#i think i might have hugged paul but i can't really remember. i was little this was like fucking s1 era

[sindirimba]

a bit ago @nevermindirah and i had a very serious scholarly discussion about who among kiki and matthias' film roles should kiss. it's kind of difficult because both of them have played a lot of people who truly Went Through It in a way not conducive to frivolous nonsense, but we gave it our best try. i made a chart:

now it's true that kiki has not yet played storm and matthias escaped playing batman, but if you believe you can do anything, imagination is the key etc.

we don't know dandelion (dandelion) yet but the music connection makes kissing paul (a bigger splash) obvious. he seems loyal(ish, author is dead etc) and he cries, what more could she ask for

nile & booker is obvious and inarguable. i can't remember why there's a (2) there. comics booker? dirah help.

we went with margaret (don't worry darling) and peter (brothers by blood) because he's large and there'd be some interesting class stuff to explore. probably.

ellie (chip n dale) and gene (our souls at night) are some of the more normal of this group (even accepting the chipmunks), we envisioned them watching tv together and presumably making out on the couch. jane fonda probably approves.

meeka (coming 2 america) and vincent (disorder) is obvious. lots of sexually tense brawling and pinning down and such. the physicality is compelling. highly erotic.

bessie (native son) and gabriel (far from the madding crowd) is wholly a 'who can we give to bessie to give her a nice pleasant time. gabriel as the soft sheep boy seemed like the clear option. now there is some culture/chronology clash but they can work it out i think. note the sheep which is a highly important aspect. also less sensical but we decided to have bessie and roman (the mustang) be besties because i'm not sure i remember why. but i think it's cute. bessie needs hugs and in this fanciful little universe roman is capable of giving slightly horse-scented hugs.

tish (if beale street could talk) and olivia (veracity) are out of the equation here due to being happily partnered and into women respectively but they are on this chart anyway because. just because. gigi (le fidèle) is here for similar reasons, being an Xtreme Wife Guy.

matthias has a more extensive filmography than kiki sadly so we kind of went a little off the deep end at this point. django (django) and andré (a little chaos) are NOT from the same time period but are nevertheless paired because they fit into generically historical wig time, and they'd both benefit from some sweaty weird clone sex. probably. don't question it. it's true that andre is also happily partnered but something something libertine free love french hedonism something something. idk.

roman and ali (rust and bone) form a fight club due to being remarkable examples of meat and who (would) benefit from throwing their bodies at other men. it doesn't need to be sexual but can be if desired. jacky (bullhead) needs an incredible amount of care so why not let him hang out with a literal saint, st peter (the way of the wind). neither dirah or i know much about this topic but we went on the assumption that a literal heavenly being might be able to help the tragically in need of help jacky. the second peter is there for humorous name reasons but also he's had a lot of family related trauma so he and jacky could maybe bond somehow. not really romantic but if they want to i'm not going to judge.

[downspiral]

01. Nickname: raz, razald, razington, waz 02. Real name:  [redacted in transgender] 03. Zodiac:  leo, year of the tiger 04. Height:  5′11  05. What time is it:  3:02 pm but i’ve been awake since 7pm yesterday,  06. Favourite musicians / groups:  the national, NIN, placebo, imogen heap, bon iver, fka twigs, massive attack, f+atm, milo, los campesinos!, more than i can count rly 07. Favourite sports team:  i have never watched a sport, in my life 08. Other  blogs: lots, they’re all viewable here! they’re mostly anime shit tho. plus i have an art account and various sideblogs on main 09. Do I get asks?  I DO if i reblog memes etc and i love it. and sometimes i will get completely unprompted love out of nowhere and it makes me scream and throw my tea  10. How many blogs do I follow?  70... i’m picky abt my dash aksjadkgja i’m a cultivator 11. Any tumblr crushes: so many... basically all of my mutuals tho tbh  12. Lucky number: 7, 3  13. What am I wearing right now:  loose black t shirt tunic thing and black zippy trousers 14. Dream vacation:  i’d like to visit hong kong someday and go back 2 new york too cuz i went there for a week once and it was sooo good. also scotland 15. Dream car:  i can’t drive and i doubt i ever will tbh i know nothing abt cars.  16. Favourite food:  cheung fun (gooey rice noodle sheets filled with meat or prawns and stuff) or basically any dim sum food lol. also fatty raw salmon 17. Drink of choice:  ideally mohitos but if they don’t have cocktails then a standard vodka coke 18. Languages:  english, v basic polish, i’m learning mandarin but i have low expectations 19. Instruments:  i played piano for like six years but it never really clicked with me lol  20. Celebrity crushes:  gong li... anthony head. mylene jampanoi. oscar isaac obvs  21. Random fact:  i actually met the cast of tvd when i was like 12 at a meet and greet askjgakgn. they kind of sucked but nina high fived me

Tagged by:  i stole it from lia because i am a dirty THIEF Tagging:   i tag YOU if you wanna DO it 

[unstatedmartini]

how about the crew trying to hide that carlos hasn't shown up yet/is missing because of (insert miscommunication here) they think maybe he really is ditching tk at the altar. there will be LOT of hijinks and shenanigans. but as soon as tk finds out he's immediately like 'omg why didn't you tell me sooner he must be in grave peril!!!!'

a;ldskfja;ldskfj okay i want to say that they would never think that but THEN i remembered that they're all a lil stupid and mateo would 100% be the one to activate a rube goldberg machine of well-meant dumbassery

it starts off at carlos' bachelor party, when he gets a little tipsy and tearfully makes mateo reassure him that tk will be okay no matter what, and that the 126 will love him and take care of him and keep him safe even if carlos can't be there. and mateo also starts crying and is like yeah dude of course, we love tk, he's my brother, and we love you and you're my brother, too, and they hug it out then mateo doesn't think any more about it UNTIL carlos doesn't show up at the wedding

and then mateo unfortunately convinces paul that although carlos obviously loves tk maybe, just maaaaaaybe, given the...everything...of the past few years...that carlos might have convinced himself that getting married would ultimately just set tk up for more heartbreak, and run away in an infuriatingly uncommunicative yet somehow admirably selfless way that's very carlos

then paul convinces marjan, who convinces nancy, who convinces tommy, who brings it up with owen, who doesn't believe it for a second but isn't going to bet tk's life on it

and tk just pinches the bridge of his nose and is like, okay, you're all idiots, let's go save carlos

[mxliv-oftheendless]

"I can't stop smiling." with StarVel? =3

So I’ve been watching a whole ton of Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated, so I’m gonna put this in the SDMI universe! For context, this is in the gap between Season 1 and Season 2. Enjoy!!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If someone had told Paul that he would someday be approached by Velma Dinkley, a girl he had only interacted with when they were lab partners in chemistry class and a girl he maybe kinda sorta had a crush on, and they would start hanging out together more often, he would have laughed in their faces. 

And yet, it was happening. It had been two weeks after the mayor had been revealed to be disguised as a monster called the Freak of Crystal Cove when Velma approached him at lunch and quietly asked if she could sit with him. It had struck Paul as odd to see her all alone, since she almost always was with her little group of friends. But he simply nodded and gestured for her to sit down. 

And since then, they had been hanging out together almost constantly for the past month. It took Velma a while, but she started opening up more, and Paul would be lying if he said he wasn’t loving getting to know the girl he had admired from afar since chemistry class. She would simply walk up to him after lunch or between classes and ask if they could hang out after school or over the weekend, and Paul definitely noticed that she always smiled happily when he agreed. 

Today, though, when Velma approached his locker between classes, Paul immediately felt like something was wrong. Her head was lowered, and her eyes were on the floor, and she was hugging her books to her chest. There was a sullen frown on her face, quite different from the preoccupied scowl she usually had. “Hey,” she said softly. 

He paused in digging his algebra textbook out of his locker to look at her. “Hey, shortie,” he tried, offering her a smile. When Velma didn’t return the smile, he frowned. “Everything okay?” 

“Um... yeah,” Velma tucked her hair behind her ear. “Everything’s fine.” 

“Velma, you’re a terrible liar,” Paul said bluntly. 

“Well, excuse me for being an honest person,” Velma shot back, lifting her head to frown at him. Then her face softened. “I’m sorry...” She leaned against the lockers and looked at him questioningly. “Are you busy after school?” 

“No. Why?” 

“Good. Want to come over to my house? I can help you with your math homework again.” 

Paul always jumped at the chance to get help with math. “Yeah, sure,” 

He waited for the happy smile to grace her face. But Velma’s mouth slowly turned up in a half-hearted smile instead. “Great...” 

After a moment, Paul leaned against his locker. “Velma, seriously, are you okay?” 

It took Velma a second, but then she sighed. “No... I--” She suddenly stopped and looked to the side with a look of sadness. 

Paul turned his head, and saw that Daphne Blake was walking past them, hand-in-hand with that movie star from the horrible Dusk movies. He glanced at Velma, and saw she had turned back to staring at the ground. But this time she looked like she might start crying. 

A second passed, then Paul nodded. “Right.” He grabbed his jacket from his locker to put it on, then grabbed his wallet, keys, and backpack, and shut his locker door. “C’mon. Where’s your locker?” 

Velma looked up at him in confusion. “Huh?” 

“Let’s go to your locker and get your stuff.” He dramatically glanced both ways, then leaned in. “We’re gonna skip class.” 

Velma gaped at him, scandalized. “Are you serious? No!” 

“Come on,” Paul argued. “Skipping one day of school won’t kill you. It’s not even one full day we’re missing!” He grinned at her. “It’ll be fuuuuun,” 

After a moment of her blinking at him, Velma smiled hesitantly. “Okay. Let’s do it.” 

Paul’s grin widened. “Great! C’mon.” 

“If we get caught sneaking out, I’m totally throwing you under the bus,” Velma stated as they headed down the hallway to her locker. 

“Fair enough,” 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

They managed to sneak out of the school by way of a side door, then ran to Paul’s car. Paul put on his rock music as they drove out of the parking lot, then after a moment of thought decided to head for the video arcade/roller rink. 

“You decided to bring us here?” Velma asked dryly as he pulled into a parking space. 

Paul grinned at her. “Sure! I was gonna head for the Clam Cabin, but then I remembered you hate the Clam Cabin, so...” he swept out his hand. “Video arcade!” 

Velma gave a bark of a laugh and followed him in getting out of his car. “You sure no one’s going to spot us?” 

“I’m sure,” Paul insisted. “Not like Sheriff Stone’s gonna do anything. And no one’ll even notice we’re gone.” 

“Sure, just like they don’t notice your turquoise car,” 

Paul gasped in mock offense. “Excuse you. They notice my turquoise car because it’s beautiful.” 

Velma snorted. “Sure,” 

“Ha ha. So, do you want to get snacks, or play games first?” 

“I’m not really hungry. So I guess games?” 

Paul grinned happily. “Awesome. I’m totally gonna beat you at Cursed Manor.” 

“Excuse me, bucko, but we haven’t even walked in the door.” 

“You’re right. First one there chooses the first game!” Paul took off running to the entrance. 

“Hey!” Velma dashed after him. “That’s not fair, your legs are longer than mine!” 

“Not my fault you’re a shortstack!” Paul called over his shoulder with a laugh. 

Within moments, he had reached the entrance to the roller rink and laughed victoriously. “I win!” he crowed. 

Velma scoffed as she approached. “Oh, shut up,” she panted. “Not my fault you have such long legs.” 

“I tower over thee, puny human,” Paul snickered, pointedly looking down at her. 

The bespectacled girl rolled her eyes but was still smiling. “Whatever. So, Mr. Giant Man, what game are we going to play first?” 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“That was so not fair!” 

Paul whooped as his tickets came out of the game. “Hate the game, not the player, Dinkley!” 

“I can totally hate the player, Stanley,” Velma shot back with a grin. “Especially when the player cheated.” She emphasized the word with a shove to his shoulder. 

“Excuse me,” Paul put his hands on his hips, “but I am a Cursed Manor champion, and I will not be slandered.” 

“Someone has to be brave enough to slander you,” 

Paul scoffed as he bent down to grab the tickets. “You are, like, so rude,” 

Velma didn’t respond. When Paul looked up at her, he was immediately concerned by how her face had fallen into the same sad look she’d had at school. “Hey, are you okay?” he asked, quickly straightening up. “Is it something I said, or--” 

“N-No, it’s... it’s fine,” Velma said shakily, once again tucking her hair behind her ear. “Can we play something else?” 

“Uh... sure.” Paul wasn’t sure what to say or do. There was clearly something wrong, but he wasn’t sure if it was his place to pry and make her talk about it. He glanced around for another game to play, then lit up. “Hey,” he touched her shoulder and pointed at... “Fight Fighters! Let’s play that.” 

A half-smile came to Velma’s face. “Jinkies, I haven’t played Fight Fighters in ages,” 

“I bet I’ll beat you at that one, too,” Paul grinned cockily. 

“Oh, don’t get your hopes up, artsy boy. I am the Fight Fighters queen of... well, let’s play.” She made a beeline for the game, grabbing his hand to drag him along. “Come on!” 

Paul felt his heart begin to beat faster at Velma’s smaller hand holding his. She was so excited... and she looked so cute. He hoped she didn’t detect how his laugh was a tad nervous as he ran along behind her. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

They ended up staying at the arcade for a few hours, starting when Velma completely wiped the floor with Paul playing Fight Fighters and he challenged her to a rematch. By the time Paul thought to check the time, he saw that school had ended an hour and a half beforehand. So they cashed out their tickets, picked out their prizes, and left. 

“Do you want to go to my house, or yours?” Velma asked as they headed to Paul’s car. 

“Yours. Mom’s gonna lecture me for not coming home after school, and I’d rather get the lecture over the phone than in person.” 

Velma nodded in understanding. “I see. We definitely don’t have to tell our parents we snuck out of school.” 

Paul chuckled as they got in his car. “Definitely not,” 

“Technically, we were at the arcade when school ended. We can just say we went right to the arcade after school.” 

Paul grinned at her. “Did you put thought into that alibi?” 

Velma looked like she was trying not to smile. “No, I’m just stating a fact,” 

“Really, because I think you thought about that.” 

“Okay, and I think you don’t want your stuffed Totoro.” Velma swooped in to grab the plush Totoro toy out of his hands. 

Paul gasped and held it out of her reach. “How dare you! I won Totoro fair and square!” 

“Then at least give him to me so you can start the car,” Velma giggled. 

Paul squinted at her. “You promise to be careful with him?” 

“I promise,” 

He solemnly placed the plush Totoro in her hands. “Be gentle with him,” 

Velma scoffed, but gently placed him in her lap. “I will,” 

She was once again silent the whole ride back to her house, but when Paul glanced over at her, he saw she was looking out the window and lightly nodding along to his rock music. She seemed to be in a much better mood than when they left school. He still wondered what made her so upset back at the arcade, but thought maybe it wasn’t his place to ask. Besides, he was content to enjoy getting to hang out with her. 

She was coming further out of her shell to him. She went into passionate rants about how you just lost something when you read an ebook instead of an actual book; she rattled off facts like nobody’s business; she made terrible jokes, but still tried anyway; she could be biting and sarcastic, but it was so endearing when she was just messing around... Paul really liked her. 

You should tell her at some point, his mind whispered to him. But how would she react to that? Did she just see him as a friend? 

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he pulled up to Velma’s house. He pulled into her driveway and turned off the car, and was about to get out to grab his backpack from the backseat when Velma suddenly spoke. “Wait,” 

He sat back in his seat and looked at her. “What?” 

He thought he saw her hands tighten slightly around the Totoro plush before responding. “Thanks,” 

“Thanks for what?” 

“For talking me into cutting class. I really needed to get out of the building. I just... I hated seeing Daphne walking around with Baylor like... like nothing ever happened. Like Fred and Shaggy...” she trailed off and looked down at the seat. 

Paul leaned in a little closer. “Like they’re what?” 

“Well, Shaggy’s at military school, and Fred... Fred left town. I don’t know where he is. But that’s where they’ve been. And Daphne... Fred broke up with her right before he left, and ever since then I’ve been all by myself. And it feels so weird to be without my friends... we’ve been a group for what seems like forever. And now, to have two of my friends gone, and to have my other friend act like I don’t even exist...” once again, she moved her hair behind her ear. “It really hurts.” 

Paul wondered if he should take her hand. He had to fight the urge to do it. They were just friends, nothing more. “Jeez... I’m really sorry, Velma. That stinks.” 

“Yeah, it does,” Velma mumbled. “But I’m glad I’ve got you.” 

Paul’s heart suddenly jumped into a faster rate again. “You do?”

“Yeah, I do,” Velma looked up and gave him a small smile. “You’re a really great person. You’re fun, and you seem to enjoy hanging out with me. I like hanging out with you too. I really can’t stop smiling when I’m with you.” She shrugged wryly. “I don’t know how you put up with me. I can be pretty mean sometimes...” 

“Hey,” Paul chuckled softly, “I do enjoy hanging out with you. You’re fun too... even though you totally cheated at Fight Fighters.” 

Velma scoffed and rolled her eyes. “You’re just jealous I wiped the floor with you,” 

“Yeah, right. You totally had to have cheated somehow.” 

“You know, I could just keep Totoro,” Velma pointedly hugged him to her chest. “He’s so soft and cute.” 

“Hey, I won him!” Paul laughed, grabbing Totoro and pulling him away. “You keep your disappearing ink.” 

“Fine,” Velma giggled. “Let’s get inside so you can call your parents.” 

Maybe he could tell Velma he liked her later, Paul decided as they got out of his car to grab their backpacks. For now, he could be happy with simply being a friend. 

[sunnyie-eve]

Somebody To Love (Part 16- Loyalty)

(Ben!RogerTaylor)

Word count: 1,812

Warnings: Language, Angst

—————————————————

My mum let me drop Felix off at her place for the day so me and Roger can have sometime to ourselves. Most of the day we just stayed hime and relaxed enjoy the quietness. "Alice, Fred called and wants us to go see his new place." Roger says once he hung up the phone. "Yeah, we can swing by before going to pick up Felix since it's almost time to go get him from my mum." I say getting off the sofa turning off the tv.

"Darlings, you made it." Freddie opens his door letting us in his new place. "What do you think?" Fred asks us and Roger looks at him, "Gay-er." He says and I shake my head at him. "Not this, darling. The house." Fred says motioning to the house. "It's lovely Freddie." I smile linking my arm with Roger's. "Isn't it amazing? Mary's already moves next door so she can visit the cats and me." Fred says in another room while me and Roger look around, "Uh-huh." Roger says. "Each cat will have his own room." Fred goes on about where each cat is and I don't really pay attention not caring.

"Rog, we have to be leaving soon." I whisper to his as we walk to Fred. "Not sure if the echo quite pronounced enough." Roger says making Fred Eh-ohh making us chuckle. "Oh, I knew you two appreciate it." Fred tells Roger. "Say for dinner. Anything you fancy." Fred tells Roger and I smile. "Can't wife, the baby, you know." Roger takes my hand into his. "Of course. Well, come on. We'll eat off the floor. It's clean enough. Alice you wouldn't mind?" Fred smiles at us and I give him an apology smile. "Another time, Fred. We have to go pick up Felix from my parents place." I hug him then Roger hugs him.

We both get in the car driving to my parents place with the radio turned down a little. "I feel bad for Fred. He really wanted us to stay." I say looking over at Roger driving. "I do too but we have a family and can't just play around anymore. I want to show you that I want this life with you and our son." He says looking at me serious. "I know you do... Why do you say it like I don't think you want this?" I ask getting confused now. "I just want to assure you that I want this lifestyle." He forces a smile making my mind run around.

Once we got back home and I got Felix asleep again the phone starts to ring waking him up. "I miss the quiet from earlier today." I sigh picking him up trying to get him asleep again. "Sorry, Love. I got it." Roger says picking up the phone. I leave the room walking around the upstairs till Felix falls back asleep. "Who was that?" I ask Roger form the baby's room putting Felix in his bed. "Fred is having a huge party tomorrow night and everyone is invited." Roger says pulling me into his arms. "I swear my mother is going to get tired of seeing Felix." I laugh and Roger kisses me, "I have parents too you know, who would love to spend time with their grandson." He smiles down at me. "Then you need to call them and ask them if they will watch the baby for the night." I push him towards the phone making him laugh.

~

"Don't you look lovely Alice." Roger's mom smiles at me as we walk in while Roger carries Felix. "Thank you again mum for watch Felix for a little while." He kisses his mother's cheek. "It's no buggy, he's my grandson after all." She smiles at us as we walk back towards the door. "Have fun!" She waves bye to us as we get into the car.

When we get to Fred's I spot Chrissie and Brian getting out of their car. "Hello there May's!" I shout walking over to them with Roger following behind. "Alice, you look lovely! You got ride of the baby belly so quickly!" Chrissie hugs me and I hug her back. "I worked out when I could." I laugh hugging Brian. "Hello stranger." He kisses my cheek before we all make our way inside. "The new parents are here?" Deaky jokes as we walk into the room talking a seat. "John, leave them be. Alice is dong a wonderful job." Veronica lightly hits him making me laugh.

We all talk about how we have been doing and lots of other random things while we drank. "So Rog, tell me what's the sexiest part of a car?" Brian asks Roger since me and the girls were talking about how with kids you need a big car. Roger throws his head back making me laugh, "Brian leave him alone, we don't need him throwing a fit again like in the kitchen that day." We both laugh and so does Deaky while Roger slaps my arm. "Well, well, well!" Freddie walks up to us and we all say hi. "Cheers!" We all say one after another before taking a drink.

"Where's Mary?" Fred looks around for her and I remember her call me she was going out tonight with a guy she met. I was happy for her and told her to not come tonight and go have some fun for herself. "It's not exactly her scene, is it, Freddie?" Brian says and he was right it wasn't. Paul starts to fill up Fred glass so Roger leans forward for him to do the same but ignores him. I look at Roger then glare at Paul. "You're starting to look like each other." Brian tells Fred. "What's wrong with that, Brian?" Paul asks looking at him. "You're supposed to be in a rock band, Freddie. Not the Village People." He says making us all laugh a little.

"Might want to think about cutting your hair one day." Fred tells Brian and I decide to joke about it. "He never would. He was born like that." I smile and Brian nods his head and Roger laughs. The song changes and Freddie jumps up, "Come on! Let's dance!" And Paul agrees. "I don't dance, Freddie." Brian says not wanting too. "I'll need a few more of these for that." Deaky says picking up his glass. "It's my party and I demand you to dance!" Fred shouts for us to get up. I looked at Roger with the ready to leave face. "We should go." He says and I nod my head and we put down our glasses.

"We're gonna go, actually." Roger takes my hand as we stand up. "Oh god you're dull. If you were any more dull, you'd be Deaky." Fred says and I look at Deaky, who looks annoyed with him. "It's late Freddie and we need to go pick up Felix." I say and Roger then speaks up, "What are you complaining about? You've got your little pet." I can hear the tone in Roger's voice and Paul looks at him while Fred looks at Paul. "I have... and he's loyal. Loyalty's important. Don't you think, Alice?" Fred says making Roger squeezes my hand tight and makes me confused. Loyalty... Why would he say that?

"Careful Fred." Roger spits and I look at Roger getting worked up making Paul smirk at me. "Let's go." Roger says pulling me with him. "Where are you going?" Fred asks. "Home." Roger says still pulling me. "It's a joke." Fred says. "What did he mean? Roger, What did Freddie mean by loyalty?" I ask as he drags me towards the main door. "ROGER! TELL ME RIGHT NOW!" I shout at him pulling my hand back as we made it outside. He turns around to look at me with tears in his eyes. "Oh my god! It makes since now! What you said that shit yesterday! You tried to keep it a secret!" I laugh with tears starting to form. "Alice, let me explain. Please, It was an accident! I didn't mean too. I didn't even know what I was doing. I was super drunk that night." He tries to plead his case.

"ROGER! WE HAVE A SON TOGETHER! AND WE'RE MARRIED!" I scream at him and he takes my hands. "I stoped it before it got too far." He says and I shut him up. "Roger, you just said you didn't know what you were doing! Then how the hell did you stop it!" I hit his chest hard. "Alice, please just give me another chance! I didn't do it to hurt you. You are the only person I love! I love you more than Queen! None of this would have happened if Fred hadn't gotten me drunk that night and payed a group of girls to party with us. I should have listened to Deaky and Brian when they told me not to be near Fred and just go back to my room and lock the door. The next morning Fred asked me about her, and I didn't even know what or who he was talking about." He was on his knees crying to me and my heart was broke.

"What's going on?" Chrissie asks walking over to us. "Can I get a ride to go pick up Felix?" I ask her and she notices I was crying. "Did you know?" She turns to face Brian, who looks at me with sad eyes. "You can get a ride with Roger." She takes my hand and takes the keys out of his hands walking us to their car. "I'm so sorry, Alice." She puts her hand on top of mine as we drive to Roger's mum's house. "Can I stay at your place tonight with Felix?" I ask her and she nods her head, "Of course, you're family Alice."

~

Roger's mum was a little confused that it was just me when I picked up the baby but she didn't ask about it. When we got to Chrissie and Brian's house her mum left and Chrissie thanked her for watching the baby. "I forgot to ask... What gender is the baby?" I ask as we walk into the guest room. "Oh yeah, it's a baby girl." She claps her hands and I hug her after putting Felix down. "Congrats!"

We both say on the bed trying to get the babies asleep while I told her everything Roger told me outside of Fred's. "Are you going to give him another chance? I mean... It sounds like it was Fred who sorta pushed him to get drunk and towards the girl. Roger did tell you he doesn't remember anything with that woman." She whispers once we both got the babies to sleep. "I'll sleep on it tonigh. Goodnight Chrissie."

[topherfoxtrot]

Nosy neighborhood

(or a reflection on the bittersweet nature of nostalgia)

What about a one shot about a tv show I never watched? It sounds fun doesn't it? Well it contains spoilers for the third Webisode of the walking dead called "The Oath" released in 2013. It can be easily found on Vimeo. Trigger warnings include grief and pessimism. Also I wrote this one on first person because I just think first person writing is neat😄

Everyone was gathered in the building that used to be a church. Except from the obvious architecture though you couldn't even tell. Even the beautiful stained glass was mostly gone. And there was no giant wooden cross in sight. Only tables full of food, drinks, and of course the band composed of four singing voices, an acoustic guitar, two saxophones, half a set of drums, a fucking button accordion, a xylophone and a def. Basically every instrument the scavengers could find over the years. Since the world has ended our neighborhood united to form a urban fortress.

I was in a corner with some friends not really interested in the conversation. My eyes scanned the whole place looking for the handsome, tall man with his long blonde straight hair. When I finally spotted Paul grabbing some food I whispered without actually intending to.

"There you are!"

"What?" One of my friends followed my eyes, "Oh my god are you really going after the man?"

"Dude is just introvert!" Another friend rolled his eyes, "That's why he is always in his basement."

"That is simply not true!" I said, "Y'all know how much I hate people, alive or otherwise, and yet I'm always here for our sunday gatherings."

"You know what?" my friend finished her beer before continuing, "Fucking go after him. If it turns out he's just lonely you will get my cleaning shifts for the whole month. And if you find a big secret of his or whatever I'll get yours. How about that?"

"It sounds like a deal!" Me and my friend shook hands with smiles on our faces.

"I can't believe you're going to bother the poor man just because he likes to eat by himself." My other friend shook his head in disapproval before smiling too, "But anyways if you find anything please spill the beans to us!"

"Gotcha!" I winked at them before making my move.

Paul put a lot of food inside an old Tupperware and walked towards the door like he usually did. I moved between the people trying to avoid being seen by him. Paul briefly talked to one or two people before leaving. I left the church a little after, making sure to give him time to step further from the door.

Most of the people were at the church so the streets were empty. I sneaked around corners and alleys and cars like I did so many times outside the walls. I still remember before the outbreak when not everyone needed to be a soldier in order to survive. It's been almost seven years but I still caught myself getting nostalgic sometimes.

I followed Paul for a few blocks. Housing was an issue in our community. Over the years more people started to come and babies started to be born once we reached a certain stability. Paul was one of those people who duo to his efforts towards the community gained the privilege to live on his own instead of in one of the communal houses like I did. He was one of the scavenging teachers after all. And my favorite one, I might add.

Besides being handsome he was also super quiet about anything that didn't concerned the classes. And to become a survivor as good as him you gotta have a past. We asked about it before but he always avoided the topic. This made me even more curious. I've always felt like he was hiding something and tonight I would finally figure out what!

It took a couple minutes for him to reach the big house with two floors and a front yard. Instead of entering the front door though he bypassed the house to enter through the basement door in the back. Paul lives in a basement just like a character from a book I read before the outbreak. Something about a woman watching her neighbours or something. I don't remember the details but I do remember one of the characters lived in a basement like Paul does.

I leaned on the wall and listened carefully as Paul opened the metal doors. After listening to his steps gradually fading as he went downstairs I sneaked into the entrance feeling glad he didn't lock it. I waited there for a while until I was confident Paul was distracted enough not to realize the sounds the doors would make. I opened just one door super slowly and checked every few seconds to see if there was any abrupt movements inside. When I closed the door behind me everything was in darkness expect for the light coming from one of the rooms. My hand instinctively reached for my gun but it wasn't there. I didn't carry my gun inside the walls.

I cursed myself in silence and started to walk downstairs. I wish I could see all the furniture Paul had but I couldn't announce my presence so my only option was to follow the light, which I did swiftly. I could hear a voice but it took me a while to make any sense of it.

"I know you would love those parties they make every Sunday." Paul's voice came from the only room with light, "We even had those back in the day, you remember?" He let out a deep sigh, "I still miss those days. We didn't have much like we do here, but we were happy, weren't we? I don't want to sound ungrateful or anything but I miss that, you know? I miss you, Karina."

There was not a sound to be heard expect for Paul's voice. The easiest explanation was that Paul was probably talking to a portrait ou painting like so many of us do. Death is such a common experience among the survivors. With this conclusion I could leave the house, but I wouldn't be satisfied. I wanted to know more about this Karina woman he was talking to. And about those old days.

I reached the entrance of the room but didn't dare to look inside. Instead I stayed there in silence, all my muscles stiffed. Quietly listening to Paul eating his dinner.

"Dominic talked to me again. You know, about the shifts and all that." Paul chuckled, "I'm not sure if we are just talking or flirting at this point. I know you are as terrible at this as I am but a little help would be good."

Paul chuckled again and a moan was heard. I felt my spine freeze as I obviously recognized the sound. A guttural and tired moan only a walker could make. I finally peeked into the room. There was no bed or beside table or any fortnite whatsoever. Paul was sat on a wooden chair eating his dinner with a fork. The most shocking thing though was the walker. The undead had it's arms tied tightly in a straightjacket. Saliva was falling from her mouth in the most grotesque waterfall I've ever seen. Paying special attention I realized her mouth was toothless. There was almost nothing left of hair in her head and the skin was this unnatural tone of grey. That walker was old. A thick chain kept it near the wall.

"What the fuck?" I whispered in terror.

Faster than I could even register Paul got up and pointed his revolver at me. I put my hands up and froze still.

"It's me! It's me! Please don't shoot."

It didn't seem like Paul would shoot me but he didn't put the gun down either. Instead he looked deep into my eyes. I tried to read him but as usual it was impossible to know what he was thinking.

"What are you doing here?" He asked finally with a deep voice.

"I... I was just-" the truth is that there was nothing to be said. I was there because I wanted to know what was up with him. And now I did.

"You shouldn't be here." He said firmly.

"I k-know!" I stuttered, "But you know what I'm already leaving, actually!"

"No!"

I stayed still. Paul took a deep sigh and finally put his gun down. The silence was only broken by the walker's unnerving sounds. Paul walked across the living room and brought a chair with him. Without saying anything he invited me to the room with the walker. I sat with them. Looking at it made me so uncomfortable all I wanted was to runway from there as fast as I could. Still, I stayed.

"This is Karina." Paul started, "We met in a settlement right after the outbreak."

"She died." I said, "And you couldn't let go of her."

"It's a little more complex than that."

I tried to look into Paul's eyes, but he was facing the ground. Once he was ready, Paul looked up at me.

"We made and oath. We wouldn't abandon each other no matter what. And when would fight for each other. One lives, all live."

Paul lifted hir shirt a little to show a huge scar on his belly. It looked well healed, "Our camp got raided by walkers. Me and Karina were the only survivors. I got this scar as a souvenir. But it looked bad, and I went unconscious for a couple hours."

At this point I kind of realized where this was going. I read Romeo and Juliet back at school. I hate tragedies. Paul lowered his shirt and shifted on his chair a little.

"Karina couldn't face the world on her own. She wanted to end all this pain and suffering."

"Oh no..." I covered my mouth slightly.

Paul tilted his head, "She killed herself. Once I got there it was already too late."

He stayed in silence for a while and I realized there were actual tears dropping from his eyes.

"But we made an oath!" He cried out. "We vowed never to leave each other and that's what I did!" He said even louder. The tears cleaning his face. "That's what I did-!!"

He choked on his own tears and couldn't say anything else. Paul just buried his face on his hands and cried while the walker (or should I say Karina?) moaned quietly in it's never ending hunger.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, no knowing what to say.

Paul got up still facing the ground. I quickly got up too and hugged him. He was taller than me so he had to bend a little to hug me back. That made his weight fall upon me. I had to stiff my legs in order not to simply fall down. But I carried him. He kept crying louder and louder. The walker got agitated but it didn't left it's place due to the restrains. I closed my eyes shut wishing with all of me for this to be over. Not Paul or the walker. Just everything else.

Pain and suffering left a scar on everyone. And I couldn't help but think, clouded by my own nostalgia, how much better things were before.