#dont mean to brag but i won the birthday game

[creweemmaeec11]

The Gift of Panic Pt#2

First part

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After a moment of silence, the villain finially spoke.

"The last birthday present I got..." they started in a quiet, almost whispered tone, "was a bomb..."

"What!?" the hero replied in shock.

"Someone I cared about... though it would be funny to open my present before me as a joke..." they took a deep breath, "they didn't..."

Their voice cracked before they trailed off, and the quickly wiped at their face, abruptly standing up, keeping their back to the hero.

"I don't even know..." the hero replied, trailing off as well. They didnt know what to say, how to respond, what to do. What could they?

"Its fine I just," the villain started, before taking a deep, recomposing breath, "Sorry, I've never told anyone about it,"

"No no, it's okay. God, I can't even imagine..."

"Its alright, I got my revenge in the end," the villain replied, turning back toward the hero.

"Really? How?"

The villain looked at them with a confused expression, before it shifted into an amused smirk, "For legal reasons, and because I don't want to prolong my time in here, I probably shouldn't tell you,"

The hero laughed, "fair point. For what it's worth, I'm glad you got justice, even if it probably isn't the kind of justice I'd agree with,"

"Really? You think I deserve justice?"

"Of course, I think everyone does," the hero said in confusion, as if that was obvious.

The villain huffed a half laugh, giving a small smile, "I need to remember who I'm talking to,"

Both their gazes fell back to the long discarded present on the floor.

"I can take it, if you'd like, but-"

"No no, it's okay, I... I cant believe the words 'I trust you' are coming out of my mouth but I at least trust you didnt gift me a bomb,"

"I don't know if I'm hurt or flattered,"

The villain laughed again, walking over to hesitantly pick up the gift. They turned back to face the hero, holding the box with both hands as they just stared at it.

"The question still remains..." they drawled, before looking up at the hero that was still sat on the bed, "Why would you get me a birthday present?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why would you get me a gift? Why would you do something like that? For me? I dont think I'm very... deserving of a gift. Especially from you. Unless whatever is in here is some form of mockery- I mean- I guess I shouldn't assume..."

Their eyes dimmed slightly, as if they realized the only thing that could be in the box was something mocking, a heros form of bragging that they had won.

"Okay now I'm definitely hurt,"

The villain looked back up at them.

"Your my friend, I realized your birthday was coming up, so I thought back on our previous conversations, and tried to get something I thought youd like," the hero replied, moving to sit it a more casual position, "There wasnt any more thought put into it then that,"

The villain was now staring at them with wide eyes.

They blinked, seemingly trying to process what they'd just heard.

"I... have questions..."

The hero smirked, tilting their head as a prompt to continue, amused at the normally silver tounged villain being thrown so off their game by something so simple.

"Friend?" The villain responded almost instantly.

"Oh I'm sorry, what would you call this? Marriage?"

"I'd call this me tolerating your visits, whenever you decide to drop by because you've nothing better to do,"

"Maybe at first, but I've seen the way you recently light up whenever I come in,"

"Then you've *recently* begun going blind. I'd suggest seeing an optometrist,"

The hero laughed, "also, for your information, I make time for these visits, I dont just swing by cuz 'I'm bored',"

The villain squinted at that, "You... make time... for me?"

"Yes, that's what friends do,"

"I am not your friend," the villain replied stubbornly.

"Oh yeah? When was the last time you let someone hug you? I have to have passed the friend mark by now,"

The villain blushed, realizing they *had* allowed the hero to hug them, and they couldnt remeber the last time anyone else had even tried, nevermind been *allowed*.

"this is a dysfunctional work relationship at best"

The hero snorted another laugh at that.

The villain glanced down at the box once more.

Finially they knelt down onto the floor, placing the box infront of them. The stared at it for a few seconds, hands shaking slightly as they hovered over it, before taking a deep breath and tearing the wrapping off.

It was a simple brown box with a lid.

The villain chuckled under their breath slightly at that.

"What?" The hero questioned, not seeing anything funny.

"No, sorry I just-, had a thought,"

The hero raised an eyebrow at them.

"I just thought how funny it would be if after all this it turned out to be empty, but that would be cruel, even for-"

Their sentence came to a halt as the lid came off and they saw what was inside.

Now their wasnt anything incredible inside, it wasnt like they had gotten a new iphone, but there was *many* things inside.

They looked up at the hero, mouth open slightly, not even attempting to hide their shock.

The hero just smiled.

Slowly, the villain began taking things out of the box. A book of puzzles, like crosswords and word searches, a small sketch book and a pack of markers to go with them. A small puzzle, showing the picture of a fox, which was the villains favourite animal. There was also a rubix cube that was already messed up, and a set of other small puzzles. At the bottom, there were two more boxes, one much bigger then the other.

The bigger box contained the Harry Potter book series. The second, contained a small device that looked like an airpod, along with earbuds.

It was fascinating for the hero to watch the villain open their gift. One would expect a villain to be clumsy, rushed, or aggressive, ripping into their present, but they were the opposite. They removed every item slowly, delicately, like it was a peice of glass that could break, examining it with the same gentleness before laying it down carefully beside them.

When they had opened the last item, they looked back up at the hero, completely flabbergasted, jaw on the floor and eyes wide.

The hero laughed quietly, "do you like it?"

"I..." the villain sat back onto their heels from where they were kneeling, looking over the items like they were unsure what to do now, "what..."

They blinked, gathering their thoughts, "how did you...? I mean what-"

They picked up the puzzle as they spoke.

"That's your favourite animal right? A fox? Now I wasnt sure what kind of fox but-"

"How?" The villain asked, almost breathlessly, looking back at the hero.

"How did I know that? You mentioned it, once. I was talking about being a cat or dog person, and you said youd always been a fox person, something about them being 'sly and underestimated, yet smart enough to know when to strike'" they recited, making quotations in the air.

The villains jaw hit the floor again.

"That was actually one of the first things you ever told me about yourself,"

"You bothered... to remeber that...?" they muttered under their breath.

"Yep. The rubix cube is because you bragged to me once you were good at puzzles and could do one, and I didn't believe you," the hero smirked, "still don't,"

The villain huffed a small laugh, before glancing over at the books.

"the puzzle book and sketch book are just something to do, I know markers arnt ideal, but obviously I wasnt allowed to give you any pencils or pens,"

The villain nodded in understanding.

"the books are because I was talking about game of thrones one day, and you said youd always preferred Harry Potter,"

The villain smiled, and shook their head at that, chuckling, "I've never actually read them, I just wanted to disagree with you," they joked.

They both laughed.

"What's this?" The villain asked, picking up the small device with the ear buds.

"Its a little mini portable radio. I didnt know what songs you liked, and obviously, I'm not allowed to give you anything with acsess to the internet, but at least now you can choose what station you want,"

The villain sat back again, looking over everything with the same stunned, almost lost expression.

"You... remebered all those little details... and here I thought I was doing a good job at not letting anything about myself slip..."

"Oh you have been, trying to figure out what to get you was near impossible, but I managed to remeber a couple little things youd mentioned,"

They picked up the rubix cube, playing with it aimlessly, "I... don't even know what to say..."

"Well, most people would say thankyou,"

The villain shook their head, "that dosent seem like enough. I... I cant even remeber the last time someone gave me a gift, nevermind one without strings attached, and esspecially nevermind one with actual thought put into it,"

"I get the feeling you need better friends," the hero joked, trying to keep the mood light.

"Yeah well, I guess I'm on the right track, I've already got one," they replied, but couldnt bring themselves to look at the hero while they did.

The hero in question was lit up like a christmas tree, heart swelling happily in their chest.

"I hate to cut this short, but don't have long today, I'm going to have to get going, I just wanted to make sure I got to swing by today," the hero said, looking at their watch.

"Oh! Yeah, of course, you -"

"Do not have 'more important' things to do, I simply have *other* things I need to do," the hero interrupted sternly, giving the villain, who blushed, a pointed look.

"yeah, that."

The villain stood up, standing awkwardly in the middle of all their gifts, watching the hero leave through the finger print locked cell door. They approached the switch to turn on the force field, when the villain stopped them.

"Oh, hey, wait!"

"What's up?" The hero asked.

Suddenly the villain tossed something through the bars with effortless perfect aim. The hero caught it, and this time it was their jaw that hit the floor.

It was a completed rubix cube.

They looked back at the villain in shock, who laughed, giving them a real, large, and although greatly amused, no less genuine smile. The first real, true smile they'd ever seen on the villain. They couldnt help but stare in awe for a moment.

"What..?" The villain asked after a moment.

The hero shook their head to snap them out of it, "sorry! It's just, that's the first time I think I've ever seen you actually smile,"

Instantly the smile vanished as the villain steeled their features, crossing their arms and shrugging, trying to ignore the blush on their face, "yeah well, that's cuz it dosent happen often, so,"

"I'm honored,"

"Shut up,"

The hero laughed, before looking at the cube in their hand again,"this is like, actually really impressive though, that was so fast!"

The villain shrugged again, "the 3 by 3 ones are easy, the 4 by 4 or 5 ones arnt that much more difficult, the 6 and 7 ones take me a while though, 8 is an actual challenge, and I dont think I've ever done above that before,"

The hero was still staring at them wide eyed.

The villain just chuckled and shrugged at them again, "I was an outcast kid, had alot of time on my hands. Anyway, get going,"

"Yeah, right," the hero replied, tossing the cube back before flicking on the force field. They began walking toward the door, before the villain spoke out to them one last time,

"By the way... thank you... really..."

The hero smiled, "your welcome," they replied, before disappearing out the door.

The next time they visited, they would make sure to bring a 9 by 9 rubix cube, and a fox calendar.

Third part

[n0-eyedtaissa]

introductions

so this was an OC that i had created awhile back, but never found the right footing for. maybe i’ll get back to it, who knows. either way, meet Kelley Karper: 

age 7: is a mess of blonde ringlets and freckles. blue eyes that don’t hide much. hands sticky from too much orange soda. spends mornings before school with grandma, crawls under the covers with her and asks to be told a story. listens with a toothless grin as she’s told all about a princess who saves her kingdom. reads quicker than all of the other kids in her class. cant ride a bike yet, dad sits her down and says that she can try again when she’s ready. balances on the washing machine as he dabs peroxide-soaked paper towels on her bloody knees. wipes her tears away with the backs of her chubby hands. mom makes her sing that song from annie at grandpa’s retirement party, brags to all of his coworkers how her child already knows all of her vowels. sticks a temporary tattoo on her arm so that she can match her dad. sits in his laps and traces the intricate design with her fingers, asks what it means and dad explains it. calls it his protector. she asks if she has one too. stays up late listening to the cars pass, listens as the 28 bus comes to a screeching halt outside. joins the brownies. gets mad when she’s selling cooking instead of learning how to tie knots. makes mom cry when she refuses to wear the pink easter dress, says something about how she knows kelley likes her father better. 

age 9: her hair’s darker now, freckles gone. thats what happens when the fog rolls in. the sun goes away. decides that her favorite color is orange. begs her parents to have her room be painted that color. the boys in her class make fun of her for her buck teeth. she kicks colin samuel in the shin but doesn't mean to break his finger. has to miss the class trip to the zoo. dad sits her down and tells her to be tough, to defend herself, pushes her to make friends and tells her not to worry because there’s always strength in numbers. he takes her to get ice cream anyways.  mom wishes she would take her ballet lessons more seriously. dad brings home tickets for the giants game the next week, with seats just above home plate. tells mom that she thinks she wants to play baseball instead. listens intently as her dad tells her stories from when he was her age. laughs loudly at the story about her dad getting his head stuck in between the railings of the staircase. is a strong reader but needs a little bit of help with math. spends every night after dinner for the next two weeks watching her mother teach her how to do long division. lies when asked if she understands. joins choir. gets the biggest solo in the fall program. cries when she sees that mom missed the recital. again. 

age 11: notices that she’s taller than all of the boys in her classes. cuts bangs by herself in front of the bathroom mirror with her mothers sewing scissors. gets yelled at all the way to the hair salon. hits her first home-run. dad carries her to the car on his shoulders, yelling about how his kid was the next babe ruth. she doesn’t know who that is, but she figures it’s a compliment.  meets her best friend, a new student named olivia. the two of them would walk towards the mission district and buy paletas with the money kelley got from grandma because she got straight a’s on her report card. doesn't understand why mom cant get out of bed in the morning. the dishes in the sink start to pile up, old food crusted with mold making the whole house smell sour. covers her ears when she hears mom and dad fighting. jumps when she hears glass shatter. steals her father’s walkman, finds a tape inside. led zeppelin III. learns that they were both of her parents favorite band. wonders if love was actually all that simple. takes the bus home from school for the first time, frozen with fear the first time a man probably twice her age catcalls her. gets her period on the class field trip. has to have somebody else’s mom explain it to her. helps olivia dye her hair purple when her parents weren't home. presses her ear to the wall and listens as her parents whisper-fight in the other room, arguing about money. doesn't know what her mother means when she asks her dad where his paycheck is. hears her ask him where he’s been spending all his time if he wasn’t at work. 

age 13: stops getting upset when her mother fails to show up to yet another one of her softball games. her face gets wrinkled in visible confusion when a teammate’s mom asks if her dad’s single. realizes that no one there has ever met her mother. is still interested in music. spends hours pouring over the big stack of records her parents had in the corner. familiarized herself with names like zeppelin, van halen, the doors, and fleetwood mac. sang ‘rhiannon’ for the talent show. won second place. learns what depression means. watches her mother become a shell of a person. cant help but wonder if it was somehow her fault. holds olivia close to her chest as she cries about the divorce. wonders what it would be like if her own parents did the same. takes the 28 bus to and from school each day. an older man presses his pelvis against the soft flesh of her thigh. he takes any jolt of the bus as an excuse to hip check his balls into her. no one around them paid it any mind. she felt the warm condensation on her jeans, saw the bruise the indent of his belt left. didn’t tell her father. hates the way her parents talked to each other. kisses zach khang at a birthday party on a dare. kept her eyes open. 

age 14: finished the summer reading list in a week and a half. finally starts filling out her bras, and the boys in her grade notice. starts swearing. likes the way people looked at her when she told them to go fuck themselves. gets asked out on a date for the first time. stands outside of blondie’s pizza for an hour before realizing that he wasn’t coming. called her dad to pick her up. didn’t talk for the whole ride home. hates that her parents dont even try and hide their fighting now. wonders if love was ever real at all. found out olivia wanted to be called “just via” now. smoked weed for the first time behind the tennis courts at school with a group of junior boys. noticed how impressed they were when she didn’t cough. steals lacy underwear and sickly sweet perfume from victoria’s secret. thinks she should start dressing older than she actually is. wears thick black eyeliner and too-dark foundation. mom tells her that less is more. quits softball cause she can’t keep her grades up. hangs out in the drama room now. has via keep an eye out for the teacher as she makes out with sam lusk and lets him feel her up under her shirt. makes breakfast for dinner with her dad on fridays. flips through photo albums of better days. asks who the people were and what they were doing. wonders why her dad’s family never took interest in her. 

age 16: starts wearing fishnet tights under her shorts. mom says that she looks like a stripper, but dad says that he thinks she looks pretty cool. asks if she can get her nose pierced for her birthday. listens to the cure. looks up to kurt cobain in a way that scares both of her parents. decides that she wants to be a teacher. tells her dad that this summer she thinks she’s gonna try and write a book. finds out that via’s mom has cancer. borrows her dad’s shears and helps via shave her head too. yells at all the boys who try and call her best friend a dyke. finds her dad’s leather jacket in the back of the coat closet. notices it’s adorned with the same snake design as his tattoo. doesn't know what it means. asks if she can wear it to school that day. finds her mother out cold on the kitchen floor. a lot of blood. so much. that was the year that they adjusted her mother’s meds. they started going out more as a family. learned that healing was a process. thought that maybe her parents were falling in love again. gets her short story published in the school paper. reads it to her parents at the dinner table and it makes her mother cry. doesn't miss a single question on the learner’s permit test. tries to have her dad give her driving lessons. is in tears before they even made it out of the house. gets too drunk at monty montez’s birthday party. ends up puking blue raspberry vodka, barefoot in the parking lot of his housing complex.

age 17: her and via buy acid from the hippies at golden gate park. she swears that she’s watching the clouds move and the grass grow. she swears that everyone knows she's on drugs. has never had a boyfriend. sits down with her mother and is told that she would still be loved if she was gay. doesn't know if she is, but doesn’t rule it out. gets a lock for the door to her room. still makes breakfast for dinner with her dad on fridays. watches her parents sign the divorce papers. decides that maybe they were never in love to begin with. takes a greyhound bus to los angeles to see her favorite band. doesn't tell anyone about the guy in the pit who grabbed roughly at her breast, like it was his for the taking. gets grounded for a month. has to choose which parent she wants to live with. says a tearful goodbye to via. moves to riverdale with her father. learns that he wasn’t always as good of a person as she thought. learns what the tattoo on his arm meant. wonders if she could be cut out to get her own. finds out what it really takes to become a serpent. refuses to do the dance, says she would rather go through the gauntlet any day. makes friends with a girl who makes her feel more at home than she’s felt in a long time. finds a boy that makes her so fucking angry. believes him when he says she’ll always be safe with him. starts thinking that love might be real after all.