#because imagining bay leo like this is even more funny

[dontlookatmytmntcollection]

My favorite thing ever to imagine about Leo is that he has like one or two bonsai trees that he's always seen messing with and everyone thinks he so zen and green thumbed

Then if you gave him an actual plant he'd fucking kill it cuz he doesn't know shit about plants

He'd feel horrible about it too

[remmushound]

Bay/rise 14! @errorfreak88 @brightlotusmoon

Leonardo explained everything as fast as he could manage without giving out any important details. He said that they had been attacked by Shredder, but said nothing of the situation leading up to it. He said nothing about what had happened to his city. He said nothing about Big Mama. He said nothing about why it was so important that they find his April fast. They told him about finding his brothers and what state they were in, and how they had found Leonardo and Michelangelo in the first place. That they had sights on his father and potentially his April too.

“Donnie,” Leo said, “Any update on the last mutant?”

Donnie hummed and clicked his wrists to bring up a transparent blue hologram. As he began to swipe away on the impressive device, both Michelangelo and Leonardo gawked in awe.

“Wow! You have mystic tech here too?”

“Mystic what—?” Donnie yelped as Michelangelo grabbed a sudden hold of Donnie’s shell and pulled himself up onto Donnie’s back. Donnie forgot his tech a moment and kept trying to turn around to see what the younger mutant was doing. “Hey— what are you doing back there?”

“Getting a better view!” Michelangelo pulled himself finally onto Donnie’s shoulder and hung over him. “Okay, go!”

Donne tried to look to Leonardo for assistance, but the turtle was far more enraptured by the shiny hologram than anything his brother was doing. Donnie cleared his throat and tried to ignore it while he got back to his work.

“Uh… the status of… um…” Donnie was starting to feel uneasy with just how intently Leonardo was staring at him, “Wait what was the question?”

“The last mutant?” Leo reminded slowly.

“Oh… right… status on the… last mutant.”

“Leoooo!”

Donnie flinched as the loud voice sounded right in his ear. 

“It looks like you’re staring at him! He doesn’t like it.”

“Huh?” Leonardo snapped back to reality and shook his head, though his eyes still kept glancing down the screen. “Oh— no— your tech is just cool! Did you make it yourself?”

Leonardo ducked under Donnie’s extended arm and popped behind it so it was almost like Donnie had his arm around the slider. He grabbed Donnie’s wrist and pulled it down so he could see the details of the screen closer.

“Uh, yeah?” Donnie answered with a slight laugh to combat just how uncomfortable he was.

“Dude, you sooo gotta show this to my Donnie when after we get pops and April. He’s gonna flip!”

“Well, that’s gonna have to wait.” Leonardo said firmly.

“Wait for what? An invitation? Dude— if we go now we can beat rush hour!”

“Or get caught in the middle of it and be exposed.” Leo retorted.

“Dude, you seriously need to take a chill pill.” Leonardo finally left Donnie alone in favor of approaching Leo. “Besides, it’s not exactly your decision, is it?”

“You think it's yours?”

Leonardo laughed, but it faded into a scoff when he realized his counterpart was being serious. “No. It’s his.” Leonardo nodded to the otherwise silent Raph.

“What?” Raph narrowed his eyes and tilted his head ever so slightly.

“What do you say, oh merciful leader.” Leonardo’s voice was leaking with sarcasm as he addressed Raph, “Can we go save my fam or not?”

“Wha— me?” Raph pointed at himself.

“I don’t see any other six foot tall, red-mask wearing mutant turtles.”

“Dude, you’re the leader?” Mikey was at Raph’s side in an instant appealing to him, “Why didn't tell me? We coulda been doing so many cool things!”

“I’m not, shell-for-brains.” Raph growled.

“No?” Leonardo was genuinely surprised. He spun on his heels to better take in the group of four as a whole. Raph was strong and tall like a brick wall, and at his side Mikey was touch-positive and bouncing in place through his excitement. Donnie was slouched slightly and adjusted his glasses further up the bridge of his nose, his eyes darting around to look at anything other than the anomalies in front of him. Leo was smug and confident, standing at the ready and straighter than the rest. Leonardo wanted to believe that it might be Donnie as the leader—second oldest, the tallest, it might make sense— but the stance and demeanor was totally off. Not Mikey either; he hardly seemed to be paying attention to anything that was going on unless it was funny or interesting. “Wait… no.” Leonardo finally turned his attention to Leo. “You?”

“Something wrong with that?” Leo almost seemed to challenge.

Leonardo was quick to throw his hands up in surrender. “Hey, why’s everything gotta be a fight with you?”

“Wait— were you meaning that… your Raph is the leader in your world?” Donnie asked slowly, his eyes finally starting to glisten with a shine all too familiar to Leonardo.

“Of course not, Don.” Leo answered for Leonardo, crossing his arms and giving a laugh, “Mister ‘Shrek looking ass bitch’ here is just trying to get under our skin.”

“One— I’m not even gonna deny that cause I totally was.” Leonardo laughed and so did the Mikey’s, “Two, he asked me, not the incredible hulk so you shut up.”

Leo winced at the audacity. This mutant, two heads shorter and a world weaker, was standing up against him like they were evenly matched. Leo couldn’t help but liken it to a Jack Russel challenging a Pitbull.

“And número tres!” Leonardo declared, “Yes. My Raph is, in fact, the leader in my world.” He started to advance on Leo, but the box turtle held his ground. Leonardo walked right up and prodded his finger against Leo’s chest. “And if you have a problem with that, then you can take it up with him because even though he just got shredded by Shred-Head, he could still knock your sorry ass on your shell!”

Donnie shoved himself between both Leo’s before the situation could escalate any further. “Guys, chill out! Here— look. Your Splinter still hasn’t moved— he’s down on Bay Parkway.”

Leonardo looked at the map on the mutants arm and hummed. “Okay. Come on Mikey.”

Leonardo grabbed his odachi from the floor and replaced it in its sheath before making his way to the window. Michelangelo scrambled off of Donnie and scurried after his brother.

“Woah woah woah, where do you think you’re going?” Leo quickly tried to intervene and block the window.

“Didn't you hear the guy? Bay Parkway. Now move.”

“Didn't you hear me when I said we’re not making any more moves until nightfall?” Leo growled a threat.

“That is my dad out there, my April, and every second your ugly face is in mine is another second that they could be in danger. I’m going.”

“No you’re not.” Leo stood steadily.

Leonardo moved faster than Leo could have imagined. Leo managed to get a grip on the smaller turtle's shell, but he slipped off as if the shell were made of ice. Leonardo jumped out the window and scrambled out of reach before he could be caught again. Leo didn't bother trying to stop Michelangelo from following.

“Great.” Leo sighed and slapped his hands against his sides.

“Leo, you can’t just leave them out there alone.” April said finally, approaching the frustrated turtle.

“I know.” Leo sighed, then turned to his brothers. “Donnie, find us a place where we can cut them off. We can’t just leave them free in the city.”

While Donnie worked on an intersection point, he tried to comfort April. He could see the worry etched on her features even if she tried to hide it for the benefit of the younger turtles.

“It’s okay April. We’ll get them back here and— and Casey’s not hurt.”

“It’s not that.” April shook her head.

“Then what is it?”

“If they could come through so easily then… couldn’t other things? Their Foot Clan— their Shredder.”

Donnie winced at the thought. “He— he said that it was Krang that brought them here so… I mean… If Krang wanted to, he could theoretically bring more through… but at the moment there’s nothing we can do to stop it. But we will stop it. We always do.” Donnie’s bracelet dinged and he checked the map for the intersection point. “Uh. Leo? We have a… slight issue.”

“What is it Donnie?”

“They’re already there.”

[vidimillion]

Jasico in Atlantis/Treasure Planet &/or Pirates AU?? Mostly just thinking about that fantasy treasure huntin' adventure flavor...

it took a while for me to get the time to write this and even longer to get the inspo for it. honestly was a blast to think up tho. thanks for the req!

jason grace is the son of the king, groomed to one day be the one to take the throne. whether he liked it or not.

the young prince was the king's ideal son— handsome, smart, athletic, kind... the picture perfect image of a leader. a young man who liked to read stories about adventure and ride horseback into the kingdom, where he'd look at the other kids his age, playing around.

look. look, and never join.

his older sister thalia, the ex-crown princess, has not been seen since jason was a little kid. at least, not officially, because in reality she had been visiting her baby brother in secret for years. she'd been on the run the whole time, but always found a way to come back to her brother.

jason loves her, he does, but he resents her a little for leaving the pressure of the kingdom (and their father) on him. though every time he asks her, she only smiled at him and whispered, "don't worry about anything. I have a plan."

he never understood what she meant. he wanted to believe her, but as his eighteenth birthday and thus his coronation grows closer, he still doesn't even know what he's supposed to be believing in.

a few weeks shy of his coronation, thalia asks him to meet her at the beach three days before the big day. he never expects her visits, them being few and far between, so her setting a schedule was a surprise to him. he worries about being caught, with their father doubling down on security as the coronation draws closer. she insists though, and jason yields. three days before his coronation, he sneaks out to go to the beach, but she isn't there.

he walks around for a little while, trying to look for her, and for a second he worries that she was caught by someone while she was waiting for him. before he can begin to freak out, he hears a low hum in the distance. he walks around the beach, by the rocks, and decides to try the cliff to find the source of it. by the time the cliff is in view, the humming starts to sound like a baritone song. his mind doesn't think to question it, doesn't recognize anything amiss, and before he realizes it he's running for the cliff's edge and he's staring straight down into the sea.

when he wakes up, it takes his hearing a while to come back, and the first thing he notices is the moon is still high in the sky.

"—lure him into the water, I didn't want you to make him jump off a cliff!"

that voice sounds like thalia, jason thought, the first coherent thing he's conceptualized in a while.

"I can't help where he goes, I just tell him to go!"

that sounds like the voice he heard before he jumped.

"hey, he's awake."

that voice sounds... hot.

jason's eyes open to a black-haired, olive-skinned boy with a jawline that could cut fucking glass. he mumbles groggily, "Did I die?"

Hot Guy smiles like jason told him a half-funny joke, "Why do you think you did?"

jason groaned like he was both in pain and was immensely tired. "You look like an angel."

that was definitely not the answer Hot Guy expected, because he immediately flushes red and sputters. jason's eyes focus behind the Hot Guy and sees thalia wolf whistling at him, and a fucking siren with a long sea-green tail bursting into laughter. "You're not dead Jay," thalia says, "but we're definitely very far from home."

(more under the cut. like a lot more.)

apparently, his beloved sister became a fucking pirate after running away. jumping from ship to ship, she’d been gaining a reputation for herself before pledging her loyalty to one of the most formidable pirate crews on the seven seas (and the only one that's all-female). the 'plan' she'd had, that she'd foreshadowed for almost years, was just to get her half-siren friend percy (who can apparently go from siren to human form at will, which jason thinks is awesome) to lure jason into the sea where they could get him.

jason politely admits that it sounds super stupid. thalia does agree, but enforces the fact that it did work.

the ship jason is currently on is apparently, percy's. he's the captain of a crew of five, six if you include him, named hazel, frank, leo, piper and annabeth. thalia just likes to visit sometimes.

they're tiny, and they're all very young, but jason's doubts about their capabilities vanish once percy tells him that people call them the six. jason's heard of them, obviously— his father has been trying to catch them for months now. his father was already furious knowing he wasn't able to capture a crew so small in size, imagine what would happen if he found out the oldest one of all of them is nineteen.

jason, on his first few days on the ship, feels numb. thalia had percy set him up in the med bay, at the back of the ship where the only thing he can hear is the crash of water. he thinks about his kingdom, his father— what was he going to do without an heir? what was the kingdom going to do without a king? he feels relieved, he feels guilty, he feels like he's failing the one thing he was born to do and feels like he has a chance to pick what he wants to do.

jason closes his eyes, thinking, and doesn't notice someone had come in until a cold hand lays on his forehead. he jolts his eyes open and it's nico, the Hot Guy who was with thalia and percy. nico tells him he was just checking jason's temperature and he turns to leave, but jason stops him and asks him to stay. there was "no" already on the tip of his tongue, but jason didn't stand for it. nico desisted, only to wonder why jason was so adamant about making him stay.

jason asks why percy didn't call him a part of the crew. hesitantly, nico tells him it's because he isn't. he's not an official pirate of any crew, and instead runs around ship to ship and coast to coast, either striking deals with the more reasonable pirates or taking out crews of them all on his own.

jason asks him why he keeps moving around like that. as a short answer, nico tells him it's for his father's work. jason feels like there's more to it than that, but he doesn't push.

the medicine thalia insisted he take was making him a little loopy. he barely recalls what he was saying, but apparently it was stupid enough to make nico laugh and respectful enough to make him stay. the medicine doesn't make him too loopy for very long, just a few hours, but the next night when jason found himself wanting company again, he played stupid so nico would stay with him.

(hazel, nico's half sister and apparently the only reason he sometimes travels with their ship for a few days, was the one in charge of taking care of him while he was forcefully bedridden. he realized she knew what he was doing when all three of them were talking one day and she gave him a thumbs-up behind nico's back.)

nico leaves once jason's off bed rest. he asks hazel whether or not she knows when they're gonna pick him up again, and she tells him the week and a half he was there with them was actually the longest time he's ever stayed.

he keeps asking for a while after nico's left. after four weeks, he stops asking.

six months later, they pick nico up again at a bustling port. it's also the same port where jason decides to leave.

jason spends the first night off the ship in a warm little inn, but he doesn't sleep. he thinks he really should sleep more when he didn't realize a fucking intruder got into his room until he heard the soft thump of their feet on the floor. he gets into a melee battle with the black-hooded figure, still quick on his feet even though he hasn't slept in weeks, but eventually the intruder has him pinned down to the nearest flat surface. jason almost bites them before the figure rips off their mask to reveal— it's just nico.

somehow, they end up sitting on the roof of the inn, sharing a bottle of wine nico denies he stole but jason absolutely knew he did.

nico asks jason why he decided to leave the crew, even after getting so irreversibly close with all of them— which he knows jason did.

jason answers that by telling him about his kingdom, back across at least three seas by now. he tells nico about how the town square shines gold almost all hours of the day and glows even at twilight, but the further you get from the kingdom gates the more you see filthy alleys and dirty children. he tells nico about the times he'd go into town in disguise and see how many horrendous things are happening, then eavesdrop on council meetings and figure out why.

he also tells nico about his father, and he keeps it as brief as he can but nico understands what he means.

he tells nico he has to go back, get his kingdom and his crown no matter what chaos he knows would've erupted. he thinks of the councilmen, of dukes and lords he knows will be doing anything for a chance at the throne, now that the crown prince is missing. he tells nico about them, then he tells nico about his people, and he doesn't need to tell nico the rest to know he gets it.

nico still asks why he has to be the one to go back, when on the sea he has percy, piper, leo, thalia, freedom. in return, jason asks why nico is always running.

because i have to, is the answer to both their questions. maybe i'm wrong, but i think i have to.

three days later, after additional goodbyes and promises to write, they start a journey back to jason's kingdom. jason tells nico he shouldn't come, that it'll be a journey of peril that won't get any easier when they do get to the kingdom— nico just glares at him and continues to pack two horses even more aggressively. jason relents.

so now it's just the two of them, both running back and running away, but at least this time they've got a friend.

[msjr0119]

One Temptation

Part 4

*This new series is based on The Royal Romance characters who belong to Pixelberry - AU Plot switch*

Riley Brooks moves back to New York after leaving five years prior- struggling to get by in life she wanted to go home. After getting mugged, a woman and man come to her rescue and offer her a job at their strip club. A rich business man Liam Rhys is forced to visit the club as part of his bachelor party. What will happen that night?

Warnings: Swearing, Smut, drunk antics 🤣

Tags-if you want to be removed let me know 😊: @annekebbphotography @burnsoslow @drakesensworld @ladyangel70 @kingliam2019 @bbrandy2002 @butindeed @bascmve01 @drakewalker04 @pedudley @captain-kingliamsqueen @duchessemersynwalker @insideamirage @of-course-i-went-to-hartfeld @kozabaji @texaskitten30 @ibldw-main @kimmiedoo5 @nikkis1983 @dangerouseggseagleartisan @gnatbrain @walker7519 @lodberg @cmestrella @hopefulmoonobject @addictedtodrakefanfic @angi15h @liamxs-world @rafasgirl23415 @notoriouscs @whenyourheartskipsabeat @jovialyouthmusic @nz1091 @yukinagato2012 @indiacater @seriouslybadchoices @rainbowsinthestorm @cordonianroyalty @dcbbw @qammh-blog @beardedoafdonutwagon @jared2612 @princess-geek

*******

Liam walked towards the strip club- not knowing exactly why. Forcing himself to see the girl who’s heart he broke all those years ago.

Liam entered his penthouse after work, noticing the light off- he switched it on. Jumping out of his skin- he didn’t know that Madeleine was there.

“Why are you sitting in the dark? You scared me.”

“Care to inform me as to why Alice is going out with Leo tomorrow?”

“He’s her uncle! It’s about time that he knew about her and spent time with her!”

“You went behind my back Liam!”

“So what DARLING? You and me are over... I’m fighting for full custody and I want you to leave as soon as possible. You are nothing to me apart from the mother of my child. You were the biggest mistake of my life.”

“Good luck with that!”

“I beg your pardon.”

“You heard me Liam, how do you even know that she’s yours?” Madeleine smirked knowing she was getting under his skin. Sipping the glass of wine- she laughed in his face. “When she was conceived, I was still sleeping with your brother remember. Except I knew that you’d be the better option to be a father...”

“You are despicable. You should stop drinking. Alice is mine whether you like it or not.”

“She may not be... did you know Riley had a pregnancy scare when you cheated on her with me?” Liam’s heart sunk, he had only ever imagined a family with Riley. Assuming that Madeleine was lying with what she had just said- his fists clenched.

“You are sick, a disgusting vile creature Madeleine. I’ll see you in court!”

After his argument with Madeleine there were doubts racing through his mind about the true paternity of Alice. If Alice wasn’t his daughter- he had nothing to lose, he knew he’d win back Riley. Surely? Noticing Riley, he walked straight over to her.

“Hello Riley.”

“Oh hi. Please don’t cause any trouble Liam after the last time you was here.”

“I won’t I promise, I just need a drink, and a friend.”

“I’m working Liam, I can’t talk much.” Reaching over to grab her hand, she fixated her gaze on him. He looked broken.

“I’ll ask if I can have my break. I’ll meet you over by the booth.” Watching him walk of to the booth, she noticed his face fall into his hands. She wasn’t a bitch, before they began dating they were close friends- if he was sincere about his intentions of being there, she would talk to him as a friend.

“So what’s up?” Sliding a scotch towards him, she provided a soft smile.

“I don’t think my daughter is mine, she said she slept with Leo around the same time.”

“Maybe the two of you need to learn how to put something on the end of it? I’m sorry Liam, but this is karma for you.” A sly smirk appeared on her face, but she couldn’t bitch about Madeleine when she herself had slept with the two brothers.

“Don’t you see? If she isn’t mine, we can start again? I’ll make it up to you a thousand times over. I know you still love me and could forgive me deep down Ri.”

“I do still love you- I’ve never denied that. But...” Liam forced his lips on to hers, expecting for her to slap him he was confused when she didn’t. Deepening the kiss, he placed his arms around her- he had missed her. Not giving two fucks that Drake had escaped, he knew he wasn’t with Maxwell so he had gone elsewhere.

“Bastien? What the fuck? Where is he?”

“I don’t know? I’m sorry, I must have fallen asleep.”

“For fucks sake!” Storming over to Maxwell’s, he banged on the door. Hoping that Drake was there.

“Liam? Can I help you?”

“Is Drake here?”

“Why would be here? He’s in Texas isn’t he?” Maxwell knew what Liam had done, and he knew to not keep Drake at their apartment- not only for Drake’s safety but also for his.

“Can I check that he isn’t here at least?”

“I’m not stupid liam, but sure check every crevice if you need to. If you do find him please do let me know .”

Knowing she didn’t resist the kiss, he was making it his aim to win her back.

“Liam, I’m so sorry. That shouldn’t have happened. It can’t happen again. I think you should leave.” Touching her lips with her fingertips, she immediately regretted what she had just done. Feeling frustrated with herself, she couldn’t make eye contact with him.

“Ri, I felt something that I haven’t in a long time. Please just give me a chance.”

“I can’t Liam I’m sorry. Please.”

“Okay, I’m sorry Riley. I do love you- I always have and I always will do.” Holding her hand he had hoped that she would see that he was telling the truth- he knew he had messed up. Opening her mouth she was about to respond breaking his heart, knowing she could never forget what he had done.

“Liam?”

“Leo? What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same. Are you okay Ri?”

“Yes, I’ll be ready in an hour Leo. Goodbye Liam.” To avoid the awkwardness, she gave Liam a quick hug before returning to work.

“What are you playing at Leo? Ready in an hour?”

“I’m taking her out with Max. She’s been down since Drake left- I assume that was down to you?” Folding his arms, his eyebrows raised- wondering what wonderful bullshit Liam would produce out of his constant lying mouth.

“Maybe you are right. I need her back, Drake was in the way. She kissed me back- she loves me.”

“You lost her a long time ago- you didn’t see how broken she was- who was there picking up the pieces? Me! I care about her, she’s one of my closest friends. Get Drake back now!”

“What do you mean you picked up the pieces? I can’t- I don’t know where he is.”

“Oh Liam, whilst you was fucking Madeleine. I went to find the apparent love of your life- I found her. I spent a week with her trying to convince her to come back.”

Leo arrived in Florida six months after Riley abruptly left New York, not knowing exactly where Riley would be- he needed a miracle. He had heard in the past of her talking about her Gran in Tampa Bay. It would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

After a few days of searching for her- he had given up hope. Sitting down at the fountain in Hyde Village- he had given up hope. Wishing she wasn’t stubborn and kept in touch with the people who cared for her. Believing it was his imagination, he stood up seeing the brunette walk past him.

“Riley Brooks.” Turning around slowly, she recognised that familiar voice- the colour drained from her face as if she had seen a ghost.

“L- Leo? What are you doing here?”

“I could kill you at times Missy- we’ve all missed you. It’s a free country, I don’t have to explain why I’m here. How are you doing?”

“I’m better, thank you. How are you? You look more toned.”

“Do you like what you see? It’s what single life does to you... sends you to the gym.” Winking at her, he always flirted with her in the past- it was typical Leo.

“You look good Leo, but I have to go. My Gran is expecting me.”

“Let me take you out tonight please.” Looking into his piercing eyes, she couldn’t resist saying no to one of her best friends- in the back of her mind she was contemplating what his true intentions were for showing up unexpectedly.

“Leo, I’m not interested in Liam. If that’s why you’re here.”

“No, I’m here as a friend.”

“Oh sorry. No funny business though alright Leo? Don’t be getting us into trouble.” Remembering back to the good old days, Leo nearly got them all arrested one night- laughing at the memory she knew if she refused he would be persistent in persuading her to reconsider.

“I can’t promise that.”

“Come back with me then we will go out. I just need to give her her medication and make her some food, change her catheter...”

“Is that why you left? I didn’t realise she was that poorly.”

“No, I left because of Madeleine and Liam- I didn’t realise either until I arrived. Come with me to my grans?” Leo nodded, Riley suggested this as she didn’t want to arrange meeting him somewhere that he wasn’t used to.

Walking to Riley’s grans, Leo’s heart sunk watching Riley fuss over her gran- she was selfless and attentive.

“So where are you wining and dining me Rhys?” Riley was used to Liam treating her to five star Michelin restaurants- she didn’t really appreciate the grand gestures as she was more of a greasy junk food type of girl.

“That is upto you... I’ll let you decide.”

“I know the place, come upstairs with me whilst I get ready- I don’t want you feeling awkward.” Leo covered his eyes as she got herself ready just to provide her with a bit of dignity. He was tempted to peek, but respected her more.

“Whatcha think?”

“You’re beautiful... Erm... I didn’t... I ... you look good Ri.”

“Why Leo, I’ve never seen you this flustered before. Are you okay? Come on....”

“So I know you don’t want to talk about him- but how are you feeling regarding him.”

“I’m still heartbroken, I cry myself to sleep every night- every time I close my eyes I see her smirk in my mind. I just need to move on- have a rebound, get over him.”

“I’ll make you a deal- we will help each other pull tonight, they both fucked us over- we both need to release.”

“Deal!”

After a meal, they headed over to a bar. Leo did his usual trick attempting to pull- it wasn’t working as he had expected it to. Riley sat the bar witnessing him failing - laughing to herself she felt sorry for him. Ordering them both another drink- Leo disappeared out of her view, smiling she had hoped that he had finally pulled. Someone tapped her on the shoulder.

“Hey beautiful, are you alone.”

“Yes. No. I’m with a friend.”

“Shame. Are you single? You know if you are I could change that?” Feeling his warm breath linger in her ear- her skin crawled.

“Sorry, I really need to go. Nice meeting you.” ‘Not’, she muttered.

“Don’t go, I haven’t got started yet!”

“Get your hands off me you creep!” Leo returned from the bathroom, seeing the commotion- witnessing Riley slap the man.

“Hey, are you okay? Hey mate get your hands off my girl.��

“She gave me the impression that she was single.”

“Not anymore.” Leo cupped her cheeks forcing a kiss on her lips- Riley knew it was for show so decided to go along with it hoping the creep would move into his next victim.

“You okay?” Pulling her towards him, he watched the man walk away- hoping he wouldn’t bother Riley again, as he would sure teach him a lesson in how to respect women.

“Just peachy Leo, thank you. Why do I always attract the bad eggs?” She laughed trying to make a joke out of the bad situation.

“At least you pull. How about we go back to my hotel room and raid the mini bar? No creeps involved.” Heading towards the exit, she turned around wondering why he was hesitating leaving.

“What are you still doing here? Come on Rhys.” Holding her hand out towards him, he eventually snapped out of his gaze- and led her to the hotel.

Arriving at the hotel room, they decided to play drinking games both becoming intoxicated far too quickly. Both laughing like the old days- they collapsed on the couch, she had missed Leo as well as Maxwell and Bertrand. Hoping that eventually she could return back to New York.

“We should have just stayed here- avoided you pulling creeps, avoided me becoming embarrassed at the lack of pulling.” Snuggling into him, she laughed- they were both useless.

“Do you ever think about what our futures would have been like if they didn’t cheat on us?” Leo looked at her, noticing that her smile had soon disappeared- seeing the tears fall down her cheeks, he caressed both cheeks.

“Well I’d have potentially been in prison for murdering her. I think you and Liam would have been married, had kids- I’d be the cool wind up merchant uncle.”

“The biggest wind up merchant. I’ve missed you Leo- you’re still one of my closest friends.”

“Likewise Brooks. Do you miss him? I don’t miss her one bit.”

“Of course I do. I’m just sexually frustrated as I still love him. I wish I could forgive and forget -but I can’t. If I did he would do it all over and over again. He would continue to make a mug out of me.”

Leo too was sexually frustrated, an idea popped into his head but he knew she would potentially slap him as she was in that kind of mood.

“He was an idiot letting you go. Please don’t slap me, but I have a suggestion. How about you and I... help each other... no strings attached. I’m here for a week or so...”

“Why would I slap you?”

“Because you may think that I’m using you- but you admitted that you are sexually frustrated as am I... we can just you know.” Riley always thought Leo was attractive- he was a Rhys after all. She wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or the desire to just have sex that made her crash her lips onto him.

“Have you got a condom?” She asked breathlessly.

“Of course I do... just for precaution.”

Leo turned to face her, knowing he was now the one breaking the brother code- no matter how appalling Liam was towards her, he was still his brother- his brother who betrayed both him as well as her. Hesitantly pulling her towards him- he didn’t know what to expect as she was one of his closest friends. He believed that she was beautiful, there was no denying that. In the back of his mind, they were both each other’s rebound- no strings. But he didn’t care- if they could both make each other happy as friends with benefits- he was intending on doing it. Both their heartbeats increasing, they both closed the distance, matching baby blues containing desire. Their lips crashed onto each other’s as if their lives depended on it. His tongue slid across her cherry bud lips before entering inside her mouth, starting off gentle but soon turned demanding- their tongues battling against each other. Riley’s fingers ran through his hair - knowing it was just sex, she inhaled the familiar scent, it was as if she was sleeping with Liam again. Leo’s hands held her hips, pulling her closer to his muscled chest.

The kisses became more passionate as the time went by. Leading her over to the bed, they stripped each other’s clothes off eagerly- pausing to admire each other’s bodies. Falling backwards on to the bed she pulled him down towards her.

“ Are you sure about this Ri?”

“Yes. Stop teasing me Leo. We both need this.” Not sure if it was the alcohol that made her feel intoxicated, or the presence of someone with her- she didn’t care, she wanted him. All of him. Staring into her eyes, they pleaded with him, he nodded in response. Her heart began pounding as he stood up, placing the condom on before he forgot- licking her lips, he smirked rather than physically responding to her by speaking.

Gently cupping her cheeks as he hovered over her, he kissed her forehead. Guiding her hands above her head, he held them with one hand- whilst his other hand explored her body, circling her breasts- before kissing her hard.

“This is going to feel so strange, if you want me to stop just tell me.”

“Leo, just shut up and kiss me. It’s just sex remember. ”

Leo slid his hand between her legs- positioning his fingers and thumb at her entrance. The slightest touch, made her damp- Leo wasn’t expecting her to be like that. Kissing her neck, whilst working his thumb over her clit in a tantalising rhythm, she couldn’t contain her moans, hearing her scream him name made him want to skip pleasuring her and just get to the main part. All her muscles began to quiver- Leo smirked knowing he was showing how to treat a girl. Seeing her breathless already, he removed his fingers, replacing them with his tongue instead. Witnessing her eyes widen, he wondered how long it had been for her since she had this pleasure. Was Liam the last man to taste her?

“You taste so good, baby girl.” He said before plunging his tongue deeper inside. “Fuck!” Riley screamed, as she dug her nails into back- making the slightest mark. Removing his tongue, he placed his fingers there giving her that bit more pleasure- smiling at her as her whole body trembled.

Before she could recover from the actions he had performed on her, he rubbed against her entrance, before forcing his cock inside of her. Holding that position, their eyes fixated on each other. Slowly Leo began to thrust in and out at a steady speed, before increasing it- hitting her deeper. “You feel so good, Leo.”

His thrusts were powerful as their bodies collided in sync perfectly together. “This is just the start baby.” After a while his movements slowed down, as he released himself.

“Well that wasn’t as awkward as I thought it would be. Thanks Ri, you’re amazing you know that?” Riley opened her eyes, as Leo removed himself off her, laying at the side of her. Both staring vacant up at the ceiling. Holding his hand, she turned to face him. “No it wasn’t awkward at all. So what are we now? Fuck buddies” She laughed whilst snuggling into his embrace. Both breathless, they laid in silence- until Riley heard him take a deep breath.

“Come back to New York with me, it is your home. We all miss you. Maxwell and Bertrand especially.”

“Leo, I cant. Not whilst my gran is poorly. Maybe in the future. Thank you for tonight- I really needed it.”

“So did I. You’re amazing Ri. Best friends, friends with benefits. No strings.”

“Damn right Rhys.”

“So if you’re free tomorrow... how about you show me around your new stomping grounds?”

“Is that all you want to do?” Leo looked at her puzzled, with the seductive tone of voice she had provided.

“Yes. What do you take me for? You could show me around, then I’ll thank you by doing this...” Kissing her neck, she immediately felt turned on once again. He could see it in her eyes, rolling her on to him- they both gave each other that knowing look.

“Round two Miss Brooks?”

“We slept together for that whole week- she soon forgot about you. What are you going to do? Get rid of me too? You lost her. Get over it! I’ll pick Alice up at ten in the morning.”

“How could you do that to me?” Riley looked over at the two men, Leo looked smug- whilst Liam looked as if he was about to break down uncontrollably. Feeling her heart beat increase, she was intrigued as to what was included in their discussion.

“No strings attached my dear brother. She was single, as she was single when she slept with Drake. Don’t worry there wasn’t any feelings between us- it was just sex. If you love her you’d let her go Li. Just think about it. Oh and remember if she knew what you did to Drake, she would never forgive you. Maybe you should find him and make amends!”

*****

Liam stormed out of the club and made his way back to his penthouse- Madeleine was in her designer dressing gown. Pulling her up from the sofa, he pulled her into the bedroom. No strings attached, he thought.

******

Leo and Riley met Maxwell at Kismet, the friends kept drinking shots- all almost ready to pass out. Riley noticed that Leo’s gaze was fixated on the red head at the bar.

“Hey, Max. I think Leo likes her over there look.” Maxwell followed to where Riley’s finger was pointing. “He’s hypnotised, shall we play matchmaker?” Maxwell nodded, he was too drunk to function correctly- he needed to inform her about Drake. Waiting for the right opportunity, he knew if Leo copped off with the stranger he could talk to her in private.

“Hey, my name is Riley and this is my friend Maxwell.”

“Olivia.” Maxwell pulled the stranger and Riley into a group hug- the alcohol had gone straight to his head.

“Nice to meet you Olivia. Our friend over there the handsome blonde with the piercing blue eyes can’t take his eyes off you. Would you like to join us for a drink?” Olivia looked over, and saw Leo wink at her.

“He looks like a player. Not my type sorry.”

“He’s not a player. He’s a good shag.” Maxwell looked confused at the statement. How the fuck does Riley know? This woman is going to kill us if he’s a shit shag.

“And how would you know? Are you his ex or something?”

“No, I’m his brothers ex. But I slept with him for a week- no strings attached- so i know he’s a good shag. You won’t regret it. Give him a chance. I’ll pay you $20 to just talk to him.” Olivia smirked, grabbing the money she walked over to Leo- winking at his two wingmen, leo was grateful for their spontaneous matchmaking.

“We need words now Riley!”

“Max, I need more shots- I’m not leaving this bar until I have them. I’m missing Drake- how could he leave me?” Beginning to cry, she would regret this drunk breakdown over a man she hardly knew.

“So when did you and Leo sleep together?”

“In Florida, he came looking for me unlike you guys... sorry... it just happened. It meant nothing. The only person I’ve felt something towards left me.”

“I need to talk about that to you. We are going to Bertrand’s.”

“But I’ve just ordered these shots.”

“Drink up buttercup. Bertrand is expecting us.”

“What about Leo?” Both looking over towards the table, Leo had his tongue down Olivia’s throat- he wouldn’t care if his friends ditched him as he was most likely getting laid later that night.

“He’s fine with Olivia. Come on.”

*****

The cold air had hit the two friends walking from the cab towards Bertrand’s front door. Spying through the peep hole forgetting to knock on the door they both had giggles- not realising why Bertrand wasn’t answering.

“B... b.... let us innnn... pleasssee...”

“Bertrand... I need to wee. I’m going to do it ... on the door...”

“Don’t you dare... piss all over me Max. You’re disgusting....” Riley began banging on the door and pressing the buzzer frantically, as Maxwell whipped his cock out spraying all over the door.

“BERTRAND OPEN THIS FUCKING DOOR NOW!!! Why are we here again? How much have we had to drink? I think I’m going to be sick!” Riley placed her ear next to door, hoping to hear footsteps. The door suddenly opened- both Riley and Maxwell fell through it landing on the floor.

“Hey Riley, are your legs open like that on the pole.”

“Fuck off Beaumont, I don’t dance.”

“You would do if I was a certain tall dark handsome strangerrr...Who are you?”

Both looking up they saw a woman staring at the two of them with a perplexed expression.

“Can I help you? Where’s B?”

“I’m Savannah, let me help you both up.”

“Riley! Maxwell! Can neither of you contain yourselves?” Both biting their lips, attempting to hold their laughter in- they knew they were in the doghouse.

“Savannah darling, please make them a strong black coffee.” Riley and Maxwell both looked at each other- before bursting out laughing. Riley decided to mimic Bertrand’s voice, much to his annoyance.

“Savannah darling, could you add a bit of Irish whiskey in it. I need it after the day I’ve had. Fucking Liam. Thanks babe.”

“What’s he done?”

“Kissed me. I pushed him away. Fucking wanker. Karmas hit him though - hard. I’ll explain tomorrow. So are we having one big sleepover B? I think we will have to sleep naked though. Have you got a spare toothbrush? Toothpaste? Where are we all sleeping?”

“Arsehole...forget the sleepover essentials... we’ll just be dirty stop outs for the night... I forgot why we actually came here... oh yeah... Ri. Go in the spare room.”

“Why?”

“Erm, there’s a secret stash of booze.” Bertrand shot him a stern stare. “Sorry she wants booze what else could I say?” He whispered to his older brother who just shook his head.

“Why didn’t ya say so before?” Stumbling into the spare room, she opened the door- believing she was hallucinating.

“D-Drake?”

[geek-gem]

Transformers Revenge Of The Fallen

Well after many years I've rewatched this film. Just now and well went to the bathroom first.......

Theirs a lot to say.

Let me be honest and I might of said some stuff. Please don't hate me for my opinions and other stuff. I remember when I was a kid, I liked this film a whole lot I watched it a hell'va lot and enjoyed it.

Yet over the years and well......understanding the reception. Now seeing the film as a adult.......my perspective is different.

I've been thinking when watching this film the best way to describe this film.

A chaotic and messy film. That's basically stupid yet weirdly funny.

Especially thinking about Bumblebee yeah I'm gonna mention that movie a lot. I am not against seeing another big Transformers film that's chaotic as hell. But watching Revenge Of The Fallen I hope we don't get something like that or Age Of Extinction or even The Last Knight which like like I said I didn't saw in theaters.

I'm glad Michael Bay actually doesn't like this film or he felt the need to redeem himself after this film. Because it is literally a chaotic mess. Affected by the writers strike yet the ambition to be so much bigger then the original.

I'll be honest it's fun watching the special features.

Including being honest again I like the robot scenes a lot most of them minus the Twins and other stuff. I like the forest fight, and some interactions.

Especially I honestly feel like the theme of destiny and Sam wanting to redeem himself spoilers basically wanting to revive Optimus and just this thing Ehren Krueger talked about in the special features I totally get that.

But holy shit I could imagine even more how people reacted to this film in 2009 watching the film after such a long time.

It makes me feel grateful the video game tie in's are actually much better because they actually make use of characters and such. Especially you don't have some of the crazy shit.

I think what I find funny about this film......it's literally Bay at his most Bayish also just......it's ridiculous as hell. Because I'll be honest I laughed at quite some moments. But it's also because it's ridiculous and just.....wow.

Such as the Twins Skids and Mudflap their stupid yet weirdly funny but their fucking parodies fuck it in a way this film is a weird parody. Leo who I'll be honest he's silly and I remember I was disappointed when he wasn't in the third film and wouldn't mind him coming back.

Wanted to say this, this film is like a big cartoon yet it's adult....but it's just.....shit like Wheelie humping Mikaela's leg even though I don't mind this Wheelie, the infamous Devastator enemy scrotum scene, even Jetfire who's silly and my God he's better in the game and I remember I expected that when I was a kid.

Will say I just adore Simmons.

But just.....Jesus Christ and yeah I'm sounding negative and this isn't much of a review it's a reaction. It's such a weird film that's a missed opportunity my God I'm glad Dark Of The Moon came out after this one.

Despite I have thought of shit like more focus on Transformers, especially the Fallen who is such a weak antagonist in this film even the video game tie in's are so much better with what they did. Including this humor and just....

Listen I don't mind a big explosive humorous action film that's insane. But this was a bit much. Especially I wanted Dinobots despite I made a joke in my head Michael Bay would give Grimlock some sort of dick like Devastator has balls. Yet I hear every where Michael Bay doesn't like the Dinobots yet they were in the first draft and he was high on the USA Today polls that we're made for this film about 16% for Grimlock.

Also maybe less like a cartoon or whatever despite it can be silly or just....Jesus the Bay Turtles the TMNT movies from 2014 and 2016 are better then this crap.

Tags dealt with just I think that's mostly what I wanna talk about. Mainly wanna be done with this. But Jesus I would like another big Transformers film but God damn I don't want something like this again. Thank God the video game tie in's are enjoyable to me personally. Because Jesus this was insane or I'm overreacting I apologise. It's just I liked this film a lot as a kid I grew up with the original trilogy or first four films if you want to count those. This was just a insane and weird film. I'm glad Bay wanted to make a better film after this one.

Edit I hope you folks don't mind my rambling just Jesus I'm hoping my Dark Of The Moon rewatch isn't bad but I feel I wanna play the Dark Of The Moon since I played the first two movie games and made posts about them.

[psychospeak-blog]

Tagged by: @inthebyf​ & @hockeyandstuff91

Rules: Answer 30 questions and tag 20 people

Nicknames:

Nellie

Gender:

Female

Star Sign:

Technically Leo, but I’m not really like that at all?

Time:

4:07 PM

Birthday:

July 24th

Favourite Bands:

I don’t....even really listen to bands apparently?  Mumford & Sons?

Favourite Solo Artists:

James Bay, Dermot Kennedy, Ben Howard, Eminem. 

Song that is stuck in your head:

Donaldtrumpmakesmewannasmokecrack

Last Movie:

Don’t even remember.  I never watch movies.

Last TV show:

So You Think You Can Dance?

Why I created this blog:

You’ll read more about in why the URL, but I specially started using the account because I decided I wanted to write hockey imagines!

What do you post/reblog:

My hockey imagines, other hockey imagines that I LOVE, and some funny or cute hockey stuff.

Last thing you googled:

Novo Amor to find out if it was one person or a band haha.

Other blogs:

Nada

Why the URL:

I had the idea to start a psychology blog FOREVER ago and was checking out free blogging platforms and stumbled across Tumblr.  I thought Psychobabble was clever, but it was taken, so I just took this suggested one.  And then I never  used it.  Then, when I decided I wanted to write hockey imagines, I had no clue what to use, and then I remembered I already had a tumblr account, so I was just like, oh well, it’s no big deal, I’ll just use this one.  Oops.

I follow:

Mostly hockey imagines blogs!

Followers:

Hit 800 this morn.

Lucky numbers:

2

Instruments:

Zero

What are you wearing: .

A dress. 

Dream job:

Anything where I’m following my passion and working for myself.  I like projects. 

Last book you read:

"Little Fires Everywhere” I think

I tag: @trashforhockeyguys @theainur @ajuicefromtheblock @expensiveminimalist @slutforseguin @puckinginsane @tysegs @peachandthefrog @slimbojimbo @barrieskog @andremarcusburky @twinkletwinkledallasstars @nhlinfluenced  & anyone else who’s into it!

[writingfulfillment]

The Overarching Power of Belief

I believe that every story ever told is true because of the creative power of belief of Humankind. I believe that there are not millions of fictional places where heroes live, but one place that houses the collective dreams of all who’ve ever existed. In many of the works of fiction that I’ve read, they speak of the creatures and Gods’ being able to exist because there are still humans who believe in them. And this belief is what gives them their power. There is not one story or belief that reigns supreme over the others because they all share the same origin story: they were created by humans. Whether in one sitting by one author, or if it’s over years by a collection of people, they are all creations of our minds.

In this dream world, the people reflect what we see in ourselves. They are stubborn and have flaws, but are overall good. These people will see what they will expect or believe that they will see, such like ourselves. And this is how this collective dream world functions. Both on the creative power of the imaginations of the humans who fuel it existence, and the ignorance of the reflective humans there.

In series like Percy Jackson and Harry Potter, they talk a lot about how the regular people view their secret world. For example, In his first book Riordan notes the differences in how people believe. “But if he’s a preacher,” I said, “and he believes in a different hell…” Grover shrugged, who says he’s seeing this place the way that we’re seeing it? Humans see what they want to see. You’re very stubborn-er, persistent, that way.”[1] This fits with how so many dreams could live together, as well as with the nature of the reflected humans. In the first Harry Potter book, Harry notices the Muggles’ obliviousness.“The people hurrying by didn’t glance at it. Their eyes slid from the big bookshop on one side to the record shop on the other as if they couldn’t see the leaky cauldron at all. In fact, Harry has the most peculiar feeling that only he and Hagrid could see it.” [2] The mundane people couldn’t see it because they didn’t believe that it was there. I believe that in this dream world, the ordinary people are excessively ignorant for the sake of peace between the dreams.

In most, if not all stories, there is an ordinary character who leads a mundane life until they discover a Secret world. Everyone dreams of being swept away as a crucial member of something. We all want to be important and we all want to be remembered. This is why we love to create and read these stories, they reflect the dreams of our childhood selves. All of this imagination and collective hope cannot amount to nothing. This is why the dream world came into existence, somewhere for the dreams to live and for us to visit when we miss them.  

The creation of this one world relies on the same desire for acknowledgement that lives in all our hearts. This is where the Hero’s Journey comes in. Joseph Campbell theorized that every story is, in fact, the same story except it is told differently and that every protagonist is actually the same character wearing a different face. In his book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, he discusses the idea of a monomyth that spans genres, authors, and time periods. Joseph proposes that every good story follows a basic plot map that he calls The Hero’s Journey. Since it’s publication in 1949, it has been referenced by creators,(Perhaps the most popular of which is George Lucas, Director of Star Wars) authors, and artists in the telling of their stories. I believe that the subjects of this one story that has been told a million different ways live in the dream world.

The Hero’s Journey, although it has many different versions, is largely made up of 12 stages that the Hero goes through. These can be identified in most popular stories. The 12 are: 1. Ordinary World, 2. Call to Adventure, 3. Refusal or Acceptance, 4. Meeting with the Mentor, 5. Crossing the Threshold, 6. Tests, Allies, Enemies, 7. Approach to the Innermost Cave, 8. Ordeal, 9. Seizing the Sword, 10. The Road Back, 11. The Master of Two Worlds, 12. Return with the Elixir. You can read about them in more detail elsewhere.[here] I will just be focusing on the Ordinary World v.s.  the Secret World.

In the Ordinary World, the people cannot see, or do not know about the Secret World, because they do not believe that it’s there.  And the same is true for why the Secret World exists, because the Hero and his companions continue to believe in it and its creatures. The belief in the Secret World and it inhabitants in turn give them belief in themselves, increasing their power and existence. There are hints of the belief to power transfer in many popular works of fiction.

In Harry Potter, the most curious aspect of magic is its distribution. There are children of generations of wizards that possess no magic, or very little. (Ariana [3], Neville [4])There are also children of muggles who have great magical powers. (Lily [5], Hermione [6]) In all of these cases the power of the witch or wizard was dictated by their belief in themselves. Ariana was a fine little witch until some boys traumatized her, then she lost the power to control it. Neville had always struggled with magic, partially because his grandmother was always telling him that he wasn’t good enough. As he grew older, he learned that he was worth it and his magic greatly improved. If any muggleborn had the wits and guts to excel at magic, it was Lily and Hermione. From the start they were both know-it-alls who had no qualms about their intelligence.

Despite what you may think, Harry really wasn’t all that great of a wizard. At least when it comes to book learning and memorizing complicated spells. Courage and loyalty, on the other hand, were Harry’s best traits. When it came time that he knew that he had to save his friends, he always came through magically, even though he wasn’t all that gifted. In The Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry saves himself and Sirius by performing the advanced charm Expecto Patronum. He produces an extremely powerful patronus and keeps numerous dementors at bay. A task, that would be difficult, if not impossible for a fully grown wizard, and yet Harry was just 13 at the time. “‘I knew I could do it this time,’ said Harry, ‘because I’d already done it… does that make sense?’”[7] Harry’s personal belief in himself skyrocketed because he’d already done it, thus giving himself enough power to do it.

If their power of belief in themselves was enough to boost their power and self-worth, then who’s to say that our belief in them isn’t powerful enough to make them real? Who says that dreams turn to naught but dust? Humans can do amazing things while we’re awake, why not when we’re sleeping? Isn’t billions of people dreaming each night powerful enough to cultivate something more than dust? I believe that it is enough, and I believe that our dreams become real in the dream world. That there is a place where the characters that we love and dream of exist together.

In all of Rick Riordan’s work, the mythologies that he uses are interconnected. The different Gods and cultures coexist because of the different peoples who continue to believe in them. “‘But Gods can’t die,’ Grover said. ‘They can fade,’ Pan said, ‘when everything that they stood for is gone. When they cease to have power, and their sacred places disappear.” [8] In some instances, such as Pan, the Greek God of nature, when people ceased to believe in him, he faded. But there will always be the Gods that are believed in and worshipped by these secret worlds that might be more connected than we think.

These are taken from two of Riordan’s books, “Lacey had warned me about Drew the first day of school. Apparently the two of them had gone to some summer camp together-blah, blah, I didn’t really listen to the details- and Drew had been just as much of a tyrant there.” [9] “Lacey looked like she might fall apart from nervousness. ‘Oh, well-’ ‘Drew might find out,’ Mitchell explained. ‘I might have to wear the shoes of shame!’ Lacey gulped.” [10] Amongst other evidence, this proves that they exist in the same universe. Also, in his other series, the protagonist, Magnus Chase, is cousins with the partner of Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase. “...I haven’t thought about them in years. I have an uncle and cousin in Boston.” [11] “‘I just don’t want to put you in danger,’ I said. ‘I kind of hoped that you could be my one connection to the regular world.’ Annabeth stared at me. She snorted and began to laugh. ‘Wow. You have no idea how funny that is.’” [12]

Riordan loves the idea that all of the Gods and the different mythologies could coexist. He has even written several crossover stories between the Greek Demigods and the Egyptian Magicians. [13] He has never said anything outright about his belief about why they might exist in the same universe, but I think it’s safe to gather from his books, that he thinks that there is something very powerful about belief. He also makes references to other cultures and their beliefs. In his second series, The Heroes of Olympus, his characters have more diverse background. Frank is Chinese and his grandmother believes in the Roman Gods and Buddhism. [14] Piper is Cherokee and the old Native stories that her father tells her play a part in her success as a demigod. [15] Leo is Mexican and he speaks of Dia de Los Muertos and his experiences with spirits. [16]

He hints that there may be much more than one truth or one belief. Of course, in order for this to be true there would have to be rules and/or magic separating these religions, if you will, from each other. Simply because there would be too much confusion and contention over which one was true, when in fact they would all actually be true. It’s a daunting concept, but simultaneously a very interesting one. They would all be very delicate barriers, easily cracked or broken because of the masses that they are hiding. But it poses an interesting situation for the deities or beings of power in these different “religions”. Of course, being a God, they would know things. And someone has to know the rules in order to make sure that they are kept. “‘The tradition is still strong among … our people.’ ‘Our people?’ I asked, but Sadie muscled in with another question. ‘So you can’t live in Manhattan?’ She asked. Amos’s brow furrowed as he looked across at the Empire State Building. ‘Manhattan has other problems. Other Gods. It’s best we stay separate.” [17] It makes sense that the future Chief Lector of the Egyptians would know the new location of Mount Olympus and Vice versa. It can be very confusing, but the cumulative power of human belief is very strong and I believe that it is strong enough for this. The suggestion that because we can believe in something, it can or must exist? Even if it contradicts other beliefs or laws? But this is very prevalent in works of fiction like Riordan and Rowling. (There are so many others that I didn’t highlight because it would have been way too long, but you get my point.)

It is very interesting when you combine it with the Hero’s Journey. That every story is the same story of the same character but wearing a different face, alongside that they all must be true because someone believes in them. It’s a little mind blowing, but it actually makes a lot of sense. We all would like to think that we have our own story, but in reality, we just aren’t that creative. Everything that’s ever done is something that has been done before. So we must make it our own by creating magical worlds around the old stories to make it seem new. Or at the very least, have us fall in love with the new characters. I believe that all of this exists in the dream world.

You’ve seen the raving fans of books, movies and TV shows, people love these predictable fictional characters with all their heart. How can all of that love and belief accumulate to nothing? I don’t think that it can. I wonder if by desiring these stories to be real because we love them so much might just actually make them exist. Thuss, the existence of all of these beings and stories in the Dream World. The human psyche is a mysterious and powerful place that scientists can only guess at and pretend to understand. Who’s to say that we aren’t more powerful than we think? What defines creation or a creator? What excludes us from creating art, music and emotion? Nothing. What excludes us from creating beings or worlds? Perhaps, nothing. If only the understanding of such a process.

When an author writes a book, they put so much into creating that world, and so do their fans. Thats a lot of collective belief to come to nothing. What if our power of belief is enough to create? Whether in this world or another, what if our beloved stories do exist? How could so much emotion go into art and music, such that it can evoke emotions in us, and not create something more?

Works Cited

[1] Riordan, Rick. The Lightning Thief. New York: Miramax /Hyperion for Children, 2005. Print, 293.

[2] Rowling, J.K. The Sorcerer's Stone. London: Bloomsbury Children’s, 1997. Print, 68.

[3] Rowling, J.K. The Deathly Hallows. London: Bloomsbury Children’s, 2007. Print, 564.

[4] Rowling, J.K. The Sorcerer's Stone. London: Bloomsbury Children’s, 1997. Print, 125.

[5] Rowling, J.K. The Sorcerer's Stone. London: Bloomsbury Children’s, 1997. Print, 53.

[6] Rowling, J.K. The Sorcerer's Stone. London: Bloomsbury Children’s, 1997. Print, 105.

[7] Rowling, J.K. The Prisoner of Azkaban. London: Bloomsbury Children’s, 1999. Print, 412.

[8] Riordan, Rick. The Battle of the Labyrinth. New York: Miramax /Hyperion for Children, 2008. Print, 314.

[9] Riordan, Rick. The Serpent’s Shadow. New York: Disney Publishing Worldwide, 2012. Print, 83.

[10] Riordan, Rick. The Lost Hero. New York: Disney Publishing Worldwide, 2010. Print, 178.

[11] Riordan, Rick. The Blood of Olympus. New York: Disney Publishing Worldwide, 2014. Print, 393.

[12] Riordan, Rick. The Sword of Summer. New York: Disney Publishing Worldwide, 2015. Print, 487.

[13] Riordan, Rick. Demigods and Magicians. New York: Disney Publishing Worldwide, 2015. Print.

[14] Riordan, Rick. The Mark of Athena. New York: Disney Publishing Worldwide, 2012. Print, 492.

[15] Riordan, Rick. The Blood of Olympus. New York: Disney Publishing Worldwide, 2014. Print, 384.

[16] Riordan, Rick. The Blood of Olympus. New York: Disney Publishing Worldwide, 2014. Print, 68.

[17] Riordan, Rick. The Red Pyramid. New York: Disney Publishing Worldwide, 2010. Print, 52.

[butindeed]

Silent third (Riley x Drake)

Tags: @decisso

-Well, this ball in particular isn’t completely hideous. - He said to Maxwell as he re entered the ballroom.

He mentally recalled the events of the night: he had waltzed with Riley, she had made him a drink from scratch, and would now be one of his favourites forever, and... they had kissed. Twice. He felt so drunk, and it wasn’t even the alcohol, it was her, it’d be always her. Crown or no crown, engaged... or not.

He had opened up to her, out there in the gardens, than to anyone during his whole life, maybe even more than Liam himself. It was so easy to confide her...

He was deep lost in his own thoughts when he realised that Maxwell hadn’t replied anything to him.

-Is everything allrig...?

-There you are-He heard Bertrand approaching them, I’ve found her, come with me at once.

Maxwell followed his elder brother and Drake was left there alone with his thoughts again.

He took another sip of the silent third Riley had made him, and scanned the room searching for her. He finally saw her with the Beaumont brothers, heads together, discussing something that seemed important.

-I wonder when you’ll realise you don’t have to be such a loner- He heard as someone rested a heavy arm on his shoulders

He turned his face to see who was it and flashed a wide grin to the young man standing next to him.

-Leo! You came!

-Well, it’s my borther’s coronation, he’s due to pick a bride and all... I couldn’t have missed it!

- We’ve missed you so much man!

-I can’t say I have though - he said as he laughed heartedly.- I’ve been on a mediterranean cruise of adventures.

-Say what now?

-I met this amazing woman, Caterina. She’s ... - he sighed and continued talking about how wonderful Caterina was, but Drake was thinking about his own amazing woman and could barely listen to what Leo was saying - The most funny thing about this whole thing, is that she has to get married in order to get this inheritance, so she’s dating other people, as if it was a contest or something! Can you imagine? I broke off the engagement with Mad just to become a suitor for a woman I barely know! Who would do that?-He laughs heartly

-Well I can think of someone.. -He says longing at Riley

Leo follows his gaze - Oh, she’s something... - he says devilish while bumping shoulders with Drake. -Is she the reason why you gave up whiskey?- Leo grins while pointing at Drake’s glass with his very own.

-Well, technically this has whiskey, she made it, so...

-So, she made it, huh... I’ve never seen you so hung up on a girl before

-What? I’m not h... you are! Whatever- Drake rolled his eyes and punched him playfully on the stomach.

-Better go talk to her, huh? Get to know her? The mystery woman... - He stated as he turned  winking an eye at Drake.

-No, wait, Leo... -but it was too late, Leo had headed towards Riley and was now talking to her and Maxwell.

When Liam approached them, he knew it was his queue to go somewhere else, so he headed towards the bar to ask for another drink. Neat whiskey this time.

When King Constantine started with his speach, he found Riley and the rest and stood up with them, listening, carefully. He dreared the moment when Liam would announce the lady he was going to marry. He knew marrying Liam was Riley’s best option, not only because she deserved so much better than him, and Liam was falling for her, not even because she would be an excellent queen and a great couple. But also because it was the safest option... by marrying Liam, she would have the protection he couldn’t offer, by marrying Liam her ex would be kept at bay, by marrying Liam her fairytale would be completed.

He looked wistfully at her and softly brushed his hand at hers.

The moment in the gardens, the kiss, everything seemed scarce, he wanted more, he wanted a lifetime with her.

He begged for Liam not to choose her, he knew it was selfish, he knew it was wrong, but he did it nontheless. 

There he was lost in his thoughts again when the speech was suddenly interrupted by some advisor and the room filled with buzzing phones,

When he realised what was it about, his world crumbled into pieces. 

The rest of the night happened in slow motion.

As he tried to fight the guards to release her, he catches Riley’s panicked look.

-Get you hands off her!- he shouts

Hana was trying to reach Riley as well, but the guard members stop her and Drake, impeding them to get even close.

They were dragging her like a paraiah, like an outcast, the story was repeating itself, it was Savannah all over again, he had failed her sister... but he wasn’t thinking about her anymore. 

He took out his mobilephone and quickly dialed a number.

-Hello? Who is it? It’s 3 in the morning- a voice on the other side mumbled

-Hi, Kai? My name is Dra...

-Drake, Riley’s Drake? It’s everything all right?

<NEXT  PREV>

[dotshiiki]

more of the GA AU

You know what sucks? Being sick while on holiday. But this AU must thrive on cold meds or something. So the blatant rip-off of Grey's Anatomy continues … For something that started out as a shapeless piece of I don't even know what, this is actually starting to have some semblance of a plot.

Have some more intern!Annabeth x patient!Percy. And bonus Leo, Nico, Thalia, Rachel, Octavian, and Travis Stoll to join the cast now!

Half the dialogue and narrative is ripped from Grey's, though I kinda picked and chose from a variety of episodes this time.

(Still no title. I have no idea what to call this.)

Parts I and II [here] and [here].

Surgery is like a dance: a precise, carefully-choreographed dance where every member of the team moves in perfect synchrony. It's the first time Annabeth has been part of the steps, and it's breathtaking.

She forgets that it's Dr Castellan leading; she forgets that she's an intern fresh from med school; she even almost forgets that it's Percy on the table (one glance at his unconscious face reminds her of it—tubed and under anaesthesia, he still manages to look like an innocent sleeping child. He might even be drooling a little, good heavens).

Sure, she's practised on cadavers and observed and imagined what it'd be like to stand over the operating table, but nothing really prepared her for this moment.

The moment she steps forward and takes the scalpel from the surgical nurse, this is more than just a game. All those reasons she should quit—the stress, the competition, the crazy hours and long, seven-year slog ahead of her—fly out of her head. It's just her and the body open on the table—this beautiful man who doesn't stand a chance without them—and they get to save his life. She gets to save his life.

Who needs drugs when you have this sort of high?

She could quit. But here's the thing. She's fallen in love with surgery.

Piper's waiting for her when she comes out of the OR, still riding the high of the surgery. She's sitting in one of the plastic chairs that line the walls.

'Hey.'

Annabeth takes a seat next to her. 'Hey.'

'Good surgery.'

'Yeah.'

Piper takes a deep breath, and for a moment, Annabeth's scared she's going to do that thing where she spills her feelings, and Annabeth will have to explain herself, and then there'll be a long discussion that inevitably involves the complicated relationship with Luke/Dr Castellan, which she really doesn't want to get into.

But Piper surprises her. 'Look, we're not gonna do that thing where you say something, and I say something, and somebody cries, and there's a moment—'

Annabeth's breath escapes her in a throaty laugh. 'God, no. I mean, unless you—'

'Nah.' Piper cocks her head to the side. 'Can't believe you can burst an aneurysm surfing. Kinda makes me think twice about it.'

'You surf?'

'You got a problem with that?'

Annabeth holds her hands up. 'No. Surfing's cool. Surfers are cool.' Although cool is too inadequate a word to describe Percy Jackson, not after she's heard him talk—funny, and kind, and so incredibly sweet, maybe—

'Damn straight we are. You should try it some time. Nothing like riding a good wave. And the dudes out there are hot.'

'Oh?' Annabeth keeps her tone carefully neutral.

'Oh come on, don't tell me you didn't notice. I know you're sleeping with McHottie, but it doesn't mean you can't look.'

'I'm not sleeping with Mc—Castellan,' Annabeth mutters. Piper raises her eyebrows. 'Not any more. That's gotta stop.'

'Okay.' They're silent for a moment. Then Piper says, 'So, surfer dude. Kinda hot, if you like the bad boy type.'

'He's not the bad boy type,' Annabeth says automatically.

'No?'

'No.' She thinks of his eyes, serious and so deep when he told her she deserved better. In that moment, she could almost believe that she deserved more than a screwed up relationship with a guy closer to her mom's age than hers, who keeps her around for the off-hour booty calls and the hero worship she flatters him with (because why would anyone else get involved in the mess that is Annabeth Chase's life?)

'Oh my god, you like him.'

She immediately wipes off the goofy smile that's spread across her face without her noticing. 'No I don't!'

'You so do. I know that look.'

'No I don't.'

'Uh huh.'

'He's a patient.'

'For now.'

'Shut up.'

Piper laughs and gets up, stretching. 'You should get some sleep. You look like crap.'

'I look better than you,' Annabeth throws back.

'Not possible.' Piper's still laughing as she walks away.

+++

She leaves Percy Jackson till the last on her evening rounds. He's finally coming up off the anaesthesia and he smiles groggily at her as she does her post-op checks.

'Everything's checking out,' she tells him. 'Looks like you're gonna be just fine.'

'You fixed me?'

'We fixed you.' She pats his hand. 'You'll be out on your surfboard again in no time.'

His fingers curl around hers, give a little squeeze, and let go. 'That's good. Though I think I lost my shot at Nationals this year.'

'There's always the next.'

'Mmm.' Percy closes his eyes momentarily. 'You were in my surgery after all?'

'I was.'

'Good. I'm glad you didn't let Dr Douchebag ruin your chance for you.'

There's something in his stare that makes her heart skip a beat. In spite of her best intentions, she finds herself leaning closer, as if those Carribean-green eyes have their own gravitational field tugging her in.

It's probably a good thing Percy's mom and Callie show up then, this time with a short, spiky-haired dude in tow, because Annabeth isn't sure what might have happened otherwise. She jerks away and starts scribbling quickly on Percy's chart as he tears his eyes away from her to greet them.

'Leo, buddy!'

'Up top!' says Leo, holding out his hand for a high-five. They go into some complicated fist-bump routine that Callie rolls her eyes fondly at. Annabeth forces a smile on her face and nods politely to all of them before she leaves the room.

Nurse Hazel is deep in an argument with another intern when Annabeth goes to return her charts, so she leans over the nurses' station to file them away herself, listening absently to the argument as she does.

'Are you sure that's the right diagnosis?'

'Well, I don't know, I'm only an intern. Here's an idea, why don't you go spend four years in med school and let me know if it's the right diagnosis. She's short of breath, she's got fever, she's post-op. Start the antibiotics.'

Annabeth isn't sure who this intern is—his name's Stoll, she thinks? There are way too many guys in the intern programme to keep track of them all—but he's definitely an idiot. Annabeth didn't need Dr Ramírez-Arellano's warning to know that you keep the nurses happy, period. From the look on Hazel's face, the next explosive diarrhoea case is going to have Dr Stoll's name on it.

Well, better him than her.

Stoll chucks his chart at Hazel, who takes it and marches away, muttering under her breath about arrogant interns and incompetent doctors.

Silena Beauregard, Annabeth's fellow intern, is charting behind the counter. Stoll leans over it and flashes a grin at her.

'God, I hate nurses. I'm Travis Stoll. I'm with La Rue. Who're you with?'

Silena has obviously been following Stoll's argument with Hazel. 'She may not have pneumonia, you know. She could be splinting, or have a PE.' She delivers this admonishment with a toss of her pretty ponytail. Annabeth isn't really sure what to think of Silena yet. She's blonde, too, but unlike Annabeth, Silena has the kind of statuesque figure you'd expect to see on a supermodel runway, not wandering about a hospital in scrubs. Case in point: they're both well into a twenty-hour shift, but the tiredness that makes Annabeth look like a wreck actually hangs attractively from Silena's curvy frame.

Stoll has clearly noticed this, too, from the way his eyebrows shoot up. But he's evidently one of the race of egotistical male doctors, because he says, 'Like I said, I hate nurses.'

Silena glares at him like he's a disgusting glob of bodily fluid that has landed on her shoes. She slams her chart shut and flounces off without another word.

Stoll whistles under his breath. He sees Annabeth watching, and winks. 'She's hot. She seeing anybody?'

Annabeth gives him a withering look, but there's not time to deliver a scathing comeback. Her pager has just gone off.

+++

Piper must have just started a new shift—she has that fresh, put-together look that disintegrates within an hour of being in the hospital (less if you're working in the pit). She and Will Solace are following the gurney rolling into the ER from the ambulance bay. It's one of several; half a dozen burly women in biker jackets are being wheeled in simultaneously, all in various states of injury.

'I don't know what happened!' one yells.

'I heard a crash, checked my rearview,' snarls another.

'Half the club is eating asphalt, banging around like tenpins.'

Annabeth rolls up her sleeves. She's only got two hours of her shift left, but if there's any chance she can get in on a surgery …

It's not like she's in a rush to go home, anyway.

'Donor cycle crash?' she asks.

'Bowling for bikers,' Piper says.

Dr Ramírez-Arellano directs them into the nearest exam room. 'What've we got?'

'Nico di Angelo, 24,' says the paramedic. 'Multiple contusions, pelvis stabilised in transport. Alert before we pushed five of morphine. For a left arm degloving injury.'

Will winces at the state of the crushed bones in di Angelo's hand. 'He must have been thrown out of his car!'

'He was on one of the bikes.'

'Seriously, this guy?' Aside from the fact that the rest of the bikers are all women, their patient is thin and wiry, with a face that looks a lot younger than his twenty-four years. Hell, he barely looks like he's out of high school.

'I know, right?' The paramedic shrugs and leaves di Angelo in their hands.

Dr Ramírez-Arellano makes a quick decision. 'Okay, trauma one, and page ortho. Two of you, stay with him.'

Five hands go up immediately. Dr Ramírez-Arellano purses her lips for a second. 'McLean and Solace.'

Piper and Will exchange high fives through their eyes and disappear into the exam room.

'What about us?' Silena says.

Dr Ramírez-Arellano checks her pager and groans. 'Page from—hey, what do you think you're doing?'

The abrupt question is directed at a spiky-haired whirlwind of a woman, who is limping down the ER floor, flanked by two cronies, both wearing the same thick leather jacket and biker jeans. She's a lot skinnier than the other women, with lean, ropy muscles, but from the way she's issuing her orders, there's no question that she's in charge.

'You two make the rounds.' Biker Chick clutches at a bloody wound in her side. 'I want status reports on all the injured. And find out what happened out there.'

'Oh no, you two aren't going anywhere except the waiting room.' Dr Ramírez-Arellano steps in front of the bikers. 'And you, ma'am, need to let us have a look at that injury.'

'Don't call me "ma'am,"' snaps Biker Chick. 'And you don't want to get in the way of club business. You screw with one of us, and we will all screw with you.'

Dr Ramírez-Arellano doesn't flinch. Annabeth is impressed. Her attending must have nerves of steel.

'Look around.' She points at the beds full of injured bikers. 'You want your girls taken care of? That's all my guys are trying to do. And that wound needs attention. So I'll make a deal with you. I'll let these ladies conduct their investigation, as long as they do not bother any of my patients. And you will settle down and let Dr Zhang here take care of you.'

Biker Chick scowls, but evidently finds this an acceptable compromise, because she lets Frank help her to a bed.

'What's your name, ma—um, you prefer sir?' he stammers when Biker Chick shoots him another death glare.

Annabeth hears her laugh harshly as Dr Ramírez-Arellano pulls the curtains shut on them.

'Call me Thalia,' she says.

Dr Ramírez-Arellano purses her lips and checks her pager again. 'You two—' she nods to Annabeth and Silena, 'get up to the neuro floor. Psych's just sent down a patient, they're paging for a consult.'

'Psych?' Annabeth barely bites back her groan. 'Dr Ramírez-Arellano, I was hoping I could scrub in on—'

Her resident's dark eyes flash dangerously. 'Every intern wants to scrub in. That's not your job. Do you know what your job is? Keeping the labs delivered. Keeping the code team staffed. And making sure the damned pages are answered so I can do my job.'

She flings back the curtain on Frank and Thalia and starts to harangue Thalia, who's resisting Frank's attempt to palpate her abdomen, into sitting still.  

Silena sighs. 'Come on.'

The consult turns out to be for a freckled redhead with frizzy curls that fan out in a halo around her head. Silena scans her X-rays—all clean—while Annabeth runs through the chart.

'She belongs in psych,' Silena complains to the psychiatrist. He's skinny and blond, with an upturned nose like there's a perpetual bad smell under it. His name tag reads A. Octavian. 'What are you doing turfing her here?'

Octavian shrugs. 'She's my gift to you. Had a seizure this morning, and another an hour ago.'

'What are you talking about?' Annabeth points to the chart. 'Says right here, "She talks to dead people, her family had her committed." That's psych, not neuro.'

'Well, I don't know what correspondence school you attended, but they obviously didn't teach you not to jump to conclusions,' Octavian sniffs.

Silena's face reddens. 'Why, you—'

'Sorry, ladies.' Octavian's tone clearly says he isn't at all. 'We can't take her back until she's cleared.'

'So you're dumping her on us.'

'She thinks her seizures are visions.' Octavian wrinkles his nose.

'Hello,' says their patient. 'They're not seizures. I'm psychic.'

Annabeth and Silena exchange a look.

'Sure you are,' Silena says. 'And I'm Heidi Klum.'

'You could've been,' their patient says solemnly. 'Why'd you give it up?'

Silena makes an impatient noise in the back of her throat. 'Don't you start. I get enough of that shit from the guys.'

Octavian takes this chance to walk away. 'Hey!' Annabeth calls after him, but he's already halfway down the hall, leaving them to their psych(ic) case. Annabeth sighs and checks the chart again.

'Miss Dare. We're gonna start our workup now.'

The redhead shudders. 'Rachel, please. And it's a waste of time. I'm telling you—'

'Humour us,' Silena says. 'Can you grip my fingers, please?'

Rachel stares blankly at them. Her eyes shift out of focus, turning inwards. Annabeth nudges Silena.

'Miss Dare? Are you okay?'

'Someone …' Rachel whispers.

'Someone what?'

'Someone's gonna check out.'

Silena groans. 'Oh man, she is nuts.'

'I'm dizzy, not deaf,' Rachel snaps. 'And I'm telling you, someone on the fourth floor is gonna die.'

At that moment, a code blue comes blaring over the PA system. Rachel raises her eyebrows at them as the code team charges past on their way to the fourth floor.

'ICU's on the fourth floor,' Silena says crossly. 'People are always dying there.'

Rachel shrugs. 'Believe me or not. I'm just saying, I know things.'

'We're gonna get a CT anyway,' Annabeth says.

+++

'Look.' Annabeth points to the scans. 'Spikes in the temporal lobe. It is seizures. Epilepsy.'

'Huh, so neuro after all,' Silena says. 'I'll page—'

'You think I'm epileptic?' Rachel crosses her arms. 'No—that's wrong.'

Annabeth shows Rachel the scans. 'That's your brain activity. See these spikes here? That's abnormal activity—consistent with epilepsy. Not visions. We should get an MRI, get a better look at what's going on in your brain.'

'There's no way …' Rachel trails off. Her eyes close.

'Is she having another seizure?' Silena asks.

'Rachel? Miss Dare?' Annabeth waves her hand in front of their patient's eyes. 'Can you see me? Can you hear me?'

Rachel's eyes snap open. Her fingers close around Annabeth's wrist. 'When your dad left,' she says, 'it wasn't because he didn't love you.'

Annabeth steps back, stunned.

'I told you I know things,' Rachel says simply.

Silena rolls her eyes. 'You keep telling yourself that.' She steers Annabeth out of the room. 'You okay?'

'Yeah. She just—' Annabeth shakes her head, as if that will clear it of Rachel's words. He didn't love you.

'Did your dad die, or—?'

'No. He didn't.' Annabeth rubs her hands up and down her arms. Is it just her, or is the thermostat in the hallway malfunctioning?'

Silena gives her a sympathetic smile. 'Look, I know the type,' she says, jerking her head towards the room where Rachel is now gesturing to an invisible audience. 'These people just want everybody to think they're a sideshow. They're really good at reading people, telling them what they want to hear—I can handle the case, if you want.'

'You sure?'

'Yeah. Your shift's almost over anyway, isn't it? I'll take her to MRI.'

Annabeth lets her. She'd fight harder for it, but chances are, if the scans turn up anything, it'll be Dr Castellan's case.

There's less than ten minutes left to her shift. She could go straight to the locker room and change out, go home. That's what any sane person would do. She doesn't need to run a last check on any of her patients. They're already settled in for the night.

Her feet carry her to the post-op floor anyway.

She expects him to be sleeping—it's nearly midnight, after all, and his visitors are long gone—so it makes her jump when he speaks up.

'God, they really keep your noses to the grindstone around here, don't they? Do you ever get to clock out?'

'Actually, my shift ends in five minutes.'

'Ah, and I'm your final hurdle before freedom.'

Percy grins when she cracks a smile. 'I knew it,' he says.

'Knew what?'

'You can't leave without saying goodbye to me.'

'I'm just doing my job.'

'Uh huh.'

He has his arm around a round, black-and-white object—a panda pillow pet that his friends or his mom must have brought for him. 'Well, I can't think of a better way to end the day than by saying good night to someone cute.'

Annabeth raises her chart to hide her face. 'You flatter yourself, Mr Jackson.'

Percy blanches. 'Seriously, you gotta call me Percy. Mr Jackson makes me feel like I'm fifty. Anyway, who said I was talking about me? I meant I get to say goodnight to a cute girl.'

'You say that to all the girls, or just the ones that have to put up with you?'

'Only the ones who are hot doctors?'

Her face is definitely flaming now. 'You obviously haven't seen Dr Beauregard.'

'The supermodel chick?' he asks.

There's a sharp stab in her chest that feels somewhat like the one that hit her the first time she laid eyes on Percy's not-girlfriend Callie. Of course he's noticed Silena. Who doesn't notice Silena?

When she doesn't reply, he continues, 'All of you come in during rounds, you know. It's like this whole entourage. But the five of you are interns, right? You and your friend Piper, and Dr Beauregard, Dr Solace, and Dr Zhang.'

Annabeth stares at him, her embarrassment giving way to surprise. 'You know all our names?'

'Shouldn't I?'

'Well, most people don't bother. I mean, we're just interns. Dr Castellan and Dr Ramírez-Arellano are the ones in charge.'

'That's dumb,' Percy says with a frown. 'You're all my doctors. Hell, doctor or not, you're all people. You deserve for me to remember your names.'

People. She thinks of the doctors who refuse to learn their interns' names—or their patients', for that matter.

'My mom would say "personal feelings cloud the medicine."' If you want to be one of the greats, you have to learn to detach yourself, Annabeth. Yeah, that's the great Dr Athena Chase all over. Sometimes Annabeth wonders if her mother is so distant because she's a surgeon, or if she became a surgeon because she was already so detached. 'A lot of surgeons don't bother learning their patients' names. They just see them as case files.'

'But not you. You don't believe that.'

She slings her stethoscope over her shoulders and rests her hands on its ends. 'How do you know?'

'Well, for starters, I don't think I'm just a case file to you.'

I'm not going to blush. I'm not going to blush. 'And what makes you say that?'

'Because your shift ended five minutes ago now, and you're still here.'

And when Percy Jackson gives her that roguish, lopsided grin, Annabeth loses her battle against blushing.