#if an actual human sat down and draws it then their labor is typically considered to be the transformative aspect.

[bitchfitch]

idk. My like. Actual day job involves a lot of needing to know how copyright laws relate to the use of stock images and reference images in art. Like, That is an entire part of the studio I work fors legal teams monthly emails about like documenting sources and such.

And I just saw a post that had a stock model who linked his ToC. I feel so bad for this dude bc like. I prefer to respect folks wishes when it comes to how their images are being used, but he was going Full legal jargon with warnings about contacting lawyers and what not.

and basically none of his ToC was actually legally enforcable. Some of it was Actually Extremely Illegal as it would be classed as like discrimination under relavant laws. Some of it was absolute nonsense, you like need signed contracts for some of this stuff not a DA page that says them, and like. Idk. It's clear he was coming from a place of self protection and I will not fault him for it or use his images but I Desperately hope he never actually tries to go to court over any of it because he Will lose, and he will be loosing Hard.

[voyager-into-the-unknown]

This is another chapter of my ongoing Plance fic. This chapter has more hints of Kallura and Hunay, and be please be advised, there’s a very hot Plance makeout session in this chapter. 🔥💦🌱 The boys have a serious discussion about their future plans, including marriage and family. Also, Loverboy Lance is super sexy in this installment. 😉 You’ve been warned. Please leave a comment if you like this fic.

Here’s the previous chapter if you missed it. https://truegryffindorforever2.tumblr.com/post/188917892600/truegryffindorforever2

Chapter 10: After the Training Mission

After the success of the morning’s simulation on the training deck, the Paladins headed toward the locker rooms, where they could strip off their armor, shower, and change into their Garrison uniforms. As Keith, Allura, and Hunk walked ahead of them, Lance and Pidge lagged behind, holding hands. Lance felt a little tug as Pidge led him toward a vacant supply room. “I need to talk to you about something in private,” she said as she led him inside and shut the door.

“Sure. What is it?” Lance asked as they set their helmets down on a nearby crate. She put her hands on his chest plate and looked up at him adoringly. Even without makeup and with sweat matting the loose strands of the hair that framed her face she looked beautiful. He felt his heart beating a little faster.

“You were incredible in the training simulation just now. Shiro was right, you know. We have never seen you fight like that before. It was amazing.”

Lance felt his face heat up. “Well, it’s like I said. I had the right motivation. My mission was to keep you safe.” He reached down to cup her face in his gloved hands. His voice deepened. “I had to protect the woman I love.” Lance gave her his most smoldering look, and Pidge’s blush was visible, even in the dim lighting.

He leaned down to kiss her, and she wrapped her arms around his neck to draw him closer as their lips came together in a passionate kiss. The room was small and Pidge was already near the wall. She backed into it, and Lance picked her up, bracing her against the wall. She wrapped her legs around his waist, holding onto him as she had when they were tumbling through the simulation of deep space. He kissed her as if she were the breath of life itself, with an urgency neither of them had ever experienced before, and she kissed him back with just as much passion. When their lips parted, they were both panting. She then kissed him everywhere she could reach—cheeks, temples, forehead, and chin. He closed his eyes and allowed her to cover his face with sweet little kisses. “I love you,” she whispered as she kissed the corner of his mouth. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too,” whispered to her. He covered her face with the same soft little kisses she had given him. She closed her eyes, smiling and savoring the sensation. “You were brilliant today, as always,” he whispered in her ear, then kissed her there, then nibbled at her earlobe. She giggled at this new sensation. This was all so new to her, to both of them. He set her down, then kissed the top of her head. “We shouldn’t get too carried away,” he said.

“Right. Matt doesn’t want us to have to name any little garbage poofs after him just yet, remember?”

Lance laughed. “Well, I was going to take a hot shower to relax my aching muscles, but right now I think I need a cold shower first.” Pidge looked down, suddenly comprehending the meaning of his words. She blushed scarlet.

“I—I didn’t know I could cause that to happen,” she looked away from the place below his belt line where she had been staring. “Sorry.”

Lance picked up his helmet, and turned to leave. “I’m not.” He gazed at her from the now open doorway, silhouetted by the light from hallway beyond. He flashed her his sexiest lopsided grin, unashamed of himself, but secretly hoping that no one would pass by and see how uncomfortably tight his under suit was at the moment. Pidge looked adorably embarrassed, and averted her gaze. She grabbed her helmet and followed him out of the room.

They held hands again on the way to the locker rooms, and upon arrival, they finally parted from each other. “See you at lunch,” he told her, and he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before they went their separate ways.

Hunk was putting on his uniform when Lance arrived in the locker room, and Keith, who had just come from the shower, had wet hair and was wrapped in only a towel. “What took you so long?”

“Uh, Pidge wanted to discuss the mission,” Lance said, as he turned away to begin removing his armor.

Hunk laughed. “Don’t let him fool you. He was probably making out with his girlfriend again.”

“Girlfriend? Lance finally has a girlfriend?!” Keith said in disbelief.

“Yes, I do have a girlfriend, Keith. Don’t be so shocked by that fact.” Lance sounded a bit offended.

“So, is she someone I know?” Keith was curious.

Hunk laughed. “Still Clueless Keith.”

“Typical,” Lance agreed. “I told you I was discussing the mission with her.”

“You mean Pidge?! She’s just a kid!”

“She’s eighteen now, and way more mature than any of us were at that age.”

“Listen, Loverboy. Pidge is a very important member of our team, and she’s also like a little sister to me, so if you are just messing around and trying to take advantage of her feelings—“

“I have already had this discussion with Matt, so back off, Keith. Mind your own business!” Lance yelled. Keith growled at him.

“Whoa! Calm down, both of you,” said Hunk. “For your information, Keith, I have had this talk with Lance, too, and he is handling things very maturely. Don’t jump to conclusions.”

Lance sat on the nearest bench, clad only in the bottom half of his under armor. He exhaled. “Thanks, Hunk.” He looked at Keith, then looked away. “I love her, okay? And she loves me. We are in a committed relationship, and that’s a bit scary for both of us. We have just survived the most brutal war that the universe has ever seen, and all of us have nearly died at one time or another. We aren’t doing anything stupid or irresponsible. We have actually discussed our future together.” Lance looked up at both of his friends. “Pidge and I want it all—marriage, a home, kids...a normal life. We both love being Paladins and serving the universe in the cause of freedom and all that, but we both want something for ourselves too. I think we deserve that. All of us deserve that.”

Keith sat down on the bench beside him. “I’m sorry. You’re right. And you and Pidge aren’t the only ones who have thought about the future in those terms,” he admitted. His expression has softened a great deal.

“Things are getting pretty serious between me and Shay,” Hunk confessed.

“Things between me and Allura are just getting started,” Keith added. “She’s lost nearly everything, and I know she thinks of all of us as her family, but I also know it would make her happy if she had a family of her own.” Keith looked away, embarrassed. “We have both submitted DNA samples to the exobiology lab for testing. There’s a very good chance that an Altean female can produce hybrid offspring with a male who is half human and half Galra.” Keith was blushing so deeply that he couldn’t meet their eyes.

“Shay and I haven’t even thought that far ahead,” Hunk said quietly. “But I still want to be with her even if we can’t have children. I love her.”

“Then you guys do understand. None of us are kids anymore.” Lance said. “And of the original Paladins, we know that Zarkon and Alfor had families of their own. If they can marry the women that they loved, why can’t we?”

“It’s not that easy, Lance,” Keith responded. “As far as we know, Trigel didn’t have any children of her own. Maybe she had to give that up to be a female Paladin. If Voltron is needed again someday, how would we go into battle if Pidge or Allura gets pregnant? Supposed one of them is going into labor when the universe needs us the most.”

There was a long silence. “I hadn’t thought about that before,” Lance admitted. He looked away, lost in thought.

“We have switched lions before,” Hunk mused aloud. “Shiro and Keith have both flown Black, Keith and Lance have both flown Red, and Lance and Allura have both flown Blue. Green has even accepted Matt as her co-pilot. Maybe Blue and Green would accept another pilot if Allura or Pidge were unable to fly for a period of time.”

“That’s a good point, Hunk. I think you could be right.” Keith looked hopeful.

Lance smiled. “I think we should discuss this with the girls, and with the lions,” he said. “And I’m gonna hit the shower before I miss lunch.”

Hunk was finished dressing. “See you guys there.”

Lance grabbed his towel and grooming kit and headed toward the stalls. He had a lot to think about.

Keith smiled to himself, lost in thought as he grabbed a smaller towel to dry his wet hair. He really hoped that Hunk was right. He daydreamed for a bit, wondering how his mother would react to having a grandchild that was half Altean. Then he found himself wishing his father could have lived long enough to meet Allura and the little family that they might someday have. He sighed and began combing his hair.

Lance stood under the hot water, no longer needing the cold shower. He washed his hair and lathered his body while considering talk he had just had with Hunk and Keith. Pidge, pregnant? Colleen and his mother would make such as fuss over her and the baby. Lance secretly hoped that the child would inherit the Holt family’s intelligence. What would it be like to be father to a genius? He imagined Sam would give the baby his or her first scientific educational toys. His own dad would probably pass out the finest Cuban cigars to all of their friends and family, even though none of them smoked. He smiled at the thought of all of the aunts and uncles the baby would have, spoiling the child with love and affection: Matt, Veronica, Rachel, Marco, Luis and Lisa...and the team...he imagined his baby being doted upon by Shiro, Coran, Keith, Allura, and especially Hunk. The thought of it made him so happy he began to cry a little. His mind wandered back to the training mission and how tightly he and Pidge clung to each other when they hurled through space, and that led to thoughts of how she had her arms and legs wrapped so tightly around him when they kissed in the supply room afterwards. What would her body feel like so close to his if they hadn’t been wearing armor? Soft, he thought. Smooth. He had held her in his arms when they danced and kissed before. Even though she had grown considerably taller since they had gone into space, compared to him, she was still so tiny. He would have to be very gentle with her the first time that they... No, he mustn’t indulge in those thoughts right now. He turned the temperature of the water down several degrees, and shut his eyes as it poured over him like cool spring rain.

[lesaltywarlock]

Chapter 2 to a story I’ll never finish...maybe

Well this chapter was a lot. Some trigger warnings here if you’re willing to read it. TW: Vomit, Self-Harm (forgive me if I miss any others ;3;)

~~~~~~~~~~

Jace stumbled into the cafe and threw his disgusting scrubs into a small bin in the locker room. He wasn't on shift for a while, but he knew that he needed to be here. After coming back into the main room of the cafe, he trudged over to the counter where Alex stared at him with a concerned smile. A large cup of the strongest coffee that Winnie could brew laid right next to her—the mere scent of it punched him in the face with pure bitterness.

"Thanks," Jace grumbled and took his drink to a spare table—setting his backpack on top of it. He spotted Alec as he looked for a spot but decided to ignore him. His only priority was getting this coffee inside of his system.

"Are you...good?" Alec approached Jace's table—a frown on his face as he set some of his stuff down.

"Give me a moment." Jace held up a finger to silence his friend as he took a long, refreshing sip of the scalding coffee. It was insanely bitter and disgusting, but the caffeine was worth every single drop. "Ok...I'm good."

Alec reeled back in disgust, "black coffee...and I thought Mia had a problem."

"He's totally addicted...just give him a few seconds to start up," Alex remarked from the counter as she put in a bunch of freshly baked cookies into the display case. Jace smiled, relishing the scent of chocolate and sugar wafting throughout the cafe. It certainly helped to wake him up at least a little bit.

True to Alex's words, Jace felt the caffeine kick in and he perked up with a smile. He ignored the rapid beating of his heart and leaned back in his seat. The rush of working in that hospital still rang in his mind—but it was worth every second even if he couldn't sleep. The sun shone on his face and warmed every frozen inch of his body. It was relieving.

"Where's Mia?" Jace looked up at Alec who started writing on that same notebook from last night. It was a mess and full of tears, and sticky notes scattered among the pages and creases in an unorganized monstrosity.

"Dance rehearsals...all day. For some school musical or something."

"One of my friends really loves musical theatre, maybe I'll introduce him to the both of you someday." He remarked and leaned over to see what the brunette was writing, but the latter pulled his notebook away. Jace caught a glance of something that was definitely not a typical thing for journalism. It was a sketch. A drawing of some sort.

Alec glared at him for a second before relaxing and shoving his notebook into his backpack. "So...how's that book of yours treating you? Did you get to the—"

"I'm not even that far though, don't spoil me!" He gently kicked the man under the table, earning a small yelp and another angry glare. "S-sorry," Jace said on instinct, backing away from Alec in case he got too mad.

"Don't mention it." Alec rubbed his leg and pulled out a textbook from his backpack—human anatomy. It was certainly odd to see a journalism student taking an anatomy class, but Jace decided not to question anything.

He laid back and tried to relax for however much time laid between his next shift here and this break. He just had to survive the rest of the day without anything disturbing him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The week dragged on and on. It was agonizing like some song stuck on repeat—just doing the same things every day. Jace enjoyed working at both the hospital and the cafe—albeit getting very little rest in between his breaks—but he can only go on for so long.

It's not like he had a choice though. He didn't want to go home.

Jace trudged up to the counter and slapped the fatigue out of his face.

"Alright...um...welcome to Thanks A Latte...what can I get for you today?" He greeted the influx of customers with the same generic smile he put up every day until his face muscles started to hurt. Alec and Mia didn't come, unfortunately, maybe because they had class or just had better things to do than come here or see him.

"That's not the nicest way to treat your best friend." Through his blurred vision, Jace spotted a short man with a smirk on his stubbled and angular face. He was a bit like an elf, sharp green eyes that darted around the room and examined everything for whatever reason. The man shrugged his flannel hoodie off and pointed towards the window with his thumb—flashing a silver dog tag. A torrent of rain battered against the pavement and the distant sound of thunder echoed across the sky, overpowering the soft music playing from the cafe's speakers. "Rain's being a bitch, so I decided to finally come check this place out."

"Quinn...what are you doing here?" Jace groaned and rolled his eyes at the sight of his friend. "I thought you were still at the hospital."

"I decided that I should stop working overtime for once and take a break. Unlike someone I know." Quinn tilted his head at Jace and sighed, "you really have to get out more."

"You know I can't do that." Jace murmured barely above a whisper. He gestured to the small line of people behind the man and said, "now, is there anything that I can get for you?"

"A sandwich and a frozen mocha with extra chocolate chips. Add whipped cream and graham cracker crumbs. Two pumps each of vanilla and chocolate. Heavy on the chocolate and caramel drizzle."

Frozen coffee. Essentially the store's version of a frappuccino at Starbucks and also the most popular due to it tasting like pure sugar. "Would you like some coffee with that sugar?" He deadpanned.

"Nah...two percent coffee and ninety-eight percent sugar please."

Jace obliged but felt a bit disappointed considering it was more sugar than coffee at that point—but it's not like he could stop his friend. After receiving payment, he hurriedly crafted the best drink he could even though his teeth started getting cavities just by looking at it. How could someone just enjoy a coffee drink that didn't even taste like coffee?

Although...it did look pretty nice. The streaks of dark brown and caramel danced together in the drink and the whipped cream added brightness to the whole thing. It was like a piece of art. He wished that he could at least get a taste of it.

"Hey, uh, the gang's staying here past closing. Wanna join?" Jace reluctantly gave the drink to his friend who smiled and took a few sips before responding.

"Sure, why not. Good thing we're off tomorrow, maybe you can actually get some sleep for once." Quinn remarked and went off to find a seat in the cafe. Jace felt his heart shudder. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself. Every part of him wanted to agree, but they both knew that it wasn't going to happen. Realizing that there were customers waiting, he put on his customer service smile and kept working in hopes that the pit in his stomach would disappear by the time work was done.

"Hey, time to switch." Alex popped her head out of the kitchen a few hours later and tapped his shoulder as she always did. "Reed needs some help scoring the bread Winnie made."

"Alright, can you get Quinn a sandwich? Oh and make it turkey." Jace hummed and smiled as Alex looked at Quinn with a shocked face.

"Oh my god, I can't believe you're here for once!"

That's all that Jace managed to hear before closing the kitchen doors behind him. He scurried to the back where Reed was mulling over a large ball of dough with a small knife in his hand. "Do you need help?" He asked as he leaned on the counter and smirked in a teasing manner. For some reason, Reed always somehow messed up with the scoring process and only made the bread come out horrible.

"It makes me feel bad to hurt them. Can't we just bake them like this?" Reed waved the knife around and groaned in frustration. Before he could kill anyone, Jace snatched the knife out of his friend's hands and pushed him out of the way.

"Just...let me handle this, ok?" Jace snapped and carefully pierced the top of the dough. He slowly moved the tip of the blade along the length of the ball until a large gash ran along most of the top.

"See? It's not that...hard." Jace stared at the cut he made. It looked familiar. Horrifying, even. What did it look like? He placed the knife down and glanced at his arm. Something welled up inside of him—like a memory that was buried a long time ago.

A memory filled with red.

His breath grew heavy and labored—Reed must've heard his heart pounding out of his chest. Jace grabbed the baking sheet and frantically shoved it towards his friend saying, "I-I'm gonna go on break if that's fine with you."

He left the kitchen before Reed could say anything. He just had to get out of there—away from that knife. Away from that place.

Jace exited out the back door—rubbing his forearms—and bumped into a girl. She had steel blue eyes and long jet black hair—a basket of cookies and a small red purse nestled at her side. A light blue scarf swayed in the wind along with a small cardigan wrapped around her white t-shirt with the small logo of a dog. She wore ripped blue jeans that looked like they were very much worse for wear. "Lilith?" He exclaimed.

"Hey, babe!" Lilith grinned and leaned up to peck him on the cheek, sending sparks flying down his spine and into every nerve. Just the feeling made his heart want to do somersaults. "Mom made some cookies and asked me to deliver them."

"Oh, I-I thought you were at the kennel?" His girlfriend worked at this small kennel on the other side of town pretty much all day. She loved animals all her life and treated them with so much kindness—one of the qualities that made him ask her out so long ago.

"I'm on my way there. Sorry if I disturbed your break or something." Lilith elbowed him in his side as she stepped into the kitchen to drop off the treats. He took a deep breath and sat down on the concrete steps leading inside the cafe. His heart felt like it was going to burst. Why did it have to happen now of all times? It was just a stupid piece of bread that he scored as usual, so why now?

Jace shrugged his black hat off that Winnie made them wear and looked around the area. It wasn't a pretty sight to look at quite honestly—trash bins and cars lay scattered on the cracked pavement that was this parking lot. On garbage days, this place mostly had the lingering scent of rotten food and whatever gunk people leave in these businesses. He looked down at his shaking hands and hoped that the panic was going to stop. Why was this happening?

God, of course he knows why this is happening. Jace feels like an idiot—letting himself be like that over some fucking bread. It was so pathetic. It's not supposed to look like himself. Like he was going to carve a deep gash in his arm. And yet...it did to him.

He jumped at the sound of the door opening and turned around to see Lilith—now without her basket—looking down at him with a worried frown. "What happened?"

"It's nothing...just tired." Jace rubbed his eyes and felt that his cheeks were stained with moisture. He didn't even realize he was crying. Despite Lilith already seeing it, he tried his best to force a smile as if nothing was wrong. Obviously, it didn't work. He felt like a piece of glass that everyone could just see through. He didn't want to talk about it, but they both knew it was better than to keep it silent.

"I brought something else." She zipped open her bag and took out a nondescript orange bottle of pills. Jace grabbed the bottle and read its label—Zoloft. "You haven't been coming home, so I started to get a bit worried you weren't taking your meds."

"O-oh...uh, thanks." Jace opened the bottle and swallowed his regular dosage dry. He wanted to do anything but take it, but Lilith wouldn't have stopped bothering him over it. "I should head back inside." He stood up and headed towards the door but Lilith grabbed him by the wrist, making him flinch and pull his hand away in fear. "Wait, please don't—"

She reached up and kissed him on the cheek before waving goodbye. "I love you." And for some reason, he felt like the world was crashing down on him. The breeze had died to a mere whisper, and a rotten taste filled his mouth—possibly from his medication.

He went inside without a word.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fridays were both his favorite and least favorite days of the week. He and his friends had a tradition of playing board games or studying after the store closes. Being friends with the owner had a lot of perks. Jace swept the area, knowing that the cleaning wasn't going to do itself.

His least favorite part about Fridays was his day off the next day on both jobs. Each hour lasted so much agonizingly longer. It's not like he could go home—or at least he didn't want to go home.

Alec and Mia lounged on the floor with the same Neapolitan milkshakes they liked very much in hand. Reed was in the corner scouring through all the board games that Winnie had bought, his tongue sticking out the corner of his mouth. Alex was the only one helping Jace clean up as she stacked chairs on tables and wiped them clean.

"It's party time, folks!" Quinn burst through the door holding a few paper bags presumably with alcohol. Jace flinched at the sound and dropped his mop with a loud crash—his vision blurred and, for a second, he thought that he could see a gun in his hands.

"D-don't scare me like that!" He yelled in a fit of anger, clutching his chest and feeling his heartbeat accelerate. Jace bent down and picked up the mop before silently cleaning the floor—although it looked like he was about to snap the handle in half from how hard he pressed against the floor.

"Hey, special times call for special occasions." Quinn shrugged and placed the bags down on a table next to the entrance. "So who are these newcomers?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. This is Alec and Mia," Reed said from across the cafe, "they've sort of joined the group recently. We forgot to introduce you."

"Hey!" Mia waved with a smile as wide as the ocean.

"Quinn?"

"Alexander, you sly man." Quinn shook his head judgingly. "How dare you infiltrate my friend group without my permission?"

Alec rolled his eyes and stood up to give the other a friendly hug. Jace looked on, distracted from his anger, feeling more confused than anything. "It's good to see you too, bud."

"You two know each other?"Alex stopped and tilted her head in confusion as the two still held their embrace.

After an eternity, they let go of each other and stood shoulder to shoulder with Alec towering over Quinn. "We were buddies back in our army days." The former put his arm around the other and flashed a cheeky smile.

Buddies? Jace stopped mopping and switched his gaze between the two—then to the shirt he wore. He reached inside and retrieved his own dog tag, caressing it and feeling repressed memories start to arise from within the depths of his soul. "Wait, what?"

"What?" Alec raised an eyebrow and pointed at Jace's dog tag. "Oh, hey! Wow...it really is a small world, huh?"

"But...Quinn and I were in the army together. I-I...." Jace massaged his head and tried to unearth whatever memory of Alec that he had under however many layers of trauma and death that he buried.

"Please tell me we're not having war flashbacks right now." Quinn slugged Alec's arm off of him and gently hit the top of Jace's head. "Long story short, yes, you two were friends. I'm surprised you two don't remember."

"Thanks, it's the trauma." Alec remarked. "Are we going to play board games or what?'

"I...ok, fine." Jace reluctantly set his mop on the wall. Alex had already finished cleaning all the tables, so they were pretty much done with everything.

And he ended up regretting that decision. They switched from game to game, from multitasking between Clue and Monopoly to never have I ever. It definitely didn't help that Quinn had brought alcohol to spice up the occasion. Jace didn't like to drink—even if he did, his medication wouldn't allow him to.

Jace hated taking his medication. It was supposed to help deal with his PTSD, and it did in some ways. The neverending nightmares and fear of approaching anything that remotely sounds like a gunshot are still there. The anxiety dissipates and he doesn't feel like utter garbage anymore—not mentally, anyways. Even as the games progressed into the night, he could feel his stomach churn and his vision start to blur. This was the worst part. The nausea and the headaches. The mood swings and the like. He's tried to change medications, but it always ended up giving him the same problems. Both his therapist and his girlfriend try to make him take it despite all of that.

"Are...you ok, dude?" Alec elbowed him in the side and brought Jace back into reality. He looked around and noticed that Quinn and Alex were in the midst of an intense staring contest—and UNO. They both had only a few cards, and the anger radiating off of them hit him like a truck. It only made him feel even worse. Reed and Mia swayed to some sort of rhythm—tapping straws and plastic utensils against the floor and tables.

"I-I'm gonna go get some fresh air." Jace leaped up from his seat on the floor and stumbled out of the front door, cursing under his breath as the loud sound of the bell rang in his head. He only barely made it to the side of the building before he slumped over and expelled his lunch onto the parking lot.

The rain beat down on Jace and soaked through his clothes, but he didn't care. The numbing cold helped to distract himself from the painful ache and nausea. Something rose in his throat and he vomited once more before collapsing against a wall. Without these meds, this wouldn't have happened. He felt more guilty than anything for possibly interrupting the group by leaving so suddenly.

"Jace, what are you doing out here?" He turned to look at Delphine standing over him with an umbrella and a worried look on her face. His stomach recoiled in fear at the realization that someone was there, but he did his best to ignore it. At least he could trust her.

"Del! I...I just needed fresh air." He lied.

"Don't give me that crap, you're lucky Winnie and I decided to stay at the store while your gang got drunk." She picked him up with ease despite her old age and shoved him towards the front of the cafe. "That medication still giving your stomach a fight, huh?"

"Yeah...Lilith keeps making me take it, and you know how your daughter is." Jace reached for the door handle with a slight tremble in his fingers. His friends haven't seemed to notice, although he could tell that Alec looked more worried than the others. The man's mouth opened and the others said something in reply, although he couldn't quite glean what they were saying.

"I'll make her get some soup ready, you just stick tight, ok?" Del ran off and into the bookstore, leaving Jace all alone.

Reaching for the handle again with a tremor in his hands, he forced the door open and yelped softly at the sound of the bell ringing. A blast of the air conditioning chilled him to the bone and made every muscle in his body shiver. Everyone but Quinn and Alex turned to look at him with a mix of shock and concern. Reed was the first one to stand up, heading through the kitchen doors to grab a towel. Mia and Alec came up to him asking about what happened. He felt himself gag at the slight scent of alcohol wafting off of them.

"I'm fine, guys, just caught up in the rain is all." Jace lied, but he felt like they could see through him. He pushed them away, careful not to get any of their clothes wet.

"Dude, you were gone for like twenty minutes!" Mia said, "we were getting worried."

Reed came back shortly with a towel in his hands. He wrapped it around Jace and said, "Winnie and Del are in the back making something. You good?" Jace noticed that it was times like this that the man's clumsiness just disappeared all of a sudden like nothing could stop him from helping someone. He was grateful for his friend's help.

"Are those the owners?" Alec turned to look at Reed. He took off his jacket and wrapped it around Jace despite the latter's soft objections.

"Yeah, they own this and the bookstore next to us."

Jace wanted to take the jacket off and run away back into the rain. His head still pounded and he was starting to get numb in his fingers, but he also felt too drained of energy to fight the others off. He wrapped the jacket around him a little tighter and focused on the softest scent of pine that it carried. It transported him back to his childhood, exploring the forests that he knew like the back of his hand with Alex and Lilith. Back before he felt like utter garbage all the time—when life was good. The pain in his head slowly faded away into the deep recesses of his memory.

Did Alec always smell like this?

Winnie burst through the kitchen doors wearing an apron and her reading glasses. Her caramel brown hair had been tied into a messy bun. Alex seemed to have broken out of her trance as she immediately stood up at the sight of their boss. "Alright, you two get in the kitchen and whip up our partner the best damn comfort food you've ever seen."

"Yes ma'am!" Reed and Alex shouted in complete unison, marching into the kitchen with Winnie following. This was her standard aggressive care maneuver in which she'd cook something up for one of them if they ever felt down. Most of the time, it was Jace on the receiving end of it, and it always reminded him just how much an impact she and Del had on his life.

"Aw come on, I was just about to win," Quinn remarked with a quiet groan as he stood up and noticed all that's been going on. He took one look at Jace—exchanging glances and silent words for a mere second before Quinn rolled his eyes and sat back down.

"Um...what's going on?" Mia pointed at the doors to the kitchen. "Was that the owner?"

"Yeah...Winnie's just cooking up some stuff." Jace answered. "I can ask her to make something for everyone."

Mia shook her head. "Would it be fine if I could help out in there?"

"Just ask before you do anything." He chuckled—the kitchen was sacred to Winnie, especially the one here at the cafe. She needed everything to be spotless and had daily rituals during both opening and closing every time so that everything was to her liking. Most importantly, she generally didn't like it when people who haven't earned her trust went into that kitchen. Not even Del, her own wife, was allowed to enter unless it was to grab something and leave.

Mia grinned from ear to ear and skipped over to the kitchen, humming some sort of melody as her voice intermingled with the cacophony of voices coming from inside.

Alec was the only one left. He clasped Jace's shoulder and smiled kindly. "Uh, keep the jacket for now. You can give it back to me another time."

"Are you sure?" Jace asked but silently hoped that Alec would be fine with it. There was something so nostalgic about this. Familiar, even.

"Call it...uh, paying a favor." Alec rubbed the back of his neck and smiled—he sat next to Quinn and started a conversation that Jace couldn't hear.

Paying a favor, huh? Jace sat down at one of the tables overlooking the street. The rain fell and tapped against the window like a melody—street lamps bathed the wet pavement in a soft orange glow. He rested his head against the glass and nuzzled against the soft leather jacket tightly wrapped around him. The panic and nausea were but an echo in his mind as he felt every bone in his body collapse in exhaustion. He was tired, and he wanted to do anything but relax.

But pinewood is pretty convincing to his senses. Right before sleep claimed him, a distant memory revealed itself from the darkest parts of his mind. He almost forgot that this happened. An image of him and Alec sitting at the edge of a dock looking up at the stars—his standard army jacket wrapped around the other.

The night before everything changed.