#i hope he bought her a social security card as a ring

[lots-of-fandoms-ps-help-me]

finished greywaren.

[pashminalamb]

ℍ𝕆𝕎 𝕃𝕆ℕ𝔾 (𝟛/𝟜)

♱ Parings : Pro hero! Bakugou Katsuki x fem! reader (They are 24)

♱ Tags : Reader cries alot and is lonely, Katsuki is an asshole in this part (sorry guys, I've been craving angst and fluff), mentions of mental wellbeing, mentions of toxic relationship, yelling, screaming, humiliation and anger, strong/ vulgar language.

All written in bold italics is a flashback.

MDNI. Minors stay the fuck out.

♱ Synopsis : Realizing how much she had been neglecting herself for the man she loves and is married to, (Y/N) leaves him with the promise to come back once she rediscovers herself. How long would it take for him to break and her to heal? Would it be enough to salvage their marriage?

♱ Word count : 8.9k words

♱ Warnings : 18+ content. Cunnilingus, unsafe sex, emotional sex, dacryphilia (kinda) , overstimming, mentions of body hair, cream pie, car bonnet sex.

♱ Mentions of accidents, near death experience and blood

♱ Status : Unedited. If I find mistakes while re- reading it, I'll edit it.

♱ Do not copy, repost, edit or translate any of my works.

♱ Tag list : @donthurtmeimbaby, @ashisbored, @v-mythos-v, @idimmadontgiveashit, @samkysnks, @aceleb4life, @the2ndl, @peacchfuz, @myekim, @bitchyzombienacho, @iloveinej, @seriusamatbois, @s0y-mi1k-0

Apologies if I tagged the wrong account. The ones that are unliked wouldn't work 0T^T0 (I tried)

Links for other parts : 1/4 , 2/4

Time and tide wait for none. 

It was a common phrase used in Literature, but none knew the true meaning of it until they themselves had had the taste of the experience. Four weeks could change a lot in a person; the question left to wander about was, was it for good or for worse? Sadly, only time could tell, yet it waited for no one. 

On the first day of being away from home, you felt light, but guilty of the fact that you had chosen to run away from your problems rather than stand your ground and face them. Raising your voice during arguments against Katsuki was not uncommon, but to lose your temper? It only happened during a blue moon. 

The first week began with a break from everything; which included social media, going to the school to teach and instead investing more time into yourself coming to terms with the fact that this was self care and not selfishness. The thought of removing the rings from your finger  had crossed your mind, but your heart wouldn’t allow it, clenching at the thought of taking off the belongings Katsuki had given you on the day you had vowed to live a life together.

With the cleaning of the attic on the second day of the first week, you found your father and mother’s tape recorder, making a mental note to buy empty tapes so that you could record some things you wished to say to Katsuki with the sliver of hope that maybe he would change and have the patience to listen this time. Every day you would look forward to doing something new with one of them being to cut your hair. Staring at yourself in the mirror as you sat in the chair that faced the mirror, you knew you were ready to abandon a part of yourself on the impulse of cutting your hair. When a woman cuts her hair, it means she was willing to change from who she was. Never would you have thought such a small act would be of such a large significance as you walked out of the saloon after thanking your stylist for she had turned you into a new person. 

Hair shorter now, you decided to go shopping for clothes for that was another way a woman could change. With katsuki’s black card secured into your purse, you knew you could shop to your heart’s content, maybe more; but it was merely a choice. Walking in with bags filled with clothes and setting them on the floor, you were satisfied with what you had purchased. Although it was cheap and not the expensive outfits Katsuki picked out or bought for you, you were happy that you were finally beginning to function independently rather than depend on him. Presentation mattered as it created the first impression about you in a person’s mind, one of the reasons why Katsuki would pick out clothes for you, his parents working in the fashion industry merely added as a bonus. Picking out clothes from the rack and among clothing hangers, you realized how taxing the hero world could really be. It not only demanded the blood, sweat and soul of your husband, but it also demanded that of you too. Just how many spouses were dragged into this world where they could possibly see the last of their lover each time they walked out of the door? 

Not only was the harsh truth of the hero weighing on your shoulders but so was the guilty choice of leaving Katsuki to fend for himself when he could be injured. You knew he hated Hospitals; neither could you stomach the number of times you prayed by his bedside, hoping he wasn’t at heaven’s door. Even at your parent’s home, there would be times when you would turn away from the screen of the TV either muting or opting to switch channels when the news anchor would begin to talk about the latest hero news or fights that were caught by reporters or cameras. Was it really a poor role on your part as a wife to hold a grudge against her husband who had dedicated more value to the lives of citizens, his stature in society and the hours of work he had dedicated his body to only to return home exhausted and find the few moments he had with you as a burden? This was a life you had signed up for. You had decided to carve that rule into stone the day you had decided to marry him. What had given you the right to turn away when you knew that there would be hard times such as these. Being a hero and a husband was not an easy feat, but your heart was greedy and you wanted much more.

What you forgot was the fact that alongside being the wife of a hero you were also a teacher and maybe… a mother one day. Would the life of your child, if you were to have one with Katsuki, not be as important? Considering these factors in hand, you were relieved to live in a space far away from him, hoping that you would make the right decision when the time came. During those four weeks, you also attended a counselor, something you made a mental note of to do in the future even if you returned home. Sessions made you tired and sleepy as revisiting certain memories or instances or the pressure hero society had put on you were too much at times, causing you to fall asleep for a couple of hours when you reached back home; you looked forward to staying awake at night and recording tapes that you hoped Katsuki would hear before you went to bed once more and rise to another morning without him beside you. As days went by, you learnt to start taking joy in small things once more, often treating yourself to an ice cream or talking to an occasional stranger in a park. 

“(Y/N) sensei !!” you heard a shriek behind you. Turning back, you saw a girl who was no older than twelve, dragging the hand of her younger brother with her mother following them in a haste. 

“Ahh Yumiko!” you said with a chuckle as the girl smiled at you. “This is my younger brother Hikari! I haven’t been seeing you around school lately… and everyone in class was asking about you! Thinking ‘Where did sensei run off to?’ We were all worried if you had left without telling us, so we were all on a look for you! But now that you are here, I am so relieved!” the younger girl blabbered as her brother stared at you. “Yumiko! Let us not bother Bakugou san. It’s rude to call out strangers behind their backs!” Yumiko’s mother scolded while the child pouted. “Bakugou… san?” Hikari repeated, eyes squinting. “Hikari! She knows Dynamight!” Yumiko said, shaking Hikari’s hand. “Dynamight!” Hikari squealed as he looked up to you, eyes filled with excitement and wonder. “Now now, Hikari,” Yumiko’s mother said, bending down to take his free hand into one of her own, “We mustn’t bother Bakugou san… I’m sure she has many other things to do and we must be on our way.” Yumiko’s mother said with a pleading smile as she ushered the smaller framed child in the opposite direction. “Bye (Y/N) sensei! We really hope to see you in our classes soon!” the girl said, waving goodbye. Waving gently towards them with a smile on your face, you began to continue your way home as the sun had begun to set. 

Living with your parents reignited childhood memories where everyone would sit around the table to eat; it was also the first time you hadn’t eaten alone as nights were lonely with nothing or no one to talk to but the wind and emptiness of the house you lived in. Sure, it was the dream house every woman in Japan wanted along with a handsome and successful husband who earned a lot of money that was more than enough for three or maybe four people to live a life filled with luxury; but at the end of the day, it was just an empty building you lived in along with a marriage that was on the verge of falling apart. 

Recording voice tapes whilst laying in bed and staring at the ceiling had become one of your favorite pastimes, speaking about anything and everything from the way your days had begun to the times you had therapy to just speaking about things you wished to have in the future; it had started to become a daily routine with each night ending on the note of pushing the stop or the pause button. With one tape finishing, you would put it away in an empty shoebox, only to bring out another one and put it back in. Soon, you had nearly filled the empty shoebox with many tapes; some of them were long while the others were short, each playing a different memory and words you wished to convey to Katsuki. 

Days went by and you began to feel you were in a much better space, opting to go home at the end of the fourth week. 

“Bakugou (Y/N) san, 

We cordially invite you as host with Bakugou Katsuki san for the fifty eighth hero gala. Details for the evening have been listed below. We humbly request to please be present for the evening. 

Regards, 

Dynamight Agency.” 

Pushy yet subtle. Your lips dipped in a frown at the end of the email. The gala was scheduled for the next day and you had nothing to wear. ‘Why didn’t Katsuki say anything about this?’ 

Admitting it was a mistake on your part for cutting off contact with everyone, your heart clenched in thought at the status you now held in Katsuki’s eyes. Had he labeled you as a runaway not worth working on? Holding your phone close to your chest, you felt it vibrate. Pulling back at the lit screen, you were surprised the name of none other than your husband had flashed across the screen. Jumping a bit back in surprise you stared at the contact as your phone continued to ring. 

‘Should I decline it or watch it ring?’ The phone continued to vibrate within the palm of your hand. ‘Maybe he would give up after the first call.’ you thought in agony. But it continued to ring. 

Deciding to answer the call instead of declining it or not answering it, you spoke into the receiver. 

“Hello?”. Upon the utterance of the salutation you were met with the sound of a shaky breath. 

“Tenshi?” Katsuki whispered in a scratchy voice. You felt your breath hitch; hearing Katsuki’s voice. “Hi,” you said gently. You heard a noise come close to a grunt from him along with shuffling in the background. 

“How… how have you been?” you said, scratching the back of your neck in awkwardness. 

‘Were you alone without me?’ 

“There have been better days… How have you been?” he asked, voice raspy, swallowing the spit that was beginning to build at the back of his throat. 

“Been doing okay… Went shopping, doing lots of new stuff… I feel like I’ve set my pace now…” you said, relaxing into the sofa near your window as you looked out into the quiet city. 

“That’s good to hear,” Katsuki said, clearing his throat. 

Letting a few moments pass by in silence with nothing but counts of breath, Katsuki spoke again. 

“Tenshi?” 

“Hm?” you responded immediately, with a raise of your eyebrow at the sudden nickname that was only used during rare times. “Is it okay if I video call you?” Katsuki said, biting his lip from nervousness. Your lips broke out into a small smile as this sparked a hope that your husband was willing to try. “Sure.” you responded. 

With such a simple answer, you were surprised to see your phone vibrate with a call from Katsuki, this time with your face in the picture. Tapping over the answer button of the call, you set your phone on the window pane, waiting to see Katsuki’s face. Upon illumination you were met with the unusual sight of a blonde haired man with a trimmed but noticeable beard. Eyebrows furrowing to get a more clear view due to the camera moving around the other end, your eyes widened at the sight of Katsuki who was squinting from the sheer amount of light that came from his illuminated screen. 

“(Y/N)?” he said, eyes narrowed as he blinked brearily into the camera. 

“Who are you and what have you done with Katsuki?” you asked, biting your lips to prevent your laughter. 

“Fuck off…” he said in a small voice with betraying smile at your remark. 

“You sure puberty didn’t hit you again or you’re keeping the beard and it’s not a phase?” you said with a laugh. 

“Haha, very funny. Someone’s on a fucking roll with the way I look now even though the same damn person suggested it…” he said with a roll of his eyes, lips forming into a playful angry pout. 

“Well… it does look good on you, and I like it.” you said, ruffling your hair out of the state of nervousness. Crimson eyes scanning your face, his lips parted to talk. 

“Did you cut your hair?” 

Grabbing a lock of your hair, you looked at yourself in the camera with a meek smile. “Yeah… I had it cut three weeks back… might’ve grown a little…” you said with a small laugh. Letting a few moments of silence pass as Katsuki continued to look at your hair he spoke once more. “Can I take a look at the back..?” 

Taking your phone to the side of your head, you angled it towards the shortened length at the back. You could hear a sound come out of him that was similar to a sigh before you brought the phone back to the front of your face. 

“It… it suits you. You look as pretty as you did before… maybe more happy…” Katsuki said with a sad smile. 

“Katsuki… being happy without you was not the reason why I left…” you said in a gentle voice, eyeing the man on the other side of the camera. 

“But you do look better without me…” Katsuki said as his eyes glazed with a layer of salty tears. 

“I won’t deny that I was sad and lonely without you… but I’m here to take the blame as well. Maybe if I had done something about it instead of being too dependent on you, then maybe I wouldn’t have had to step out of the house. Maybe if I was more grounded and put my foot down instead of being pushed over with things like your hero work…maybe something would have changed. Even though we are bound by marriage, you and I are two different people Katsuki… and sometimes during cases like this, it is a time of need for one to adjust. Only difference is… none of it worked… until the both of us snapped. The only healthy thing we could use at the time was for one of us to step back… and that’s what I did.” you explained. Silence washed over the both of you as Katsuki stared at you. He was the first to break the silence.

“I thought you were gonna leave me.” 

Eyes widening at the declaration, you used both your hands to hold the phone as if you were talking to him in person instead rather than on video. Trying to find the right words, your lips pursed into a thin line. 

“Why would I want to leave you…” you cooed to him. Biting his lip with one hand on his phone while the other ran through the short beard on his face, Katsuki breathed in a shaky breath before answering you. 

“My mom dropped by the house the day after you left. Knocked some fucking sense into my head…I just… I didn’t realize just how much of a burden I had left on your shoulders. I was caught up in my own problems and yours seemed so small compared to that, that it didn’t seem to matter... Belittling someone was something I thought I had left back in UA... when I was still learning how to be a good hero… seems like some of us don’t change for the better huh?” Katsuki said as teardrops began to roll down his cheeks. Staring into your screen you felt your nose burn from the onslaught of tears that were bound to break loose as you watched Katsuki’s body shake from the heavy breaths and sobs that had begun to escape him. 

“Katsuki… look at me.” you said with a firm yet tender tone; catching the blonde’s attention as his bloodshot eyes stared into your’s. “Let’s save this conversation for home, okay?” 

His eyes widened at your words. Wiping his runny nose with his forearm, he looked at you. 

“You’re coming home?” he asked, bashfully.

“Well… therapy is about a two hours' worth of drive, but my life is not here Katsuki. This is a home I have moved on from. My life is with you now, and besides that you will need me for tomorrow evening…” you said with a small smile on your lips. 

Eyebrows furrowing into the camera, katsuki gave you a grave expression. 

“I don’t want you to come here because of some stupid gala (Y/N). I can host it alone if I have to-” 

“Not without me you can’t. I left home for my sake and you had to pay the consequences of it with the name of your agency being mentioned in tabloids. I don’t want your reputation taking a hit for the sake of me, Katsuki. When I decided to marry you, I also knew what it would demand of me. And at best, it is the right thing to maintain a balance. You can’t leave everything for the sake of me and neither can I for you. If it takes one gala to sort things out, I am willing to attend it.” you interrupted. 

“Why are you selfless for me… I don’t even deserve it.” Katsuki said, turning his head to the side from shame. 

“You take care of more than a million people in Japan, Katsuki. That itself is a self sacrifice; yet there is no one to do the same for you. So, lean on me. I might not have a quirk and I might be just a school teacher… but I do have what it takes to keep up with you.” you said with an ear to ear smile. 

Giving a small nod after being convinced of your decision, Katsuki relaxed into the couch behind him.”Do you want me to come pick you up? I can do that.” he said, stroking the screen of his phone with his thumb, desperately wishing you were near. 

“There won’t be a need for that. I plan on driving in the morning and you have work tomorrow. Besides, I don’t have a dress and it would be like killing two birds with a stone if I decided to pick one up along the way. What you need is sleep… you have eye bags and dark circles under your eyes; and I feel sad because you didn’t take care of yourself while I was away.” you said sadly, thumb swiping under the image of his eyes in thought of what he had been through once you left. 

“It was time where you put yourself before me, (Y/N).” 

‘You’ve changed.’ Katsuki thought with a small smile. People had always changed for the worse, but he thanked his luck this was not the case. The days and nights he spent wondering if you would ever leave him now came to a standpoint of it being written in stone that you weren’t leaving him; yet the question still stood if you were there to stay. Deciding to leave that pestering thought for the night, Katsuki rolled onto his side, resting the phone on the armrest of the couch. 

“Don’t sleep on the couch, it’s bad for your back.” you said, getting up to sleep in your own bed. 

“Whatever… doesn’t feel the same as sleeping in that bed. Need the couch till you get back.” Katsuki slurred as he laid down folding his arms. You felt your lips curve into a gentle smile as this one of the rare cases where Katsuki had shown you a shade of his vulnerability. 

“Alright… get some sleep. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” you said, pulling the covers up your feet. 

“Could you stay? At least until I fall asleep?” Katsuki pleaded in a small voice, tucking his chin into his chest, shy at the words that betrayed his tough exterior. 

“Of course…” you replied, watching him ease into sleep as his eyes began to shut and his shoulders began to fall into his rhythmic breathing. 

‘I love you so much, Katsuki.’ 

“Don’t you think the back is a little too high?” Ochako said as she turned around to look at herself in the mirror. 

“It is the latest dress that was designed by none other than Kawakubo Rei herself. It fits in the image for the event tonight Uraraka- san.” her assistant Junko said, analyzing Ochako’s figure in the mirror. 

‘Can it get me a man who is taken by another?’ she thought. Working alongside Bakugou had its pros and cons, but the thing that attracted Ochako the most was his masculinity. Katsuki was a perfect description of the kind of man she desired. Strong, dependable, smart with a fire-like personality. There were men who had thrown themselves at her offering their money, inheritance and anything that could be easily bought, yet her heart yearned for more. Sadly, the man she wanted had already married another. Ochako felt envious whenever she would see you. You had contradicted the type of woman she had built in mind for Katsuki. You weren’t by any means successful, rich or even had a quirk that could save people. You didn’t belong in the hero world. And after you had left him by running away from home, her envy had grown into hope. Hope that she could get close to Katsuki, hope that she could be noticed by him and hope that she could stand beside him. Seeing him at the office this morning, she knew there was something different about the way he looked. He looked relieved after a really long time; including the fact that Mina had waltzed into the office happily at the fact that you were indeed attending the gala for tonight. Looking at the dress in the mirror, it had contradicted her gentle like appearance, the color of the gown being black littered with sparkles of beads, complemented with a tube top like appearance and a slit that ran down from the expanse of her thigh to the bottom of the dress. With the sound of the bell ringing on opening the door, she turned back to see you standing in the section of gowns, looking for a dress. 

Looking through the dresses, you were determined to find one that was meant for the evening. Combing your hands through the different clothing hangers, your fingers stopped at a white coloured dress. Taking it off the hanger, you went before the mirror to see how it would look on you. 

“Can I help you, miss?” the store attendant asked, coming behind you. “Yeah… Can I try this outfit out?” you asked, handing out the dress. Bringing you before the changing room, she held the dress out to you. “I’ll need to help you with the zip at the back…” she said and with a nod, you closed the door of the changing room behind you. The dress seemed to hug your figure well, but it needed to be zipped at the back. Stepping out of the changing room, the attendant helped you with the back of your dress before asking you to step onto the pedestal that was in front of the mirror. 

Looking at the dress, you felt beautiful. Turning around you saw the dress was littered with exquisite beads that glittered under the light where you stood. 

“This is the one and only existing piece made by Tae Ashida. Showcased on the Tokyo runway last sakura season. It suits you.” 

As much as it was beautiful, it was also expensive. Yet, image mattered in the hero world. Deciding to use the black card on this one occasion, you had already made up your mind on buying the dress. “I’ll take it.” 

Standing at the billing counter, you handed over the card when a stranger stood next to you. Looking to your side, you were surprised to find Ochako. “Uraraka - san” you said with a small smile. Ochako returned your plight with an awkward smile of her own. “Bakugou san… you’re back in town?” she asked, taking her bag from the counter. “Yeah… How’ve you been?” you asked with a gentle smile. “Supporting the hero society… as always.” she said curtly before grabbing her bag and heading towards the door. Your eyebrows knit in confusion at her reply. 

“Thank you for shopping with us Bakugou san” the attendant said, handing you your bag with a polite bow. Returning the gesture, you stepped out of the store into the parking lot, heading for your shared home this time. 

Dropping your packed bags on the doorstep, you dug into your purse to find the key to your house. Opening the door to your shared home with Katsuki, you entered, eyes wary of the space around you. Closing the door behind you, you walked the empty hall, coming to a stop before a wall where the pictures of your days together hung.You tilted your head in confusion finding the spaces of your wedding photo frames to be empty. Walking away from the wall with a sigh, you moved towards the couch to find it in a disarray. Picking up the discarded blanket, you were surprised to find a bunch of photographs out of their frames in spaces between the couch. They were taken on the day of your wedding. Looking at the coffee table near the couch, you saw a filthy sight of empty ramen cups, empty glasses that seemed to contain alcohol. 

Just how much of a mess had Katsuki made of himself when you were away?

Thinking that you would sort the matter out once you were done with the gala, you planned to take your own sweet time with Katsuki, either comforting him, hurting him or confronting him. There was a lot left unsaid on the night you had decided to leave, it was only a matter of time before you had decided to open Pandora's box once more. Gathering your packed bags along with the dress you decided to clean up the mess made beside the couch and change into your attire for tonight was the time to turn things around for your husband. 

Long days were not foreign to Katsuki. With the passing of each day away from you, he had become accustomed to the feeling of feeling empty and alone just as you had. He was against the idea of a gala to get you back home, but he took it as an excuse to get you into his arms again anyway. He knew the conversation between the both of you once you returned from the event was to be dreaded, but he was also looking forward to facing a reality where you were and he wasn’t alone. Entering the house, he was surprised to find the spot where he laid in misery to be clean. Photos were back in their frames, Ramen cups were in the dustbin and glasses were washed and kept in their cabinets. With the sound of steady footsteps making their way down the staircase, he looked up to find you in a stunning dress, with a small pout playing on your lips. Dropping his suitcase and duffel bag near the end of the staircase, he took hesitant steps towards you, making his way up the flight of stairs. Coming near you, he reached a hand out to touch your face. Using his other hand, he pulled you into him, breathing in your scent. 

“Katsuki… we have to leave.” you said with a chuckle, your hands joining at his back to return the gesture. “It can wait.” he mumbled, nuzzling his face into your hair. “Let me take a good look at you.” he said, pulling away from you to look at you. Turning around, your eyes looked down at the zipper which needed to be pulled up. Eyes following your gaze, Katsuki cleared his throat, fingers fiddling with the zip, until you heard the sound of it being slide up.

Twirling around with a shy smile, you came to a stop before him. Taking your hands into his, he thumbed over your wedding ring, glad that it still remained where he had left it. “So fucking beautiful” he said, leaning into you for a kiss. Feeling his lips brush against your’s, Katsuki pulled you by the neck into him till your chest came against his body. The tip of his tongue had parted your lips before it slipped between your teeth to meet with yours. The kiss was filled with nothing but the raw emotion of two lovers who were reunited after eons. Pulling away from the kiss you gave a playful smile, patting your hands on his chest; a silent signal for him to stop. “We have a gala to attend, might I remind you Bakugou san. It would certainly be a shame for you to miss the opening of such a night.” you whispered with a cheeky smile. 

“Fine… even though I told those idiots to not call for the gala. But after, I get to have you all to myself.” He said stubbornly, hands around your shoulders. 

“Of course.” you said with a shy smile, stepping to the side. “I’ll wait downstairs. Get ready and we can leave.”

With a nod, Katsuki turned to the shower room, ready to get dressed for the eventful evening that laid before the both of you. 

“Dynamight san, it is rather lovely to see you!” Momo said as she extended a hand towards Katsuki as he curtly shook it, one arm secured around your waist. “Bakugou san, it is a joy to see you this evening! You look stunning in that dress.” 

“Thank you Creati san. You look beautiful yourself.” you returned the compliment with one hand clutching your purse. Katsuki and you were the model couple for the evening, with him wearing a simple crisp white shirt with rolled up sleeves, black dress pants along with a pair of brown shoes. To the media, it was as though it was the perfect cover of a magazine for the gala, but it was far away from being picture perfect for the responsibility that came with it often led to the exploitation of the said happy couple in tabloids. Compared to the grandiosity of the event for the evening, these things seemed trivial which could be fussed over later. 

Entering into the grand building of the agency, Katsuki was the first to take the floor for welcoming all guests as host. “I also give the equal amount of credit and importance to my wife who has had to take care of me during difficult times. She is equally as important a member to hero society as any other hero who stands in the ranks with me.” He said, extending his hand towards you who stood beside, causing the flash of cameras to move towards you. Reaching a hand down to hold yours you felt him squeeze your palm, letting you know that you weren’t alone. The evening was followed with a round of drinks for all guests and interaction. Entering one of the rooms, the guests had a pleasant time with waiters carrying around their empty glasses, ready to bring them more. 

The evening had been going swimmingly well for nearly everyone except a certain hero who drank alcohol out of her glass in bitterness, eyeing the host couple for the evening in envy. 

“Ochako… slow down. You won’t be able to make it home at this rate!” Tsuyu said, one hand on her shoulder. Ochako couldn’t understand where this burst of anger and spite had come from. She wanted to blame the alcohol for her envy, but knew that it was more than just the burning liquid. Getting up from the table, she made a beeline for the restroom, unable to stand the sight of Katsuki standing next to you with one hand secured around your hip. 

Getting into the car, Katsuki laid his head back against the plush leather of the carseat. Looking over to you he was met with the sight of you leaning your head into the side of the window, watching as the guests left for their respective cars from the building. “Oi…” Katsuki called out to you in a gentle tone. Turning to face him, you gave him a gentle smile in response. 

“Did you have an enjoyable evening, Bakugou san?” you asked, playfully. 

“Only because you were there, Bakugou san.” He said with a signature smirk. Extending his arm until his calloused fingers touched your skin, he leaned into you, kissing your lips. Pulling away from the peck, you watched as Katsuki’s face contorted into that of disappointment. “I thought you were waiting to reach home?” you enquired. 

“Can’t. I’ve waited long fucking enough to get you back.” Katsuki growled, leaning across his seat to claim your lips once more. Putting both of your hands on his shoulders, you pulled away from him. “We can’t do it in the parking lot of this building! The journalists haven’t left yet… and we also have to sort some messes out before doing something like this and-” you nearly moaned as you felt his hand grip your thigh. “Fine.” he said, licking a stripe up your neck, pulling away to rev the engine of the car. Staring out of the window, you watched buildings in the crowded city of Tokyo pass by until you had appeared in the forested region, which had a steep yet steady climb. Turning to Katsuki, you watched as his steady hands turned the wheel of the car, eyes trained on the road ahead of him. 

“Where are we going Katsuki?” you asked, looking ahead. “You’ll see,” he said with an all knowing smirk. 

After a while of driving, Katsuki pulled to a stop near the edge of what seemed like a cliff. Opening the door on his side of the car, he quickly moved around the bonnet of the car, pulling the handle roughly, asking you to step out. With a gentle breeze, you watched in awe at the sight before you. 

“Tokyo looks beautiful at night doesn't it?” he asked, resting his back against the car. 

“How did you know of this place?” you asked, turning around to see him with a gentle grin. 

“Used to come here a lot. On nights that I couldn’t sleep, I’d take her out for a spin…found this place.” he said, tapping the hood of the car. 

“Are there no people here?” You asked. “Barely.” Katsuki quipped.

“It’s got quite the view…” you said, folding your arms as you stared into the city. Stepping away from the car, Katsuki walked around you, stopping before you, blocking the view of the city before you. Walking into you, you were forced to take a step back. With every step Katsuki took, you took a step back until he cornered you into the bonnet of the car. As he leaned forward, you leaned back, resting more of your weight against the metal of the bonnet. “I promised to take you, didn't I?” Katsuki said with a smirk, hand inching towards your thigh. You felt your breath hitch when Katsuki’s fingers began moving up the inner sensitive skin of your thighs. “Katsuki…” you complained, pushing his hand away with futility. It wasn’t until he had begun rubbing through your clothed slit his eyebrows furrowed at the rough texture that lay under the cloth rather than the smooth texture of your skin. With the quirk of his eyebrow, you spoke, holding his hand up, entwining his calloused digits between yours. 

“I didn’t come with the intention to have sex with you Katsuki. I figured this would be the night where we could talk, maybe sort things out but it didn’t work.” you said with a sigh of heaviness. Pulling his wrist away from you, he placed his fingers under your chin. Tilting your head towards him, you felt his warm breath fan over your face. 

“Something as little as body hair won’t stop me, tenshi.” he said with a small yet genuine smile. Taking your palm into his other free hand, he placed it on the side of his cheek, nuzzling his trimmed beard into your hand. “Can I take you?” he asked. 

“Only you can bring me to my fucking knees, tenshi. Can I have you? Prove to you how much you fucking mean to me?” Katsuki cooed and pleaded in a small voice into your ear, his voice low and raspy, only for you to hear. With your free hand, you traced the contour of his back, hand entwining into his hair, fingers scratching softly at his hair. “Love me, Katsuki.” you whispered.

Setting you onto the bonnet of the car, Katsuki took off your shoes, making your feet more comfortable against the metal of the vehicle. “Lay back.” Katsuki said, pulling your legs towards him, setting your thighs onto his shoulders. Looking up at the stars in the sky, you felt Katsuki’s heated kisses trail from your calf to the back of your knee, his low beard tickling your skin. You drew in a shaky breath, feeling his cheek nuzzle against the sensitive skin of your inner thigh, mouth leaving a trail of kisses. Setting his tongue to action, Katsuki licked the warm skin of your thigh, heightening your arousal. Pulling away from your body, he drew a needy whine out of you. Perched on your elbows, you watched his nimble fingers pull at the underwear that lay beneath your dress. “Patience.” he said with gentleness in his eyes, lurking with lust as he eyed your arousal. Pushing your dress up, he brought the lower half of your body to his face. Laying gentle kisses on the plush skin of your stomach, he moved towards your needy core. Warm breath fanning over the delicate skin, he slid his thumb over your wet slit. Pulling away the tip of the calloused digit, he watched in awe as the string of your arousal glistened under the moonlight. Sticking the finger into his mouth, he moaned at your taste, craving for more. You moaned as you felt the flat of his tongue tease the entrance of your dripping pussy. Hands circling around your thighs, he spread your wet cunt before him, admiring the mess you had created from his ministrations. “Katsuki… don’t tease me” you huffed. Vermillion eyes gazing into yours, he extended his tongue out, tip moving from the bottom of your pussy to your sensitive clit. Thrusting his tongue in and out of your dripping core, he pulled out moan after moan from your lips. Fingers pulling at your folds, he exposed your clit. Blowing over the sensitive bud, he felt your leg shake. Giving it a few experimental licks, he proceeded to swallow it, tugging at your clit with every suck. You felt your elbows give out, hands finding their purchase into Katsuki’s hair. Tugging at the roots of his ash blonde hair elicited a breathy gasp from him, causing him to nuzzle his head sideways into your core, nose brushing against the bush you hated. Katsuki felt his pants become tight at the sight of your chest heaving from the sheer pleasure he had given you. With every lick of gratification, you felt your back arch away from the metal of the bonnet, eager to watch Katsuki take you. Each time you tried, you felt his hand crawl higher to rest on your abdomen, silently telling you to lay back while he did as he pleased. You could feel yourself come close to an orgasm from the sounds of his licking and sucking, the pressure building down your core, ready to snap and let go. Before you could have your way, you felt his hands move away from your body. Looking down, you saw him stand up, pulling at his crisp white shirt, exposing his chiseled body. 

Getting up into a sitting position over the bonnet of the car, Katsuki placed himself between your thighs. Taking your hands into his, he placed them on his chest. Craning his neck, he laid gentle kisses on the expanse of your neck while his hands wandered to the back of your dress. Hands finding the zip, Katsuki pulled the metal down, exposing parts of your lower back. Shy eyes turned towards his muscular chest, as your hands began to trail down his set of muscles. “Do you want me to take it off… or would you like to?” He murmured into your ear with a soft tone, kissing the shell of it. Dragging your fingertips down his abs, you began to unbuckle his belt, pulling away at the cloth to expose his raging boner that was held back by the expanse of his boxers. Hand slithering into the cloth, your fingers pulled his member out of his boxers. You watched in awe as you rubbed your thumb over the building pool of precum, drawing out a sinful moan from Katsuki's lips. “Touch me more.” he said, kissing the side of your face. Giving into his words, you moved your hand up and down his shaft, spreading the mess he created. You felt Katsuki rut gently into your hand, moaning into your ear while his hands found their place on your neck and lower back. Deciding that he had enough, he pulled away from you. Letting his large palm lie against your stomach, he rubbed your clit with this thumb before grabbing his cock and sliding it onto your warm folds. 

“Put it in… please.” You whined in a small voice, hips rutting towards him in desperation, taunting him to give into temptation. 

Pushing the head into your core, Katsuki began to ease most of his body weight into you, until there was no more left to push. Holding your face close to his while his other hand entwined with yours that was resting on the bonnet, Katsuki looked at you with a mix of need and love. “Whatever my Tenshi wants.” he said, pulling you into a passionate lip lock, the scruff of his beard tickling your chin. Giving a few experimental thrusts, he began to move his hips against yours, sounds of your wetness mixed with his precum creating filthy and sinful sounds. You moaned into the kiss, giving Katsuki the opportunity to slide his tongue into your mouth. Pulling away with a wet pop of your lower lips, Katsuki watched as his dick disappeared into your warm pussy, the velvety walls making him greedy for more of you. Looking at the sky as Katsuki thrusted into you, he left bites on your neck, making you scream. Extending the joint of his neck out to you, he used his hands to push you towards the untouched skin, begging you to claim him. Lips kissing the expanse of his skin, Katsuki hissed at the sensation of pleasure he was receiving. 

He began to pour every emotion he had from the amount of time he spent away from you by giving you everything he had. The memories nights he spent alone on your shared bed, the flashbacks of the house you had decided to spend the rest of your life in, the emptiness of the halls where the both of you would push and shove each other before getting into a playful fight in the living room lit the need for proving his worth in wanting you stay. With a new found compassion over these silent thoughts that lurked in the dark corners of his mind, Katsuki began to rut his hips at a much faster pace. Skin slapping against skin, you felt your body shake back and forth from each of his powerful thrusts. The clinking of the rings on both your hands as they entwined once more made Katsuki go feral, his other hand moving towards your clit. Tugging and rubbing at the pearl that lay on top of the fold, Katsuki was desperate to watch you come undone before him.  

“Cum for me.” he pleaded with a hoarse voice, as you were on the verge of tears, eyebrows furrowed, breathes and cries escaping between your clenched teeth. You felt the feeling of pressure build once more at your core, knowing that a thrust or two would make you break. 

“I promise I won’t leave you alone ever again. I’ll… haah.. I’ll do fucking anything to make you stay.” Katsuki moaned as his fingers entwined into your’s pressing them against the surface of the car while the other continued to rub your poor clit at a rough pace. His eyes glazed with the fear of you leaving once more. In desperation, he left more open mouthed kisses on your neck, a last futile attempt, hoping it would get you to stay. You felt yourself snap from both his actions and words, legs shaking from the mind blowing orgasm. 

“I fucking love you. Don’t leave me…” he whimpered, a tear slipping from the corner of his eye, falling onto your heated skin. He thought you hadn’t heard him, but you did. Taking a deep breath in, you began to rock your hips back and forth, eyes rolling from oversensitivity of the first orgasm. Removing your free hand from his shoulder, you titled his face towards you, watching him groan from the clenching of your pussy around his dick. Tears spilled from Katsuki’s eyes, making your gaze widen at his vulnerability. You knew what you had to do. “Look at me.” you commanded him, bringing your hips to a still. Looking at you with shame from exposing his raw form, you stroked your husband’s cheek, kissing his lips softly. With shallow moves of your hips, you made him moan and whine in contentment. “I am not leaving you. I came back looking for a reason to stay and you have given me one, my love.” you said, hands now wandering to his lower back, pulling him into you. Katsuki could feel his body responding to your touch. 

“Let go, Katsuki.” you whined, legs closing around him to keep him locked within you. Katuski let out a string of breathless moans as he felt close to cumming. “Let go for me, baby.” you cooed gently. Breaking all of his self restraint, Katsuki finally let go. You felt a flood of warmth through your core from Katsuki’s cum. Resting your head against his sweaty chest, you could hear his heart wildly beating. Katsuki rested his chin on your head while his hand stroked the back of it. “I love you.” you said into his chest. Lifting your head up to see him, Katsuki leaned to your height, repeating the same words with a grateful smile. 

“I love you too. So fucking much.” 

Pulling away, Katsuki hissed as he tugged his sensitive dick away from your warm and wet walls. He cringed at the sight of watching the mix of his cum and yours spilling onto your dress. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a kerchief, crudely wiping away at the remnants of your sex. You grunted from the feeling of the cloth against the sensitive skin of your folds. 

“You know… this dress was one of a kind and expensive…” you pouted. 

“It would’ve looked better on the floor of our house anyway,” Katsuki said with a mischievous grin. 

Throwing his shirt back on, Katsuki leaned to pick up your discarded heels placing them in your hands before placing his arms under your thigh and back. “What about my panties?” you asked as he walked you around the car.

“That is for me to keep and for you to buy.” he said with a smirk tucking the material into his pocket, setting you onto the leather seat.

Settling into the driver’s seat on the other side, Katsuki ran a hand through his sweaty hair, causing it to be slicked back. Before he revved up the vehicle once more, his phone began to ring. “Kirishima?” he mouthed, sliding the button to answer the call whilst you placed the pair of heels in the empty backseat.

“Bakugou, can you come to the building quickly?” Kirishima whispered into the phone, hand covering the receiver from the commotion in the background. 

“We just came out of the agency.” Katsuki said, rubbing at his pants. The concern in his voice made you turn towards him. 

“Uraraka has had too much to drink. We told her we would take her home but she refuses to leave unless you meet her.” Kirishima said desperately, the girls now yelling in the background. Running a hand through the back of his head, Katuski let out a frustrated groan, before letting it come to a rest over the steering wheel of the car. “Fine. I’ll be there.” he sneered, dismissing the call, sliding the device back into his pocket. 

“Is everything alright?” you asked, hand coming to rest on his thigh. 

“Everything’s alright. Uravity had too much to drink for the evening and refused to go home. Kirishima tried to convince her, but she said she wants to see me.” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. Staring into the view ahead of you, you remarked. “That’s Odd. We should get there as soon as possible. Could be something serious.” 

“Don’t worry. She’ll be fine, just some fucking temper tantrum when you’re drunk.” Katsuki said, turning the keys and starting the engine of the car. 

“Katsuki, I am worried for her. Checking up on her wouldn’t hurt a little right?” you reasoned, hand squeezing his knee for compliance. 

“Fine. But after, we’re going home.” he said, stepping on the gas. 

Upon reaching the building, you watched the group of people that included Mina, Tsuyu and a worried Kirishima, with a very drunk Uraraka stand in the parking lot. “Stay here. This shouldn’t take more than ten minutes.” Katsuki said, getting out of the car, walking towards the small group of heroes. Choosing to rest your head against the seat, you felt your lips stretch into a smile at the fact that Katsuki had changed. Even though he might not admit it to himself, he had changed, allowing you to understand him through the cracks. With a sudden gasp from the said group of people, you were pulled from your train of thought. 

Crawling across the driver’s seat, you were met with the groundbreaking sight of Uraraka throwing herself into Katsuki’s arms, lips locking together in a passionate kiss. Blinking at the scene before you, you felt the wind get knocked out of your gut at the sight of Katsuki being cradled in the arms of another woman. 

Has it been too long since I left the house? 

The longer you stare, more vivid pictures began to be painted in your head. Horrible images of the empty side of your bed being occupied by none other than Ochako, Katsuki’s arms holding her instead of you. Soft mornings were now replaced with images of Uraraka and Katsuki. You felt your jaws clench at the sight of another woman kissing your husband. You wanted to blame it on her drunken stupor; but you knew better. Those were not the actions of a drunk woman. 

It had been the actions of a woman consumed by sorrow.

In desperation, you felt the need to get away from the heartbreaking sight, save yourself the embarrassment of thinking you had a place in Katsuki’s life. Eyeing the keys that were still dangling from the engine, you placed your feet on the pedals. With the twist and turn of the key, you brought the engine to life, driving away from the isolated street. 

For How long had you not been a part of Katsuki’s life? 

I promise I won’t leave you alone ever again. 

For How long have you been selfish? 

I’ll do fucking anything to make you stay. 

You heard ringing from your ears as your body racked with sobs, the heel of your naked foot pressing into the pedal in spite. 

I fucking love you. Don’t leave me… 

Time and tide wait for none. Yours had nearly come to a stop, as the blinding headlights of a truck crashed into the side of the car. A drunk driver with a lost control over his vehicle was not what you thought fate had for you. The harsh truth was… fate had a way with everyone, leaving you no exception to the rule. The car twisted and turned as it landed upside down in the middle of the street for the spectators to see. 

I love you too. So fucking much. 

With a final breath, you felt your legs become numb as the warm and wet red liquid ran down the side of your face. The sound of sirens blaring in the distance had begun to fade as you went in and out of consciousness with every blink. 

I love you too. So fucking much. 

Time and tide wait for none, leaving no exceptions to buy it over with money, regret or wishes. It was something that could never come back. Closing your eyes you felt your shoulders relax as darkness took over your vision, coaxing you into sleep. Sleep away your sorrows, your pain and most of all… succumbing to the feeling of numbness. 

I love you too. So fucking much.

I’m sorry, Katsuki.

[pillage-and-lute]

(For next time you’re looking for prompts) I really like your writing, and when I thought of this I wondered what you’d do with it: Geralt and Jaskier are together, but agree to pretend not to be for their next stop. Maybe one of them wants to win an old bet, or Jaskier’s not 100% sure his betrothal to a local noble has been officially dissolved, whatever, (not homophobia), fluff and high jinx ensue. Anyway I hope something unexpectedly nice happens to you today.

Hi Dahliavandare! Thanks for the blessing in my inbox  🥰

This ran away from me, tons of backstory about Jaskier’s family. Just, way too much.

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“Geralt, darling,” Jaskier said hesitantly. “I have an errand we need to run, and I’m not sure you’ll like it.”

Geralt hummed noncommittally. They were resting at their camp outside of Hagge and the warm summer air and the feeling of Jaskier curled against him had lulled him into a warm, fuzzy stupor.

“You see,” Jaskier continued, fiddling with the buttons at his cuffs. “I’m a noble, and you know that of course.” He laughed awkwardly. “And I’ve been lucky enough to pawn most of those responsibilities off onto my much savvier sister, but there are certain niceties that landed families observe that--”

“Spit it out,” Geralt grumbled, although not bad naturedly. 

“I’m betrothed,” Jaskier said. “And we need to go to Gwendeith to break it off.”

Geralt turned to look at his beloved. “You’re engaged?”

“Betrothed!” Jaskier yelped, then saw Geralt’s expression. “Oh, dear heart, there’s a slight difference in meaning, especially to nobles. Engaged implies an intent to marry--”

“And betrothed doesn’t?”

“Well, sort of, but I’ve been betrothed practically since I was born, engaged would imply I’m sort of planning the wedding. It’s a contract, a social contract. My family and my betrothed’s are pretty minor nobles, so really it’s just a way of saying ‘maybe someday our kids could marry’. It isn’t the hard and fast marriage it might be if I were, say, a prince.”

“Then why do it?” Geralt asked. Most of the time he was happy to understand as little of the lives of the gentry as possible, but Jaskier was important.

“Honestly,” Jaskier sighed. “I think Papa arranged it because he cared for me, Mama too.”

“It takes away your choice,” Geralt began.

“It doesn’t. A betrothal like mine and... Iliana, that’s her name, only met her twice, it’s sort of social insurance. Especially for her, but for me as well. Nobles are supposed to marry, so, if at some point neither of us had found love we could marry one another. For Iliana there’s the security of having a husband, although from what I’ve heard she can handle herself fine, and for me its assurance of heirs if that sort of thing concerned me, and companionship for us both.”

It sounded...mostly sort of logical to Geralt.

“But I love you,” Jaskier said. “And I don’t want to be betrothed to anyone because I love you and, someday, whenever you get over you allergy to the concept of commitment, I’m going to put a ring on you.”

Geralt hummed gruffly but said nothing. There was a slim golden band hidden away in his bags and he be damned if Jaskier got to propose first.

“I will. Anyway, I need to tell Iliana. I’m sure she won’t mind. I met her once when I was seven and again when I was nineteen.”

“Nineteen, when?” Geralt asked. Most of Jaskier’s nineteenth year had been spent at Geralt’s side. Most of every year after that too.

“Just before I met you. I had travelled east to meet her originally, and was going back west when we met.”

“Tell me about her?”

“Illiana? Oh, well, she told me that she was fine leaving the betrothal in place because it’s standard, but that she doesn’t care for men in that way so she’d never give me heirs and would have my balls nailed above her door if I ever told her she had to.”

“Sounds like she’d get along with Yen.”

“I fear they’d take over the world,” Jaskier said. “Anyway, I told her no worries since, honestly, heirs just aren’t important to me. Then we agreed that when either of us found love we’d break the betrothal and that would be that.”

“Hmmm.”

“No, Geralt, tell me what that means. Is that a ‘okay, let’s go to Gwendeith’ hum? A ‘I’m angry that you’re betrothed’ hum?”

Geralt shifted to poke the fire. “It’s a ‘I think there’s more you need to tell me’ hum.”

“Ah,” Jaskier rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s the thing. We have to go in person because a letter would be rude, but also...we have to pretend not to be together, while we’re in Gwedeith.”

“Why?”

“It’s politics, dear heart. It would be shaming to Iliana, socially. Personally, I don’t think she’d care, but it’s a courtesy thing.”

“I don’t do a lot of lovey stuff anyway,” Geralt said. 

“You think you don’t,” Jaskier said. He began to unroll their bedroll.

“What do you mean, Jaskier?”

Jaskier turned to him, smiling indulgently and gilded in the firelight. “Our lives have molded around one another, my love. When I stand beside you your hand goes to my back or my shoulder. You order dinner for me because you know just what food I like. When I’m tired you don’t have to ask what’s wrong, you just lift me onto Roach behind you.”

Geralt hadn’t even realized he did, but he knew it was true. Jaskier leaned over and pressed a kiss to Geralt’s slightly furrowed brow.

“When my boots are wearing thin you buy me new ones before I even notice. When I’m cold you give me your cloak. If I fall asleep with my head on your shoulder you’d rather sit like that all night than disturb me.”

Geralt shrugged awkwardly. “You buy me beeswax,” he said. It seemed a fair retort. Jaskier bought him beeswax to put in his ears when cities or sometimes monsters were too loud for Geralt’s senses. “You only buy light scents, even though I know you like bolder perfumes.”

“Yes,” Jaskier said, taking one of Geralt’s large, scarred hands. “We love eachother very much, and it’s obvious to people who care to look.”

“That could be dangerous,” Geralt began, his head spiralling towards worry for Jaskier’s safety, but Jaskier cut him off.

“No, dear heart. It’s obvious to those who care to look. The sort of people who would hurt me for loving you, well, most of them think you can’t love, so they don’t look for love, and they don’t see.” 

Geralt sat back. People saw what they expected to see, it was true. 

“We’ll travel to Gwendeith,” he said. “And unbetroth you.”

Jaskier kissed him and his lips tasted like the jerky they’d eaten for supper.

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

The trip to Gwendeith was long. It was at the very edge of any map, past Posada to the east, tucked into the Blue mountains.  They traveled along the Dyfne river, taking the occasional contract but making good time. This far from anything, there were few people to be troubled by monsters. 

They stopped in Posada one night, eating dinner in the corner of a familiar tavern. This time, however, Jaskier was much better received and the bread ended up on the table rather than down his trousers.

Past Posada, and almost to the end of the Dyfne river, Geralt asked, “Why did your parents pick Iliana? How did they know of her?” Lettenhove was entirely the other side of the continent, a tiny island off the coast of Poviss with two villages and a couple flocks of sheep. 

Geralt only knew of it from Jaskier’s descriptions, which were mostly stories of the ice cold sea and rocky cliffs. He tended toward calling it ‘idyllic’ and ‘picturesque’ altough occassionally ‘the arse end of the world’ and ‘colder than an ice giant’s ballsack.’ The first time Geralt had taken Jaskier to Kaer Morhen he’d feared for his bard’s safety in the cold of the mountains, but Jaskier hadn’t even blinked an eye, merely bundling up in a hugely wooly cloak and mittens. 

“Ah, well,” Jaskier said. “Long story, but Papa was in Temeria, see, since nothing ever happens in Lettenhove, because we have more people than sheep, he get’s sent on diplomatic missions a lot. He’s good at it, and he can be spared. He loves it too, even though he’s sort of retired he still does them. Takes Ma, calls the trips his little “sunshine vacations”. 

“You get your personality from your father, then?” Geralt asked. Jaskier didn’t talk about his family much, and Geralt got the sense that, rather than this being because they were horrible, Jaskier simply missed them too much. 

“Definitely. Ma’s lovely, and brilliant with just everything to do with her hands, but she’s not good with people. I got her looks, though.”

“I should thank her, then,” Geralt said, smiling. 

Jaskier chuckled. “Yes, she’s the reason for the long lives, too, fantastic story.”

“Finish the one about your father and Gwendeith first.”

“Right, so Papa was in Temeria, and so was Iliana’s father, sort of the mayor of Gwendeith, as I understand, although not back then. He’d gotten robbed, though, and Papa had won a horse and quite a lot of gold in a card game. It might have been Gwent, I can’t remember. If you ever meet Papa you should ask him. Anyway, he gave the extra horse and gold to Iliana’s father.”

“So your betrothal was a debt?”

“Goodness, no. This was years before I was born, Papa hadn’t even met Ma yet. No, they struck up a friendship, because when Iliana’s father got home he had a mage send a message to Papa to thank him and they struck up a friendship.”

“Sending messages by mage? That’s expensive for a penpal.”

“Ah well, that actually ties in to the story about Ma. Ma’s got magic, just a little, she’s a hedge witch of a sort. The issue is, hedge witches mostly use plants, and Ma couldn’t grow grass, so she mostly works with wood. Anyway, she has a friend, her very best friend, is a mage. They grew up together, and my Auntie Szarlotta sent my Papa’s first few messages back to Iliana’s father.”

Geralt smiled atop Roach. Jaskier’s storytelling pace was as familiar as Roach’s saddle, and it was calming in a way. 

“So, Auntie was sending Papa’s message when Ma came in to visit. That’s how she met Papa, because she’d only just moved to Lettenhove. Auntie says it was love at first sight, but Papa insists that Ma turned up her nose and ignored him for months.”

“Which one is it?”

“Knowing Ma, probably both. She’s a little like you, so the second she realized she liked Papa she ignored him so she wouldn’t have to deal with it.”

Geralt huffed good-naturedly.

“Anyway, Auntie Szarlotta agreed to send Papa’s messages for free, and she even included a way for Iliana’s father to send them back, so long as he wrote his response on the back of the same paper. She always timed it though, so that Ma was over when Papa was there. And I guess the rest is history.”

“Except the immortality.”

“Right, well, Ma got really sick when she was pregnant with my sister, I was little so I barely remember but Papa was so worried, and Ma looked really pale. Well, Auntie got really worried, freaked out a little, and she found all these old spells to try to make Ma well again. I remeber the light, she was working in a room of the old lighthouse and I could see the light of her spells from my window. Anyway, eventually she tries some on Ma, but they don’t work, and she just keeps trying.”

Geralt had an image of a frantic sorceress being watched by a young Jaskier through a crack in a door. 

“But I suppose some of those old spells need a little time to work because nothing at all worked and then they all sort of worked at once. There was this big, bright light and then Ma was well, and she and Papa haven’t aged a day since then.”

Geralt glanced at his lover, who looked the same at fifty as he had at twenty. “And you don’t age? What about your sister?”

“Ksenia hasn’t aged either. She looks like Papa, just so you know, grey eyes, blonde hair. She’s got two kids, now, but I haven’t met them.”

“Do the kids age?”

“Right now they’re very young,” Jaskier said. “I didn’t stop aging until nineteen or twenty, so I suppose we’ll have to wait and see.”

“How do you know she has kids?”

“Oh, well, Auntie Szarlotta sends letters to me, but we travel and it’s hard to send them right to me, so I just pick them up at Oxenfurt.”

“Hmmm,” Geralt said. He needed to go to Lettenhove. Jaskier had met his sort-of-family, he should meet Jaskier’s. 

“I’d love to go see them...” Jaskier said, wistfully. 

“Who?”

“My niece and nephew, they’re almost two and three years old now.”

Geralt picked Jaskier up by the collar of his doublet and placed him onto the back of Roach. 

“We’ll spend the winter in Lettenhove this year,” he said as Jaskier wrapped his arms around Geralt’s waist.

“Really?”

“Hmmm.”

Geralt needed to ask Jaskier’s father for his hand in marriage, anyway.

-- -- -- -- -- -- 

They made it to Gwendeith just after mid summer, riding into the little town at noon. Despite the season, the little mountain valley was shaded and cool. Jaskier shivered slightly and Geralt had to resist the urge to pull his cloak from his pack. From that point forth, they weren’t supposed to be in love.

Fuck.

They had to request a meeting with the mayor, which didn’t surprise Geralt. In a town such as this, logging and mining were the main industries. Trading for food to last over the winter began early and was of the utmost importance. That left Geralt and Jaskier, unfortunately, sitting with a man who introduced himself as Sir Boris.

Apparently he was a retired knight who acted as a sort of captain of the guard, except there wasn’t much of a guard. His wife Lady Olenka joined them and the two of them talked about their grandchildren until Geralt could feel his eyes rolling back in his head. 

At any other time, Jaskier would have placed one gentle hand on his wrist, which would have fortified Geralt, but they couldn’t. 

“But you’re here for Iliana,” Sir Boris was saying. “Dreadfully sorry you can’t see her today, I’m afraid there’s been an issue with the lumber trade to sort out. You’ll just have to have my darling Lenka and I as company until that’s done.”

He sent a huge wink to his wife, a slim, elegant woman, who chuckled and playfully hit him on the shoulder, to which Sir Boris pretended to be wounded before throwing back his head and laughing hugely. Everything the old knight did was huge, he was a large man with a round, red face and large belly and a laugh that could shake walls. 

“It’s no trouble,” Jaskier said. “I’m sure preparing for winter is a year round project here.”

“Oh of course,” Lady Olenka said. “But once it’s here we can all relax, and spend time with family.” She leaned forward as if imparting a delightful secret and said in a stage-whisper, “Boris has been our town’s Father Winter for the last four years.”

Jaskier made impressed ‘ooh’ noises and Geralt tried to at least look like he understood that. 

Boris laughed again. “It’s this lot,” he said, slapping his round stomach. “Better than some old geezer with a pillow down his shirt, eh?”

Geralt hummed in agreement. 

“And you must make a lovely Mother Winter, Lady Olenka,” Jaskier said politely.

She smiled, lines crinkling around her eyes as if drawing a road map. “It’s not as important as Father Winter, of course, but I rather pride myself that I plan a very good Midwinter festival.” Geralt got the sense that behind the modesty she was quite proud, and, he suspected, with good reason.

“But, you must tell me,” she said, modestly changing the subject. “Is there to be a missus Pankratz, now that you’ve come to see Lady Iliana?”

“I am a man in love,” Jaskier said. “And I am hopeful that an engagement will come soon, yes.”

“Oh dearie that’s just lovely,” Lady Olenka said, patting Jaskier’s cheek. “And you’re such a nice boy too, little young looking to be betrothed to our Lady Iliana anyway, although she’s a very dear woman.”

“We just love her,” Sir Boris said. “She’s a great mayor, not keen on marriage, but nobody minds, she just seems to have adopted the whole town as family.”

Lady Olenka patted her husband’s broad shoulder. “It was smart of you not to bring your love here, though. There’s some nobles here from Lyria, that’s who she’s been trading with, and I think they’d like any excuse to disparage here.” She lowered her voice again. “You know how those lot are about having women in charge.”

“I can’t relate,” Sir Boris laughed. “Lenka’s the ruler in our house.” That got a laugh because it had to, and because Sir Boris’s laugh was surprisingly infectious. 

“Good on you bringing a bodyguard too,” he said once the laughter had abated. He slapped Geralt companionably on the back, which was like being hit by a friendly battering ram. “Witcher too, don’t get many up here, but I bet you’re the safest man in a hundred miles.”

“Oh, dear, don’t you know?” Lady Olenka said. “Lord Julian here is a bard as well, he goes by Jaskier and sings all about witchers.”

“Really?” Sir Boris said, looking at Jaskier. “Blimey, imagine that. Good on you, finding a niche in the market.”

Geralt’s ears were beginning to ache. Friendly though Sir Boris might be, he didn’t seem to have a volume level below ‘deafening’. He was tired and overwrought and he just wanted to cuddle up with Jaskier in a bed. It wasn’t even suppertime, though.

They sat through another hour of hearing about Boris and Olenka’s eighteen grandchildren. 

“And three great-grandchildren,” Boris added proudly.

Geralt was thankful Jaskier could carry the conversation. He longed for a kiss, though. Now that he knew he couldn’t have one, his lips fairly ached for one.

Supper was a large affair, with one of Boris and Olenka’s children’s family over for dinner as well. Geralt was seated across from Jaskier between two small children who, apparently, needed to be separated at dinertimes to prevent bickering. They contented themselves instead by asking Geralt every question they could think of, often making him wrack his brain for child appropriate answers.

It wasn’t just witchering questions, either. He answered such questions as “Why is the sky blue?” (Because it’s Melitele’s favorite color). Immediately before answering “How big are dragon scales?” (The small ones are like pebbles and the big ones are like shields.)

Jaskier smiled at him over his bowl of stew, eyes sparkling. Geralt loved children, and Jaskier loved seeing them adore Geralt.

“So, Lord Julian,” Boris and Olenka’s daughter began. “Your lady love, tell us about her?” She smiled Lady Olenka’s warm smile and Jaskier did a good show of seeming bashful. 

“My love is unlike any other,” he began. “And if you’ll pardon my saying so, I’m a poet, and so must wax poetic.”

“Wouldn’t settle for anything less, lad!” Boris bellowed cheefully.

“My darling has fair hair, like moonlight,” Jaskier said, and the table oohed appreciatively. Geralt felt his ears get hot.

“And eyes like summer,” the bard continued. “I could get lost in them. No eyes could compare.” Geralt kicked him under the table, but Olenka was sighing sympathetically.

“But of course,” Jaskier said slyly, my heart is best held by my love’s lips.”

Boris chuckled knowingly. “I’ll bet it is, my boy,” he said, winking. Olenka slapped his arm, but she was smiling. Geralt felt hot.

“I’m afraid, however that my lover is quite modest, and won’t appreciate me extolling too many virtues,” Jaskier finished. “So I must finish with, I love them very much, and it is for them alone that my heart beats.”

Therewith leaving every person at the table (those above the age of twelve, at least) with misty eyes, Jaskier helped Lady Olenka clean up supper. Geralt helped put the dishes away.

After dinner they were led back to the mayor’s house. “I’m afraid the negotiations don’t seem to be finished,” Lady Olenka said. “I had hoped they would be quick, but it seems not. If the issue wasn’t resolved today, I wouldn’t bet on them being resolved too early tomorrow, either. You two don’t have pressing business elsewhere?”

“No, my lady,” Jaskier said, although if they lingered too long they wouldn’t make it to Lettenhove for the winter, as it was, it would be close.

“I’m sure she’ll be able to see you soon,” the lady said. “Here’s your room, and Master Witcher, your room is just at the far end of the hall.”

She said goodnight and Geralt hoped she couldn’t see the slump of his shoulders.

Separate rooms.

Jaskier smiled ruefully at him and they parted for the night. Geralt’s bed was large and comfortable, with clean linens and feather pillows, but he barely got a wink of sleep.

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

The next morning found Jaskier and Geralt breakfasting in the tavern, owned, apparently, by another of Boris and Olenka’s grown children.

“Did you sleep well?” Jaskier whispered over a plate of sausage and eggs.

“Fine,” Geralt grunted.

“I couldn’t sleep a wink,” Jaskier said. “Want my last piece of bacon? I’m stuffed.”

Geralt took it gratefully, slipping Jaskier his fried slice as a trade. No matter how Jaskier protested that he was stuffed, he always had room for a fried slice.”

“Terrible woman,” said a nasal voice at the next table. “Just impossible to do business with.”

“I agree, overemotional, you know how they get,” agreed another voice. Jaskier made eye contact with Geralt. The accent was Lyrian.

“Not even married,” said the first speaker. “What a disgrace. If my daughter got to her age without children I’d just die of shame.”

Geralt pitied his daughter.

“Oh of course,” said the second man. “Attractive, though, for an old maid.”

The first man snickered cruelly. “Thinking a little wooing might soften her up?”

“It always does, women like that, they’re just angry because they haven’t found a man.”

“Won’t your wife mind?”

“Are you going to tell her?” Both men laughed unpleasantly.

A serving girl, maybe sixteen or seventeen, came around the tables, presumably one of Sir Boris’ many granddaughters. She took their plates onto a tray and smiled when Jaskier slipped a few coins onto the tray as a tip.

At the next table  one of the Lyrian’s snapped their fingers impatiently. The girl rolled her eyes. Geralt was pleased to see that, although she served him professionally, as she walked away she ‘accidentally’ tread on his foot.

“What pathetic pieces of shit, the pair of them,” Jaskier said as they stepped out into the sunlight. 

“Hmmm,” Geralt agreed. Then he looked around quickly and pulled Jaskier into an alleyway, urging the bard deeper into the shadows. 

“What? Geralt di-”

Geralt smushed his lips gracelessly to Jaskier’s, crowding him up against the wall. Jaskier’s hair between his fingers was so familiar and comforting, as was the little sigh Jaskier let out.

They pulled apart and Geralt rested his forehead against Jaskier’s. “That’ll tide me over for a while,” he whispered. Jaskier smiled.

“Are you master Julian?”

The pair sprang apart, looking in alarm at the red headed boy at the far end of the alley. 

“Yes...?” Jaskier said.

“Only, Pa said to come find you, and he said you’d be with a big man dressed all in black.”

“And you found us here?” Jaskier asked.

“Didn’t know you’d be here, did I?” Said the boy, stuffing his hands into his trouser pockets. “It’s the shortcut through to the tavern, but then, I figured he’s the only big man in black around.”

Geralt inclined his head, feeling his ears go hot.

“Lady Iliana has time to see you now,” the boy continued, oblivious to the awkwardness. 

“By all means...lead the way,” said Jaskier.

They were led out of the alley and back to the mayor’s house by the messenger boy.

“Out of curiosity,” Jaskier asked. “Is your grandad Sir Boris?” 

“Yeah, that’s him,” said the lad. “He made me a toy sword for my tenth birthday too.” He pointed proudly to the wooden sword tied at his hip with some string.

“It makes you look a proper hero,” Jaskier said. Then he pulled out his coin purse. “A copper for bringing us the message and...another to not tell anyone what you saw.”

The boy looked between the two of them shrewdly.

“Not even my best friend? I tell Mikhail everything.”

“Not until Geralt and I have left.”

“Three coppers total,” the boy said promptly. Jaskier handed them over good naturedly and the boy flashed a gap toothed grin before taking off.

Geralt and Jaskier shrugged at each other, before finding their way to the main room of the mayor’s house. A broad shouldered woman of about fifty poked her head out of a door.

“Julian?”

Geralt and Jaskier went inside.

“You look well,” Iliana said, sitting behind a large desk and gesturing to a couple chairs. “You havent’ aged a day.”

“And you look as lovely as I remember,” Jaskier said.

“Flirt. Come to ask me for heirs?”

Jaskier shuddered. “No, my lady. I remember your threat well. I think you know why I’m here.”

The two Lyrians barged through the door. 

“Did I ask you to enter?” Iliana said, coldly. Geralt felt an unusual curl of fear set up in his stomach, she was a distinctly fearsome woman.

“Well,” said the first Lyrian.

“You were so beautiful, I couldn’t wait on seeing you again,” said the second, slimily.

“Oh I say!,” Iliana said, standing. She placed her hand over her chest in a delicately offended way, which was ill suited to her. “You sir are too bold, and in front of my betrothed too!”

The Lyrians looked, panicked, at the people sat in the chairs. As Geralt was seated in the chair nearest the door, and therefore nearest them, they came to the wrong conclusion. The blood drained from both their faces.

“What an insult!” Iliana continued. “You should be ashamed! What a lack of diplomacy!” 

Beside Geralt, Jaskier snickered. She was laying it on a little thick. 

“Why,” she continued. “I ought to write to your king! I’ve never been so insulted. And I’m sure my beloved will want to sort out this insult too.” She fluttered her lashes at Geralt. 

Geralt nearly jumped out of his seat, but thankfully his brain caught up. He stood, growling a little theatrically and placed one hand on the hilt of his steel sword.

“Our apologies my lady,” the first man said hurriedly.

“Our mistake, we’ll just--” they dissappeared out the door.

“What a fearsome couple,” Geralt heard whispered as the door swung shut.

Iliana sighed satisfactedly and kicked her feet up on her desk. “It seems I should thank you,” she said. “That is going to make negotiations much easier.”

“I’m sure you always get good deals,” Jaskier said.

“Yes. I get the deals I want.”

“You know why I’m here,” Jaskier said.

“Yes.”

“Do you agree?”

“To disolve the betrothal? Of course. Never found a lover for myself so I never bothered but, well, I just don’t do romance.”

“Some people don’t,” Geralt said, thinking of Eskel.”

“Indeed,” Iliana said, smiling warmly at him. “Not all of us have a soulmate to sing us songs.” She laughed at their surprised faces. 

“Oh you fooled them, and you may have fooled Boris and Olenka, but I’ve heard your songs, Julian. It’s written right into everything you do.”

She began rummaging in one of the drawers in the desk. “I don’t mind, of course. So few people know we’re actually betrothed...there it is.” She pulled out an old piece of paper. “I’ll just rip it up if that’s fine by you. You’ll have to do the same to yours of course.”

“We’re going to Lettenhove this winter,” Jaskier said. “I’ll do it as soon as I find it.”

Iliana smiled again. “Father always did say that your dad had a horrible filing system.”

“He filed all his papers on the floor, yes, although I imagine my sister is neater.”

Iliana tore the paper in half without ceremony and placed the contract in the waste paper bin. “Lettenhove is very far away, Julian, will you get there in time?”

Jaskier glanced at Geralt. 

“I don’t know,” Geralt said.

“No matter,” said Iliana. She began writing something on a new sheet of paper. “Our logging teams float lumber all down the Dyfne and Pontar rivers. Show this to the dockmaster at the tip of the Dyfne and our riverboat captains can get you to Novigrad.” 

She pulled out another sheet of paper. “Once you’re in Novigrad, show this to the harbormaster and he’ll get you to Lettenhove.” She looked at their shocked faces and smiled. “Our lumber is the best, and it’s used in everything, including ships. I’m willing to cash in a favor in order to get rid of a useless betrothal.”

“Thank you, my lady,” Jaskier said bowing deeply. “I’ll have my Aunt Szarlotta send a message once our betrothal is fully extant.”

Iliana stood and shook his hand. “I’d appreciate that.”

“Our fathers were penpals,” Jaskier said. “Perhaps we should keep up the tradition?” 

The mayor inclined her head. “I’d like that. I may be too busy to write often.”

Jaskier waved a hand. “I can only pick up messages when I pass through Oxenfurt, but I like to make friends with powerful people.” 

The two of them shared a smile.

“Not to rush you out my door,” Iliana said. “But I do have a lot to do, winter comes early up here, and I know it does as well in Lettenhove. even with my help, you two should leave soon.”

Geralt and Jaskier left that afternoon, just after a hearty meal at the tavern.

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

Across the continent and some weeks later, Jaskier and Geralt stepped onto the docks in Novigrad.

“I don’t think Roach liked the river boats,” Jaskier said as Geralt led her off. Roach whinnied and shook her mane emphatically.

“Sorry, girl,” Geralt said. “You’ll have another long boat journey, and this time I doubt we’ll stop so you can run about on land.”

“Nah,” Jaskier said, as they walked toward a tavern for supper. “Boats from Novigrad to Lettenhove stop around the coast on the way, she’ll get plenty of exercise. It’s something to do with the currents.”

He petted Roach’s muzzle softly as they stabled her at the inn beside the tavern and Geralt felt his heart go out to his bard. Jaskier cared so much for Roach. Geralt thought again of the gold band in his pack.

“C’mon,” he said. “Let’s eat.”

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

Slightly more than a month later, after a slow, coastal boat journey, and then another between Inis Porhoest and Lettenhove, Geralt, Jaskier, and their faithful horse, stepped off the final boat.

“Welcome home, Master Julian,” said a fisherman on the dock.

“Does everyone here know you?” Geralt asked.

“Pretty much, there’s only about three hundred people here.”

News spread fast among three hundred people and Jaskier and Geralt were greeted enthusiastically at the door to the very small castle. A blonde woman who could only be Ksenia, Jaskier’s sister, flung her arms around him, and withing a moment Geralt was being gathered into the hug by a slightly older looking couple.

“Julek,” said the blonde man, pulling back. “My boy, you’re home, and you brought this stunning man, wow, what a looker.” 

“Papa, don’t be embarrassing,” Jaskier said. Geralt flushed clear to the roots of his hair. Apparently when Jaskier said he had his father’s personality he meant all of his father’s personality.

They had dinner as a family, including Jaskier’s niece and nephew, Cecylia and Prot. They had questions for Geralt, and he was grateful for the practice he’d had in Gwendeith. It was an enjoyable meal over all, and afterward Jaskier was distracted by his Aunt Szarlotta while Geralt slipped away to ask Mr. Pankratz a very important question.

The two of them returned to the main hall to see Jaskier pretending to be a dragon, while Cecylia and Prot bravely fought him with butterknives, but he straightened up when he saw the look on Geralt’s face.

Geralt took his hand and Jaskier squeezed it three times, it was their code, asking if Geralt needed to go somewhere that wasn’t so hard on his senses. Geralt smiled and shook his head, swallowing nervously around the lump in his throat.

He got down on one knee and pulled out the gold band. “I’m...I’m not good with words.” Geralt swallowed again, wishing he could borrow Jaskier’s eloquence for five minutes or so. “Marry me?”

The words were barely out from his mouth before Jaskier was tackling him to the ground, pressing kisses all over his face.

“Oh Geralt!” he said. “Wait--”

Jaskier looked up at his mother, who smiled and was handed a paper by his Aunt Szarlotta. Mrs. Pankratz ripped the betrothal contract in half.

“Yes,” Jaskier said, laughing. “I will marry you!”

Then they kissed on the chilly stone floor.

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

Dear Lady Iliana, Mayor of Gwendeith

The former contract has been voided. 

Szarlotta of Lettenhove

P.S. Geralt and Jaskier are engaged and send their love.

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

Holy Cow. 5603 words. I...I don’t even know what to say. I hope you like it.

[littledreamybeth]

Our little secret

A/N: Happy new year, everyone! Let's make the first post of 2020 a fluffy one! I hope you like it! I haven't properly proof read everything, so I apologize for mistakes beforehand. Comments are highly, I stress highly appreciated.

Picture does not belong to me. Credits to the owner!

“Are you ready?” It was not impossible to overlook how nervous the young couple was. Trembling fingers interlocked, they looked at each other’s faces, searching for confirmation, or even doubt. Harry couldn’t recall being this nervous. An uneasy feeling had settled in his gut since he was sitting in front of the camera. If it were up to him, he wouldn’t really do what they were about to do, however, he also knew keeping this secret forever wouldn’t help either, because at the end somebody was going to find out anyway- as usual. He had promised Y/N he would do this, and they had talked everything out. They had taken drastic precautions, doubling their security guards and placing cameras almost everywhere in their home, so he wouldn’t be worried anymore.

“Only if you are, love,” His raspy, deep voice filled the room.  

The young woman, his partner, soulmate, wife- his love, nodded.

“Alright, here we go…” She gave her sister-in-law, Gemma, who was standing behind the camera, permission to start the recording.  The brunette woman held her thumbs up, smiling assuringly and encouragingly at the couple. Harry squeezed Y/N’s hand in comfort before he let go of her. He knew she was going to articulate with gestures. Besides, he needed to calm down himself. He was sitting there, his body in a tensed form. He had to relax. Breathing deeply in and out, the British man and his wife stared into the camera.

Here goes nothing...

“Hello everyone!” It was Y/N who spoke first. She was going to speak more since it was mostly about her. “Welcome back to my channel! I know it has been a very long while since I’ve posted anything, and I’m aware that many of you guys were concerned for me. I just vanished out of nowhere after all.” Not that anything bad had happened, no- she had a reason for all of that. But one thing after another, right?

“I highly appreciate your worry, guys. I know I owe you an explanation, and here I am, finally giving you one.” Harry’s wife had started a YouTube channel after they got together, uploading videos so that his fans could get to know her better. She was the person who rather spoke through actions than words. The amount of love she received was mind-blowing. She had never expected the support. Her videos always reached millions of views. Some of them were even with Harry and her doing couple stuff or challenges. If it wasn’t for his love, Harry would never agree to things like this. He’s private as we all know.

“First things first, I’ve seen many people speculating that Harry and I allegedly divorced, but as you can see, Mr. Styles is sitting right next to me and I’m still wearing my ring.” She pointed at the diamond ring on her finger. “I’d like to happily confirm that your assumptions about us were wrong.” She leaned over to give a kiss on his cheek, sensing how tense he was. She whispered “It’s gonna be fine” into his ear, running her hands through his brown locks before she focused on what was in front of her.  

“I want to get to the point quickly,” She stressed. “The reason why I disappeared, why I never have accompanied Harry to any special event for the past year, why I wasn’t active on social media, is because something has happened that changed our lives forever. Today, we want to share it with you.”

It was Harry’s cue to stand up, walking behind the camera to have Gemma handing him over something, or even better, someone. When he came back and sat down, he had a bundle of joy in his arms, wrapped up in a pink blanket. The tiny human being underneath, who was sleeping before her father came to get her, let out a little whimper of protest for interrupting her sleep. Harry weighed her back and forth, shushing her softly. “It’s okay, angel.”

Harry’s eyes were full of love for this little miracle. Everybody could see it. He basically had her name written in them. Whenever, their baby girl was mentioned, his eyes lit up and a large smile covered his lips. What could he say? He was a proud daddy.

Y/N blended out the camera for a second and reached out to play with her daughters tiny fingers, then directed her attention back to it. Flustered, she said, “World, meet Olivia Rose Styles. Our daughter…”

She could imagine the amount of confusion and shock their announcement would create. People for sure wouldn’t stop talking about this for weeks. (Online) Magazines and newspapers would report about them. And Twitter? Twitter was going to freak out. She chuckled at the thought.

“It’s true, people,” Harry confirmed, his attention tightly fixed on baby Styles. “We’ve become mummy and daddy.”

“Yeah, we’re parents.” Y/N nodded her head. “That’s why I disappeared. Because I was pregnant. We wanted to keep it a secret.”

It was pretty easy to hide her baby bump in the first couple of months due to the fact that she wore and always loved to wear oversized clothing. Her entire wardrobe consisted mostly of oversized shirts and pullovers, and a few of Harry’s belongings. But the bigger her belly became, the harder it was to cover up the evidence. So, she decided to step out of the spotlight and enjoy her pregnancy to the fullest without any factors that stressed her out. Y/N belonged to the category of people who were easily stressed over the tiniest things; reading negative articles or tweets about her alone was enough to drive her insane, and because she knew that everything stressing her out would also affect the baby, Harry and her had agreed that she lived somewhere else with a better environment; a place where people wouldn’t chase after her and follow every step she did. Not that they would ever admit it, but Harry had bought an island for his Y/N as a wedding gift before they got married (he even ordered to build a house there), and that’s where she had retreated to for the rest of her pregnancy.  She really loved nature. Lying at the beach whenever she pleased felt so refreshing. Knowing that no one was going to snap pictures of her made her feel at ease. Being out of civilization, far away from negative influence, was very therapeutic for her. She attempted to use less social media, or media in general, only requiring it if she wanted to watch a certain event that Harry attended. Of course, she wasn’t all alone. Her husband would never let her. Instead, Harry had bodyguards around her that kept watching her and made sure she was safe when he wasn’t around. Anne and Gemma also kept her company. Harry, on the other side, couldn’t spend much time with her as he hoped, because of tons of work. He at least tried to leave the weekends unoccupied so that he could be with his wife. When it came to the control checks and appointments, Y/N was flown back to the city, with strict measures taken in order to keep her hidden. Or sometimes, her doctor would pay her a visit.

“This was my first pregnancy, and I wanted it to be a memorable experience. I wanted to be at peace, and vanishing seemed the only solution for me.”

Gemma’s voice behind the camera rang. “Explain why you’ve never been seen at a hospital.”

“Oh yes! I almost forgot about that. I gave birth at home!”

Harry, diverting his attention to the camera lens, added, “And it was truly an amazing experience.”

The day, Y/N delivered her baby, both of their mums, Gemma and a midwife were present. Their fathers were waiting outside the room, because Y/N found it embarrassing to give birth in front of her father, or in front of Des. It was painful and exhausting, robbing all strength in Y/N’s body. Harry couldn’t bear to see his poor wife in pain; he felt completely powerless over the situation, only holding his love, encouraging her and eventually, crying with her. He even blamed himself for putting her through so much ache. But, the moment they heard the shriek they were desperately waiting for, the young man completely broke down. When he held her for the first time, his heart felt so full and complete.  She looked like a copy of him, a baby version of himself. And her eyes… a shade of bluish- green.

“For the last three weeks, Harry and I have argued back and forth whether we make a wise decision,” She explained. “We discussed the advantages and disadvantages, and to be completely honest with you; even though the cons overweighed, we still decided to share out little secret with you before some strangers have the chance to release unpermitted information.”

Now that Y/N returned back from the island to their home, the chances of being discovered with a stroller was high. Besides, they didn’t plan on keeping Olivia in between four walls; they planned nice family trips for the future, so addressing their secret was the best.

Harry added, “We are in constant worry about her. You cannot really expect what people can do with an infant, especially if it’s my child. I hope you can understand that we don’t want anyone, except for family and friends, around her.” His expression became hard, his eyes transforming into an intense shade of green and his voice deeper than ever. “I may be kind, and don’t address certain things, but even I know how to destroy people’s lives, so be warned. If you come any closer to my daughter, I’ll end you.”

His statement startled Y/N. She had never experienced him like this before. Overprotective.  She looked at Gemma, who shared the same emotion as her. Y/N pulled herself together and continued talking. There was another point she aimed to address.

 “Please, don’t expect me to pull out the Kylie Jenner card and release a pregnancy journey video after all of this, because it’s not gonna happen,” Y/N informed, shrugging her shoulders. “Sorry, not sorry guys. The past couple of months have been the most joyous and adventurous period of my life, something very special and intimate, and I don’t want to share it with the world expect for the people involved- our family and friends. That’s why I ask for acceptance and understanding.”

Indeed, Y/N had every moment recorded. Sometimes, she would even send a video to Harry while he was at work, mocking him for how much he was missing out. One day, she had sent him footage in which baby Styles had kicked for the very first time, and it had Harry almost jumping out of his socks. It had been in the middle of a meeting with his band when he had received the message. He had gasped loudly, covering his mouth in shock which had attracted everyone’s attention and having them stare at him confusedly. Harry, on the contrary, had tears pooling his eyes. And being the little show-off he is, he went around and proudly showed everybody what his unborn daughter was capable of doing now- not forgetting the occasional ‘That’s daddy’s girl!’ leaving from his pink lips.

“We don’t want anyone to expect too much from us. We are against the idea of sharing pictures online until she has reached a certain age, and we insist that this should be okay for everyone.”

The baby in Harry’s arms slowly became restless, a cry escaping her throat. Everyone took this as a signal to end the video. “Thank you guys for watching this short announcement video. Take care of yourselves, and please don’t overreact too much, okay? Bye!” Everyone winked at the camera, and the recording was done.

After the video was cut and properly edited, Y/N posted it on her channel. Not a even a minute had passed before it had scored thousands of views. Scrolling through the comment section, Y/N chuckled at the fans’ reactions.

Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr… every social platform was a mess. She received lots of comments on her accounts. Famous artists and influencers reached out to her, congratulating them for the new addition to the family.

It was just as Y/N expected; the world was going crazy…

[overheardatthecontinental]

“Is the Manager in?”

“The Manager is always in.” Charon responds as he always does, blinking at the sight of John Wick. When he had left the Continental, less than an hour ago, he seemed calm and resigned. Now, he appeared frazzled, although there were no apparent marks or injuries bruising the assassin. “He retired to his private chambers—”

John Wick nodded and set a handful of coins on the counter that he had taken from the trunk of his car. “I need a room—no accommodations, just standard mission prep.”

The mission prep rooms were used more for local assassins. They came equipped with top of the line technology, as well as space for maps and guides, weapons assembly and cleaning.

“I also need the Technician sent to the room immediately. I need a phone traced yesterday.”

“I’ll make sure to send him to your room once he’s finished with—”

John cuts off Charon. He’ll apologize later, he decides, but there isn’t fucking time. “I’m calling in Sante Fe. I need him now.”

Charon blinks, surprise evident on his face, but he nods. “Of course, Mister Wick.” He reaches back and grabs a lower key off a hook and hands it over, “Shall I direct the Manager to your room?”

“Please. And the Sommelier.” John grabs the key and departs, taking long strides down the hall.

John rarely used the rooms set for mission prep unless he was on a time sensitive case that didn't allow for trips back and forth over the river. He unlocked the room and stared at the expanse.

There was much to do but nothing that he could start until he got a trace on her phone. He doubted this new enemy would make things easy for him. They probably already had the signal blocked but he had to try. The only other hope was that Winston would know something. The Manager had an ear to the ground in every part of New York City.

John tosses the key to one of the tables and starts pacing.

Whoever wanted Lorenzo and the D’Antonio siblings killed would benefit from the Camorra collapsing. Of course, that included everyone the Camorra held something over, lesser Italian mobs, and the other eleven assholes who held seats at the High Table.

Bullshit politics, he thinks.

Somebody had followed him, watched him to analyze his weaknesses. And they had taken Helen over bullshit politics.

John grabs the chair that sits in front of one of the tables and throws it across the room. The wall cracks under the weight before the chair snaps into a handful of pieces.

“That was an antique, Jonathan.”

“I’ll pay for damages.” He says, not caring, as he turns. Winston stares at him, looking him up and down. John doesn’t give him a chance to comment on his, likely, pathetic posture. “I need a list of everyone who wants Lorenzo D’Antonio dead.”

Winston stares at him in disbelief, “Half of the Camorra want Lorenzo D’Antonio dead. His children want him dead. Most of New York, the entirety of the Sicilian Mafia, the Triad, the Bravta—“

John shakes his head, “I’m looking for an individual, aside from his children. Someone would benefit from the collapse of the Camorra.”

“Again, the list is nearly endless. I would indirectly benefit from collapse of the Camorra. But the point is moot, to act against Lorenzo is to act against the High Table itself.”

John exhales a breath. He was afraid that would be the case.

He opens his phone and looks at his messages again. From Helen’s work phone, a picture of her had been sent. She looked like she was sleeping but he knew she was sedated.

Her hands were bound in front of her and while she seemed largely okay, there were bruises forming on her arms. Her bare arms, exposed by her nightgown. And in that state of undress, they had her on a cement floor.

If Winston didn’t know, and the Technician couldn’t trace the phone, he would have no choice but to go after Lorenzo. He would face whatever backlash there was with the knowledge that Helen would be safe.

Unless, the unknown enemy didn’t keep up their end of the bargain…

Winston clears his throat, “You’ve never shown an interest in Underworld politics.”

“No.” John says, still staring at the screen. “Winston, I need you to dig as quietly as you can. Anybody who’s challenged the Camorra over the last… I don’t know, three years. Open challenges, rumors of trying to find someone to take a contract against Lorenzo.”

“Jonathan,” Winston steps forward, cautiously asking, “are you going to try to kill Lorenzo D’Antonio?”

If I have to.

“I’ve been asked to.”

Winston’s frown deepens “Conspiring to kill a member of the High Table is enough to get you stripped of services!”

John inclines his head, “I’m well aware of the rules, Winston. And I’d rather not have to kill Lorenzo but the matter is complicated.”

“In what way is it complicated?”

John hesitates. He had been stupid to think he could keep Helen safe from the Underworld. And while he had hoped to never reveal her existence to anyone, it was too late for that. He had, unwittingly, involved her.

Winston would disapprove, he already knew.

“I’m being blackmailed, and I’m not sure by who, but someone” I love  “very dear to me is being threatened if I don’t.”

His mentor swears. “You know better than to get involved with someone not of our world.”

“I do.” John agrees.

Again, Winston swears.

“I have no inclination to kill the D’Antonio’s, but if I can’t find out who has her, where she is… I will.”

“You can’t act against the High Table—”

John says nothing but raises a brow.

Winston knows him better than anyone, save Helen. The older assassin took John under his wing in John’s early days in the Underworld. He offered guidance and advice, impressed with John’s skill but devastated by his lack of ambition.

Looking back, his relationship with Winston was the most consistent in his life.

So Winston knows, better than most, just how reckless John Wick is willing to be.

Looking defeated, Winston shakes his head, “No woman is worth your life.”

John snorts, “She’s worth a hell of a lot more than my life.”

There’s a knock on the door and John answers it. The Technician, looking rather frazzled, comes in with a large backpack and two smaller briefcases.

“Charon said I was needed.”

John takes out his phone again and unlocks it. “I recently received a call from this contact. I need their phone traced remotely, as fast as you can. It’s likely they’re expecting a trace.”

The Technician takes the phone over to one of the table, “Do you know who the phone is registered to? It’ll be easier if I can track their SIM card. They likely dumped the phone itself to disable the GPS”

“Helen Kingston.”

“Know when she bought it?”

John shakes his head, “No, but it might have been charged to her work account.”

“Where does she work?”

John barely holds back a wince because if Winston was annoyed before, he was about to become really pissed off. “New York City Counseling Associates.”

He can practically hear the steam coming out of Winston’s ears.

“Jonathan, please tell me your girlfriend is not a therapist.”

“My girlfriend’s not a therapist.” Not a lie.

She wasn’t his girlfriend. Just his therapist.

The Technician asked as he plugged in a laptop, “You know her social?”

He probably shouldn’t, but he does. He recites the digits and looks up to see Winston staring at him incredulously.

“Jonathan, who is this woman to you?”

John looks back down, watching as the Technician opens the file attached with Helen’s social security number. Newspaper clippings mentioning her pop-up, along with her transcripts going from Kindergarten all the way through graduate school. Her bank statements, along with every credit card assigned to her.

“Jonathan!”

John doesn’t look up, “Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to, Winston.”

“Please tell me that she’s not your—"

There’s another knock on the door and John, gratefully, steps away from the table and from Winston.

The Sommelier arrives with a room service table on wheels, covered with a white sheet that John knows from experience will have a variety of weapons.

He pushes the door further open and allows the woman entrance.

“Mister Wick.” She greets.

“Rita.”

“Charon was unsure of what you needed so I brought an assortment for you to try.”

“I appreciate that. Unfortunately, I’m currently unsure of what I’ll need. Versatility is a must.”

“Jonathan!” Winston says again, “Please excuse us, Rita, Karl, I need to speak to Mister Wick in the other room.”

Fuck.

John sighs, looking to the Technician, “If the phone rings from that, or any unknown number, get me immediately.”

“Of course, Mister Wick.”

John follows Winston to the back room.

It consists of a combined kitchenette unit with a coffee pot, microwave, and sink along with a twin-sized bed to nap or rest before missions.

John closes the door and crosses his arms.

He can practically hear Helen telling him to stop looking so defensive.

Winston stands by the counter and runs a hand through his greying hair. “Tell me that you’re not about to go to war with the High Table over your fucking therapist.”

John says nothing.

“Jonathan.”

“You told me not to tell you.”

Winston swears again, the anger and disdain dripping from his colorful language. John waits for him to get it out of his system. If he didn’t need Winston for this, he might have just walked away. He considers it in the moment but if the Tech can’t locate that phone, Winston might be his only shot at figuring out who had her.

But he could handle Winston, so long as he made it about the D’Antonio’s.

Finally, the old man shakes his head, “What the hell were you thinking?”

He isn’t sure what to say.

It’s been seven months and John’s note entirely sure what he was thinking, going into session that first day.

She had given him comfort that day in the café. The only comfort he could really remember ever receiving.

He knew therapy was pointless for someone like him, but he’d called her… just to hear her voice one more time.

But she had sucked him in, convinced him to come see her again and he had been done for.

What had he been thinking?

That Helen’s eyes reminded him of the forests in Belarus. That her smile was worth more than an eternity of sunny days. That she had railroaded him with kindness until he wasn’t sure who he was anymore.

That if someone like Helen could see the good in him… maybe he wasn’t all bad.

His intentions, of course, are marked by his selfishness.

It never should have gotten to this point.

He had been careful, making sure that he left no trace behind on the nights he snuck into her bedroom to watch her sleep. But he hadn’t been careful enough.

He was so focused on Helen, he stopped looking over his shoulder.

And now, she was paying the price.

Winston opens his mouth and John cuts him off before he can be berated, “I don’t have an answer for you, Winston. I fucked up.”

“Clearly.” Winston shakes his head, then loudly spits out, “Therapy. Do you lay on a couch and talk about your childhood?”

John rolls his eyes. This is what Helen would call mental health stigma.

“Why do you need therapy?” Winston asks, the disgust clear in his voice.

Again, he has no answer.

At least, no answer that Winston would accept.

There was a laundry list of reasons that John needed therapy. There was probably one, equally as long, as why Winston would benefit from therapy. But Winston wouldn’t see it that way.

Before he started to see Helen, John probably would have agreed with him.

“I’m not sure if this helps,” John says, “But I only started going because she was attractive.”

Physically, mentally, emotionally. John had been an eager moth to her flame.

“If she’s attractive, you ask her to dinner. You fuck her. You get her out of your system and get your head back into the game. You don’t complain to her about your issues! But now we have some civilian out there, with no knowledge of our world, being held hostage and—"

“She knows.”

The weight of those words rests on Winston and he stops his rant, suddenly going very still.

“What?”

“She knows. About all of this.”

“You told,” Winston repeated, “a fucking mandated reporter that you’re an assassin?”

John nods once.

Winston’s eyes seem to pop as he stares at John.

“I know I’ve already asked this, so forgive me the repetition, but what the fuck were you thinking?” Winston all but screams.

“She won’t talk.”

“Oh, are you sure about that?”

“Yes.” John says with a sense of finality, “Even with this…” he withholds a shudder, again remembering the picture of her bound and sedated on a cold, cement floor, “I trust her.”

“Clearly.” Winston snarls, “But there is a reason we don’t advertise our services to the world! Every single person who learns about the Underworld, in any respect, is supposed to be reported to your local Adjudication services.”

“You know I don’t give a fuck about S.O.P’s.” And before Winston can reply, John raises his voice slightly, “But you also know that I don’t trust easily. Helen’s not going to go running to the media or even the police. The moment she figures out what’s going on…” John shakes his head, wondering if she’s even awake yet, “she’ll know I’m coming for her.”

Winston continues to glare but John holds his gaze. He still looks furious but his posture softens, “Do you love her?”

“Yes.”

Winston lets out a sigh and shakes his head. “You always did take things to the extremes.” Winston mutters, “John Wick gets a hard-on and burns New York City to the ground. Unbelievable.”

In a moment, the air between them had changed. The tension disappeared, even if the disapproval remained.

“Lorenzo and Gianna arrive in the city tomorrow night. Santino is already here. I’ve been given three days to kill them all.” He’s never been good at asking for anything but he finds himself ready and willing to beg, “Winston, I need you to find out who has her. I have no desire to start a war with the High Table and the Camorra, but have no doubt, I will if I have to.”

“It may take time.”

“A luxury we don’t have. If we can’t find whoever is pulling the strings by the time they arrive tomorrow night, I will kill them.”

“I need more than a day, Jonathan. You have through the weekend.”

“I’m not leaving Helen that long.”

“At least, give me until Saturday night.” The Manager compromises, “I’ll do my best. I’ll begin right now, but right now, our only lead is someone who would benefit from the collapse of the Camorra. It isn’t much to go on.”

“Then let’s hope the Technician can pinpoint a location.”

…

She wakes up shaking before she even opens her eyes. Her bed is hard and icy and her covers are no longer tucked around her.

And then it comes rushing back. Waking up to a hand around her mouth and the glint of a needle. A momentary struggle and then nothingness.

Her mouth is dry, her limbs feel heavy.

Even opening her eyes is a struggle but Helen forces them open. All of the sudden, she is very awake.

She’s on her side, still in her nightgown, which gratefully reached her knees. She’s lying on a concrete floor. Iron bars reach from the cold floor up to the ceiling above her, caging her in a box. She uses her bound hands to push up to a sitting position to get a better look around.

The cell itself is empty, save a small stall in the corner that she really hopes contains a bathroom.

Outside of the cell is a spacious unfinished basement. There are mats on the opposite corner, covering the ground. Two punching bags hang from the rafters.

In front of her, two men sit playing cards on a rickety, foldaway table.

There’s a moment of blinding terror, her heart racing in her chest as she takes in her new surroundings. And then there is an eerie wave of calm.

She knows herself well enough to accept her weaknesses for what they are. Physically, she probably can’t put up too much of a fight. She doesn’t have the skill. It occurs to her that she may not even be able to throw a proper punch.

But she’s not useless, either.

She clears her throat, wincing as the action scratches at the dryness.

“Would one of you like to call whoever’s in charge?” She rasps out.

They exchange a look and the one on the left says, “I’m in charge.”

Helen surveys him. If she had to guess, she’d put him in his late twenties. His pants are baggy with tears she can make out from where she sat and he was wearing a sweatshirt.

This wasn’t a random kidnapping, she knew. This was planned. Well thought out. Someone who knew her schedule and learning routine took time. Then, they had sedated her. It was too organized, too clean.

This was about John.

And that kid sitting, playing cards probably had no idea the kind of monster he had just set loose by taking her.

She hums, “Maybe in the room, but not of the operation.” Helen pushes herself back so she can lean against the wall, “Call your boss, honey.”

“Listen, little bitch,” he pushes back from the table and steps over to the iron bars, taunting, “I own you right now.” He tugs a gun loose from the back of his pants, “I could kill you just like that! So how about you show me a little respect.”

“No, you listen, kid.” She forces herself up to her knees and then wobbles to her feet, “You point that thing at me, and we’re going to have a problem. If your boss,” she emphasizes, “wanted me dead, I would have been dead in my bed. No, he took me because he needs me. Alive and unharmed.

“Now, I’ll take pity on you because you’re young and you probably have no idea who you are messing with right now.” And she was certain that neither of her current jailors would stand a chance against John Wick, “So how about you call your boss, and let the grown-ups talk? Hmm?”

She’s dealt with enough pissed off clients to know when to stand her ground and when to back down. And she would be damned if she backed down from a guy who would probably trip running from the cops because he wouldn’t tie his damned laces.

And then he turns away, glaring and tucking his gun back into his pants. He grabs a phone off the table.

Helen closes her eyes and breathes.

Her head is pounding but that truly is the least of her worries.

“She’s awake.” The kid tells whoever’s on the other line. “She wants to speak to the boss.”

The kid hums along to whatever is being said on the other end. He is clearly cut off at the end, pulling the phone from his ear and looking mildly disappointed.

Disillusion amongst the ranks? She wonders. She can work with that.

He shoots her a glare, “He’s coming.”

Helen nods her thanks and rubs at her eyes. Even now that she is awake, her lids still feel heavy. Her body, lethargic. Sore. Cold. She backs up to the wall and slides down to a sitting position.

Her body feels overly tense and she wonders if that’s a side effect of the drug, the cold, or the trauma. Or a mix of all three.

The kid is still standing, which leads her to believe that her actual captor is somewhere in the building. At the very least, nearby.

Sure enough, she hears footsteps coming down the stairs.

He’s not too much older than the boys guarding her but she’d place him in his late thirties. Dark hair, dark eyes. A pleasant smile as he regards her with interest. He’s well-dressed and walks with the assurance that comes from having everything in life handed to you.

“Hello, Miss Kingston.”

“How long have I been here?” She asks and that seems to set him aback.

The man tilts his head. “Do you know who I am?”

“Can’t say I’m interested.” She retorts, “How long have I been here?”

His lips quirk in a daring smile, “You’re not the least bit curious about who I am or why you’re here?”

“I can guess the why. John Wick pissed you off. Or you need him for something no one else could possibly handle. Vengeance, blackmail, I don’t really give a shit. And knowing your name, who you are… it won’t matter because unless you let me go right now, John is going to hunt you down and disembowel you. So let me ask you again, how long have I been here?”

She can vaguely see his two minions staring at her wide-eyed in the background. It occurs to her that maybe she shouldn’t be talking to this stranger like this but what is he going to do? To shoot her, to hurt her would be suicide by angry assassin.

But their leader just smirks, “And all this time, I thought you were just a pretty face. You’re a delight. To answer your question, cara mia, it’s nearly noon.”

She went to bed at ten.

And John, bless his heart, was never as subtle as he thought he was.

He would have been there sometime after midnight for his nightly stalking habits that she pretended she didn’t know about.

“He knows I’m missing.”

“Yes.” He says, “I spoke to him last night. He was quite distraught.”

Helen shakes her head in disbelief. His calmness was unsettling because either he didn’t know what John was capable of or he somehow thought himself above it. She guessed the latter, “I don’t know what you need John for. Between us, I don’t really care. But you need to think long and hard about if this is really your best idea.”

Her captor only smiles, “While your concern is touching, I’m not worried.”

“Then you’re a fool. He won’t let you walk away after this.”

“He won’t have a choice. By the time Wick completes what he needs to, he’ll find himself too entrapped by politics to be able to hunt me down. His precious therapist will be freed, and he will be consumed by the punishment for his actions.

“I suppose,” he inclines his head, “I have you to thank for all this. You entrapped John Wick. I entrapped you. And now the world will be at my fingertips.”

Helen knew she didn’t fully understand Underworld politics but she was certain that this man was vastly overplaying his hand.

“The Camorra will fall. Italia will be mine. And all because John Wick made the mistake of falling in love.”

She swallows but tries not to let it show.

Because she knew. Of course she knew.

She knew John better than anybody. Half the time, she knew what he was thinking before he did.

Helen wasn’t immune to the longing stares he thought he hid so well. She wasn’t blind to the midnight visits John paid her, at first only once or twice a week, until it steadily increased to a nightly guardianship.

And she wasn’t stupid enough to think that no one was ever going to figure it out. A part of her even expected this. At the very least, she wasn’t surprised to find herself kidnapped and held hostage at the whim of one of John’s enemies.

“A therapist.” The man shakes his head, amused, “Tell me, whatever does John Wick cry to you about?”

John hadn’t been kidding about the misplaced misogyny in his world, as well as the unfettered arrogance. This was ridiculous.

She had dealt with ridiculous men before and, while this one clearly believed himself to be special, she wasn’t above doing what she did best.

Helen exhaled, assessing the best she could in her weakened state.

Now was not the time for mistakes.

She took in the suit.

The manner in which he presented himself.

His demeanor.

His attitude.

His actions.

An obvious neophyte in way over his head.

In a position of power that obviously didn’t belong to him, convinced he was far better than he was.

Certainty was never possible, but it was worth the gamble. “Does your mother know that it was you that killed your father?” She asks.

Immediately, the cocky smile vanishes from her captor. “What?” He growls out.

“She struggled to conceive, didn’t she? You were her little miracle baby. Thank fuck you were a son so she didn’t have to go through that again. Daddy needed his heir, didn’t he?”

Bullseye.

“And your father was appeased, for a while. But then you grew older. Not so good at the physical stuff, were you? It must have been confusing, never being able to meet your father’s expectations while your mother insisted that you were perfect in every way.”

“You must think you’re very clever, Miss Kingston--”

“But not as clever as you.” She quips, “Your father tried to teach you to run the business, but years of your mother’s coddling made you soft.”

“Shut up.”

“For years, you trained. You did what he asked. It wasn’t enough, it was never enough. You just couldn’t take it anymore so you killed him. Well,” Helen pauses, “You had him killed. Wouldn’t want to mess up that manicure, would we? Which leads me again, to my first question. What I can’t figure out. Does your mother know that it was you who killed your father?”

She’s met with utter silence. His two minions are staring at her in stunned disbelief. Her captor, however, is fuming. She can feel the rage, the humiliation pouring off him in waves.

Helen inclines her head, “Unless, oh, honey,” she makes a sympathetic face, “Did mommy kill daddy for you?”

“Nick!” A long string of Italian follows the name and the minion who hadn’t threatened her with a gun nods, frantically, before running across the room.

She looks back to the man in charge, “I prefer to counsel in my office, but I can make an exception if you want to start talking through your mommy issues.  I won’t even charge you, considering you’ll be dead in a week anyway.”

Nick runs back over with capped needle and Helen resists the urge to roll her eyes. “Here Mister DeLuca.”

Well, now she had a name.

“Seriously?” She gestures around at the cell, “I can’t even walk six feet in any direction, and you’re going to sedate me? If you didn’t want to talk about your mommy issues, you could just say so. Sometimes, we need to build up to the bigger things.”

Her door was unlocked, and it kills her but she doesn’t move or try for escape. She’s still too tired from the last cocktail of sedatives they loaded her with.

The kid, Nick, comes in and Helen idly offers her arm.

Do what you want, she thinks, it won’t stop the storm that’s coming.

“You’re right about one thing.” Helen says, “I am John Wick’s therapist. Which means I know John better than anyone. I know what he’s willing to compromise on and what he’ll hunt you down until the ends of the Earth over.”

Nick grabs her arm, holding it tight as if he’s expecting her to start to struggle as he uncaps the needle with his teeth.

“He’s going to tear you apart.”

The needle pierces her skin.

“So I’ll ask you again. Are you really sure this is your best idea?”

It doesn’t take long for the sedative to run its course but she holds DeLuca’s gaze until the world grows fuzzy.

...................

Taglist: @greenmanalishi​, @cynic-spirit

[brajeshupadhyay]

Thousands of us have picked up a surprise savings habit in lockdown, a Money Mail survey reveals today. The coronavirus crisis has inflicted job losses and pay cuts – and still threatens to kill off many struggling businesses. But despite the doom and gloom, many Mail readers have found they are saving hundreds of pounds thanks to lockdown, and becoming more financially secure as a result. Spending cuts: Despite the doom and gloom, many readers have found themselves saving hundreds of pounds thanks to lockdown and becoming more financially secure as a result  Large expenses such as holidays, commuting costs and entertainment have vanished following unprecedented social-distancing restrictions – giving households the chance to set aside money during an economically uncertain time. Exclusive research for Money Mail by Consumer Intelligence today suggests 16 per cent of people now feel financially better off. Almost half are spending less since social-distancing restrictions were introduced, with 38 per cent saving more. Nearly four in five families say they have more money to spend since lockdown, with a quarter having between £200 and £500 more in disposable income each month. The findings come as figures from the Bank of England yesterday showed the nation saved £16.2 billion in April. In the six months to February households saved an average of £5 billion every month. What is more, households cleared an astonishing £5 billion of credit-card debt, which was more than double the previous record of £2.4 billion paid off in March. In a standard month the nation would usually clear £300 million of credit-card debt. Becky O’Connor, personal finance specialist at insurer Royal London, says: ‘A financial divide has opened up during lockdown. ‘While some are really struggling on reduced incomes, there’s another group whose experience has been almost the exact opposite. ‘If you are in a position to do so, there might never be a better time to ‘build back better’ and save.’ Here, Money Mail meets some of the nation’s new ‘accidental savers’. At last, I’ve managed to build a little nest egg  By HENRY DEEDES  All my life I’ve been a spender rather than a saver. Whatever I’ve earned during my career, my bank account has always puffed and wheezed its way through to pay day. I’ve tried to be sensible. I’ve opened saving accounts, dabbled in Isas. I even bought Premium Bonds once. Much good it’s done me. You see, any disposable cash I’ve ever had has this annoying habit of winking at me through the computer glass, urging me to go out and enjoy it. Terrible, I know, but there’s something innately therapeutic about rewarding yourself after a busy week with a little something.  A case of wine, something new to hang in the flat. Perhaps another ill-advised addition to the summer wardrobe from a tempting online emporium. Invariably, no sooner have I clicked the purchase button and the boiler will suddenly crank to halt and there’ll be nothing in the cookie jar to pay for a repair. I never learn. Lockdown has changed all that. Like a lot of people, I imagine, being trapped inside an apartment for the best part of three months has brought about a vast reduction in expenses. No need now for expensive Travelcards, pricey gym memberships or all those overpriced cups of coffee every day. And that’s before you’ve taken into account what I used to spend going out to see friends.  Remember socialising? Drinks rounds, restaurant bills. I dread to think how much I used to splurge on late-night Uber journeys during normal times. But it was a lot. And so with all these weighty charges lifted from my balance sheet, I’ve started to experience a novelty. When I check my balance at the end of the month, there’s now actually something left in the kitty. In the past I’d have been tempted to do something extravagant. ‘Why not?’ would have been my attitude. But in these times of enforced isolation, that thinking has been replaced with what’s the point? Instead, I’ve been putting it in an online investment Isa with savings app Moneybox. I pay a set amount in each month, as well as any additional funds I might have left over.  It also has a nifty feature which rounds up all my debit card transactions to the nearest pound and automatically squirrels away the extra cash. H ow satisfying it has been, how oddly empowering. Each time I check to see how my savings are accruing I now get that same whoosh of excitement I used to get when an Amazon parcel would plonk through my letterbox. It would be nice to think that when this is all over, when the High Street tills begin to ring again and when the beer pumps start flowing, I will be able to maintain this spirit of restraint.  If nothing else, this pandemic has taught us how quickly life can go south. In bleak times it pays to be prudent. Doubtless this is the last thing Chancellor Rishi Sunak wants to hear. As we re-emerge from lockdown, he needs as many idiots like me as possible flashing their plastic around with reckless abandon to get our ravaged economy moving. But if this crisis does make some a little more financially responsible, surely that’s no bad thing in the long term.   I have cleared my credit card    Olivia McCulla, who works in PR, has saved by moving back in with her parents By moving back in with her parents, Olivia McCulla, who works in PR, has saved enough to pay off her £1,000 credit card debt. She still pays £775 a month in rent for her flat in North-West London but gets £100 back that would usually go on bills because she isn’t there. Her £120-a-month travel costs and £150-a-week work lunch habit have also disappeared while she works from her parents’ home near Leeds. She has also saved thousands after the two hen-dos and four weddings she was supposed to attend this summer were postponed. However, she now has eight weddings in the diary next year to budget for. Olivia, 29, who wants to buy a property in the next few years, has opened a new savings account. She says: ‘It feels more important than ever to have a rainy-day fund with things being so uncertain. ‘In London I was paying ��9.50 for a gin and tonic and through the nose for a very small flat I dread going back to. ‘Lockdown has made me question if I even want to buy in London.’ Before the coronavirus crisis, Olivia was saving about £100 a month. Her father Bernard, 65, and his wife Susan, 66, have seen their household costs rise slightly since their daughter moved home but are also saving money each month.  They previously spent £100 eating out each week, so their bank balance is boosted by £400 a month. And instead of paying a tradesman £2,000 to replace his patio with a flower garden, Bernard did it himself and slashed the cost in half. Before social-distancing regulations were relaxed, Bernard was also saving £180 a month on his golf and walking-football memberships. He says: ‘We are very fortunate. Lockdown has made me think we should live more for today and enjoy our pensions more.’ I feel guilty I’m better off  Quids in: Ashleigh Meale is saving between £500 and £700 a month Ashleigh Meale says her ‘stripped-back life’ means she is now saving between £500 and £700 a month. This is despite her grocery bill doubling to £400 a month and signing up to a TV and film- streaming service costing £60 a year. Before lockdown, the 27-year-old recruitment consultant, who is currently working from home, was putting away between £250 and £500 but would spend hundreds of pounds a month socialising with friends at expensive bars and restaurants.  Now, she and her boyfriend Rob, 38, cook their meals from scratch at home. Ashleigh, who lives in Sheffield, is also saving £70 a month by working from home and not having to pay to commute by bus. She has also been unable to spend money on holidays since the Government warned against non-essential travel. Ashleigh admits that, while she is not a natural saver, she has now realised how much she spends unnecessarily and hopes to remain mindful about what expenses she reintroduces when restrictions are finally lifted. She says: ‘Feeling better off financially during this time is a strange position to be in and it does make me feel guilty when so many people are struggling. But it has given me time to re-evaluate things, and I have no intention of blowing what I’ve saved. ‘I don’t need to be out all the time spending money on eating out and drinks when I could be just as happy with a barbecue in someone’s garden. What I have missed the most is my friends — not the expensive socialising.’ Pay cut but £400-a-month saving  Sally Walsh is saving an extra £400 a month on top of £200 she was already setting aside in a help-to-buy Isa Sally Walsh was worried when she was told she would have to take a 10 per cent pay cut in March. But despite the shock announcement, the 24-year-old engineer has found her finances have improved during lockdown. She is now saving an extra £400 a month on top of £200 she was already setting aside in a help-to-buy Isa. Since working from home, Sally has saved around £200 a month by not having to commute to central London, and a further £200 by not eating or drinking out after work. The only bill to go up is her food cost now she cooks almost every meal at home. Sally, who has lived with her parents in Bromley, South-East London since graduating, is determined to continue saving even after lockdown lifts. She says: ‘My goal is to move out as soon as possible. I feel like I am closer to it now. ‘I don’t have to spend so much on going out. I hope I will soon be able to have people over and cook for them.’ Childcare cut by thousands  Claire Jarrett and her partner Jon Howell are saving £50 a day in train fares alone Claire Jarrett and her partner Jon Howell have saved enough since lockdown to pay for renovations on their home. The couple need to fix the roof on their house in West Malling, Kent, and want to make the garden more child-friendly for their one-year-old daughter, Eleanor, to play. Claire, 31, had only been back at work for two days after returning from maternity leave before staff were told they had to work from home. With Jon, also 31, working from home too, they are saving £50 a day in train fares alone by not having to commute to the insurance firm where they both work in Bromley, South-East London. They are also saving around £5 a day on lunches at work, £80 a month on petrol and £200 a month by not eating out. But their biggest saving has been on childcare. It usually costs £800 a month to send Eleanor to nursery — but the couple have not had to pay since March. It has helped the couple to replenish their savings after Claire’s maternity leave and move their renovation plans a bit further forward. However Claire says their financial gain is likely to be short-lived. She says: ‘Lockdown has made us realise we do not need to go out as much but lots of the costs will be re-introduced when life goes back to normal, unfortunately.’ Not relying on investments  Retired Gerry Short is making savings by not playing golf, employing a cleaner or taking weekend theatre trips Retired Gerry Short has seen such a drop in his spending that he has decided to stop withdrawing income from his investments for the next couple of years. Gerry, 61, a former college principal, has two pensions that pay £20,000 a year. He gets a further £16,000 a year from investments.  After the pandemic hit the stock market, his investments plummeted. While they have recovered slightly, he wants to give them time to recover. His reduced outgoings mean he can do this as he is making savings on weekend theatre trips which can cost up to £100 a time.  He was refunded £60 of his golf-club membership. He also stopped spending £20 on drinks three or four times a week after games.  The father-of-one, who lives in Leicestershire, also no longer employs a cleaner, which cost £100 a month. He says: ‘I was aware I was spending a lot as a distraction after my wife died and knew it couldn’t continue. Lockdown has given me time to plan further in the future.’ Windfall from lost holiday  Dannielle Phillips has had to put expensive holiday plans on halt Dannielle Phillips, 32, spends most of her spare cash on trips away. But since lockdown kicked in, expensive holiday plans have ground to a halt. She has already got an £870 refund for a trip to Mexico that was supposed to take place in April. And she has received a £500 voucher she can use to re-book her holiday to Portugal in June for next year. Dannielle, a senior marketing consultant, had always put £250 a month into Premium Bonds, but has since increased this to £750 a month. Since lockdown began, she has saved around £2,500 in total, which she says would have been impossible for her before. She has always checked her banking apps frequently, but is definitely more aware of incoming and outgoing transactions now. Dannielle, who lives in Croydon, South London, says she also feels very lucky it worked out like this because she had originally handed in her notice in February and was planning to leave after finishing a project six weeks later. But the new job she had been offered fell through so her company agreed to rehire her. Dannielle says: ‘I am looking forward to lockdown ending but also dreading it because I will need to rebalance old habits. ‘I’m going to try to budget more at the weekends because I want to keep saving to buy a house. ‘Building up my savings has become more important to me because the future feels so uncertain.’ a.murray@dailymail.co.uk Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence. The post UK’s accidental savers: Poll shows many are better off in lockdown  appeared first on Sansaar Times.

http://sansaartimes.blogspot.com/2020/06/uks-accidental-savers-poll-shows-many.html

[residentanchor]

A Lesson in Practicality 17

<<Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Summary: Thomas sends Patton a rather interesting photo... speaking of, they probably should meet up and catch Thomas up on things, huh? Warning: It gets a bit dark at the end of this one. Word Count: 5919

Roman had a firm grip on Patton's hand while they sat on the living room floor. With a determined look on his face, Roman was fully concentrated on his work.

"Sit still, Patton!"

"Sorry, I'm just getting antsy." Patton held up his right hand and looked at the drying polish. "It's so pretty, you did a great job!"

"Of course I did!" Roman never broke his gaze away from Patton's hand, carefully tilting the fingers as he applied polish. "I'm a master artist of course!"

bzzt bzzt

Patton looked over at the coffee table next to him as his phone lit up just out of his reach as Roman still held his hand. He looked back over at his drying hand. "When did you learn how to paint nails?"

"When I was a kid, I loved doing my sisters' hair and nails. I got picked on for it but it made her happy, and eventually, I just stopped caring and did it on my own."

bzzt bzzt

Patton looked back at his phone as it lit up once more. He leaned over as he tried to read it before Roman tugged gently on his wrist. "Sorry, Roman!"

"It can wait a minute, Patton, I'm almost done!"

bzzt bzzt

"Oh, fine!" Roman sat up and reached for the phone, holding it up. "What's your password?"

"Hold on!" Patton leaned over and used his ring finger which Roman had yet to get to, typing in a few random numbers. "There!"

Roman clicked on Patton's phone as it lit up. "It's just Thomas, he sent some picture of a poster about..." Roman's brows furrowed and he pulled the phone in closer. His eyes lit up and he gasped, rereading it again and bouncing in his spot. "Oh my goodness, this is the most epic thing!"

"What? What is it?" Roman flipped the phone around, showing a closeup of a bulletin board at some store. It was filled with business cards and advertisements but was focused and centered on one in particular. Patton leaned in and squinted, keeping aware of his drying hands. "It's a poster about... Oh my goodness!" Patton perked up and looked at Roman. "You have a fan club!"

"I have a fan club! And apparently they meet every week to talk about how awesome I am!"

"They probably make cute little snacks and everything! Oh, I love those kinds of meetups! I never get to go to any!"

"Well, obviously we have to go!"

"Yes, oh my gosh that would be so cool! Wait, but..." Patton's frown fell a bit. "What if someone recognizes you? You probably shouldn't go."

"What, no! W-what if I wear a disguise?"

"Roman. They only know you while you wear a disguise." Roman groaned and his shoulders fell. "I'm sorry, buddy."

"No, you're right. I should be smart about this. Wait! That gives me an idea! You should go and bring Logan with you!"

"Not that I'm not on board, but why Logan?"

"Virgil will say no, and if he did go he'd just make snarky remarks all night. However, if Logan went, he'd be all smart and gather data and stuff. Besides, that nerd needs to get out way more!"

Roman placed Patton's phone back on the table and reached for his hand to continue his work. "You're right, that is a good idea! Oh, this is so exciting! It's like we're spies or something!"

"Spies helping a hero help the people! I must know what they talk about when they gather! Now sit still or I'll ruin your nails, I'm almost done!"

"Sorry!"

With a bit of convincing by both Roman and Patton, Logan found himself walking into a cafe one night with Patton, totally uninterested and wondering why he had agreed in the first place.

Patton raced ahead eagerly to the counter. "Come on, Lo! Let's get some snacks!" Logan sighed and slowly walked up, looking at the board of specials. "I'm still upset I didn't get to make anything."

"It is in a cafe, Patton, there would be no need to make snacks when they are provided." Logan gazed around the cafe, finding a group of tables pushed together in the far corner and two people sitting at it, talking amongst themselves. Both were fairly average height, one being a bit taller than the other. The shorter man had dyed his hair a light blonde, however. "Perhaps that is where we shall be gathering?"

"Oh, let's find out!"

"Patton, you haven't ordered you--and he's gone." Logan rubbed his eyes briefly before walking over, wondering why he agreed to come out at all.

"Logan, you were right!" Patton spun around. "These are the people who started this little club!"

"Kind of surprised you showed up so early, to be honest. We just got here."

Logan adjusted his glasses and stared the two men down curiously. "Punctuality is important."

Patton smiled and shrugged at the two. "I was just really excited!"

"Well, it's nice to see some new faces around here! My name's Sam!"

"I'm Patton, and this is my roommate Logan!"

"Salutations." Despite his slightly sour mood, Logan gave a kind smile out of courtesy.

"My name is also Sam." The other, shorter blonde man said. "I know, and yes, it's confusing, but people call me Sammy."

"Well, it's nice to meet ya!"

"I must ask, what caused you to create such a frivolous group?"

The two looked confused at the word choice but chose to ignore it. "Well, isn't it obvious? The guy is a walking comic book hero." Sam shrugged.

Sammy rolled his eyes. "I keep telling you, he's more like a cartoon prince than something out of a comic book."

"Hey, we don't know his backstory! We don't know if he's a Peter Parker or a Clark Kent!"

"I understand none of these references, remind me to talk to Virgil when we arrive back home." Patton nodded, looking at the two Sams' as they debated with each other. Logan tugged on Patton's sleeve and gestured back to the counter, where Patton got a muffin and a cocoa and bought one for Logan despite the complaints. The successful smirk on Patton's face when Logan took a sip and seemed to enjoy his drink was enough to show that Logan wasn't actually upset.

They returned to the table and took their seats as only a few other people ended up joining them.

The taller Sam stood up and smiled. "Alright everyone, let's get this started. We have some new folks here, so let's just quickly go over why we are here."

Sammy stood up this time. "We seem to have a superhuman being in our city, running around at night and stopping crimes. We go over the reports and news over the past week and continue to discuss if he is an asset or a threat to the city."

"Also we still don't have a name for him." Someone mumbled.

"Hey, I offered Mister Doctor Electricon!"

"Electricon?" Logan mumbled to himself. "That's not even a thing. A name for a convention about electronics perhaps..."

"I still vote Tuxedo Mask!"

"He doesn't even wear a tuxedo, and not original!"

"I thought he was just... The Prince?" Patton asked, confused.

"No, we can't call him that," Sammy replied. "There's already a celebrity named Prince, it won't work."

"I'm still up for calling him Prince Harming if he ever turns evil!" A man called out.

"Evil?" Patton cried out. "B-but he's helping people and stopping them and-and... why would he turn evil?"

"Evil is merely a concept given by society to justify-" Logan watched as Patton became physically more upset with his words. "... if the news reports he is bad, then people will believe it and make him seem bad."

"He's not bad though!"

"Patton?" Sam leaned in over the table. "Have you met him?"

Patton looked around the table, all eyes eagerly awaiting his next words. He bit his lip, not wanting to lie but telling the truth certainly was out. He stared down at his pastel blue nails. "Kinda?"

"Our roommate Virgil has had an experience with this... vigilante I believe would be the best word to describe him?" Patton smiled at Logan as he took the attention of the group. "The store he works at has a break in, but they were chased off pretty quickly based on security footage, assuring our roommate's job and safety."

"Woah, that's so cool."

"Which store was that, was it in the news?"

"Did he get to see the guy?"

The two jumped in surprise as the questions came flying out.

"They say he doesn't use a taser, but actually can control electricity!"

"Oh, he can!" Patton cried out before catching his mistake. "I-I mean... the footage was kinda static-y but he definitely just shot out a bolt to scare the guys away!"

"Oh, I wonder if it got all fuzzy because of his powers?" Sam cried out. "That would make sense!"

"I suppose an electromagnetic field created by such energy would distort the footage, yes," Logan replied, deep in thought. "I had thought of that myself when I saw the footage."

"You saw it?" Sammy practically jumped over the table. "Do you have it? Can we see?"

"Well, Virgil had it, but I don't know if he still does..." Patton shifted in his seat. Virgil was pretty paranoid, while he did have a copy of the footage, he probably had gotten rid of it by now. "He's not very social, which is why we came."

"You have to bring him next week, this is so cool! He's the only other person we know who's seen the guy!"

"Really?" Logan perked up. "You know someone else who has?"

"Yeah, but she doesn't show up here every week. She's kinda hoping we find him so she can thank him." Sammy shrugged.

"Thank him?" Logan questioned.

"Yeah, from his first ever news reporting, it's the woman who was mugged and assaulted before he came out of nowhere and saved her." Logan and Patton stared at each other in shock at the news. "She was in the hospital the day after but she swears she'd be dead without him. She's been searching for him since. Calls him Prince Charming."

"More like Prince Charging, am I right?" Patton joked. "Because of his static 'charm'."

"Patton, please," Logan swears he felt a headache form because of the joke.

"Prince Charging, how is that the best name we've come up with so far?"

"Patton!" Sam stood up. "I want to thank you, I think we have a name! I don't care if the news doesn't use it, it's better then what they have been calling him."

Logan huffed out a laugh at that, having heard Roman complain about the name numerous times. "The Masked Prince," Roman said it made him feel too much like the Phantom of the Opera. While he appreciated the reference, it was terribly bland and unoriginal.

"So, tell us more." Patton leaned in. "What else have you all heard about this guy?"

"So, I heard the other night, he stopped two guys trying to break into this car..."

----

Patton hummed cheerfully as he drank his cocoa he grabbed before he left, despite Logan's protests. While Patton happily marched on, Logan had his hands shoved into his pockets and walked along silently.

"Well, that was a fun night, huh?" Patton broke the silence, glancing over at Logan. Logan responded with a soft grunt in agreement as he walked along. "Did you not have fun?"

"It was an experience and we did learn a bit from it I suppose."

"So you didn't have fun." Logan saw Patton's smile drop a bit and he straightened out bis back, not realizing how much he had been hunched over.

"No, it was fun, I apologize for my sour mood." Patton still had that look on his face, silently wanting to ask but refusing to let himself push for information. "I suppose it was not what I had in mind when you asked me to join you at a cafe tonight."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't clear about the whole Roman fan club thing, huh?"

"It was a learning experience and I am all for learning new things. Everyone's been telling me to be more social."

They walked along in silence, Patton no longer humming and Logan was regretting saying anything, already missing the distracting sound. "So." Logan looked over at Patton who stared down at his styrofoam cup. "What did you have in mind when I asked you to join me?"

His mind flashed back to his talk with Virgil, about the perfect day he imagined with each of them. Roman's had been interesting, watching Roman play out Logan's favorite scenes from movies and talking about possibilities behind certain meetings. Virgil's had been sitting there discussing theories and possibilities about their abilities and other things, Virgil even mentioning how he had been wanting to show Logan conspiracy theories they could talk about, but Patton...

He couldn't imagine anything because simply sitting down in a quiet cafe and talking, doing nothing special, was more than enough for him. He remembered telling that to Virgil, his eyes still shut. He remembered Virgil asking how it made him feel, but then Patton and Roman walked in, breaking his attention before he could speak. It didn't make sense, it was illogical, it was a feeling he had felt something similar to in the past but nothing quite fit. He felt...

"Aww, come on, tell me!" Patton perked up, hopping up and down. "Whatever you're thinking of, it's making you all happy and junk, I can feel it!"

Logan had nearly forgotten Patton was an empath.

"Simply a night talking with you in a warm environment would have been enough, Patton. I just didn't expect the conversation to be about Roman."

"Oh." Logan had immediately regretted his decision to be truthful. "Ohh, I get it." Patton stopped walking and started smiling brightly. "It makes so much sense, it's all over your face!" Logan reflexively reached up and touched his cheek, feeling how warm it was, wondering how badly red his face might be. Patton leaned in, smiling even brighter and Logan could hear his heart beating as he leaned back slightly. "You have a crush."

"What?!"

"I can tell, you have a crush!" He had a crush? No, not possible. Logan had dated in the past, surely he had felt something like this before? Not quite like this, though. His mind raced, thinking back to every time someone had approached him, every date he went on, every failed attempt at romance in his life... Logan had never once approached someone himself, they had all come to him. He stared back at Patton with the new information in his mind, was it possible? Patton, who stared back at his eyes shined bright with the new information. Who always went out of his way to make sure Logan spent some time every day out of his room and sometimes out of the apartment for his health. Who cleverly tricked Logan and took him to an arboretum, his favorite place in the city, to talk to Logan about something Patton felt unsure and a bit insecure about? Who cared enough to use his empath ability to try and help Logan understand his emotions better?

Who wouldn't stop smiling at him right now?

"M-maybe... I am unsure as of right now." He muttered out quietly.

"I know who it is," Patton whispered back. Logan suddenly became aware he had been leaning away and accepted his fate. If anyone knew emotions, it would be the person who wore them on their sleeve every day proudly like Patton did. He stood up, bringing himself closer, accepting his new fate. He quickly took in a breath and closed his eyes, before nodding slightly, giving Patton permission to speak. "It's Roman, isn't it?"

"Yes-wait." Logan looked at Patton who brought his hands up to cover his face. "No, no it's not!"

"Yes it is, you just admitted it! Oh, that's why you didn't want to sit there talking about him!" Patton reached over and pulled at Logan's arm. "You could have told me, I can help! Oh, this is so cute! I can get him to join us and then have Two call me and duck out and leave you two lovebirds alone!"

"Patton, I do not harbor romantic feelings for Roman."

"Logan, I know these feelings can be a bit scary but-"

"Patton!" Patton was shocked by the rise in his voice, and Logan was a bit surprised himself. He sighed and took his arm out of Patton's grip, reaching out and grabbing Patton's hand. He placed it on his chest and stared him down intently. "You can feel emotions. Do you feel what I feel when I think of Roman?"

Patton looked up sheepishly at Logan and let his eyes fall down to his hand. He focused and smirked up, shy and soft as he spoke. "You know I don't need to be touching you to feel your emotions, right?"

Logan jumped and pulled back, his face flush once more. He quickly spun around and started walking down the street, continuing their trek back to their apartment. Patton quickly jogged up, walking in step with Logan once again, staring back down at his almost forgotten hot cocoa.

"I'm sorry about that, Patton."

"No, I get it. You said you weren't sure and I just got all excited and jumped to conclusions."

"I don't think of Roman romantically."

"Yeah, I get that. You don't have to tell me, just know that I'm here for you."

They walked silently as cars flew by, the bustle of the city the only noise. "I shall continue understanding my emotions-"

"Lo." Logan hesitated before sparing a glance over at Patton. He was bitting his lip, battling himself and planning his next words carefully. "You're good at understanding your emotions, you just don't know how to express them. I mean, no one is perfect at understanding them, sometimes they just contradict each other and make no sense!"

Logan let out a quick laugh and shook his head. "Truer words have never been spoken I'm sure."

Patton jogged ahead and spun around, facing Logan. "Well, when you do understand them, I will be supportive of whomever it is! You can count on me!"

Patton spun back around and continued walking as Logan's gaze turned to the sidewalk. Wondering why he had decided against telling Patton, before his head filled with a million reasons why he will never say a word about his crush on anyone else. Patton had been supportive, he had been eager to help, he had... not even considered himself to be an option, to be in a relationship with Logan. He wasn't going to ruin something so precious for something so selfish.

---

Patton and Logan were hardly in the door before Roman came charging up from the couch where he had undoubtedly planted himself when they had left.

"So? Do they love me? How did it go? TELL ME EVERYTHING!"

"Woah, Roman, you're at a Twelve, I need you to settle down to a six, buddy. We're just walking in the door." Logan quickly squeezed through and headed to his room. "You okay?"

He stopped and looked over his shoulder, a small smirk on his face. "I just spent the night talking about Roman, why would I want to subject myself to that torture further?"

Roman gasped loudly as he watched Logan turn and walk out of the room. He spun to Patton and huffed in annoyance. "I don't see how bad it could be. You just spent all that time talking about how awesome I am!"

Patton laughed and put a hand on Roman's back. "Sit, I've got so many cool things to tell you!"

---

"So, how was it?"

Patton smiled over at Thomas before turning back to the field, watching the dogs run around. It had quickly turned into their meet-up spot and neither of them complained.

"Roman was so excited! Honestly, it was so cool to hear people talk about him from an outside perspective, you know? Oh, and the first person he protected sometimes shows up because she wants to thank him, isn't that super sweet?" They turned from the field and started walking out of the park and down the street. "I'm so glad you were okay with meeting up with him."

Thomas shrugged and smirked a bit. "Hey, you all have been very accepting of how badly I've been handling all of this."

"We had to live with it every day, you have the choice to kind of be normal."

"Yeah, but being normal is boring. Besides, then I wouldn't get to know you guys better." Thomas saw Roman standing and waiting just outside the park a bit. He looked over and perked up immediately at seeing them, dramatically posing and causing Thomas to shake his head at his antics. "You guys definitely are quite the characters, huh?"

"Thomas, it's been a while." Roman smiled, reaching his hand out for a shake before quickly sticking it in his pocket. "How have things been?"

"Dull and boring. How's the superhero life?"

"Surprisingly repetitive after a while, though I must say." Roman flexed an arm a bit. "It's the best workout."

"I hear intense fear and panic is a good motivator." Thomas chuckled.

"Aww, that's something Virgil would say." Patton cooed, chuckling to himself.

"Yes, I must admit, you fit into our group of misfits quite well."

Thomas smiled as they continued walking down the street. "So, what did you guys wanna talk to me about? Seemed kind of serious."

Patton forced a smile and looked up at Roman who grew serious. "Thomas, I apologize, but we are willing to tell you only what you want to hear. At any moment, you can walk away from this."

Thomas stopped walking and held up his hands defensively. "Okay. Is everything alright, because I'm worried now."

"There was... an incident a while back."

Thomas looked at Roman before flickering his eyes to Patton, neither comfortable with continuing. "What kind of incident?"

Patton cleared his throat a bit. "Do you remember Virgil's powers?"

Thomas thought back before shaking his head slightly. "Time-space powers or something?"

"He can freeze time," Roman spoke up. "When he does so, the last thought he had will create a portal to that place where he broke away from."

Thomas nodded in understanding, shoving his hands into his pockets. "And?"

"He kinda had... a panic attack last week."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Roman rubbed the back of his neck and glanced away. "He broke away from time when he did."

Thomas looked at the two as they looked away ashamed. He contemplated just walking away and leaving this headache alone, but ultimately perked up. "Is Virgil okay? Did something go wrong?"

"Virgil is just fine, if not with a bit of a wounded pride, I suppose." Roman sighed and perked up, staring Thomas down with determination. "This next part is a bit intense, however." Thomas made no move to stop Roman from talking. "It seems, in his terrible mental state, we aren't quite sure where his portal led. However a, uh, creature I guess... kind of slithered out."

"A creature."

"Yeah."

Thomas bit his bottom lip and tried to muffle his panic. "So what does it do? You said this happened a while ago, where is it?"

Patton looked over and Roman and shrugged. "We aren't quite sure actually." He spoke slowly. "It kind of ran off after Roman trapped it in a cooking pot and threw it out the window."

"You threw it out the window?"

"I was panicking, okay, and my instincts told me to get rid of it so I did!" Roman shouted in his defense.

"Oh, Thomas, it was terrible! My poor pot, it never stood a chance! It ate away at it and broke free!"

"Wait-"

"I told you, Patton, I'm sorry! I'll get you a new one with my next check!"

"Guys-"

"No, you don't have to, Roman! That thing should buy me a new one, they were the one to ruin it!"

"Could you just-"

"I doubt the thing got a job while it's been out, Patton."

"Really, can I-"

"You don't know! None of us know, it just vanished!"

"Guys!" Roman and Patton turned to Thomas as he shouted. He held up his hands and sighed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to shout but you weren't listening. You just kept yelling at each other." He looked back up at the two after a moment. "So, this thing appeared and got thrown out a window and you haven't seen it since?"

"Yeah."

"Yep."

"Okay then. So, what did it look like?"

Patton shrugged and pointed at Roman. "He was the only one who saw it."

"It was like a dark cloud. Snake. Thing." Thomas waited before nodding, rubbing his eyes for a minute.

"Okay, well. I suddenly could go for some pizza, what do you say?"

Patton quickly pulled out his phone and searched for the nearest pizzeria nearby. Thomas was tense at first, upset by the news no doubt until Roman started belting out a few musicals. Thomas, also being a fan of theater, couldn't help himself and Patton got a lovely chorus of music while they ate. They all relaxed and chatted and finished an entire pie by themselves, joking and laughing the whole time. Thomas even accidentally touched Roman's hand and sent a spark flying out, where they quickly paid and abandoned the place before bursting out into giggles and laughter.

While he still didn't understand his abilities, Thomas didn't seem to be too afraid of them anymore. They walked Thomas to his bus stop since it had started to get dark out, discussing plans to meet up once again before Roman subtly grabbed Patton's wrist and tugged him in a different direction. Thomas, lost in his conversation, didn't even notice and kept talking while Roman kept quiet.

After a block, Thomas raised a question about where they are, only to be quickly shushed by Roman. They all shared looks and he leaned in. "We're being followed."

They both turned and looked, spotting a man in a jacket and jeans walking behind them in a bit of a daze. "Are you sure?"

"It's been a while and I started focusing on negative energy like I do when I'm trying to find criminals. It's not giving me the same vibes but they're letting off something weird." Roman walked them into an alley he knew let out around a corner, ducking in with his friends quickly. As the figure followed and made no attempt to stop them, Roman's patience wore out and he stopped at the opening to the end of the alley that led into the street. "Okay, friend. I know you've been following us, what do you want?"

The man stopped and looked up at Roman before smiling. "It's you." Roman jumped a bit but hid it with a confused expression. "It's you."

"I'm afraid you may have mistaken me for someone else. To who are you referring?"

"It's you!" He cried out, approaching slowly.

Patton reached out and grabbed Roman's arm and tugged it a bit. "I don't like this, Ro, we should just leave."

Roman took a confident step forward and puffed out his chest. "Who are you and what do you want?"

The man smiled and tilted his head back, dropping his jaw. Patton covered his mouth and Thomas grimaced, looking away completely. Roman watched as a near black mass made it's way out of the man's mouth before he dropped to the ground completely, the mass sitting in the air. "I-is that..." Patton muttered behind his hands. Thomas slowly looked back and gasped at the creature in the air.

"Yes, it is, Pat. Looks like it's been looking for me."

"It was inside of the guy?" Thomas quickly covered his mouth with his hands, hoping to prevent the same fate.

Roman didn't bother to look around before his hands lit up in sparks. "Patton, take Thomas and go."

"Wait, no, you're coming too!"

"I'm stopping this thing once and for all!"

Roman brought his hands close, trying something new he hadn't gotten to use yet. Slowly he pulled his hands apart, an electrical net forming between his fingers. He grabbed the sides and ran up, tossing it at the creature.

As he approached, the sound of static increased as it emanated from the monster. Roman watched the net land on it and he held his breath, swearing as it slowly fell through the monster, disappearing as it hit the ground.

Roman felt his arm being tugged back and risked a look, meeting eyes with Patton. He glanced up and saw four other Patton's standing there, one leading a panicked Thomas away as they ran, the others watching cautiously on.

"Roman, I know you're the hero, but we are going. Now!" A second Patton came up and they both tugged on his arms, causing him to run and flee. He turned back quickly and shot out a bolt, just to be sure, but grit his teeth as the creature remained unaffected.

They sprinted out the alley and the two Patton's let go, a flash of light behind Roman showing that either Patton made more or some formed back. He stopped and turned, realizing that meant the real Patton was still back there. "Patton!"

"I'm trying to distract it, go!"

Roman shook his head and ran up, tugging on Patton's arm. "You're a hypocritical idiot if you think I'm leaving you!"

Patton spun around and ran, looking up at Roman. "We can't leave, Three checked that guy and he isn't breathing!" Roman stopped and looked down at Patton in a panic. "Can't you do CPR or, I dunno, be a human defibrillator? We can't just let him die!"

"He could be dead for all we know, Patton, and we're next!"

"I-I want to try! If Virgil found out-!"

He'd blame himself.

"Fine!" Roman spun back around. "Distract it, I'll see if I can help!"

The smoke monster was hovering around a Patton Pal who had covered his mouth, preventing the thing from taking over, but it was determined and hadn't given up. Roman ran passed and slid on the ground, checking the man that had followed them. He listened for a heartbeat and took a deep breath as he pulled away. Roman held up his hands and closed his eyes, praying that this would work. He shocked the man and checked again, huffing and panicking as nothing changed. He did it once more and the man's eyes shot open as he gasped, spooking Roman who crawled back, giving him space. The man rolled to his side and started coughing as Roman smiled and laughed. He saved someone's life!

He froze as a cry ran out, turning and watching as Patton held his stomach and fell to his knees. He didn't know which one but he didn't care, watching his Patton's face fall into a near emotionless state before he gasped. There were only two other Pattons, one leaning against a wall, seemingly in pain while the other watched horrified.

The now possessed Patton looked up and glanced around before meeting Roman's eyes. He blinked and straightened up, slowly starting to smile. "It's you." It spoke in a soft whisper. "I've been looking for you."

Roman spared a quick glance to the poor fool who got roped into all of this, waking up to the middle of a mythical showdown completely confused couldn't have been fun. He looked back up at the not-quite-Patton and curled his fists, full of anger. "I've been looking for you too. Mind letting my friend go?"

"T-three." The Patton against the wall in pain cried out. "Let Three go!" He cried out again, starting to slide down the wall, glaring at the creature. "You're hurting him, and I'm not going to let you do that!"

"Fine, you want him, you can have him." He turned to Roman and smiled. "Deal?"

"What deal?" Roman stood up carefully. "What do you want?"

"Power. Which you have."

Roman froze, looking down at the ground before shutting his eyes. He looked back up and over at Patton, mind racing. 'If Logan or Virgil were here-' But they weren't and Roman had to think quickly on his feet. Amidst his panic, he saw movement and looked back over at the original Patton, watching him nod with a determined look. He spared a glance over at the creature possessing his copy and back at Roman, trying to tell him something.

His stomach dropped and he felt his throat tighten up before nodding back. "Okay." He whispered. "Okay, fine."

The creature huffed out a laugh before walking forward. Roman stared him down and took a few steps forward himself, meeting the creature half way. He raised his hand up for a formal handshake, causing the possessed Three to look in confusion before smiling and taking the hand himself.

Roman gripped the hand tightly and shut his eyes. "I'm sorry." He looked up and met the copy's eyes before biting his tongue. Roman grabbed the hand with both of his and squeezed his eyes shut, sparks slowly shooting out from his hands. The copy screamed out and tugged away but Roman knew he was stronger. "LET HIM GO OR YOU BOTH DIE, THAT'S MY FINAL OFFER!"

"Roman!" At the sound of his name, he looked up and over at the real Patton as he stared on in shock and terror. He looked back to Three and watched the creature finally threw his head back in an attempt to escape. Roman immediately stopped and pulled away, watching the smoke creature flee into the skies, disappearing once more.

Patton and his only other copy rushed over, checking on Three as Roman kept his distance, sick to his stomach at what he had just done. Patton watched, unable to touch Three, as the other leaned down and listened before smiling and looking up. "He's breathing!"

"Oh thank goodness!" Patton leaned down and Roman shot forward, grabbing his wrist.

"Patton, wait!" He looked over at the other, kneeling down to meet him at eye level. "He's hurt, we don't know how that will affect you."

"He could die if I don't, I'm not willing to risk it."

Roman nodded and let go, watching as Patton reached out and took in Three. He gasped in pain as the other Patton reflexively reached out, disappearing as well, leaving Roman to catch him and pull him close. Patton looked up and smiled a bit, his breathing already evening out.

"Sorry. The sudden pain was a surprise."

"Are you hurt?"

"No." Patton slowly pulled away and looked down at himself. "I'm a little sore but I'm okay."

"Good." Roman took in a deep breath before slowly letting it out. "By the power of Zeus, Patton! You scared me there for a second!"

"Me? You looked like you gave up on the thing!"

"I am an actor!" Roman reached over and helped Patton stand up. "However, I think there are more important things. We know what it wants now, so we need to get a plan to capture it and get rid of it before it tries this again." Chapter 18>> Tag list: @cyberpunkjinx @phlying-squirrel  @equipodeleo @ace-anx

[joylee56]

Resistance Fighters

For the Rumbelle is Hope event a  ficlet within the Politics and Passion verse.  Prior stories can be found  - 1st story http://archiveofourown.org/works/10586475">  and 2nd story http://joylee56.tumblr.com/post/159482686863/courting-pleasure

(And if someone can explain to me why I can’t hide my freakin’ html code when I link I would be most appreciatve.)

She was slogging her way through the report from the Congressional Budget Office on its most recent iteration of Social Security projections when the personalized ring tone she had assigned to Rum rang.  

Ever since there had ceased to be a conflict of interest between Rumford Gold and herself because he had left his position as Chief Political Adviser to Senator Margaret Blanchard-Nolan and become a University Professor so as to be in a position to care for his little boy, she and he had been involved.  Between her hours on the Congressional and National News beat and his responsibilities as sole parent of a seven year old, however, their time together was stolen in bits and pieces when they could both sneak away for a few hours.

Which he had not been expecting to be able to do on Halloween.  It was Bae’s first Halloween in America and to say he was excited was understating it considerably.

“I’ll be glad to see November.”  Rum had confessed to her Saturday night over take out Chinese eaten in bed.  His sitter was only available until 11:00, so they were having one of their ‘stay in’ nights to take full advantage of what little time they had.  “The boy’s been able to talk about nothing but Halloween and trick or treat for the last two weeks.  I just hope the reality doesn’t disappoint him too badly.”

“It’s hard to be disappointed when possessed of a bag of chocolate.”  Belle had reassured him.  “Do you have his costume ready?”

“Aye.  There will not be a more authentically costumed Finn this side of Hollywood.” Gold smiled.  “All those amateur theatricals Aunt Maggie drafted me to help with the costuming on finally came in useful.  I had to promise the women at the fabric store I’d bring him by so they could see the finished version.”    

So she had not bee expecting to hear from Rum tonight.  “Hey, {honey, sweetie, some endearment} what’s up?”

“Belle?”  A small voice softly questioned.

“Bae?  Is that you?  Is something wrong?”  Belle started to save her work and clear off her desk.

“Papa’s leg hurts.”  The voice stayed soft.

“Does he need...” Belle was not sure what he might need.  Rum downplayed any trouble he might have with his leg, despite his use of a cane.  “… help?”

“He says that we can still go trick or treating, but he took a pain pill.”

“Okay...  Why are you whispering?”  Belle asked.

“So he can’t hear me.”  Clearly Bae thought this should have been self-evident to her.  “It’s bad for him to walk when his leg hurts.”

“So you don’t think he should take you out?”  Belle deduced.  “Do you want me to talk to him?”

“Could <i>you</i> take me?  Then Papa wouldn’t have to walk.”

“Uhm, I guess.” Belle was surprised.  She and Bae had not had that much interaction. Rum had been deliberately moving slowly on introducing her into Bae’s life.  There had been issues with his mother’s boyfriend that Rum was afraid might make him reluctant to accept his father’s new relationship.  

Except he had apparently decided to initiate contact all on his own.  “What time do you want me to come over?”

“Papa says we’re going to go right after supper.  Around six.”

“So I should get there a little before six.”  Belle added conspiratorially.  “I’ve got the perfect costume to go with Finn.  We’ll have a great time.”

5:45 found her ringing the doorbell of the Golds’ pink (Rum maintained it was salmon) Victorian.  She then dropped back a few steps and struck a pose.

Rum opened the door with a  “And what have we here… Belle?  Wow!”

He was considerably more excited by her appearance than a man having a blaster pointed at his chest should be.  Looking her up and down with interest, he took in her classic A New Hope Princess Leia costume, complete with the mouse ears hair style.  (The buns were a little small.  She had not had any extensions to pad them out.)  Grinning he raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.  “Don’t shoot, your Highness.”

“Just hand over the chocolate and no one needs to get hurt.”  She lower the blaster and grinned.

“You look fantastic.”  Rum told her.  Glancing back toward the entrance way, he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss.  “Not that I’m complaining, but to what do I owe pleasure?”

“Bae asked me to come trick or treat with him.”  She slipped her blaster strap over her shoulder to free up her hands and at his gesture proceeded Gold into the house.

“<i>Bae</i> asked you?”  

Keeping her voice low, she told him.  “He didn’t want you walking around with him while your leg hurts, so he called me and asked me to take him around tonight.”

As Rum blinked at her taking this in she added quickly.  “I’m happy to do it.  As you can see I’m all set for Halloween.”

“How did he...” Then he patted the pockets of his jacket.  Coming up empty he called up the stairs.  “Baden Neal Gold, come down here!”

The boy came dashing down the stairs.  “Belle!  You made it.  Oh, wow!  That’s perfect!  Finn and Leia!  We can...”

His father interrupted him.  “Bae, did you take my phone to call Belle?”

Bae pulled the phone from his pocket and silently handed it over.  

“Why, Bae?”

“I couldn’t use the landline without you hearing me.”  Bae explained reasonably.

Gold rubbed his face and sat down on the step.  “Why did you feel that you needed to call Belle to start with?”

Bae looked sheepish. “Cause I want to go all the way to Miss Ginger’s.  To show her my costume and all the kids say she gives out fudge to the kids she knows.  And that’s a long walk.  Your leg’s been bothering you all week.  If you walk that far it will only get worse.  Ava and Nicholas are going to trick or treat with their grandparents in Georgetown and Morraine’s family doesn’t do Halloween.  So I couldn’t ask them.  But Belle likes Star Wars too, so I thought maybe she could take me.”

“Come here, son.” Gold put an arm around the boy as he sat down next to him on the step.  “Bae, I’m the parent here.  It’s my job to look after you and that includes deciding what activities we can and cannot do. You do not need to worry and second guess whether I should do something.”

Except Rum had stretched out his leg as he was speaking as though to ease it.  Belle held back her comment.  It would not do for her to interfere with Gold’s parenting.

Besides Bae seemed prepared to argue her point for her.  “But sometimes you do try to do more than you should.  And teacher always says that we should take other people’s limitations into account.  And make accom… accom...”

“Accommodations.” Gold supplied.

“Yeah, accommodation for them.”  Bae nodded.  “Like getting books down off the high shelves for kids in wheel chairs and seeing if Belle would walk with me.  Cause your leg hurts when the weather is getting bad and Belle doesn’t mind walking and really likes Star Wars. See, she’s even got her own costume.”

“It’s no trouble.”  Belle put in quickly.  “It gives me an excuse to get in on the fun.”

“My point,” Gold sounded a bit put upon,  “Is that you need to know you can count on me to be there when you need me, Bae.  If I say I can do something I will do it.”

“Well, yeah.” Bae responded.  “You’re not Mum.  But that’s for big stuff that only you can do.  Like coming to get me when Mum decided to go do documentaries.  This is just trick-or-treating.  It doesn’t matter who I walk with.

“Uhm, not that Belle doesn’t matter.”  Bae hurriedly added.  “She’s cool.”

“And very thoughtful to offer to take you.”  Gold added in a meaningful tone.

“Thank you for being wiling to take me trick-or-treating, Belle.”  Bae told her.

He even managed to sound sincere, despite the prompting.  “You’re very welcome, Bae. I’m looking forward to it.”

“You’re sure this isn’t putting you out?”  Rum asked.

“Are you kidding? This saves me from a night of reading CBO projections on the Social Security Trust.  I’m thrilled.”

“All right.” Gold sighed.  “Since I’m outnumbered the two of you can go without me.  Now finish putting on your costume.”

As Bae ran back up the stairs, Rum looked up at her from his seat on the step.  “Do we need to talk about my ankle as well?”

Sitting down next to him she told him.  “I think it would be good at some point for you to go over with me what your limitations are and whatever meds you take just so I know, but it’s not something I’m concerned about.

“You do just fine with the physical activity I’m most interested in.”  She patted his thigh as she gave him a leer.

“So you just want me for my cock, huh?”  He glanced quickly up the stairs to make sure Bae was not within earshot.

“Well, not <i>just</i> for your cock.”  She snuggle in next to him.  “But it’s definitely a nice perk.”

They kissed for a moment.  Then reluctantly pulled back.  Rum checked the stairs again. “I don’t suppose we could just give the kid all the candy I bought for the trick-or-treaters, turn off the lights and stay home? Cause I <i> really</i> like that costume.”

“Were you one of those fanboys who fantasized over Princess Leia?”  She teased.

“She did factor into some of my more interesting dreams when I was thirteen or so.” Rum grinned at her.

“Play your cards right and I might be persuaded to let you rescue me some time.  But tonight we better keep it PG for Bae.”

“Aye.”  He sighed.  “Let me give you the addresses for the fabric store and Miss Ginger’s.  Start with those.  Despite his intentions I don’t know how far he’s actually going to be able make it tonight.”

“You should still put on your costume.  Bae will expect it even if you’re just handing out candy.”

“I already have.” He was wearing a Black Lives Matter tee shirt under one of his suit coats.  With a button reading ‘Net Neutrality Now!’.

“Okay.”  She was missing it.  “What are you supposed to be?”  

“I’m a member of the Resistance.”  He grinned.

Chuckling she said. “I should have gotten that.  Did you explain it to Bae?”

“Didn’t need to. I seem to be raising a political junkie.”

As it turned out Bae made it almost all the way through route he planned out.  It helped that Belle insisted on driving to the fabric store and Miss Ginger’s. The store clerks at the fabric store, dressed as the blue and green fairies from Sleeping Beauty, were effusive over Bae’s costume. “Rumford did a fantastic job.  Why if you didn’t know better you’d be certain those were real boots.”

As the blue fairy helped Bae to his choice from the candy bowl, the green one inquired of Belle,  “Did Rumford make your costume as well?”

“Uhm, no, I got this for a con awhile ago.”  Belle told her.

“This is Belle.” Bae remembered his manners now that he had a handful of chocolate. “She’s Papa’s girlfriend.”

“Lucky Belle.” The blue fairy smirked.

Back in the car Belle had to ask,  “Uh, Bae, did your father say I was his girlfriend?”

Which earned her a ‘grown ups are weird’ look.  “No, but you go out every Saturday.  Aren’t you his girlfriend?”

Points to the kid for deduction.  “You okay with that?  Your father said you didn’t like your Mum having a boyfriend.”

“I don’t like Mum having <i>Killian</i> for a boyfriend.”  Bae made a face.  “He pretends to be nice to me, but only to make Mum like him more.  Everything always has to be about him.

“You really listen when I talk to you.”  Bae went on.  “And don’t talk over my head when I’m around.

“You do like Papa, don’t you?”  He sounded worried.

“I like your Papa very much.”  Belle assured him.  “And I’d like us to be friends.  And not just cause your father isn’t going to have a girlfriend that you don’t like.”

So Belle was rather pleased when they got to Miss Ginger’s house and she was introduced as “My friend, Belle.”

Miss Ginger after expressing suitable appreciation of Bae’s costume, and by extension Belle’s, fed them homemade fudge and hot tea (herbal, caffeine was not apparently permitted within Miss Ginger’s Colonial) to fortify them for further trick or treating.  “And I’ve wrapped up some fudge for you to take home to your father.  Tell him if the damp continues to bother his leg I have a plaster that might help him.”

Fifteen blocks later, the plastic BB-8 that was holding Bae’s candy collection was two-thirds full and his steps were starting to lag even if his enthusiasm for getting more candy was not.  “Time to head for home I think.”  Belle told him.

“I guess.”  Bae agreed reluctantly.  “It’s a school night, and Papa said if trick-or=treating interfered with school tomorrow I wouldn’t be able to go next year.”

“We can hit a few houses on the way home.”  Belle promised him.

That perked him up. “Yeah, we need to stop at Emrys and Nimue’s so they can see my costume.”

Emrys proved to be a large, very good looking, black man, dressed in Finn’s Stormtrooper costume, who on seeing them on his porch announced,  “Hey, Finn, give me five, little bro!”

“Oh, that is a wonderful costume!”  A woman, presumably Nimue, dressed as Lt. Uhura cooed.

While the woman dropped several pieces of candy into Bae’s BB-8, Emrys introduced himself and his wife.  He told Belle proudly.  “We’re a mixed marriage.  Star Wars and Trek.  Where’s Gold?”

“We made him stay home to give his leg a rest.”  Belle told him.

“You have him call me if it’s really bothering him.”  Emrys told her.  “I don’t usually make house calls, but Gold’s doing parenting right.  World needs more little white boys who want to be Finn with Papa’s who encourage them.”

They were withing a block of the house when it started to rain.  A race to the porch kept either of them from getting too wet.

Gold welcomed them home with hot cider.  Which they sipped as they sorted through Bae’s candy haul.  On the whole the boy had done pretty well.

“The candy corn isn’t as bad as everyone makes it out to be.  But I don’t like these marshmallow filled things at all.”  Bae said.  “The chocolate bars are all good, even if there isn’t any toffee.”

“I don’t think Yanks care much for toffee.”  Belle told him.  “I never see it even in the sweet shops.”

“Time for you to get to bed.”  Gold told him “Your candy will still be here tomorrow.  Did you thank Belle for taking you trick or treating?”

“Thank you for going trick or treating with me, Belle.”  Bae came round and gave her a hug.  “It was fun.’

“Thank you for asking me.”  Belle told him.  “I don’t get to dress up often.

“And your Papa really likes my costume.”  She grinned at Gold.  Who in turn leered at her over Bae’s head.

Just then lightening flash nearby and thunder rocked the house.  Gold frowned.  “Storm’s getting worse.  I don’t think you should try to drive home any time soon.”

“Yeah, but I have work tomorrow.  That CBO report isn’t going to decipher itself.”

“How did a reporter of your stature get stuck with that story?”

“Cause I’m the only one my editor can trust to actually read the da… darn thing.” She told him.

Bae was not to be sidetracked.  “We get up early.  So you’d have plenty of time to get to work.  You could even stay for breakfast.  Papa makes really good eggs in a basket.  You can sleep with him.  It’s a big bed.”

There had been more crashes of thunder while they talked.  She was feeling less inclined to drive home, but thought Rum would feel uncomfortable sharing a bed with Bae in the house.  So Belle suggested.  “Or I could sleep on the couch.”

“It’s not a very comfortable couch.”  Rum said dryly.  He nodded at Bae.  “My objection was mainly worry about his reaction, but since he’s okay about it…”

“In that case I’d be delighted to stay for breakfast.”  Belle grinned, as Rum pushed Bae toward the stairs.  When she thought the boy was far enough away not to hear, she added.  “And Princess Leia might just need rescuing tonight by a brave resistance fighter.”

The End

[escailyyy]

A grandaughter's problem

“Ah so there’s my little lightsaber, come to visit your old granddaddy eh?” Obiwan Kenobi huffed wheeling his wheelchair down the hall of his retirement haven, towards the angry form of his most rebellious granddaughter Kira, rolling his eyes at her revealing clothes he raised an eyebrow in the way only a retired member of the Special Joined, Equanimity Division of Intelligence (J.E.D.I) order could “you just missed Rey and Daisy, who by the way had a very interesting piece of gossip to share”

“Daisy and Rey don’t know anything” Kira snapped crossing her arms over her scantily clad chest, taking in his subtle chastisement and making a beeline for Obiwan’s linen closet, emerging minutes later clad in one of her grandfather’s old black Jedi Council tunics and sweatpants three sizes too big “they need to stay out of my bloody life, what gives them the right to butt in?”

“So, you haven’t been receiving flowers for a whole week in a row coupled with Slayer CD’s?” Grandfather Kenobi wondered raising an eyebrow “and you haven’t been refusing to let them read the cards that come with said gifts?” Wheeling himself to the adjacent kitchen Obiwan reached for the ever-boiling kettle that was a hallmark of the Kenobi household “have some tea Kira”

“FINE, I’ll tell you…but only because you’re you and because you’re not being a pain in the ass like Tweedle Dee Dee and Tweedle Dee Dum” Kira accepted the tea with a grudging smile and groaned “Gramps I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me!! I swear one minute I’m fine, going about my life, punching the crap out of my competition in the ring and one minute I’m not and then everything goes bloody sideways, and it’s all my stupid fault for saving Ben’s life”

“Kira, calm down, I assume it’s a long story yes?”

“Of course it is arghhh I just want to punch the bloody asshole”

“Start with the beginning, why did you have to save Ben’s life?”

Obiwan sighed, he often told himself had done a good job with the girls, Luke and Leia could vouch for that, after surviving the fall of the Emperor’s drug empire and with Anakin (no longer Vader) living out his remaining days in a high security glorified nursing home, Obiwan Kenobi hadn’t planned on one day being contacted by social services just about ten or so years later with the news that the secret son he’d had with Satine, who was supposed to be living a happy tragedy less life in Mandalore, was dead and unless he claimed custody of his son’s three orphan children the girls would be shipped off to some place far like Jakku.

So Obiwan had stepped up, retired to a modest house near the beach in Yavin IV and raised the girls himself with the occasional help from what was left of his friends.

Funny how the reason he’d abstained from mixing too much with Leia’s family was because he thought her own set of pre teen triplets were already enough work for Han and her her and in the end it turned out that it was Obiwan who found himself handing out sage advice to her.

Kenobi didn’t regret raising the girls away from Coruscant, if anything he was glad Rey, Kira and Daisy had gone to small town schools and roamed the beach and woods to their hearts content.

He just hadn’t counted with their strange fascination towards the Solo boys.

Anakin (Mustafar blast him) liked to laugh trough his life support and tell him he deserved it for all the grief Obiwan ever put his former Padawan trough.

“The beginning…Well, I guess it started last year when that bantha shit of Ben Solo said I wouldn’t know how to dress like a real girl even if Jessica Pava herself let me borrow her whole wardrobe, which is a load of… ”

“Was this before or after you ruined Kylo’s chance with Rey by showing her that video of him trashing his tattoo parlor after talking to Han” her Grandfather interrupted with narrowed eyes

“a bit after, the next day I think” Kira admitted ruefully “in my defense I have nothing against Kylo, he’s just a violent weirdo who doesn’t deserve Rey”

“Kira! You told Rey that Kylo had torched the falcon with Han inside!” Obiwan scolded “And belittle him infront of her every time you get a chance”

“He’s not good enough for her! Someone’s got to make sure she knows it” Kira protested crossing her arms over her chest.

“And Daisy with Matt?”

“Those two can ruin their relationship on their own”

“KIRA LAN KENOBI” Obiwan snapped raising his voice to scold her once again “sabotaging the happiness of your sisters is not something I approve of”

“But Grandpa!”

“Just continue your story”

“Well, then I told Ben that how would he know, since the only time he’s ever been interested in girls clothes was when he’s trying to take them off some poor unsuspecting soul”

“It all escalated from there until he said that from looking at my chest he understood why guys ran away from me”

“And you punched him in the face” Obiwan guessed wisely

“I did”

“You know his hostility might have had something to do with your single-minded tendency of ruining his brother’s happiness” but her grandfather’s observation got ignored by Kira

“But every time we’ve seen each other since then is the same thing” Kira kept on talking “he was always bloody remarking on the fact that I’m too boyish and tough and violent, and screw him I might not be all boobs and ass like Bazine but I’m not a bloody guy!”

“Isn’t that Bazine the girl you called “skanky cabaret stripper” after the Solo’s last New Year’s Eve party?“ Obiwan recalled the moniker being repeated with way too much frequency whenever Kira complained about Ben Solo’s womanizing and why that made Kylo and Matt entirely wrong for Rey or Daisy

"That’s the one, she’s got fake: nails, boobs, hair, teeth and personality"Kira listed angrily before returning to the subject at hand "so last week after debating it out with Rey in Han’s garage I got fed up, I just went downtown, bought a couple of dresses that would make even someone like Solo stop and pay attention and showed up at Poe’s birthday bash with Rey”

“Yes, I remember, incidentally Daisy told me that you and I quote "looked like a goddess of darkness, but got angry and left early’ and those were her exact words”

Kira smirked she HAD looked like a goddess thank you very much, that red and black one shoulder cocktail dress with her best skull printed fishnet stockings and loose hair had been enough to make her stand out even next to Phasma (which was a feat considering Phas had the term ‘Chrome Queen’ down to a trademark and Kira always looked like a punk rock Hobbit when they hung out together) “here’s the thing Granps, Hux was there too, he tried flirting with moi, which made me laugh at every three words he said”

“Why? Didn’t you want boys to notice the pretty dress? Daisy said Hux was your type” Obiwan had long ago accepted the fact that his girls were grown up, honestly after having to give them the talk before puberty and managing to survive ten or so years of synchronized periods, he considered the whole talking-about-boys thing the least traumatic of conversation topics.

“Hey one, ew it’s Hux, he doesn’t count as a boy because he’s a ginger and please feel free to take offense, gingers are the devil” Kira pointed out making her grandfather laugh “two, everytime Armitage Hux tries flirting with me it’s only because he’s trying to look casual when he turns around to make an actual move on Phasma, constipated and anal retentive as he is” Kira snorted “and three, it wasn’t a PRETTY dress, it was a badass masterpiece of clothing that was dug out from a ceremonial tomb in the ruins of Jedha and restored to its original glory by a black market Tailor”

“Kira what have I told you about doing your shopping in the ill-obtained-goods district of Coruscant?” Old Kenobi interjected with exasperation

“It’s a dress Grandpa…Or two or three, the tomb of Wesi Ker isn’t going to miss them and they came at a lower rate than the designer garbage General Organa loves to dress Rey in”

“Force give me patience” Grandfather said elevating his eyes to the sky “Don’t change the subject young lady, what did Hux do that you left early?”

“Hux? Nothing, didn’t I just tell you that Hux has a weird fetish for gigantic and blonde bi ladies?” Kira snapped, recalling Hux smarmy compliments “it was Ben! He’s the one who called me hot one moment and as soon as he saw Hux said I looked like cheap a skin girl, the idiot, chauvinistic, pompous bantha anus that he is”

“I take it you also punched him for the remark” in fact if she hadn’t it would have been a sign of the Apocalypse for Old Kenobi

“Of course not, it was Poe’s birthday, I promised Rey that there would be no punching”

“Then what..” old Obiwan raised his finger to ask

“…I took advantage of the slit in the leg of my dress to knee him in the nuts” Kira elaborated then she added for good measure “like a lady good and proper”

Privately Obiwan hoped it had hurt as much as Kira’s pride “so you left early” he deduced with a knowing look

“And ended up saving Ben Solo’s life, when I should have left him to die”

“I take it there’s more to the story than just leaving early then”

“Look I was going to! I even made nice with Poe and everything, bought him this very nice empire era X-Wing air freshener as a gift and abstained from insulting Finn’s obvious bad taste in boyfriends” Kira protested hotly “But Poe, the bloody Tautun, had to make a whole spectacle out of it and Daisy was begging me to stay because she’s Daisy and since Solo is Poe’s best friend, he attempted to cajole me into letting him drive me home, Grandpa, the gall of him! as tough I’m some simpering little idiot who doesn’t know what nasty shit he uses the Millennium Falcon for”

“Kira, didn’t you carpool in Rey’s car that day? Ben Solo might be a scoundrel but I’d have to agree on that one” Obiwan interrupted “I know, I know, you’re Kira Kenobi and can take care of yourself, but don’t blame an old man for being a worrier”

“I was planning to use my speeder, since Phasma brought it and I knew she’d be crashing with he’s-just-a-good-colleague Hux in his fancy Coruscant penthouse”

“A speeder in a dress? Force help me Kira! Not even your grandmother ever did that and believe me, I saw Satine wear a lot of strange clothing when escaping assassination attempts back in the day”

“Solo said the same thing…Well give or take a few ‘do you plan on flashing all the Commonwealth district’ and 'Kira let me drive you home blah blah blah’ oh and when I wouldn’t listen to him he kissed me but that’s unimportant what’s important is that Dabba the Hutt’s minions…”

“Kira?” Obiwan leveled her another Jedi Council eyebrow raise “Ben Solo kissed you?”

“He did, I was trying to get away from him, he followed me to the parking lot and kissed me” She squirmed under her grandfather’s all knowing look

“Ben, the scoundrel you’ve been complaining about since you were thirteen, that Ben” Another Jedi Council eyebrow

“Yes that Ben, the same one I slapped minutes later”

“The Ben that you claim not to like”

“Grandpa! I really don’t like him, he’s an egocentric prick with a hero complex and a wandering dick” Kira didn’t like the laughter in her grandfather’s eyes not one bit and okay maybe that first kiss hadn’t been that bad and maybe he’d tasted like cigarettes and corellian wine but she absolutely still hated him

“Oh the follies of youth my child”

“Anyway, he kissed me, and don’t look at me like that I slapped the grin of his face and told him I’d never in a million years be a notch in his bedpost then he got angry and told me he’d see me in hell for that lie and I thought that was it, except it wasn’t because as he was leaving the parking lot to join the party Dabba the Hutt’s minions ambushed him”

“What is it with Solo men and angering Hutts? I could tell our one or two stories about Han in his Hutt days that would make even you feel like vomiting” Obiwan huffed as he put two and two together “he might be my namesake but Ben takes after his father too much, why didn’t they just name the boy Han junior?”

“I know! But guess what it turns out this time it wasn’t Ben’s fault” Kira smirked “I know shocking isn’t it”

“Very” her grandfather agreed bring the mug of tea to his lips

“So the twilek and the togruta mobsters ambushed him because that skank of Bazine is now Dabba the Hutt’s sidepiece, and pummeled Ben into submission before stuffing the idiot in the back of a van” then she paused “this is the part where I decided to be an idiot too and followed them in my speeder” she HAD been forced to rip her dress but the shorter length had suited her just fine

“Did you subdue them with a blaster or did you let your fist do the talking?” Obiwan hummed putting his mug down

“A Blaster but how did you know?” In fact she’d followed them into a warehouse and had started shooting warning blasts as soon as she saw Solo tied up with a bag over his head

“I raised you Kira, I know everything” was the sage answer she got

“Anyway there was I shooting at some Hutt minions, saving Solo’s ass, handing him my spare gun and he suddenly gives me that look!” Kira grumbled opening her eyes exaggeratedly and fluttering her eyelashes while trying to imitate Ben “you know the look, the pathetic one Kylo gives Rey when she’s not looking”

“Ahh the Bambi eyes”

“Yes and it’s ridiculous because I’m beating the shit out of those dumpsters for him and we’re right in the middle of a fight, what the hell Grandpa? I didn’t ask for the Bambi eyes!” Kira got angrier “that’s Matt’s deal, hell it’s Kylo’s too, but I am Kira Kenobi and I could have lived the rest of my life perfectly happy without knowing Ben was capable of directing that look at me”

Obiwan knew exactly what look she was talking about, the one that only a Skywalker could replicate, a gaze that was a mixture of awe, worship and admiration with just the right ammount of love that made mooncalfs look tame. Leia had a habit of sporting Bambi eyes whenever she looked at Han after the war.

In hindsight maybe the triplets had inherited the look from Shmi Skywalker, the blame for this couldn’t be laid exclusively at Anakin’s door.

“So he gave you the Bambi eyes and…”

“And now I’m doomed”

“Perfectly understandable”

“No I mean yes, I mean” Kira fisted her hands “We were fighting and he’s looking at me like I’m his new religion or something and then we’re tying up the twilek and the togruta and getting the hell out of Dodge in my speeder and it felt so right grandpa” she took a deep breath and a gulp of tea “and then I’m dropping him off at the Senate building and he’s kissing me again, only this time I kiss him back because dammit who can resist those stupid brown eyes when they have that look”

“So that’s why you think you’re doomed” Obiwan agreed “you’re right dear, you are very much doomed, has he asked you to marry him yet?”

“After we broke apart from that kiss”

“And now he’s sending you flowers” Grandfather chuckled “if you dislike the gesture why don’t you tell him to stop?”

“Because then I’d have to talk to him!” Kira replied then she smiled a little bit momentarily lighting up the perpetual scowl on her face “besides nobody has ever sent me flowers before, all the guys that like me are way too scared”

“What do your sisters think about it?”

“Oh Force if they knew it’s him I’ll never hear the end of it from Rey, they all know scoundrels are so not my kriffin type”

“Exept one scoundrel apparently is”

“I blame the Bambi eyes” Kira crossed her arms over her chest “and you grandpa are not allowed to tell anybody capisce?”

“Who would I tell?” Obiwan lied knowing fully well what his next topic of discussion with Anakin would be when they met up for senior discount brunch in his penitentiary’s cafe

“So what do I do? I don’t want to like him, he’s still an asshole with a hero complex and a womanizer track record”

“Trust the force?” Her grandfather joked earning him a glower from Kira “just follow your instincts Kira, that’s what my old master used to say”

“Your old master died a virgin”

“Actually Qui Gon lied to the Jedi Council about that but that’s a story for another day”

“So it wasn’t just you and vader who lied about that?…You know you Jedis had a ton of double standards” Kira needled in, much like the eldest Solo triplet, Kira had also done a stint in the Secret, Institution for Terror and Hostility (S.I.T.H) that opposed the Jedi order during her teens.

Obiwan had breathed easily when Kira’s fascination with the emperor (who was rumored to be related to the triplets mysterious mother) had dwindled from Sith tendencies down into a simple knack for collecting empire related memorabilia. As opposed to Kylo’s much more painful experience at the hands of Snoke the last head of the Sith organization.

“And that’s a lesson to learn from the old Jedi order that Luke took into account” Obiwan cut off good-naturedly “avoid double standards” he sent her a pointed look “anything else you’d like to share? I can see it’s eating you, trust me my dear if he likes you everything will be fine”

“His last flowers came with tickets to a Black Sabbath concert” Kira confessed ruefully “I didn’t exactly talk to him, but I might have sent him a text telling him to pick me up in three hours”

“I don’t know what millennials are calling that nowadays but in my time we called that a date”

“It’s not a date! I don’t do dates, dates are for pathetic people like Matt and Daisy”

“Does Ben Solo know that?” Obiwan chuckled

“Shut up Grandpa” Kira put her head in her arms and let out a scream “Force I’m so kriffin doomed”

And Obiwan did as a good grandfather would and didn’t voice his agreement out loud “it’s all right Kira, if he gets too out of hand you can just punch him again”

“What if I don’t want to punch him?” Kira raised her head from her arms

“Then you don’t punch him, simple as that”

“I don’t want to be a notch in his bedpost, I’d die if I’m just a game for his stupid nerf herder ass”

“Kira any man that even thinks that you’re the type of girl that gets used like that, deserves all the pain he’ll get when you disabuse him of the notion”

“Thanks Grandpa, that…Made me feel oddly better”

Obiwan sighed leave it to Kira to be comforted by thoughts of violent retribution “You have a Jedi blessing to break that boy’s bones if he doesn’t behave”

“And here I thought you couldn’t be a sweeter old man” Kira smiled “thank you, I really needed to hear that”

Oh Anakin would have a life support field day when Obiwan shared the latest Grandchild gossip, that’s for sure, but in the meantime Obiwan Kenobi poured more tea and listened to Kira’s dramatic death threats towards the man she liked.

He wished Satine could see him now, she would laugh too.

An: lils happy early birthday, Dark Rey was fun to write. Lilithsaur dear this fic was inspired by Franco and Sarita’s relationship in PDG. Also the girls love for quirky Grandpa Martin..

[shamelessmilkshakepanda-blog]

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I was in an accident. My insurance company told me I was 0% at fault and the other driver 100% at fault. The other insurance company said i was 50% at fault and the other driver was 50% at fault. what happens next? who suppose to agree with who?

Does a single man in his 20's need health insurance?

My boyfriend is 25 and does not have health insurance, does he heed it?? Does he need life insurance, or any other type of insurance??""

Can i get a california health access card if my mom has me under her insurance?

I want to get it so i can get on birth control but my mom has me under her insurance and i cannot let her know. I am 19, a college student and part time worker.""

Does medicaid take someones life insurance money AFTER they die?

My father used medicaid briefly, i think some hospital and a few months in a nursing home...before he died. My mother and father had very little, didnt even own their home. My mom is afraid to have life insurance on HER, because she was told that after HER death...medicaid would try and take whatever she has....including a life insurance policy on her....which of course I'm the only son would recieve it. There is nothing else, she rents a small apartment and is making payments on a car...so its not really hers either. we live in MISSOURI...""

How much more will my insurance go up with my first point ?

My insurance is $50 just liability...I have AIS ACCESS insurance...I got a red light ticket cuz I didn't stop before turning on red...I already got a camera ticket 11 months ago and did traffic school so I know I'm getting a point

What is a 2Dr car that has low insurance rates?

around $5,000 range runs well""

Whatley Alabama Cheap car insurance quotes zip 36482

Whatley Alabama Cheap car insurance quotes zip 36482

Is falling asleep at the wheel covered by car insurance?

no other cars or persons were involved

Health insurance in the United States?

Hi! Im not certain how things exactly work in the USA with insurance. 1) Is it compulsory? 2) Secondly, if I have insurance and suppose I want a procedure that insurance will not cover such as laser eye surgery (elective ) or say an elective cesarean. If I am willing to pay for the procedure myself can the doctor refuse to treat me and deny the procedure just because Im insurance isnt paying? Am I allowed to pay out of pocket if Im willing or is insurance legally required? Category""

Should an insurance company give you what your car is worth or how much it would take to replacement it?

The insurance adjuster (my car is totaled) says that he is only obligated to give me what my car is worth and he determined that figure was determined by taking a random 30 cars and averaging their prices -- not considering some have been wrecked, etc. My car was in great shape with some extras. Also, should the money awarded include what taxes will cost on my next vehicle as well?""

Car insurance? Insurethebox?

Can someone help me please? Im trying to get insurance quotes on a couple of cars, I tried with a Fiat Punto, and coudnt get any AT ALL. I then tried a Citroen C2, that came back at 4grand - 5 grand Fully comp. I then tried to get insured on a Peugeot 206 This also came back at 4-5 grand, fully comp. Insurethebox coudnt even give me a quote? Someone explain this to me? No years bonus, and 18, but still the insurance shoudnt be 4 grand? I would get a corsa, but to many of my friends have them, and i dont want one. I do want a peugeot 206, but i cant get insured.. am i doing something wrong? help!""

Does how many times your license suspended affect your insurance rates?

Toronto

What is the best car insurance company?

I need full coverage car insurance on my truck but I don't know who to get can some one help me

Is insurance cheaper for a stick shift or automatic car?

Or it doesn't matter?

Can I insure a vehicle on my insurance policy in a state other than where it is registered?

I am not the registered owner, my father is. He is retired and he owns a home in California where he lives most of the time. He visits us 3-4 times a month in Nevada but otherwise has no legal residence here. For his convenience he financed a car from an NV dealership to use here. The dealership told him since he does not own a home here he must register it in the state of CA for at least the first year. The vehicle does not travel back and forth and will be garaged here in NV. He has given me permission to use the vehicle for my daily 30 mile commute. If the car is registered and insured by him in CA, will I be able to insure the car on my NV policy as well?""

How long does it take for car insurance to lower rates?

I have been with GEICO auto insurance for roughly 1year and then another approximately 4-5years. I had a break due to joining the military. At this time i receive coverages every 6 months. The problem i have with GEICO is that i been paying just about the same since I started and just recently my rate went down only 20 dollars. I have been in one accident with an elderly who passed a stop sign, a speeding ticket of driving 35 on a 25 and i believe two seat belt tickets. Nothing in the last two years or more. What do i do to get my rates lowered without effecting the quality of coverage. When do insurance companies lower their rates??""

Where can i find long term and short term disability insurance for a diabetic?

i need a great insurance but yet inexpensive.

Homeowner's Insurance Question...tree fell on my car and I rent!?

So today I had a terrible storm at my house and a tree (about 1/3 of a huge tree) got ripped off from its trunk and landed on my car. I rent from a landlord and she has homeowner's insurance that may/may not pay for the removal of the tree from the yard and my car. My question is, shouldn't her insurance cover the damage to my property (my car)? Her property damaged my property so in my mind her HO insurance should pay for any damage to my car but she said she thought I would have to file a claim on my auto insurance.""

Cheapest insurance for a yamaha tzr 50 for a 16 year olds first bike?

just bought a yamaha tzr 50, first bike wanted to know if anyone had a similar bike or knew any cheep insurance companies, less than 700, thanks""

How much should aircraft rental insurance cost for an average small plane?

Just doing some budgeting / planning and wondering what rental insurance runs on small planes? Also, should I get that during my flight training or just once I'm out on my own? The FBO insurance only covers their own planes, not a multi-million dollar jet you bump into as far as I know. I would most likely be renting a Piper Archer II from the 70s, probably a $80,000 plane.""

Who is the best for motorcycle insurance?

Who is the best for motorcycle insurance?

Car Insurance Question?

I came to north Carolina at the beginning of August from FL to stay with my aunt while I got my finances in order and she recovered from her back surgery. I plan to stay here until a bit after the new year. When I moved, I arranged to have my mail forwarded while i am here. Also around this time, I started searching for a new insurance provider because my rate had gone up with geico. I decided on progressive. When signing up for progressive, I signed up with my Florida drivers license number and my new nc mailing address. A couple of months later I received a letter from the state of Florida saying that they were notified my geico insurance policy was cancelled and to provide new proof of coverage. I went online and provided the information but apparently made an error when selecting the insurance company name. I accidentally selected protective insurance company instead of progressive. I was made aware of this error when I received a license suspension letter yesterday. Since then I have notified the state of Florida Of the error. I then received notice that my insurance was still not acceptable because Florida requires that if I have a florida registration, i must have a Florida policy. I called my insurance who confirmed that although they provide Florida coverage, I was under a nc policy even though I provided them with a Florida drivers license number since my mailing address was currently nc. I have had no lapse in coverage, but my insurance company cannot switch it back to florida until I am living there again at the beginning of the new year and can provide a valid address of where I will be living. I do not know where I will be living when I get back yet because I will have to find a new place to move into. Does anyone have any advice as to what to do in this situation? When I first moved to FL and transferred my tags, it cost me almost 500 dollars, so if i transfer them to NC for the time being, i will then have to pay 500 dollars again once I go back to FL""

How much would a insurance be?

how much would insurance be on a 1993 or 1994 mazda rx7? im really wanting this car and im hoping that it wont be to expensive

Liability insurance on a leased car?

If I lease a car or buy it on credit (a 2004 convertible mustang eg.) can I just buy cheap liability insurance? Please explain, I'm new to this and I need a car asap :/ please and thnx!!!""

What factors will affect full coverage auto insurance coverage?

What factors will affect full coverage auto insurance coverage?

""Based on my age, how much do think insurance will cost for a range rover sport?

i'm turning 17 in a few months and thinking of getting one for my birthday? a rough estimation would be nice

""Why can't we have Geiko,State Farm, or Progressive auto insurance in the state of Ma?.?""

I always see t.v. commercials for them but at the bottom of the screen it says not available in Ma. and a few other states that I can't remember. If I could save money buy switching to one of those companies I would but I can't , so I have to pick from Commerce or Metropolitan. My car insurance is really expensive (I pay over $300 a month) I have only had my license for a couple years so I under stand the whole new driver thing and my car was new when I bought it so I have full coverage but the car is only a Kia Rio, far from a sports car or luxury car. I pay more for my insurance than for the car payments.""

What company provides a good low cost life insurance policy for older people?

My father just retired, but he is stubborn and against getting a life insurance policy. I would like one to cover expenses he may leave behind and to take care of his wife, but he just doesn't see the need for some reason. His wife (my mother) is also the same way and they are too old fashioned and set in their ways to change their way of thinking. My parents are not rich and does not have a lot of money saved up. As a result, I may have to pay it myself even though I am supporting my own family on a single income. Obviously, the older one gets, the more expensive a life insurance policy becomes. Does anyone know of any good, reliable low cost life insurance companies out there? He doesn't have any major problems, but it would be best if there are some that doesn't require any health checks.""

How much should i insure my house for?

My house and land (combined purchase) cost $185,000.I have stainless steel appliances, (combined D/W, microwave, fridge, electric stove, central air and water heater. Furniture (contents) not purchased as yet and will be added later. How much should i insure my house for? *Note -land is not to be insured* Any suggestions on what i need to do, types of coverage and flaws to look out for? THKS for your kindness""

Can I drive the car on my own insurance?

I have car insurance and I am allowed to drive any car with the owners permission,does the car I am borrowing have to have its own insurance for me to be able to drive it lawfully""

Whats the best car insurance website to compare?

looking for cheap car insurance, plz :)""

Classic Mini Insurance? Help?

Hi, I have a classic austin mini mayfair 998cc and 1989 year. I got quotes before on classic insurance at around 900 from footman james but now they have a new policy where they wont give insurance to anyone under 21. Ive tried all compare the market and other places but the cheapest i can find it for is 1600 fully comp. Can anyone help? ive tried other mini insurers like adrian flux but there around 2500! please help!""

Whatley Alabama Cheap car insurance quotes zip 36482

Whatley Alabama Cheap car insurance quotes zip 36482

How much would car insurance cost on average?

How much would car insurance cost on average for a 19-year old male, living on his own, drives about 40 miles a day and has had no traffic violations. what would the cost per month be?""

Can i drive a van on a car insurance policy?

can i drive a van on a car insurance . or is up to the insurance underwriters my friend had he s van seized by the police be cos it cam up as having no insurance on the M I B database aa he wos using he s car insurance to drive the van on the highway . or is it up to the insurance company if there allow you to drive a van on a car insurance policy. that is not for the van you are using at the time ?

Can someone explain this driver's insurance deal to me?

I don't have a license yet because I need to have proof of insurance to drive the car at the DMV. However, if my parents' cars are already registered to insurance, then I don't need to join their insurance or something and i can just drive their car right? My dad said if i join our family's insurance, the rates will get higher. But i don't get this. I thought it was just the car that mattered for insurance.""

Does anyone knows of a good Health Insurance in Florida?

HMO, PPO or whatever... I need to know asap. The work insurance is horrible!""

Cheaper car insurance?

I'm was just checking the insurance (third party only) for a Renault Clio 1.2L, 54 reg and the prices were like 3500-4500!!! That's more expensive than the car itself. I thought that for a relatively small car the insurance wouldn't have been that expensive. Bearing in mind that I've just passed my practical I still think these prices are ridiculous! Is there any way I can make the insurance cheaper? Thank you!""

""If I get a ticket, does my insurance rate go up?""

As a new driver I am unsure about ticket and insurance policy. Also, will I get points off. What are points?""

Who can I talk to about insurance?

I am trying to help my boyfriend find some affordable health and dental insurance....I have attempted finding it online and I am overwhelmed...Does anyone know if there is some kind ...show more

How to see a doctor without health insurance?

im a student living in southern california. i havent seen a doctor in years because i cant afford health insurance, but recently ive noticed that i may have an issue that should be checked out by a doctor. how do i go about seeing one? what do i do? where should i go? any advice or tips would be very helpful. at this point i dont care how much debt i have to incur to do it, i just need to do it. thanks.""

How much should a 76 year old pay for liability insurance to drive a 17 year old/as good as new car?

I average about 1,400 miles a year.""

I don't have insurance ?

I don't have any insurance. Any cheap one? Please any suggestion ?

Is international health insurance worth it?

I'm from the US and will be travelling to SE Asia and wondering if I should buy international health insurance and what company is best. I have no current health insurance and am in great health. Thailand has very affordable medical care which might be affordable paying out of pocket even if something major happened there, but if I had to be flown back to the US for something medical related, I'd surely go bankrupt. Does anyone have any recommendations for international coverage or not?""

Cheap car insurance in north london?!?

Hi. any advice on cheap car insurance living in north London for a 18 year old female. I am getting ridiculous quotes. Any advise appreciated Thank you.

Will insurance rate rise...?

I'm a sixteen year old driver in Florida and a few weeks ago I accidentally bumped into someone's car. The damage on both cars was very minimal and the other driver has not done anything. A cop, however, did write me a ticket. I'm wondering what effect (if any) this will have on my insurance rate seeing as it is my first ticket, and how or if I could avoid this by getting the points off my license. Thank you very much.""

How much is car insurance?

How much would car insurance be for a 16 year old girl with very good grades.?

Is the nissan 240sx considered a sportscar when dealing with insurrance?

which would cost more for insurance, a 1997 nissan 240sx or a 2008 scion tc and is the 240sx considered a sports car?""

Selling a car but keeping insurance?

my question is, i have a car at the moment with 2 years no claims bonus.. (i should have 3 years in july) but i am selling my car this week to a mate. they said if i cancel my insurance policy i will only have 2 years no claims can i still sell the car to someone else and just keep the insurance running for it without saying so i'l have 3 years by july or do u have to cancel it once sold, the guy im selling it hasnt actually passed his tes so prob wont even be insuring it for a while and when he does he said hes gonna put the car on his girlfriends insurance""

Allstate auto insurance/full coverage - rental car?

Does anyone know if Allstate will cover me in a rental car? I have a full coverage policy on my car at the moment. Just wondering if I travel and rent a car would I still be covered?

CAR INSURANCE COST? 19yrs?

Im female, 19 years old, just got my license, will be driving a chrysler/sebring JXi. Im looking for the cheapest/minimum coverage in Bradenton, Florida.""

How much should I expect to pay monthly for motorcycle insurance?

20 year old male, about 600cc bike Probably through USAA if that makes a difference""

Car bump and getting insurance.?

I had a bump around a year and a half ago and there was very minimal damage and no injuries, the woman gave a different name to me than to the insurance and I think maybe she wasn't insured? If the case was closed and went nowhere but the insurance company knew would this be recorded on their system.""

What is the cheapest health insurance company?

I am a single mom and I'd be paying for myself and my son. I don't want to go through my health insurance at work because I don't want to work there for a long amount of time. So I need long term health insurance for the both of us, but I don't want to have to pay over $250 a month. Any suggestions?""

""What are some type of insurances i can get,if so what company?

because i want some type of insurances in the future but know what kinds there are.

What happens if someone who doesn't have car insurance hits a BMW?

Someone without car insurance hit my car. Luckily it won't cost much but just say they had hit an expensive car and actually wrote it off, how would they pay for that?""

How can I get an inexpensive Health Insurance while having no job and on disability?

I am on a workman's comp. claim which is temporary disability, I am not able to return to work for another 6-12 months. I am getting married in August and eventually would like to have children in the next year. Who will give me health insurance at a rate I can afford, and will be able to cover pregnancy in the months to come after we get married? Thanks for your help!""

Where can students get cheap car insurance from people who don't automatically make you out to be boy racers?

Where can students get cheap car insurance from people who don't automatically make you out to be boy racers?

Whatley Alabama Cheap car insurance quotes zip 36482

Whatley Alabama Cheap car insurance quotes zip 36482

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rhode-island-vision-insurance-sofia-jacobson/"

[angrybelieverconnoisseur-blog]

Blood test and insurance?

"Blood test and insurance?

IS THE BLOOD TEST FOR AFP COVERED BY MY INSURANCE?

BEST ANSWER:  Try this site where you can compare quotes: : http://howmuchisinsurance.xyz/index.html?src=tumblr 

RELATED QUESTIONS: 

Guess our car insurance?

Primary driver: 24, perfect driving record, female, some college completed but no degree The car: Something mediocre from the late 80s to late 90s The insurance: Minnesota, metro area, daily 10-20 mile commute each way, we want all the proper liability and personal injury coverage but don't care about collision Seriously, just guess. We'll take any ideas. We completely know it varies by each of those factors and many more, and we already know the national average. If you know the state average, that's one step up on us. I'd get a quote, but my roommate is the one seriously thinking about cars right now, and I don't want to do anything in someone else's name. She'll be getting quotes soon, but right now I'm a little concerned about the insurance companies possibly running credit checks, as I'm under the impression a slew of them at a time can lower your score, and we don't know what car we're getting yet. So once that's settled, we'll check into it for real. We just want to TRY to budget before we seriously car hunt.""

Is there a way to find out someones insurance company only with their name and address?

i also have a license plate number. is there a website i can go to that i just type in someones name and their insurance company pops up?

How much is motorbike insurance?

I am 25, about to get my first 750cc bike, I have no previous experience, living in London how much is my motorbike insurance likely to be? Just want a rough idea, as I don't have a bike yet so can't get a quote.""

Where can I find affordable health insurance?

Where can I find affordable health insurance without a deductible that makes it pointless to have insurance? We live in Nampa Idaho. We are on a tight budget but I can probably make room for a couple hundred dollars. I would need family coverage for myself, husband and 2 year old daughter. I have tried looking around online and all of the insurance plans are about $400+ a month and still have a deductible of $2500+ per person. I have looked into welfare and their income limit is $317 a month, and they have no options for paying a monthly premium for people that can't afford the other plans. I just wanted to see if anybody had any recommendations for something that might be a little affordable. We have chronic health conditions so we do tend to use a lot of medical services.""

18 male ontario car insurance rates?

im an 18 yo male living in windsor ontario. I have a clean driving record, have passes drivers ed and recently got my g license. I just bought a 2001 ford taurus and was wondering the approximate rate of insurance. Other possibly necessary information could be, im a student, and the main purpose of the vehicle is to and from work/school which is only about 16km away. Let me know if you need any more information""

Does health insurance cover self-inflicted wounds?

Do health insurance companies cover the hospital fees for self-inflicted wounds like cuts or burns?

Will my insurance go up?

will my insurance go up if i got a ticket for carless operation? the officer said there wont be any points on my licence but if will my insurance go up? and will i get points on my insurance?

Why are car insurance quotes on comparison sites so high?

I'm almost 17 and I'm hoping to learn to drive and buy a car, I was looking on some comparison sites to see what the insurance might be on some possible cars (ford KA, fiat sciento, nothing too fancy) but the quotes were ridiculously high? I know being 17 will mean expensive insurance but this was really expensive, they said the cheapest was around 6000 for third party. This is really high because I know loads of people who drive at 17 and their insurance ranges from 1800-3000. So, why is it so high and will it actually be this price when I come to pay the insurance?""

""How much does E&O insurance policy of 300,000 cost?""

I want to go into a business venture and part of my requuirements is to have a E&O policy worth at least $300,000. How much will that be a month?""

Help with insurance?

As of Friday I found out I was pregnant. I would like to schedule a doctors appt. ASAP but i dont have health insurance. Which would be the best and quickest insurance that I can apply for? and is there an insurance that I can apply for online?

Can anyone suggest me the best option for Car insurance?

I am going to insured my car within next few days and truly I know nothing about it. How could I start and where to start?

Question about car insurance for young people?

I am nearing the end of my driving lessons and i am seriously thinking about cars.Can someone tell me a list of cars that are cheap to insure for a 17 year old male?Also my Mother told me that when i pass my driving test and get a car i will be going under her insurance policy and she said that it will be a lot cheaper than getting insured by myself.So my question is , is it better to get insured under a parents name so it will be considerably cheaper also i want to pay monthly for insurance and not yearly.Also what cars are generally cheap to insure under a parents name for a 17 year old? Thank You.""

Accident Advice - Car without insurance?

My friend was driving her car on a busy highway, minding her own business. Suddenly a large SUV hits her rear quarter and pushes her off the road, down a hill, and into a ditch. Apparently, and there were about 10 witnesses to the situation, the driver who hit her was involved in some sort of road-rage war for about 5 miles, ending when she hit my friend's car. My friend is ok, but her insurance had expired on her car. The police didn't ask for her insurance that day. She learned a lesson and has since payed up online, so the insurance co doesn't know about the accident. Both of the drivers involved in the road rage were charged with reckless driving, and one of them even got arrested. Our question is this: she has $1400 in damage to her vehicle. She is willing to pay what she needs to pay to get her car out, just to avoid getting in trouble for driving without insurance. Are there any other options for her?""

I got a ticket for no insurance in california?

well i told the officer that i had insurance on the car but the little proof of insurance card did not come in the mail yet so he gave me a ticket for that and he told me something about if i mail the proof of insurance to the court i guess i dont have to go to the court date or soemthing like that is that true by the way i checked the mail that same day i got the ticket and the proof arrived

Online auto insurance?

Other than the general, Is there any good online auto insurance providers??""

Where can I find Affordable Dental Insurance. I recieve coverage from my job but need more coverage?

I recieve 1000 a year form my job, and I need more work done. I have used the max, so please let me know what is the best plan for me""

RAC CAR INSURANCE HELP!?

I purchased car insurance from RAC last year, they then annulled it as said I could not use my no claims bonus on two cars and sent me a new quote. I rang them up and they then said I haven't sent the no claims bonus documents in so I faxed them through once again, I advised I received this letter but they said just send in the documents which I did. I also never received any documents for my cover so had to request these myself which were sent by email for 25.00 :S. After hearing nothing back I rang rac for an update who said my new insurance quote was double the original quote!! I haven't signed any paperwork or received any paperwork advising they automatically gave me new insurance. I asked them to cancel but they said I have to pay 1000 as well as them keeping my deposit and paying for the first months insurance..1000?? I told them no. Paid what i owed for the first month. Now they are sending me letter telling me to pay..do I really have to do this?? I haven't signed anything even for the original insurance as they never sent the paperwork out, and as the insurance was annulled can they really automatically start a new insurance without my permission?? Thanks in advance""

How do I get free insurance until I can get my health back so I can work again to pay for insurance?

How do I get free insurance until I can get my health back so I can work again to pay for insurance?

Where's the cheapest place to get car insurance?

I'm a new Driver, passed nov 2010, i'm 27 and female... wanted to know if anyone could advise me on the best place to get car insurance on a KA 1.3... Tried the price comparison sites but they are all 1200+ Thanks""

Car insurance under mums/dads name.?

I've just passed my driving test and am really confused about how to go about getting insurance under my mums / dads names. The car would be under their name but i just want to be the main driver of it. My mum rang up tesco for a quote on how much it would be, but she said under my name and on my own insurance. So now she doesn't want to ring up coz it's on computer and the guy on the phone who she was talking to said it would be classed as fraud if she insured me under her name and she didn't drive it. :S This can't be right right? also my dad has 6 points on his license will this effect me if the car goes under his name then i get insured on his insurance? since his insurance went up when he told them he had points. i got a quote for 1934 for my own insurance as the car under my name. I just need the best way to get under my mums insurance. cheers :)""

Do auto insurance companies have authority to require social security numbers for policyholders?

In applying for auto insurance, I note that several companies want social security numbers from applicants. Is this a legal requirement for obtaining auto insurance? or is it the policy of the insurer? or is it optional?""

""Wat types of car insurances are there for a 18 year old in Canada, how much do they cost?""

Wat types of car insurances are there for a 18 year old in Canada, how much do they cost?""

HOW MUCH YOU PAY FOR CaR INSURANCE?!?

HOW MUCH YOU PAY FOR CaR INSURANCE?!?

How long with a car accident affect your insurance rates in California?

I was found at fault for two accidents (damage >$750) a couple years ago and also got ticketed for turning right on a red at a no right on red light. I just spoke with my car insurance company and was told that the accidents will remain on my record for 5 years. Is that true? I looked up the DMV code for California and it looks like the accidents are reportable for only 3 years (no one was hurt, no felony or criminal charges - these were small fender benders). Is the reporting time really 5 years?""

How much would insurance be for a seventeen year old female driving 1999 Chevrolet?

I am sixteen i turn seventeen soon. My grandma will not keep me on her insurance About how much will insurance be for me as a 17 year old female driving a 1999 Chevrolet

Blood test and insurance?

IS THE BLOOD TEST FOR AFP COVERED BY MY INSURANCE?

How much is a dismissal fee for no proof of insurance in California?

I have insurance and I will provide proof but I'm wondering how much will I have to pay for the dismissal fee?

Insurance (and more) for new driver in Ontario?

So, I'm going to take my written test (G1) tomorrow and I'm looking ahead trying to figure this out. I plan on taking a MTO certified course to be able to take my G1 exit driving test in 8 months. I have a car lined up that will practically be given to me in 8 months. I'm 30 and living on my own. Will I be able to get insurance on a car with only a G2 license? Will I have to pay through the nose for it? Would it be legal and/or cheaper to have my dad buy the car and put it and me on his policy? Would I live to be living in the same household as him? Any other ideas, issues, or options I should be aware of? Thanks a bunch.""

I need a job to save for college and driver's ed?

I'll be 16 next month and I need a job badly. I'm saving up for driver's ed, a car, insurance, and an apartment for college. I've tried restaurants, burger joints, etc. But everyone seems to be on hiring freezes or is only hiring adults. I need to start saving indepently because my parents can't support me forever. What are some job options for a 16 year old f in ma?""

In terms of premium cost the most expensive type of insurance is?

In terms of premium cost the most expensive type of insurance is?

Car insurance advice?

how much money will it cost to insure a 1.4 - 1.6 litre car? I'm 17 and this will be my first car. thanks

Gap insurance on new auto?

what is the cost for gap insurance for honda acord 4 door sedan 06 year

Is insurance higher on a bmw then other cars? Even if it's a old sedan bmw?

Looking for a used car. Found a 2000 bmw 325i. Dads FREAKING OUT saying the insurance on it would be way higher then other cars because it's a luxary sports car even tho it's old as dirt. and doesn't go fast AT ALL.

Auto insurance for a new driver and a new car?

I got my licenses on March 30th, 5 days after my sixteenth birthday. I was so excited to start driving to school and what not but when i got home, my mom told me she would not buy me insurance because it's to expensive. I asked her how much it would be monthly but she wouldn't tell me. My first question is about how much would insurance be for me, as a new driver, and i have a new car. My second question is if i don't have insurance, can i still drive with my mom or dad or guardian in the passenger seat? (they have insurance for themselves) If i can't drive with them, i don't get how insurance will get cheaper for me overtime if i haven't driven and can't drive since my licenses test.""

Cheap auto insurance 23 yr old female?

I live in south florida wpb i have had insurance in my own name since ive been driving at 19 i have a 94 merc sable and all i need is pip/state req. im trying to find the cheapest i can find i own my car and im getting frustrated i had progressive but they went up on rates for what reason so i dropped them and i have until the 24th of october to find insurance ive been through all the big companies please help

Average moped/scooter insurance in for a 16 year old (UK)?

What would be the average insurance price be for a moped at 16? By the way I mean a 50cc engine. The was made in 2010 and as a guess I would say 200-350 to insure? Not looking for exact figures just someone with experience at insuring a moped at 16! Thanks!

Car insurance - how short a time can you buy insurance for?

i want to get a new car but the insurance is more expensive than my current quote. my no claims bonus kicks in in a couple of months but until then my quote is quite expensive. i want to know whether i cn buyinsurance for this short time, and then get a new quote once my no claims is awarded, as otherwise im signing myself up for 12 months on an expensive quote""

What is the average car insurance for an 18 year old male who is just starting to drive?

I just want to know how much car insurance will cost me i know a lot has to do with the cost such as what type of car and such. I want an estimate because no insurance website has a quote for new drivers.

In california does a 16 year old new driver have to be personally insured to drive their parents car?

My sister lives in san jose and she was told by her parents that to drive one of their cars she has to pay for her own insurance. Is this true???

How much is classic car insurance in Ontario?

Hi, I'm looking at making a car purchase for the summer. I'm looking at a couple cars, including a '72 Dodge Dart and a '69 (?) Chevy Nova. I like both because they are, a) under $2000 dollars, b) are both in need of some TLC, and c) I've heard that classic car insurance CAN be cheaper than regular insurance. I'm 20 with a perfect driving record and a full G-license, but I know that doesn't usually matter to insurance companies. Any advice? I'd be buying for a daily driver, so is it even worth the effort despite the serious increase in cool-factor?""

How much would motorcycle insurance be for a 17 year old?

I was looking at either a 2011 Kawasaki Ninja 650R, a 2011 Yamaha FZ6R, or a 2009 Suzuki SV650SF. I live about 50 miles away from Washington D.C. in the suburbs. My grades are A's and B's and I'm in 2 AP classes. I've never had any traffic violations for a car, not that it really matters when dealing with a motorcycle.""

How much does car insurance go up when adding a 4th car?

I'm 17 and i want to buy my own car. My parents are worried insurance will skyrocket up. How much does insurance go up when adding a 4th car to the insurance plan?( I currently pay for my share of insurance each month)

Ford focus insurance?

any one know which type of ford focus has a low insurance group, i am looking to buy one soon but want one that has a cheap insurance policy, i am thinking of a focus ghia 1600 or 1800cc around 03 reg, any help please

Questions About Car Insurance?

I'm trying to see how much would car insurance be for me and my fiancee. She's 20 and I'm 21 both in college. I will be a first time driver and she had hee license for a couple of years and we live in the State of New York. How does insurance work? What's the best company for this? Thanks and God Bless!

How much is a ticket for no license and no insurance?

the ticket cost in fort wayne or indiana.

Insurance and car help please?

Hello all my bf was driving my car this morning and fell asleep hiting a mail box. He didn't have no license. So they locked him up my insurance is up to date. Will my insurance pay for it and I pay the 500 dollar deducte or what will happen how will my car get fix thanks

Would having a baby affect you car insurance rate?

I just had a baby 3 months ago and I was jw if it would affect my rate if i told the company.

What do insurance companies look for when insuring a rental house?

I may want to rent out a town home in DC. My insurance company says that they need to do an inspection of the house, inside and out. What will they be looking for? What can I do to prepare?""

""Nice looking cars, with cheap insurance rates,under 10000?""

I'm looking to get rid of my mr2 turbo cuz I need something with at least 4 seats. I want it to be good looking (I'm a 20 year old male) but cheap on insurance(full coverage). I live in Cali if that has to do with anything. I been considering mazda 3s, mazda 6, acura tl (doubt insurance is cheap on these) and honda civic si. I'm not looking for quotes just ideas on what cars are cheap to keep those in mind while I shop. Thanks""

Why do auto insurance quotes change day by day?

I received a quote today online, then went back to the same quote today and it was $22.00 more. I didn't change any of my info. Why do these quotes vary day by day? Is there a particular time I should search for quote? Thanks in advance for your answers!""

Best place for car insurance?

I'm 16, and so I plan on starting to learn all the theory before starting driving lessons the day after my 17th birthday - as you can probably tell! Anyway, my mother and I have been discussing little cars and what not for when I pass, but insurance is another problem. Is anybody aware of a good place that will insure a teenager for not too much? I have heard that Admiral's Littlebox is quite good - has anybody any reviews for them? All answers and suggestions greatly appreciated! :-) Thanks""

Blood test and insurance?

IS THE BLOOD TEST FOR AFP COVERED BY MY INSURANCE?

Which medical insurance is the cheapest?

I want to apply for a good quality and low cost medical insurrance. Whihc one is good for me. I am in SF, California. Please advice. Thanks.""

Will my insrance increase?

I have a VW polo at the moment, and insured with ''Quinn Direct.'' If i put Allows on my car, will the insurance cost go up?""

When getting insurance for a vehicle??

Do you get the insurance first then a licence..or get a licence before you get insurance?i've heard 2 different stories from 2 different insurance companies..which is true?

Switching Dental Insurance?

So I will finally be getting benefits from my workplace and I got the dental insurance where it will cover 50% ortho for adults because I am planning to get braces. The thing is, I am finishing up my last semester to get my degree from college and looking to get a new job. My question is, how does it work if I were to get braces with my insurance NOW and then get a new insurance? Does it still cover the costs or will it carry on over? What will happen?""

Where can I find professional liability policies for a surgeon?

This is for a finance project. If I need to pay fro professional liability insurance, on what website can I find this insurance. Will I have to pay for it by myself, or does the hospital/company I work for pay the insurance for me.""

Value Of Car Set By Insurance Company?

My car was recently stolen and declared a total lost, when I first got insurance on this car the new or used cost value was set by my insurance company for $19,000. Now that my car is a total lost they only said they can give me the fair market value only. Why did they set a price of $19,000?""

How much does liability car insurance cost for a 17 year old girl?

I know that the full insurance may be roughly 140-160 a month for me, but I was told by a friend that his insurance is only 80 bucks a months because he only got the liability insurance in which his insurance only covers the other car, but not any damage done to his own in the case of an accident. Keep in mind, he's male, and he is also 21. I'm looking to buy either a: 2000 sunfire 2000 cavalier 1995 jimmy 1998 chevy tracker 1993 bmw 325l ....and the idea is that I would get it with the liable insurance to save some money. How much may this cost me a month? I have no history of any driving infractions or accidents.""

Cheap insurance for a 17 year old?

Is there any hope of me insuring a group 14 insurance car? I don't care how crappy the insurance is as long as its legal. All the quotes I have been getting are ridiculous.

Can someone please tell me why used Audi's or so cheap?? Can someone help me pick which used car to buy!?

2003 BMW 325I 84K Miles $10,900 2002 Audi S4 64K Miles $10,900 2005 Audi A4 1.8T AWD 79K Miles $10,900 2006 Honda Civic EX 1.8 75K Miles $10,900 2003 Infiniti G35 sedan 64K Miles $10,900 insurance is no problem, all these are clean car fax, clean title, all under KBB value, the infiniti is $3,000 under value, the rest are about $1000 under value. Any ideas why Audi are so cheap? im just looking for about a 10-11,000 car with low miles. Which should i pick?""

How much is ur car insurence a month?

im 16 and im not getting my car till 17 or 18 and i need to know how much money insurance is a month. i just need an estimate. Thanks

Which is the best car insurance coverage for an affordable price?

Right now I am insured with Allstate. I am under an Allstate plan called the gold protection plan in which I will be eligible for a new car if there is an accident. I think I am paying a liitle too much for car insurance. I have a 2004 Honda civic and a 2006 Honda civic. Both cars has full coverage. Does a two year old car need full coverage. I am a safe driver and so far there have been no accidents. But two times some one came and hit my older car and both times the damage was covered under the other party's insurance. Is comprehensive coverage enough for me or is it a good idea to keep the full coverage. Any recommendation.

What insurance is right for me?

I have an '86 Dodge Ram 100 and I would like to have the cheapest insurance there is. I don't want my truck covered, I would rather just have the other person's vehicle covered. Can someone please tell me what insurance is right for me?""

Renewing car insurance after non-fault claim?

I am due to renew my car insurance and am looking for new quotes. In February I got hit by another driver. It went through the insurance and (after a while) she was found to be liable for the incident and all my and my insurers costs were recouparated from her insurance. When I'm looking at quotes it asks me for incidents in last 3/5 years. I assume need to declare this, despite it not being my fault, as it went through the insurance. But it asks for the total cost of the claim but won't except 0. How do I fill this section in correctly. It's driving me bonkers!!!!""

""My car got impounded for no license or insurance? How much, and how can i get it back?""

Hi, i got pulled over today for having my windshield cracked, now they impounded my car for 30 days because i had no license or insurance(I know) Can i get it back sooner? How much will it be at the end? I am in Arizona btw..""

Pulled over with expired car insurance.?

I was pulled over and asked for my car insurance.It turns out it was expired.I didn't notice since I have been up to date with my payments every month and the insurance company never contacted me to remind me. My insurance expired in September. I got a ticket for it. is there something I can do? even if it expired, does it still matter that I kept paying it?""

How much should I pay for liability insurance for a non-profit?

I'm from a non-profit volunteer organization that wants its volunteers to teach a 16-session class. Normally, we teach in a local high school, but given the time in the school year, I would like to teach in a public/community setting over the summer. In order to get a public place (library; community center) to host this class, I need to take out liability insurance. I've asked my supervisor whether our organization has liability (no response yet). If we don't currently have it, what is an affordable company to buy it from? How much should my organization pay for a minimal premium?""

Approximately how much is my insurance going to rise?

I am an 18 year old male. I got a ticket for going 10 over about a month ago and got it deferred a week ago. I am on my parents insurance and I pay about $100 a month for insurance. Tonight, I got a ticket for going 17 over on the highway. The first ticket was $124 and the most recent ticket was $174. Help me out here haha, how ****** am I? Also, is there any way for my parents to not find out?""

Dental Insurances in California...?

I live in California. What is the difference between HMO vs PPO? Meaning there cost and coverage. I know that HMO has a very small selection of Dentists and PPO means you can pick from a larger selection, but I am asking about costy and coverage. I am in need of either Dentures, Bridge work, and eventually Dental Implants badly. 2 emergency dentists that I have seen have mentioned something about... if I have a PPO then they will cover everything, but when I ask them to explain, they tell me to look it up because they don't have time to explain it to me. I have tried to look it up, but I can't seem to figure out what they are talking about. What did the dentist mean by... they will cover everything? As in I will not have to pay anything out of pocket? One dentist even said that if I have a PPO then he can do the work while I wait for the insurance to start, pay him directly, then he will give me back my money when the insurance pays him. But what does that mean? All the PPO and HMO plans I see say that I would still have to pay 50% of the cost. I am unemployed so money is a huge problem, but with my current problems with my teeth, I can not go on interviews. What is the best Dental Insurance in California I can get to cover the most of the expenses of the work I need done??? Free clinics have a 1-2 year waiting list and won't handle problems like mine. Please help!!!""

How much will my speeding ticket be?im 57 never once had a ticket/moving violation..it was in a school zone?

i was caught going 20 on a 15. i was driving my friends car will her insurance go up now?..i am on her insurance since we live togeather. does anyone know how much this ticket will cost me i am in las vegas

Motorcycle insurance?

Im a 20 soon to be 21 year old male who lives in the lower half of Michigan. I was wondering if any one knows about the cheapest or the best coverage and how much will that run me? I am about to buy a Honda CBR 600 if that makes any difference. Anyone with insurance experience any and all information will be greatly accepted also information on registration!!!! THANKS

Medical Health Insurance Florida: Affordable Options?

Are there affordable choices for medical health insurance in Florida? I run a small business with just a few employees. I am having difficultly finding options I can afford.

Help with health insurance terminology?

In layman's terms, what is: 1) a deductible and 2) an insurance premium? And how do they work in health insurance? An example would be appreciated.""

""How much does tornado insurance cost? (to cover only my house, but not what is inside the house)?""

i have car insurance right now with allstate where i pay 50 $ every month, how much would it be if i add tornado insurance to cover only my house but not what is inside the house? I know you dont know, but i just want you to tell me approximatley how much please.""

Can California Civil Code 827 be used to enforce mandatory renters insurance?

Recently my landlord sent tenants a letter stating we have to buy renter's insurance, stating that California Civil Code 827 allows them to do this. Looking it up, I see 827 is about rent increased, not renter's insurance (and nothing about anything being mandatory). When I signed the lease with them, I was not required to pay for renter's insurance, but they claim that terms have changed and now I am obligated to pay this, and if I don't, may destroy my credit. All because of Civil Code 827. Can they actually do this? Or is this letter some kind of tactic to coerce me into signing this document and providing insurance? Thanks!""

I am looking for my auto insurance statement so I can see if my husband paid our insurance?

where do i go on the net so that I can view our previous payments on our insurance

Blood test and insurance?

IS THE BLOOD TEST FOR AFP COVERED BY MY INSURANCE?

3 car crash.. I am the insurance companies hunt !!?

Hello .. I would like to listen to your opinios regarding this situation that has turned into a nightmare for me !!! I spent few months in Australia.. I have a full driving license.. I was driving on the M4.. I had 2 cars in front of me .. I was in the last car in the row ( third car ) .. the car in the front ( First car ) has braked suddenly .. The car in the middle ( second car ) hit it causing it much damage .. I could not stop at the right time and i hit the middle car afterwards .. Now .. The man in the middle car has lied to his insurance company and said that he stopped at the right time but when i hit him i made his car jump to the front and hit the front car .. I have now 2 insurance companies chasing me for money and treat me as a hunt because i had no third party property damage at the time of the accident .. My understanding was that the greenslip covers these things but actually they dont .. I have received bills from both companies.. 7000 AUD for the front car and 2000 for the middle car .. The details of repairs in the middle car ( that i hit on a very low speed) shows that damage at the rear of the car cost only 427 AUD and i offered them to pay it .. They refused and threatened me to go to court.. The police did not come at the place of the accident .. What do you think i should do?! How strong will be my situation at the court ?!

What value does insurance companies go by to determine if car is totaled or not?

I have 2001 honda civic ex with 140,600 miles on it. I recently wrecked it and the body work, paint, and labor is coming up to $3900. There is some work under the hood that needs to be done, but I was told to get a seperate estimate for that and contact the insurance company. How much does the repairs have to amount to before the car is considered totaled???""

Do I need auto insurance on a car that is not running with no plates?

I live in Parma, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. I am planning on buying a project car that is currently not running. I am going to keep it in a garage out on the farm and slowly build it back up. What kind of insurance do I need on it? My old car used to have storage insurance on it for winters, about $20 a month. I don't want to pay $70 per month for a nonrunning car!""

How can you find out how much your car was when it was new?

My insurance company needs to know how much my car cost when it was brand new so they can give me coverage quotes. I did not buy it new, and it is a 1999. Anyone know the best way to find this out? It is a Chevy Silverado 4500 extended cab. Thanks!""

Can i stay on my parents health insurance after i am 18 and not a full time student?

I am 17 years old, I will be 18 in september. I just graduated high school and decided not to pursue a higher education at this time. I have heard with the obama health care plan that i can stay on my parents health insurance until i am 26. But i have also heard this doesn't take place until 2014. And i Have heard that you have to be a full time student. So i would like a simple answer that's easy to understand, preferably with a sited source for me to look up. Will i lose my health insurance in 2010 if i am not a full time college student and over the age of 18??? I live in california if that makes any difference as far as the health care plans go. Thanks and appreciate it :)""

How much is car insurance per month for a 16 year old?

I really want to get a Pontiac G6 on my 16th Birthday, I`m just curious as to how much the car insurance would be on it !""

Mexican car insurance?

If I drive into Mexico, do I need to get insurance for my car from a Mexican insurance company or is the American insurance valid there as well?""

Where the best place to get a good deal on cheap insurance?

I have a 98' cadillac sedan deville that I just paid off but i still want full coverge for it, if something would of happen to it.""

Names of good CHEAP! Auto insurance companies in New York State ?

I'm trying to look for cheap insurance companies for my bf who is way over the age of 25 and had two accidents. Due to the accidents from the past, their charging him an exorbitant amount. Could you please name a few.""

My car is worth 3200 Actual Market Value how much should insurance pay before total loss?

Car value 3200 State Ohio Third party claim (not my insurance other driver was at fault)

Can i insure 2 cars by 2 different insurance companies?

i already have car insurance with my first car but i have just bought another. to insure it on my current insurance is expensive. iv looked at other insurance companies and its cheaper to insure with them. Am i allowed to have a different insurance company for each car?

Which car insurance agency is best for me?

Which car insurance agency is best for me? Please guide me.

Whats the name of the song on the geico motorcycle insurance commercial with the cavemen?

whats the name of the song on the geico motorcycle insurance commercial with the cavemen?

My car insurance was canceled due to roommate has a DUI?

I live in Michigan and I have been advised by Hartford that my car insurance will be canceled in Feb. due to the fact that another person in this household has a DUI. They feel that this person could drive my car with or without my permission. They advised one of us needs to move in order to have the policy reinstated. Is this justified? What can I do?

2 Door Cars vs 4 Door Cars cost of Insurance?

I am interested in going from my 4 Door Acura TSX to a 350z or G35 Coupe, 2 door cars. I was wondering what the difference in prices would be for me, I am 19, no accidents, no tickets, clean record. As of now my parents have me on their insurance which I am sure makes it much cheaper, so what would the average cost of switching be if I was on my parents insurance or I was to take up my own. Please let me know, Thanks! :)""

How much does it cost to own a car right now?

looking at a 1.5cc car costing abt 13k....how much will i have to pay a mnth for the car including insurance, parking etc?""

Is there a car insurance that will give a young driver a reasonably quote?

i recently purchased a mk1 ford fiesta. theres no mods to the car and tax wise i think its a classic. its a 1984. i have wanted a mk1 fiesta for years now and its the car i want to drive. im 17 and the cheapest quote on any car ive been given is 2000. are there any companies that will give me a good quote on my fiesta

'95 Acura Integra insurance price?

I live in Texas and I amndering, what would the insurance cost a month for a Black Acura Integra. I am 17. Not exact price just a close estimate.""

How do I find health insurance if I have been told we are uninsurable?

I am asking this question for my m-in-law. Retired early, had extensive back surgery, f-in-law has diabetes and possible heart issues. Going to be coming off of COBRA in California, and are looking for health insurance. Aren't there health insurances like Medicaid/Care that cover hard to insure people that are in > 50yr age group?? What if they change their residency from Calif. to Texas?? Does it matter??""

Can I drop motorcycle insurance for the winter then pick it up in the spring?

I'm 17 and am looking for a motorcycle. My mom called our insurance company (Nationwide) and had a quote prepared and they said it would be an extra $70 a month. Seeing as how it gets cold here in Ohio i don't really want to ride a bike in the wintertime. Would it be possible to drop the motorcycle part of the insurance during the wintertime and then pick it up in the springtime when I start riding again? I'll also be turning 18 in February so I think the rates would go down.

Car insurance / liability coverage?

My brother, who is insured with a different company, had an accident with my car. There were 3 cars involved in the accident. He hit the first car in the back which hit the second car and so forth. I don't know whether it was his fault or not, and we did not informed my brother's insurance because it was my car that was crash. The problem now is that, I have only had basic coverage, and my insurance is telling me that my liability coverage ($5000) can cover only one car, meaning that I have to take care of the 2 others cars. So I am wandering what should I do? Please advice""

Are there any car insurance companies that you don't have to give your SS# and DOB to get a quote?

If I get a good quote then I will give all of my information to that company.

Cheap car insurance for a 17 year old?

I am 17 and living in london. DO you guys know of any cheap insurance companies ( they do not have to be well known companies). I am willing to pay 3000 for insurance.

Why is my car insurance so expensive?

I'm 17 years old, with no convictions or points on my licence. I passed my test about a week ago, and I cannot get insurance for my VW polo 1.2, 02 plate lower than 10'000!!? What do I do?""

How much could my car insurance increase if I pay a 90.00 fine that included 1 point on my record?

I have a clean driving record so would it be worth paying the ticket and watching my insurance go up a few bucks? I can't imagine my insurance going up too much for a single point, but maybe I am totally wrong. Any advice on this matter would be much appreciated.""

Blood test and insurance?

IS THE BLOOD TEST FOR AFP COVERED BY MY INSURANCE?

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/health-insurance-individual-fred-huntley"

[gaiatheorist]

Humbug.

(3am on Sunday morning, I’ve skimmed the headlines, social mobility department walk-out, concerns about the long-term functionality of multi-academy trusts, and mental health support ‘available in all schools by 2020.’ I have opinions, but they’re too close to the bone.)

Merry Christmas Theresa-Ebeneezer.

The Facebook friend who always posts that she finishes her Christmas shopping and wrapping by the end of November has put up her usual “BOOM! Done!” status, other people are posting putting up trees. My inconsiderate, bin-stealing neighbours put up their blue-flashing outdoor lights last weekend, it’s a month-long migraine. Another former colleague Facebook-posted her shock at seeing a shoplifter ‘tackled’ by security, and then expressed her concern that the woman was stealing Christmas presents, socks and toiletry gift-sets. I’m not shoplifting, because I don’t ‘do’ Christmas.

“I don’t celebrate Christmas.” is enough to close-down most of the superficial “What are you doing for...?” and “Would you like to come...?”, when the initial “Nothing.” and “No, thank you.” responses aren’t accepted. Tell people you don’t celebrate Christmas, and they tend to assume you’re a Jehovah’s Witness, they bugger off before you start trying to ‘convert’ them. There was a tongue-in-cheek Guardian article a couple of days ago, about turning down invitations, and how to sneak away from parties you didn’t want to go to in the first place.

I’ve never liked Christmas. Aside from my ranting that it’s a sterilised bastardisation of a pagan festival, claimed by Christianity, to suit their calendar, the commercialisation and the compulsion are what really irk me. (Side-rage about a former colleague, who had a Christmas spreadsheet shared with her husband. “I’ve put this ring on, but I don’t really want it, what if he buys me that? Is £300 too much for a ring, do you think?” That’s how they choose to live their lives, it’s none of my business, it only irritated me so much because she kept squawking on about it when I was trying to work.) Most people are more materialistic than I am, nobody’s ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. The ‘expectation’ among some children and adults infuriates me, whether that’s adults ‘hinting’ to partners on Facebook, or the inevitable slew of sulky children posting “Worst Christmas ever, my life is ruined!” when they open the ‘wrong’ iPhone. 

For the better part of 2 decades, I told the in-laws not to buy me anything for Christmas. 17 or 18 years later, they were still giving me a jumper two sizes too big, and two pairs of tights. I don’t wear tights, and I loathe jumpers that touch my throat. “The bill’s in the bag, if you want to swap it!” One year, I swapped the jumper for a slow-cooker. It genuinely would have been easier for all concerned if they paid any attention at all to me saying I didn’t want anything, because I REALLY didn’t want tights and a jumper. I wonder if, now my son is 19, they’ve stopped pestering him, from September, to tell them what he wants for Christmas? He’s cut from the same cloth as me, he doesn’t ‘want’ much, and when he decides he really needs something, he buys it himself. Thank the Gods for Steam vouchers.

The ex was quite materialistic, and hideously susceptible to advertising. The bastard ‘Furby’ ended up in the shed after a while, the batteries ran down, and it started making random spooky noises. The ex played with the ‘Robosapien’ more than the kid did, after I’d been scouring the internet for weeks to find one. I shudder to think what assorted tat he’ll present the boy with this year, last year he bought him a £100 coat, a scarf, and I think the camping-filtration water bottle. “Thanks, Dad, now I can have clean drinking water wherever I am!” (The water bottle might actually have been the previous Christmas, either way, it’s at the back of one of my cupboards, because it’s of no real practical use, and the kid sees no point in buying replacement filters for it.)

I was absorbed into that family, with the “You’ve GOT TO, it’s Christmas!” mentality. I don’t have to do anything, I especially don’t-have-to sit at a table where people chew with their mouths open, eat food from each other’s plates, and that one unfortunate nephew tries to eat all of the mashed potato. Seriously, I’ve seen hungry dogs eat more slowly, and with fewer sound-effects. “Have a bit more!”, no thank you, it’s quite uncomfortable enough just being here, without entering into an eating competition, I don’t need to stuff myself until I’m distended, and I know which serving dishes you’ve touched with your eating utensils. 

I don’t have to go there this year, but I’ve probably complicated my own life by appearing in public, at my brother’s wedding party, I was productively invisible until I did that. I’ve had more contact with my family in the last month than I did over the last 20 years. I’ll be politely declining well-meaning invitations soon enough, because of the ingrained assumption that nobody should be alone at Christmas. I do see the point for people who don’t want to be alone, and it’s heartwarming to see initiatives popping up for people who want to share food and company, I’m just not one of those people. 

I imagine my sister-in-law will be the most forceful, and I will have to play the brain damage card with her, because she simply won’t understand the don’t-want-to explanation. The sensory overload with my brain injuries is a constant background-battle, lights, sounds, smells, ‘normal’ environments are exceptionally stressful and painful for me now. My maternal half-sister might be difficult, but I think she’ll eventually accept my reasoning. I’m not expecting either of my parents to push the point too far, they both know why I cut contact with them. The paternal half-sister probably doesn’t know the back-story, again, I’ll use the medical angle when she suggests a pub-lunch over the holiday period, which I suspect she will. I’m not sure whether Porsche-man will have another go at ‘involving’ me with his version of Christmas, I think I was direct enough with him that doing ‘nothing’ for Christmas didn’t mean there was a gap he was obligated to fill. 

The boy will most probably go to his Dad’s for Christmas Eve, and to the in-laws for Christmas day lunch. I’ve already ‘spoiled’ his Yule-box, by telling him he’s essentially getting a food-parcel, and a recent text message, asking me if I liked Bombay Sapphire gin will probably have been his Dad, or Grandparents, ‘stuck’ on what to buy me. (Absolute CRINGE at the year the ex sent me into every shop in the village to look for ‘proper’ Bailey’s, saying it was for his Grandma, and then presented the Bailey’s, wrapped in a carrier-bag and Gaffa-tape to me. I don’t like Bailey’s, and could have bought multiple bottles of wine with the £16 that came out of my bank account anyway.) I’ll chuck a bit more rubbish in amongst the noodles and canned goods, slightly smirking at the year he asked “Mother, did you just ram-raid the pound shop for all of this?”, and the year he was disproportionately excited about a pound-shop version of the ‘JML bobble-off.’ Rubbish is ‘our’ tradition, and I’ll probably put that tin of Moose soup in again, I think he’s had that about four years in a row, now, oh, and that football I found in the garden, that’s still mostly wrapped from last year, he peeled back a bit of the paper, and said something quite rude to me. 

The kid and I aren’t Christian, so there’ll be no midnight mass, or church-related activity of any kind. We’re not particularly consumerist, he’ll see the practicality of the food-parcel, because he cocked up his student finance application, so has less disposable income this year. What we’re both going to have to deal with in our own way is the compulsion, with other people telling us what we have to do, “because it’s Christmas.” He likes his grandparents, even though they’re both a bit deaf, and both refuse to wear their hearing aids, they’re both a bit dim-racist, and very old-fashioned in their perspectives on a lot of other things, too. I’ll support him in whatever he wants to do, even if that means he stays here with me, coating the furniture in popcorn, and slurping his tea. (Yes, he does, and I do want to cause him physical harm when he does it.) 

No tinsel, no fairy-lights, no plastic tree. With both of my parents now knowing where I live, there’s a chance they might send Christmas cards, I hope they’re not glittery ones, I hate glitter. The kid finishes his university term on the 15th of this month, so he’ll probably be back with me some time between then and the 17th, until his next term starts on January 15th. ‘Probably’ because he’s dependent on the ex for transport with his multiple bags of stuff, and the ex does what he wants, when he wants to, regardless of any plans other people might have. I’ll sacrifice the relative order of the house for a month, and probably do a fair bit of leaving-the-room when the kid slurps tea, or puts that tedious Dungeons and Dragons role-play thing on TV. (Seriously, some of the broadcasts are five hours long, he’ll sit, for five hours, watching other people play Dungeons and Dragons.) I’ve been stock-piling food for months, we won’t starve, but we might end up eating a lot of potatoes. I’ll schedule a ‘big shop’ just before he’s due back, and have the ‘difficult conversation’ with him that I have very limited funds available for top-up shopping, so, if we do re-watch any of our box-sets, we can’t really play the drinking games any more. (It did get a bit dangerous at one point, when we were watching GoT, and decided that ‘horse’, and ‘legs’ were rules, as well as ‘naked’, ‘death’, and ‘full title.’)  

I don’t ‘have to’ put decorations up, I don’t ‘have to’ attend any gatherings or events, as much as some family members might want to take pity on the poor spinster aunt. I know they’ll only make the invitations because they care, and because they worry, but that’s their world, not mine. I’ll goof about with the boy in my world, we’ll try not to get on each other’s nerves too much, with me falling asleep in the evenings, and him not going to bed until the early hours of the morning. We’re both very bad at eating, and both have a tendency to ‘save’ the best of the food for the other, I’ll have to steer on that, there’s a lobster in the freezer, and I might put a frozen chicken in the next grocery order, if I can condense-down the un-labelled containers of ‘brown stuff’ to make enough room. It’s not the biggest goose in the butcher’s window, and “You, boy, what day is this?” has no meaning any more. I don’t need to play Bob Cratchitt, and ask Mr Scrooge for another lump of coal, because I’m wearing four jumpers, the kid doesn’t feel the cold as much as I do, but, if I catch him wearing his dressing-gown over his clothes, I’ll turn the electric heaters on.

My family can take the roles of ‘Christmas Past’, and stay there, the kid is my ‘Christmas Present’, I don’t know what ‘Christmas Future’ will play out to be, I wouldn’t want to, as much as I hate not-knowing, there are some things I’d rather not know.     

[brajeshupadhyay]

UK’s accidental savers: Poll shows many are better off in lockdown 

Thousands of us have picked up a surprise savings habit in lockdown, a Money Mail survey reveals today.

The coronavirus crisis has inflicted job losses and pay cuts – and still threatens to kill off many struggling businesses.

But despite the doom and gloom, many Mail readers have found they are saving hundreds of pounds thanks to lockdown, and becoming more financially secure as a result.

Spending cuts: Despite the doom and gloom, many readers have found themselves saving hundreds of pounds thanks to lockdown and becoming more financially secure as a result 

Large expenses such as holidays, commuting costs and entertainment have vanished following unprecedented social-distancing restrictions – giving households the chance to set aside money during an economically uncertain time.

Exclusive research for Money Mail by Consumer Intelligence today suggests 16 per cent of people now feel financially better off. Almost half are spending less since social-distancing restrictions were introduced, with 38 per cent saving more.

Nearly four in five families say they have more money to spend since lockdown, with a quarter having between £200 and £500 more in disposable income each month.

The findings come as figures from the Bank of England yesterday showed the nation saved £16.2 billion in April. In the six months to February households saved an average of £5 billion every month.

What is more, households cleared an astonishing £5 billion of credit-card debt, which was more than double the previous record of £2.4 billion paid off in March. In a standard month the nation would usually clear £300 million of credit-card debt.

Becky O’Connor, personal finance specialist at insurer Royal London, says: ‘A financial divide has opened up during lockdown.

‘While some are really struggling on reduced incomes, there’s another group whose experience has been almost the exact opposite.

‘If you are in a position to do so, there might never be a better time to ‘build back better’ and save.’

Here, Money Mail meets some of the nation’s new ‘accidental savers’.

At last, I’ve managed to build a little nest egg 

By HENRY DEEDES 

All my life I’ve been a spender rather than a saver. Whatever I’ve earned during my career, my bank account has always puffed and wheezed its way through to pay day.

I’ve tried to be sensible. I’ve opened saving accounts, dabbled in Isas. I even bought Premium Bonds once. Much good it’s done me.

You see, any disposable cash I’ve ever had has this annoying habit of winking at me through the computer glass, urging me to go out and enjoy it.

Terrible, I know, but there’s something innately therapeutic about rewarding yourself after a busy week with a little something. 

A case of wine, something new to hang in the flat. Perhaps another ill-advised addition to the summer wardrobe from a tempting online emporium.

Invariably, no sooner have I clicked the purchase button and the boiler will suddenly crank to halt and there’ll be nothing in the cookie jar to pay for a repair. I never learn.

Lockdown has changed all that. Like a lot of people, I imagine, being trapped inside an apartment for the best part of three months has brought about a vast reduction in expenses.

No need now for expensive Travelcards, pricey gym memberships or all those overpriced cups of coffee every day.

And that’s before you’ve taken into account what I used to spend going out to see friends. 

Remember socialising? Drinks rounds, restaurant bills. I dread to think how much I used to splurge on late-night Uber journeys during normal times. But it was a lot.

And so with all these weighty charges lifted from my balance sheet, I’ve started to experience a novelty.

When I check my balance at the end of the month, there’s now actually something left in the kitty. In the past I’d have been tempted to do something extravagant. ‘Why not?’ would have been my attitude.

But in these times of enforced isolation, that thinking has been replaced with what’s the point?

Instead, I’ve been putting it in an online investment Isa with savings app Moneybox. I pay a set amount in each month, as well as any additional funds I might have left over. 

It also has a nifty feature which rounds up all my debit card transactions to the nearest pound and automatically squirrels away the extra cash.

H ow satisfying it has been, how oddly empowering. Each time I check to see how my savings are accruing I now get that same whoosh of excitement I used to get when an Amazon parcel would plonk through my letterbox.

It would be nice to think that when this is all over, when the High Street tills begin to ring again and when the beer pumps start flowing, I will be able to maintain this spirit of restraint. 

If nothing else, this pandemic has taught us how quickly life can go south. In bleak times it pays to be prudent.

Doubtless this is the last thing Chancellor Rishi Sunak wants to hear. As we re-emerge from lockdown, he needs as many idiots like me as possible flashing their plastic around with reckless abandon to get our ravaged economy moving.

But if this crisis does make some a little more financially responsible, surely that’s no bad thing in the long term.  

I have cleared my credit card 

  Olivia McCulla, who works in PR, has saved by moving back in with her parents

By moving back in with her parents, Olivia McCulla, who works in PR, has saved enough to pay off her £1,000 credit card debt.

She still pays £775 a month in rent for her flat in North-West London but gets £100 back that would usually go on bills because she isn’t there.

Her £120-a-month travel costs and £150-a-week work lunch habit have also disappeared while she works from her parents’ home near Leeds.

She has also saved thousands after the two hen-dos and four weddings she was supposed to attend this summer were postponed.

However, she now has eight weddings in the diary next year to budget for.

Olivia, 29, who wants to buy a property in the next few years, has opened a new savings account.

She says: ‘It feels more important than ever to have a rainy-day fund with things being so uncertain.

‘In London I was paying £9.50 for a gin and tonic and through the nose for a very small flat I dread going back to.

‘Lockdown has made me question if I even want to buy in London.’

Before the coronavirus crisis, Olivia was saving about £100 a month.

Her father Bernard, 65, and his wife Susan, 66, have seen their household costs rise slightly since their daughter moved home but are also saving money each month. 

They previously spent £100 eating out each week, so their bank balance is boosted by £400 a month. And instead of paying a tradesman £2,000 to replace his patio with a flower garden, Bernard did it himself and slashed the cost in half.

Before social-distancing regulations were relaxed, Bernard was also saving £180 a month on his golf and walking-football memberships.

He says: ‘We are very fortunate. Lockdown has made me think we should live more for today and enjoy our pensions more.’

I feel guilty I’m better off 

Quids in: Ashleigh Meale is saving between £500 and £700 a month

Ashleigh Meale says her ‘stripped-back life’ means she is now saving between £500 and £700 a month.

This is despite her grocery bill doubling to £400 a month and signing up to a TV and film- streaming service costing £60 a year.

Before lockdown, the 27-year-old recruitment consultant, who is currently working from home, was putting away between £250 and £500 but would spend hundreds of pounds a month socialising with friends at expensive bars and restaurants. 

Now, she and her boyfriend Rob, 38, cook their meals from scratch at home.

Ashleigh, who lives in Sheffield, is also saving £70 a month by working from home and not having to pay to commute by bus.

She has also been unable to spend money on holidays since the Government warned against non-essential travel.

Ashleigh admits that, while she is not a natural saver, she has now realised how much she spends unnecessarily and hopes to remain mindful about what expenses she reintroduces when restrictions are finally lifted.

She says: ‘Feeling better off financially during this time is a strange position to be in and it does make me feel guilty when so many people are struggling. But it has given me time to re-evaluate things, and I have no intention of blowing what I’ve saved.

‘I don’t need to be out all the time spending money on eating out and drinks when I could be just as happy with a barbecue in someone’s garden. What I have missed the most is my friends — not the expensive socialising.’

Pay cut but £400-a-month saving 

Sally Walsh is saving an extra £400 a month on top of £200 she was already setting aside in a help-to-buy Isa

Sally Walsh was worried when she was told she would have to take a 10 per cent pay cut in March.

But despite the shock announcement, the 24-year-old engineer has found her finances have improved during lockdown.

She is now saving an extra £400 a month on top of £200 she was already setting aside in a help-to-buy Isa.

Since working from home, Sally has saved around £200 a month by not having to commute to central London, and a further £200 by not eating or drinking out after work.

The only bill to go up is her food cost now she cooks almost every meal at home.

Sally, who has lived with her parents in Bromley, South-East London since graduating, is determined to continue saving even after lockdown lifts.

She says: ‘My goal is to move out as soon as possible. I feel like I am closer to it now.

‘I don’t have to spend so much on going out. I hope I will soon be able to have people over and cook for them.’

Childcare cut by thousands 

Claire Jarrett and her partner Jon Howell are saving £50 a day in train fares alone

Claire Jarrett and her partner Jon Howell have saved enough since lockdown to pay for renovations on their home.

The couple need to fix the roof on their house in West Malling, Kent, and want to make the garden more child-friendly for their one-year-old daughter, Eleanor, to play.

Claire, 31, had only been back at work for two days after returning from maternity leave before staff were told they had to work from home.

With Jon, also 31, working from home too, they are saving £50 a day in train fares alone by not having to commute to the insurance firm where they both work in Bromley, South-East London.

They are also saving around £5 a day on lunches at work, £80 a month on petrol and £200 a month by not eating out.

But their biggest saving has been on childcare.

It usually costs £800 a month to send Eleanor to nursery — but the couple have not had to pay since March.

It has helped the couple to replenish their savings after Claire’s maternity leave and move their renovation plans a bit further forward.

However Claire says their financial gain is likely to be short-lived.

She says: ‘Lockdown has made us realise we do not need to go out as much but lots of the costs will be re-introduced when life goes back to normal, unfortunately.’

Not relying on investments 

Retired Gerry Short is making savings by not playing golf, employing a cleaner or taking weekend theatre trips

Retired Gerry Short has seen such a drop in his spending that he has decided to stop withdrawing income from his investments for the next couple of years.

Gerry, 61, a former college principal, has two pensions that pay £20,000 a year. He gets a further £16,000 a year from investments. 

After the pandemic hit the stock market, his investments plummeted. While they have recovered slightly, he wants to give them time to recover.

His reduced outgoings mean he can do this as he is making savings on weekend theatre trips which can cost up to £100 a time. 

He was refunded £60 of his golf-club membership. He also stopped spending £20 on drinks three or four times a week after games. 

The father-of-one, who lives in Leicestershire, also no longer employs a cleaner, which cost £100 a month.

He says: ‘I was aware I was spending a lot as a distraction after my wife died and knew it couldn’t continue. Lockdown has given me time to plan further in the future.’

Windfall from lost holiday 

Dannielle Phillips has had to put expensive holiday plans on halt

Dannielle Phillips, 32, spends most of her spare cash on trips away.

But since lockdown kicked in, expensive holiday plans have ground to a halt. She has already got an £870 refund for a trip to Mexico that was supposed to take place in April.

And she has received a £500 voucher she can use to re-book her holiday to Portugal in June for next year.

Dannielle, a senior marketing consultant, had always put £250 a month into Premium Bonds, but has since increased this to £750 a month.

Since lockdown began, she has saved around £2,500 in total, which she says would have been impossible for her before.

She has always checked her banking apps frequently, but is definitely more aware of incoming and outgoing transactions now.

Dannielle, who lives in Croydon, South London, says she also feels very lucky it worked out like this because she had originally handed in her notice in February and was planning to leave after finishing a project six weeks later.

But the new job she had been offered fell through so her company agreed to rehire her.

Dannielle says: ‘I am looking forward to lockdown ending but also dreading it because I will need to rebalance old habits.

‘I’m going to try to budget more at the weekends because I want to keep saving to buy a house.

‘Building up my savings has become more important to me because the future feels so uncertain.’

a.murray@dailymail.co.uk

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