a pair of pajamas and a change of clothes. The toothbrush, face wash, and shampoo were the only thing adding weight. 

His hand easily slid into yours as the two of you walked down the hallway, the feeling of his soft hand in yours send chills down your spine. Grayson had taken the time to get the two of you a hotel room downtown - he wanted to spend a night with you alone and in a normal sized bed. He had booked a room at the nicest hotel, ordered room service to show up right as the two of you arrived, and couldn’t wait to get his hands on you.

Taglist:// @dolan-bliss @graysavant @justordinaryjen @rainethan

[vinylhazza]

Imagine Graysons gf is an architect or civil engineering. Helping them with the moving home (van). That would be so funny. The boys wanting to do it like they want and y/n standing there and thinking wtf. Like “hey, I’m here the architect/ civil engineering. And boys that won’t fit in there.” And gray being: “and I love to build. Babe, it’s gonna fit.” And Ethan “yeah, trust us..” and after preparing the things the boys check that u were right but they didn’t wanna tell u.

a couple hours ago

“okay so here it is! we already have a layout of everything i just wanted to let you see it,” grayson explains, placing a kiss against the heated skin of your cheek.

but of course you know that isn’t true. you know you’re here to help because he’d been laying sneaky notes around the house for weeks about your “marvelous degree” and what an “asset” it would be if you would “help him with something”. he wasn’t the most subtle of men. but then again neither was ethan when he came right out and asked you to help them today. at least he’s upfront.

you didn’t mind though, you knew they would try and cram whatever they could into this van and make it the hardest living space known to man. if you could make it easier on you while you all traveled the country, you were okay with that. it was a big van, you had to admit - but not big enough for their much larger ideas. 

“c’mere let me show you what we have and tell me what you think,” grayson continues, unwrapping his sturdy arms from your waist to drift over to the table sitting next to the van - a diagram is spread out on the slab of wood, and you can already tell he’s trying to do the most. 

before you can say a thing, he begins explaining everything from the beds to the storage space, privacy, and ideas for lighting that won’t run down the battery significantly. you wait patiently while both ethan and grayson bounce their ideas off one another, getting into a little argument about which side they claim before apologizing quickly after. they know how much you hate their pointless bickering. 

their hands are animated, voices raising, so excited to show you what they have figured out…that it sort of makes you feel bad that you’re going to have to knock down some of their dreams about the van. it’s not that the ideas weren’t great - because they were - it’s just that…they think there is much more room than there is. 

but you waited until they finished and removed their hands from the detailed diagram to look at you before you begin talking. graysons face falls when he sees your hesitation. 

“what’s wrong? you don’t like it?” he sputters, elbowing ethan when he mutters “told you so” under his breath. 

grayson is a fabulous builder, you have to give him that. most of the time he is wonderful with knowing proportions and understanding that you simply don’t have room for everything you want. there are ways to have the things you want without cramming so many things into one place. 

“i love it gray…but you aren’t going to have enough room,” you sigh, not wanting to see the sad puppy dog look on his face after you tell him your professional opinion. 

“what do you mean? this mattress will go here, this one will go here, and then we have this little cabinet and a fridge right here-” he tries swaying you by pointing to places he’s already shown you. you nod along once again. 

“yeah i get that babe but…once again, you won’t have room for all that. dual purpose building is going to be your best bet. you want a table and a bed - you can have both if you do this wisely. i can show you if you want?” you shrug your shoulders, knowing it’s frustrating for him to have mapped it all out and get hyped up to show you just to have his architect girlfriend come in and step on it - but you’re just trying to stop him from sabotaging the project. 

grayson rounds the table once again while ethan goes to play with his new friend, a small cat he found hiding by some wood in the corner. his hands are placed on your shoulders to give you a gentle massage, reassuring you only the tiniest bit. 

“i hear what you’re saying…but i love building and i really think i got this down to a science. it’s gonna fit,” he chuckles, calling your bluff. 

“yeah trust us,” ethan calls from his perched position, hand gliding down the fuzzy back of a cat. 

“whatever you say g, let me know when you’re smushed and can’t move. I have a lunch date with my mom though so i’ll be back in a bit?” you laugh, knowing he’s bullshitting you. I mean…you would kind of know if something wasn’t going to fit. it’s literally your profession to make sure everything having to do with something being built - aka a living space - is up to par. but you’ll let them find out on their own. 

“you’re gonna be so proud. have fun, love you,” he grins, kissing your lips and patting your butt while you walk away, earning a little squeal from you. 

“bye bitchface,” you call to ethan before walking from the shop, knowing if they continue with the plan they have - they will regret it. 

if there was one thing grayson hated more than anything, it was admitting he was wrong about building something. he spent nearly an hour looking over the plan he spent so long coming up with - only for he and ethan to measure everything out and discover that you were right. you were fucking right and that was so annoying. not because you were right but because he was so confident and now he just felt like an idiot. 

“god dammit,” grayson mutters, slamming his hands down on the table with a rising temper. he and ethan had tried everything to make their plan work - but the measurements just weren't there. he would have to go with the new plan and he hated to say it but he really wanted to know what idea you were going on about earlier. 

“it’s fine bro, it happens. just let her help?” ethan chuckles with a pat on his back right when you come strutting back through the shop door with a dazzling smile and a welcoming kiss for your pouty looking man. 

his bottom lip is poked out into a grumpy pout, his head hung over the new diagram you’d noticed when you walked into the door. there were definitely more scribbles and things crossed out than when you left. you’d had a pleasant time with your mother, chatting her up about how amazing grayson was, just girl talk. but you had been eager to get back and see if you had been right about your philosophy on lack of space. seems like you were. 

“so did you guys come up with something or did it end up working out for you?” you smile knowingly up at him, arm swung around his hip while you examine if he’s going to try and fib or not. 

“uh...well...it’s kind of complicated you see-”

“what grayson is trying to say it that you were right and he was wrong and we had to come up with a new game plan,” ethan speaks over his brother, earning himself a glare from gray in the process. you would have no know anyway, “we kind of need your help with that dual purpose thingy you were talking about.” 

“hm” you hum, nodding. you knew it was going to happen anyway. fortunately you had drawn out your own little plan while sitting with your mother at lunch. she knew it was just who you are and what you do, so she didn’t mind when you cleared the table to lay out the large piece of paper that was folded into your purse, sketching out your own plan that was sure to work.

you swing your purse off your shoulder for it to land over the diagram. you reach a hand inside to pull out your own sketch of the van, laying it into grayson’s large hand with a smile. 

“i’m still very proud of you, but this is what I was thinking,” you reassure him, kissing at his cheek right by the clear safety glasses that rested on his face. 

“let’s see it,” ethan perks up, setting down the cat to lean his elbows on the table, just in time for grayson to unfold the sheet and have it neatly splayed out on the table over the old plan. 

it was amazing. I mean of course it was amazing you had a fucking gift and he couldn't deny that. you captured the vision of what he wanted from the very beginning and he was shocked speechless while he looked down at the frayed piece of paper from going all around LA in your purse. you even put a mushy little scribble about how handsome he was and how good he looked while he built the van and made it perfect - earning a gagging sound from ethan next to you. 

“shut up bitch not like you haven't gotten a mushy note from your girlfriend before, I would know,” you narrow your eyes at him, having seen the notes that his girlfriend leaves for him every morning before work. she’d helped her with them a few times for God’s sake. they were very good friends so it wasn’t a shocker from ethan to know that she had seen them. he still took the chance to flip her off. 

“wait baby this is so amazing,” grayson is speechless, pulling you in for a hug so tight you have to tap at his shoulder for him to let go, “thank you so much angel.” 

“no biggie, just a little somethin’,” you giggle, ethan pulling you into a hug shortly after. 

“no really thank you so much this is great! we have everything we need plus a little wiggle room,” they both gush, running to the van with the paper to try and imagine what it would look like.  

you spend the rest of the day picking out fabrics, measuring out the new plan, and making sure that everything fits before they finally get started with the crew to bring the van to life. 

a few days later and it’s finished . it is exactly what you imagined it would be. perfect for the four of you surprisingly. it felt like a stretch that grayson, you, ethan, and kyle would all stay in one van but with your plan it actually ended up being perfect. they finally understood your dual purpose example - loving that the table could actually lower down and turn into a queen size bed. killing two birds with one stone is what you were good at. 

is was grayson and ethan that did most of the work, along with the crew of course. it wasn't like you minded getting your hands dirty, grayson was just very particular about how he wanted to build things so you left him to have his fun with ethan. it was their video of course. what the fans didn't know didn't hurt them.  you were just excited you could get creative juices flowing again, meaning the video will be the greatest it can be, meaning you’d be on the road very soon and be on the adventure you’ve been looking forward to for so long.

[writethehousedown]

When the Sun Sets on Us: Chapter 2 (Scyvie) — Phryne

A/N: Hey y'all! I’m back with the second chapter of When the Sun Sets on Us, a beach town romance between hopeless romantic Scarlet and Yvie, who’s ‘just visiting’.

Last Chapter: Scarlet pined over one of her customers.

This chapter: Yvie’s friends meddle, Scarlet makes a bold move.

Enjoy!

        “Oh my god, get over it, bitch.”

        Yvie grumbled, smoothing down her towel, needlessly brushing sand off the surface, like she wouldn’t end up coated in sand anyway.

        “I just feel like two little x’s at the end is a bit much,” Yvie said into the towel, avoiding Vanjie and Brooke’s exasperated looks.

        “So, you was gonna just put “hi scarlet” just like that?” Vanjie threw her hands up, “You know, like serial killers do? You wanna be like a serial killer?”

        “I just thought it was nice and like, professional.” Yvie kicked her flip flops off and sat down on the towel. “I can’t just lead with hi, hello, kiss kiss.”

“Professional?” Vanjie exclaimed, looking to Brooke for back up. “You want professional or you want pussy?”

“That’s not what I meant.” Yvie rolled her eyes. “Also, your hat’s blowing away.”

        “Oh shit,” Vanjie turned her head, only to find her hat stumbling through the breeze before resting against a sleeping man’s back. She bolted toward it.

        “Yvie, we’re just saying that you have shitty instincts and you need our help.” Brooke uncapped the sunscreen, squirting a liberal amount on her arm. “You’re like, hopeless trying to talk to her, even if she is kinda weird.”

        “She’s not weird,” Yvie mumbled to herself.

        Brooke paused, her arm still white and streaky with the sunblock. “What would you know about not being weird?”

        Yvie chewed her lip. Admittedly not much.

        “Okay,” Yvie drew out. “But tell me how it’s less weird to answer her question ‘so where are you from?’ with ‘Denver’ and a little mountain emoji and a little leaf emoji instead of just saying ‘Denver’?”

        “Because it’s playful and fun.” Brooke gave Yvie a stern look. “And it’s accurate. And you do smoke a lot. And because of the emojis the conversation continued into learning that she does too, which seems about right.”

“Still…” Yvie tried to reason, coming up short. There was a part of her that understood how Brooke and Vanjie were right. They did help her have a great conversation late into last night with Scarlet, which only ended because Scarlet had to be up early for work the next day.

But sometimes it was a bit much.

“Still what?” Brooke began on her next arm. “As the people here, who actually have a successful relationship, verses a person who only knows how to catch feelings and then wait for them to fade, I think we know more than you, Yvangeline.”

“Really, my full name, Mom?” Yvie joked, kicking sand Brooke’s way.

“You’re stupid,” Brooke said through an unwilling laugh.

When they’d finally set up camp for the day and Vanjie returned with her hat — describing the horrors of her hat blowing once more so it was now atop a child’s sandcastle, which disintegrated the minute she pulled her hat away, and how she had to run away before anyone saw — Yvie was back to texting Scarlet, who was apparently on her unauthorized morning break, which was not a real break because it only happened when her manager took his usual mid-morning twelve-minute bathroom break.

“What’s she saying?” Silky laid her open book across her bare stomach.

“Work sucks.” Yvie sighed. It really did sound like it sucked. Scarlet had already plunged sand out of a toilet, trying to figure out why sand wouldn’t just flush. “Ooh I should tell her about McGregor.”

“No, nuh uh.” Silky reached over and grabbed her phone, tossing it to Nina, who tossed it to Brooke, who handed it to Vanjie, who sat on it.

“You all really think I need four degrees of separation from my phone just to tell a story about my boss?” Yvie huffed and threw herself over Silky, fruitlessly reaching for her phone.

“You think you’re gonna get a girlfriend in this century by responding to her shitty boss with your criminal boss, who got arrested for running an illegal cat trading business?” Vanjie called back. “What does any normal person say to that?”

McGreggor was not a cat trader by trade, but rather an old man with a long, white ponytail, laced with plastic craft beads, who managed the art supply store on campus, which Yvie worked at. Occasionally, Yvie was asked to feed the store cat, Randal. Technically, Yvie had to testify that she had no part in the criminal cat trade, or no knowledge of these cats. She only had knowledge of Randal, who was keenly aware of the other cats in the back room, where McGreggor kept the large canvases and rolls of paper — which Yvie was, under no circumstances allowed to stock — as well as forty-four cats, seven of which had been imported from Canada.  

“I don’t know, maybe that she really likes cats?” Yvie offered, sitting back on her towel. “Besides I don’t want a girlfriend.”

“What?” Silky pulled her head back, her face pinched.

“You go on and on all the fucking time about wanting a girlfriend,” Vanjie added, leaning across Brooke, pointing at Yvie. “Don’t fuck with us.”

Yvie let out a sign. “Okay, yeah, but not like this. I mean we’re here for a few days and then what? We go home and I’m miserable because I caught feelings and I can’t do anything about them.” She shrugged. “I just don’t want to deal with it.”

“Well you clearly already got feelings because I see her text ‘Ok break over’ with a sad face and her name’s got that sparkly heart next to it.” Vanjie held up the phone, as though Yvie needed it as proof, as though she could see if from this far away.

“You put that there last night,” Yvie mumbled, fingering the edge of her towel.  

“Upon your request,” Brooke clarified, pushing her sunglasses up her nose.

“Whatever. I just don’t want something serious with someone I’m never gonna see again anyway.”

“Okay, yeah.” Brooke conceded. “Fair point. This isn’t like Grease.”

“Nope, Brooke’s a moron,” Vanjie said, resting her hand on Brooke’s thigh. “You never know until you know, Yvie.”

Yvie groaned. She never wanted to know.

***

Scarlet leaned over the front counter, peering off at the beach, her palms growing sticky despite all the times she’d wiped the counter down. It was like the chipping paint was sweating just as much as she was.

“The ocean isn’t going nowhere, Scarlet.”

Scarlet ignored A’keria’s remark, instead focusing her attention on that same group of girls from last night, all settled down on the beach. She squinted, making out Yvie, who was little more than a speck from this far away. She could nearly see her pass something to Silky.

“Who’s doing beach runs today?” Scarlet asked herself, pondering the schedule, pondering the thought of handing Yvie a long island iced tea, like she had last night, pondering the exquisite and less probable thought of the two of them enjoying a cocktail together on the beach.

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” A’keria narrowed her eyes. “It’s too hot for this shit.”

A’keria.

A’keria was the one scheduled for beach runs.

“Lemme switch with you, please, Ki, I really—”

“Be my fucking guest.” A’keria shot back, unsheathing a stack of plastic cups and loading them into the dispenser.

Scarlet turned around, resting her back against the counter. “Wait, really?”

“Yeah, fuck this heat. If you want to be out in the sun and sand and shit and give me all this AC, then go for it.”

Scarlet ran an order to and from the beach. And then another. All while A’keria enjoyed what was supposed to be Scarlet’s cushy, air-conditioned job of cleaning and sanitizing the laminated menus for the sit-down lunch and dinner service. It was a mindless task, typically performed sitting at the bar, chatting with Kyle the bartender about his wife and whatever was on the boxy old TV precariously hung over the mirrored back bar. Usually they watched Dr. Oz followed by The View.

By the time Kyle finished making the third order, Scarlet was already feeling the heat, pressing a wet paper towel to the back of her neck, head thrown back, as though orienting her face toward the AC across the room would help her feel it more.

And for what? To talk to a beautiful girl who replied sporadically to her? Maybe. If she was lucky. But Scarlet could have nothing more than another wholehearted, half thought through fantasy on her hands, wrapping itself around her brain and squeezing. Hard.

Scarlet grabbed the basket of nachos that just came out of the pass-through window. At least now she’d have someone to serve and some scorching, air wavering heat to distract her from thinking about Yvie, the image of a bead of sweat traveling down Yvie’s arched brow now in the forefront of her mind.

No.

Scarlet wasn’t going to indulge.

Scarlet had work to do.

        She placed the nachos in the center of her tray with the two daiquiris Kyle just finished pouring on either side of it. She looked up, taking the Mai Tai as well. “Where does this go to?”

        “It’s someone named Nina and her description is ‘directly in front of the restaurant, between the boardwalk and the ocean.”

        A’keria snorted. “That’s where the beach tends to be.”

        Scarlet ignored A’keria’s offhand comment. Nina sounded familiar. She searched her head for why that name was ringing bells, though she couldn’t picture what this Nina looked like or anything she could have said.

        “Scarlet?”

        “Hmm?” She looked up from her tray, now mindlessly filled. “Oh sorry.”

        Kyle looked between Scarlet and the tray, then back at Scarlet. He rested his elbows on the bar top. “You maybe wanna take two trips?”

        Scarlet waived him off. “Uh, thanks. But I’m a strong, capable woman,” she teased. “I can handle five drinks.”

        A’keria let out a snort and shook her head as Kyle held his hands up in surrender. “Sure thing, kid.”

        With that, Scarlet hoisted up the tray, balancing one edge on her shoulder, her palm flat in the center. She walked out onto the boards, looking both ways before crossing, hearing Kyle ask A’keria if she was supposed to do beach runs today, and A’keria explaining that “Scarlet has a crush on someone,” as though that clarified everything.

        Once she hit the sand, it all came into focus. Partway down the beach sat Yvie and her friends, one of whom was Nina, who if Scarlet remembered correctly, was the one who paid last night too. She had to catch herself, readjusting her hand on the tray as she stood in the sand, her left foot sinking in only slightly as she connected all the dots, the reddening, maddening warmth spreading across her chest and up to her ears once more. Nina ordered drinks. Everyone was getting drinks. Everyone included Yvie. She was going to see Yvie again.

        Like the night before, the conversation was loud — about some man who traded cats, which deeply intrigued her — but quieted into a handful of low giggles when she came into sight. And Yvie, the way her heart jumped when she saw Yvie sitting cross-legged on her sand covered towel, a novel precariously open in her lap. She blinked a few times, peering up at Scarlet, her face growing a touch red.

        “Shit,” Vanjie muttered, before throwing her phone back across the way, toward Yvie.

        Scarlet swallowed to refocus before pulling the tray off her shoulder, resting it against the flat of her forearm instead. “Uh, hi again guys!” She surveyed the group, trying to give equal attention, or really, trying not to get caught staring at Yvie. “So, I have two frozen strawberry daiquiris…”

“That’s mine,” Silky raised her hand.

“Perfect.” Scarlet walked toward Silky and crouched slightly in front of her, just about to reach for the drink when her phone dinged, causing her to jump and reach for her back pocket, immediately thinking it had to be Yvie’s response finally getting through to her, maybe due to an issue in signal, maybe she typed something out and forgot to send. Scarlet’s mind spun, sweeping up any passing thought about Yvie in its wake.

“No, shit, shit.” Scarlet hissed, the tray tipping off her arm without her other hand to hold it in place.

Tipping off her arm.

And spilling all over Yvie.

Five drinks and a plate of nachos in Yvie’s lap.

Scarlet could die. She could just die and be buried under the sand where the washed-up jellyfish were. Buried with a driftwood headstone, etched with a description of her lesbian panic over a pretty girl possibly texting her back, which caused her to tip a full tray of drinks and food all over said pretty girl. She shall never rest in peace.

“Oh my god. Oh my god,” Scarlet breathed out, tossing the tray down and falling to her knees, picking a half empty plastic cup off of Yvie’s lap. “I’m so so sorry. God. Fuck.”

Yvie shook her head, chuckling. She sat up and brushed the chips off. “It’s okay.”

“I’ve ruined your book and your shorts and your bikini and I probably ruined your phone.” Scarlet tried to collect pooling frozen margarita off of Yvie’s towel, feeling herself sputtering out of control, completely helpless to stop herself. “And your towel’s ruined too. Everything’s going to be stained forever, trust me, that food coloring stains everything. And you’ve got food all over you. I’m sorry. I’m just so so sorry. I don’t even—”

“Hey, hey, stop.” Yvie placed her hand over Scarlet’s halting her motions as she shifted onto her knees as well. “It’s literally all okay. Shit happens.”

The thought of Yvie’s hand on her own barely permeated the thick layer of embarrassment Scarlet had built up and reinforced every time she looked up and saw the red food dye sinking into Yvie’s acid wash shorts. “I’m sorry I ruined all your things. Let me just clean it up and then I’ll go—”

“Scarlet it’s fine, we’ll just clean it up.” Yvie began scooping up chips with both hands, placing them inside the empty plastic cups on Scarlet’s tray. “There’s nothing we can’t just clean up.

Nonetheless, Scarlet left mortified. Just watching Yvie begin to wipe guacamole off of her chest with the dirty towel as she left with the ruined food and drinks made her shiver, made her bones feel like they were rattling, scraping against one another as she walked away. Then jogged away. Then ran into the restaurant. She threw the tray down on the bar top before running back to the walk-in freezer.

“Redo all of ticket 103,” Scarlet called to the kitchen and the bar before closing the freezer door. She kicked over a crate to sit on, settling her aching body down, breathing in and out rapidly, surely working herself up more. She felt her throat tighten. Each breath pushed out more tears. She stared up at the ceiling and blinked to clear her eyes. It didn’t work.

She’d ruined everything by being too eager, too dedicated to something that probably wasn’t real anyway. Too quick to push logic aside in favor of emotional release, in favor of the text back she so wanted. She really couldn’t wait just five minutes to hand out the drinks before looking at her phone?

Well, she ruined this. It was done now. Over. Finished. Time to move on, Scarlet reasoned, pulling herself up off of the crate, coming out of the walk-in, only to be met by Kyle and A’keria and their pressing looks.

“Did I not say to take two trips?” Kyle admonished playfully. It wasn’t as though they were busy or losing too much money from remaking drinks. “What happened?”

Scarlet shrugged, not looking to describe the scene that now replayed in her head without her permission. She felt her eyes well up again, her nose burning and red. She took a deep breath.

“Things happen,” she said, as though she were unsure.

Kyle’s lip flattened. “What does that even mean?”

A’keria stole a rapid glance at Scarlet. “Sometimes shit happens Kyle.” She offered Scarlet a sympathetic look before turning back to Kyle. “Sometimes things just be that way.”

Kyle pondered the sentiment before nodding, accepting it. He pulled two more cups out of the stack and filled them with ice. “Sometimes it just be that way.”

***

“So, you threw your book down to help that girl who literally dropped all that shit on you—”

“Dropped all that shit on you because she thought you were texting her back,” Vanjie interjected before returning the floor to Silky.

“Thank you, Vanjie,” Silky said before her tone turned lecturing again. “Dropped all that shit on you because she thought you texted her back because she likes you. And then you help her clean up that shit she dropped on you. And then you hold her hand for no good reason.” Silky paused to take a deep breath. “And you’re still gonna tell us, the people of this jury and also your judges, that you don’t have feelings for her?”

“I’m on trial?” Yvie felt herself growing whinier by the minute, like she had to convince her friends — and herself — that nothing happened.

“We’re just trying to lay out the arguments for you, Yves,” Nina added.

Yvie snorted. “So, do I get a lawyer?”

“Are you so unsure of your actions and the completely obvious feelings behind them that you feel someone else has to defend you?” Brooke said pointedly, turning the page of her magazine.

“Well shit.” Vanjie flashed wide eyes at Yvie. “You have actions you can’t defend, Miss. Bridges?”

“How many times do I have to tell you I’m not doing any deep feelings here?” Yvie took off her sunglasses and undid her ponytail. “Casual, sure. But I’m not, like, trying to be in love over here.”

“It didn’t look that way.” Brooke flipped another page.

“Why are you two ganging up on me?” Yvie whined.

Vanjie laid her legs over Brooke’s. “Because you and that Scarlet are both morons and you’re literally perfect for each other like you’re practically already girlfriends.”

“Based on what?” Yvie was growing exasperated, ready to end this conversation and head to the bookstore two blocks down and buy something new to read. Or really, go anywhere to avoid this conversation. This conversation would be a lot easier with alcohol, she thought. Though their alcohol had all been dumped on her accidentally, so…

“Based on what we all saw! Happening right in front of us!” Silky folded the corner of her page and closed the book. “You don’t know shit about what’s right in front of you, but all of us know what was right in front of us.”

***

        Scarlet was back on the beach, this time, as insisted by Kyle, who expressed adamantly how much he hated making frozen drinks, with only three drinks on her tray.

        “For the last time. And this will be the last time—”

        Scarlet’s tuned into the conversation, recognizing Yvie’s voice, though raised, threaded with what seemed like anger.

        She’d be lying if she said it didn’t go right through her.

        Yvie stood up, pointing at her friends, as though she were jabbing them from a distance.

        “We are only here for three more days. So, I’m not going to start a real relationship with Scarlet, find out I have all these deep feelings for her that I can’t do shit about, and then leave broken hearted. I’m not gonna do it.”

        They were talking about her. They were talking about Yvie liking her. Enough to talk about having a relationship. Scarlet’s blood fell still as she thought it through. She didn’t hate her. How did she not hate her? God, she got lucky. So entirely lucky. Maybe she could…

        “No,” she muttered to herself. She shouldn’t think like that.

        Well…she already looked like an idiot in front of this girl. What’s once more.

        Looking like an idiot once more meant losing whatever shred of dignity she’d rebuilt while crying in the walk-in.

        Fuck it.

        “What’s one date, Yvie?”

        Scarlet saw five heads swivel around like an owl’s, felt ten eyes on her at once. The words suspended in the air, like the salt in the breeze. They hung around Scarlet, letting her breathe them in and out, before languidly floating over to Yvie, like a gas expanding until it filled the space between them. Scarlet barely registered Vanjie whispering ‘oh shit.’

        Scarlet came around to face the group, trying to steady her breathing. “Oh, also I have some drinks.”

        She passed them out slowly, her movements mechanical. She tried to focus all her attention on handing out the drinks. She was sure she’d feel faint if she gave the question of a date with Yvie any more energy than it had already stolen from her.

        Scarlet straightened up, holding her tray limply. “Well, I guess I’ll go get the rest—”

        “Okay,” Yvie said.

Scarlet pivoted to face her, forgetting the end of her sentence. She was far too occupied by the thought of Yvie saying okay. Scarlet waited for clarification.

“Yeah, okay, just a date couldn’t hurt.” Yvie rubbed the back of her neck, studying Scarlet, probably looking for a reaction.

Scarlet took a sharp inhale. An eye-crinkling smile pulled at her lips. She couldn’t help but laugh, just laugh at her own joy. “Wow, okay, okay,” Scarlet fumbled for the words. “That’s so great, just so…so I’ll see you after my shift?”

Yvie nodded vigorously. “Yeah, definitely.”

“Definitely,” Scarlet repeated. “So, um, I’ll go back to work, and I’ll see you then?” She pointed vaguely back toward the boardwalk.

“Definitely.” Yvie smiled back at her.

Scarlet turned and ran back toward the restaurant, desperately needing to share this with someone, feeling the good news swell inside of her. She’d definitely track down A’keria and yell the whole exchange at her before pestering her about what she should wear tonight and maybe getting off a half hour early to run home and get ready.

Shit. She forgot to tell Yvie when she was getting off.

***

        “So…” Nina cocked a brow. “When does she get off work?”

        “Uh, well,” Yvie continued to stumble, despite now sitting down on half of Nina’s towel, enjoying a long island iced tea, the alcohol only a touch calming. It was like the air of Scarlet managed to linger. “She texted she gets off at six.”

        “Huh, she’s quick,” Silky laughed.

        “You’re nasty.” Yvie stuck her tongue out at her.

        “You better save it.”

“Anyway,” Vanjie drew out, interrupting Silky’s exchange. “Y’all are precious.”

“She’d be a lot more precious if she remembered to deliver my nachos,” Brooke grumbled before laying back on her towel.  

[tennesseewilliamshakespeare]

this too shall pass (i couldn’t know what’s in your mind) - forrest x kyle

length: 1.2k

warnings: none

Planet 7 doesn’t really do open mics like the Wild Pony but it’s almost one and there are maybe six people here and the manager likes Forrest well enough, always has. As much as he was telling Alex the truth about it being fun pissing off the homophobic locals, the words in his notebook on the stool beside him that he’s too nervous to sit on are a little more vulnerable than he’d take the chance of any of them hearing.

He shouldn’t need the notebook. The words were in his head long before he wrote them down. He’d even waited longer than normal, because writing something down makes it real and sometimes making it real makes it hurt. He gave up on waiting when he realized it already hurt anyway. The upside of writing it down is once you make something real you can finally start to deal with it.

It’s not even about Alex. Alex and Guerin finally got their shit figured out, and that’s a good thing, and they’ve known each other forever so Forrest didn’t really have a chance to begin with. The song is about stupid fucking towns and stupid fucking families and how sometimes they take away things that you wouldn’t have given a shit about either way and sometimes they take away things that were just starting to look like they could’ve been really, really good. So it’s a little bit about being in the Wild Pony with Alex at the end of their first date. But that conversation didn’t create that situation, it just… helped Forrest hone in on what he wanted to say about it.

He’s not saying anything right now. He’s just up there with his old guitar, two weeks back from a far too long hiatus. That’s not helping his nerves. He whispers a sorry into the mic but it’s not like anyone is listening or, to be completely honest, cares.

He can’t do this.

Can’t sing his song, at least. There are a couple things he definitely can do. He can leave. He can go get another drink and then come back and try this again. He can calm the hell down. All wonderful options.

Instead, he looks down at his hands, which seem to have started plucking out something without his permission. He lets them continue until he remembers the name of the song and some of the lyrics. It’s from the fucking Hunger Games soundtrack. He starts to sing because there isn’t really anything else to do.

“And oh this too shall pass… this loneliness won’t last… for long…” And that’s where his knowledge of the lyrics ends. Fuck.

Some guy at one of the tables in the back pipes up. “Is that a cover?”

“Uh… yeah,” Forrest calls back.

“Do you want to use my phone to google the lyrics?” The guy offers, walking towards the makeshift stage area.

“Uh…” what the hell? “Thanks, but I’m good. I’m just gonna… go.” Forrest takes his guitar and picks up his notebook.

The guy doesn’t really move to stop him, but the look of disappointment on his face is almost enough. “Your voice is amazing. Seriously, though, what’s the name of the song? I wanna listen to it later.” He’s got glitter all down one side of his face. He probably got it from the guy who came in here a couple of hours ago with a bunch of the stuff and gave it away to anyone who wanted it, but it looked like everyone who had been there when that happened had already left with someone else. Which begged the question, why not this guy? To make matters worse, Forrest is absolutely positively sure he’s at least seen this guy around, but the name is completely escaping him, something that points to him being less sober than standing behind a mic woefully unprepared for and terrified of what he was trying to express made him feel.

“I’m Kyle, by the way.”

Of course. Valenti, surgical resident, sheriff’s son. Friends with Liz Ortecho and therefore probably Alex too. Lovely. That might be a little too much to know about someone he’s never met, but he deals with people the same way he deals with History. He’s always had this inner need to piece together the little details.

“Forrest Long.” He can see his last name giving Kyle pause, which would be a shame because Kyle is cute and also possibly the most earnest person Forrest has ever met in Roswell. Well, maybe besides… nope, Kyle. He’s talking to Kyle and definitely not thinking about anyone else. “Oh, and, uh… I was singing Gale Song, by The Lumineers.” Kyle actually pulls out his phone right there, looks the song up, and saves it. Then he gives Forrest a small smile.

“Hey! You two!” the bartender yells, “everyone else left so I’m closing early. Wrap it up, maybe?”

“It’s a nice night,” Forrest comments, “wanna head outside?” Kyle nods.

~

They sit in the bed of Forrest’s truck and talk in ten minute walls of information about things they’re passionate about (Lyudmila Pavlichenko for Forrest and Laparoscopies for Kyle) which then devolves into just making shit up to try and make each other laugh which then devolves into just laughing.

“Why are you so into history?” Kyle asks after a beat.

Forrest shrugs. “I mean, I grew up here. This town has nothing but history.”

“I disagree,” Kyle says. “It’s got… like… people.”

“Very astute observation. I guess… I wanted to find something that would let me deal with other people without actually having to, like, deal with them, you know? I used to get a lot of shit, growing up.”

Kyle gets quiet. “I… used to be like that.”

“You used to get bullied?”

Kyle shakes his head. “No, I, uh… I used to bully. One kid in particular. Our dads were best friends, and then we were best friends, and then… ninth grade, I wanted to fit in and he didn’t. That’s what I told myself for years, but the truth is… he liked guys, and I liked guys, and I couldn’t tell anyone. My family was awesome, I had more friends than he did, and I was just… scared. It was like everything was stacked against him, but it couldn’t shake him. I think… I wanted to be like him, but I didn’t know how to do that so instead I tried to make him like me. Ashamed.”

That’s not anything Forrest would’ve expected. He can understand it, sure. Shame makes people do fucked up things, especially kids. And Kyle does seem genuinely sorry. “Are you still in touch?”

Kyle nods. “I don’t know if we’re friends, but I’d like to be. He’s gotta be the strongest dude I’ve ever met.”

The sun is coming up and Forrest is falling asleep. It’s unlikely that either of them are safe to drive, so he calls a rideshare. They get to the Long farm first and Kyle gets out too. “Listen, Forrest,” he says. Forrest turns back around as Kyle gets closer until he’s right there. “I’m trying to be braver than I was in high school.” With that, he puts a hand on the side of Forrest’s face and kisses him slowly.

Forrest finds himself smiling into the kiss. When Kyle pulls away, he asks, “wanna come inside?”

[zachsreaderinserts]

Taking a Stand

ship: platonic!bbs x male!reader

dialogue prompt: "No! I'm tired of doing what you tell me!"

warnings: abusive relationship, high school au, i poured my heart and soul into this, it felt really nice to write something like this

"Good morning, gamers," I mumbled, walking to our table in the cafeteria. My friends simply said their greetings back or just nodded at me, looking just as tired as I was.

Mondays were always hard on us, especially since we all were trying to keep up with our channels on the weekends. We all probably had a few hours of decent rest.

"Is everyone gonna be ready to upload our Prop Hunt video tonight?" Craig asked, pulling out the Uno cards. It was a tradition for us to play before school started.

"Yeah," Tyler muttered.

"Yup," Evan replied.

"I think so. I haven't had the chance to edit it yet." Brock gave me a look, that was between concerned and confused.

"You're usually the first one to finish editing out of all of us." I yawned, tears pricking my eyes.

"Angel called me last night. She was ranting and told me not to hang up, so I couldn't get to it." I missed the eye rolls and the silent scoffs that were passed around the group.

"You could've told her you had something to do." Marcel pointed out as the game had begun.

"She wouldn't be happy about it. I don't like upsetting her." I placed down the first card, nudging Brian to place his next. "I'll try to get it done before dinner."

"There's no pressure, L/n. Take your time." Jonathan reassured me, giving me a soft smile. His smile quickly melted away and before I could ask why tan arms wrapped around my shoulders.

"Y/n!" Angel, my girlfriend of one month, exclaimed. She pecked my lips, smiling happily. "Good morning, baby."

"Mornin', Ang." Looking back down at the table, I noticed it was my turn again and a plus two was laid before me. "Oh, you motherfuckers!" Everyone laughed as I pulled two cards from the deck.

"Don't curse, Y/n." Angel lightly patted my shoulder, giving me an admonishing frown. "It's just a game."

"Sorry, babe. It's just that my friends," I threw out a mock glare, "are little shits."

"I was wondering if you could walk me to my locker." I glanced over at my friends before looking at her. "Please, Y/n!"

"I really want to finish this game." I tried to reason, looking in the green eyes of my lover. "Can you wait until the second bell?"

"Y/n, I want to get there before Samantha and April do so we can catch up on some stuff." Seeing that I was still hesitating, she frowned again. "I bet Raymond would walk me to my locker." I turned back around, trying to hide my hurt expression.

"Yeah, I'll walk you." She clapped in excitement as I set my cards down. "See y'all at lunch." I tried to put on a smile, but it felt forced more than anything. Angel wrapped her hand around mine, leading me away from my friends.

Lately, I've been becoming less happy with Angel. She would give me little bits of an insult, leaving me to wonder if she meant it or not. And whenever I wouldn't let her have her way, she would just grow cold and serious.

But, I still liked her. She meant a lot to me. So, I took everything with stride.

My friends, on the other hand, didn't. Back at the table, all of them grew frustrated and angry with our relationship.

"I fucking hate her," Tyler growled, slamming down a blue card onto the deck.

"Join the club." Marcel sneered, glaring as Angel and I disappeared around the corner. "What does he see in her?"

"Maybe he's just staying for the sex." David pointed out, cursing quietly as a plus four was placed down.

"Y/n's too insecure for sex." Brian countered, crossing his arms. "Remember what happened when he had his fall out with Kyle? The whole reason it started was because Y/n refused to fuck him."

"Whatever it is, I hope it's good enough to justify her shitty behavior." Lui cut in, leaning against Evan. "Though, I doubt there's anything that really can justify it."

"We just gotta trust Y/n for now, guys." Brock sent everyone a reassuring glance. "I'm sure he knows what's best for him."

---

"Happy Valentine's Day!" I cheered, carrying an assortment of flowers and chocolates to my friends.

"Whoa!"

"Chocolate!"

"Holy shit!"

"Oh my God!" Various noises of surprise came from them as I placed the stash on the table, grinning proudly.

"Let me hand them out first, children." They went quiet as I started passing around gift cards with a gift attached.

For Evan, I stayed true to his simplistic nature and got him a bouquet of various red flowers. Jonathan received a chocolate box full of bear shaped candies. I got Lui and Brock assorted flowers, which were in almost every shade of the rainbow. Brian and Craig got Starbucks gift cards while I got David and Marcel Visa gift cards.

The last gift was for Tyler, but it was hidden in a plain, black box.

"Okay, open that one under the table." He did as I said and once he opened it, he started laughing loudly. I started laughing at his reaction, slapping the table.

"Y/n, you didn't!" He pulled out a blue dildo, about the size of his forearm. Brock quickly rushed to hide it, laughing along with the rest of us.

After the short laughing fit, they began to read the cards I gave them, either tearing up or smiling at my genuine messages.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Y/n!" Angel gave me a kiss on the mouth, which made me flustered.

"Ah, Angel! Not in front of the guys!" She pulled back, looking dejected. "Sorry, but you know I don't like kissing in front of other people."

"But it's Valentine's Day!" She pressed, slowly getting visibly angry with me. "Shouldn't we be making out all day?"

"I'm just not comfortable with it." She gave me a glare and I sighed, getting sad. "Sorry, Angel."

"No... Don't be. Just-- Did you get me anything?" I lit up, seeing the opportunity to cheer her up.

"Actually, yeah! It's at my house right now, so if you wanna come over later--"

"You mean to tell me that you don't have a gift to give me during the school day?" I shut my mouth, looking at her in confusion. The table around us went silent.

"Is that 'boyfriend protocol' or something?" She huffed frustratedly, taking a step back and crossing her arms.

"Uh, yes! How am I gonna show everyone how good of a boyfriend you are if you don't have a gift during school hours?"

"I don't think you'd need to flaunt around how good of a boyfriend I am if you already know it." I shrugged, trying to keep the tears at bay. "I'm no genius or anything, but I think I'm a very good boyfriend."

"Nevermind, Y/n. I'm going to class." She hissed, storming off. I clenched my fists, trying not to cry in front of my friends.

"Don't listen to her, Y/n." Lui comforted, leading me back to the table. "She's probably on her period or something."

"I made her a painting of us. I worked hard on it and everything." My voice cracked as I folded my arms and laid my head down on them. "I thought she would appreciate it."

"I don't think you guys should keep dating." Evan rubbed my back while talking to me. "You both clearly aren't happy in this situation."

"No, no. I'll figure it out. I really want to keep dating her." I looked at him with a teary face. "I'm sorry for crying."

"Hey, don't be." David came over, sitting next to me. "Why are you saying sorry?"

"Are you fucking crying right now? That's for babies, Y/n! I'm not gonna date a man who cries like a damn baby after an argument." Angel ranted, pointing at my face.

"I have no clue." I lied, rubbing my eyes harshly.

---

y/ntheactualgod has logged onto: what's jon's sexuality??

y/ntheactualgod: DHSJSK WHO CHANGED THE GROUPCHAT NAME

miniladd: IT WAS ME

h20delirious:

FUCK ALL OF YOU

h20delirious changed the chat name to: craig has a micropenis

y/ntheactualgod: and i oop

iamwildcat: y/n if you say "and i oop" one more time i'm going to freak the fuck out

y/ntheactualgod: A N D I OOP

moosnuckel: now you gotta beat them up tyler you said it yourself

iamwildcat: i'm gonna kick your ass as soon as we get to school tomorrow

y/ntheactualgod: do it pussy

vanossgaming: can i record it for my channel?

basicallyidowrk: they're gonna be the next logan paul and ksi

thegamingterroriser: but who's who?

y/ntheactualgod: call dibs on being ksi

iamwildcat: call dibs on being ksi F U CK I DON'T WANNA BE LOGAN PAUL

daithidenogla: sucks to suck

y/ntheactualgod: hold on, angel's messaging me

---

angelbabycakes: Y/N Y/N Y/N

y/ntheactualgod: what's up sugar

angelbabycakes: can i come over?

y/ntheactualgod: to hang out at like 2 AM?

angelbabycakes: not to hang out silly i wanna take our relationship to the next level

---

I felt my heart stop in my chest as I read over what she sent me.

---

y/ntheactualgod: oh. um, hold on

---

y/ntheactualgod: ANGEL WANTS TO HAVE SEX WITH ME WHAT DO I DO?????

basicallyidowrk: SEND US A SCREENSHOT

y/ntheactualgod: unknown.png

h20delirious: oh my god

luicalibre: do u wanna have sex with her?

y/ntheactualgod: uhhhhh not really if i'm being honest ITS NOT THAT I DONT LIKE HER I LOVE ANGEL BUT IM NOT READY FOR SEX

miniladd: that's fine y/n! nothing to be worried about. just tell her how you feel

---

y/ntheactualgod: im sorry angel, but im not ready for that yet

angelbabycakes: look out ur window :)

---

"She didn't," I whispered in horror, rushing to go peek out the window. In my backyard stood my girlfriend of three months, who smiled up at me. I saw her put her phone to her ear and my phone lit up with a call from her. Answering it with shaky hands, I looked down at her through the window.

"Hey, baby! Can you let me in?"

"Angel, I love you a lot, but I can't do this." My voice trembled with anxiety as I saw her face be pulled into a frown. "I'm so sorry, honey, but I just can't have sex with anyone right now."

"Why not! I've been dating your sorry ass for three months! The least you could do is make it worth my while!"

"Angel, I--" She let out an enraged yell, picking up one of my lawn chairs and throwing it across my backyard. I watched in horror as she practically messed up my backyard. "Angel, please stop!"

"I'm tired of dating your wimpy ass! I don't deserve to be with such an ungrateful boyfriend." And she hung up on me, storming out of my yard. My hands were shaking so hard, I dropped my phone. Sinking to the floor, I stuck my head into my knees and started sobbing.

Was I crying of fear or heartbreak? I couldn't even tell.

---

"Good morning, Y/n!" I yelped loudly as David clapped his hand on my shoulder. He pulled his hand away, looking at me concerned.

"Oh, hey David." My voice was scratchy from a lack of sleep, but I didn't let it stop me from talking. "Sorry, you just scared me."

"I'm sorry. You look like you just saw a ghost." As we walked over to the lunch table, I kept my eyes open for Angel, becoming more paranoid the further in we walked. "Where were you this morning?"

This morning was really rough for me. I decided to skip out on sitting with my friends to hide in the bathroom, out of fear that Angel would confront me about last night.

"I had a long night. Woke up late." I lied, weakly smiling up at my friend. "Hope you guys were worried about me."

"We kinda were. Especially after what happened earlier this morning." I looked away from David, seeing that we were nearing the lunch table.

"I'm fine," I reassured to him, rushing to go sit down. I missed the unconvinced look on his face as he walked after me. "Hey, guys."

"Y/n! Where've you been?" Evan called out, grinning as I sat between him and Craig.

"Late morning," I responded, pulling out a cup of jello from my lunchbox. "Who won Uno today?"

"Lui did. He was totally cheating, though." Tyler complained, making me smile genuinely. I felt myself relax a little around them as I opened up the cup.

"You're a winner in my heart, Ty--"

"Y/n!" I couldn't help but jump harshly as Angel called out my name. I managed to squeeze all the jello out of the cup and all over my hand. Angel's tan arms wrapped around my shoulders and she moved to peck my cheek. "I didn't see you this morning."

Was she choosing to forget about what had happened?

"Uh... I woke up late." I stuttered, looking at my now ruined jello. "Sorry."

"You should really be more responsible, Y/n." As she picked her hand up to move a piece of my hair, I couldn't help the tiny flinch. Luckily she didn't notice. "You wanna come over later to watch some Netflix?" She gave me a look similar to the one she wore last night when she first stood in my backyard, letting me know what she was implying.

"I'm sorry, Angel, but I got--"

"Let me guess. Homework? A recording session? Friends coming over?" She took her arms away from my shoulders, giving me a harsh glare. "You never have time for me."

"Angel, not here," I whispered, looking at the eyes of my friends watching us talk.

"Don't give me that BS, L/n! You don't care about me anymore!" She stood up to her full height, putting her hands on her hips. "Don't talk to me unless you wanna apologize." And she stomped away again, leaving me behind with an empty cup of jello and a hand covered in it.

"I'll be right back," I muttered, scared that I was going to start crying in front of the whole cafeteria. I speed-walked to the nearest bathroom and locked myself in a stall. I let the tears slip down my cheeks and silently cried my heart out. My jello covered hand stained my shirt, but at the time, I didn't really care.

"Y/n? Are you in here?" I went silent, hoping that Brock would go away. "Y/n, I can see you sitting in there."

"Go away." My voice broke midsentence as Brock's footsteps came closer to my stall.

"Y/n, we just wanna help you." Jonathan came over as well. "Please come out."

"I-- I can't!" I yelled, feeling broken. "I'm trying so hard to make her happy and she just can't accept it! I've been letting her do as she pleases and it feels like she doesn't even listen to me. I don't want to cuddle with her and then she stops talking to me! I don't give her a gift during Valentine's Day at school and she yells at me! I say I don't want to have sex with her and she proceeds to trash my backyard! I'm so tired of not being enough!" I was gasping for air near the end, recognizing that I was starting to have another anxiety attack. I quickly unlocked the door and smashed into the nearest person's chest, sobbing heavily. They wrapped their arms around me, swaying back and forth as I let out month's worth of tears.

"We're here, Y/n. We've got you." Brian whispered. I felt another pair of arms wrap around us and soon, everyone joined in on the hug.

And for the first time in months, I felt safe and secure.

Once my crying had dialed down, we all separated. I wiped my face with my sleeve, trying to remove any remnants of tears.

"I'm sorry."

"Stop saying you're sorry for crying. There's no reason for you to say sorry when you're this mentally torn about something." Craig gave me a stern glare, holding me by the shoulders. "Why do you say sorry every time you cry?"

"I... I've been told that crying is considered being babyish." Evan huffed, rolling his eyes at me.

"So what? Showing emotions isn't being a baby. It's being genuine. If you hide your emotions, then you're just equivalent to a robot. You should be happy that you can express yourself so well. As cool as it would be to be a robot, I think it would get pretty boring." I smiled a little, sniffing.

"You think?"

"He's right, Y/n. Craig's expressive, but he lifts like a damn champion. And Tyler screams like a preteen, but he's just as strong as anyone else."

"Hey!" We all laughed at that.

"The point is is that you shouldn't feel bad for being emotional. It's a part of who you are." I nodded, feeling confident in myself. "Now, if I were to guess correctly, I'm assuming Angel told you that." My smile quickly changed to a frown.

"How'd you know?" I asked Marcel, to which Jonathan snorted at me.

"Your girlfriend's a douchebag, Y/n. I'm sorry, but it's the Gospel Truth." I just sighed, leaning against the wall.

"I know. But I love her." Brock grabbed my face gently, making me look in his eyes.

"Think of every moment you had with her that was happy." I looked up, trying to recall every moment.

When I asked her out. Our first date. The day we went on a road trip. Her aunt's wedding. My birthday.

"Now think of every moment that you weren't happy with her."

Our first fight. Meeting my parents. Valentine's Day. LAST NIGHT. NOT EVEN TWO MINUTES AGO--

"I have to go," I muttered, a sense of urgency and determination running through me. I slinked past everyone, rushing out of the bathroom and to the lunch room. They all followed me as I walked over to Angel's lunch table, where she turned to face me.

"Are you here to apologize?" I didn't even get to open my mouth when she spoke. "Well, too bad. I'm still angry--"

"No! I'm tired of doing what you tell me!" I cut her off, balling up my fists. "Last night, you trashed my backyard because I wouldn't fuck you! And you just yelled at me for saying no to hanging out after school. I've been doing everything for you when you wouldn't even do half of it for me!" The cafeteria went silent as I was speaking, watching us argue. And for once, I didn't care who saw me.

"How dare you, Y/n! I fucking love you!" She started tearing up, fake tears to get sympathy from me. "You're going to break up with me?!"

"Uh, yeah? Was that not clear?!" She closed her mouth, shocked by my rage. "If you fucking loved me then you would've respected the fact that I didn't want sex! You would've accepted my gift during Valentine's Day and you would've respected my wishes throughout the year of me saying no! But you didn't. Instead, you manipulated me continuously with no hesitation and it's because you can't seem to get in your tiny brain that not everyone owes you anything!" Tears leaked from my eyes, but this time, I didn't care who saw. "I'm done, Angel. I want everything I ever gave you back."

"You can't do that!" She grabbed my wrist, looking into my eyes. "Y/n, I love you!"

I looked down at my now ex-girlfriend, ripping my hand away from her.

"No, you don't." And with that, I left her behind, once and for all.

As I exited the cafeteria, I watched Lui come up and clap me on the shoulder, smiling at me.

"You did good, Y/n." I smiled. And it felt really great as a whole new feeling blossomed in my chest.

"Yeah. I did, huh?" Freedom. That's what this was. Freedom from months of torture. I wiped away tears, not feeling ashamed for shedding them. "You guys wanna go ditch for some Hardee's?"

"Hell yeah!"

"Alright!"

"Yes!"

"Sure."

"Cool!"

"I'm down."

"I call shotgun!"

"I'm taking my car!" As the others rushed out, Craig stayed behind, turning to look at me.

"Are you okay?" Linking our arms together, I sighed happily.

"I'm feeling great."

[missjanjie]

Branjie Fic | Take Me Back to the Start (3/?)

Title: Take Me Back to the Start Summary:   Everyone remembers their first love. Not everyone carries those feelings from childhood to senior year. Yet Brock is starting his last year of high school while still longing for the relationship he lost five years ago. Meanwhile, José is at the top of the food chain and seems to have it all together. But maybe their story isn’t over yet. Word Count: ~3.1k (this chapter) / ~9.6k (total) Relationship: Branjie (Brooke Lynn Hytes/Vanessa Vanjie Mateo) Rating: T (so far)

Read on AO3

After a couple of weeks, Brock and José found that working together was a second nature for them. They worked in sync, they listened and learned from each other, and while Brock was still unsteady about choreographing for a group, he felt that as a duo, they could actually come up with something that would win that qualifying position.

It was their fourth or fifth meeting - this one on their own time - and they were pretty sure they’d laid the groundwork for their routine. And they were pretty damn proud, if they did say so themselves. “Hey, what time is it?”

Brock reached around and grabbed his phone. “About a quarter to six. Why, you got somewhere to be?”

“Yeah, kinda.” He’d promised Kyle they would go see a movie that night, and he tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach that begged him to flake out. As José got up to leave, he turned back towards Brock with a soft, apologetic smile. He hesitated just a bit before speaking, almost as if he were willing away his nerves. “Listen, uh, my birthday’s coming up soon. I’m not goin’ wild or nothin’, but I’m having a party. And you know I can turn up at any party. Anyway, I want yo’ ass there.”

Of course, Brock knew exactly when his birthday was - he always felt especially lonely on that day. Early on, he used to reminisce on the birthdays they shared together, but lately it had become much easier to simply ignore it entirely. Either way, he brightened right up at the invitation. “Yeah, I’ll be there. Promise.”

José’s smile brightened. His heart was beating a little faster whether he liked it or not. “Yeah, you will,” he confirmed with a light laugh before they said their goodbyes. And he must have still had that smile plastered on his face when he reconvened with his boyfriend because he was getting an odd, borderline angry look.

“You enjoy your ‘practice,’ babe?” he asked with a suspicious raise in his brow.

“Why you gotta say it like that, huh?” His cheeks flushed red, which he could only hope didn’t come off as guilt. “It is practice. This shit’s important. You know that.”

Kyle rolled his eyes, “I also know you guys were a thing for years. And no, I don’t care that you were kids. Years are years and you can’t deny that.” Having known both boys for almost as long as they knew each other, he had witnessed tiny snippets of their relationship firsthand, leaving no room for denial.

José glared and grit his teeth. “The fuck are you accusing me of, huh? Tryna make me look bad to take the heat off yourself?”

The accusation earned him an annoyed scoff and a lack of eye contact. “Oh, cut the fucking temper tantrum, José. I’m just not gonna sit around while you have some Step Up fantasy with someone you’ve already had feelings for.”

“Don’t you think if I was tryna make that happen I woulda left yo two-timin’ ass already? You didn’t do shit to earn a second chance but beg and cry for it. And now you wanna point the fucking finger at me? Don’t even go there, boo.”

His rant must’ve made the impression he’d hoped for, as Kyle went silent and hung his head like a scolded child. “Okay, I get it. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come at you like that, I do wanna have a good night with you.” He offered his hand out to the smaller male, waiting in anticipation to see if he’d still take it.

And he did, despite the fact that the nagging sense of doubt inside him was still there. But that was the first sincere sounding apology he’d ever gotten out of his boyfriend. That had to count for something, right? He would certainly keep telling himself as much if it meant he would be able to enjoy their date night.

------

“What do you mean you don’t know what to get him?” Courtney furrowed her brows, shaking her head incredulously. “I thought he used to be like, your entire world.”

Brock grimaced. “And we haven’t spoken in five years. I don’t know about you, but my tastes have changed since middle school. He could be a whole new person in that way, and I don’t wanna look like an idiot in front of him.”

Steve had his hands shoved into his pockets as they walked past store after store in the mall. “Why don’t you just get something like chocolates? Everyone loves chocolate, you can’t strike out on that,” he suggested.

But he waved that off, shaking his head. “No, no, that’s a cop-out. I’m not some distant relative that only comes around for the holidays. I want something that tells him that I care about him… but not like, overly so, you know?”

“Not really.”

“I just don’t want it to seem like I don’t give a fuck. Because I give several fucks. Constantly.”

Courtney placed her hand on his shoulder as they walked into a Macy’s. “I think it’s sweet that you want to show you care. But you shouldn’t overthink it so much. He’s probably just going to be happy that you’re there.”

Brock exhaled deeply as he looked around the store, then coughed a bit on the inhale as he was hit with an influx of various perfumes and colognes that filled the store. “Let’s just start looking for shiny things. I know he still likes shiny things.” He’d been able to ascertain that much from the time they’d spent together recently.

As it turned out, something adequately shiny and something within budget seemed to be incapable of existing within one object. It’d been at least fifteen minutes of wandering through the jewelry department, and the trio had started to become frustrated.

“What about a watch?” Courtney suggested. “My dad says that’s usually a go-to.”

“The only watches anyone under forty wears are Apple Watches,” Brock retorted, and it took another few minutes of circling around before something finally caught his eye. “What do you guys think of this?”

When the other two came up to see what he was looking at, they exchanged looks before both giving a thumbs-up in approval, and not a moment too soon.

------

Brock had been staring at himself in the mirror for a good couple of minutes. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was hoping to see - maybe a sudden burst of confidence that would assure him that he looked and felt ready to go.

Instead, he had to rely on his mother, who was losing her patience. “You’re going to be late, and not even fashionably late. Get a move on, I’ll be in the car.”

After another look in the mirror, he decided it was as good as it was going to get. He grabbed his jacket and the present and made his way out to the car, spending the entire ride completely silent. If he spoke, he’d just end up psyching himself out and making her turn back home.

“You’re going to have a great time, I’m sure of it. Call me when you’re done, but if you’re still out by midnight, take an Uber.”

Brock nodded in confirmation and gave his mom a quick hug before getting out and going into the restaurant. It was a nice place, the kind you would go to if you were treating yourself, but not somewhere that needed to be booked months in advance. The hostess was cheery as she guided him to the back room that was closed exclusively for the party, and there was no turning back from there.

There had to have been at least thirty or forty people in the room, talking and dancing amongst themselves, or eating and drinking off to the side. No one really acknowledged Brock’s presence, so he weaved his way through to set his gift down on the table along with the others, looking around in hopes of crossing paths with José one way or another.

And he did, eventually. José had managed to untangle himself from the group around him to make his way over to Brock. “You really showed up.”

“I promised I would.”

Despite the loud music and shouting teens, there was a sudden calmness between the two of them. The onslaught of indescribable noises faded into the background and for a moment it was like they were back at the roller skating rink, or any of the birthdays they’d shared together.

“I’m really happy you’re here.”

There seemed to be more that José wanted to say, but he was suddenly whisked away by a group of three girls that Brock recognized from the cheerleading team.

So, with a content smile, Brock turned to make his way towards the food when he bumped into someone blocking his path.

Kyle. Great.

“Can I help you?” He did his best to seem nonplussed, but he just couldn’t hide the irritation that seeped into his words. Even without an answer, he was trying to figure out how to maneuver around the jock.

“Oh, cut the shit.” Kyle shoved him back, effectively keeping him from slipping away. “He might be too stupid to catch onto your game, but I’m not. And I’m putting an end to it right now.”

Brock stood upright, puffing out his chest and narrowing his glare. If looks could kill, he’d be an effective assassin. “Don’t call him stupid,” he hissed. “Maybe if you treated him better, you wouldn’t be so paranoid.”

At this point, a few onlookers had gathered out of casual curiosity. Kyle had an aggressive reputation, after all. And although Brock didn’t have much of a reputation period, the fact that he held his own on a physical level was enough to pique some interest.

“You’re fucking delusional if you think he’s gonna run back to you just ‘cause you two used to play house,” he stepped closer, trying to intimidate him — which proved to be a bit difficult considering they were about the same height. He then tried to further the attempt by making a sharp, threatening motion towards him.

But Brock’s reflexes were fast — he pushed back with both hands to his chest, enough to send him stumbling back a couple of steps. Which, in retrospect, might have been the wrong move, as the next thing he knew, he had 185 pounds of football player lunging at him.

Now, Brock wasn’t a fighter, especially not a physical one. But his only other option was to lay down and let José’s boyfriend wail on him, and that simply wasn’t going to happen. So, he pushed back with all of his might, doing his best to hold his own while a crowd formed around them.

It was all a bit blurry — there was a loud ringing in his ear and his head was throbbing, and he was on the ground, down for the count. In the distance, though, he swore he heard a distinctly familiar voice shouting ‘what the fuck just happened?!’

José was out of breath when he caught up with the melee. “Oh my god, are you okay?”

Kyle grunted, also splayed out on the floor and not in much better condition. “Ugh, yeah, think I just–“

“Shut the fuck up, I ain’t talking to you!” The absolute fury in his tone was enough to make everyone in earshot take a step back. But he wasn’t paying the crowd any mind as he dropped to his knees and crawled over to Brock’s side.

“How bad you hurtin’?” His voice had completely switched to a soft, gentle one — it was jarring to everyone around them. “You need me to call an amberlance or something?”

Brock groaned as he managed to sit himself up. His face hurt like a bitch, but he wasn’t bleeding or more than a little swollen. He was dizzy, enough to not even realize how much he was relying on José to hold him up, but was slowly managing to come back to reality. “No, just ice. Advil, maybe.”

“You heard the man! Ice and Advil! What’s the fucking hold up?” José wasn’t shouting to anyone in particular — just whoever got the job done the fastest.

And, sure enough, Brock did find himself on a couch with ice on his head and Advil in his system not long after. How long, exactly, was unclear. His mind was still a little fuzzy on the details.

The one detail that was clear, however, was that José had never left his side, and that fact made Kyle livid. Even with depleted energy, he was huffing and shouting as his friends escorted him out. “Does he blow up like that often?” he asked once he was feeling a bit more himself.

José gestured vaguely. “He got a temper.”

“He’s never hit you, has he?”

“Never, though sometimes I’d take that over his shouting rants. Motherfucker makes me look like one of them silent French clowns.”

“A mime?”

Despite everything, they both laughed at that. “Yeah, a mime.”

There were a few beats of silence before Brock turned to face him. “Why’s a guy like you with such a creep like that?”

José tilted his head, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “A guy like me?”

“Well, yeah,” Brock shrugged. “Someone kind, funny, thoughtful…” He could have gone on for so much longer, but he didn’t want to come on too strong. That, and he was still a bit out of it and knew that if he started to ramble he wouldn’t stop. “What’s he got going for him other than an athletic scholarship?”

It wasn’t that José never questioned his relationship; it was just easier to not think about it. This was how it was supposed to go – the head cheerleader and the quarterback, it was the classic high school romance, wasn’t it?

“It wasn’t always like this. He was good to me, treated me like a queen, his ride or die. I don’t know what happened,” he sighed and looked down. “I know I look the fool for even thinkin’ bout defending him, but I can’t just feel nothing for him just like that.”

Brock pressed his lips into a fine line and stared straight ahead of him. “I don’t think anyone expects you to stay with him after this, so the choice is really yours.” He was sure people filmed the fight, that it was already making the rounds on social media. His phone was bound to blow up any minute now, and he had no idea how he would tackle that. He couldn’t even think about that – he was still hung up on José‘s take on his relationship with that bully.

“Anyway,” he continued after what felt like an hour of awkward silence. “I’m gonna text my mom, should still probably go get checked out by a doctor.”

José stood right up. “Let me go with you,” he insisted.

Brock shook his head. “You’re not wasting my birthday sitting in the ER to see if I have a contusion.”

“Well, I’m not doing that because I don’t know what a contusion is. But I am going to make sure you didn’t get all fucked up.” He chewed on his lip and bounced uncomfortably on his feet. “‘Sides, this is kinda my fault anyway. He prob’ly wouldn’t have gone after you if he didn’t think you was gonna try something with me. I-I told him the truth, but he ain’t hearing it.”

Brock sighed softly and gently placed his hand on the shorter male’s shoulder. “None of this is your fault. The guy’s a psychopath and you got caught in the cross-hairs.” He gave his shoulder a light squeeze. “And I know you, and how stubborn you are. So I’ll let my mom know you’re coming with us.”

Despite his insistence on joining, the drive to the hospital was still filled with tension. It was dead silent, to the point where even Joan had given up any attempt at small talk within the first five minutes. And their stay in the waiting room proved to only be more silent torture. The worst part, perhaps, was that all of that was only to find out that Brock had sustained nothing more than a minor concussion, along with some scrapes and bruises.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” José remarked as they made their way back the way they came.

Brock looked at him with a weak smile. “Could’ve been a lot worse, I know.” His gaze shifted straightforward. “Are you going to check on him?”

“I mean, I should, right?”

“No!” He stopped in his tracks, causing José to come to a screeching halt. That was it. That was what made the dam burst. “Jesus Christ, don’t you get it? This is essentially the same boy that pushed us around while shouting ‘faggots,’ the only difference is now you’re letting him fuck you!” He took a breath, the last thing he needed to do was cause a scene in the middle of the hospital.

José found himself in a bind. He knew Brock was right, he didn’t need to think twice about that. But he wasn’t about to stand and get lectured and leave with his head hung low. His pride simply wouldn’t allow for that. “I took care of myself then, you don’t need to keep talkin’ at me like I’m still a child.”

“Then maybe you should stop acting like one.”

------

“Dude,” Courtney stared at him blankly. “What the fuck?”

Brock groaned, sprawling out on his bed and staring up at the ceiling. “I don’t know. I was just… I was so angry. It wasn’t even about wanting to be with him, it was… How could that not be enough to break up with someone on the spot?”

“It sounds like it was a lot happening at once,” Steven chimed in. “Maybe he just needs to, I don’t know, process all of it.”

He sat up and furrowed his brows. “So, what are you saying? That I overreacted?”

Both of his friends shook their heads. “Honestly, I’m with you. I can’t fucking stand Kyle,” Courtney admitted. “But you said it yourself, José’s the most stubborn son of a bitch any of us have ever met. Maybe he’s in denial about it.”

“Give it a little time. He’ll come to his senses and be all yours before you know it.”

Brock ran his fingers over the bruise on his arm, still tender to the touch. “If that’s even what I still want by then.”

[artificialqueens]

Take Me Back to the Start (Chapter 3) - Joley

(read on ao3)

After a couple of weeks, Brock and José found that working together was a second nature for them. They worked in sync, they listened and learned from each other, and while Brock was still unsteady about choreographing for a group, he felt that as a duo, they could actually come up with something that would win that qualifying position.

It was their fourth or fifth meeting - this one on their own time - and they were pretty sure they’d laid the groundwork for their routine. And they were pretty damn proud, if they did say so themselves. “Hey, what time is it?”

Brock reached around and grabbed his phone. “About a quarter to six. Why, you got somewhere to be?”

“Yeah, kinda.” He’d promised Kyle they would go see a movie that night, and he tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach that begged him to flake out. As José got up to leave, he turned back towards Brock with a soft, apologetic smile. He hesitated just a bit before speaking, almost as if he were willing away his nerves. “Listen, uh, my birthday’s coming up soon. I’m not goin’ wild or nothin’, but I’m having a party. And you know I can turn up at any party. Anyway, I want yo’ ass there.”

Of course, Brock knew exactly when his birthday was - he always felt especially lonely on that day. Early on, he used to reminisce on the birthdays they shared together, but lately it had become much easier to simply ignore it entirely. Either way, he brightened right up at the invitation. “Yeah, I’ll be there. Promise.”

José’s smile brightened. His heart was beating a little faster whether he liked it or not. “Yeah, you will,” he confirmed with a light laugh before they said their goodbyes. And he must have still had that smile plastered on his face when he reconvened with his boyfriend because he was getting an odd, borderline angry look.

“You enjoy your ‘practice,’ babe?” he asked with a suspicious raise in his brow.

“Why you gotta say it like that, huh?” His cheeks flushed red, which he could only hope didn’t come off as guilt. “It is practice. This shit’s important. You know that.”

Kyle rolled his eyes, “I also know you guys were a thing for years. And no, I don’t care that you were kids. Years are years and you can’t deny that.” Having known both boys for almost as long as they knew each other, he had witnessed tiny snippets of their relationship firsthand, leaving no room for denial.

José glared and grit his teeth. “The fuck are you accusing me of, huh? Tryna make me look bad to take the heat off yourself?”

The accusation earned him an annoyed scoff and a lack of eye contact. “Oh, cut the fucking temper tantrum, José. I’m just not gonna sit around while you have some Step Up fantasy with someone you’ve already had feelings for.”

“Don’t you think if I was tryna make that happen I woulda left yo two-timin’ ass already? You didn’t do shit to earn a second chance but beg and cry for it. And now you wanna point the fucking finger at me? Don’t even go there, boo.”

His rant must’ve made the impression he’d hoped for, as Kyle went silent and hung his head like a scolded child. “Okay, I get it. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come at you like that, I do wanna have a good night with you.” He offered his hand out to the smaller male, waiting in anticipation to see if he’d still take it.

And he did, despite the fact that the nagging sense of doubt inside him was still there. But that was the first sincere sounding apology he’d ever gotten out of his boyfriend. That had to count for something, right? He would certainly keep telling himself as much if it meant he would be able to enjoy their date night.

——

“What do you mean you don’t know what to get him?” Courtney furrowed her brows, shaking her head incredulously. “I thought he used to be like, your entire world.”

Brock grimaced. “And we haven’t spoken in five years. I don’t know about you, but my tastes have changed since middle school. He could be a whole new person in that way, and I don’t wanna look like an idiot in front of him.”

Steve had his hands shoved into his pockets as they walked past store after store in the mall. “Why don’t you just get something like chocolates? Everyone loves chocolate, you can’t strike out on that,” he suggested.

But he waved that off, shaking his head. “No, no, that’s a cop-out. I’m not some distant relative that only comes around for the holidays. I want something that tells him that I care about him… but not like, overly so, you know?”

“Not really.”

“I just don’t want it to seem like I don’t give a fuck. Because I give several fucks. Constantly.”

Courtney placed her hand on his shoulder as they walked into a Macy’s. “I think it’s sweet that you want to show you care. But you shouldn’t overthink it so much. He’s probably just going to be happy that you’re there.”

Brock exhaled deeply as he looked around the store, then coughed a bit on the inhale as he was hit with an influx of various perfumes and colognes that filled the store. “Let’s just start looking for shiny things. I know he still likes shiny things.” He’d been able to ascertain that much from the time they’d spent together recently.

As it turned out, something adequately shiny and something within budget seemed to be incapable of existing within one object. It’d been at least fifteen minutes of wandering through the jewelry department, and the trio had started to become frustrated.

“What about a watch?” Courtney suggested. “My dad says that’s usually a go-to.”

“The only watches anyone under forty wears are Apple Watches,” Brock retorted, and it took another few minutes of circling around before something finally caught his eye. “What do you guys think of this?”

When the other two came up to see what he was looking at, they exchanged looks before both giving a thumbs-up in approval, and not a moment too soon.

——

Brock had been staring at himself in the mirror for a good couple of minutes. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was hoping to see - maybe a sudden burst of confidence that would assure him that he looked and felt ready to go.

Instead, he had to rely on his mother, who was losing her patience. “You’re going to be late, and not even fashionably late. Get a move on, I’ll be in the car.”

After another look in the mirror, he decided it was as good as it was going to get. He grabbed his jacket and the present and made his way out to the car, spending the entire ride completely silent. If he spoke, he’d just end up psyching himself out and making her turn back home.

“You’re going to have a great time, I’m sure of it. Call me when you’re done, but if you’re still out by midnight, take an Uber.”

Brock nodded in confirmation and gave his mom a quick hug before getting out and going into the restaurant. It was a nice place, the kind you would go to if you were treating yourself, but not somewhere that needed to be booked months in advance. The hostess was cheery as she guided him to the back room that was closed exclusively for the party, and there was no turning back from there.

There had to have been at least thirty or forty people in the room, talking and dancing amongst themselves, or eating and drinking off to the side. No one really acknowledged Brock’s presence, so he weaved his way through to set his gift down on the table along with the others, looking around in hopes of crossing paths with José one way or another.

And he did, eventually. José had managed to untangle himself from the group around him to make his way over to Brock. “You really showed up.”

“I promised I would.”

Despite the loud music and shouting teens, there was a sudden calmness between the two of them. The onslaught of indescribable noises faded into the background and for a moment it was like they were back at the roller skating rink, or any of the birthdays they’d shared together.

“I’m really happy you’re here.”

There seemed to be more that José wanted to say, but he was suddenly whisked away by a group of three girls that Brock recognized from the cheerleading team.

So, with a content smile, Brock turned to make his way towards the food when he bumped into someone blocking his path.

Kyle. Great.

“Can I help you?” He did his best to seem nonplussed, but he just couldn’t hide the irritation that seeped into his words. Even without an answer, he was trying to figure out how to maneuver around the jock.

“Oh, cut the shit.” Kyle shoved him back, effectively keeping him from slipping away. “He might be too stupid to catch onto your game, but I’m not. And I’m putting an end to it right now.”

Brock stood upright, puffing out his chest and narrowing his glare. If looks could kill, he’d be an effective assassin. “Don’t call him stupid,” he hissed. “Maybe if you treated him better, you wouldn’t be so paranoid.”

At this point, a few onlookers had gathered out of casual curiosity. Kyle had an aggressive reputation, after all. And although Brock didn’t have much of a reputation period, the fact that he held his own on a physical level was enough to pique some interest.

“You’re fucking delusional if you think he’s gonna run back to you just ‘cause you two used to play house,” he stepped closer, trying to intimidate him — which proved to be a bit difficult considering they were about the same height. He then tried to further the attempt by making a sharp, threatening motion towards him.

But Brock’s reflexes were fast — he pushed back with both hands to his chest, enough to send him stumbling back a couple of steps. Which, in retrospect, might have been the wrong move, as the next thing he knew, he had 185 pounds of football player lunging at him.

Now, Brock wasn’t a fighter, especially not a physical one. But his only other option was to lay down and let José’s boyfriend wail on him, and that simply wasn’t going to happen. So, he pushed back with all of his might, doing his best to hold his own while a crowd formed around them.

It was all a bit blurry — there was a loud ringing in his ear and his head was throbbing, and he was on the ground, down for the count. In the distance, though, he swore he heard a distinctly familiar voice shouting ‘what the fuck just happened?!’

José was out of breath when he caught up with the melee. “Oh my god, are you okay?”

Kyle grunted, also splayed out on the floor and not in much better condition. “Ugh, yeah, think I just–“

“Shut the fuck up, I ain’t talking to you!” The absolute fury in his tone was enough to make everyone in earshot take a step back. But he wasn’t paying the crowd any mind as he dropped to his knees and crawled over to Brock’s side.

“How bad you hurtin’?” His voice had completely switched to a soft, gentle one — it was jarring to everyone around them. “You need me to call an amberlance or something?”

Brock groaned as he managed to sit himself up. His face hurt like a bitch, but he wasn’t bleeding or more than a little swollen. He was dizzy, enough to not even realize how much he was relying on José to hold him up, but was slowly managing to come back to reality. “No, just ice. Advil, maybe.”

“You heard the man! Ice and Advil! What’s the fucking hold up?” José wasn’t shouting to anyone in particular — just whoever got the job done the fastest.

And, sure enough, Brock did find himself on a couch with ice on his head and Advil in his system not long after. How long, exactly, was unclear. His mind was still a little fuzzy on the details.

The one detail that was clear, however, was that José had never left his side, and that fact made Kyle livid. Even with depleted energy, he was huffing and shouting as his friends escorted him out. “Does he blow up like that often?” he asked once he was feeling a bit more himself.

José gestured vaguely. “He got a temper.”

“He’s never hit you, has he?”

“Never, though sometimes I’d take that over his shouting rants. Motherfucker makes me look like one of them silent French clowns.”

“A mime?”

Despite everything, they both laughed at that. “Yeah, a mime.”

There were a few beats of silence before Brock turned to face him. “Why’s a guy like you with such a creep like that?”

José tilted his head, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “A guy like me?”

“Well, yeah,” Brock shrugged. “Someone kind, funny, thoughtful…” He could have gone on for so much longer, but he didn’t want to come on too strong. That, and he was still a bit out of it and knew that if he started to ramble he wouldn’t stop. “What’s he got going for him other than an athletic scholarship?”

It wasn’t that José never questioned his relationship; it was just easier to not think about it. This was how it was supposed to go – the head cheerleader and the quarterback, it was the classic high school romance, wasn’t it?

“It wasn’t always like this. He was good to me, treated me like a queen, his ride or die. I don’t know what happened,” he sighed and looked down. “I know I look the fool for even thinkin’ bout defending him, but I can’t just feel nothing for him just like that.”

Brock pressed his lips into a fine line and stared straight ahead of him. “I don’t think anyone expects you to stay with him after this, so the choice is really yours.” He was sure people filmed the fight, that it was already making the rounds on social media. His phone was bound to blow up any minute now, and he had no idea how he would tackle that. He couldn’t even think about that – he was still hung up on José‘s take on his relationship with that bully.

“Anyway,” he continued after what felt like an hour of awkward silence. “I’m gonna text my mom, should still probably go get checked out by a doctor.”

José stood right up. “Let me go with you,” he insisted.

Brock shook his head. “You’re not wasting my birthday sitting in the ER to see if I have a contusion.”

“Well, I’m not doing that because I don’t know what a contusion is. But I am going to make sure you didn’t get all fucked up.” He chewed on his lip and bounced uncomfortably on his feet. “‘Sides, this is kinda my fault anyway. He prob’ly wouldn’t have gone after you if he didn’t think you was gonna try something with me. I-I told him the truth, but he ain’t hearing it.”

Brock sighed softly and gently placed his hand on the shorter male’s shoulder. “None of this is your fault. The guy’s a psychopath and you got caught in the cross-hairs.” He gave his shoulder a light squeeze. “And I know you, and how stubborn you are. So I’ll let my mom know you’re coming with us.”

Despite his insistence on joining, the drive to the hospital was still filled with tension. It was dead silent, to the point where even Joan had given up any attempt at small talk within the first five minutes. And their stay in the waiting room proved to only be more silent torture. The worst part, perhaps, was that all of that was only to find out that Brock had sustained nothing more than a minor concussion, along with some scrapes and bruises.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” José remarked as they made their way back the way they came.

Brock looked at him with a weak smile. “Could’ve been a lot worse, I know.” His gaze shifted straightforward. “Are you going to check on him?”

“I mean, I should, right?”

“No!” He stopped in his tracks, causing José to come to a screeching halt. That was it. That was what made the dam burst. “Jesus Christ, don’t you get it? This is essentially the same boy that pushed us around while shouting ‘faggots,’ the only difference is now you’re letting him fuck you!” He took a breath, the last thing he needed to do was cause a scene in the middle of the hospital.

José found himself in a bind. He knew Brock was right, he didn’t need to think twice about that. But he wasn’t about to stand and get lectured and leave with his head hung low. His pride simply wouldn’t allow for that. “I took care of myself then, you don’t need to keep talkin’ at me like I’m still a child.”

“Then maybe you should stop acting like one.”

——

“Dude,” Courtney stared at him blankly. “What the fuck?”

Brock groaned, sprawling out on his bed and staring up at the ceiling. “I don’t know. I was just… I was so angry. It wasn’t even about wanting to be with him, it was… How could that not be enough to break up with someone on the spot?”

“It sounds like it was a lot happening at once,” Steven chimed in. “Maybe he just needs to, I don’t know, process all of it.”

He sat up and furrowed his brows. “So, what are you saying? That I overreacted?”

Both of his friends shook their heads. “Honestly, I’m with you. I can’t fucking stand Kyle,” Courtney admitted. “But you said it yourself, José’s the most stubborn son of a bitch any of us have ever met. Maybe he’s in denial about it.”

“Give it a little time. He’ll come to his senses and be all yours before you know it.”

Brock ran his fingers over the bruise on his arm, still tender to the touch. “If that’s even what I still want by then.”