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p3nny4urth0ught5 · 4 years

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One Step Back - Chapter 1

Hey everyone! I finally finished the next part of One Step Back. Thank you so much to everyone who has been so supportive so far!

If you want to be added to the taglist please let me know! Also big shoutout again to @singeramg. I honestly don’t think I would be able to do this without her. You all should read her stuff.

Just a reminder, this story takes places after the events of Justice League. The timeline is a little different so if things seem a little incorrect that is why. Also this part is still from Clark’s POV. I’m planning on officially introducing the reader the next chapter. Thanks everyone!

Taglist: @singeramg @queengeorgiaaa @spookypeachx @ayame236 @ohjules

Clark was anxious. He was so nervous that he could barely breathe. He kept having to stop his leg from bouncing. His hand rubbed the nape of his neck and his entire body felt as stiff as a board. He decided to take the bus back home instead of just flying, and while it was probably a good idea for him to not be in the air right now with how much of a mess he was, it was also very counter-intuitive because it gave him more time to dwell on what was to come.

He hadn’t been able to get Y/n off his mind in months and yet now he felt like an idiot for making this trip. The two of them had grown up together. They met when they were kids and became joined at the hip despite his parent’s reluctance to him having any close friends. She had fought tooth and nail for the right to be his friend and had proved time and time again that she was worth the risk it was to him and his parents. In fact, after the whole bus incident from when they were kids, she became so defensive and protective of him that she had definitely scared off both kids and their parents alike from confronting him or his mom and dad about what happened. Lois had even been intimidated by her when she came around looking for answers about who he was, and knowing how Lois was, that in and of itself was extremely impressive and surprisingly heartwarming.

After his dad died, he hadn’t been able to stay in Smallville. He felt like in order to find himself and assuage the pain and guilt and loss he felt, he had to leave. Clark hated leaving his mom to deal with his father’s death all alone, but it was eating him alive being in his home when his dad was gone and he could have saved him. He had been so angry at him for not letting him help and at himself for listening to him. Despite how hard it was, he needed to leave, to get himself straightened out.

As difficult as it was to leave his mom, his home, and everything he knew, it had been especially hard for him to leave Y/n. He had been through everything with her and not only was she his best friend and his rock, but the two of them had eventually fallen in love and became high school sweethearts. He had proposed to her just a few months prior to the death of his father. The two of them hadn’t even started seriously planning the wedding but they had decided on a few things here or there very casually, such as possible colors they liked or how many people they wanted in the wedding He loved waking up and knowing that he was going to spend the rest of his life with his best friend and love of his life. Clark had been so in love with her. Leaving her, had left the both of them heartbroken and wishing things were different, and it was one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do.

To this day, he still could remember her standing on his porch, tears in her eyes, telling him that she didn’t want him to leave. They had fought over the prospect of him being gone for weeks but eventually she had told him that she understood why he was doing what he was, she just wasn’t happy about it and didn’t agree, all she asked was that he come back to her.

The bus he was in was crowded and noisy and the sound of a crying child dragged him from his memories of Y/n. He looked up and saw a frantic mother of three at her wits end, her two boys fighting next to her and her toddler crying inconsolably in her arms. The child had her arms outstretched toward the ground, reaching for something, and when Clark looked down, he saw a stuffed elephant sprawled across the floor of the bus. His heart stopped at the shear pain on the child’s face and the anguish in her cries. He felt himself feeling her pain as his own, wanting to cry out as she did, but he couldn’t.

Clark reached down and grabbed the ratty old stuffed toy, clearly something that had been loved on for years so probably a hand-me-down of some sort, and held it out to the teary-eyed child. Upon receiving what she was looking for, the child gurgled for a moment and then immediately quieted. The mother looked down at her now silent baby and breathed in a sigh of relief. A smile broke out across Clark’s face. The young girl stuck the elephant’s ear into her mouth and started to suck on it. He had to hold in a laugh at how quickly she had been pleased as he shook his head and turned to the window, looking out at the changing scenery. A flash of regret struck through him. By now, he thought that he would’ve had a whole gaggle of kids or at least, that was the plan when he was still learning to be a man.

As the view outside changed from the city to the countryside, Clark tried to clear his head of the nonsense running through it and get back to focusing on seeing his mom. He hadn’t been home since he had helped her move back into their house after Bruce bought the bank. He still couldn’t believe that he did that. He definitely appreciated it, but Clark just couldn’t fathom anyone having enough money to just up and buy a bank. He had grown up on a farm in a small town and while he lived in Metropolis now and worked for a very successful newspaper, he still wasn’t exactly flush with cash. Being a pencil pusher mostly meant he wasn’t paid super well. Clark liked his job well enough and it gave him an excuse to poke his nose into things and places where it didn’t belong but he didn’t have the passion for it that Lois did. Something just didn’t feel right, like there was something missing.

After a few hours, Clark was finally home again and he felt himself fill with joy at the thought of seeing his mother. Despite his underlying reason for coming home, he was still very excited to be back. He imagined this is what he might have felt had he gone away to college and come home for the summer. The bus dropped him at the city limits so he started the long trek to his family farm. He decided to walk through the center of town because it had been such a long time since he had seen it.

Everything he saw as he walked along the familiar sidewalk brought back memories from his childhood, both good and bad. There was the diner on the corner where he would spend time with his parents when they had a little bit of money to spare for a night out. The old movie theater that he and Y/n used to sneak into, well... that Y/n used to help him sneak into. He could practically see the two of them running around town like the hooligans they were, getting into trouble and Y/n always took the blame. Most of the stuff they did was her idea anyway but he played an equal part. People were always confused as to why the two of them were such good friends when she was such a troublemaker and he stayed on the straight and narrow. He couldn’t help but laugh thinking about how people used to talk about what a bad influence on him she was. It was 100% true, but he didn’t care either way.

A few things had changed here or there in the town, it actually seemed a bit bigger than he remembered, there seemed to be more people that he didn’t recognize but Clark didn’t put much thought into it. He continued on his journey home and started to pass by the other family farms that were in between town and his home. Clark noticed that most of them seemed to be doing quite well and it looked like there had been a few updates done to the houses as well as some newer cars in the driveways. It was puzzling to him how they could afford that but once again he didn’t let that thought bother him.

As he got closer to home, he felt his throat start to close up and it felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. The air started to fill with the scent of wildflowers and lavender that always seemed to permeate from the property no matter what season. He took a deep breath and stopped in his tracks. In his mind, as clear as the light of day, he could see Y/n lying next to him smelling so strongly of those two things, her skin soft and sun kissed from being outside. His mouth watered for the taste of apples, something she always seemed to have on her that the two of them would share at lunch or after school. He could feel her touch on his skin and hear her laugh almost as if she was right next to him. Just as Clark started to lose himself in the memories, he noted that the air smelt dusty and barren, as if the house hadn’t been lived in properly for months if not longer. His eyes snapped open and he had to stop himself from rushing to the front door. He took a good look at the house and while it still looked like it was in great shape, it was obvious to him that no one had been there in quite a while. The house was obviously still being maintained by someone as it looked quite clean and put together, but he didn’t see or hear or smell anyone living there. His heart sank in his chest and he started to feel light-headed. She wasn’t there.

Clark tried to push all the negative thoughts creeping up in his mind that something had happened to her or that she was with someone else. For some reason the second option sounded all the more terrifying and filled him with more dread then the first. He continued walking toward his mom’s house, the trek feeling like it took even longer than it should have. His feet felt like they were filled with lead and seemed to get heavier with every step that he took further from her home and toward his previous one. He tried to focus on the other reason he was here, his mom, but Y/n was hovering in the back of his mind and he had to focus on not letting it overwhelm him.

He continued walking and arrived at his mother’s home just a few moments later even though it felt like it took a good four hours. Clark felt a little bit of the weight on his shoulders fall off at finally being home. His chest didn’t feel like it was completely caved in anymore and he could breathe. A small smile graced his lips as his mom walked out of her house and the family dog, Frank, ran out of the house and up to him. She smiled and laughed, cupping her hand over her brow to block out the sun, “Is that my boy?”

He crouched down and scratched Frank behind his ears and ruffled his fur. “Hey Mom.”

It was hard to believe as he looked around that just a few months ago all of this had been seized by the bank. His mom had to move with all of their stuff and abandon their home where he grew up, and yet it didn’t look like a thing had changed, it looked the same as it always had. A small part of him was comforted by the fact that nothing had changed.

She walked down the porch steps and threw her arms around him. Still touch sensitive, he flinched and tried to disguise it by hugging her back tightly. His heart sunk at still feeling anxious like he was. He thought if anyone would be a comfort instead of another reason for him to feel tense, it would be his mother, but apparently not.

“I wasn’t expecting you to come home. If I would’ve known I would’ve made a roast or something.” The two separated and he crouched down to grab his bags as she led him inside.

“I wanted to surprise you.” His cheeks hurt from how wide he was smiling, meanwhile his skin still ached from where she had touched him.

“Well I’m always happy to see you honey. Come on in, let me get you something to eat.”

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Being at his mother’s house for the past few days had done him some good. Clark felt like he was a little more relaxed, less on edge. He loved being home, getting to help out his mom around the house, working in the fields, it made him feel like a kid again, but something kept nagging him at the back of his mind, Y/n. He hadn’t dared to bring her up yet. It was causing him to lose sleep thinking about her, not knowing where she was or if she was alright. He knew that his mom knew something was on his mind, and he was sure she knew what that was as well. He never could hide anything from her. Sometimes she would look at him like she wanted to bring it up but then turn away. Clark knew that it was his responsibility to bring her up, he knew that she was trying to get him to admit his mistakes and ask her what he was dying to ask.

It all came to a head about a week after he’d come home. He couldn’t let the thought of her eat away at him any longer without getting answers. The two of them had been working tirelessly all day and were now in the kitchen preparing dinner, well, his mother was at least. He had offered to help and she had shooed him away like always, claiming that she liked to do it and didn’t need any help.

“Hey Mom?”She looked up from where she was stirring something in a pot on the stove.

“Yes dear? What is it?”

He had a sense of déjà vu, sitting at the dining room table drinking a half empty mug of coffee. A sigh passed through his lips as his stomach turned and his soul filled with dread. Now that he had begun the conversation, he was having second thoughts, but he knew he had to push forward even though things were about to get very uncomfortable.

“Where’s Y/n? I walked by her home the other day on my way here and it seemed like it had been empty for a while.” He gulped and felt like he was trying to swallow a boulder. His chest was tightening as he waited for a response and his heart felt like it was about to pump out of his chest.

Clark’s mom’s back straightened. He could hear her take a deep breath as she turned off the stove. His mind raced when she didn’t immediately start talking. She took a few moments to wipe off her hands and settled herself down at the table beside him. Her hands reached out and grabbed one of his into her own.

“She left town shortly after the funeral we had for you here at the house. After she found out about Lois, she was completely devastated and she got a great job offer out of town and took it. I tried to talk her into staying but you know how hard headed she is.” His heart stopped; she was gone. He had hoped to have told her about the Lois situation himself but knew that was probably just a pipe dream at this point. “Son I love you but I have to say I have never been more disappointed with you with the way you treated that poor girl. She deserved better than that.”

That statement hit him hard. He knew he should have treated her better and come clean sooner with her about him and Lois, but he was scared, and it was difficult trying to juggle his superhero persona and his normal life as Clark Kent, reporter for the Daily Planet. Y/n leaving because of him was the last thing he wanted. He had hoped that the two of them could sit down and talk like adults and try to mend the bridge he had broken by leaving in the first place. A big part of him knew that the conversation would not go that way at all but he had still hoped at the time. Now, he was lost.

“Where is she Mom? Where did she go?” It felt like someone was choking him from the inside of his throat and he felt his eyes fill with tears.

His mom had a dejected smile on her face. She cupped his cheek with her hand and he felt himself grit his teeth at the touch, it still made him ache. “I don’t know son.”

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askaceattorney · 4 years

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Dear askrikkaiandhyotei,

The...entire cast!?

Well, Turnabout Time Traveler happens to be favorite case anyway, so why not?

Our first guest is the crooked head servant, Mr. Dumas Gloomsbury. (Might as well get him out of the way first.)

Of course he isn’t. He’s just a disgruntled servant of the Sprocket family who secretly hates them all for what they’ve done to his reputation, even to the point of being willing to murder someone who would become the newest addition to the family, as well as destroying a prized possession designed by her groom-to-be.

So..........yeah. Very likable guy. Thankfully, he’s only on the scene for a brief moment before the titular “time travel” occurs.

That brings us to our next guest, Ms. Ellen Wyatt, soon to be Mrs. Ellen Sprocket, except for the fact that she’s been accused of murder. Like most defendants, she doesn’t seem like the type to kill someone -- she’s calm, mild-mannered, and well put together. Well...usually.

You didn’t expect 100% normalcy in a new character, did you? Heck, we’re lucky to get 50% in this series. Thankfully, the emotional Ms. Wyatt knows how to pull herself together in an instant.

Quite the enviable skill to have, isn’t it?

This beautiful bride-to-be wants nothing more than to be proven innocent so that she can be married to the one and only Sorin Sprocket of Sprocket Aviation. Instead of seeking help from the Wright Anything Agency on her own, however, she’s brought to them by someone else.

That brings us to an unexpected guest from yesteryear (and an uninvited one):

Before getting to know Ellen, we’re abruptly introduced to a brand new Larry Butz with a brand new look! ...And the same old smell, unfortunately.

He introduces “Elly” as his brand new fiance, much to Phoenix’s surprise (and everyone in the known universe’s), but it turns out to be another one of his usual romantic escapades. What is true is that he helped his beloved Elly escape the room she was confined in, and even shook off the police for her. Some might call this heroic...if they don’t know the Butz. As someone who does know him, Phoenix delivers a line from his former mentor:

On the plus side, Larry’s been doing more than chasing women since we last saw him -- he held onto the name he borrowed from his late mentor and became a picture book author.

Not exactly what I’d expect someone in that field to look like, but progress is progress, I guess.

Moving back to “Elly,” she claims to be as clean and pure as her pure-white dress, as well as something else -- something that’s a bit harder to believe.

Like I said, normalcy doesn’t seem to come naturally to new Ace Attorney characters, but her explanation of how she was almost killed, traveled back in time, and saw history rewritten takes the abnormal cake, especially coming from someone as sound-minded as Ellen. Or is she really as sound-minded as she looks?

We can only hope.

I love how she keeps everything she needs for housekeeping in one place, by the way, almost Mary Poppins-style.

Fast forwarding (no pun intended) through some re-introductions to Maya as our co-council and Edgeworth as the case’s prosecutor (something us long-time Ace Attorney fans can’t help but love), we’re eventually introduced to the master himself, Mr. Sorin Sprocket, who has his own personality quirks...or rather, a severe lack of personality.

Like many genius inventors, he isn’t very social (his preferred method of communication being the paper airplane message), and always seems to be lost in his thoughts until someone pulls him back into reality. Even stranger than that, he doesn’t seem the least bit worried about his fiance’s trial. In Phoenix’s his words, he isn’t the easiest guy to wrap your head around.

On top of that, he has his own thing to say about time travel:

He and Ellen apparently both believe in time travel, but apart from that, they don’t seem to have much in common. In fact, having met the two of them, one might think they’re polar opposites of each other, and...well, they’d be right, but as we learn later on, there’s more to Sorin’s silence than just an obsession with his work.

And speaking of obsession...

Our next guest, while also quite abnormal, is a bit more level-headed than the previous new characters. He’s well-mannered, detail-oriented, shrewd, and takes the utmost care of Sorin. Not to mention he's tech-savvy enough to fix a broken radio in a matter of seconds.

I’m surprised Phoenix and Maya didn’t consider the possibility of him being a machine himself, like they did with Lisa Basil.

He happens to have one of my favorite pun names, by the way. Besides being clever and describing him perfectly, it almost sounds like it could be a real person’s name.

While Mr. Nichody does a good job of being the least interesting character thus far, it turns out that he and his “expensive good luck charm” play one of the most important roles in this case. Not to mention he gives the biggest piece of foreshadowing in the episode:

Funny he should say that when there’s a spirit medium right in front of him, but I guess he doesn’t have time for unimportant details like that.

As the story goes on and the revelations start pouring in, we learn about Sorin’s older sister Selena, who was originally going to be the next president of Sprocket Aviation. This, unfortunately, was not to be...

The sudden loss of his sister provides an explanation for his closed-off attitude and interest in time machines, but the mysteries surrounding that tragic day are only beginning.

We also learn that Mr. Nichody believes Ellen is guilty of her alleged crime, and for that reason, he’s strongly opposed to letting her marry Sorin. Could he be right in doubting her, or is there something else behind is disapproval? Ellen doesn’t seem that bad, after all. Just a little...what’s the term?

There you go.

Then comes one of the bigger twists -- it turns out Sorin and his in-laws were responsible for Ellen’s supposed trip through time, which turned out to be an elaborate scheme to make her believe her near-death experience with Gloomsbury was only a dream. Or so says Nichody, at least.

But once again, this is only the beginning.

Even with the possibility of time travel ruled out, Ellen’s guilt hasn’t been disproved just yet. The only hope Phoenix has is the person she claims she saw attacking Gloombury before losing consciousness. Unfortunately, the only suspect he can come up with so far is her fiance, thus introducing the possibility of him having to take her place in prison.

Considering every case up until now has had some form of happy ending, it’d be quite the unusual turn of events for this happy couple to have to be separated whether we win or lose the case...but is it impossible?

As tragic as that possibility might be, it sets up a scene that happens to be one of my favorite kinds -- one where someone is compelled to give up something, even if it’s his or her own life, purely out of love for someone else.

Her words are touching, but soon after saying them, she’s forced to prove just how steadfast her love is for Sorin, even in a cruel twist of fate -- namely, his pointing the blame for Gloomsbury’s death in her direction.

That face alone is enough to break anyone’s heart, but thankfully, that’s where the plot twists just begin. The first one reveals that Sorin went to rescue his bride-to-be in the most bizarre way possible.

Then it turns out he really didn’t, or so he says. Then it turns out he was attacked by Gloomsbury along with Ellen. Then comes one that turns everything he’s said so far upside-down:

It turns out time travel is possible, but not in the way everyone was hoping, or in a way anyone would want -- due to his anterograde amnesia, Sorin “goes back in time” whenever he goes to sleep. This revelation sheds a lot of light on his personality, his compulsive note-taking, and his feelings toward Ellen. Not to mention, it turns out (sheesh, I keep saying that) he was responsible for the car crash that took his sister’s life. But luckily, that's not all his condition reveals.

Someone decided to take advantage of Sorin’s memory being dependent on what he writes in his notebook in order to paint him as Gloomsbury’s murder. Who might that someone be? Well, for anyone who’s read the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (or enough murder mysteries involving rich families), it should be pretty obvious -- the butler did it!

But what motive could a close friend and servant have for manipulating Sorin’s memories? Well, like many an Ace Attorney culprit, he’s not as level-headed as he appears to be.

The rogue butler in this case turns out to be the once-fiance of Sorin’s sister, as well as the one who operated on her after the car accident occurred...or, rather, who almost did.

After some impromptu x-rays and the testimony that wasn’t there, we finally learn the whole truth about Nichody, Gloomsbury, and the plot to exact their revenge on Sorin and his bride. It turns out Sorin wasn’t the only one stuck in the past.

In a beautiful yet tragic symbolism, Selena’s pocket watch stopped ticking on the same day her heart stopped beating, which, for Nichody, was the day time stopped.

This brings us to our final guest, one who could only be here in spirit -- Ms. Selena Sprocket. In Ellen’s words, Selena would’ve said, “Leave this ill will behind. Your time is yours to live.” To an inconsolable time traveler, these words hold no meaning, but just then...

Whether it’s a coincidence or a message from Selena from beyond (which might actually be believable in the Ace Attorney universe), Pierce is reminded that, sooner or later, time moves on.

And on that note, Ellen and Sorin are finally able to move on from this rough patch in their lives and experience their “First Startup of Love.”

Speaking of the happy couple, the one thing that stuck with me about this episode more than Nichody’s epiphany is how devoted Ellen is to Sorin from beginning to end.

With the knowledge that he might forget everything about her, himself, their wedding, and any other experiences they might share together, her devotion to him is ultimately proven to be the real deal. His willingness to risk his life for her also proves that this devotion goes both ways. In the end, there’s nothing, past, present, or future, that can keep them apart. Why, you ask?

And hey, even Larry found it in himself to move on! How about that?

Thus ends a beautiful story, a beautiful reunion of the original characters, and a beautiful finale(?) to the Ace Attorney series. Sure, there was tragedy along the way, but after an ending like that, I’d like to see each of these characters, new and old, take a bow.

Just...don’t throw them any flowers.

-The Co-Mod

#askrikkaiandhyotei #Mod Post #Co Mod #Character Essay #Dumas Gloomsbury #Ellen Wyatt #Sorin Sprocket #Pierce Nichody #Selena Sprocket #Mod Commentary #Been a while hasn't it?

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dr-gloom · 5 years

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The Climax (Ch 2)

Commission Me (please)

Ch 1 Ch 3 Ch 4

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

Fandom: Sanders’ Sides

Pairing: Moxiety

Tags/Warnings: discussion of rape, depressed character, depression behavior, self-deprecating/self-hate, mentions of a character refusing to eat, slight guilt-tripping

Read it on AO3

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Virgil had held Roman’s hand as he gave a statement to the blank-faced cop, eyes locked on the faux-wood table. After fingerprinting and DNA collection, they asked if they could do a rape kit. Virgil only agreed to it once they reassured him Roman could stay in the room, and he’d hiccupped and sobbed into Roman’s shoulder as clinical hands collected evidence, Roman shushing him softly and petting his back. Once that was done, they asked to take his clothes and offered MDPD sweats for him to wear home. Virgil changed into the soft, loose clothes and left with Roman, gripping his hand.

Virgil refused to get out of the car when Roman drove him back to the apartment. Roman supposed that was a stupid move on his part and started driving to his place without another word, turning on the radio to break the silence.

“Hey, Roman,” Virgil mutters. Roman glances at him out of the corner of his eye and hums questioningly. “Do you think… You think Pat’s gonna break up with me?”

Roman actually looks at Virgil at that with a bewildered expression. “Why would you think that? He loves you! Once he hears what really happened, I’m sure he’ll take everything back.”

Virgil shrugs limply, looking out the window. “I let him do it again. I cheated on him. I’m tainted.”

Roman purses his lips and pulls over, putting the car in park and turning fully to face Virgil. “Virgil, look at me.” Virgil turns his head to look at Roman, looking tired and defeated. It made Roman’s heart clench. “You did not cheat on Patton. You were raped. None of this is your fault, and if Patton ever holds this against you I’ll kick his ass. Not that I think he ever would.”

Virgil just sighs and goes back to looking out the window.

Roman fluffs the pillow one more time, smiling down at his work. Unlike Patton and Virgil he couldn’t afford a two-bedroom apartment, so Roman had set him up on the couch, complete with bed sheets, a blanket, and his softest pillow. He smiles and turns to Virgil, who’d been standing in the entrance to the kitchen with a mug of tea while he worked. “What do you think? Not too shabby, huh?” He grins. When Virgil doesn’t immediately respond, his smile fades. “Virge? You okay?”

Virgil gnaws on his lip, looking anywhere but Roman as he asks quietly, “Can I… Sleep with you? Don’t wanna be alone…” Roman’s heart clenches. He’d thought Virgil would feel uncomfortable laying next to someone else after what happened, but he forgot that Virgil had basically just ended things with Patton, too. Of course he would want to be close to someone. And Roman was all he had, at least until this was all sorted out.

“Of course, V.”

Roman doesn’t bother fixing the couch, instead making sure Virgil’s done with his tea before lightly dragging him to bed and curling up next to him. He smiles softly as Virgil wraps his arms around Roman and closes his eyes, falling asleep soon after.

Roman wouldn’t be so lucky, his mind working furiously on how to fix this before it gave in and mercifully let him sleep.

That had been nearly a month and a half ago. Virgil was still living with Roman, and with each week that passed more of his things were integrated into the apartment. Patton had proven nearly impossible to get ahold of, but Roman was sure he was staying with Logan; when he went to get more of Virgil’s things, he’d notice some of Patton’s missing as well. No matter when he called or how many times he did, Patton refused to answer. Logan would, of course, but if asked about Patton he would simply say “That is not my business to divulge” and hang up. It was beyond frustrating.

Virgil had barely left bed the entire time he’d been staying with Roman. On a good day, Roman could get him to spend a couple hours on the couch watching a movie, or get him to sit on the little patio connected to his apartment. Though, on the bad days (which greatly outnumbered the good ones), he would only get out of bed to go to the bathroom, and sometimes to eat. That in itself was a battle. Sometimes he just didn’t care, sometimes he didn’t have the energy to, and sometimes he thought he didn’t deserve to eat Roman’s food.

Roman was at his wit’s end. It was breaking his heart seeing Virgil like this, and he was beginning to fear for his health. The weight loss was visible now, Virgil’s cheeks hollowing out a little, his hands a bit more bony. Roman was sure he was weeks if not days away from hair loss, and Virgil didn’t even seem to care.

After the second week, Roman had gently recommended that Virgil sleep on the couch if only for a change of scenery, and Virgil had become nearly inconsolable, gasping and sobbing that he was disgusting, even his friend couldn’t stand to be around him anymore, he was useless, ugly, worthless. Roman had nearly cried hearing what Virgil said about himself, spending nearly two hours talking Virgil down and apologizing. He hasn’t broached the topic since.

Roman thought about all this as he got dressed, pulling his shoes on with a sigh and pocketing his wallet and keys. He slips into his room, pressing a soft kiss to Virgil’s hair. Virgil’s eyes flutter open and Roman smiles at him kindly. “Gonna run to Starbucks. Want anything?” Virgil seemed to think about it for a moment, Roman holding his breath.

“... Hot chocolate?”

Roman beams. Virgil hasn’t wanted to eat or drink anything besides water in days. “You got it. Back in a bit.” He gives Virgil another head kiss and slips out of the room, humming to himself as he makes his way out of the apartment and to his car. As he drove, he continued to think. If he could just see Patton in person, he could explain everything and Patton and Virgil could talk it out! The trick was finding Patton, or getting him to go somewhere when he wouldn’t even answer the phone.

Roman parks outside the Starbucks and gets out, heading inside. He orders a tall non-fat vente latte with extra whip and Virgil’s hot chocolate, then stands to the side. He looks around, admiring the decorations on the walls.

And then he sees them.

Roman thanks whatever deity is out there looking out for him as he marches up to Logan and Patton’s table. He slaps his palms down on the wood, looking right at Patton, feeling a sense of satisfaction as Patton looks up and his smile dies. Logan watches with a raised eyebrow; truthfully, he’d been thinking a confrontation was overdue.

“Why won’t you answer our calls?”

“W-well, I-”

“You know Virgil’s barely left my bed? He also barely eats. He thinks he doesn’t deserve to.”

An unreadable look crosses Patton’s face. “But I-”

“You didn’t even wait for him to explain! You just left him there, alone , after he was raped!”

The words are out of his throat before he even realizes he’s said them. Roman’s eyes widen and he looks around the small shop, most of the chatter dieing down. Oh, screw them, they don’t matter right now. Roman turns back to Patton.

Patton’s face is pale as a sheet, his eyes wide, hands slack around his coffee cup. His voice is barely more than a whisper as he asks, “What?”

Logan sighs, motioning to the chair in front of Roman. “You might as well sit down.” Roman nods, pulling out the chair and sitting down. Normally, he’d say it wasn’t his place to share this story, but they needed to hear it and Virgil wasn’t going to say anything. He sighs, beginning his recount of that day a month and a half ago.

Tears are streaming down Patton’s face. Some of the anger Roman’s felt since that day ebs away, knowing Patton regrets everything he said and did. He stands up when his name is called. “Look, I’m really sorry to just leave like this, but V wanted hot chocolate and right now, nothing else matters more to me. Text me later if you still wanna talk.”

Logan nods in understanding as Patton wipes his eyes. “Thank you, Roman. We’ll be in touch.”

Taglist: @bunny222 @a-fander-named-skittles @eggy-boyo @hungry-red-panda @neonb-fly @punsterterry @unbefuckinglieveable @metaphoricalpluto2

(also i noticed when i was adding links to past Parts that my taglist used to be bigger so im sorry some of yall got dropped i fixed it)

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novarasalas · 6 years

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OK time another Honerva question (I know I've asked two already but you're my favourite person to ask): Honerva claimed to alternative reality Lotor when he rejected her that she did love him like a mother, but did she really? Admittedly I don't have any children of my own to judge maternal love, but I always got the feeling that Honerva after regaining her memories just saw Lotor as 'her' property and not as a person in his own right.

Hey, don’t worry about it, anon - I’m loving this just as much as you are.

- - -

You don’t have to have a child of your own to realize that Honerva is a bit lacking in the parental love department.

Let’s look at the scene you mentioned:

[…] I assure you, my love for you is that of a mother for her child.

What a weird thing to say, and what a weird way to say it. It’s almost as if she’s been saying this to herself, over and over, as if repeating it would make it true.

But we know it’s not. And so does baby Lotor.

She’s not my mother!

When she first regains her memories, you could almost imagine that she had been feeling guilt, not just in how she’d forgotten him, but because of the abuse she’d both facilitated and taken part in.

But as time goes on, we see that it’s not guilt - she’s lost her grip on something that she very much feels is hers.

If it was about love for her child, she would have been heartbroken that Lotor refused to come to her.

Instead…

Come to me.

That screenshot can’t capture the way she says that. There’s no warmth in her voice - it’s the cold demand of someone being denied something they think they deserve.

It’s something that begins manifesting back in S6 when she has him brought to her and he denies her. She only orders him to be taken away. She’s already had him brought to her - she’s not going to let him get away now.

And most tellingly, in S8 when she’s standing over his corpse, she says “We’ll all be together soon.”

Who’s we? Zarkon’s dead. Lotor is, apparently, also dead.

If she actually cared, if she actually loved them, she’d have been upset, inconsolable, incapacitated with grief.

But no. She just goes to get another set of family, their feelings in the matter be damned.

It’s just as before: she didn’t care about the safety of anyone else, she had to save her pregnancy. If it destroys the planet and her people, so what?

And now she has to have her family. And if it destroys space and time, well…

Objects can be replaced.

But people? Baby Lotor gets it right again.

Lotor: My mother is dead. And you cannot replace her!

The family she may have loved once is dead. She traverses time and space to find them again, but they’re not the same ones. They’re not her family. She knows that, and she doesn’t care. She’ll make them her family, whether they like it or not.

Because the price of denying her what she feels is rightly hers is death.

- - -

While I’m on the subject, can I talk about bad parents for a second? It’s gonna get slightly personal.

In several of my posts here, I talk about how much I relate to Keith, mostly in manner and disposition, but also the kid has obviously been through some emotional neglect, and like…same.

But after seeing what Lotor went throught with Zarkon, then Honerva…yeah.

I would also fly into the sun to get away from my dad. And sadly, I saw a lot of others echo the sentiment.

In the real world, these two mostly resemble Narcissistic Parents.

Psychology Today has an article titled “10 Signs of a Narcissistic Parent”.

The author defines Narcissistic Parents as:

A narcissistic parent can be defined as someone who lives through, is possessive of, and/or engages in marginalizing competition with the offspring. Typically, the narcissistic parent perceives the independence of a child (including adult children) as a threat, and coerces the offspring to exist in the parent’s shadow, with unreasonable expectations. In a narcissistic parenting relationship, the child is rarely loved just for being herself or himself.

and it includes things like this:

5. Manipulation

Common examples of narcissistic parenting manipulation include:

Guilt trip: “I’ve done everything for you and you’re so ungrateful.”

Blaming: “It’s your fault that I’m not happy.”

Shaming: “Your poor performance is an embarrassment to the family.”

Negative comparison: “Why can’t you be as good as your brother?”

Unreasonable pressure: “You WILL perform at your best to make me proud.”

Manipulative reward and punishment: “If you don’t pursue the college major I chose for you, I will cut off my support.”

Emotional coercion: “You’re not a good daughter/son unless you measure up to my expectations.”

A common theme running through these forms of manipulation is that love is given as a conditional reward, rather than the natural expression of healthy parenting. On the other hand, the withholding of love is used as threat and punishment.

….yikes, amirite?

That guilt trip one especially sounds like:

Countless worlds have fallen in to wake of my efforts to return to you. And this is how you welcome me?

It’s the classic narcissist parent: They’ve made so many sacrifices for you, and now you have to repay them.

Poor Lotor. At this point, I’m about ready to traverse the multiverse to find him so I can take him out for drinks. We’ll compare damage and reassure one another that we’re not like our parents.

So, in conclusion, you’re absolutely right, anon. There’s no real maternal love left in Honerva, just some weird perversion of the notion. At this point, to her, Lotor is just and extension of herself, a thing to be own and used. She doesn’t care about him and how he feels, only that he’s with her.

- - -

And lastly, if I haven’t broken your heart enough, look at one last thing with me:

Look at him. He’s so happy to see his mother again.

That means that in this reality, the one without the entities corrupting influence, they were a happy family.

Honerva wasn’t a bad person. One her own, she could have been a loving wife and mother. I can’t blame her for wanting that.

But she went about everything the wrong way, just as Lotor did with his colony scheme.

Honerva wanted to save her son.

Zarkon wanted to save his wife.

Lotor wanted to save his people.

What a tragic family.

#answered ask #honerva #haggar #lotor #zarkon #long post #meta #voltron meta #voltron #voltron legendary defender #vld #Anonymous

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olicity-fanwork-exchange · 5 years

Text

Broken Bones And Porcelain Dolls

This one is for Jesse, @spaztronautwriter. I have always loved your stories and I am so grateful that you share them with us. This is no way as good as your original fic Broken Bones Lead Me to You but I hope you’ll have fun reading it all the same.

From: @tangled23works

Rating : Teen

Archive Warnings : No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationship : Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak, Mia Smoak/Connor Hawke

Characters : Oliver Queen, Felicity Smoak, Mia Smoak, Connor Hawke, William Clayton

Additional Tags : Future Fic

Words : 3896

Sick people made a lot of noise.

As someone who had been blessed with excellent health, Mia had never noticed it before. The last time she had visited Starling Memorial she had been too young to pay attention to the smell of disinfectant and constant groaning around her.

A man in a red hoodie that reminded her of an old photo of her Uncle Roy was brooding in the corner while a young girl with spiky black hair wearing a leather jacket was threatening the nurse with bodily harm if they didn’t treat his injuries soon. Mia couldn’t actually see an injury but she supposed that people got hurt in amentionable locations all the time. An older guy - she had made sure to stay far away from that one because she could feel his creepy eyes following her - was complaining constantly about inefficient nurses and female doctors. If Mia’s Mom was there she would have donated this slimy dude’s money to Greenpeace in a heartbeat.

“Mia?”

She looked up to find her older brother with a sad look on his face that could only be described as contrition.

“I’m sorry but the nurse said this is gonna take a while.”

“It’s fine, Will.”

Her brother sighed as if he knew she was lying and sat next to her. The plastic chairs weren’t exactly comfortable but the place had been so crowded that Will had been forced to stand at least for an hour while they were waiting.

Mia turned towards him. In all the years she had known Will, she had never seen him look like that. She had been about five years old when a trip to Central City had revealed that her father had another kid. Things had never been the same after that. But despite all the sibling rivalry, Mia wouldn’t trade her older brother for the world.

She leaned on him. “Remember the last time we were here?”

Will closed his eyes. “Yes.”

She could hear the smile in his voice. “Lucas was screaming the place down. Our parents were afraid that the nurses would kick us out.”

Will chuckled. “Felicity always said that you were so quiet. It was so easy to keep you happy. You were fine as long as your belly was full. I think Lucas surprised them. They hadn’t expected a baby to be so loud and demanding.”

“And now, he’s the best of us. Always zen and shit.”

The old lady in the next seat shoot her a reproving glance.

“Mia Smoak Queen. Don’t make me call your mom.”

Mia stuck her tongue out. “You wouldn’t dare. Because then I would have to tell her we’re in the emergency room. And she would want to know why,” she threatened in a singsong voice.

Will blanched at the reminder. “Shit, Mia. I’m so sorry.”

“Really, young man!” the old lady chided.

“Sorry, Ma’am. I’m so worried for my sister. She’s in excruciating pain.”

He grabbed Mia’s hand and pointed to her dislocated thumb. The sight made the old lady shudder. She nodded accepting Will’s apology and promptly turned the other way.

Mia tried to suppress a laugh and failed. “Aren’t you laying it on a bit thick? I have dislocated my thumb plenty of times before.”

“First of all, shush. And second, we all know you’re a badass,” he whispered the word, afraid that the lady was still listening to their conversation, “but you can’t know for sure it’s dislocated. It looks broken to me.”

Mia rolled her eyes. “So dramatic.”

“Shut up. It’s all my fault.”

“It’s not your fault, Will. And it’s not Addie’s fault either.”

Will rubbed his thumb and forefinger in a nervous gesture that reminded Mia of their father. She had told him plenty of times that the whole thing was a stupid accident but her stubborn brother refused to believe her.

It had all started with a text message. Mia had been hanging with Will at Queen Inc. when her brother’s husband had to leave for Central City in a hurry. Josh was a reporter and he had been following a story about some guy who kept running around dressed in a red suit pretending to be a superhero. What the police hadn’t anticipated was that the guy had unknowingly stumbled onto a human trafficking cartel and had even managed to get photos of their operation. Josh had sources all over the country so when one of them called and said that the CCPD was about to make an arrest, he had been forced to leave Addie in a hurry and catch the first train to Central City.

“Wanna hang out with me and Addie tonight?” Will had asked her. “I’ll even let you guys play that ancient video game that Felicity loves so much.”

They had left QI and after picking up four different kinds of ice-cream (in order to appease Addie), they rushed to Will and Josh’s home to spend a quiet night in with her niece. Josh warned them that Addie was in a bad mood because her Daddy was leaving but they didn’t listen. After all, they were both grown ups, perfectly capable of taking care of a grumpy four-year-old, right?

Little did they know how wrong they were…

At first Addie had been pleased to see them but that had quickly changed when she realized that she still had to say goodbye to one of her parents. She had stomped her foot and refused to eat her dinner. Will had to ply her with ice-cream even though Josh had told Mia repeatedly that giving sugar to Addie when she was having a temper tantrum was a recipe for disaster.

Addie on a sugar high was not a pretty sight. She had climbed every possible surface, she had stormed the bedroom and pretended to be a pirate called Slade Wilson, she had opened every single cupboard and thrown pots, pans and other kitchen utensils on the floor. Then she had decided to jump down from the oak China cabinet yelling “You have failed this city!” at the top of her lungs; which of course was the moment when Mia decided it was time to intervene. She tried to catch her niece mid-air but instead Addie’s little foot managed to kick her right hand at a weird angle dislocating her thumb. It hurt like a bitch despite what she had told Will but she had reigned it in so as not to scare the baby.

“How’s the munchkin?” she asked as she remembered Addie’s inconsolable cries when she had noticed her favorite aunt’s injury.

“She’s fine. You know she loves spending time with Josh’s parents.” Will’s leg jumped restlessly. “I really hate it that you got hurt, Mimi.”

Mia scoffed. She had never liked that nickname but the more she protested against it, the more Will used it. Plus, she couldn’t stand her brother’s guilt-ridden face any longer. “You know what I would like to have?”

“What?” Will asked, willing to help in any way he could.

“Can you get me some ice? It’ll help with the swelling.”

Will jumped up from his seat before she could finish her sentence. Mia leaned back and closed her eyes trying to relax. It had been a really long day and she couldn’t wait to go home. She didn’t open them again until she felt someone take the seat beside her. A glance to her right told her that it was not her brother.

A guy was now sitting next to her. She supposed he was what her grandma Donna would call “Hot with a capital H” if not for the fact that his nose was broken. Chocolate skin, tall, athletic wearing a pair of jeans and a dark green t-shirt. He was trying to fill in a hospital form but it was obvious from the way he was squinting that he couldn’t see very well.

“Excuse me,” she said after a minute of watching him struggle, “do you need some help?”

The hot guy dismissed her offer without even looking up. “It’s fine. Thank you, though.”

Mia shrugged and was about to turn away when he raised his head and noticed her. He scrutinized her from the top of her blonde hair to the bottom of her shoes. Mia decided it would be a good idea to try again. “Are you sure you don’t need my help?”

He went on the defensive. “And how would you help? Your thumb’s broken.”

“For your information, it’s not broken. Just dislocated. And I could read the questions for you so that you don’t have to squint like a knitting grandma but whatever.”

Hot guy sighed in defeat. “If you’re sure you don’t mind?”

“I don’t,” she said and looked at the form. He had filled in his name and phone number in neat handwriting. “Okay, so next question is the reason why you’re here.”

“Apart from the broken nose? My pride has taken a hit but this is not something the doctors can fix.” He wrote down the medically relevant answer.

Mia examined him closely. She didn’t understand what he meant with that comment about his pride. Unless he had gotten into a brawl and lost. “What happened? Did you get into a fistfight?”

“I wish.”

“You wish you were in a fistfight?”

“Being injured in a fight would be more manly,” he grumbled.

Mia couldn’t help but smile at the admission.

After much internal debate, he said quietly, “Actually, something fell on my face.”

She moved closer. “What was it?”

“I’d prefer not to say.”

“You have to! I have to know. Mysteries bug me, hot guy.”

He quirked an eyebrow.

“Well, I don’t know your name so I call you ‘hot guy’ in my head. At least, I’m guessing you’re hot beneath all the bruising and swelling.”

He almost laughed before he winced and took a deep breath through the mouth.

“I’m sorry,” Mia said. “It’s probably not a good idea to laugh with a broken nose.”

“I’m Connor, by the way. I would shake your hand but your thumb’s-”

“Dislocated,” Mia supplied before he could say that her thumb was broken. “So Connor, what was it that fell on your head and broke your nose?”

He mumbled something she couldn’t hear. “A what?”

“One of my Grandma’s vintage porcelain dolls.” He spoke so fast that the whole sentence sounded like one long mumbled word.

Mia blinked for a second before she started laughing so hard she nearly fell off her chair. She couldn’t help it. He was such a macho guy that the image of him being defeated by a doll was ridiculous.

“Was the doll dressed as a sheep herder?”

Connor didn’t appreciate her teasing. “I’m sorry,” she said even though it was obvious her apology was not sincere, “but it sounds like you were in an MMA fight with the doll and lost.”

He seemed exasperated for a second before a self-deprecating smile appeared on his face. Ugh, the smile made her pay attention to his lips. Biteable, pretty lips, like fluffy pillows… Mia was struck again by his hotness. She had forgotten about it in the midst of the doll fiasco.

“How did you break your thumb?” he asked.

She was about to explain for the umpteenth time that her thumb was dislocated not broken when she saw Will return holding out an ice pack.

“Thanks, Will.”

“Sorry I’m late. I had to check on Addie.”

Connor’s eyes darted to her brother, then fixed on Mia again. It was obvious that he was wondering if he was about to meet Mia’s significant other.

“Will, this is Connor. He has a broken nose. Connor this is Will, my older brother.”

Her brother threw her a questioning glance. “Nice to meet you.”

Will’s reserved greeting wasn’t lost on her new friend. Mia narrowed her eyes at her brother’s overprotectiveness. Sure, she had been approached by creeps all of her life just because her last name was Queen but she didn’t get that vibe from Connor. In fact she was pretty sure that he had no idea who she was.

“Miss Queen?”

“Dammit,” Mia growled.

“I’m so sorry for the delay, Miss Queen,” the nurse said. “If we knew you were here-”

“You would have done the exact same thing, I hope,” an authoritative voice said.

Mia shook her head in denial. She knew that voice. But it couldn’t be. Her father could not be here in the hospital when she had just met Connor, the hot guy who up until a moment ago was blissfully unaware of her last name.

“Of course, Mr. Mayor,” the nurse lied.

Mia could feel her father’s stare boring into her back. Before she could face him, another voice rose above the hospital noise.

“Mia Smoak Queen who did you punch and why?”

Mia turned towards her mother. She felt like a ten-year-old kid again insisting that she didn’t eat the last piece of her father’s birthday cake.

“I didn’t punch anyone.”

Felicity Smoak-Queen did not look convinced. “Really?”

Her father looked amused. “She’s telling the truth, honey. Her thumb’s broken. Mia knows better than to punch people with her thumb inside her closed fist.”

Felicity frowned, considering this information.

“It was my fault, Dad,” Will admitted.

“Don’t be absurd,” her mother said, dismissing Will’s confession. After all these years, Mia couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. Her mother had loved Will from the moment they had found out about him. It didn’t matter to her that he was not her biological child. It also helped that her brother was a certified genius and computer geek so alike Felicity it was scary. Even Samantha, Will’s actual Mom, said that Will was like a mini-Felicity. Mia didn’t begrudge her brother his relationship with her Mom. She only wished it were that easy for her.

“Actually, it was both our faults. We gave Addie ice-cream after Josh left for CC.”

Her father chuckled. “Hurricane Addie strikes again.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” the nurse said reluctantly, “but we need to examine Miss Queen’s hand.”

“Right,” Mia said.

She looked at Connor who had been quiet through the whole Queen family drama.

“I’m Mia.”

“I know.”

“Anyway,” she offered him the ice pack, “this might help.”

“Thanks.” He took it but averted his gaze.

She hated asking but she had to. If he said no, then he said no. Her pride would take a hit - worse than any porcelain doll accident - but it was important that she try.

“See you later?”

“Bye, Mia.”

That went well, Mia thought and followed the nurse, feeling like she was shot through the heart with an arrow.

Connor Hawke was not having a good day. Sure the porcelain doll incident was somewhat responsible for that but mainly it was because of a beautiful, sassy, intelligent woman and her ridiculously wealthy, overwhelmingly famous family. No one went to the hospital expecting to meet the Mayor’s fascinating daughter. No one. These things didn’t happen. Specifically, these things didn’t happen to poor kids, born in the Glades.

Will Queen sat down next to him. The family bodyguards stood close by, not intervening but noticing everything and everyone. The old lady next to him got called by the nurse and the Mayor showed his wife to the seat. She smiled at him and he softened. Mayor Queen was notoriously in love with his wife. And incredibly overprotective of his only daughter.

“So, how is it you know my daughter?”

Connor looked at the Mayor’s wife. She was a really beautiful woman. Age had honed her features and if rumours were to be believed, her professional skills as well. But her beauty was not skin deep. He had seen her in numerous press conferences and heard so many stories about her from his mentor that he knew not to underestimate her. Felicity Queen was special.

“Hello,” she said when he didn’t respond. “I’m Felicity and I will be your interrogator for the night.”

Connor snorted and immediately regretted it. “Pleased to meet you, Ma’am. I’m Connor Hawke.”

She took her husband’s hand in hers, pulling him close and smiled at Connor. “Did you know that I met my husband in this very room Mr. Hawke? It was two days before Christmas and…”

“Umm, Felicity,” Mia’s brother interrupted, “I’m sure this guy doesn’t care where you met Dad.”

“Will,” his father chastised. Oliver Queen had a way with words. He didn’t speak a lot, not like his loquacious wife but when he did you couldn’t help but listen.

“As I was saying,” she went on as if the young man hadn’t even spoken, “we met in this room. Believe it or not, I had a broken thumb much like my stubborn daughter and he had a broken nose. Despite our broken bones, he didn’t hesitate to ask me out on a date-”

“Which you declined at first because you said that people would think you punched me.”

Felicity Queen’s eyes crinkled and a smile played at the corners of her mouth. “I was right, wasn’t I? The paparazzi got a photo of our dinner at Big Belly and had a field day thanks to our injuries.”

Oliver Queen smirked. “I always wanted to be an MMA fighter.”

“Dreamed of dating another fighter?”

“Nope. Dreamed of dating a cute IT girl.”

She blushed at his retort and he smiled cheekily. The older couple shared such an intimate look that Connor felt really uncomfortable.

“They’re always like that. After the first twenty-five years, you get used to it,” Mia’s brother murmured.

The Mayor winked at his wife. Connor had to give it to the Mayor. He was really good at flirting with his own wife. It kind of reminded him of John and Lyla.

“So, Connor Hawke are you planning to ask my daughter out on a date?”

“What?” he asked, startled. “Mrs Queen, I-”

“It’s Smoak-Queen.”

“Mrs Smoak-Queen, I just met Mia and I don’t think that-”

“Listen, Connor. You seem like a nice boy. I hope you’re smart as well.”

Connor couldn’t help but think of his upbringing. He supposed he was smart. Once he had applied himself to his studies, he had managed to make something of himself. He definitely wasn’t nice, though.

He was the son of an ex-convict and a kindergarten teacher, not the son of the Mayor and a CEO. He had grown up dirt poor in the worst part of the Glades, bullying smaller kids for their money, candy and books. The only reason why he wasn’t a gangbanger now was because of a man called John Diggle who was like a second father to him. When Dig had opened a youth center in their neighborhood people had laughed and scoffed at the soldier’s naivete. He had agreed with those people at first. The irony was staggering because Dig’s decision had saved Connor’s life. And the fact that Dig had used Oliver Queen’s money to make it happen was part of the reason why Connor could not ask the Mayor’s daughter on a date.

“Mia is out of my league.”

The Mayor scoffed. “Of course, she is. Like my wife is way out of my league.”

“You don’t understand. You were a Queen. I’m a nobody.”

Connor looked down. This was so awkward for him.

Felicity Smoak-Queen grabbed his hand. “Never say that about yourself. Never.”

She sounded fierce, like a small, protective Valkyrie. Sweet and sunny on the outside, badass on the inside. He nodded and she got up, satisfied with his acquiescence.

“Come on, Will. Let’s call your inlaws. I wanna make sure Addie’s fine.”

“I just called ten minutes ago.”

Felicity gave him a little push. “Let’s go, Will. I wanna talk to my favorite granddaughter.”

The two of them moved away, bickering. “She’s your only granddaughter, Felicity.”

One of the bodyguards followed them quietly, shaking his head.

Oliver Queen approached Connor taking the empty seat. He sat down gingerly.

“The chairs haven’t improved over the years.”

Connor tried to think of something clever to say. What did one say to the man who had changed the fate of an entire city? His mind drew a blank.

“You’re one of Dig’s kids,” Oliver Queen announced suddenly.

“What? How…?”

The Mayor leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes. “There’s no point in denying it. I know all of John’s kids. He is so damn proud of each and every one of you. He sends me cards at Christmas updating me on your lives.” There was a wistful tone in his voice.

“So you know who I am.”

Oliver Queen didn’t even open his eyes. “Yes.”

“You know where I come from.”

“Yes.”

“You know who my father is,” he pressed.

“Yes. Ben Turner, mercenary, assassin and former member of the Triad.”

Connor threw his hands in the air. “And you still don’t mind if I ask your daughter out on a date?”

That seemed to wake the Mayor up. He stared intently at Connor, taking his measure.

“You hurt my daughter’s pride today. What makes you think she’ll agree to go out with you even if you do ask?”

Mia was beyond ready to leave this hellish place. Her parents had asked her repeatedly if she needed help and she had repeatedly declined. Will had left a while back when his mother-in-law had called to say Addie was getting restless again and that Josh was on his way back from Central City. The little munchkin needed to sleep in her own bed where she could have her parents close and forget about her aunt’s accident.

The vultures had been alerted about the Mayor’s presence in Starling Memorial and a flock of paparazzi was waiting for her outside the front entrance. Mia of course was about to exit through the back when she noticed him standing alone in the corner. Her blue-green eyes widened in surprise.

“Your face isn’t messed up anymore. Not that it was messed up before. Your face is fine. Very attractive,” she paused and cursed her Smoak genes for a moment, “what I meant was, before my brain and mouth disconnected, they fixed your nose.”

“They did,” he said, amused. His voice sounded like one of those old Smurf cartoons that Lucas liked to watch when he was little.

They stood, facing each other quietly. Connor was looking a bit uncomfortable but not distant like before.

“Mia would you like to grab a burger with me? Like a date?”

“I bet you ask all the girls you end up in the ER with.”

“Please, don’t make me laugh. It’s still painful.”

She shot him an amused grin. “But…” She took stock of the situation. “It might be better if we wait until your nose is healed a little.”

“What?” he asked alarmed. “Why?”

“Because with my busted hand and your busted nose, the reporters will think I punched you.”

He beamed at her as if she had said something funny. Suddenly, she realized they were standing so close that she had to lean her head back to be able to look him in the eye.

“Let them think what they want. Getting beat up by the Mayor’s daughter is still a better story than getting knocked down by a vintage sheep herder porcelain doll.”

“I knew it!”

#OFAE #OFAE fanfic #submission

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fiction-boys-rule · 6 years

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An Unforgettable Trip Part 7

- I’m not even going to try to explain why I haven’t been able to post for weeks. This just hasn’t been my year. With a break from school coming up, I might be able to make up for the time that I have gone without posting anything. I hope you enjoy this chapter. It took me a while to write, as I went through many weeks of writers’ block. I want to post something for Thanksgiving/Fall so if any of you have any requests, feel free to send them my way. Thank you for reading and have a great day :)

Pairing: Eric/Sky Rating: M Warnings: swearing, fluff

Day 6- The Last Resort

Sky sighs, grasping her head and pushing back further into her seat. Eric walks over, handing her a glass of water. Nodding, she takes it and quickly drinks all of it. Eric warily stares at her, knowing full well that she is completely unpredictable in her early stages of hangovers. Taking care of her isn't going to be easy at all for him. He despises her gullible mind for attempting to have a "great night with the homies" as she had called their night out while stumbling out of the bar. He regrets not forcing her to stop before she had completely surpassed her drinking limit. If he is planning on spending a special day with her, she will have to sober up a bit more.

"Hey Eric, I'm going to be fine. Stop staring at me like I'm an injured puppy. Help me pick what to wear so we could go with Ivy and Four. I don't want to spend our last day in Paris being stuck in a hotel room.”

Eric rolls his eyes, heading into the bedroom. She hears him rustle through her suitcase.

"Do you want to look like a yoga mom or an alcoholic mom?"

"I'll take the alcoholic mom look."

Eric chuckles, remembering why he fell in love with Sky in the first place. After changing and drinking many fluids, Sky finds herself being swept up in Ivy's crazy schedule and plans for the day. Eric is seated on the couch, disinterested and unamused with Ivy's excitement and attitude.

"Why are we going to split up again?" Eric asks, narrowing his eyes at Ivy.

Four stirs on the other side of the couch, sending a glare Eric's way. Sky realizes she made the mistake of sitting in between them on the couch. Eric responds by flicking Four off, chuckling lightly.

"It is going to be better for us, mainly Eric and Four, to improve our relationships and enjoy our time together here in this beautiful place." Ivy smiles.

Sky wonders how Ivy could be so patient. She is sure that she would have ripped Eric's head off by now with his attitude.

"So for a pointless reason. Great. Who put her in charge again?" Eric grumbles, crossing his arms.

"Eric, calm down and stop being so mean. That sounds great, Ivy. Some of us actually appreciate your effort." Sky elbows Eric's side, making him groan.

"Sounds great. Alright, well I have some activities for you two. I decided that you two needed more hands on and communicative activities to help you become more acquainted with each other."

Ivy hands Eric and Four brochures. Eric glares at Ivy, taking the brochure reluctantly. Four on the other hand, couldn't be happier with the current circumstances.

"Off you go now. Your cab is going to be here soon. Sky and I are going to do other activities together. Remember, we are meeting at the dock-"

"At 8:30, we get it. You've said it like five times already. We aren't little kids. I might have to throw myself off the dock." Eric groans.

Sky snickers, ushering Four and Eric out of the room before turning back to Ivy. They smile, knowing full well that some interesting events would be occurring between Four and Eric during their time together that they would surely hear about later tonight. Sky is surprised that Eric didn't put up more of a fight after he had found out what his last day in paradise would consist of. But she is glad that she can finally enjoy this beautiful city with the company of her best friend.

"You're already going to get us drunk? It's only noon." Sky says.

Ivy smirks, looking out the window at the passing vineyards. Ivy had decided that taking a tour of one of the most famous vineyards of the country had been a good idea. As their starting activity, that is. Sky can almost swear that Ivy is the crazier friend, even though she looks like the most innocent one. The cab pulls into the entrance and the two friends exit the vehicle. Walking into the building, they are immediately greeted by a staff member holding a tray with an arrangement of cheeses and wine cups. Helping themselves, they willingly experience a flurry of flavors that send their senses and taste buds into overdrive. Engulfed into a world of delicious ecstasy, Ivy and Sky follow another staff member further into the building.

"Good afternoon, ladies. My name is Jacques Couture. I am the manager of the facility. I ensure that our products are the result of our hard work and dedication towards satisfying our customers and providing an accurate insight into our culture surrounding our wine and other delicacies. Today we are going to be taking a tour of our facility where our wine is made and shipped off around the world."

Unbeknownst to them, they are dragged into a whole other world composing of wonderful trips for their taste buds and minds filled with curiosity and bewilderment. After touring the facility, they end up with three bottles of wine, courtesy of Jacques, who had taken quite a liking to them. Free wine is all it takes to make Sky feel like she is royalty. Jacques leads them through a corridor until they reach an open dining area decorated with a variation of plants. It is the most exquisite garden that Sky has ever seen.

Jacques motions to the open area, "This is our courtyard for VIP visitors who wish to experience a more personal connection with the vineyard and its staff. But you ladies can have the freedom of experiencing it too. The young lady over there will serve you. If you have any questions regarding the vineyard, ask for me and I will be happy to answer any questions."

"Thank you, Jacques. You have been more than helpful today." Sky says.

Jacques smiles and they head towards the waitress. She seats the two friends at a more secluded area, surrounded by wine racks and decorative plants.

"I feel so fancy. All of this has been free so far. I kind of feel bad. But at the same time, I don't feel bad at all. Is that bad?"

"No Ivy, that isn't bad. It's called self indulgence. You should try it sometime."

Ivy giggles, picking up the menu and glancing through it. After ordering their meals, they enjoy the natural elements of the dining area. After they finish their meal, they are led to another private corridor, until they reach a room with tables near the perimeters of the walls. Different cheeses, snacks and wine samples are arranged.

"Help yourselves as you wish, ladies. Courtesy of Mr. Couture."

"Thank you." Ivy says, giddily striding towards a table.

Sky rolls her eyes, but nevertheless follows her. After consuming a ridiculous amount of samples, Ivy and Sky wander through the vineyard towards the shop in the middle of the building.

"Do you think we are considered attractive here in France? I never got treated like this back in Chicago." Ivy asks.

The pair laugh, their giggles sounding in harmony with the buzz of the bees and chirps of the birds.

"Maybe, but I doubt it. I just think that back in Chicago, nobody admires natural beauty like how it is worshipped here, apparently." Sky says.

"I might have to dump Four in exchange for a French guy." Ivy sighs.

"Believe me, that does sound fucked up. But you and I both know that it would be better for us. Four wouldn't be around so much to fight with Eric. Imagine how much peace we could finally have." Sky shakes her head.

Ivy snickers, but otherwise stays quiet. She knows it's true.

Reaching the store, Sky prepares to get a hold of herself, or to be impulsive and end up regretting her decisions. Either one is fair game regarding her mentality. When they leave, Sky is carrying three bottles of wine. A normal amount for the occasion, except for their expensive prices.

'Self control can't always win,' she reminds herself.

Entering another cab, they take their regrets to the hotel room to attempt to hide them until they will inevitably have to explain their impulsive actions to Four and Eric. They both know who is going to react better.

Afterwards, they decide to use their guilt as an excuse to book a spa treatment. The spa offers a variety of different treatments, and they decide to experience more "risky" treatments. A.K.A. a treatment using candles and fire. They blame their gullible decisions on the fire element. While being pampered, they find themselves discussing what they think marriage will look like for them in the future. Sky almost bursts out laughing at the thought of ever being married to Eric.

"Four is totally husband material. We all know this. It's obvious." Sky says.

"I guess. But that doesn't mean we don't have our problems. Besides, Eric and you don't have the worst relationship that I have seen. Take his parents for example."

Sky laughs, laying her head on her arm. "I can't argue with you on that. I don't think Eric can either. It's just hard knowing how he works and thinks. It's so frustrating sometimes. I feel like Four is so easy to read."

"He can be, but it's more than just that. There are more important factors in a relationship that I feel Eric and you have. That's why relationships are so hard. They are different. People are different. You have to navigate your way through all the bullshit to make way for the love and respect that both people should have for each other."

"You would have been a wonderful therapist."

"Oh no, not at all. I would have cried at the instant of any depressing story that any client would tell me. I am way too sensitive for that job. No one needs a person that is as inconsolable as them."

"I can't argue with you on that. I haven't had very good experience with therapists. I got one after my rape in college. Terrible idea. For our first session her exact words were, 'We all go through that honey. We live in a man's world.' She didn't offer me much comfort or closure. Fucking bitch."

"Well, not all therapists are that bad. But Eric offered you comfort. Even if it meant offering to beat the shit out of the guy that did it."

Sky sighs, "Well, yeah. Even though we hated each other at first. Eventually we started to like each other and I started to really enjoy being able to beat the shit out of a punching bag. Or Eric. Or being able to take out my frustration in another way…"

Sky smirks at Ivy, wiggling her eyebrows.

"You're impossible." Ivy groans.

Sky laughs, enjoying torturing her best friend with inappropriate information. It is just so easy that Sky can never resist.

"Do you regret bringing Eric on this trip? Be honest." Ivy suddenly asks.

Sky furrows her eyebrows, eyes changing into a look of deep concentration.

"No…I don't regret it. I think it could have gone better but that's about it. There is always room for improvement with anything that a person can do or does. I think that this trip actually helped us. We got a little better at communicating and I think that fighting helped us in the long run. We got a lot of things off of our chests."

"I can’t believe that you say you are a pessimist person, yet you always find the positive aspect of things that are usually thought of as negative."

"I'm a hypocrite, I know." Sky smirks.

After enjoying their spa time, the two friends go back to the hotel and decide to relax a bit more. Getting their swimsuits out, they prepare for a quiet afternoon by the poolside. Ivy has a black one piece swimsuit, while Sky has a two piece swimsuit, which is a dark shade of red. Walking together with their sandals and tote bags, they make their way towards the pool. Finding a suitable location in the shade, they sit next to each other on lounge chairs. Sky grabs her lotion out of her tote bag, while Ivy grabs a book out of the bag.

"A book? You're going to read a book right now?"

"Well, we aren't getting in the pool. What better time to read?"

Sky rolls her eyes and playfully smirks at her. While the two are zoning out, lazing about on their lounge chairs, an approaching stranger goes unnoticed until he stands over Sky, blocking the sunlight.

Sky peers over her sunglasses, looking up at a strongly built man. She frowns, looking at the man sideways.

"Can I help you?"

The man frowns, tilting his head like a confused puppy.

Ivy responds something in French, suddenly making Sky aware of her presence.

The man replies, smiling at them both. But he glances for a bit longer at Sky, making her uneasy. His big frame and toned body reminds Sky of past uneasy experiences with men at the pub she would work at night. Suddenly, her instincts spike and she tenses, her body responding to the uneasy feeling in her stomach.

Ivy says something in French, making her sentence sound like she is sad about something. The man looks shocked, looking back and forth at them. But his eyes settle on Sky, traveling up and down her almost bare body slowly. Sky's fist clenches. It's been a while since anyone has hit on her and gotten away with it. Eric is always at her side, prepared to send glares or fists at anyone who gets too comfortable or brave. She hasn't worn anything as revealing as the swimsuit she has on now in years. The weather in Chicago doesn't allow for it. Neither does Eric.

The man swiftly leaves, making Sky relax. She frowns at Ivy, who has a knowing smirk planted on her face. She peers at Ivy, searching her face for answers that she won't get without words.

"What did he tell you?" "Oh, nothing. It wasn't important."

"I don't know, your conversation wasn't exactly short. What did he say? Was he talking about me?"

"No. Well, yes. He complimented your body and wanted to ask you out. I told him that you don't speak French and that you're gay."

"That I'm what?!"

"Hey, listen. I'm all about the LGBTQ community, okay? But sometimes you need a good excuse to get a creepy guy off your back. You can’t really blame me."

"No, I guess I can't. Come on, let's go back inside. I got too much sun already."

"We're in the shade, but whatever you say." Ivy grumbles.

They go back to their rooms and change, getting ready to attend a baking class that Ivy had made a reservation for.

Four rolls his eyes as Eric motions the bartender for another drink.

"You're really planning on getting drunk because you want to calm your nerves? Sky isn't going to wait all of her life for you to grow some balls."

"I have a very well built tolerance to alcohol, so I won't be getting drunk. Just need to calm myself down a bit." he nods as the bartender serves him.

The pub erupts in cheers as a soccer team scores again on the television.

"So are you just planning on staying in here for another hour? We have been here for two hours. Let's go."

"I want to see who wins the game, number boy. Is it such a crime to be a soccer fan?"

"You aren't a soccer fan, Eric…"

"Now I can't have my own secret hobbies?" Eric smirks, drinking.

Four sighs, crossing his arms. Eric is a hopeless cause.

After the game ends, the pair find themselves standing in front of a theater looking at movie posters.

"No. Sounds too much like some crappy romance story." Eric grumbles.

"What about Macbeth?"

"What the hell is that?"

"You know, Shakespeare. Classic plays."

Eric frowns, looking at Four with a judgmental look.

"You read but you don't know about Shakespeare?"

"I don't read. All I know about Shakespeare is that Romeo and Juliet crap."

"Right. You don't read. Totally."

Eric clenches his jaw, glaring at Four.

"Well can you at least give this a chance? There's a lot of murder in it."

"I'm in." Eric says, walking into the theater.

Four rolls his eyes, smiling. Sometimes Eric isn't that bad. Sometimes.

Sitting in a cab, Sky reminisces on her childhood days when her mother would bake on Saturdays and have Sky observe. When Sky reached the age of about eight, her mother allowed her to help her. Sky's mother owned a bakery that was popular in their neighborhood. Her mother always wanted to have a daughter that she could teach to bake so she would be able to take over the family bakery. Turns out, Sky was terrible at baking and her mother could do nothing about it. For her birthday, Sky had attempted to bake her mother a cake as a surprise, but the surprise that her mother got when she arrived home was the fire alarm going off and a panicked Sky running around the house pouring water all over the kitchen, where a fire had started.

Sky smiles at the memory, remembering just how mad her mother had been, but it quickly disappeared when she learned that Sky was trying to bake her a cake. Baking just wasn't her thing. But she had improved tremendously in her later teen years, until her parents passed away and she stopped baking completely.

Ivy checks the brochure, her eyes swimming with mental calculations.

"This class is an hour and a half, if traffic isn't too bad, we can meet up with the guys at the dock on time."

"I think they won't mind us being late. Besides, I want to torture them by forcing them to spend more time together. Mostly Eric."

"You are pure evil, miss."

"That is why Eric loves me." Sky smirks.

Arriving at the building, the two walk in and are met with several pairs of couples who are standing around a small lobby. Sky narrows her eyes, noticing that not one pair of people were the opposite sex. None of the pairs looked like they were exactly friends looking to learn more about cooking, either.

"Ivy, can you hand me the brochure, please?"

"Yeah, sure." Ivy fishes the brochure out and hands it to Sky, oblivious to the situation.

"Ivy…"

"Yes?"

"You put us in a couples' cooking class…"

"What? Where does it say that-" her eyes widen, "Oh."

"Are you kidding me right now? How did you not see that? It's in bold letters, Ivy. Bold. Letters."

"Okay, well maybe I made the reservation when I didn't have my glasses on."

"I thought the class was free…"

"No, it wasn't." Ivy grimaces.

"Ivy, how much did you pay for this?" Sky's patience is starting to thin.

"Five hundred dollars…"

"Five hundred? Why would you pay so much?!"

"Because we are going to get taught by an award winning chef! I thought ‘go big or go home’!"

"Oh, you definitely went big. Now we have to make the most of your money..."

"Are you mad?"

"Ivy, I-never mind, let's just do this, okay?"

Ivy nods, following Sky into the lobby.

"Well, I guess I'm going to actually have to be gay for an hour and a half. You’re lucky I wouldn't mind you being my girlfriend."

"For the record, me neither."

The class starts smoothly, the chef introducing himself as Mr. Torres. The couples go around introducing themselves. When it is Sky and Ivy's turn, they say their names and Ivy goes haywire with her imagination, saying that Ivy and Sky are newlyweds and are in Paris for their honeymoon. The rest of the couples 'awe' at them while Ivy kisses Sky's cheek. When she goes in for another, Sky turns and glares at her, making Ivy quickly surrender.

For their first activity, the chef has them do a series of exercises with the materials and organizing their work space. Next, they prepare to bake a cupcake. Sky can already feel her past starting to invade her thoughts. She hasn't thought about her childhood with her mother in a long time. She prefers to push her past to the side, only focusing on the now and on her happiness. She thinks it's better that way. She can't afford to sacrifice her happiness to think about things that she can't change. It hurts too much.

"You're overfilling the bag, Ivy."

"What do you mean? It looks fine." Ivy frowns.

"Give it." Sky holds her hand out, looking at Ivy in a way that a stern parents looks towards a misbehaving child.

Ivy rolls her eyes, but complies and watches as Sky digs out her mother's old baking lessons from the back of her brain, where she keeps the memories and feelings locked up.

"You can't fill it with the frosting too much or else you're not going to get a good grip on the pipe so you can decorate it accurately and gracefully." Sky says, eyes and hands focused on piping the frosting onto the cupcake.

Ivy has never seen Sky this centered, not even when she is in the ring, sparring against another skilled opponent.

"Stop looking at me like that. I have my hobbies, you know."

"Yeah but, let me explain. We have been friends for more than ten years. Best friends. You have never mentioned that you bake."

"I don't like to talk about it. I've never told you because I never thought that it was important. I haven't baked in a long time. No use getting excited over something I don't like."

"But you're so good at it!" Ivy whines, taking offense at Sky's words.

"It's not that," Sky sighs, pausing her decorating.

She looks at Ivy, softening her glance. Ivy knows about her parents' death, she was the only one that was really there for her.

"It brings back bad memories. They're happy, but then if I think about them too much then I can't handle it."

"Your mom?" Ivy softly asks.

Sky nods, clearing her throat and continuing her decorating, though Ivy can tell that her eyes are far away.

"She was the best, you know."

"I know, but it still hurts, that's why I don't like to think about it. I can't."

"Well if it helps, I think the person that is going to eat the cupcake will like the amount of frosting on it."

Sky shakes her head, arriving to her senses and pulling away from the cupcake. It is overflowed with frosting begging to be released over the edges of the baking cup.

"Your skills are really showing." Ivy snickers.

Sky glares at her, attempting to fix the mess with a butter knife.

"Marriage is a task that needs two people. A healthy marriage does not exist where only one person does all of the work. Don't you agree?" Mr. Torres asks, circling their work space. Sky feels an uneasiness at his swift presence. Sky doesn't like people who can sneak up on her. No one sneaks up on her.

"Yes of course Mr. Torres. But can't we also agree that some people in the marriage are better at certain things than the other partner?" Ivy smiles.

"Why of course. But just because the woman is the only partner able to carry a child, that doesn’t mean that the man should leave her to do all of the work." he winks, leaving Ivy to her troubled thoughts.

"You should really learn to keep your mouth shut." Sky snickers.

"Oh yeah, you could say that. But what about the way you acted when you were taking classes with Eric? You would basically snap at him every day and then you two would end up punching it out in the ring until he would pin you down and then you would get-"

"Not here." Sky snaps, warily looking around.

"But isn't that how you ended up 'going out' with him?"

"Ivy, just leave it."

"Nasty…" Ivy whispers.

"Ladies and gentlemen! We shall now present our creations to the group and I would like you to talk about what this creation of yours means to your partner and yourself in your marriage."

"Shit." Sky rolls her eyes.

The woman next to Sky frowns at her comment.

"Can’t you be happy for once?" Ivy asks.

"I should have just dragged you back to the hotel."

"Oh come on, what fun would that have been? You don't want to end up like Eric, do you?"

"No, Ivy. But this is stupid and not worth making myself look like an idiot."

"We'll see about that."

"Ladies, since you are so eager to talk, I am sure the group would love to hear what you have to say." the chef grins.

"Now that is just discrimination. It's because we are a same sex couple, isn't it?" Sky asks.

"No, quite on the contrary. I also have a partner who happens to be a man. It is my first time having a couple of your type and I am excited to hear from you."

"Oh. Well in that case, I made this cupcake by myself. My wife is not very skilled with baking. This cupcake represents our ability to work through things without arguing and being understanding with each other in the things that we are good at and what we aren't so good at."

"What is your biggest fault, may you say?" the chef asks.

"My biggest fault? Probably my pride. Ivy's biggest fault?"

Ivy glares at Sky while she scoops icing with her fingers.

"How annoying and persistent she can be."

Ivy looks shocked and huffs while the other couples laugh softly. Mr. Torres smiles and beckons the following couple to present.

After their class ends, Mr. Torres calls over Ivy and Sky.

"I am going to show you a special part of my bakery that I don’t show many people. Would you like to join me?"

"Sure, we don’t really have anything better to do." Sky shrugs.

They follow him through the store and behind the kitchen area, into a decently sized room filled with shelves.

"This is where I store my personal collection. Everything in this room has taken me quite a while to make. Some of the ingredients have taken me years to age perfectly in order to make something that meets my standards. So long that I don't sell any of the items in this room. I only store them to preserve them for my personal indulgence or I give them away to special people I know. Today, ladies, you are my special guests. You may take whatever you like from the shelves."

"We couldn't possibly do that, you're too nice to be offering that. These items should be kept for you and people who are more special than us…"

"Shut up and accept the offer." Sky mumbles, slowly stepping forward towards the shelves.

"Excuse my wife, she is not very well mannered."

"Quite the contrary, my dear. Go on, I do not think I will regret my decision. Your wife is a wise woman. I can tell she has a fire in her that cannot be tamed very easily. She is in love, I can feel it. But sadly, not with you. Though I'm sure you knew that."

Ivy blushes, following Sky into the room. Mr. Torres chuckles, watching as Sky and Ivy pick out items from the shelves.

When they are done, they thank Mr. Torres profusely, exiting the bakery with arms full of various delicacies. They walk down the street, settling on visiting a spa to get their nails done, wanting to get out of the sun. The aromas of the pastries have them both walking swiftly.

"Is this a walk of shame? Us being so damn cheap that we jump at the chance to get treated like we're superior to everyone else?"

"It's called being money smart. Come on, hurry up. My arms are cramping up." Sky whines.

Eric laughs as Four spills some butter on his shirt.

"What, you don't have hands to see what you're doing? The butter is supposed to go in the bucket of popcorn, not on your shirt number boy."

"Well, at least I'm not the one that looks like he uses butter to make his hair stay put."

Eric frowns, walking away towards the exit. Four curses as he rubs his shirt, hoping that he could survive this day.

They exit the theater and walk towards a shopping center.

"So did you like the film?"

"Yeah, it was pretty good. Even though I didn't understand much of it."

"I thought you knew French." "I do. I'm just not an expert."

Four laughs, throwing the popcorn away in a trash can.

"You like to read, don't you number boy?"

"Not that much but-"

"There's a bookstore. Want to go in?"

"Eric just admit that you like to read and that you want to go in."

"I'm just asking for you. But if you don't want to go in, then we won't."

"Yes Eric, I like to read. Let's go in."

Eric smirks to himself as Four holds back the urge to strangle him.

Basking in the sun on a bench, Ivy wipes off some crumbs that have fallen on her shirt.

"What time is it?" Sky asks.

Ivy takes out her phone, dropping a cookie on the floor.

"Almost six. We should have enough time to get back to the hotel and get ready to meet the guys at the dock."

Sky nods, waving over a cab. When they reach the hotel, they change and head towards the dock. The lights in the city make it pretty, especially with the soft breeze blowing in the air and the fresh air from the river. Arriving, they head towards the dock and stand near the boats, watching the lights on the boat illuminating the water. Some boats have tables on them, with couples sitting and enjoying a glass of wine.

"It's so pretty here. I really don't want to leave, Ivy."

"I know. Maybe one day. Maybe when we retire we can come back here."

"That's so long from now, though."

"Well, have some patience girl."

They laugh, enjoying the fresh breeze. They can see the Eiffel Tower in the distance, with its bright lights glowing in the dark.

An arm wraps around Sky, making her jump.

"Hey, baby." Eric whispers, making her elbow him in his side.

"What the hell was that for?" he groans.

"Don't scare me like that, asshole."

"Wow, you're ten minutes early. That's a first." Ivy says.

"I was getting annoyed of him. You really can't expect me to not want to strangle him after a day of being stuck with him." Eric grumbles.

"Oh shut up. He's alive, at least. Come on, the boat is leaving in a little bit. Let's get in line." Sky says, wrapping hand around Eric, leading him away.

"What's in the bag, Four?" Ivy asks, peering into it.

Eric turns, sending a glare Four's way.

Four clears his throat, "We went into a bookstore and I decided to get some things."

"Since when do you read?" Ivy frowns.

"New hobby." he smiles.

Eric sighs, turning to find Sky staring at him.

"What?" he grumbles.

"Oh, nothing." she smiles, kissing his cheek.

They reach the line for the boat ride and are greeted by the captain, who lets them board early. Taking a seat at a table towards the back of the boat, they can feel the fresh breeze and the mist of the river.

"Who knew boats could be like this?" Ivy asks.

"Only in Paris…" Four mumbles.

Eric stares at the water, trapped in his thoughts. The box in his pocket is making him feel uneasy.

"Hey, Eric? Are you okay?" Sky whispers.

"Yeah, fine. When is this damn thing going to start moving?"

"Well technically, it doesn't start until another half hour. Why are you so nervous today?" Sky asks.

"He's just tired after a boring day." Four says, glancing at Eric.

Eric nods slightly, looking over at Sky.

"What did you and Ivy get into?"

"Oh, nothing too special."

They smile innocently, making Four and Eric frown at each other. This can't be good.

A person starts to speak through the speakers in the boat.

"What are they saying?" Sky asks.

"The boat is leaving in ten minutes." Ivy says.

"About time." Eric grumbles.

Sky frowns and opens her mouth to say something but is stopped by Four. He shakes his head, making her frown even more.

Meanwhile, Ivy is smiling, having figured out what is happening. Four isn't very well at hiding secrets. The boat starts to move and the group sit in silence, enjoying the moment. Sky grabs Eric's hand, laying her head on his shoulder. He tenses, but soon relaxes and even lays his head on hers. They travel through the river, seeing many grand buildings and other wonderful sights. The end of their tour is near the Eiffel tower, and they disembark. Walking, Eric can feel his hands starting to sweat.

"I'm going to take Eric away for a bit. Take Ivy. We'll meet you there." Four whispers.

"Okay, have fun." Ivy says, smiling.

"Eric, you said you wanted to go to the bathroom earlier. There's a store over there with one. I'll go with you."

"We could go with you." Sky says.

"No, it's fine. Go with Ivy, we'll meet you there." Four says, leading Eric away.

"What the hell has gotten into those two? They're so weird now." Sky asks.

"Come on, don't pay attention to them. Let's go see if we can take some nice photos." Ivy says, pushing Sky away.

"You are terrible at lying, number boy." Eric leans against the alley wall, sighing.

"I'm just trying to help you out, Eric. You're a mess. You need to calm down." Four leans against the wall directly across from Eric.

The lights from the shopping center broadly illuminate the faces of the two men, making it seem like a scene from a movie where the villain is about to fight the hero.

"How am I supposed to calm down?"

"Think of something about her that makes you happy. You know she's going to say yes, right? You're freaking yourself out by thinking she is going to say no. Right?"

"Whatever, number boy. I think I'm going to be fine without your help."

"Eric, I'm trying to help you for once in your god damn life and you aren't helping the situation. Just calm down and-"

"I'm not enough for her! There! Is that what you wanted?" Eric roars.

People walking alongside the alley turn and observe the two.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Four laughs, "Is that what you really think?"

"Why the fuck are you laughing?"

"Because you're a joke. You really think that Sky, knowing her as well as you do, would have stayed with you all of these years if she thinks you're not enough for her?"

Eric clenches his jaw, moving to walk away. Four lunges, grabbing Eric's sleeve, making him turn.

"You will always be enough for her. Do you understand? She loves you, asshole. She always has. She shows it. So don't be an idiot that feels sorry for himself. She's going to say yes. Now grow some balls and go get her." Four growls.

Eric sighs, yanking himself from Four's grasp. He stares at the street, frowning.

"It's getting fucking cold out here. Let's go so we can go back to the hotel sooner." Eric says, walking away.

Four smirks, knowing his job is done. Now it's all up to Eric. He can only hope.

"It's been a while, hasn’t it?" Sky asks Ivy.

Ivy rolls her eyes at her phone, trying to get a better angle of the tower for a picture.

"What, do you think he fell in the toilet? They'll be back soon. Stop worrying so much."

Sky sighs, looking around.

"We should totally come back here in the future. Without Eric, though. He really kills the mood."

"Sorry about that…" Sky mumbles.

"Hey…he's a grown man. If he wants to be an asshole, so be it. But you don't have to be defending him girl."

"Yeah, But I think I just-"

"Hey, what did we miss?" Four asks.

"Nothing. Hey can you do me a favor? You're tall. Can you lift me up so I can get a good picture?" Ivy asks, pointing at the tower.

"So did you fall in the toilet or what?" Sky asks, smiling.

Eric rolls his eyes, "You and your weird questions."

"You love them." Sky kisses his cheek and turns, helping Four to stay balanced while Ivy climbs on him.

"Yeah, I do.." Eric mumbles.

Four and Ivy move to another area at Ivy's request for a "better shot" and Sky is left with Eric.

Sky moves farther away from the people until she is satisfied with her shot. Eric takes a shaky breath behind her, and starts to kneel when his knee starts to cramp. He falls to the floor and holds his knee, cursing. The cold is very unforgiving and Eric hadn't had any real physical exercise in over a week.

"What's wrong?" Sky turns.

"Nothing, just a cramp. You should take some more pictures. The others came out a little blurry."

"Oh, shoot. Thanks."

Eric grunts and massages his knee. When the cramp passes, he takes the box out of his pocket. But his hands shake with the cold and he drops the ring in the grass. Cursing, he struggles to find it.

"Hey Eric, does this look good?" Sky starts to turn around but Eric's hand stops her.

"Yeah it looks great. Keep taking them. Maybe you could send them to a magazine or something."

"You have a point." Sky turns back around.

Eric sees Four and Ivy approaching from the corner of his eye. But Four stops and holds Ivy back. He finally finds the ring and puts it back in the box. Gratefully, it isn’t dirty.

"Babe, turn around."

"Hold up Eric, I'm focusing on the lighting."

"Sky come on…" Eric massages his temple.

"Be patient. I almost got it."

"God damn it, Sky. Turn around, I'm trying to propose to you for fuck's sake."

Sky turns around, frowning. Her eyes widen and she drops her phone.

"Are you serious?" she asks, covering her mouth.

Eric rolls his eyes, "Fuck yes, I'm serious. Sky, I've known you for a long time and I've never met anyone like you. You've changed me. For the better. I know I'm an asshole most of the time but I hope that you can forgive me for that. I love you and I want you to be my wife. Will you marry me, Sky?"

Sky yelps and wipes away tears from her eyes.

"Yes. A thousand times yes." she nods rapidly.

Eric stands and puts the ring on Sky's finger. Sky hugs him and grasps his neck, pulling him in to kiss him.

In the distance, Ivy is jumping up and down, clapping and shrieking like a mad woman. She is holding on to Four, making him stumble. Suddenly, Ivy jumps on Four, making them both fall to the floor in a bundle of laughter and yelling.

When Sky and Eric pull away, they turn to Ivy and Four. Laughing, they see Ivy sit up and raise a thumbs up while trying to help Four off of the ground.

Sky burrows into Eric's chest and his arms wrap around her, his chin laying on her head.

"I love you, Eric. Always."

"Me too, Sky. Always."

The End.

(Just kidding, there is one more part that I’m going to post...hehe)

#Eric Coulter #jai courtney #divergent

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justaplaneaway · 7 years

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The worst year of my life

A morbid title, I know. Truth be told, writing this post is an attempt to chronologise a very life changing year full of (not so) thrilling twists and turns that have left me feeling quietly optimistic that 2018 can only better than 2017. It's likely to be a long one, so if you choose to stick around and read the entirety of my ramblings, bless you, darling follower.

I suppose there's only one place to start. In January 2017 I made a final attempt to save my failing, short marriage by organising a trip to New York with my then-husband. From the beginning it was blatant that I could have taken him to the moon and it still wouldn't have saved us. His head was somewhere else, with someone else. I returned utterly broken hearted, knowing that after a trialling 3 months there was nothing more I could do on my own. We split up after a relationship totalling 6 years, and I had no choice but to collect my things from the house we shared together and move in with my parents. My family were amazing. A few people revealed themselves to be true friends, a few disappointingly didn't. I felt very alone in the sense that at age 23 barely any people my age could relate to what I was going through. These were problems 40-somethings were facing, not my friends. I had done all my crying months previously and I felt trapped in my own head with nowhere to go. I was 4 months into my first job as a qualified nurse and was turning up on barely any sleep with my mind on anything but work. I felt more unhinged than I had ever experienced before.

In March, when I'd started to get my head around being single, a colleague asked me out on a date. He was older than me, confident, charismatic and interesting. I said yes. I liked him immediately and we hit it off. He was everything my ex wasn't and I had never been paid so many compliments or experienced affection to that extent before. He invited me to go to Spain with him in April and without hesitation I agreed. Everything felt easy for months until the summer rolled out. We began to argue more and more and every fight became very personal. I could no longer tell the difference between truth based intuition and paranoia. I was insecure, but instead of being loved for it I felt berated. I was deeply in love with him by this point, but he was not in a position himself to treat me the way I deserved due to personal issues in his own life that had completely changed everything. We were unrecognisable from where we had been. In July I found out he had been sleeping with his ex girlfriend (information courtesy of the ex herself). I thought I had experienced heartbreak and all it's blows but this was so unexpected that it seemed to hit me harder. It completely devoured my mind and my body. I became very ill, irritable and bitter. I knew I was, but I didn't care anymore. A good friend of mine practically babysat me the night I found out because I was utterly inconsolable.

I really could not let it go. The world was such an unjust place and I didn't want to see it any other way. To some, this was just a fling that ended after a few months, but to me it was everything. It was the investment of my heart and my time and I had been let down, again. Friends and family were kind but usually concluded their pep talks with a sentence resembling 'there's plenty more fish in the sea'. I didn't want anyone else! So when I was asked if I was going to Spain to join him on holiday, I said yes and booked a flight for the following day without much consideration. Despite what had happened, he was sorry, I was lacking pride and most of all, I missed him. I spent a week with him which included one frank discussion of the 'event' and for the rest it was very easy to slip back into my role as his girlfriend. I was very happy in his presence, sunbathing topless on the roof terrace of his parents house and partying with his beautiful friends. I thought we'd be fine and I could forget about what he had done, but I was so wrong.

When we returned in August I swiftly moved out of my parents house and into a shared house in the perfect location. It was probably the best decision I made all year. I had my own space back but with other people my own age around to hang out with when I felt like having company. My biggest issue now was the complete inability to leave the past behind. For the entire Autum period I obsessed over every detail of what happened. What I didn't know I filled in myself. I unashamedly stalked everyone relating to his ex on social media. I don't know if it was because I was looking for something or because I believed it was going to happen again, but I was terrified of being hurt. Despite not finding anything incriminating I caused many arguments with no purpose other than to act as a disturbing outlet for the pain I felt.

By November I felt like our relationship was doomed. He went home to Spain and did not extend an invitation to me like had before, and I was so angered by it. Whilst he was away I got incredibly drunk and went home with a random guy from a bar. It was horrible and the following day I was so guilt ridden I could barely look at myself in the mirror. I made the decision to tell my boyfriend what I had done. For me, it was a huge turning point in accepting I could not go on as I had been. He was hurt. I didn't get any pleasure out of him hurting, just sadness, but I am glad I told him nonetheless. Since then, we have fought, but I have found it possible to finally forgive him for what he did all those months ago whilst accepting people make horrible mistakes, including myself. It doesn't make us bad people. Love is not black and white.

As my 2017 came to a close, I had a new spur of motivation to make some important decisions. I have decided to quit my job and work for a nursing agency instead. The shifts dominate every aspect of my life, leaving me consistently tired. I hadn't exercised for many months, ate terribly and was beginning to isolate myself. My boyfriend and I remain together and although there have been many bumps (some huge) along the way and, I'm sure, more to come, we have found a new level of happiness together. I feel ready to finally complete my divorce paperwork which I have been putting off for way too long. I still suffer from anxiety and at night I sometimes struggle to sleep, but I hope that will change with time.

I am very aware that all these things may sound dramatic and unimportant. People go through much worse and come out the other side. Some people suck it up and say nothing at all. I want this to be the last time I feel sorry for myself and instead make 2018 about living in the moment. I have wasted so much time living in the past. I do love my life, after all.

#me #personal #2017 #2018 #divorce #relationships #mental health #text post

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kmn247m · 5 years

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reflection

A strange old year with the highest highs and the lowest lows I've ever experienced, along with some very important life lessons/curve balls thrown in. I would've said it's been an awful year; however a friend of mine said not long ago that "it hasn't been a bad year, it's just been a year where bad things have happened". True.

In reality, and despite the magnitude of said bad thing that and all that came with it, this year really has been for what of a better word... great. And so... reflection. Thursday 7th February I was at a charity quiz with a few of my work colleagues. I had a missed call that from 'Dad' that I couldn't answer during the quiz so left it with the intention of calling him back when I got home. "He's probably drunk anyway" I thought. Sure enough the quiz ran late, I got home and went straight to sleep. No call back. Friday 8th February I was out for a friend's birthday party. I still remember being sat on the bench in the smoking area of Outback when I received a message from Dad's best friend sending me their condolences. I remember thinking "I know I'm drunk but what is this guy talking about, surely he has the wrong person, Dad only tried to call me last night" but my mind wouldn't settle so I referred the message to family... suffice to say absolutely nothing and nobody could've prepared me for the call that followed. The next 30 minutes or so was a blur but I do remember inconsolably crying whilst two friends had to effectively carry me out of the door because despite my best efforts my legs just would. not. work. Cue the following morning which is met with not only a hangover but incomprehensable emotion, and the question "well what the fuck do we do now?" The week that followed was again like nothing I've ever experienced and nothing I could prepare for. A funeral I never expected to plan. A goodbye I only got to say once and it wasn't perfect because I wasn't ready. More tears and sleepless nights than I would ever care to admit. Guilt, overwhelming guilt for not answering the phone call during the stupid quiz, not calling him back, not speaking to him more often in general. What kind of daughter was I? Unanswered questions. Was he alone? Was he happy? Did he know he was going to die? What would I have said to him if I'd have known? Is it better that we didn't know? It's difficult to think about these things, but the only one certainty and saving grace that came out of such a horrible time is love. Love to and from my entire family. Relatives from everywhere that made every effort to be there. The hugs, the laughs, the tears, the countless cups of tea, the way that we managed to fill the entire pub for the wake and all stories and memories shared were ones of love. No hate. The love and strength shown by my sister in an attempt to shield my brother and I from the 'adult' details of planning a funeral - the expense, the undertaker, everything. The love shown by my friends. In the weeks post-news I felt so empty. They sent flowers, messages of support, love, ralleyed around me and made sure I was never unwillingly alone and that I could talk about it if I wanted. A few people in particular who I'm sure know who they are without being mentioned.. but I also found comfort in people I never expected, and in retrospect, lost it in people I would've expected it from. I came to the sad realization that time and life and people do not stand still because something bad has happened to you. Some days you forget you’re even sad and then you’ll receive a reminder in the worst way and that’s something you have to live with. Although sometimes you wish it wouldn't, you have to get up for work in the morning, you have to speak to people, you have to deal with your day to day life because it will not wait for you.

And with that came the following.... Success. A distinction in a diploma module that I typed up the coursework for on the boat on the way to Dad's funeral. I submitted it a day after my return not expecting anything from it, and landed the best marks I'd ever achieved. Shortly followed and largely topped by being awarded Young Achiever of the Year by the Isle of Man Insurance Institute. Easily my biggest achievement to date! Next... More love. In a very unexpected human that I didn't ever imagine I'd meet, but as fate would have it I decided to go out that night and there he was. Fast forward 7 months and he's been my boyfriend for 4 of those months. He is my best friend, myself in male form, knows me better than I know myself, is my voice of reason, my biggest fan and everything inbetween... Memories. I had the trip of a lifetime this July. I visited Rome, Nice, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Krakow and Budapest. I experienced albeit sweltering heat, ate some of the greatest food, and witnessed some of the wonders of the world in these places. I discovered things about these places I would never have known otherwise, but also discovered things about myself. I hate to sound cliché in saying that I found myself while I was away, but I really really did. But the memories did not stop there. There have been fantastic nights in, nights out where we drank gin and stayed up dancing to stupid songs until 4am; my first ever trip to London; Christmas with Lewis and my family was incredible; and I'm looking forward to celebrating the New Year, welcoming 2020 with all its fresh ideas and plans and new memories....

Lessons. Before this year I'd probably cringe at any quote I saw relating to "don't take anything for granted" or "never go to bed on an argument" etc. you know the ones. But I've come to understand the true value of these statements and will never be ignorant again. If I were to give anyone advice based on what I've learnt this year, I would be this: - Pick up the phone call. Or better yet, pick up the phone. It may be an unknown number, it may be a nuisance call, it may be somebody calling in a crisis, or they may have just been calling to say hello. Pick it up. If you can't, call back at your earliest opportunity. Even if nobody calls you, call someone - a distant relative - or send somebody a message to let them know you're thinking of them once in a while. It goes a very, very long way. - Love unequivocally and whole heartedly. Every single person that you surround yourself with is worthy of all of your love - there are no limits to how much you can give. The world truly is a more beautiful place when there is love around. - Let go of the small stuff. So someone said something to annoy you that one time - so? Will you remember in a week? I'm not saying you shouldn't argue, and by all means if something offends you then please please make it known.. but to be blunt, ask yourself this - if they died unexpectedly tomorrow, would you hold it against them? If the answer is no, be in a mood with them for an hour or so and then just let. it. go. Say sorry even if you're not. Make peace and live in it. And last but not least, do not take anybody or anything for granted. Here I go, saying it. But it's true. If not for any other reason, so you don't end up like me, living life sad and full of guilt at the wastest opportunities I had to spend time with my Dad, when I would give anything in the world right now for 5 more minutes with him. Too often in life we mistake kindness for weakness and play on people to get what we want. We assume we have all the time in the world, when really it can (and sometimes does) end tomorrow. So, as a parting message, a rule for us all to live by. A beautiful day begins with a beautiful mindset. When you wake up, take a second to think about what a privilege it is to simply be alive and healthy. The moment we start acting like life is a blessing, I assure you it will start to feel like one. 2020, I am ready for you.

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blankworddocument · 7 years

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À la porte de la mort

Word count: 1939 Rating: Gen Warnings: Death in the background?? Description: Marinette is a Keeper - her job is to bring souls of those who have died on earth into the afterlife. It’s an emotional job sometimes, but she’s been doing this long enough that nothing is really unexpected anymore. That is, until she meets Adrien.

“What? Where… Where am I?”

Those are the first words he speaks to her. It’s not uncommon, she hears that a lot. Most people are confused and foggy when they come to her. He’s not speaking to her yet, though. She hasn’t revealed herself quite yet. She always finds it’s better for them to adjust to their surroundings before she approaches. She takes her time to look at the boy. That’s all he is, only a boy. Can’t be older than six. His blonde hair is windswept, his green eyes terrified. It’s time for her to come out.

“Don’t be afraid,” She says softly, appearing out of the mist. The boy jumps regardless of her words and nearly falls over himself in his rush to face her. His eyes betray his every thought. He is scared. So very scared. But he looks at her like she’s hope. And it makes her old heart ache. “I’m here to help you.”

“I can’t find my mommy.” The boy says. He thinks she can help. She wishes she could. But there’s only one thing she can do for him now.

“It’ll be okay.” The words are soothing for the boy, but she doesn’t mean them in the way he hopes. She isn’t going to help him back to his mommy. But when she helps him cross over, he will be at peace. “I’ll take you home.” She reaches out and takes his hand in hers. He holds on like she’s his lifeline.

She isn’t lying about taking him home. As they walk through the mist, pieces of the world around them start to fall into place. There’s a park to the left that swims into view, only to be engulfed by mist a moment later. A row of light posts appears, their light breaking through the fog before being diminished. The farther they walked, the closer they got to their destination. The closer they approached, the more transparent the boy beside her became. It wouldn’t be long before he himself was gone in the mist.

Before long they’ve reached the mansion. Not the real thing, of course, but what the boy remembers of it. He lets go of her hand in excitement, bursting through the front doors.

“Maman! Papa! I’m here, I’m here!” His voice echoes through the mist. Parts of the house appear and disappear as they flash through his memory. No one answers his calls.

“Adrien.” She says his name softly, and he turns those big green eyes on her. He looks so hopeful, so desperate. “It’s time to go.”

“No,” He shakes his head confused, almost frantic. “No, I’m home! You took me home! I can’t go! Maman and Papa will come for me!”

They were trying to. She could see them on earth, searching through the blizzard for the lost little boy. Cursing themselves for letting him out of their sight. Screaming his name in the wind. But by the time they find him, it’ll be too late. It already is. But the boy doesn’t need to know that. The next time he sees them is when their souls are reunited in the afterlife.

“They will come to you soon. But not right now. Right now I need to help you go.”

As heartbreaking as it is to help a child pass on after death, it’s routine. After doing it for so long, she practically had a script for how every interaction went. It hurt, but like everything else, that too passes on. It was time for this boy to go as well. It’s how it always went.

Until it didn’t.

The fog was clearing rapidly. Faster than she had ever seen it go. It didn’t make sense! Everything was too bright and too dark at the same time. The boy! Instead of fading through, passing on, he was coming into focus. His features sharpened, his colours flushed. What was happening? There was the sound of rushing wind that nearly deafened her, and then she was gone.

The last thing she saw was the boys wide, green eyes and dazzling smile. He was thankful.

It was very rare for someone to return to the land of living after meeting her. It had never happened in all of Marinette’s time as a Keeper, though she knew it was technically a possibility. Witnessing it was… otherworldly. Even for her line of work.

The little boy that had wandered off while on vacation with his parents and got trapped outside in a snowstorm had beaten death. She supposed she should have been happy. Or perhaps she should be neutral? All she knew was that she was incredibly curious.

Time passes, or at least she thinks it does. It’s hard to tell sometimes. Life, or whatever existence she has, moves forward. That’s the motto in her line of work: everything moves on. And yet sometimes she still sees those green eyes staring back at her in another lost soul. It’s never the same boy, only a trick of the imagination.

She’s good at her job. Restless souls are calmed, terrified children are soothed, the inconsolable are filled with peace. Sometimes she wonders if this was what she was like in life. Did she comfort people as a living being? Is that how she became what she is? Was she ever a living person to begin with? Such questions have no answers, and yet Marinette still wonders.

He’s here again. What a strange feeling, seeing the same person here twice. He’s older now. Fifteen. His hair is longer and combed carefully. His eyes are guarded. He’s the same person but he isn’t the little boy that she first met. She watches him with fascination. He’s beautiful. It almost seems like an abomination to have to guide him on. But she has a job to do.

“Don’t be afraid,” She says as a greeting. It tends to be the best way to let people know that they’ve died. “I’m here to help.”

“It’s you.”

She’s never had anyone recognize her before. Sometimes she appears to people as someone familiar, like someone they have met but can’t put their finger on. But this time it’s different. The recognition on his face is genuine. He remembers her.

“They told me I made it up. They said you weren’t real. But… You’re here. The lady in red.”

She held one gloved hand out to him. “Let me help you get home.”

He looks at her for a long moment. His eyes are guarded and she wonders what happened to him to make him so shielded. Finally, he takes her hand in his. They walk in silence, but he’s fidgeting in a way that suggests he has a lot to say. She’s used to that. She waits for him to find the words.

“What’s your name?”

The question startles her. She’s never been asked that before.

“I… I’m the Keeper. Keeper of the Keys. I unlock your door to the afterlife.”

“Keeper of the Keys… Wow what a pretty name. Are you like my guardian angel?”

She smiles at that. “Not quite. I don’t watch over you in life, but I do help you pass on after it.”

“So, I really am dead.” He quiets after that, and they walk on. The path ahead was as foggy as ever. Marinette watched as scenes played out in his memory. They walked passed school children gossiping with each other. They faded in and out of vision. Marinette was fascinated by the pop of flashing camera bulbs, but those too disappeared. Adrien wasn’t paying attention to any of it.

“How did I die?”

Now this was a common question. Marinette pauses their steps and turns to face Adrien. She takes both of his hands in hers and closes her eyes. The scene plays behind her closed lids, and it’s as if she’s there herself.

“You are running. Running away from someone, running towards something. You are in a hurry. There’s the sound of a bell in the distance, and that makes your heart pound faster. You imagine someone behind you is yelling your name, and your heart beats faster still. The school is within view and you can almost taste victory. You don’t look when you cross the street. You think about it but it’s too late because you’re already in the intersection. The delivery truck was late as well and was travelling too fast.” She doesn’t say what happens next. She imagines he can fill in the rest of the pieces. Such an avoidable death. They happen every day. Just bad timing. Bad luck. Had the boy not tripped over the crack in the sidewalk after leaving his house he would have made the crosswalk in time. If the truck driving had looked up a moment sooner he could have stopped. So many ways it could have gone differently…

And yet here he was. Staring at her, hands entwined. She lets go of him quickly, feeling the heat from his fingers burn through the thin red gloves she wore. Suddenly red was no longer her favourite colour.

“I’m sorry. But yes, you’re dead.”

They fall into silence as Marinette continues guiding the departed soul. The building ahead is coming into view. It isn’t his house this time, but the high school that he had been so desperate to reach. When Adrien saw the building, he huffed a sigh.

“If I lived, all Pere would have to say is I told you so.”

“Your father is in deep mourning.” Marinette said softly. She could feel the pain radiating off of Adrien. The connection was weak because of how faded Adrien had become, but she could still feel it. “He never wanted to be right, not like this. He never wanted to lose you again, not you too. He never wanted to be alone.”

Adrien stopped walking. Marinette knew immediately she had said the wrong thing. Why oh why did she have to say that?? Every Keeper knows you never bring up the pain of love ones left on earth. It only made the souls wistful.

“Adrien, there’s nothing we can do now. He will only find peace if you move on. The longer you linger, the more he hurts. Please, let me help you.” She hated using guilt to help people move on, but it usually worked. Adrien apparently liked being the exception.

“The only help I need from you is to help me get back.” He wasn’t angry or upset. He was determined.

“Adrien, that’s not how it works. I wish I could help you get back, but I’m afraid that-”

“You did it last time!” He interrupted, turning to face her with those damn hopeful eyes. It hurt her heart to see how desperate he had become in just a few short seconds. “Last time, you brought me back! You saved me. Do it again! Please, you have to!”

Marinette opened her mouth to say something, to tell him that it wasn’t her who brought people back to life, but her throat was closed shut. She felt like crying. It was a strange feeling. She couldn’t remember wanting to cry before. And then things got strange. At least this time she knew what it meant. She felt all the air leave her lungs in one large gush, heard the rushing wind, watched the fog roll away.

And she was gone.

It happened again.

She sat in the darkness trembling.

Who was this boy.

Who was the boy who escaped death not once, but twice? Accomplishing a feat never before heard of in all of her existence?

Who was he? And why did he refuse to die?

#unfinished #miraculous ladybug #fanfiction #marinette dupain cheng/ adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #wasn't really sure where to go from here tbh #but I'll figure it out!

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astoldbyacertifiedunicorn · 7 years

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The Girl by City and Colour

This is part of a drabble a day for seven days challenge, where you out your playlist on shuffle and write a drabble inspired by each song. @japril12 encouraged me to do this because she believes in me more than I do lol Sorry, if I don’t stick to schedule. :D

I wish I could do better by you

Cause that's what you deserve

You sacrifice so much of your life

In order for this to work

"Janine, who approved this?" He asks, trying to keep his voice calm. It's not her fault. She's not the one to blame, so he's not going to yell at her. But, he's this close to yelling at somebody and he needs to know who it is.

"I'm sorry, Dr.Avery. But, Dr.Harper Avery thought it would be best if it was you who gave the key note at the conference, since you're set to take over soon, anyway." She say, sounding a little nervous.

"Don't remind me," He groans, "There's no way I'm getting out of this, am I?"

She smiles regretfully, and shakes her head. She's a good assistant, loyal, smart and has never once tried to make a move on him. He appreciates all that. So, he keeps to his promise and doesn’t take his anger out on her.

"Thank you. Tell John we'll be taking off tomorrow morning to Tokyo." He asks her, and she jots it down on her tablet before heading off.

He falls back on his chair, and runs a finger across his brow. It's something April always does when he's frustrated, smooth his brow. She always offers a kiss after that and he misses that now. He has to call her. He has to let her know. He's already wearing too thin on the whole business trips allowance. He's been gone for a almost a week now, and it looks like he'll have to extend that trip to about a week and a half. He's not particularly looking forward to this conversation.

While I'm off chasing my own dreams

Sailing around the world

Please know that I'm yours to keep

My beautiful girl

Harper had been sick for some time now. It was, ironically, a problem with his heart. It wasn't performing as well as it should. He wasn't set to die any day soon, but he wasn't taking his chances. Even in his potentially final days, his grandfather's sole goal was the future of his foundation. They were so clearly different people, with a set of completely different priorities.

And yet, he couldn't help but feel the need to step up. This was his legacy too, after all. He wasn't sure what it was, maybe it was the need to prove his family wrong or maybe, it's his wife who'd made him realize the importance of the work the foundation was doing by funding revolutionaries of medicine. He sometimes wondered if it was the talk of a ‘purpose’ he heard in church that made it all feel special. Not that he believed in religion, even after all these years, but he liked the whole idea of a purpose, of being a part of something bigger than himself. That's what the foundation was to him now, and so maybe it wasn't just his grandfather's or mother's dream anymore, maybe it was also his.

He just hated the traveling. He hated the conferences, the award ceremonies, the galas, the meetings. He hated anything that meant spending time away from his wife and children. To top it all off, April was pregnant again, this time with twins, and they already had 2 kids under 5. He hated leaving all the responsibility to her and flying off for the foundation.

He hated mingling with other doctors, who'd make the constant 'thank god, my wife isn't here' jokes, or the other men who'd nudge him and revel in the joy of being away from their families.

Jackson recalled how before he fell in love with April, marriage and children had seemed like the dreariest thing in the world. He never cared for it and he never thought it'd be something he'd enjoy. He loved been independent, only sharing a bed when he wanted to. He wasn't too thrilled about getting into something that meant he had to be tied down. But then he met April. And he wanted to be super glued to her for the rest of his life, way before he actually went ahead and married her. What he thought would be constricting and dull was the most brilliant decision of his life. He loved been married to her. He loved the beautiful children she gave him. Every single day, after work, he couldn't get home fast enough.

So unlike most of them, he hated having to leave April and their kids even if it was for just a couple of days. He couldn't fall asleep anymore without her tiny body pressed against him, her hair sprawled out across his chest and the feeling of her breath on his neck. He loved the fact that he could come home, help his kids with homework, put them sleep, kiss them goodnight, give them everything his own father never did and then go to bed and make love to his wife, who also happened to be his best friend, his favorite person. It gave him no joy to miss even one day of this wonderful routine.

When you cry a piece of my heart dies

Knowing that I may have been the cause

If you were to leave

Fulfill someone else's dreams

I think I might totally be lost

She picks up after a few rings, and he instantly smiles at the sound of her voice.

"Hello, beautiful." He says, and he can almost see her blushing, after all these years.

"Hi, honey. Hold on, I'm putting you on a speaker," there's a click, "Say hi to daddy guys."

"Hi my dad!" It's Samuel's soft voice that rings through first.

"Dada. Dada. Dada." He hears Harriet yelling loudly, in the background. That had been one of the few words she was still able to speak, on account of being only 2 years old.

"Hi, you two. I hope you're not giving mom any trouble."

"No, my dad. I is very good. Hattie bad. I is good." Samuel says, and both the parents laugh at his sibling instinct to tell on his sister. He's a wonderful child, with a massive heart, but not even he is prone to deny an opportunity to throw his sister under the bus.

"Good boy, Sammy. But how about we cut your sister some slack, hm? She's just two. Listen, I'll call you a little later, okay," He says, although he can picture Samuel's face falling, and it breaks his heart, "April, can I talk to you in private?"

He can feel her hesitation as she picks up the phone, without another word, giving instructions to the kids, before likely hiding away in the hallway.

"You're extending the trip, aren't you?" She sighs, and he rubs his face. His wife is too instinctive sometimes.

"Babe, it's Harper."

"How long?" She asks, ignoring his excuses.

"About 3 more days." He mumbles.

"3 more days?! Jackson! You're going to be gone for more than a week!" She's frustrated he can tell, and he hopes she's not getting stressed out too much because it's not good for the babies, "Samuel painted a picture at school today of his family. It has the three- five of us at home, and you on a plane. I had to explain to his teacher that you weren't an absent parent. That was fun."

He winces. That stung a little. He never wanted his kids to feel like he wasn't home enough.

"I'm sorry, I'll talk to him." He promises.

"Harriet has been acting out. She threw her food across the room 2 times, and last night she was inconsolable. She kept asking for you." She sounds like she’s on the verge of tears at the point, and it makes him want to reach out and pull her against him. Harriet's diva moments weren't easy to handle, least of all, alone.

"Baby, I'm sorry-"

"I miss you. So much. I hate sleeping alone, you know that. I missed you at work so much, I took some of your shifts at the burn center," She says, and she pauses before letting out a loud sob, "and I've been this hormonal mess this past week, and as much as I love being pregnant, I could do without wanting to burst into tears every other minute, and I miss you so much. I just want you to come home, Jackson."

He doesn't say anything. He sits there, holding the phone against his ear, wondering if any of this was really worth it, as she cries softly on the other side.

She stops after a while, "Call me before you take off, okay?"

He nods, although she can't see him.

"Thank you." He says.

"For what?"

"For staying. For not leaving me." He replies, and he means it. If she were to get sick of him not being around and leave him, for someone more present, he's not sure how he'd cope.

"I don't have a choice, do I? There's this thing where I love you too much to even think about leaving you." She teases him, eventhough he can tell she's still sad.

He grins.

"I love you too," He says, "Give me a kiss."

She chuckles, for real this time, and exaggeratedly blows a kiss at him.

"Go. No more after this one for sometime, okay?"

"Okay." He says, but they both know he can't make that promise. He's just grateful, that she cares.

You don't ask for no diamond rings

No delicate strings of pearls

That's why I wrote this song to sing

My beautiful girl

He gets up from his seat and heads to down to the lobby. There's the guilt, but there's also\a million papers to sign before he boards he plane and a speech that needs to be made for tomorrow night. It distracts him, somewhat.

He thinks about sending her flowers, maybe some jewelry. He could put an order with Tiffany's in a second, but this is April, she's still the same girl he married all those years ago. The one who still insisted he stop sending the clothes to the dry cleaners.

"Hey, Janine."

His assistant looks up as he gets into the car.

"You know that video of me and Dr.Webber?"

She chuckles a little, and nods her head, "The one you told me to make sure your wife and mother never see?"

He nods his head, clears his throat in embarrassment. It's a by-product of an awkward step father-son bonding moment, that had been eased by alcohol. It was his own misfortune that a karaoke machine had been nearby.

"Send it to April."

She takes her phone out, and types in a quick email, before looking up at him, "I'll get you home by Tuesday."

He smiles, gratefully and his own phone lights up.

A : I love you, Tina Turner.

She was there. Always.

My beautiful girl

#japril fanfiction #japril #japriet #jacksonavery #aprilkepner #harriet kepner avery #samuel avery

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grayskies317 · 7 years

Text

Saviour Chapter 6

Sorry for the delay everyone! Here is chapter 6. I hope you enjoy. Any & all reviews welcome - Positive or Constructive. This story can also be found on FanFic.

Words had completely escaped Shelagh; she couldn’t believe what her friends had pulled off in her honour. To top it off, seeing Patrick Turner waiting at the base of the stairs for her was like a dream come true. This was, by far, the best birthday she could have ever hoped for. She spent the night floating on cloud nine as they danced, had a few drinks, and walked the streets of London as a large group of friends – truly the best friends a girl could ask for. Patrick was a complete gentleman and made Shelagh feel like the safest girl in London with her hand tucked sweetly in his as they walked. He escorted her – and the other nurses – home for the evening and bid them adieu. After the ladies were inside Nonnatus house, they all pulled Shelagh into Trixie’s room and let out a hushed squeal. Shelagh even joined in, in a moment of uncharacteristic glee. They gossiped the night away, and finally dispersed for bed.

Shelagh dreamt of the extraordinary night she had and of all the similar ones she hoped to come soon. She felts she was floating on air when dancing with Patrick. She nearly couldn’t breathe when she looked into his eyes and he swept her around the dance floor. It was truly incredible.

A week had passed since Shelagh’s birthday, and this was the day she was due to receive her clean bill of health to return to full duty. She had been helping at the clinic and keeping things in order back at Nonnatus, but district rounds and midwifery patients were off limits until her medical release. She sat patiently waiting for the doctor to arrive and give her a quick once-over before declaring her fit to return to work. She was also excited just to see those infatuating eyes and heart-melting smile again. She could feel her heart give way each time he smiled at her. It was intoxicating. She wondered how she’d managed to do a delivery next to him in such close proximity these days. Within a moment, she felt his breath on the back of her neck quickly followed by the sweetest peck on the cheek. “Good morning, Shelagh,” Patrick said in the sweetest possible voice, “are you ready to get back to work, darling?”

She adored how he spoke to her, and how he made her feel like the most precious woman in the world. “Yes, please,” she practically begged, “I’m going stir-crazy right now. I need my work.”

“Well, you’re in tiptop shape, and I’m happy to issue you a clear bill of health, but I do want to talk with you about something first,” Patrick paused as if looking for the right words, “Sweetheart, I know the trial is coming up against Mr. Kelly. How are you doing?” He was genuinely concerned about her state of being, as he knew this had been a very rough time for Shelagh.

“I’m okay. I’m glad that it is nearly over. I’m ready to have it all fully behind me,” she responded being as strong in her words as she could be.

“Well, I have a bit of news for you, my dear,” Patrick said, again seeming to be tripping over his words. “I received a summons to appear in court as a witness. As I’m the one that stopped the attack, I’m classified as an eyewitness, and apparently, the only one available. So, I will be there. I just wanted you to be award and not surprised.”

Shelagh felt a pang of guilt, as she didn’t want Patrick to have to deal with her troubles from the past, but she was grateful that if someone had to be there, it was him. She gently took his hand and caressed it, “Thank you for letting me know. I’m glad that you’ll be there with me, but I’m sorry you got dragged into this.”

“I kind of inserted myself into it to be fair. I’d do it all again to protect you; this is the least of my troubles.” And with that he gently kissed her hand and let her know that she was free to return to work and he had to get to his other patients.

ONE WEEK LATER

Shelagh was so thrilled to be back at work. She was spending the week on district rounds, and after the trial, she’d be moved back to midwifery, which is what she missed the most. There was something so beautiful about watching a new life enter this world to which nothing seemed to compare.

It was the night before the trial, and she was quite anxious, but Trixie had insisted she have a small drink to help her relax and to take the edge off. For once, she was grateful to Trixie and her alcoholic remedies, as it helped her drift off to sleep. Unfortunately, she tossed and turned in her sleep, as she was plagued with awful nightmares of her past, the attack, and of unmentionable things happening to Patrick. She knew her mind was playing tricks on her, but it did result in a very shaken Shelagh upon the sound of her alarm the next morning. Once dressed and downstairs, Shelagh was very grateful to find that the sisters and nurses had put together a large breakfast so they could all be there as a support system to her before Patrick arrived to drive her to the court. There was very little chatter at breakfast, but just knowing that all of these lovely ladies were here to support her in her time of need, made Shelagh feel that much stronger.

Once breakfast was finished, Shelagh kept checking her watch and was getting quite irritated that Patrick was running behind. She walked to the phone to call the constable about getting a ride to the court, when it rang, and Sister Julienne, who was manning the phone for the morning, answered it. Her normal kind face quickly fell grim as she turned to look at Shelagh. Shelagh immediately knew something was wrong and felt her stomach turn and become sick. Sister Julienne hung up the phone and looked to Shelagh, “My dear, I think you need to sit down,” Shelagh took a seat on the bench and waited for whatever bad news was coming.

“That was the constable; Doctor Turner has been abducted, and they are not sure by whom or where he may be. Because he is the only eyewitness to your case, they are postponing the trial until he is located and they are questioning Mr. Kelly in regards to his involvement. He’s asked that you stay here so we can keep a close eye on you.” Sister Julienne was fighting back tears while conveying this heart-breaking information.

Shelagh was devastated and felt she was reliving her nightmares from the night before, but before she could analyse that any further, she asked, “Where is Timothy? Is he okay?”

“Yes, my dear. Doctor Turner sent him to stay with his Granny Parker for the duration of the trial. Thank heavens,” Sister Julienne graciously replied.

Shelagh was so relieved that Timothy was safe, but so terribly concerned about Patrick. She knew what Colin Kelly was capable of, and it terrified her. In that moment, she broke. Falling straight to the floor and sobbing. She was so inconsolable, that Sister Julienne sent Sister Evangelina to obtain a sedative and give it to Shelagh so she could rest.

Shelagh awoke feeling rather groggy, and instantly remembered being given a sedative and the reason behind it. She did her best to hold herself together and make her way downstairs to find out if there had been any new information. As she was walking down the corridor toward the stairs, she could hear the voices of the constable and Sister Julienne near the front door. She quickly made her way to them to inquire about Patrick’s disappearance.

“Is there any word on Doctor Turner?” She said as she was coming down the stairs.

The very grim faces on both the constable and Sister Julienne told her more than she wanted to know.

“Nurse, we’ve gotten a call from the neighbouring precinct explaining that they found a man floating in the river that matched the description we gave them. They’ve asked that we come down to identify him. He’s in the morgue.”

Shelagh felt the black cloud surround her and she began to faint.

#fanfic #ctm #call the midwife #shelagh #shelagh turner #sister bernadette #patrick and shelagh #patrick turner

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seongkiran-blog · 7 years

Text

( i’m sobbing she’s precious )

hi guys, i’m jules and i’m so excited to be a part of this rp !! i just saw that my app was in all caps by mistake bc my phone likes to fuck with me like that and i’m cringing omg. so i applied a few days ago but life got super hectic and i only just reapplied now that i’ve come up for air rip. but this is my eternally fucked, lowkey honey girl kiran who thinks she’s stoic and intimidating af but more often than not has the smallest of smiles at the v least on her face. here’s some basic — & extensive, sorry lmao — info about her ( TW: death, self-destructive behaviour, adjustment disorder/situational depression ) :

born seong kiran/kiran diana seong on march 12, 1997

scarborough, canada born and raised to first-gen korean-canadian parents

the epitome of a bitter smol™ that’s prepared to fight over everything (stubborn brat )

has twin five year old siblings that she fucking adores, which is a big deal since she doesn’t care intensely for many people

her parents were both only kids that ventured into science-based careers; her mom was a pharmacist at her late grandparents’ small clinic and her dad was a neurosurgeon at toronto gen hospital, so they were upper-middle class you could say

s u c k e d at making friends in her formative years and when she did, they didn’t stay for v long

plenty of chances for her to find new friends though since the gta is huge and has a ton of other kids around so it wasn’t all in vain

also her vanity when she was a kid was prob a turn off for others lol

smart af, like english? a’s. math? a’s french? a+

eventually didn’t suck at the whole friend thing and had a small group of people she grew rather fond of

she ended up graduating as valedictorian and was accepted to mcgill to study pre-med and become a neurosurgeon just like papa seong

always wanted to follow in his footsteps, so it came as no surprise to her parents

( TW: DEATH ) during her midterm break in her first sem, her parents decided to take the family to their cabin near muskoka for a weekend away from the city/suburbs

they were a little over halfway there when her dad tried to veer the suv away from a moose in the middle of their lane, but wasn’t successful

kiran was conscious during the whole thing, though she sustained a concussion and the twins were unharmed in their carseats; however their mother died on impact and their father suffered from a cranial injury ( .. i only just realized how ironic and morbid this is after working with this muse for a while oh my g o d )

she went with the twins to the hospital and was inconsolable over the loss of her mother alone, while her father was in critical condition and the outlook was promising, though not certain

he was put in a medically induced coma after being operated on and she and her godparents ( who advised her on the whole thing since they were docs themselves ) decided to hold out hope for a recovery

the twins were put in her care and she was left to deal with the burden of their loss, her education and the obvious, her brother and sister’s newfound dependency on her

she withdrew from the few people she became close to over the years, her grades began to slip as well, and she was always weighed down by grief and anxiety

she tried to stay in school while taking care of the twins, but it was becoming more and more difficult to do so. she just managed to keep her head above water throughout the rest of the first sem though

moved out of res, into an apartment and relocated the twins for the time being to see if she could pull it off

( TW: SELF-DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOUR ) add the fact that a part of her began to question if she could really follow in her dad’s footsteps, and that she let further anxiety from the pressures of making her parents proud get to her and she was soon on a downward spiral

she slipped away from her academics and was slowly becoming a poor guardian; soon, kiran was partying too hard and winding up in the hospital or a stranger’s dorm, skipping labs, and was generally a lost cause when the twins were under the care of a sitter

failed a couple of courses by the end of the second semester and had her godparents flying out to crack down on her dumb ass

felt hopeless and lost, but especially so when she posed the risk of losing the only family that she had left, realizing how selfish her actions were and trying to amend her mistakes

dropped out of mcgill for the time being and took up a job as a retail clerk to provide for the three of them ( despite inheriting their mom’s estate and all, as she put the money that came from it into the kids’ savings )

was soon in the clear in her godparents’ opinion and has tried to do right by her parents and siblings since then

after losing herself for a while, she found that she was right back to where she started with friend-making, but rather than it being her just not knowing how, it was that she didn’t want to let people in after everything that had happened

she didn’t remain a loner, but she didn’t have a ride or die by any means

for the sake of her a.d and bc of the bad memories that t.o and mtl held, she found herself relocating to greenville of all places

but deep down she knows mama seong would be happy about the kids growing up in a smaller town than near dt toronto

about four months after settling in, she began attending a nearby college in what would have been her fourth semester and has since maintained a high gpa after retaking the courses she fucked up in

her dad has since woken up, but he’s going through extensive forms of therapy to restore his motor, neurological, etc functions

she’d be back in t.o if her godparents hadn’t advised against it since it was still rly overwhelming for him and his three kids ( two of whom wouldn’t rly know him either ) coming back prob wouldn’t help ??

still has nightmares from the accident, the girl’s scarred for life and is thankful that the twins were too young to remember

sees a psychiatrist at the behest of her godmother bc she rly can’t cope by herself in all of this but she doesn’t like to burden others with her problems ( doesn’t like people knowing much about her regardless but )

now to her personality and extra facts ig ??? this has gotten so out of hand already, sTOP ME

the most stubborn chick alive, will never admit she’s wrong unless you weasel it out of her with some heavy guilt-tripping

she used to be a fucking NIGHTMARE to most people before everything went awry, still can be but it’s more or less an act with a little bit of it also being herself

a true instagram addict, which makes sense bc she can be p vain at times

rather intuitive tbh

can be insightful as well

feigns annoyance and boredom with people/their antics

some weird ass detachment method on her part that she didn’t shake, but question her on it and she’ll shut it tf down

but is still genuinely, easily irritated all the same ?? not even i understand this chick

curses like a sailor is she isn’t too curt in her responses

has a problem with trusting others, feels like she can only truly rely on herself so if you break through that barrier then congrats ig

she won’t make it obvious though, she’s a sociable being and will actually take to you if you pique her interest with free booze or a wild story

just don’t expect her to surrender much of her life story, but she’ll also get a bit offended if you don’t offer a bit of your own ??

the most annoying internalizer of emotions ever if you’re actually friends with her, 110% will not confide in you if you’re not one of four or five people in her life

also fears loss more than anything, so she isn’t close to many people for BOTH the trusting aspect, as well as wanting to spare herself the pain of watching more loved ones die or leave

but if you’re one of the v select few people she’s let in completely, she’ll never let you go. she’s the definition of loyal and will legit die for you

so so devoted to her little brother and sister, like she loves them more than anything and does everything so that they can succeed when they’re older

all of the sports acceptable for kindergarteners, music lessons, ballet, you name it, she’s got them registered

puts them before herself all the fucking time, her mom wouldn’t be impressed with her putting herself last as opposed to finding equilibrium

anyways, point is, you’ll never see her be more affectionate and joyful than with her family, godparents included

her being good with other kids though ?? she’s been working on it and she’s coming around

still can’t stand screaming brats though lmao

will be super polite to even her enemy’s parents mostly bc fuck that person.. unless their parents aren’t pleasant people either, then she’ll be unpleasant right back lmao

trust me when i say that she has a heart of gold and will do what’s morally right, is so so soft but will forever be in denial like i cannOT STRESS ENOUGH

defensive pessimism at its finest

fluent in french and korean

memes are lowkey the way to her heart

well, memes and food ofc

such a poutine hoe™

sci fi junkie

here for aesthetically pleasing everything

her place is almost never in disorder, oddly enough

quite the party girl, though not the same as when she was a frosh, is able to control herself when there aren’t too many stressors plaguing her

queer af, doesn’t know what her sexuality is but she knows she isn’t straight ( but for all intents and purposes, she’s pansexual )

she just needs someone else to take care of her honestly, she still doesn’t know what she’s doing with herself lmao

trying her best™ to be better in general but change doesn’t happen overnight so she’s not rushing into it, aka she’s still comfortable with being a bit of an asshole for as long as possible

you sometimes won’t know who she is from one day to the next, kind of the personification of a wild ride

so that’s kiran, if you’d like to plot just hmu or like this and i’ll come to you !! i’ll link some possible connections later bc my laptop’s about to die and i can’t find the charger anywhere ? @my mom, pls stop moving my stuff, it’s giving me more heart palpitations than my econ final last month

#ooc tbd.#i'm too lazy to try to figure one out rn lmao

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lunakinesis · 8 years

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Archie

I had a teddy bear that just had to go everywhere with me as a kid. I'm nothing special there, I'm sure we all had that one toy, stuffy or comforter that went everywhere and anywhere with us. Mine wasn't really a 'bear', it was a grey and white Husky dog that I'd named Archibald, Archie for short... Don't ask about the name, I was a weird kid.

Archibald and I did everything together: he slept in my bed, sat on the lid of the toilet whilst I bathed or brushed my teeth, sat on the table beside me whilst I ate, sat in my backpack or on my desk at school and in my lap on the school bus as well as any car trips. I cherished him, kept him incredibly pristine for a child. The only damaged he suffered was unfortunately losing an eye, but he was clean and neat and I loved him.

But one day Archibald went missing.

I don't know how it happened since he was always with me, I especially don't know how it happened since I had him in my bed. But one morning I woke up and Archibald was gone. He wasn't in my arms like he had been when I'd fallen asleep, he had been pushed to other parts of my bed as I wriggled around nor had he managed to get between the duvet and its cover. I even looked under my bed in case he had fallen out during the night. He was nowhere to be found.

I was inconsolable. My mom and dad both tried to make me feel better but I cried for hours and didn't stop until my face was red and puffy and my eyes were burning, I think I only even stop then because I'd exhausted my tiny body. But I was still upset. My parent and I tore the house apart looking for him, we went through every room and closet at least three times. But he was just... gone. They were as baffled as I was, the only explanation they could come with was that our cat had somehow managed to take him from in my sleep and dragged him through the house and out the cat-flap in the kitchen door, eventually dragging him of somewhere outside. It doesn't make much sense looking back on it. Cinnamon wasn't the kind to take my stuffed animals. My socks, yes. My toys? No. I don't even think he could've fit through the flap with Archie in his mouth. But it was the only way we could explain this Husky doll vanishing off the face of the earth.

We did check the back yard but he wasn't out there either. I think my parents asked the neighbours if they could check their own yards, but I don't think many of them bothered, and he wasn't in any of the ones that were checked. I had to face the unpleasant reality of things: Archie was gone forever.

I had lost a few toys before and a good number since and I recovered quickly from each. But I never really got over Archie because of the inexplicable nature of his disappearance and how much he had meant to me. My parents replaced him with another stuffed Husky dog, but it just wasn't the same, grateful as I was for them trying.

Time went by and Archibald was largely forgotten except for during the occasional dinner where his mysterious disappearance was brought up between my parents, myself and any guests. I grew up and went to college, got a job and eventually managed to get a house of my own with my husband. We weren't interested in having children, that was something we'd both discussed. But we did have another thing in mind: furbabies.

We both loved animals, especially dogs.

Shelters were our first stop, see if we clicked with any of the dogs in the local ones and give the animals who been dealt a bad hand in life a chance of finding a forever home.

It was at the second shelter that we visited that we found the first dog we wanted to bring home with us. Boy, did I get a shock when I approached than pen.

There were three Huskies inside of it. All beautiful and alert, tails wagging. But one especially caught my attention. He was big, even for a Siberian Husky. He had the iconic grey and white colouring and the equally iconic piercing blue eyes the breed is known for. Or rather 'eye'. Yeah. One eye. This dog looked like a living, breathing Archie. It was love at first sight, and me and my husband took him home as soon as everything was taken care of.

My husband knew the story of Archibald by this point, and so we renamed our new family member Archie. He was a gentle giant and a big baby. He loved to go for runs with me in the morning and snoozing on the sofa beside me and my husband in the evenings (even if it was a tight squeeze to get the three of us on the couch with how big he was.). He wasn't allowed to sleep on the bed simply because of his size, but he had a bed in our room and would either curl up there or lie on the floor on my side of bed at night.

Life was perfect with him, our little unit felt complete. We wanted to add more animals into the mix, but we wanted to see how we did with one first. We were doing pretty great but.. one of our neighbours hated Archie.

I don't know why. He only barked when the mail came or when firecrackers went off. He never strayed from our yard to do business in someone else's, and he wasn't an aggressive dog. Samuel Cooper just hated him. Kept telling me and my husband we should 'put him out of his misery'. Apparently only having one eye was enough for this dog to deserve a one-way vet trip.

Naturally we were disgusted by this and it lead to many arguments between this neighbour and ourselves. We never thought much of it beyond him being some bitter man who just hated happiness.

That all changed in the middle of November. We found a dead cat in our yard. She belonged to someone a few doors down. When her owners took her body to the vet, it was revealed she'd been poisoned. Those neighbours new we had a dog and knew we would never think of poisoning another animal. It left us all to conclude it had been our next-door neighbour, Mr. Cooper. We couldn't prove it at the time, no evidence was found. But we knew it was him. The death glares he shot us every time we passed one another outside were enough to tell us he'd been trying to kill Archie.

I'm very sorry to say that several months down the line he tried again... and succeeded.

It had been so long since he'd tried anything or said anything beyond his usual grumblings and we'd let our guard down. He'd thrown a piece of chicken into our yard and stuffed poisonous pellets into it. Archie ate it without a second thought and a few hours later he was convulsing and vomiting. There was nothing the vet could do. We put him down so he didn't have to suffer a slow, agonising death.

I wish I could say the bastard got what he deserved and was caught this time but again, we couldn't prove HE had been responsible, even if one look at his smug face gave his guilt away. We were devastated, in fact that word doesn't seem enough. I was utterly crushed. I'd lost Archie all over again, only this time if was even worse because he was a real dog, not just a plush toy.

About a month or so after we lost Archie, Mr. Cooper confronted my husband as he was tending to our lawn, he started ranting and raving about our 'new dog' barking all night long out in our yard and that if it happened again he'd call animal control. My husband told him he didn't know what he was talking about, we didn't have a dog anymore, not since he'd murdered our last one.

Of course he didn't believe a word of that, but my husband turned the lawnmower back on and ignored his screeching. We both agreed when he relayed the story to me that Samuel Cooper was delusional, or that his guilt for killing our beloved pet was getting the better of him. We shrugged it off, thinking he'd realise when he didn't see it at all that we definitely didn't have a new dog. Boy, were we wrong.

A few nights late at around two in the morning he was banging on our front door so hard I thought someone was trying to break in until we both heard him screaming "Shut that fucking dog up!" between his pounding on the door. I didn't want my husband to go down and answer the door to him, but he had had enough of Cooper's 'bullshit' to quote him.

I listened from the bedroom door as my husband stormed downstairs and threw our front door open, demanding Cooper get off our properly. It was met with more nonsensical rambling about our dog howling non-stop all night. My husband reiterated that we had no dog but the man just wouldn't have it.

The door was slammed in his face at that point and my husband slumped back up the stairs, as confused as I was about our neighbour's ravings. He stayed out there for another ten minutes before finally leaving. We decided if it happened again, we would call the police to remove him.

Morning came and when I was out for my routine jog I saw Mr. Cooper getting into his car to go to work. He looked exhausted: eyes heavy with black bags under them, skin pale. He still managed to sneer at me as I passed his house and entered my yard. I was tempted to ask if he should be driving when he clearly hadn't gotten enough sleep but I didn't want to bait a foul-tempered man in a Jeep into attempting to mow me down.

His usual time for returning home came and went, and my husband and I noted Mr. Cooper hadn't returned from work. It's just one of those things you notice after a while, you know your neighbours routines almost as much as your own. We shrugged it of however, maybe he'd gone to run errands or visit family or just have a drink. He'd looked in dire need of one when he'd left this morning. I expressed that I hoped if he did have a drink, he didn't drive home as he'd already looked in no condition to be behind the wheel when he'd left that morning, nevermind with alcohol on top.

The next morning came and he still wasn't back. The neighbour who'd lost their cat was however, coming down our drive as I was heading out.

"Did you hear?" she asked me.

My face scrunching up was enough of an answer as I popped my headphones out of my ears.

"Oh! You didn't!" She gasped, the sound genuine and not dramatic as I'd expected from something I'd assumed would be gossip. "Samuel got into a crash on the way home from work last night. Apparently he fell asleep at the wheel! His car was wrecked and he's in an induced coma but they don't think he's going to make it."

I stared dumbly out across my yard into Mr. Cooper's. He really hadn't been in any state to drive. "He did look exhausted yesterday morning but I didn't want to say anything, you know how he is."

She nodded. "I know it's awful but I hope he doesn't pull through. Karma if you ask me, for what he did to our babies."

I felt terrible to admit it, but I felt the same. It wasn't as if he had any children who needed him. He was just a cruel, bitter man who'd taken the lives of two, sweet animals. I decided I didn't care what happened to him, and beyond relaying the news to my husband thought nothing else of it until that night.

My husband had a late shift at work and so I was home alone. I'd settled into bed with my table lamp on reading a book when I heard something scratch at the bedroom door. I thought I was simply hearing things at first, maybe missing Archie's company so much I was hallucinating the sound of him 'asking' to be let into the room. But then the sound came again.

Thinking maybe a stray or pet cat had managed to get in the house I got out of bed and opened the door. What was on the other side left my mouth agape.

An old, one-eyed Husky stuffy. Archibald had finally come home.

#horror stories #scary stories #stories #horror #sixpenceee #my work

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