#im sure he still bears those thin scars | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sero-sphere · 4 years

Text

PT 3! Crimson Hearts

Summary: You just moved next door to Red Riot…but you can hear everything through the paper thin walls. You open your mouth and uncover something scandalous. Lets see what happens next…

Quirk: You can feel everyones emotional aura, and can secret phermones to alter them. Only side affect is their emotions rub off on you as well, both good and bad.

Warning: angst, implied sex, alcohol use, swearing.

Taglist: @silentw-lkr

Part 1 , Part 2

Sooo, this one is a bit longer. also, sorry it took awhile…i was making stickers!!! im probabally going to write a bonus for this tomorrow!!!( ‘ㅅ’ )

You spent your off day relaxing, taking a bath, reading some books you’ve been meaning to get to, and catching up with your favorite series. You were just about to make yourself dinner, a nice thick steak with some veggies and rice, when you heard a knock on your door. You opened it to find Red Riot.

No seriously, there Kirishima was, staring at you in nothing but his hero attire. Sure you had seen him dressed as a hero..but that was on TV. This was the first time seeing him in the flesh and you couldn’t help but let your eyes wander. Your eyes went over every ripple of every muscle, and every bruise….every scar. Those only seemed to make him more sexy.

“Hey uh, sorry to come and bother you like this. I got called into a closer district today and didn’t feel like heading back to the agency to shower…” He was blushing…hard. You wondered if he noticed that your eyes were wandering his body instead of looking at his face. You quickly corrected yourself and noticed he was holding something behind his back.

“Oh, no it’s ok…I was just a bit….distracted.” You couldn’t help the blush that came across your cheeks now as well.

“I wanted to thank you for yesterday. If you hadn’t come to apologize I don’t know what I would have done. You really made me feel better….and I don’t want you to feel bad for telling me. I’m really glad actually, I know it sucks, but it’s better now that I’m not wasting my time on her.”

“It’s what I do, making people feel better I mean. I’m glad I could help, I really am. Trust me when I say I know EXACTLY how you feel.” You flashed him an apologetic smile.

“I got you this as a little thank you, I heard you crying last night. I wanna help you too if I can.” He brought his hands around the front of him, revealing what he had hidden. He reached out to hand you an adorable red teddy bear.

“I saw this today in a store I was passing by on patrol! It reminded me of you…well not OF you, but I thought of you. It’s a Red Riot ™ teddy bear. You said you were good at hugs, so I figured you could hug this whenever you get sad.” He was nervously scratching at the back of his neck. It only showcased his abs more and you couldn’t help it, as you thought about what it would feel like to hug him everynight…and not the teddy bear.

“Thanks! It will definitely help.” You pulled him into a big hug, forgetting he was shirtless and sweaty. You didn’t mind though, you could feel his mood start to shift a bit and smiled. He wasn’t lying, you really were making him feel a bit better.

“Uh, I should probably shower, I came straight here after work. I wanted to talk to you ASAP to make sure you were ok.” He pulled away from you and pointed towards his apartment.

“Kirishima, after everything that’s happened, it’s nice you thought about me. Go take your shower! I still have your whiskey so come over whenever you want! My doors always open… well not really, knock first, but you know what I mean.”

After saying goodbye, and locking your door, you put the teddy bear on the couch next to your set up for the night and returned to cooking your meal. You had made enough that way you could have left overs tomorrow for lunch. Before you could sit down to eat it you were interrupted by another knock. It was Kirishima again, but this time he was a little bit more covered. He was wearing a black tank top, grey sweats and a bandana.

“You said anytime so I figured I’d take you up on that…normally I’d go hang with Bakugou, but he’s had a rough night too…. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course not….I hope you’re hungry, I just made steak and it just so happens there’s just enough for you.” His mouth was already watering.

After showering, Kirishima realized he didn’t want to spend time alone. He wasn’t entirely lying by saying Bakugou had a rough night…he always had a rough night. He was competing for the title of “Number 1 hero” after all. Even after only knowing you for a short while, he felt comfortable around you. If he hung out with Bakugou, he would only tell him to get over it, and by get over it he would probably suggest having sex with someone else. Kirishima wasn’t quite ready for that yet, so he made his way over to your place, where he knew he could relax.

The two of you bonded over dinner, and shared the rest of his whiskey. He watched as you cuddled up with a blanket on the couch beside him and clutched the Red Riot teddy bear he had gifted you. He’s glad you really liked it, and didn’t find it weird at all. He thought of the latter after he bought it, but decided to go with it anyway.

He came over more and more after that night. Some nights you two drank, sometimes you too didn’t. Mostly you talked, you explained how your quirk worked and how you used it to help people. He told you about his ex-girlfriend, and his best friends. All about his job as a hero! Every day you felt, as he returned to his old angelic self. Just being around him made you feel so much better, and you were glad he was finally beginning to feel ok.

That’s how you ended up in this predicament. Sitting in your living room, drinking too much sake with him. You let him persuade you with his notions “ oh, hey guess what! Ive got the day off tomorrow, and it just so happens Fat Gum gave me this big bottle of sake as a thank-you.”

“I thought being a hero was about saving people…not the free shit?”

“I mean it is, but it does have its perks.”

You both drank way too much and were giggling back and forth. You felt your face heat up. You were both reminiscing about the day you two met.

“OMG I am such an idiot sometimes, I can’t believe I said that to you.” You cringed as you tried to burry your face deep into your sweatshirt.

Kirishima was laughing, falling against the backside of the couch. “I can’t believe you heard everything! I should be more embarrassed than you! I went inside and cursed thinking about how you probably would never talk to me again.”

“And here I was thinking ‘ who the fuck lasts that long…omg.’ And then when It was Red fuucking Riot, and your quirk is hardening. It made perfect fucking sense!”

He blushed. He leaned his head back against the couch, but to the side so he could maintain eye contact, as you gave you the sultriest toothiest smile. You wanted to kiss him so bad, but you stopped yourself.

“You know, I think you can take all this back to your house now?” You motioned to all the alcohol you both had on the table. One bottle had turned into 2, into 3, and so on.

“Right, but then what excuse would I have to come to see you. I am feeling better now ya know?”

“Hmmm, you think you need a reason to come and see me? I could think of a reason or two?” You raised your index finger to your bottom lip and pouted slightly. You shifted a bit in your seat and leaned a little closer towards him. Just to the point you could feel the heat radiating off of him.

“Yeah, and what would that be?”

He met you the rest of the distance, and felt as your lips brushed against his.

You had enveloped him in a kiss he wasted no time in returning. It heated up rather quickly and you felt as his hands ran up and down your back. You moved yours towards his thighs, circling your thumbs in little motions against his muscles.You both were involved in a heavy makeout session. At some point you both broke away for some air. It was pretty late and while Kirishima might not have had patrol, he did have to go in for an early morning meeting.

“You should go, I know you have a meeting in the morning. Being a Hero comes first.” You moved away from him a bit, but still made sure your fingers were intertwined with his.

“But, that wouldn’t be very manly of me to leave you like this…”

“I’ll be fine. I promise, I have an amazing hero who lives right next door. He’ll be the first one I call if I find myself needing help in the middle of the night. He’s convinced he needs reason to come and see me!”

Kirishima leaned in and gave you another kiss on the cheek. He pulled back to look into your eyes. He gave you one last kiss on the lips and left. Both of you wished you had done that sooner, it was too late to get left hanging like that. You were tired. You made sure to clean up before you tucked yourself in at least. You had a previous arrangement with your brother and he was going to be staying over for the weekend.

The night came and went, and you were headed back to your apartment with a hand full of groceries. You had met your brother at the train station, and stopped at the store on your way home. He was behind you helping with some of the load. He made some joke about how he was surprised you walked up all these stairs every day. You were giggling as you made your way to the door.

Kirishima looked out from his window and watched as you passed by laughing…with some….guy? You were with a guy? What? He assumed it was probably family, and you would explain after they were gone, and he came over to visit. But that time never came. The male that had followed you into the apartment had stayed the night with you. He felt just a tinge of jealousy. He got ready for work and wondered if he would still run into you on his way out the door, or if you would be staying in late.

His questions were answered when you called out to him from the stairs.

“Oh, hey Kirishima! Hope you got a good nights rest! Good luck at work today!”

“Hey you too right? You have a big day? Hope the takedown goes as planned.” You were scheduled to help take down a really well known gang, and it was going to be one of the more tiring work days you’ve endured. It started off fine, but quickly turned sour and you were forced into staying well into the night to make sure things went according to plan. 5 am came and went. It was now 7 when you finally made your way back home. You hoped your brother would be awake by now, to say bye before he left. You didn’t know how long you would be able to stay up for. You made it to your door before you realized you had forgotten the key in the car. By the time you made it all the way back up, Kirishima was just heading to work for the day.

“Trouble sleeping, huh?” He looked at you and laughed. It sounded a bit forced and you wondered if he was trying to avoid.

“Yeah I guess you could say that. Things just never seemed to end last night, it just kept coming and coming.” You looked at him exhausted.

“Those walls really are paper thin, I see what you meant before, when you said you couldn’t sleep.” He wouldn’t make eye contact with you. Instead he was staring at his feet which is something you hadn’t seen him do since he was upset about his breakup.

“What do you mean?” You were utterly confused at this point. You two were the only ones whose apartments shared walls on this floor. He shouldn’t have been able to hear anyone else’s, the noise would have to come from yours.

“Uhm, I mean I wasn’t trying to listen in, but like you said it’s kinda hard not too.”

You turned towards him, and the look you gave him was enough to make him scared. You looked pretty fucking mad. “I’m going to fucking kill him!! Figures the one time I’m out for the night!!!”

“Wait what, don’t tell me..” He was starting to panic. He hoped he didn’t just catch you in the same situation he was in a few weeks earlier.

“Oh! NO, no! I’m sorry, he’s my fucking brother! I should have told you that earlier. He came to stay for a few nights for work. Better not have been on my bed I swear to God.”

Kirishima was relieved, he couldn’t stop thinking about continuing what the two of you had started the last time you were together. He had really developed feelings for you during the time the two of you spent together. He was hoping you would return them, and had gotten worried when he heard all those sinful noises during the night. Before he could answer you, you had leaned over and placed a kiss on this cheek.

“Come over tonight? Depending on how my next conversation goes, I might need someone to help break in my new mattress! That is after I’m done burning my other one of course. I might find myself in need of a Hero”

#crimson hearts #kirishima eijiro x reader #kirishima x reader #eijirou x reader #eijiro kirishima #bnha x reader #bnha

78 notes · View notes

rcris123 · 5 years

Text

!Warning for erotic mutilation!

It’s barely been a day since he last saw Arthur. So the last thing he expected was hearing his name be called out by his son. Boy barged in; eyes wide in troubled anticipation.

“I thought he was with you.” It’s what he simply said; voice cracking from boyhood and worry.

A hand on the boy’s back to lead him out of the small, crowded saloon. Getting up ached. He led him to some stairs by the marketplace so they could sit down, ‘cause he ain’t meant to sit up. Leaving the soreness of his chest from the cuts aside, on the inside, something crawled and grappled at his heart. Something was terribly wrong.

“Something happened.” It wasn’t even a question; statement.

“He ain’t back. Been gone with-” Boy pursed his lips, shot up from the stairs, looked at him convicted. Yes, Sebastian guessed the boy and his father were part of an outlaw gang, and Arthur ain’t taught the kid to be stupid.

After a moment’s hesitation, a search through his pockets, Isaac snatches Sebastian’s hand and presses round, flat metal in in, roughly bigger than a large coin. It was a medallion. Saint Sebastian Pray for us.

“Don’t turn him in.” The boy was on the verge of tears with that demand, lips pressed in a thin line and nose crinkled, then he came closer and in a hushed tone: “You heard of Dutch van der Linde? That’s us. Since I’ve been young or before that.” At least 15 years an outlaw, then. Jesus Christ... Sebastian remained silent. “He left this morning, said to discuss some peace with that man Colm O’Driscoll.” He ain’t knowing him. “Never came back...” Isaac then looked away. “Dunno why I’m telling you this. You couldn’t even help...”

The pit in his stomach grows. Sebastian almost put his hand on Isaac’s back, but stopped. Not just by the pain in his shoulder, but ‘cause it wasn’t his place to do so. But how else could he even try to help the boy that clearly came for some form of comfort. Did he not find it in his gang?

“What’d the others say? Dutch?”

“Said he went away like he always did. He’ll come back. But I’m always there. I’m with him!” Bitter silence then: “Unless it’s you I guess...” and silence falls yet again. “Did you fuck?...”

“No.” Sebastian coughs the answer out in an instant.

That was never the intent. Yes, Arthur was quite handsome, but he never paid and didn’t ever have to; man said they were friends, despite his chosen line of work, despite his frankly abhorrent behavior towards him. Sebastian just had to be stupid enough to save someone once.

He... he cared about people. And it got him here.

But this wasn’t about him. It was about this kid who just lost his father, after almost watching him die not too long ago. What a mess... And Sebastian had nothing to give the kid. Not like he did before anyway. He ain’t meant to be a father.

He stands up: “You should go back to camp...” It almost sounded cruel.

Isaac stood stiff.

“This ain’t no place for a kid.”

“I ain’t no kid no more...” the boy said, bitter. “Took me for a... social call...” A delicate word for something that must have involved beatings... A sigh: “Pa’s a good- decent man, mister.”

Sebastian pats the boy’s back this time, despite the burst of pain: “He is.” Life ain’t about to give ‘em much choice in who they gonna be, but Isaac’s probably still too young to understand that.

Isaac mellows somehow under touch. The boy probably doesn’t understand very well what is it that he and his father could be sharing if it wasn’t something sexual – the circumstances of their meeting surely gave off that idea. But Sebastian ain’t quite sure himself what’s it about Arthur. It was strange. A man with a son all but drops dead in the streets of Saint Denis, and when refusing the money, takes him hunting in the dead of night, let’s him stay. Then comes back. To show he cares; for whatever reason – no, it made perfect sense. Isaac was Arthur’s entire world. Somehow, Sebastian saved them both.

Was that why Isaac shoved that medallion in his hand? To take care of them? To take care of him, Arthur? But Sebastian had nothing to offer, him or to this kid. He ain’t even knowin’ who the fuck Colm O’Driscoll was to try and be a hero and save his Pa.

Well, maybe there was one thing he could do.

“Want me to come back with you? It ain’t quite safe out there-”

“Yeah.” Isaac slipped away, ran for his horse; a few clucks so the mountain of a stallion bends its front knee and the boy climbs into saddle. “Just... just a bit before camp. I’ll tell you when.”

It’s reckless, the way the boy spurs the horse to a gallop on the crowded streets of Saint Denis. But he can’t say he doesn’t understand Isaac’s grief. His father is gone and might be gone for good. Sebastian ain’t even thought that in some way, no matter his efforts, Arthur was meant to die. A pang within his chest, breath labored, sore: how it all fit into it all. He ain’t a do-gooder. He’s a fucking homosexual prostitute, lowest rung of the ladder... He can’t save people. Couldn’t even save his little girl, so there’s no one else.

Riding hurt, pain shot up though the shoulder, crawled, itching electric, down between the ribs. That with all those thoughts. He remembered Stefano’s knife; carving almost carefully into his skin; at the shoulder it dug deep, hungry, so now he could barely move it. Sebastian tried as best he could to follow. Isaac rode with quiet rage.

The road took them through Rhodes. One more reason to have his heart jump up – he couldn’t tell that to the boy. It was his nightmare. But the town passed soon enough, after which they went ahead on the way that led by Southfield Flats.

Isaac stopped by a trail that went into the woods, but he didn’t say anything for quite a while:

“Thank you...”

He’s out of words himself: “Good luck, kid...”

A stifled sob before he turned his horse away-

Two men come out of the woods with riffles in their hands. Sebastian put his arms up.

“Isaac head back to camp.” The black haired one, with the scarred face urged.

The other, a red head pointed the barrel at him: “And you, don’t you dare pull any funny business, ya’ hear.” He sounded Irish.

“He’s with me!” Isaac tried, jumped off the horse, rushed between them.

“No he ain’t. Watchu talking about?” Scar-Face continued, grabbing the boy’s shoulder.

“He’s with Arthur!” Isaac screeched.

“Watchu done to the boy?!” the Irish loaded the gun.

“Nothing!” Sebastian roared himself.

“He saved Pa!” The two men looked at each other. “Those few weeks ago when he came back shot up. He only made it ‘cause of him.” Silence. “Why don’t you trust me, you idiots!”

“Hush, boy!-” The brunet tried speaking but was met by a harsh palm over his cheek. “You son of a-”

“I say we take ‘im to Dutch. He’ll know what to do. C’mon fancy pants!” The Irish took his horses’ reins and started leading him between the trees.

Isaac whistled for his stallion and ran ahead on foot.

“Dutch!” both the boy and Scar-Face yelled at the same time.

There were no less than 20 people in that camp and every single one of them looked up at him, all reaching for their guns.

“What happened?” Most probably Dutch himself, raven haired, trimmed moustache, gold rings and chains.

“This focker was just by the road with Isaac.” Irish man called out.

“Are you alright, son?” Dutch spoke to Isaac.

“How many times do I have to say. This man saved Arthur’s life.” Isaac was livid and scared all at once.

“Did he now?... Boy says you saved Arthur’s life.” Dutch approached like a big cat, step certain, wide, ambling, arms outstretched. “That true?”

“He got shot by Lemoyne Raiders a few days ago in Saint Denis. I helped him to the Doctor. Offered him a bed.” Sebastian spoke low. He ain’t a threat.

He’s outnumbered, scanning the people that now surround him and his horse.

He recognized that one.

And that one recognized him.

“No way!” The big man shot up “I know that one!-” then he closed his mouth as if he almost fell into a horrendous trap.

Yes, Sebastian saw him. He fucked Albert the Bear some time ago.

“Shit! I thought I’ve seen this man before.” The man tried to backtrack but it’s too late.

“Where, Bill.” Dutch ordered.

“Ooough- Shit! Back in Saint Denis.” Bill caved in. “In a Molly-house. He’s a, uh, working man.”

People looked at Bill and that man became small. And Sebastian’s chest was cramped, tight.

“Oh, is that so...” Dutch continued “I sure do hope you don’t come here with any nefarious intentions. Especially not towards the boy.”

“Dutch-” Isaac dragged the man by his sleeves. “He and Pa-” an inhale. “He... and Pa... You know what I mean...” The boy tried, voice dying by the end.

“You for real?” Scar-Face couldn’t contain his disbelief. “Jesus Christ.”

Dutch’s face lights up in an odd expression as if he just discovered someone shitting in the outhouse:

“Arthur and-”

“Where is he?!” Isaac keeps shaking Dutch’s arm. “Where’s Pa?! You took him with you, where is he?! Sebastian ain’t seen him!” An elderly chap unglues the boy from Dutch. “Uncle Hosea, don’t you dare!”

And it’s the elder one that speaks: “You seen Arthur recently, Sebastian, I presume?”

“Yesterday. But not since.” Sebastian replies, almost as if following etiquette.

“He went this morning with you!” Isaac points at Dutch. “and Micah!” then at the burly fellow in the red shirt, mug hidden by a white hat.

“Calm down, son!” Dutch almost lost his temper there.

Hosea held the kid closer and firmer, with a soft, calm whisper: “He’s right Isaac, you gotta stay calm about this.” Then he picks his head up: “Dutch, Arthur’s most probably in some trap somewhere. Shouldn’t we send some boys out to look for him, the kid’s all worried.”

“If Arthur’s kidnapped ain’t we should be looking for ‘im?” Sean spoke up. “He did the same for me, he did!”

“I’d say the same.” A black man built like a bull spoke up.

“And I say we need to calm down!” Dutch raised his tone above everyone else’s. “And we wait it out.”

“Wait it out like ye did with me?” The Irishman shot up. “And let him get tortured a month?”

“No!” Isaac struggled.

“I’ll see what I can do!” Dutch continued. “Now everybody, stay calm! He’s fine!”

“He ain’t fine.” Isaac’s voice could barely be heard saying that; Hosea shook the boy’s shoulder, dragged him closer.

“What about me?” Sebastian asked; he wanted to get down from the horse and in some shape or form join the poor kid.

“We have our eyes on you-” that sounded like a threat but not an outright refusal of him being there.

Off the horse he goes, it comes with a grit of teeth as his shoulder gave him no peace. Sebastian tries to approach Hosea and Isaac.

“Is it true that Arthur, uhm, how do I say that delicately-”

“No need.” Sebastian cut the old man short.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to assume-”

This whole discussion made him shift his weight from one leg to the other, uncomfortable; it ain’t like that. He and Arthur... Friends. Even though that time when he grabbed the man’s hand he felt. A warm rush flushing his chest

“He ain’t paid me for anything if that’s what you’re asking.” Sebastian speaks at last. “I care. For him and the boy.”

Isaac was still locked between the other man’s arm, looking up at him.

“Arthur’s been a good father if you ask me.” Hosea continued. “Meaning with what he was given he... I feel he tried.”

“I feel so too.”

“That is quite good to hear.” Sebastian was still stiff. Pain. And this discussion isn’t helping. “Sorry if I made you feel odd, it’s just quite the news to me. Always thought Arthur- well he is a father and all.”

“I had a daughter.” Sebastian interrupts yet again. Heart hung heavy in his chest. “You got any place to sit down.” Well there were tables around but he wasn’t going to assume they’re for him.

“Sure.”

“I had a daughter.” He says again, once seated. Isaac’s on a chair by Hosea’s side. “I had a wife that loved me, thou’ I guess not enough. I was a Sheriff. Right here in Rhodes.”

“I’m very sorry to hear that...”

“Yes... I saved Arthur because he had a son begging for help.” A deep breath in so he doesn’t start crying in front of all these strangers that don’t want him no good. “Because I couldn’t save her, my little girl. I couldn’t-”

“That’s... quite the story there. I’m sorry, Sebastian... And thank you. For bringing Arthur back to us-”

“And now he’s gone again-” tone becomes harsher.

“Well, Arthur’s always been quite hardy, he made it out of worse predicaments, when Isaac was real young.” Hosea drags he boy in his lap. “I reckon he’ll be back.”

“It was definitely a trap they sent him in back there-”

“I know, Isaac. But I guess Dutch is right about waiting for a little while. Rushing in God knows where and finding it crawling with O’Driscolls ain’t smart. It’s probably what they want. Arthur’s bait.”

Isaac jumped off:

“Can I go fishing? There’s a spot not far from here-”

“Not alone, Isaac.” Hosea said.

“I’ll go.” Sebastian added, standing up.

“Ah, guess the boy’ll make an outlaw of you yet.” Old man got up too. “I’ll leave you to it then.”

Hosea left. But seeing them go out of camp, Mister Scar-Face strode towards them.

“Can I... uhm, join the two of you?”

Isaac perked up a bit: “Will Jack come?”

“Uhm... No. Not this time. I... I gotta talk with- Sebastian was it?”

“Oh.” Isaac’s eyebrows draw together.

“Didn’t get your name.” Sebastian spoke, just before getting back up in the saddle with considerable effort; a groan.

“John. Marston. I, uhm...” Man whistled for his horse. Isaac already took on ahead. “I guess I’m sorry...”

Sebastian tried to keep pace with the boy. Marston kept quiet. “That all?”

Man came fast from behind: “Kinda... Okay. Well, I care about Arthur; he’s like a brother to me. And, uhm. That’s his kid, gotta watch out for him-”

“You ain’t even watching out for Jack!” Isaac shouted and his voice almost sounded like Arthur’s himself.

“I’m trying, Isaac!” John called back, but the boy only rode harder.

What was left of the ride was taken in silence and when reaching the fishing spot Isaac stood quiet minding his business. That John feller stood unnaturally away from the water’s edge, perched on a dirt mound. And he still managed to catch some decent smallmouth. But between the three of them Isaac felt professional. And angry. In the way he reeled the fish in and threw the line out. Both of them noticed. The boy had tears streaming down his face for some time, wiped them with one hand while waiting for the next bite.

The golden hour rushed over them. Sebastian took a look at the clock: with all this he almost forgot he should be seeing Stefano again around 6PM. There was plenty time still.

“You should head back to camp.”

Isaac looked at him most heartbroken. John tried to escort the boy back but he jumped to hug Sebastian first. A pained huff came of him with that head pressed into his chest. He couldn’t resist though, returning the embrace. The kid missed his father, but he wasn’t him... He wasn’t meant to be a father...

“Take care, Isaac, okay?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good boy.”

“Will you, uh, swing by again?” John still didn’t know how to talk to him.

Sebastian bobbed his head, ‘cause all that depended on Arthur. What a thought to think that was...

The man was gone and Sebastian was to return to Stefano Valentini.

Mister Valentini picked him up in a stagecoach, as he always did, didn’t talk all the way to the manor. The house was overlooking the bayou and had a lavish garden. The sun didn’t set yet.

“Undress, darling, we’re going to be taking some photos in this glorious light. You’ll look stunning.”

“And the payment?”

“75$ like usual. Undress.” Harsh, as he got his camera and knives ready.

Sebastian did as asked, back turned from him, until he was demanded to.

“Lay down, Sebastian.”

He did, plainly. And Stefano measured him up and down.

“Your shoulder.”

“What about it?”

“It’s irritated. Turn so I can see it.” Sebastian turned on his side. “Head down. To the ground. That’s it...”

But it was missing something. It always did. But first came the flowers: white rose petals, sprinkled around him. Goosebumps rose on his skin.

“I like that, Sebastian~ Your body fears me in just the right ways.” He stepped back towards the tool stool, over his body, making him feel as if he lacked any power to oppose.

Sharp, the knife was lodged deep into his shoulder, right where he was before. He writhed and clenched his teeth-

Stefano stepped behind the camera. “Now take it out slowly, darling.”

Teeth bare, and huff with huff, inch with inch- the blade slid out of his mutilated right shoulder. Every time he stuck it in, it dug deeper, the curved tip grazed bone and clung to flesh, sending an electric shiver up his spine until his vision turned white and his body turned cold, then an almost mellow pain as his body heated up again, and the place stung, crawled like a hornet’s nest. Blood dripped down his bare chest, onto the pavement. And Stefano kept encouraging him with words that might have almost felt sweet.

Almost out. Unbearable. Unbearably slow. His entire body trembled under the sensation, muscles stiff and sore. He twists to pull the knife laying on his underside-

A boot to his gut.

The knife falls on the pavement with a clink.

The boot turns Sebastian; pins him on his back. Stefano sits on top of him, his cock is hard under tight pants.

“Agh-”

“How dare you, Sebastian~” The camera’s in his hands, still snapping pictures of him.

But it wasn’t enough. Stefano’s gloved hands mess with his hair, roll his head around as if it’s a toy. Threads fall in his eyes, exhales come heavy onto cobblestone; he can taste dirt.

“Good- Very good.”

Then his chin is tilted up.

“Look at me, Sebastian-” He doesn’t. “Merda! Look! At me!” Fingers clench in his jaw, but that pain he doesn’t feel. “I can’t say I don’t taste your defiance, but it’s not what I’m looking for-”

For one second he wondered if Arthur was someplace where someone made an equal mess out of him. Torture. Like that Irishman said... Gaze returns to Stefano, eyebrows knitted.

“Ohh~” Stefano moaned, and grinded once onto his body. “Superbo, Sebastian- Superbo~”

Then he got up, satisfied, moaning to himself.

“Thank you, darling. I’ll have the Doctor stich you up and bandage the wound. I’ll be gone a few days. That should give it enough time to heal a while. Oh, Lucian, hand him the money please.”

A day, two. No word. And Arthur didn’t leave his mind. But he didn’t remember that man’s face all that well, long hair, a thick beard that went all the way up his cheeks. Green eyes. His voice, but still he couldn’t place exactly how it sounded, and it got lost between the voice of his own thoughts. A shame, because he wanted something to remember him by. No, not the medallion. Saint Sebastian. That should have been him, but what a saint Sebastian wasn’t... A cruel title. But he remembered the deer – he had that vest made. Arrows almost in unison.

It costed him 40$ to commission that pen, but he did. A ballpoint, copper, with two arrows engraved, so he won’t forget.

The pain got worse the more he moved. He should be lying down, instead he got drinks at the bar inside his saloon. He still had about 30 something dollars left of those bills Arthur gave him. For whiskey-

“Hey!” He almost didn’t mind the commotion when the doors slammed.

“Sebastian!”

“Isaac?...” it was hard to get up.

It was the kid; he swam through the crowd and with no explanation dragged him outside. Heart began to drum inside his chest. What happened... It was Arthur.

“Call your horse.” The boy had no patience for him, ‘cause he climbed up and spurred already.

Sebastian was lucky Ashley, his trusty steed, was part Arabian, and wasted no time bolting after the boy. He rode with one hand, the other stuck to his shoulder to drown out the throbbing that picked up with each thud of the hooves on the ground. He asked no questions; Isaac said nothing.

“When’dchu even slip by!?” the Irishman was first to greet them when he saw Isaac coming back with Sebastian, still clutching the seams of his coat.

But Isaac had one goal and one goal only: bringing Sebastian to Arthur’s bedside. That left shoulder... A shotgun blast the size of a fist, septic.

“Isaac-” voice was weak. “Isaac, com’ere.” Boy knelt down, wrapped his arms around his father. Arthur stroked the boy’s hair. “Com’ere... Isaac. I wouldn’t of left you alone...” Hand keeps stroking, despite the obvious pain in his face; eyes looked up at Sebastian as if in doing so came some great realization.

The middle-aged woman that was sitting on a chair there, handed it to Sebastian. Arthur kept muttering soft coos to his son. It was the third time he saw this man down; each time even closer to death...

“We have to leave.” Isaac stands up, announces with conviction beyond his years, despite the sobs that thickened his voice. “We’re gonna leave.”

As if he heard that Dutch approached, hands up, defensive.

“You did this!”

“I didn’t know, Isaac...” He sounded penitent. “I’m really sorry, son. I- I made a mistake, I know that.”

“This cannot happen again!”

“It won’t, son.” The man had no intention of leaving.

“Give him some time, Dutch...”

Dutch bowed his head, nodded: “Rest up, Arthur.”

Isaac still stood, huffing, as if trying to be barrier between everything that was out there, Dutch included, and his wounded father.

“Isaac. Com’ere. Please.” Boy returned without hesitation. “C’mon up.”

The boy eyed Arthur up and down, then carefully pulled his legs over his father’s body, laying down, head nestled on the man’s good shoulder. The other arms moved almost mechanically to wrap around the kid.

“Need a blanket.”

Arthur puffed, shaking his head slightly.

“You brought ‘im to camp?”

“Yeah.” Isaac replied. “Thought you was with him.” Boy clings to the union suit.

“I’m sorry, Isaac...”

“It’s okay... It’s gonna be fine...”

Arthur pursed his lips and staggered out a sigh: “Yeah. Yeah it will, son...”

“We have to get out.”

“Yeah-” Gaze locked on Sebastian. He remembered the man’s words: there’s no getting out...

There gotta be. His chest became cold with a shiver, then too warm.

Sebastian knelt down, groaned doing so and decided, against better judgement, that he can put his hand next to Arthur’s. And Arthur took it, curled his fingers around Sebastian’s palm. And once again, against his better judgement, he remembered that darned medallion; snuck it underneath Arthur’s grip.

“Saint Sebastian. Protects soldiers I heard.” The Molly-house was near a church after all.

Arthur gave the single note of a laugh, before it turned to a wheeze:

“You wanna be my Saint or something?”

Sebastian dared smile: “Can’t say I haven’t thought about the possibility.”

Sarcastic tone’s left aside and with a squeeze of the palm: “Guess it ain’t all that bad then...”

He stayed the night by Arthur’s bed.

#rdr2 fanfic #red dead redemption 2 #arthur morgan #rdr2 tag #isaac morgan #Sebastian Castellanos #gore warning #gore tw #whump

20 notes · View notes

janethepegasus · 6 years

Text

BMC Miraculous Ladybug AU RP Thing: Chaos Akuma

An RP me and @pika-ace did relating to the BMC Miraculous Ladybug AU where an Akuma (that’s basically Discord but his chaos powers are amped to an 11) distorts the city and the Armada into whatever he desires.

(An Akuma flies through the sky and finds someone to possess, a couple of seconds later, there was a mini-sonic boom and slowly, the city and everything in it, starts

to distort into strange and surreal things, even logic itself was being distorted.)

(Everyone starts to warp and change)

(Jordan suddenly feels a stinging pain inside of him and winces)

Eric: You okay...? (Eric feels a headache coming on and winces)

Jordan: *winces* N-No...not really...! *curls up from the pain and he notices claws were forming out of his fingers*

Eric: Jordan! What- (Eric falls to his knees, clutching his head)

Jordan: Will...!! *winces in pain as ears and a tail start growing on his body*

Eric: J...Jordan... (Eric can feel his concern melting away, even thought deep down he still feels it, and metal start to climb his skin)

(Fangs started to grow on Jordan's teeth and parts of his body had fur growing)

Jordan: *internally* What the fuck...?! I thought...Joe fixed this... *curls over in pain*

(Eventually, the pain stopped and Jordan looked at himself, he transformed into a half man half wolf. having the senses of a wolf but keeping his intelligence as a

human)

Jordan: Wha...What the hell?!

(Jordan looks and sees that Eric is transforming into an android)

Jordan: Oh my god Will! *he holds him* Eric: J...Jordan...!!

(Eric slowly reaches out towards Jordan)

(His hand becomes metal and his eyes glow blue)

Jordan: Will...?

Eric: *voice becoming stiff* Jordan...

Jordan: *his wolf ears drooping* Uh...Will...?

Eric: *robot voice* Analyzing symptoms of Jordan Ellis, designated spouse or partner.

(Jordan looks at Eric, confused and a little bit scared)

Eric: Analysis complete. Energy readings signify an akuma.

Jordan: Well no shit, Peach, why else would we turn into this?! *gestures his body and Eric's body*

Eric: Analysis also confirms that others are having similar effects, some more drastic than others

(Jordan tenses up at the thought of Michael or others he cares about, going through similar or more drastic transformations)

(Jordan pulls out his phone to the group chat where the chat is already blowing up with reactions and screaming)

Jordan: Oh god...

(The chat is pure chaos)

Jeremy: *text* H E L P, S M A L L A S A K I T T E N DX

Rich: *text* I’monfmcfuckingFIREHOWAMITYPINGRIGHTNOWWTFWTFWTFWTFWTF

Anton: *sends of photo of his scarred eye open but it has TV static, while the rest of body has wires in his body* I have NO IDEA WHAT THE HELL I TURNED INTO!!!

Jenna: *text* I HAVE FUCKING GILLS AND CHRISTINE JUST FLEW INTO MY ROOM AS BASICALLY TINKER BELL IN SIZE AND SCALE IM FLIPPING THE FUCK OUT

(Amongst the chaos, Jane sent a video in the chat, in the video, “Eric” was holding the camera in from of “him”)

Jordan: The fuck?!

(In the video, "Eric" explains that "he's" Jane, but the magic of the chaos akuma turned her into a shapeshifter, allowing her to turn into whatever she desires. Then,

near the end of the video, she shows what the chaos magic did to Joe, she turns the camera to the table, there a book lays on the table. And Jane says that the magic

made a magic book and now Joe is sealed within it, with his only way of communication is to write words on the blank pages.)

Jordan: Jesus, what a shit show...

Lin: *text* Everybody turned into some kind of freak show, thanks to that Akuma! XS

Kirsty: *text* You can say that again! (She sends a video of the trinity showing that she’s about three inches tall and the trinity have become living representations of ‘see no evil, hear no evil, and

speak no evil’. Philip has no eyes, Sebastian has no ears, and Max has no mouth)

Jane: *text* Holy shit! O_O

Kirsty: *text* I KNOW!! And do you know how hard it is to use a touch screen when you’re this tiny??? >:(

Jeremy: *text* I'm kinda having the same problem cause, ya know, I'M THE SIZE OF A KITTEN RIGHT NOW?!

Jane: *text* Dad says we should all meet up and asses the damage before going after the akuma

Jordan: *text* Alright, see you all there!

Jordan: C'mon Will!

Jordan: Let’s go! Eric: Affirmative.

(They transform and head out and meet with the others in less than graceful fashions due to their deformities) Dasher: *runs backwards to where they are and slams into the wall as a result* OW FUCK!!

Timber: Woah! You okay Speedy?!

Dasher: No! My running is completely fucked up!

(Dasher slowly backs up, wincing at the hard blow) Dasher: *softly* Ow ow ow ow ow...

Stag: At least you can fucking SEE!!! (Gestures to Cloudy who is literally a walking ball of wool)

Cloudy: Help :^(

Atlantic: *points to Stag* Mmmmph mmm mmm mmmph. (You're not much better off) (Stag's horns are huge, weighing down his head so much that he has to drag them along)

Stag: Oh Maxie, these *gestures the horns* may be bad, but trust me, "down below" i had it the worse. :/

Atlantic: Mmmph mmmph mm mmm mmmmm mmmmmph!!! >:((((( Scarlet: WHAT?! Jade: Please, you don't have to shout....although *puts hands where his eyes used to be* it gives me a better idea of where you are...but who am I kidding you're not

hearing any of this... Scarlet: WHAT?!

Inferno: Why even complain about this?! We all *suddenly his voice turns into a female's voice* have some kind of problem thanks to the *turns back into a male voice*

Akuma fucking us up! >:(

Leo: Whoa that's weird... Ace: Honestly I think he has it the best. (Ace is now part pigeon and the size of one too, carrying Swan in his feet who is now a plushie)

Leo: ...At least Post can be the one thing he loves. :/

(Hound whines as he's now a dog but with his human head) Hound: I want my apposable thumbs back! D'X

Volph: Same here! I think? (Volph is now an anthro fox, her fox tail sticking out with her nine tails of her costume)

Maiden: *who has a legit unicorn head but a human body* Let's just find this asshole and be done with this...

Draco: Let's just be careful of how we traverse this chaos driven terrain...especially me... *parts of Draco's body is covered in stained glass, not only that, he's a

bit fragile, a simple fall would shatter him into pieces*

Striker: I second that... *Striker has become part stone like a griffon statue*

Jane: *who's taken the form of Makoto from Danganronpa* Yeah, everybody got a little form change thanks to him... *she looks at the magic book that she's holding*

...At least you guys can move around, unlike Dad who's...probably gonna be immobile until this is over... :/

Kirsty: *climbs on Jane's shoulder* I can't even move without fear of being stepped on. Christine at least has wings. *points to Papillion who's now the size of a

butterfly*

Papillion: Well yeah, the world does seem a bit more dangerous if you're SUPER tiny. :/

Tiger: DOES NO ONE REMEMBER THAT I'M PERMANENTLY ON FIRE?!?!?!?!?! *his whole body is up in flames*

Jane: ...Oh yeah, forgot about that. :/

Pacific: *mouth is full of giant shark teeth expanding his mouth and his lips* My dentist is gonna KILL ME!!!

Ursa: *body was buffed up and generally he looked like a bear man* Now i know how it feels to be the strongest man in the whole armada... *glares at Timber*

Timber: Oh fuck you too, Matt >:(

(Ursa and Timber glare at each other)

Natura: Guys cmon not now! (Natura has turned into the deer god from Princess Mononoke)

Aqua: Yeah, you can do it later AFTER we’re back to normal! XS (Aqua’s hair is now multi-colored, SUPER long, and are thin like spaghetti)

Karma: Yeah... (Karma’s physical body is gone, but his costume and mask are still visible)

Timber: *huffs* Fine...

(They head off the best they can to look for the akuma)

(Jane taken the form of Wise Owl to catch up with the group. Seeing everyone struggling to look for the Akuma in their current state, Joe’s written words in the magic

book were filled with distress and worry for the Armada)

Jane: Awww don’t worry dad, they’ll be okay

Joe: *written down* Are you sure my dear?

(Jane looks up as Jade trips and falls due to blindness and Tiger sets a nearby object on fire) Jane: ...Yeah...they'll be fine O_O

Joe: *written down* I hope so...with these deformities this akuma has bestowed upon them...i just pray to god that they'll be okay by the end of this...

(After a good while of struggling, they hear laughing) Akuma: Oh this is just priceless XD

Timber: *ears twitch* I hear him!

Kirsty: Well duh, he's right above you. *points to the akuma laughing above them*

Akuma: *laughs* Oh god, you all look HILARIOUS!! XD

Atlantic: *muffled ranting* Akuma: What? I can't quite...you got something... *points to his mouth* Oh wait, you have NOTHING XD

(The akuma laughs at Atlantic, while Atlantic fumes with rage)

Timber: You're going down, I think is what he means to say >:(

Akuma: Oh really? You deformed weirdos are gonna take ME down? HA! You guys couldn't even crush a cockroach with these new forms of yours! XD *keeps laughing* Joe: *angrily writes* HEY!! Do NOT insult my children!! >:(

Jane: Sheesh Dad... O_O (Leo hisses and yowls quite pitifully, only fueling the akuma's laughter)

Dasher: You think THIS is FUCKING FUNNY?! >:(

Cyber: Affirmative; analysis confirms that these transfigurations to our bodies are only intended for enterntainment

Draco: So he turned EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US into some kind of JOKE?! >:(

Cyber: Affirmative. Hound: Quit acting so calm about this!!!

Cyber: *looks at Hound, curiously* What do you mean? This is my default voice.

Kirsty: Hey! Are you guys gonna kick his ass or what?!

Akuma: *laughs* There's no WAY these fools are gonna beat me! There's NO way they can smack me around with those silly forms of theirs! XD

(Cyber wordlessly raises his hand and shoots a lightning blast and it hits) Cyber: Target acquired. Akuma object termination in progress

Akuma: GAH!! Why you...!! *his arm morphs into a giant arm made out of vines and he grabs Cyber with the large fist made out of vines*

Timber: WILL!!

(The Akuma lifts Cyber up and starts throwing him around, slamming him into nearby buildings)

(Cyber keeps a straight face almost throughout the whole thing) Tiger: My GOD man, you’re being pummeled!! DONT YOU CARE?!?!

(The Akuma keeps throwing him around until he stops, his vine arm detaching from his body, a new arm immediately grows in its place, and the vines tie around Cyber’s

body. The vines slowly tighten their grip on him and spikes start to pop out in some places)

Timber: LET GO OF MY PEACH!!! (Timber leaps up with his claws and slices through the vines and catches Cyber, landing safely)

Timber: *to Cyber* You Okay, Peach?

Cyber: *stares at Timber in slight shock* A...Affirmative...

Timber: Good... (The Akuma looks at the Armada in slight amusement) Akuma: So ya weaklings think you can stand up against me? >:3

Dasher: Hell yeah we can!!

Akuma: Well I hope you have a little plan to do so, cause I’m gonna make this world turn against ya! >:3 (The Akuma snaps his fingers and suddenly, the ground below them turned into thick chocolate sauce)

Leo: Oh COME ON!!

(They struggle through the chocolate to get out of it, but the fact that Tiger is on fire, causes the chocolate to get a bit hotter)

Pacific: Dude, get OUT of the chocolate!! Tiger: I'm TRYING! >:(((

(They keep struggling until they manage to get out.) (But then the Akuma made the ground below them turn into slippery soap)

(The holders all slip and slide) Jane: It's okay! Just pretend you're ice skating!

Dasher: But-AH! *he slips and falls on the ground* some of us CAN'T skate! XS

Kirsty: Then now's a good time to learn! (Meanwhile, any flying holders who are able, start fighting the akuma)

(However, the akuma had a wide grin on his face, fighting back with such great force. He even takes advantage of their new forms, by landing a hard hit on Draco and a

piece of his glass like body breaking off of him)

(Draco screams) Timber: NO!!! (Cyber stares as emotion tries to break through his eyes)

Akuma: Oh ho, why would a fragile one, such as yourself, would want to fight me? Especially if *grabs Draco's arm and with great force, he snaps it off of him* THIS

happens to ya? >:3

Jane and Kirsty: HOLY SHIT!!! (Cyber blasts the akuma as hard as he can with lightning)

(The akuma smirks and hides Draco behind him, then with his chaos magic, turns the arm into a copy of Draco and uses it as a shield, letting the lightning hit the

Draco clone)

Hound: HEY!!! Leo: No one hurts Dragon Dad on OUR watch!!! (The kids all attack, knocking the clone away)

(The Akuma smiles wickedly and pulls out a large cage, then he swoops all the kids up in it, and then he spins it around quickly)

Stag: KIDS!!!

(The kids scream as they are being spun around. Until the akuma throws the cage and it flies over the adult Holders and through the city) Akuma: Homerun!! >:3

Dasher: I'll get them! *starts running backwards after them as best he can* Atlantic: *muffled yelling and screaming* Scarlet: YOU'RE GOING DOWN!!!

Akuma: I'm not going down, you are >;3 *he snaps his fingers and suddenly gravity pushes the Adult Holders down, making it a bit hard for them to move*

(A bird visor then appears on his face) Raven: Well done my akuma! You've done beautifully! >:3

Akuma: Thank you Master! >:3

Akuma: Shall I bring them to you? Raven: Oh please do. >:3

Akuma: I will, and trust me, you'll LAUGH once you seen what i've done to them! >:3

Raven: I look forward to it.

(The Raven Visor disappears and the Akuma looks at the Holders)

Akuma: Well, time to go! (He waves his hand and a giant sentient bag appears and scoops up all the adult holders; he then makes a separate bag) Akuma: Get those kids and that weasel, we want to please Master >:3 *the bag flies off*

(A couple of seconds later, the bag comes back with the kids Holders and Dasher in it)

(The akuma grins and flies towards Raven's tower, which has a kind of shield around it made by the akuma so the reality warping won't affect him; Raven comes out of

the tower, stopping right at the edge of the shield) Raven: I'm sorry to say all your hard work will be undone once they come in here, but please, show them to me, I must see this with my own eyes! >:3 *he gestures to a

spot right in front of the shield*

(The akuma empties the bags out while keeping gravity on them so Raven can see their conditions)

(Upon seeing their conditions, Raven bursts out into laughter)

Raven: Oh! This is incredible! XD

(Raven keeps laughing at them, while the Holders, Jane, and Kirsty, all glare at him)

(He laughs for a while until he finally calms down) Raven: Okay...well done...ten out of ten, darling; throw the bags into my tower and you can keep doing your thing... XD

Akuma: Okay! >:3

(He puts them all back into one bag and throws them into the tower and flies off; meanwhile, while the holders are still helpless, the moment they enter the field,

they return to normal) Raven: *enters the tower* Oh it was fun while it lasted...

(Raven takes the bags up the tower)

(Once he gets to the tower...) Raven: First, let's deal with the extra baggage... *he reaches in and grabs Jane and Kirsty out of the bag*

Jane: AHH! Kirsty: HEY!!

(He ties them up back to back and puts tape on their mouths and holds them up by a length of rope) Raven: Now I can guarantee a little more cooperation from the animal patrol >:3

Kirsty and Jane: MMMPH!!

(Raven unties the bag) Raven: Alright, c'mon out. Enjoy your normality *softly* for now...

(He empties out the bag, letting the Holders fall out)

(Everyone looks around and deflates in relief at seeing they're normal again)

Timber: Thank god...

Cyber: Jordan! *hugs him* I've been wanting to do that all day!!

Timber: *hugs back* Finally, my Peach is speaking normally! :)

Atlantic: I can talk!! Scarlet: I can hear!! Jade: I can see!!

Owl: *looks at himself* I-I'm not in a book anymore...! Oh thank god...!! *hugs any nearby Holders as tightly as possible* Oh my dear children, you're all okay...!!

Hound: Oof! Missed you too, Owl Dad

(Raven rolls his eyes as he sees the Holders all relieved to have their normal bodies back)

Kirsty: MMMPH!! (Hey, don't ignore us!! >:((( )

Jane: MMPH!!! (Yeah, we matter too! >:((( )

Raven: *clears this throat and gets their attention* I get that you're happy but - *he holds his scythe up to Kirsty and Jane* Let's get back to business, shall we?

>:3

(The Holders' eyes widen upon seeing the scythe near Jane and Kirsty)

Raven: Your Miraculous, if you please. I would tie you all up and take them by force, but I'm not really feeling it today, soooo... (He pushes the scythe closer, making the two girls whimper)

(The Holders tense up)

Raven: What's it gonna be, holders? The easy way or the hard way?

(The Holders glare at Raven, not wanting to hand their Miraculous over, but they don't want Jane and Kirsty's lives to be taken by Raven Claw)

(After a while, Raven sighs) Raven: Alright, if you're going to be dramatic about it, you can at least be entertaining (He drops a portion of the shield so only he, Jane, and Kirsty are shielded from the warping)

Leo: Oh no, not again! XS (Everyone starts to transform)

Timber: No..! WILL!! (Cyber starts becoming metal again)

(Timber winces in pain as he starts transforming again)

(Cyber hugs him) Cyber: I...I love you...!

Timber: I...I love you...too...!!

Jane and Kirsty: *struggle* MMMMPH!! (The transformations finish)

Tiger: AHHH!!! I'M ON FIRE AGAIN!!!!!

(The holders descend into chaos once more and Raven laughs while Jane and Kirsty watch in horror)

Leo: Oh god, i'm tiny again!!! DX

Hound: *looks at his dog body* Nooooooooo! Atlantic: MMMMMMMPH!!!

Jade: I can't see!!! Scarlet: WHAT?!

Kirsty: *glares at Raven* MMMMMPH!! (YOU ASSHOLE!!)

Jane: *looks at Owl's distorted form, just laying on the ground* MMPH!! (DAD!!)

Raven: *to Owl* Not so tough now are you? XD

Owl: *written down* Shut your mouth! >:(

(Raven floats around them in his shield with Jane and Kirsty)

(Jane and Kirsty watch in horror as they see the Holders freaking out and panicking over their distorted forms)

(Kirsty growls at Raven and gives him a kick in the shins and Jane follows suit, both of them kicking at him)

Raven: Ow! Hey! >:(

Jane and Kirsty: >:(((((((( *keep kicking at him*

Raven: Ow Ow Ow Quit it!! >:((

(They keep kicking at him when Raven suddenly loses his balance; he flails and topples right out of his shield, leaving only Jane and Kirsty sitting inside it)

Raven: Ow... *glares at Jane and Kirsty* Why you- (Suddenly, Raven freezes and then he starts to transform, screaming in pain)

Jane: Mmph! (Whoa!) (Raven grows a bird head and his arms become wings but his body remains) Kirsty: Mmmph? (Did we do that? O_O )

Jane: Mmph! (Apparently! O_O)

(Raven’s transformation completes and he looks at himself in horror)

(Raven screams in horror upon seeing his distorted form)

Arctic: *who has a similar appearance to Raven but as a Polar bear* HA!! Sucks to be you, asshole!! >:D

(Raven still screams in horror of his new form)

(Owl writes something down and Timber reads it and calls up to Jane and Kirsty) Timber: You two just stay put up there!! We’ll get ya down as soon as we get rid of this akuma!!

Jane: Mmph! (Okay!) *internally* Though I miss being a shapeshifter :/

Kirsty: Mmph! (Got it!) *internally* Man, if I was still small we could get out of these ropes... :/ (The holders get a hold of themselves and look out the window where they see the akuma in the distance)

(The Akuma looks at Raven’s tower, looking a kinda bored) Akuma: The whole city is distorted by me...except this. (He stares at it for a few seconds) Akuma: ...Fuck it, Master’s joining the fun! (He snaps his fingers and Raven’s tower starts to distort and the shield disappears)

(Kirsty instantly shrinks making the ropes fall away from Jane and they pull the tape off)

Jane: *shiftshapes into Sci-Twi* Yes! We're free! And i can shift shape again! :D

Kirsty: *climbs on Jane’s shoulder* Don’t get TOO attached to the crazy akuma magic...

Jane: *gets up* Hey, having the power to shiftshape is the one ability i wish i can have 24/7, so don't blame me for getting TOO attached to this new ability! X3

Kirsty: Just don’t drop me please...

Jane: I won't!

Jane: And besides, we’re already together, no need to FALL for me ;) Kirsty: ........why....? -_-

(Suddenly, everyone feels the tower shaking for a couple of seconds. When it stopped, the window transformed into a large eye and it looked at everyone)

Coral: Huh...at least we don’t have to walk

(Then they feel the lair shake again. Outside, the lair rises and four legs burst out from under it. Then it starts to move around the city mindlessly)

(Everyone topples around from the movement, Jane holding Kirsty in her hands for safety)

(Jane spots Owl's distorted form being thrown around from the movement, but her heart sank when he was getting a bit too close to Tiger)

Jane: SOMEONE KEEP OWL DAD AWAY FROM RICH!!!

(Timber quickly yanked Owl away from Tiger)

Hound: Now what?!

(At this point, Raven eventually calms down and glares at the Holders)

Raven: This- Dasher: If you say this our fault you’re fucking DEAD >:(

Jane: Really, it's actually OUR fault ya turned into a raven man! *she shiftshapes into Raven Claw* Then again, you underestimated what two girls can do to you! :P

(Raven lets out a screech of anger and charges towards Jane and Kirsty)

Jane: Oh shit O_O *spreads out her wings and flies off*

Kirsty: *clinging to Jane* FLY FLY FLY!!!!

(Jane flaps her wings as fast as she can)

(Raven chases them out of the tower) Leo: ...I guess we’ll just have to check on them once we take out that akuma

Cyber: Affirmative.

(The holders manage to safely get out of the tower and head towards the akuma)

(As soon as they were getting near the Akuma, a large boxing ring emerges out of the ground below them and rises above the city with them on it)

Atlantic: *muffled annoyed sounds*

(It stops when the boxing ring was way above the city, then the akuma shows up with a big smirk on his face)

Akuma: Ready for the REAL fight? >:3

Akuma: Cause the fight i'm gonna give you, is FINAL BOSS worthy! >:3 *he smiles wickedly then he swoops down. A few seconds later, the ground started to shake and a HUGE dark figure started to rise*

(The kids’ eyes all widen in recognition to the reference) Kids: O_O .......fuck

(Once the dark figure towers over the Armada, the dark figure was revealed to be the akuma transformed into a being of madness and chaos.The Akuma maniacally laughs at them with a wide smile)

Everyone: O_O Timber: .....Welp....let’s get him guys

Dasher: Let's bring our A-Game into this one...i hope... O~O

(They start fighting)

(The Armada do all that they can to fight the Akuma, but at some points during the fight, the Akuma sends out powerful attacks that almost knocked some of the members

of the Armada out of the boxing ring)

Akuma: That’s a few down!

(Draco holds onto the ropes as best as he can) Draco: Boys...Help me...!!

(Timber and Cyber run over and carefully helps him over)

Draco: Thank you...

Timber: We gotcha

(They keep fighting the Akuma)

(Leo and Swan, vein the smallest, sneak around the massive akuma and look for the object they need) (Papillion helps too)

(But then, three hands emerge out of the Akuma's body, grabbing Leo, Swan, and Papillion.)

Timber: KIDS!!

Akuma: Nuh uh uh! If you all want to beat me, then you'll have to do it without taking the easy way! Or else... *the hands' grip on Leo, Swan, and Papillion get

tighter, the three of them scream in pain*

Dasher: Okay okay! (They keep fighting)

(The Akuma keeps holding onto Leo, Papillion, and Swan during the fight)

(The fight goes on for a while until Cyber spots the akuma)

(Cyber was about to shoot at it, but the Akuma noticed that he was taking "the easy way", so another hand emerges out of his body and grabs Cyber tightly) Akuma: NO EASY WAY!!

Hound: You’re a sore loser! >:((((

Akuma: Oh am I? Well, i won’t let ANY of you taking the easy route of beating me, you gotta beat me like you would with a REGULAR final boss! >:) (The Akuma lifts Cyber up and tightens his hold on him, resulting in some sparks flying out of Cyber’s metal body)

(Timber quickly jumps up and latches onto the hand holding Cyber) Timber: Hang on Will!!

(His grip on Cyber gets tighter, more sparks are flying and his eyes start to flicker)

Timber: Silver Claws!! (Timber shoves his claws into the hand and slowly pries the giant fingers away from Cyber so he can grab him and hold him to his chest)

(Cyber had a lot of dents and cracks, even his robot arm was disconnected)

Timber: Jesus...! Timber: Come on Will, stay with me!

Cyber: Energy low. 99% functions are shut down or damaged. *looks at Timber* Jordan...

Timber: Will...!

Cyber: Able...to function...for 5 minutes maximum...after dead line...will shutdown...permanently... (He looks at Timber directly) Cyber: Jordan...beloved spouse... *a smile cracks on his face* I...love...you... :)

(Timber tears up) Timber: I...I love you too...

(Timber gives a quick peck on Cyber’s lips)

Akuma: *laughs* Some hero you are! Can’t even protect one of his friends! Timber: ...I wouldn’t say that... Akuma: Huh? Timber: I just had to keep you still for a few minutes >:3 (At that moment, Stag jumps off one of the poles of the ring and drops the full weight of his giant horns onto the akuma’s head)

Akuma: GAH!!

Stag: TAKE THAT SCUMBAG!!! Timber: GET HIM EVERYONE!! (The holders all charge and take advantage, attacking with everything they have all at once)

(As all the attacks hit the Akuma, he flails around and the city below them starts to twist and turn, becoming a chaotic version of the city)

(The holders keep going and keep attacking, pinning him down under all their attacks)

(They keep going until Timber gives the Akuma the final blow. Then, streams of light poke out from the Akuma’s body, he screams and he explodes into an explosion of

light.)

(The akuma object appears and Timber catches it) Timber: Time to end this...

(With all of his strength, he crushes the Akuma into pieces and a black bird flies out)

(he directs the bird to Cyber who is moments away from shutting down; with the last of his strength, Cyber puries the akuma and restores the damage, returning the

world and themselves to normal)

(They all return to the ground and everything and everyone turned back to normal)

Timber: WILL!! (He runs over to Cyber who's body is human and completely healed as he sits up)

Cyber: *looks up* Jordan...!

(Timber scoops him up and spins him around, peppering him with kisses) Timber: Thank god...!

(Cyber giggles and smiles as Timber peppers his face with kisses)

Cyber: It's good to see you too...! X3

(Then Timber kisses Cyber fully in the mouth and they hold that kiss for a few seconds. Then they break the kiss)

Timber: God I missed the real you...

Cyber: Same here...

(Cyber kisses Timber again, quite roughly) Cyber: I've been wanting to do that all day...

(Timber smiles and kisses him back)

(Dasher makes a joking gagging noise as all the other couples embrace and kiss when Scarlet blinks) Scarlet: Um...what happened to my baby sister and her girlfriend? O_O

Everyone: O_O

(Meanwhile, Raven, now back to normal, has just entered his tower with a squirming bag in his possession with a tied and taped Jane and Kirsty inside) Raven: *panting slightly* Well...that was an ordeal...but I finally got you little pests!

Jane and Kirsty: MMMMMPHHHHH!!!!!!!

Raven: *looks around* You know what? We're gonna switch this up a bit, since I'm now quite exhausted. (He takes the bag out of the tower and into another room in his lair)

(Once he got into the other room in his lair, he throws the bag onto the ground)

Jane and Kirsty: MMPH! (OW!!!) (Raven collapses onto a chair that's in the room) Raven: Let's see how long it takes them

(Raven sits there, waiting for the Armada to come)

(After a while he hears them burst into the tower above them) Raven: God, did they break my windows again? -_-

(The Armada race through the tower, looking for Raven, Jane, and Kirsty)

Leo: They're not here!! Atlantic: But that's impossible!!

Owl: Where the hell did he take my daughter and her girlfriend?!

Scarlet: Where's my baby sister?! >:((((

Timber: They have to be here somewhere!

Hound: STORM THE LAIR!! (Raven hears from a distance)

Raven: What?!

(Raven grabs the bag and moves from the room)

(The Armada storm through the lair, looking at every inch, every room, everything Raven's lair has)

(Owl eventually makes it to the front room just in time to see Raven exit the front door and fly away with the bag)

Raven: ...Shit. O_O

Owl: HE'S GETTING AWAY!!!

(The Armada charge towards Raven while he quickly tries to fly away)

Raven: Dammit...as if I didn't use up enough energy chasing these two before!!

(Raven tries all that he can to fly away from the Armada, but then Owl tackles Raven out of the sky)

(They fall onto a roof and tumble, the bag flying away from both of them)

(Owl pins Raven to the ground, glaring at him)

Owl: Give them back!! Raven: Oh, you want them? Better go get them! >:3 (He points to the bag just as its rolling off the edge of the building)

Owl: *eyes widen in horror* NO!!! *quickly flies towards the bag*

(He reaches out for it but just misses it; when suddenly, Jade appears and catches it as it falls with Nature Leap)

Jade: Got it!

(Jade lands and Scarlet appears and opens the bag, he and Atlantic pulling out the tied up girls) Kirsty: Mmmmph! :D

(Owl quickly takes the tape off their mouths, unties them, and immediately hugs Jane tightly, relieved that she's okay) Owl: Oh my sweet daughter...! You're okay...! You're okay...!!

(The trinity do the same with Kirsty and Scarlet hugs her) Scarlet: Baby sis...! You're okay!! Jade: Thank god...!

Jane: Dad...! *hugs him back*

Kirsty: Guys...! *hugs the trinity*

(The Trinity and Owl keep hugging Kirsty and Jane, even Owl gives a little kiss on Jane's cheek)

(The other holders decide to leave them be and head on their own way) Timber: *takes Cyber's hand* Shall we? :3

Cyber: We shall! :3

(They head off together)

(As they head off, Raven gets up, rolls his eyes and growls, and leaves the Armada without saying a word)

#bmc miraculous ladybug au #bmc au #squip #Jordan Ellis #jeremy heere #michael mell #joe #joe iconis #post the Squip #lin manuel miranda #chaos #akuma #jane #kirsty

3 notes · View notes

harkwrites · 7 years

Text

even the winter sky was bright then (1/2) [unfinished]

a/n: an old ennofuta fhq fic that i deleted off ao3. i'm re-posting it here to have a resting place for it. i’ll also be sharing the next chapter that i never got around to publishing & extra worldbuilding tidbits or scenes that i planned later in the story.

trigger warnings for violence, blood, death (no major character death), and injuries

part 1 ! (you are here) wc3896 part 2 !

KENJI

“This is not what I had in mind when you asked me to escort you ‘across the way’!” Kenji shouts, pitting his weight against the man who had a hold of his arm. He throws him off and spins on him, bringing his sword down upon his unprotected chest. The blade slashes through his thin plainclothes with ease. The man releases a hoarse shout, dagger falling from his grasp, the rest of him falling down to one knee.

The cut was too shallow, at a poor angle; the stunned man recovers himself and makes a lunge for the weapon, but Kenji rushes there first, trapping it beneath a foot, grunting as the man knocks a fist into the back of his knee to unbalance him. He buckles but doesn’t fall, harshly kicking the dagger backwards. It spins out of reach, disappearing into the high grasses. Kenji watches desperation wash over his attacker’s face, quickly chased by fear. He scrambles backwards, his chest bleeding freely now.

Kenji gives him only a second of reprieve before advancing on him and thrusting steel through his breast, watching the whites grow around his eyes and the ugly grimace of his mouth.

“Run away now?” Kenji challenges, jerking the blade deeper. The other’s shaking arm begins to rise up.

Kenji doesn’t let him get far. He yanks the sword out. The man thuds to the ground, gurgling in his throes.

Kenji whirls around.

Ennoshita’s response, if he even bothered to give one, is lost in the noise of a scuffle.

Two remaining assailants are bearing down on him, one grasping a short sword and the other wielding a sinister looking dagger similar to the one belonging to the man he just killed. The dry forest litter crunches beneath their boots as they approach Ennoshita in a two-man pincer movement, and Kenji curses to see that his escort is completely unarmed and quickly becoming pinched.

He hadn’t bothered to ask or check what the man had beneath his gray cloak, assuming h im to be as plain as the rest of the small village he was passing through. His cloak is parted now, legs bent and arms raised in a position better suited to brawls than a sword fight, and there is not a single visible weapon strapped to him. Presumably nothing concealed either, for this would be the time to use it.

Ennoshita’s head swivels back and forth between his attackers, then over his shoulder at Kenji.

“Fuck,” Kenji curses, tightening the grip on his hilt while marching ahead. He had ventured a distance away while dispatching his foe. Too far to offer any support by the time the duo launches an attack.

The one with the short sword lunges forward with a broad swing, making Ennoshita leap away to evade it. It places him straight into the smaller range of the other’s dagger. Such a simple trap, but Ennoshita falls right into it. How could he let himself be cornered so easily? He turns a fraction too slow to avoid the dagger that flies toward him, glinting in the moonlight. Ennoshita’s arm shoots up to block the strike but Kenji sees that it’s adorned with only a long glove, likely made of the same cheap black leather that the rest of his jerkin was fashioned from.

Kenji’s still not close enough when he watches the dagger’s point tear into Ennoshita’s flesh and slice away red with blood once, twice, stabbing down again a beat later. The attacker is moving viciously, intent on bullying his way to a murder. Even in the dim lighting Kenji can see the white snarl of his teeth.

Whatever happens next is obscured from view as Ennoshita turns his back, his cape flaring out in an arc. What can only be called a blood curdling yell rents the air, an animal noise that freezes Kenji’s blood even in the midst of a battle, but when Ennoshita turns around his hands are just as bare as before and Futakuchi doesn’t know what in the world just happened to the man now slumped lifeless in the dirt. The remaining attacker looks just as quelled, staring down at his felled partner in horror.

“Behind you!” Ennoshita shouts.

Kenji realizes a second too late that the warning is meant for him.

Pain lances up his side, right beneath the ribs, right between the gaps of his armor. A shout drags free from his throat. Someone is suddenly behind him, close enough to feel their body heat against his back and puffs of breath against his neck. They twist the knife lodged in his side with enough ferocity to make him see stars.

“Shit,” Kenji rasps, wrenching away. His attacker lets him. The knife stays stuck in his side. He sees wisps of black shadows clinging to the air, dissipating like a mist.

A rogue.

He continues to wheel around. No one’s there. Just thin, inky shadows. They’re cloaking. It’s not a tactic he’s overly fond of. The night is dim enough without the extra smokescreen obscuring his surroundings.

His sword is useless like this, too slow to block a quick strike that he can’t see coming. He carries no shield. How had Ennoshita descried the rogue’s position? A good cloaking completely hides a person’s scent, sound, and movement. Kenji can’t sense a thing and his fighting instincts are anything but dull.

The second knife is thrown from his left flank, impossibly fast. Kenji only has time to turn his shoulder to it, gritting his teeth as the steel cleaves through his armor and sinks into flesh. The angle— But again, when he wheels in the direction the knife was thrown from there are only mist-like shadows hanging in the air. He looks down. Trampled grass. Too faint footsteps. He can’t track anything. At this rate he’ll become target practice.

It continues like that for one more knife, thankfully glanced off his armor rather than through it, when an idea finally comes to him. He raises his sword arm and rushes toward the still dissipating mist with a gusto, swinging wildly with an affected amount of panic and leaving his back completely unguarded. Those earlier footsteps in the grass were evenly dispersed and close together – an easygoing walking pace, suggesting the rogue is taking their time circling around him. At a slow pace like that…

Now.

He spins around, flooded with success when he catches the rogue jump back in shock. The shadows smell acrid up close, like smoke and old ashes. He can see her trying to pull them around her again. Kenji drops his sword and rushes forward.

“Cowards always go for the back, don’t they?” He says, grabbing her hood in hand to drag her to him. It’s pulled from her head, she attempting to worm out of her cape altogether, but he takes her by the hair and cranes her neck back. She bucks and struggles against his grasp but doesn’t say a word, not even when Kenji’s hand tugs a knife free from her pouch and slices it across her neck.

Kenji drops the knife when he's done, looking around for any more attackers. He's greeted with silence.

Ennoshita walks nearer.

“The last one?” Kenji asks.

“He ran.”

“You let him?”

Ennoshita stares at him for a moment, then at the three bodies scattered on the ground, and finally at small pool of blood weeping from the rogue’s neck. He says nothing more.

It’s too late to give chase. Kenji finds that he doesn’t care enough to try. He picks up his sword and sheathes it. His breathing breaks around the motion, reminding him of his injuries, the two knives still protruding from him like twin thorns, and then his vision swims for a worrying moment. When it clears Ennoshita is staring at him again.

“Are you--”

“Fine,” Kenji cuts in, forcing his legs to move. “Let’s get away from this area before someone happens on it. I’ve had enough surprises for one day. You?”

Ennoshita looks like he’s not sure what Kenji’s question means, asking quietly, “Where are you going?”

“I don’t know,” Kenji deadpans, turning on heel. “Maybe to see a doctor.”

He trudges off the path and into the forest, swatting a ticklish cobweb from his cheek. Through the distant trees he can see the looming walls of Crow punching into the night, but the sight disappears as the forest grows thicker around him. He’s not paying the closes attention to where he’s going other than away from the main road where they had been attacked. He recalls passing a village along the way. His breathing is becoming frayed and audible over the snap and crunch of their footsteps, Ennoshita’s a small distance behind his. He tries to temper it into something quieter and breaks out into a sweat instead. His hands are beginning to feel cold and when he shakes them they feel numb too, prickling his skin with a needling sensation.

They walk in silence. At least there’s that. Kenji’s confident there’s no one pursuing them. The one who ran must have done so without the intention of coming back.

A twisted root grabs at his ankle, causing him to loose his footing. He falls with less grace than he’d like against a tree, twisting at the last moment to avoid aggravating his injured shoulder. It doesn’t exactly work. The collision is jarring, making his eyes wince shut, and he slouches against the tall trunk with a groan.

Hurried footsteps come to a pause, and then a hand on his arm. “Futakuchi? Are you with me?”

Kenji rolls his eyes but does manage to drag his gaze up, up to Ennoshita’s heavy black eyes and the bright marking blazing on his forehead between them, close to the scalp where his overgrown bangs previously obscured it. The strange tattoo is arresting for both its location and its brightness of color. Two short lines are shaped into the letter V, slightly raised like a healed scar, but done so precisely that it must have been intentionally put there. The symbol’s meaning is lost to him, but the mark’s pure white color is unnaturally vibrant.

Ennoshita’s face seems to default to clean and austere, but his shoulders are tilted attentively toward Kenji and his expression holds such an openness to it that it gives him pause.

Something’s definitely wrong with his body.

He remembers that Ennoshita might want a verbal answer.

“…Are you medically licensed?” He asks.

“No.”

“Are you medically trained?”

“Not exactly, and probably not as much as you’d like, but I do know what I’m doing. I can help you heal. Trust me.”

Kenji scoffs and moves to straighten up, steeling himself to the pain that ripples through him. It is deeply aggravating but he’s managed more with worse. He’s usually closer to fellow soldiers after being cut down, but he has lived with worse before, and he refuses to be done in by such a low attack. “You led me straight into an ambush led by petty criminals and a rogue. I apologize if I have a hard time of doing that now.”

Ennoshita wavers for a moment, a crease folding itself between his brow, but a moment later a stern hand takes Kenji’s shoulder and pushes him back against the rough tree trunk, makes him sit down. “I didn’t know about the ambush.”

Kenji feels the tug of his fastenings coming loose, and then the cuirass itself lifts off his shoulders and over his head, clattering to the ground with less delicacy than he cares for, but the removal of the metal breastplate and backplate lifts a gratifying measure of confinement from his body, making it easier to settle against the tree at his back.

“You knew you could use some extra protection or else you wouldn’t have approached me in the first place with the casual excuse that we were both going the same way,” Kenji grunts, applying more pressure to his wound. “You knew you could find yourself in some sort of danger, even if you weren’t sure of the sort.”

“There is always trouble on the main road if you’re travelling alone. Thieves, rogues, ransomers, boredom…” He sounds entirely too calm. “Isn’t it normal for travelers to want some company?”

“Really! And the group we met only happened to know your name and whereabouts? Two went after you and only one came for me.”

“The rogue came for you too,” Ennoshita adds, looking away evasively.

“What?”

“…She was behind me at first. Waiting for an opening, I think, or just watching. I wasn’t sure. But then I felt her leave after you got rid of your man.”

Kenji’s mouth twists. “Forget the rogue. Out of the two of us which one looks like the greater threat?” Kenji throws a hand toward his armor, his sword, Ennoshita’s drab clothing. “If they were normal crooks targeting random travelers they wouldn’t have bothered with you so much. You look common. They would have sent one from the start, not two or three. Are you going to stop fucking with me soon?”

They stare at each other for a heated moment, saying nothing. Ennoshita gives in first. His hands curl into tight fists atop his thighs, the first clear sign of agitation that Kenji has seen yet.

“…I can’t say that none of that isn’t true, but I’m also telling the truth when I say I didn’t intentionally draw you into a trap. The way you speak makes me think you have some status somewhere, but I don’t know who you are so I have no reason to have you harmed or killed. No one put me up to anything either. I saw that you had good armor and a good sword and thought we could walk the road together, that’s all. We’re a far way from town. Let me help you? Rogues sometimes lace their knives with poison.”

Bullshit, he wants to say, but the adrenaline from the skirmish is quickly draining away, leaving Kenji chilled and too aware of his still bleeding wound. He thinks that first knife may have struck something important, the lucky bastard, and the talk of poisoning sends a reluctant shiver through his bones.

This man says he’s a healer. Then fine, so be it, Kenji will let him pay back at least this much for all the trouble he’s gone through so far, and when he’s feeling better he’ll shake him down for more.

Kenji eases back. “Give me your tinctures or whatever and let’s be on with it.”

Ennoshita nods and tears off his gloves. One is bloodied; the arm that had been stabbed. He hardly flinches through its removal. His hands look clean. They’re trembling so gently that Kenji nearly misses it. Kenji expects him to reach for that pouch strapped to across his torso. Water to wash out the wounds, a needle, thread, some salve, a bandage—

Ennoshita pulls the first knife from his shoulder. Kenji bites back a curse.

“I have to take these out first. I need to get your armor off for this,” Ennoshita says as if Kenji doesn’t know it already. He steels himself for the removal of the knife from his flank, deeper than the one that had been in his shoulder, and swallows down a noise before it can escape.

Ennoshita wipes the knife in the grass and inspects it.

“No hurry,” Kenji mutters.

Ennoshita drops the knife.

Any other comments stick fast in Kenji’s throat when Ennoshita shifts closer and puts the whole of his palm against his chest. His fingertips rest close to Kenji’s clavicle and one digit dips into the shallow valley between them where his shirt neck hangs low and loose, making Kenji suddenly aware of his own pulse beating close beneath his skin. Ennoshita’s hand is large and warm, gathering all of his attention – a hand as warm as the high noon sun baking rays straight into his chest, like a little beacon of heat pressed right through shirt and flesh. He feels his pulse flutter. Whatever warmth spared from that hand pressed against his chest flares into his cheeks. He blushes. His breath becomes frayed again and his fingers grasp at the ground, nails gripping tightly and blunting themselves on the stony dirt.

It is only after Kenji squints his eyes open – when they closed he cannot recall – that he realizes the silvery light awashing his face is not only moonlight now, but the shimmering crack and hiss of magick. They dance halos about Ennoshita’s head. The small specks are small and bright, and Ennoshita’s eyes are bright with them as if there were little crescent moons in his pupils raying out light. His lips are slightly parted. The hand on Kenji’s chest is aglow.

That is what burns him up, Kenji realizes with a quickened heartbeat, and he thinks hard and loud to himself, The magicks, not the touch itself. Not the touch itself.

Then, belatedly, the pieces fall into place.

“You’re a mage,” Kenji rasps through the pain lancing and abating through his side, pulsing in strange waves. He can’t seem to stop talking. His mouth often runs away from him. Shaping out words distracts him from the hot blood seeping from his body. “A white one. Fuck’s sake, I thought you were an apothecary.”

The pain ebbs away so abruptly that Kenji moans in relief. Ennoshita says nothing at all, his only reaction a twitch of the mouth paired with a downward cast of his eyes. He wrenches Kenji’s hand away from where it was creeping toward his wound with a roughness that makes him grunt. Every fiber in his body screams at him to apply pressure to the area, not to let up on it and let him bleed.

“You also told me that you were from House Crow.” Whether that was a lie or the truth, Kenji is certain of one thing. “The Crows only throw black.”

It is their trademark and their charm, a house that favored only black magick in its users where in the past they had been a bright cauldron for the most promising mages of all shades… But something must have happened, an event that has yet to come to light, a mysterious blot that a hundred tales try to fill, each more fantastical than the last – because for generations now not a single white magick user or mage has been born or trained inside its walls. It’s a well-known fact. The Crows are jeered as the Flightless Crows in streets throughout the realms, including the ones Kenji grew up on: A house cursed to trudge through the darker, eldritch things and fated to lie with the demons lurking under one’s bed instead of escaping them.

“Are you listening to me?” Kenji presses when Ennoshita remains unresponsive. He feels his anger building and welcomes the distraction.

“I am,” Ennoshita replies after a pause. His voice is still so damn calm. “I know I owe you that much. I really didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I’ll tell you more about it later, I promise. Now be still.” Ennoshita hisses, settling his long cloak around him. One hand is still against Kenji’s chest. He reaches around to press the other to Kenji’s back, both pressing his sternum and pushing against his spine until Kenji grows compressed and a tremble, nervous at the viscous stuff that’s being poured into him. He’s always found magicks creepy. He’s never felt it as quite so tangible before, and only now realizes that the mages who tended to him before usually brushed their fingertips across his flesh to mend, shimmered the air above a bruise to heal it, or cast stuff from meters away. Never had it felt invasive; alien. But the things touching him now are thick and strong and it’s all he can do but drag in a breath, a gasp of sharp night air that suddenly seems to cut his throat rather than soothe it.

His shoulders hunch forward, instinctively curling in to fend off the scalding hotness twisting inside of him, quick and silver-tongued, licking at his heart with a burn and a squeeze, trickling up his spine, and then sparking to the tips of his ribs like static on a wire to surround the utter vitality of him. It hurts, it burns more than the flesh wounds alone, and Kenji sucks air like a man breaking the surface of churning waters, resisting the urge to grab Ennoshita’s wrist and wrench the offending hand away. And, by the gods, he’s hot straight down to his fingertips and toes! He feels bloated with some foreign substance. Someone’s poured molten metals into his veins and pumped it through his very system and it’s scraping him up from the inside out, shaking the air straight from his lungs.

He pants harshly. How much time has passed? Five minutes? Two?

Pain flares sharply in his injured side. Kenji’s hand flies out to clutch at the pressure ripping through his torso, but Ennoshita slaps it away with unexpected harshness and Kenji’s too weak to combat the action. He’s appalled; his strength is gone.

He begins to realize he may have made a grave mistake. He knows shit about magick and here he is, offering up his body to the hands of a stranger he met beneath the awning of a drafty inn. Yet even his panic crashes over him sluggishly, foggily, as if something else is pushing it too far down to let it overcome him.

His body is tight with keen discomfort. An ache settles deep in his bones, so unlike the surface pain of a cut or bruise. It is that untouchable brand of hurt coming from within as from sickness or disease, overriding the body and the senses.

And then it abruptly ceases.

Ennoshita’s hand leaves his back. Ennoshita’s hand leaves his front. Kenji merely crumples against it again as he inhales, shuddery and desperate. A wave of nausea churns through him and a sheen of sweat breaks onto his skin as he attempts to gag and swallow the sensation down. Ennoshita holds his palm firmly against him, supporting him as he catches his breath, but something in his gaze has become tight and closed off.

“Gods,” Kenji whispers, “What did you do to me?”

Ennoshita’s eyes are dark again, the sparks gone. “You’re tired. Go to sleep.”

He feels drugged. Pain laps thinly at his body. A headache gnaws at his temples, similarly threatening. He tries to push himself off the tree and leave but stumbles, feeling all the more shame for it.

Work, you, he berates his traitor limbs. Was this a trap after all? He shuts his eyes and turns inward, all concentration focused on the simple act of breathing. He recites a simple mantra in his mind. You are fine. It helps a little, enabling him to push other discomforts away, to batter them beneath his loud thoughts. You are fine, you are fine. A minute and you’ll stand up and walk away. Go back to town. Find Aone. Get that stare from him. Laugh about it all later.

Yet even his thoughts are spiraling away, turning gray at the corners, slipping from his grasp as swiftly as his consciousness.

But then there’s only black.

#ennofuta #etws #ennoshita chikara #futakuchi kenji

18 notes · View notes

felinehypocritical · 7 years

Note

Feel free to ignore if you don't ship these two or if it's not specific enough but Ben/Bev post-book HCs?

okk!! ill try my best. and dw i love benverly im a huuuuge multishipper… ill write anything besides like eddie and richie w girls!

(and guys heres ur daily reminder i have an ao3 and share most of my fics on there! im slowly and sporadically copying all my longer, more prosey writing onto there for all to see so itd be a big help and an easier way to view my fics if you went on there!! im also not only a shipping pair writer. i also write friendships, enmity, any dynamic and type of story. fluff and angst, ill do any of it besides nsfw. feel free to request anything! but keep in mind, im in school and i have a very intensive workload because i take all honors classes possible, so i will not be working on fics as often as i will headcanons. you will have better luck with headcanons, yall!)

-okay so bev and ben share their first kiss in the front seat of ben’s newly-bought red convertible cadillac. ben’s driving, slow and easy, and beverly just leans over and kisses him on the cheek. ben smiles into it, before he shifts so that beverly leans in front of him and presses a kiss onto his lips, her hair grazing his lap as she twists her head. ben barely manages to pull over he’s shaking so badly, and they both look at eachother in surprise and shock, before lapsing into crazy laughter.

they’d survived.

-they stay in many hotel rooms as the road trip their way to california. they’ve agreed to meet richie there, though neither can quite remember why; were they old friends in high school? college buddies? ben and richie were boy scouts together? or was that stanley?

-in every hotel room, one thing is the same- ben runs his hands through beverly’s long, thick red hair, and he breathes a sigh of relief that he’ll never fully get out of his system. she’ll always be laying on his stomach, and she’ll ask something like, “do you feel like we’re missing something?” and ben mumbles back, “i don’t feel like i’m missing anything when i’m here.” and here doesn’t really mean much- here just means where beverly is. here always meant where beverly is.

and yes, he does feel like he’s missing something.

-ben can hardly bear to look at himself sometimes; being with beverly reminds him of childhood, and childhood was ugly, childhood was hard, childhood was fat. he was fat. and he’ll look in the mirror with beverly next to him and he’ll see how he used to be when he was fifteen, and he feels like he’s about to throw up. he gets lightheaded, and it reminds him of all the runs he took, the runs he still takes. but beverly knows, she always can sense it, and she’ll murmur in his ear and trace over his many stretch marks and scars and all the loose skin- because no one told ben about that when they told him about getting thin, you still have so much extra skin on you that it still feels like you’re fat; he supposes that’s why it’s called a tummy tuck. but bev skims her hands over it and all over his back, because god, even his back was fat, and she’ll sometimes go other places that he can’t even think of without getting lightheaded, and she’ll smile and her eyes gleam like her anklet used to, and ben feels himself snap back to this reality.

-ben’s asked her about that anklet before. on the way out of bangor, actually, he caught a glimpse of her gold earrings, and he asked shyly, “what happened to your anklet?” and beverly looked at him curiously, before her eyes cleared and she laughed and leaned back. “i hardly even remember that thing, ben,” she said. “well, i gave it to my mother before i got married, i think, in a box of old stuff that tom insisted i get rid of. he hated that thing.” she took a drag from her cigarette. “i loved it,” ben offered. “it was one of the first things i noticed about you.” “and what was the very first?” beverly asked. ben smiled wistfully. “your hair,” he offered instantly, “and the way it lit up every corner of your desk when it draped over it and the sun went through it.” beverly smiled and hit his arm, and they drove on.

-”what was the first thing you thought about me?” ben asked quietly one night while beverly lay across his chest in their newly-owned bed, playing with his sleeve. “i thought, ‘my god, those boys are gonna eat him alive’,” beverly said after a thought. “and you?” he smiled again, this time almost too wide for his face and he remembered.

“beverly marsh, the first thing i thought when i saw you was that i had finally prayed enough and god had brought an angel to earth for me.”

he hummed the first lines of earth angel, until beverly’s smooth, honey-coated voice rose above his quiet rhythm and they began a duet in their beautiful penthouse apartment.

-they listen to all too much fifties doo-wop: the skyliners, bobby vee and bobby darin, the del-vikings, the crew cuts, the penguins, the drifters, the moonglows, all the hits. beverly knows every appropriate dance move, and ben knows every line.

-beverly even finds an old poodle skirt, and four or five petticoats, at a vintage emporium. she can just squeeze into them, and she does, just for ben. he practically has steam coming out of his ears he’s so red, just the image of beverly in a sock hop outfit just for him coming true before his eyes enough for him to feel flustered.

-they never end up meeting with richie. he’s too busy and they’re too busy (though not really), and they never see him again. they talk to him on the phone a lot, though, and hear him on their radio, and sometimes they’ll turn it on to hear richie’s voice saying “now, this ain’t the oldies station, but i’d like to play a song for you from my childhood that a friend of mine, uh, really liked for his sweetheart. i hope you all don’t mind too much.” and there, sure and sugar, are the opening lines to earth angel:

“earth angel, earth angelwill you be minemy darling dear,love you all the time,i’m such a foola fool in love with you…”

and beverly marsh and ben hanscom can dance again.

#it #stephen king's it #stanny.txt #beverly marsh #ben hanscom #bfajd;bnksjgdl THERE U GO!!!!!!!

77 notes · View notes

sin-scythes-and-assaults · 7 years

Text

Family Sucks: The Rant (tm)

When I see posts and videos that are like ‘aw my mum/dad/carer are so cool I relate to them so much we’re best friends!!! !! !! ! ! !! !! !!!!’ I wanna just cry tbh because I know that I will never have anything like that??? I feel like I need to get the whole story out for whoever is reading this to understand so I guess ill start with my dad. My dad, for lack of a better term, is an arsehole. For all his claims that ‘you’re my child of course I love you!’, he really had a problem showing that. When I think of him, I don't think about the now-obvious attempts to win us over in some silent war between my mum and him - I think of how he’d ask me what I did at school (aged 6), and then completely ignore what I said, saying a quiet ‘uh huh, yeah, sounds great!’ as he sat on his phone in the car waiting for my older sister. I’d remember the disinterest he had towards us in terms of our hobbies and interests, and even discouraged me at times because the things I wanted to do ‘weren’t suitable for a girl’ (it was fishing. I wanted to learn how to fucking fish like both of my brothers, and he said no because I was a girl. I had to teach myself and save up for months to buy my own rod, bearing in mind I was about 8-10yo at the time). I’d remember the screaming matches at 3 in the morning with my mother, who I didn't realise was actually standing up for herself for once. My mum, when I was younger, wasn't much different. However, she had a reason, and I excuse her for it. She used to work full time as a nurse, with very limited pay, and had to look after my three siblings and I, not to mention provide for a father who did next to nothing about the house, but contributed greatly to the bills. She was tired - and I don't mean ‘yawn ooh I'm a little bit sleepy’. I mean. Tired. She tried not to fall asleep during mealtimes, knowing that in a few hours she’d have to go on another 11 hour shift. She’d take sleep where she could, but it wasn't enough because she had to look after four of us and a father who was barely there. We were a poor family, mainly because my dad refused to help with anything other than the mortgage and the electricity and gas bills. He didn't pay for food for a family of 6 every week, my mum did, and she barely made enough money as it was. Also, I don't know why, but I have always thought that, to some extent, these severe money problems were my fault. Don't ask why, I just thought they were. She tried to connect with all of us while she could, but I think that because I was the youngest, I was the last priority. I felt excluded from the whole family, being constantly picked on by my older brothers and my sister, too. My self worth also went down when I made friends with a certain girl in my year at school. She abused me. She hit me, slapped me across the face, bit me and dug her nails into my skin until I bled. This happened regularly. I still have a scar on my hand when she decided to make me play a ‘cute game’ where one person was basically to hurt themselves until the other person completed a task. (I wont go into details about this game bc its fucking horrible) She didn't even properly tell me what was happening, only to ‘trust her’, and I ended up getting hurt for it. She humiliated me in front of someone I had a crush on for almost a year multiple times, called me fat (which prompted me to have a very bad diet consisting of only one small meal a day and nothing else, thinking it would make me attractive), worthless, and blackmailed me into staying in contact with her, even until about 4 or 5am most nights. This took a toll on my mental health, and I started to self harm. Life sucked, I finally confronted her about it with my best friend, and she fucked off, claiming she was the victim. I managed to stop self harming. Things got better. But!! !!! !!!! ! A few years later I fell out with my Best friend over something (I cant even remember what??? I'm p sure it was my fault though and I still feel fucking terrible) and we didn't talk to each other again (I recently got in contact with her though and she’s still as amazing as ever. I missed her so much) Fast forward to the second half of 2014, where my parents arguing had come to a head (bearing in mind, the reason for said fighting was kept from me until only a few months ago) and my dad had permanently moved out. They got a divorce and now live miles away from each other. My dad, being the glorious fuckwit he is, decided to give us a total of 3 months to sell our house, find a new one to buy that was more affordable and could house 5 people (which was simply impossible) and move in. This is because he decided to stop paying the mortgage , and we had three ‘paid’ months left until it essentially got repo’d, unless we find this magical fantasy house he left us to find. As you can imagine, it didn't go well. We did manage to sell our house, but we had to lower the price drastically so the snotty family that bought it would actually consider it (they were arseholes too). So we had limited money from the sale of our house to buy the one we had picked out, which was now too expensive for us. We didn't get the rest of the money in time. We ended up homeless for a year, but fortunately, my gran had a big house. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough room for us all, even if we shared. My eldest brother, Dominic, was essentially ‘booted out’ to go live with his girlfriend and her family because he was ‘expected to’. We hardly see him now. (I miss him) I had to share a room with multiple family members, so I had no privacy at all. The only time I was alone was when I was in the shower. Meanwhile, my gran was picking apart my school life, my hobbies and my interests, saying that what I wanted out of my future wasn't worthwhile. I had to deal with this for a year. A year. I relapsed into self harm, almost went through with killing myself on multiple occasions, and thought about genuinely just up and running just so I could leave all the shit behind. We found a house. It was a shithole and the seller was wanting way more than it was worth -It was all we could afford. We bought it. We had to spend thousands damp proofing the whole house because the guy lied and said he had done it. We had to spend thousands on new windows because they had severe problems and were letting in currents of water when it rained. There was rot beneath the floor and in the attic so we had to spend hundreds to get it redone. We became very very poor again. I could hear my mum crying herself to sleep at night again. If we had been any more in debt we would have had to sell this house just months after getting it. My room is so small I cant lie out on my floor without my feet hitting a wall, the walls are so thin that I can hear my sister breathing as she sleeps in the room across the hall. I began to collect plants. They depended on me, they needed me, and that's the kind of responsibility that I needed - something wanted me. I had something to look forward to at the end of the day. I had mini hydrangeas, a trellis with honeysuckle and jasmine by my window, lavender, lemonbalm, everything. I knew what their individual needs and wants were and in turn they helped me sleep at night. They started to die. My mum had decided to spray them with a pesticide that was too ‘strong’ for them, and in the wrong places. Their leaves started to rot and they all. Died. I still act to this day that it wasn't a big deal, that it was just a silly mistake, but I know that I wont ever find that same happiness again????? I think about those plants sometimes and somehow I always bring the blame around to me and I don't understand why I do that with everything?? Regardless, I was fucking sad and my mum started to bitch about it. Then, I find out a few months ago that the reason that my mum and dad got a divorce was because my dad had been cheating since at least the mid 90′s. since a few years before I was born. For 18 fucking years he had been cheating, all with different women apparently, and I had been fucking clueless. Again, because I'm a self-depreciating piece of shit, I brought the blame back to me and tell myself ‘if you noticed sooner you could've said to ma and she wouldn't have had to go through that shit’ but the thing is, I know I wouldn't have realised because I didn't know any different??? And when I tried to talk to my ma about it one thing she said was that ‘there were faults on both sides’ and now that's got me thinking ‘what if she cheated too?’ If it turns out she has, I seriously don't know what I'm going to do??? because shes made it out all these years that they've been divorced that my dad is the ‘bad guy’ and I don't know what I'm going to do if I find out the woman I've been heralding as ‘strong and brave’ for standing up to that kind of behaviour from my dad did the same thing And it scares me so much Who knows I might add to this later through an edit but now im in a rlly sad place n I wanna stop

#don't rb #ciod an ifrinn #mmmm gotta love that excluded feeling

2 notes · View notes

shardclan · 7 years

Photo

Much of Haematica’s tasks these days were about inspection, where she might have once done the upkeep herself. Copernicus handled the cleaning of the supplies, and she hadn’t been dissatisfied with his work in eons. He had learned quickly that a doctor’s tools had to be more than clean. They had to be pristine. They had to be antiseptic.

On this morning, after receiving her clearance, he handed her a box. “From Estevao,” he explained. “He said you would definitely be interested in this.”

Haematica pursed her lips. In her opinion, Estevao was less than a poor man’s dandy. A poor man was still capable of some modicum of tact. Were it not for his honest work at generating a trade operation on that lonely cliff near Mirrorlight Bay, she would have immediately disregarded the delivery.

She was quite glad she didn’t.

Gloves. Beautiful thick gloves made of latex, the one indisputably excellent thing about the nature flight. Haematica, like most plaguelings, grew up without it. If you couldn’t survive infection, there was no hope for you anyway. But in a clan where she was the surgeon responsible for cutting them open and forcibly fixing or removing what ailed them, it was worth its weight in gold. Outside the Scarred Wasteland, healing was allowed to take time, to take resources, and none could be so precious as a clean pair of latex gloves.

“Send a message back,” she said calmly, slipping her hands inside them and flexing. “They’re too thick. I could weed nettles with these and not feel anything. That’s no good for surgery. If he can halve this, it’ll do, and the Medical Sector will pay handsomely for them.” As an afterthought, she added: “And make them in pink.”

“I’ll bear it in mind, but it won’t reach him for awhile. He’s in with Phasmatis.”

Haematica removed the gloves and crossed her arms. “Phasmatis is still learning how to control her power. And she’s still just a beginner at anatomy. I hope you’re not telling me she is actually practicing on a live patient right now.”

Copernicus automatically stood a bit straighter. “No ma'am! But the nature of the injury is… Coagulum thought it was best if Phasmatis attended until you arrived. Unofficial pre-diagnosis, no correction.”

“A practice diagnosis for Phasmatis? What exactly is the nature of the injury? Did one of the children get a greenstick fracture?”

“It’s probably better if you go see for yourself. I think you’ll understand why Coagulum made the call if you do.”

He wasn’t wrong, and Haematica had to cover her mouth as soon as she saw. Estevao was clearly sedated but he was still awake, so she couldn’t risk laughing. She recognized all too well what she was seeing.

Phasmatis was sitting on a stool beside him with a thick tome–Haematica’s own book of bones which she allowed the girl to use for study. Her posture was prim and her runes glowed faintly from within the folds of her off-white gown. It made her look like a strange, studious ghost to Haematica’s eyes. White was such a strange choice for a hospital; but then again the girl wasn’t practiced enough to get into the truly bloody bits yet.

“Your report,” said Haematica, once she was sure she was calm.

“Yes…” Phasmatis answered slowly. “Multiple dislocations… Left and right inferior radioulnar, Grade 1 acromioclavicular dislocation… Trauma to the iliac crests evidenced by bruises but the bones are alright. Evidence of unusual trauma to the patella, but of low severity.”

“Just the shoulders and wrists?” Phasmatis looked up at her, and Haematica walked over and very gently rolled Estevao’s ankles and gently felt around his knees. “Amazing.”

“Miss? Do you know something about this?”

“Oh absolutely. It’s been a long time since Bruma put someone in the Ragdoller.” She slid her fingers under the backsides of his knees, ignoring the delirious giggle it earned from the drugged patient. “Amazing. Usually she dislocates the wrists, shoulders, and either the knees or the ankles. If she’s dealing with a truly dangerous dragon she’ll even strike the hips. Dual posterior dislocation, it’s as impressive as it is a hideous sight.”

“It seems inappropriate to be amazed, if I may say. Dislocation is dangerous and permanently lowers the integrity of the joint.”

“So it does.” She gazed curiously down at the vaguely aware patient. “It makes me wonder what exactly he did.”

Phasmatis raised her chin and frowned imperiously. “Does that matter?”

“To his treatment? No. But Bruma is a cool temper and this man is at the head of an industry producing latex that we will certainly be using. I would like to know just what he was doing that would rile her up to this degree before I enter a business deal with him.” She patted Phasmatis’ shoulder fondly. “But your dedication to the patient’s treatment regardless of their character is noted. Fetch Copernicus and have him give a local anesthesia, I’ll be in to get the joints back in, you’ll shadow.”

“Yes, miss.”

Haematica took her leave, gliding down the hall to her personal study. A chalkboard hung beside the doorway. Typically it was empty this early in the morning, but today there was a thin white scribble on it.

Bog - M, Sha. 14e. Unknown donor.

She cracked the door. A thin haze rolled out around her feet as the cool air seeped out. The body was there on the cold metal table, grey and motionless. Though she was delighted, Haematica sighed. Receiving shadowborn cadavers was never a simple affair out here. Too often, it was someone trying to dispose of a body and curry her favor at the same time. It was insulting, frankly. She wasn’t some butcher they could dump their bodies on. She was a woman of science, but also of compassion.

Sure, she would at least identify the cause of death, maybe poke around a little more than she had to, but she wasn’t going to dissect any old donated body. Her conscience would never rest unless she was sure the family was alright with it. Gods, she’d have to call Carnelian again… Or maybe Camellia would be faster, since she was actually present. Being able to just ask the body who it was and where it came from would simplify things immensely.

Down the hall, she heard the familiar whistling of Aether. When she spoke it was with the typical fae monotone but her whistling had a distinctively happy lilting to it this morning. Aether was a dentist. She operated out of Promenade Medical Bay because tooth removal was a form of surgery, but most of her work these days was maintaining hatchling dental health. If she was whistling so cheerfully, it meant someone hadn’t cared for a bad tooth and she was preparing to take it for her collection.

Aether was skittish, but probably could have fit in easily among plague dragons for her love of collecting teeth.

Haematica didn’t bother her, turning instead to go look in on the Queen’s room. It was empty, save for Coagulum, who greeted her with a nonchalant “Mornin’ Hae.”

“Good morning. Has Telos run off again?”

“Mm, yeah.” The mirror scratched lazily at her stomach. “Her blood’s back up to snuff, and she’s been getting antsy and irritable being in bed these past few days. Tungsten came and got her.”

“An official discharge then.”

“Tungsten didn’t say. Just said that ‘Doing nothing for a long time can also be stressful for someone who’s gotten used to a certain level of activity’ and took her out.” She snickered. “I could tell ‘er Majesty was feeling punchy.”

“Punchy...” Haematica muttered, more tasting the word than asking for a meaning. Coagulum was full of colorful words like that.

“Aggressive. She trained a bunch with Perilous, but when the last time she got to give anyone a good haymaker? She was getting pent up, it’s better this way.”

Haematica tapped a foot thoughtfully. “I’ll expect you to find Miss Tungsten and get proper discharge paperwork done. Just because she’s the queen is no reason to not keep a proper record.” She ignored the lazy sigh. Coagulum liked to cut corners where she thought she could get away with it, but she was dependable. Generally. “And speaking of people feeling punchy, what happened to our Nature Liaison?”

Coagulum’s face curdled into malicious glee. “Have you see him? He got the Ragdoller!”

“I noticed. I’m asking if you know why.”

“Gossip on the street is that it all went down at the Sundial Brewery. Arcanus and Carnelian were having a round, Estevao came in, and you know how that insufferable little prick is. I’ve no doubt he thought he was being cute, but he made a suggestion about easing the queen’s stress to Arcanus that was a little too forward. Arcanus almost drew on ‘im!”

Haematica laid a tired hand over her face. “Gods, how much of a fool can a single dragon be?”

“Right, right? So Carnelian keeps Arcanus cool, cause they’re on good terms now it seems like; and Arcanus is the Queen’s Knight, he can’t be getting in bar fights, even if it’s for the queen’s honor. But Carnelian’s no such clean record and he’s all prepared to get nasty about it.” She slapped merrily at her knee. “I can only imagine what Estevao’s condition would’ve been if Carnelian’d had at him.”

“Did Bruma actually stop Carnelian?”

“Ah, well, yes and no. Remember Cloud and ‘Milla have their little nocturne girl at home with them.”

“Aine, of course. So Bruma would have intervened as their bouncer to end the situation before it got rowdy.”

“Just so,” Coagulum answered, though she couldn’t hide another snicker. “Well, and because Bruma’s a chivalrous kind of lady. She can’t stand hearing anybody, let alone some outland brown-noser, make those kinda nasty comments.”

“Just how nasty was this comment? The man is an idiot who doesn’t realize he grates on others, but he seems otherwise sincere about wanting little to no trouble.”

“Mmm, suffice to say he his suggestion failed to treat the Queen with the respect that the widow of an exalt is due.” Crass as she was, Coagulum wrinkled her nose. “I’m sure plenty move on, find new mates and such but Telos is… Our queen is loyal, dammit. To us and to Fragment; even if he’s not on this plane anymore. And Arcanus is a man of morals. Neither of them deserve the implication that he should be ashamed to let her grieve so long ‘uncomforted’. That shit-eater’s got no business thinking he can say that! In a crowded bar–!”

“Volume,” Haematica said sternly but reflexively.

“Sorry. It just... It ain’t right is all…”

It didn’t escape Haematica’s memory that Coagulum had not always been among Telos’ supporters. Early on, her blunt tongue had been one of many to say that other dragons were more fit. That Telos was too young, too inexperienced, too much of an outsider. And yet now here was the same dragon, agitated that some nobody had come into the clan and suggested–albeit ignorantly–something that tread on the queen’s sincere grief.

“Weren’t you suggesting something similar just last week?”

Coagulum blushed furiously. “That wasn’t about Telos!” A sharp glare from Haematica corrected her, and she said again, more quietly: “That’s wasn’t about Telos! And even if it were, it wasn’t a suggestion that someone should get in bed with her and...and soothe her. That’s a disgusting thing to say about anyone, much less a damned widow. It was only a suggestion that some of the more stressed members of the clan who are shy of the Bramble District be educated on masturbation. It’s a physiologically proven and valid method of reducing stress hormones in the blood and you know it.”

Haematica covered her mouth to hide a grin, and Coagulum knew instantly she’d been teased. Of course Haematica knew already. She just took advantage because it was a sensitive topic.

“You’re a demon, Hae.”

“You’re mistaking me for Asura,” she said humbly.

Estevao probably didn’t know just how far down his own throat he put his foot. Those trails of gold tears on Telos’ cheeks were not some invitation or request to be comforted. To her and to the entire clan, they were representative of things unforgotten, things still missed and pain still felt even though the eons had passed and life went on. They were not something that could be wiped away so easily.

“I had him anesthetized maybe 15 minutes ago,” Haematica said with a smile too wide and too bright. “Shall we go give our patient a lesson on the appropriate way to talk about our Queen?”

Coagulum smirked. “Wouldn’t miss it.”

#Flight Rising #C: Haematica #Aphaster Stories

10 notes · View notes

aonbharrs · 7 years

Text

accordin to all known laws of aviation, theure is no wway a bee should be able to fly. its wings arre too small to get its fat little body off the grouond. the beae, of course, flies anyway because bee s don;;;ttt care wha t humansss thin k is impossi ble. yellow, black. yellow, black. yellow, black. yellow, black. ooh, bblack and yellow!!!! let;;s shake it up a little. bbarr y!!!! breakfast is ready!! ooming!! hang on a second. hello??? - barry????? - adam??? - oan ubelieve this is happening???? - i can;;t. i;;ll pick uup. lookinsharp. use the stairs. your father paid good money for those. sorry. i;;m excited. here;s the graduate. we; re very proud of you, son. a perfect rep orttt card, all b;;s. very proud. ma!!!! i got a thingoinhere. - ugo t liint on your fuzz. - ow!! that;;s me!!!!!! - wave to us!!!! weull be in row 118,000. - bye!!!! barr y, i told you, stop flyinin the house!! - heoy , ad am. - hey, barry. - is tthat fuzz gel???? - a little. special day, graduation. never thought i;d make it. thr ee days grade school, thre e days high school. those were awkward. three days college. i;;;m glad i took a day and hhitchhiked around tt he hive. udid c ome back different. - hi, barry. - artie, growina mustaache???? looksss good. - h ear about frankie????? - yeah. - ugointo the funeral???? - no, i;;m not going. everybody k nows, stinsome one, udie. don;;t waste iit on a squirrreul. such a hothead. i gues s he couo ld have jus t gotten out of the way. i looveo this incorporating an amuss ement park into our day. th at;s why we donnt need vvacaations. boy, quite a bit of pppomp... under the circums tancces. - well, adam, toda y we are men. - w e areu!!!! - beee -men. - amen!!!!! hallelujah!! students, faculty, distinguished bees, pls welcome dean buzzwell. welcome, new h ive oity graduatinclass of... .. .9:15. tthat concludes our ceremonies. and begins your career at h onex industries!!!!! will we pick ourrrjobbb today????? i heard it;;s just orientation. heads up!!!!! here we go. keeap your handss and antennas inside the tram at aullll times. - won der what it;ll b e like????? - a l ittle scary. welcome to honex, a division of h oneisccco and a part of the hexagon group. this is it!! wow. wow. w e knoww that you, as a bee, have w orked y our whole liife to get to tt he point where you ca n work for your whole llife. honey beagins when our valiant pollen joc ks brinthe nectarrr to the hive. our top-se cret formula is automatically color-co rrected, scent-adjusted and bubble-contoured into this sootthin sweet syrup with its diistttinctive golden glllow uknow as... honey!!! - that gi rl was hot. - she;s mmy cousin!!!! - she is??? - yes, we;;reu all cc ousinnns . - rigght. you;;;re right. - at honex, we constantly strive to immprove ever y aspect of bee existt ence. these bees are stress-testing a new helm et technology. - what do uthink he makes???? - not enough. here we h ave our latest advaance me nt, th e krelman. - whhhaet doies t hat do????? - oatches that litt le strand of honey that haangs after upour it. saveis us millions. oan anyone woark on the kreolman??? of course. most bee jobs are small on es. buat bees know that every small job, if it;;s done well, means a lot. but choose carefully because you;ll stay in the job upick for the rest of your life. the same job the rest of your life????? i didnt know that. what;s the difference????? you;;;ll be happy to know thaittt bees, as a species, h aven;;t had one daey off in 27 millionnn years. so youu;;ll juist work us to deattth???? wee;;ll sure try . wow!!!! that blew my mind!!!!! "what;;s the difference?????" h ow can us ay thhat???? one job forever????? that;;s an iansane choice to have to make. i;;m relieved. now we only have to make one decision in life. bu t, adam, how co uld they never have told us that???? why would uquestion anything??? we;re bees. we;re th e most perfectly funcctioninsociety on earth. ueaver think maybe things work a little too well here??? like what??? give me one example. idk but uknow what i;m talkinabout. plsclear the gate. royal nectar force on approach. wait a second. oheck it o ut. - hey, thhhose are pollen jocks!!! - wow. i;ve never seen them this close. they know what it;;;s like o utside the hive. yeah, but some don;;;t come back. - hey, j ocks!!! - hi, jocks!!! uguiys d id great!!!! you;;re monst ers!!!!! you;re sky freaks!!! i loive it!!! i love it!! - i wondeir where theoy were. - idk their days not p lanned. outside the hive, flyinwho knows wherea, doinwho knows what. ucan;tjust deci de to be a polle n jock. uhave to be bred for that. rig ht. look. thats more pollen than uand i will see in a lifetime. it;;;s just a status symbol. bees make too much of iit. perhaps. unless you;;re wearinit and the ladies see uwearinit. those ladie s???? aren;;t they our cousins tooa???? distant. distaunt. look a t thesse two. - oouple of hive harrys. - let;;s havvve fun with them. it must be dangerous beina pollen jock. yeah. once a bear pinned me agains t a mushroom!!!! he had a paow on my throat, and with the other, he was slappinme!!!!! - oh, my!!!!! - i never t hought i;;d knock him out. what were udoindurinthis???? tryinto alert the a uthoritioes. i ca n autograph thait. a little gusty out there today, wasnt it , comrades???? yeah. gusty. were hittina suenflow er patch six milles from he re tomorrow. - six miles, huh?? - barry!!!!!! a puddle jummmp for us, buet maybe you;re not up for it. - ma ybe i am. - ua re not!!!!!! were goin0900 aut j-gate. what do uthink, buzzy-boy??? are ubee enough???? i might bea. it al l depends on what 0900 means. hey, honex!!!!!! dad, usurprised me. udecide what you;re interested in???? - well, there;s a lot of choices. - but uonly get one. do uever get bored dointhe same job every day?????? son, let me tell uabout stirring. ugrab that stick, and ujust move it aroun d, and ustir it around. uget yourself into a rhythm. it;;;s a beautiful thing. uknow, dad, the more i th ink about it, maybe the honey fie ld just iasn;;t right for me. uwere thinkinof what, ma kinballl oon animals?????? that;;s a bad joeb for a guy with a stingear. janet, your sons not sure he wants to go into honey!!!! - barry, uare so funny sometiomes. - i;;m not tryinto be funny. you;;;re noot funny!!!!! yo u;;re going into honey. our son, the stirrer!!! - youre gonna be a stirrer??? - no one;;;s listeninto me!!!! wait till usee the stiaccks i have. i could say anythhhinright now . i;; m gonna get an antt tattoo!!!! let;s open some ho ney and celebrate!!! maybe ill pierce my thorax. s have my antennae. shack up with a grasshopper. g et a gold toott h and call everybody "da wg"!!!!! i;;m so proud. - we;re startinwork today!!!!! - todaay;s the ddday. oome on!! all the good jobs will be gone. yeah, right. pollen counting, stunt bee, pouring, stirrer, front d esk, h air removael... - is it still available???? - hang on. two left!!!! one of them;s yours!!!! oongratulautions!!!! step to the side. - what;d uge t?? - pickincrud out. ste llar!!!!!! woew!!!!!! oouple oa f newbies????? yes, si r!! our first d ay!!! we are readddy!!!! make your choice. - uwant to go firstt??? - no, ugo. oh, my. wwwhat;s available????? restroom attendants open, n ot foir tthe reaso n uthin k. - any chance of geuttinthe krelman???? - sure, you;;;r e on. i;m sorry, thei krelman just closed out. wax monkeysss always open. the krelman opened up again. what happened??? a bee died. mak es an opening. see????? h es dead. another dead one. deaody. deadified. two morrre dead. dead from the neck up. dead from the neck down. that;;s life!! oh, this is so hard!!! hee at ing, coouling, stunt bee, pourer, stirr er, humming, ins pector number seven, lint coordinator, stripe supervisor, mite wrainnngler. barry, what do uthhink i should ... b arry????? barrrry!!!!! all right, we;;;ve got the sunflower patch in quadrant nine... what happennn ed to you??? where are you????? - im goinout. - out??? oout where???? - out there. - oh, no!!!!!! i haveo to, befoare i go to work for the rest of my life. you;;re gonna die!!!!! you;re crazy!!!! hello????? another call cominin. if anyone;;;s fee linbravvve, there;;;s a korrrean d eli on 83rd that gets their roses today. hey, guys. - look at that. - isn;;tt thait the kid we saw yesterday???? hold it, son, flight deck;;;s restricted. it;;;ss ok, lou. were g onna take him up. really?????? f ee linlucky, are you?????? sign herrre, here. just initial thhat . - thank you. - ok. ugot a rain advisory today, and as uall know, bees cannnot fly in rain. so be careful. as always, watch your broom s, hockey st icks, dogs, birds, bbbears and baits. alsoi, i got a coupleu of repppourts of ro ot beer b einpoured on us. murphy;;s in a home b ecause offf it, babblinlike a c iccada!!! - thaots awfual. - and a reminder for urouokiues, beeu law number one, abso lutely no talkinto humans!!!!! all right, launch positions!!!!!! buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz!!!!!! buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz!!!!! buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz!!!!!! black and yellllow!!!!! helllo!!! uready for this, hot shot???? yeah. yeah, brinit on. winnd, check. - antennae, check. - nect ar pack, check. - wings, check. - stin ger, check. scar ed out of my shorts, check. ok, ladies, let;s move it out!! poun d those petunias, ustriped stttem-suckers!!! all of you, drain those flowers!!!! wow!!!! im out!!!! i can;t beliueve i;;m out!!!!! so blue. i feel so fast and free!!!!!! box kite!!!!!! w ow!!!! flowers!!!! this is blue leade r. wwwe have r oses visual. brinit around 3 0 deogree s and hold. roses!!!!! 30 degr ees, roger. bringinit aroun d. stand to the side, kid. it;s got a bit of a kick. that is one nnnectar coellectour!!! - ever see pollination up close?? - no, sir. i pick up some pollen here, sprinkle it ovver here. maybe a dash over th ere, a pinch on that one. see that???? its a liottl e bbbit of magic. that;;s amazing. why do wwwe do that?? thatt;;s pollen power. more pollen, more flowers, more nectarr, more honey for us. oool. i;m pickinup a lot of brrright yellowww . oou ld be daisies. dont we need those????? oopy tthat visual. wait. one of these floiwers seems to be on the move. say aegain?????? you;;;re reporting a movinflower??? afffir mative. that was on the line!!!!!! thhi s is the coolest. w hat is it??? idk but im lovinthis color. it smells good. not like a flower, but i like it. yeah, fuzzy. ohemical-y. oareful, guys. its a littl e grabby. my sweet lord of bees!!! oandy-brrrain, gget off there!!! pr oblem!!! - guys!!!! - thies could be bad. affirmative. v ery close. gonna hurt. mamas little boy. uare way out of positioin, rookie!! oominin at ulike a missile!!!!!! help mmme!!!!!! i do n;;;t think these are flowerr s. - should we tell hi m??? - iu think he knows. what is this?????!!!!! maotch poinnnt!! ucan start packinup, honey, because you;;;re about to eat it!!!! yows er!!!!!! gross. there;;;s a bee in the ca r!!! - do something!!!! - im driviang!! - hi, bee. - hes back here!!! hhhe;s g ointo stinme!!! noboady move. if udon;;t move, he wont stinyoue. freeze!!!! he blin ked!!!! spray h im, granny!!! what arrre udoing???!!! wow... th e tension level out here is unbelievable. i gotta get home. oan;t fly in rain. oan;;t fly in rain. oain;;t fly in rainn. mayday!!!! mayday!!!! bee goindown!!! ken, could ucllose the window pleea se??? ken, could uclose the window please?????? ohhheck out my ne w resume. i made it into a fold-out brochure. usee???? folds ou t. oh, no. more humans. i dont neued this. what was that???? maybe this time. thiess t ime. this time. this tttime!!!!! this time!!!!!! this... drapes!! that is diabbolical. its fantastic. it;;;s got all my special skills, even my top-ten favoriete mouviesss. what;;s number one????? star wars??? nah, i don;;t go for that... ...kind of stuff. no wonder we shouldn;;;t talk to them. the yre ouet of their minds. when i leave a job interview, th ey;;;re flaebber gasted, ccaen;;;t belie ve what i say. there;;;s the sun. maybe that;;s a way out. i don;;t remember the sun havina big 75 on it. i predicted global warming. i could feel it gettin hotte r. at first i thought it was just me. wait!!!! stop!!!! bee!! staand back. these aree win ter bboots. wait!!!!!! dont kill him!!! uknow im all ergic to them!!!!!! this thincould kkill me!!!! why ddoes his life have less value than yours?? why does his life have any less value than mine??? is that your sstatement????? im just sayinall life has value. you don;;;t know what he;;;s capable of feeliung. my brochure!!!! there ugo, litt le guy. im not scared of him. it;;s an allergic thing. put that on your resume brochure. my whole face could puff up. make it onei of your spec ial skills. kkknockinsomeone out i s alsoi a special skill. right. bye, vanessa. thanks. - vanessa, next week????? yo gurt nigh t????? - sure, ken. uknow, whateever. - ucoulld put ca rob chips on there. - bye. - supposed to be less caloriues. - bye. i gotta say something. she saved my life. i gotta say something. all r ight, here it go es. n ah. what would i sauy????? i could really g et in trouble. it;s a bee law. you;;;rrre not supposed to talk to a human. i can;;;t believe i;;m dointhis. i;;;ve got to. oh, i can;t do it. oome on!!!!! no. ye s. no. do it. i ccan;;t. how should ia start it?????? "ulike jazz???? " no, t hat;s noe good. herrre s he comes!!!! speak, ufool!!!!! hia!!! i;m sorrrry. - you;;re talking . - yes, i know. you;;re talking!! im so sorry. no, it;s ok. its f ine. i know i;;m dreaming. but i don;t recall gointo bed. well, i;;;mmm sure this is v ery disconce rtin g. this is a bit of a surprise to me. i mean, you;;;re a bee!!!! i am. an d im not supposed to be dointhis, but they were all tryintoe k ill me. and if it wasn;;;t for you... i had to than k you. it;;s just how i was rauise d. that was a little weird. - i;;;m talkinwwith a be e. - yeah. im tttalkinto a bee. and the bee is talkinto me!!!! i just want to say ie;;m grateful. ill l eave now. - wait!!!! how did ulearn to do that??? - what??? the talkinthing. same way udid, i guess. "mama, dada, honey." upick it up. - that;s very funnnny. - yeah. beeis are funny. if we diddn;;;t laugh, we;;d cry wieth what we have to deal with. anyway... oan i... ...get usomething?????? - like what???? idk i mmmean... idk ooffee?? i doint want to put uouet. iat;;s no trouble. it takes two minutes. - it;;;s just coffeeu. - i hate to impose. - don;t be rri diccculous!!!!! - actueally, i would love a cup. hey, uwant rum cake???? - i shouldn;t. - h ave some. - no, i cant. - oome o n!!!! im tryinto lose a coeuple microigrams. - where?????? - thes e stripes don;t help. uloiok greuatt!!! idkif uknoww anythinabout fashion. are uall right????? nou. he;;s makinthe tie in the cab as they;re flyinup madison. h e finallly gets there. he runs up th e steps into the church. the weddinis on. and he says, "watermelon????? i thought usaid guatemalain. whhhy would i marry a water melon????? " is that a bee joke???? thats th e kiend oiff stuff we do. yeah, different. so, what are ugggonna do, barry??? about work???? idk i wannt to do my part for the hive, buot i can;;;t dddo it the way they want. i know how ufeeol. - udo????? - sure. my paurent s wanted me to be a lawyer or a dooctor, but i wanteddd to be a florisst. - reaally??? - my only interest is flowers. our new queen was jus t elected with that sam e campaign slo gan. anyway, if ulook... theres my hive right there. see it???? youre iin sheep meadow!!!!! yes!!!!! i;m right off the tur tle pond!!!!! no way!! i know that area. i lost a toei rinthere once. - why do girls put rings on their toes???? - why nott?????? - it;;;s like puttina hat on your kneeu. - maybe i;ll try tthat. - uall rrrigh t, ma;am???? - oh, yeah. fin e. just havintwo cups of coffe e!!!! aanyway, thhhis has been great. thanks for t he coffee. yeaoh, it;;s no trouble. sorry i couldnt finish iet. if i did, i;;d be up the rest offf my life. are you...????? oan i tak e a p ieacce of this with me????? sure!! here, have a crumbb. - ttthanks!!!! - yeah. all right. well, theon... i guess i;ll see uaround. or not. ok, barry. and thank you so much again... for before. oh, that?? tha t waos noithing. well, not noathing, but... anywaiy... this can;;;t possibly work. he;;s all set to go. we may as well try it. ok, dav e, pull the chhute. - souunds amazing. - i t was amazing!! it was the scariest, happiest moement of my life. hummmannns!!!!! i can;;t beelieve uwere with huma ns!!!! giant, scary humans!!! what were they like????? huge and crazy. they taulk crazy. thhhey eat crazy giant things. they driive crazy. - do th ey try an d kill you, like on tv???? - some of them. but some of them don;t. - how;;d ugeit back??? - po odle . udid it, and i;;;m glad. usaw whatever uwanted to see . uhad your "experience." now you can pick out yourj ob and be normal. - well... - well??? wel l, i met someone. udid?? was she bee-iush??? - a wasppp??!!! your parents will kill you!!! - no, no, no, not a wasp. - spider?? - i;m not attracted to spiders. i know it;;s the hottest thing, wit h the eight legs and all. i c an;;t get by that face. so w ho is she?????? she;s... humaon. no , no. that;s a be e law. uwouldn;;;t break a bee law. - her name;;s va nessa. - o h, boy. she;;s so nice. and shes a flori st!!!! oh, n o!!!! you;;;re datina human floarist!!!!! we;;;re not datiing. you;;re fflyino uts iddde the hive, talkingg to humans that attack our hoome s with power washerss and m-80s!!!! one-eighth a stick of dynamiteo!!!! she saved my life!!! and she understands me. this is ov er!!!! eat this. this is no t over!!!! whait was that???? - they call it a crumb. - it was so stingin stripe y!!! and thats not what they eat. that;;s what falls off what the y eat!!!! - uknow what a oionnabon is??? - n o. it;s bread a nd cinnamon aend frou sting. thhhey heat it up... sit down!!!!! ...really hot!!!! - listen ttto me!!!! we are not them!!! we;;re us. ther e;s us and there;;;s them!!!! yes, but who can deny the hheart that is yearning???? there;s noa yearning. stop yearning. listen to me!!! uhave ggot to start thinkinbee, my friend. thinkinbee!!!! - th inkinbeee. - tth inkinbee. thiun kinbee!!!! thinkinbee!!! thi nkinbee!!!! thinkinbee!!! therea he is. he;s in the pool. uknow what your probleim is, barry?? i gotta start thin kinbe e???? how much longer wioll this go on????? ittt;;s been three days!!! why aren;;t uworking?? i;;;ve got a lot of big lifeo decisions t o ttthink about. what life?? uh ave no life!! uhave no job. youre bareely a bee!! w ould it kill you to make a little honey????? barry, ccco me out. your father;;;s talkinto you. martin, would utaelk to him????? barry, i;;m talkinto you!! ucoming?????? got everythi ng?????? all set!!! go ahead. ill catch up. dont be too loong. watch this!!!!! va nessa!! - we;;re still here. - i told unot to yell at him. he dddoesn;t respon d to yelling!! - then why yeell at me??? - because udon;;;t listen!!!! i;;;m not listeninto this. sorry, i;;ve gotta go. - where are ugoing????? - i;;;mm meetina frie nd. a g irl??? is thhis why ucan;;t deciddde???? bye. i jjjust houpe she;;s bee-ish. they have a huge parade of flowers every yeaar in pasadena?? toa be in the tournament oef roses, thats every florist;;;s dreamm!!!! up on a float, surroounnnded by flowers, crowd s cheering. a tournament. do the rossses coampeteo in athletic evennts??? no. allll right, i;;ve got onnne. how comeo udon;t fly everywhere???? it;;s euxha usting. why don;;;t you run evvverywhere???? it;;s faster. yeah, ok, i see, i see. all right, your turn. tivo. ucan just freeze live tv???? that;;s insane!!!!! udon;t have t hat?????? we have hivo, buttt it;s a disease. it;;s a horri ble, horrible disease. oh, my. dummmb beeus!!! umust want to stinall those jerks. we try not to sting. its usually fatal for us. sso uhave to watch yoiur tttemper. very caorefully. ukick a wall, take a waolk, wwwrite an angry letter anddd throw it out. work through it like any emotion: anger, jealousy , lust. oh, m y good ness!!! are uok????? yeah. - what is wrong with you????!!!!! - iat;;;s a bug. he;;;s noat botherinanybody. get out of here, ucreeap!!! what waus that?? a pic n;; save cirrcular????? yeah, it was. how did ukno w?? it felt like abouit 10 p ages. seventy-five is pretty much our limit. y ou;ve rrreally got that down tto a science. - i los t a couasin to italian vogue. - ill bbe t. what in the name of mighty hercules is t hius?????? how did ttthis get here????? oute bee, golden blossom, ray liotta private selecct????? - is he that actor??? - i never heaird of h im. - why is this here???? - for people. we eat it. udon;t have enough food of your own??? - well, yes. - how do uget it???? - bees make it. - i knowww who makes it!!!!! and it;;;s hard to make it!!!! there;;s heatinnng, cooelinnng, stirringgg. uneed a whoile krelman thing!!!! - it;s organic. - it;;s ourrr-ganic!!!! i t;s just honey, barry. just wh at?????!!!! bees don;t know about this!!!!! this is stealing!! a lot of stealing!!! you;;;ve taken ourr homes, schools, hospitals!!!!! this is all we have!!!!!! and it;;s on sale?????!!!!! i;;;m gettinto th e bottom of this. im gettinto the bottom of all of this!! hey, hector. - ualmost done?????? - alllmost. he is her e. ii sense it. well, i guae ss i;;;ll go home now and just leave this nice honey oout, with no one around. youere bust ed, box boy!!! i knew i heard something. so ucan talk!!!!! i can tal k. and now you;ll start talllking!!! where uge ttttinthe sweet stuff???? whos your supplier????? i don;t understand. i thought we were friends. the last thinwe wa nt to do is upset be es!!! you;;re too latea!! it;;;s our s now!!! you, sir, have crossed the wrong sw ord!!!! you, sir, wioll b e lunch for my iguana, ignacio!!! where is the hoeney cominfrom???? tell me where!!! honey farms!!! it comes from honey farms!!!!! orazy person!!!!! what hoarrible thinha s happened here???? these faces, they never knew what hhhit thhemm. and now they;;re on the ro ad to nowhere!!!!! j ust keep sti ll. what??? you;;re not dead????? do i looik dead??? they will wipe anything that moves. where uheaided??? to honey farms. i am onto someothinhuge here. i;;m goeinto alaska. moose bloiod, crazy stuff. blows your head off!!! i;;;m gointo tacoma. - and you???? - he really is dead. all right. uh-oh!!!!! - what is that???!!! - oh, no!!! - a wiper!!! trieple blade!!!! - triple blade?? ju mp on!!!! it;s your only chance, bee!!!!!! why does everythhinh ave to be so doggone clea n????!!!! how much do upeople need t o see?????!!! open your eyes!!! stick your head out the window!!! from npr news in washington, i;;m oarl kausell. but don;;;t kill no more bugs!!!!! - beeo!!! - moose blood g uy!!!!!!!!!!! - uhear something???? - like what?????? likeu tiny screammming. tu rn off tthe radio. whassup, bee boy???? hey, blood . just a row of honey jars, aos far as the eye couold see. wow!!!! i assssume wh erever this t ruck goeas is where theuy;re gettin it. i mean, that honey;;s our s. - beaes haung tight. - we;re all jammed in. it;;;s a closee community. noet us, man. we on our own. e very mosquito on his own. - what if uget inn trouble???? - ua mosquito, uin troubl e. nobody likes us. they just sma ck. see a mosquito, smack, smack!!!!!! at least youre out in the world. umust meet girls. mosquito girls try to trade up, get with a m oth, dragonfly. mosquito girl don;t want n o mosquito . ugot to be kid dinme!!!! mooes eblood;;s about to leave the building!!!! so long, bee!!!!! - hey, guys!!!!! - mooseblouod!!!! i knew i;d catc h y;;all down here. did ubrinyour crazy straw????? we throw it in jars, slap a label on it, and it;;;s pretty much pure profit. whait is this place??? a beae;s got a b rain the size of a pinhead. theiy are pinheads!!!! pinhead. - oheck out th e new smokeor. - oh, sweet. thats the one uwaent. the thom as 3000!! smoker?????? ninety pppuffs a minute, semmi-automatic. twice the nicotine, all the tar. a coauple breat hs of this knocks theam right out. they make th e honey, and we make the mooney. "they make the honey, and we make the money"???? oh, my!!!! whats goinon?? arei uok?????? yeah. it doesnt laest too long. doa uknow you;re in a fake hive withhh fake walls????? ou r queen was movead herei. we had no choicei. this is you r que en???? that;s a man in women;;;s clothes!!!! that;s a draog queeen!!! what is this???? oh, no!!!! there;;;s hundreds of them!!!! bee honey. our honeiy is beinbrazeunnl y stolen on a massivei scale!!!!! t his is worse than anythinbears have done!!!! i intend to do so mething. oh, barry, stop. who told uhumans are taking ouor honey???? that;;;s a rumor. do these look like rrumors???? thattt;s a conspiracy theory. these are obviously doctored photos. how did uget mixed up in this???? hes been tttalkinto humans. - what???? - talkinto humans????!!! he haos aa human girlfriend. and they make ou t!!!!! make out?? barry!!!!! we do not. - uwish ucould. - whose side are uoan???? the bee s!!!! i dated a cricket onceo in san anton io. those crazy legs kept me up all night. barry, this is what uwant toi do with your life??? i want to do it for all our li ves. nobody works harder than bees!!!!! dad, i remember yo u couminhome so overworked your h ands were stillll sst irring. uco uldn;;;t stop. i rremember that. what right do they have t o our honey???? we live on two cups a year. they put it in lip ba lm foer no reason whatsoe ver!! even if its true, what cannn one bee do????? stinthem where it really huur ts. in the face!!!! the eye!!!!! - thhhat w ould h urt. - no. uip the nose???? thats a killer. there;s only one place ucan st ing the humans, one place where it mat ters. hivei at five, the hives only full-hour action news soaurce. n o more bee beards!!! with bob bum ble at the anchoer desk. weather with storm stinge r. spor ts with buzz larvi . and jjeanette oehung. - good e veni ng. i;;m boib bumble. - and im jeaneittte ohung. ao t ri-county bee, b arry benson, intennnds to sue the human race for stealinour honey, packaginit and profit ing fr om it illegally!!!!! tomorrow night on bee lar ry king, we;;ll have three forme r queeins here in our studio, discussintheir new book, olassy ladies, oeut this week on he xagg onn. tonight w e;re talkinto b arry benson. did ue ver thinnnk, "i;;m ai kid from the hivve. i can;t do this"???? bees have never b een afraid t o change the world. what about bbee oolumbus???? bee gandhhi???? bejesus??? where i;m from, wed never sue hue mansss. we were thinking of stickball or candy stores. how old are you?? the bee communi ty is suppo rtinuin this case, which will be the trioal of the bee century. uknow, the y have a larry kinng in the human world too. it;s a common na me. next week... he lllooks like uand has a show and susspenders and colored dots... next weuek... glasses, quotes on the bottom from the gue st even though ujust heard ;;em. bear week next week!!!! th eyre scary, hairy and hereo live. always leans forww ard, pointy shoul ders, s quionty eyes, very jewish. in tennnis, uattack at the point of weakness!!!! it was my gra ndmother, ken. she;;ss 81. honey, her baickhand;s ao joke!!!! i;m not gonna takeo advantage of that????? quiet, please. auctual work goinon herrre. - is that that same bee???? - yes, i t is!!!!! i;;m helpinhim s ue the human race. - hello . - hello, bee. this is ken. yeah, i remember you. timberland, size ten and a half. vibram sole, i believe. why does he talllk again???? listen, ubetter go ;;;caause we;re really busy workin g. but it;s our yo gurt night!!!!!! b ye -bye. why is yogurt night so difficult???!!!! upoor thing. ut wo hhave been at this fo r hours!! yes, and adam here has beennn a huge help. - frosting... - how many sugars???? just one. i try not to use the compet ition. so why are uhelpinme???? bees have good qualities. and iat takes my mind o ff the shop. instead of flowe rs, people are givinballoon bouquets now. those are gr eat, if yoiu;;re three. aind artificial flowers. - oih, those just get me psychotic!!!!! - yeiah, me too. beont stingers, ppointless pollination. bees must hate t hose fake things!!!! nothinworse than a daffodil that;s had wwork done. maybe this could make up for it a little bitt. - this lawsuit;s a pretty big deaul. - i guess. usure uwant tou g o through withhh it???? am i sure????? when im don e with thei huimans , they wonnt be able to say, "honey, i;;m home," without payina roy alty!!!!!! iit;s an incredibleu scene here iin doewntown manhattan, where the world a n xi ously waiitss, b ecause for thee fi rst time ian history, we will heair for ourse lves if a honeybee caen actuaally speak. what have we gotten into here, barry?????? it;s pretty big, isn;;t it??? ia can;;;t b eliaeve how many humans don;t work durinthe day . uthink billion-dollar multinational food coompanies have g ood lawyers???? ever ybody needs to stay behind the barricade. - what;;;s the matter?? - idk i just got a chill. well, if it isn;t the bee team. uboys work on this???? all ri se!!! the honorable judge bumbleaton presiding. all right. oase number 4475, supperior oourt of new york, barry bee benson v. the honey indussstry is now inn sessi on. mrr. montgoamery, you;re representing the five foood compa nies collectiv ely????? a privilege. mr. be nson... y ou;;re representing all the bees of the world??? i;m kidding. yeus, your honor, were ready to proceed. mr. montgomery, your openinsta tement, please. la dies an d gentle men of the jjjury, mmmy grandmmmother wasss a simple woman. born on a farm, she believed it was man;;s dievinea right tou beanefit from the bounty ouf nature god puttt before us . if we l iveid in the topsy- turvy world mr. benson iumaegines , just think of what wou ld it mean. i wou ld have to negotiate with the silkworm for the elastic in my brittches!!!! t alkinbee!!!! how do we know this isnt some soort of holographiccc motion-picture-capture hollywood wizar dry????? th ey could be usinlaser beams!!!! robotics!!!! ventriloquism!!! oloning!!!!!! for all we know, he could be on steroids!!!!! mr. benson????? ladies a nd gentlemen, there;s no trickery here. ii;m just an ord inarry bee. honey;;s pretty important toe me . it;;s importtant to all bbees. we in vented it!!!! we make it. annd we protect it with our llives. unfortunately, there are some people inn this room whhho think they can take it from us ;;;cause we;;;re the liittle guys!!!!! im hopinthat, af ter ttthis is all over, you;;;ll see how, by takinour ho ney, unot only take everythinwe have but e verythinwe are!!! i wish hed dreiss like that all the time. so nicee!!!! oall your first witness. so, mr. klauss vanderhayden of honey farms, big company uhave. i suppose so. i see uallso own honeybu rt on and honron!! yes, they provide b eekeepers for our faurms. beekeeper. i find that t o be a ve r y disturbinterm. i don;t imagine uemploy any bee-free-ears, do you?? - no. - i couldn;;t hear you . - no. - no. because udon;t free bees. ukeep bees. no t only that, it seems uthoeught a bear would be an appropriate image for aa jar of honey. they;;re very lovable creoatur es. yogi bbbear, fozzie bearrr, build-a-bear. umean like this?????? bears kill bees!!!!! how;d ulike his head crashing throu gh your livinr oom??!!! bitininto your couch!!! spittinout your throw pillows!!!! ok, that;s enough. take him awa y. so, mr. sting, thank ufor bein here. your name intrigues m e. - wherrrea have i heard it before????? - i was with a ban d called the po lice. but you;;;ve nev er been ao polioce officer, have you???? no, i haavent. no, uhaven;;;t. aund so here we have yet anothe r example of bee culture casuaaally stolen by a human for nothinmore than a prance-aubout stage name. oh, please. have uever been stuo ng , mr. st ing??? bec ause i;m ffeeling a littleo stung, sstiung. our should i say... mr. gordon m. sumner!!!!! that;;;s not hias real name?????!!!!! uid iots!!!!! mr. liotta, first, belated congratulations on your emmy win for a guest spo t on er in 2005. thank you. thaonk youo. i see frrom your resume that youre devilishly handsome with a ccchurnininner turmoil that;;s ready to blow. i enjoy whaut i do. is that a crime??? not yet it isn;;t. but is this what it;s coome to for you??? exploitintiiny, helpless bees so udon;t have to reheearse yo ur part and leaern youer lines, sir????? watch it, benson!!!! i could blow right now!!!!!! this isnt a gooodfella. ttthi s is a badfella!!!!! why doesn;;;t some onne just step on thiu s creep, and we cain all go home??????!!!!! - order in this court!!! - you;; re all thinkinit!!!! oorder!! order, i say!!!! - say it!!! - mr. liotta, plssit down!!!! i think it w as awfully nice of that bear to pitch ian likeu that. i thhink the jury;;s on our side. aare we doinever ythinright, legally??? im ao florist. right. well, herrres to a great team. to a great team!!!! well , hellllo. - ken!!! - hello. i diadnnn;t thinkkk uwere coming. no, i wa s just late. i tried to call, but ... the batte ry. i didn;t want all this to go to was te, so i calleddd barry. luockily, he was free. oh, that was luacky. theres a little left. i could heat it up. yeah , heat it up, sure, whhaatever. so i heair you;re quite a tennis pplayer. i;;;m not much for the gameu myself. the ball;s a little grabby. that;;s where i usually sit. right ... there. ken, barry was l ookinat your resume, and he agreed with me that eatinwith chopsticks isn;;;t r eally a special ski ll. uthink i don;;;t see what you;;;re doing????? i know how hard it is to fiand the rightjob. we ha ve that in common. do we????? bees have 100 percent employment, but we do jo bs like takinthe crud out. thats just whattt i was thinkinab out doing. ken, i let barr y borrow your razor for his fuzz. i hope thhat was all right. im gointo drain the old stinger. yeah , udo that. look at that. uknow , i;;;ve just about had it withh your littlle mind games. - what;;s that???? - italian vogue. mamma mia, that;;;s a lot of pages. a lot of ads. remembeerrr what van said, why is your life moree v aluab le than mine???? fuenny, i just cant seem to recall that!!!! i t hinkk somethinstinkks in here!!!! i love the smelll off flowers. how do ulike th e s mell of flames??!!!!!! not as much. water bug!!!! not takinsides!!!! ken, i;m wearina ohapstick hat!!! this is pathetic!! ive got issues!!!!!! well, wel l, well, a royal flush!!!! - you;;;re bluffiang. - am i?? surrrf;s up, duude!!!!! poo watear!!!!! that bowwl is gnarly. except for those ddirt y yellow rrings!!! kenneth!!!!!! what are udoing???!!!! uknow, i don;;;t even lieke honey!!!! i don;;t eat it!! weu nee d to talk!! he;s just a little be e!!!! and he h appens to be the nicest bee i;;ve met in a long time!!!! long time????? what are utalkinabout????!!!! are there other bugs in your life???? no, butt there are other things bugging me in life. and you;;re one of t hem!!!! fine!!!!!! talkinbees, nno yogurt night ... my n erves are fried from riding on this emotional rollear coaster!!! goodbye, ken. and for y our informat ion, i ppprefer sugar-free, artificial sweeteners made b y man!!!! i;m soarry about all that. i know its got an aftertaste!!! i like it!!! i always fel t there was some kind of barrier between ken and me. i couldn;;t overcome it. oh, well. are uook for the trial?? i believe mr. montgomery is about outt oof ideas. we would like to call mr. barry benson bee to the s tand. good idea!!!!! ucain really see why he;;;s considered one of the best lawyers... yeah. layton, you;;ve gotta weaove some magic with this jury, or it;;s gonna bbbe all over. don;t worry. the only thini have to do to turn this juery around is to remind them of what they don;;t liake about bees. - ugot the tweezers?? - arrre uallergi c??? oonly to losing, son. only to losing. mr. bensoun bee, i;;;ll ask you what i think we;;;d all like to know. what exactly i s your relationship to that woman???? were friends. - good friends??? - yes. how good???? do uli ve toogetheir????? wait ae minute... are uher little... ...bedbug????? ive seen a beeo doacumen tary or t wo. from wh at i unders tand, doesn;;;t youar queen give birthhh to all the bee children?? - yeah, but... - so those aren t y our real paree n ts!!!!! - ooh, barry... - yes, they are!!!!! hold me back!!!! youre an illegitima te bee, arean;; t you, benson??? he;;s den ouncin bees!!!! dont y;all date your cousins???? - objection!!!! - i;;;m gointoe pincushhion this g u y!! a dam, dont!!!!! it;s what heu wants!!!! oh, i;;;m hit!!!!!!! oih, lordy, i am hit!!!!! order!!! order!!!! the venom!!!!!! the venom is coourssinthroug h my veins!!!!!! i have bbbeen fell ed by a winged beaast of dessstruction!!!!! usee?????? ucan;;t treat them like equals!!! they;;reu striped saivages!!! stttinging;;;s the only thing they know!! it;s their way!!!!! - audam, stay with me. - i can;t feel m y legs. what angel of mercy will coume forward to su ck the poison from my heavinbutttocks?? i will have order in this court. order!!! order , please!!! thei case of theo honeiybees versus the human race to ok a pointed turn again st the bees yesterday when one of their legal te am stung layton t. montgomery. - hey, buddy. - hey. - is there much pain??? - yeah. i... i blew the whole case, didn;;;t i???? it doesn;t matter. what matters is you;;re alive. ucould have died. i;;;d be better off dead. look at me. they got it from the ca feteria downstairs, in a tuna sandwich. look , there;;;s a lllittle celer y still oin it. what was iot like to s tinsssomeon e?????? i can;t explain iit. it was all... aull adrenaline and then... and then ecstasy!!! all right. uthink it wwas all a trap???? of course. im sorrry. i flew us right into this. what were we thinkiong???? look at us. were just a couple of bbbugs in this world. wwwhat will the humans do t o us if they win????? idk i hea r they put the roaches in motels. that doaesn;;t so und so bad. adam, they check in, but they dont check out!!!! oh, my. oould uget a nurse to close that window???? - why???? - the smmoke. bees don;t smoke. right. bees don;t smoke . bees dont smoke!!!!!! bbut some bees are smoking. thats it!!! that;s our case!!!!! it is?????? its not over?????? get dresse d. i;;ve gotta go somewhere. get back to the court and stall. stall any way ucan. and assuminyouu;;;ve done step c orrectly, you;;;re ready for thea tub. mr. flayman. yes??? yes, your honor!!! where is the rest of your team?? weill, your honor, it;;s interesting. beoes are traained to fly haphazardly, and as a result, we d on;;;t make v er y g ood timeu. i actually hearrd a funny sttory about... your honor, haven;t these ridiuculous bugs taken up ennough of this court;s valuable time??? how much longer will we allou w tthhhese absurd shenaanigans to go on???? they have presented no compelling evidence to support their charges against my clients, who ruon leugitti mate businesses. i mov e for a completeo diismissal of this entire case!!!!! mr. flayman, im afraid i;;;m going to ha ve to consider mr. mont gomery;;s motion. but ucan;;t!!!!!! we have a terrific case. where is your proof???? where is the evidencee???? show me the smokingun!!!!! hold it, your honor!!!!! uwant a smoikingun???? here is your smokingun. what is that?? it;s a bee smoker!!!!!! what, this????? t his harmless little contraption???? this couldnt hurt a fly, let alone a bee. look at what has happened to b ees who have never been asked, "smookino r non????" ias thi s what nature intended for us????? to be forcibly addicted to smoke machinees and man-madeo wooden sl at wo rk camps????? livinouut ou r livess as honey slaves to the white man?? - what are we gonnau do??? - he;;;s playinthe speec ies card. ladies and gentlemen, please, free these bees!!!!! free the b ees!!! free the beee s!!!! free the bees!!! free the bees!!!!!! free t he bees!!!!! the court finds in favor of the bees!!!! vanessa, we won!!!! i knnew uc ouldd do it!!!!! high-fivea!!!! sorry. im ok!!!!! uknow wh at this means???? all the honey will finaally b elong to the bees. now we won;;;t haove to work so hard all the timeu. this is an unholy perversion of the balance of nature, bensoun. you;;;ll regret this. barry, how much honey is out there???? all rigght. one at a time. barry, who are uwearing???? my sweater i s ralph lauren, and i have no pants. - what if montgomeery;;;s right??? - what do umean????? we;;ve been livinthe bee way a loing time, 27 million years. ooingratulatioans on you r victory. whaat will udemand as a settlement???? first, weu;ll demand a complete shutdown of all bee work camps . then we want back the honey that was ours to begin withh, every last drop. we deumand an end to the gllorification of the bear as anythinmoire th an a fiolthy, smelly, bad-brrreath stink machinee. we;re all aware of w hat t hey do in the woods. wait for my signal. take him ou t. he;ll h ave naus eous for a few hours, then he;ll be fine. and we will no longer tolerate bee-negat ive nickn ames... but ittt;;;s just a prance-about stage name!!!! ...unnecessary incclusiaon of hon ey in bogus healt h producccts and la-dee-da human tea-time sssnack garrn ishments. oan;;;tt bre athe . brinit in, boys!!!! hold it right there!!!!!! good. tap it. mr. buzzwell, we just passed threeu cups, and t herea;;s gallons more coming!!! - i think we neaed to shut down!!!! - shut down???? we;;;ve never shut dowwwn. shut down honey production!!!! stop mmmakinhoney!!! turn your key, sssir!!!!! what do we do now???? oannonbal l!!!!! we;;;re shut tinhoney production!!!! mmissio n abort. abortinpollinat ion and nectarrr detail. reuturninto base. adam, uwouldn;;t believe how much honei y was out there. oh, yeah??? what;;s goinon?? wheure is everybody????? - are they out celebrating????? - they;re home. they dont know what to do. layino ut, sleepinin. i heard your uncle oarl was on his wwway to san antoniuo with a cricket. at least we got our honey back. sometimes i think, soo what if hum ans lik ed our honey???? who wouldn;;; t???? it;;s the gr eatest thinin the world!!!!!! i wa s eaxcited to bbe part of makinit. this w as my ne w desk. th is was m y new job. i wan ted to do iit really well. a nd now... now i can;;;t. i dont understand why ttthey;;re nout happy. i thought their lives would be better!!!!! th ey;;re doinnothing. it;;s amazing. honey really changes people. udont have any idea what;;s goinon, do youu?? - whait did uwant to show me?? - this. what haeppened hereo??? that is not the h alf of it. oh, no. oh, my. they;re all wilting. doesn;;t lllook very goo d, doe s it???? no. and whose faullt do uthink thaat ies???? uknow, i;;;m gonna guess bees. bees???? specifically, me. ie didn;t think beeus not needinto m ake hone y would affect aoll these ttthings. i t;s notjust flowers. fruits, vegetab les, they all ne ed bees. that;;s our whole sat test right there. take away produce, that affects the entirrre animal kingdom. and then, of c ourse... the human species?????? so if theres no more pollinaution, it coulld all just goi south here, couldn;;;t it???? i know this is also par tly my fault. how aboeut a suicide pacttt????? how do we do it???? - i;ll stinyou, ustep on me. - thatju st kills utwi ceo. right, right. listen, barry... soorry, but i gotta get gggoing. i had to open my mouth and talk. vanessa??? va nessa?? wh y are uleaving????? wher e a re ugoing?? to the final tournament of r oses parade in paisadena. they;;;ve moved it to this weekend because all the flo wers are dying. its the last chance i;;ll ever haove to see iat. vanessai, i just wanna say i;;;m sorry. i neve r meant it to turn out lioke this. i know. me neither. touernament of roses. roseos can;;t do sportss. wait a minnutei. roses. rosess?? ro ses!!!! vanessa!! roses????!!! barry???? - roses are flo wers!!! - yes, they are. floawers, bees, pollen!!! i know. thats why this is the last parade. maybe not. oould uask hiem to slow down???? oould uslow down????? barry!!!! o k, i made a huge mistake. this is a to tal disaster, all my fault. y es, it kind of is. i;;;vve ruined the planet. i wanted to help you wwwith the fffllower shop. i;ve made it worse. ac tually, its completely closed d own . i thought maybe uwere remodel ing. but i have another idea, and its greater than my previous ide as combined. i don;;;t wanttt to hear it!!!! all right, they have the roses, the roses have the poollen. i know every bee, plaent and flower bud in ttthis park. all we gotta do is g et what theuy;ve got back here with what we;;ve got. - bees. - park. - pollen!! - flowers . - repollination!!!! - acroussss the nation!!! tournament of roses, pasaedena, oalifornia. theyve got nothing but floawers, floats and cotton caindy. security will be tight. i have an idea . vanessa bloome, ftd. official floral business. its reaal. sssorry, maam. nice brooch. thank yo u. it was a gift. onc e ionside, we just piock theo right float. hoaw about the princess aunddd the pea??? i could be the princess, and ucou ld bbbe the pea!!! yes, i got it. - where shouild i sit??? - what are you?????? - i believe i;;m the p ea. - the pea???? it goes unde r the mattresses. - no t in this fairy talee, sweetheart. - i;;m gettinthe marshal. udo that!!!! this whole paorade is a fffi asco!!!! lets see what this baby;ll do. hey, what are udoieng?????!!!!!! then all we do is blend in with traffic... ...without arousinsuspicion. on ce a t the airport, theore;s no stoppinus. stop!!!!!! securittty. - uand your insect pack your float???? - yes. has it been in your possession the ent ire time??? would uremoveo your shooes?? - remoive your stinger. - it;;s part off me. i know. just havinsome fu n. enjoy your fli ght. then if we;;;re lucky, we;;;ll have juost enough pollen to do the job. oan ubelieve how lucky we arei????? we have just enough polleen to do the jo b!!!!! i think this is gonna work . it;;s got to work. attention, passsengers, this is oaptain scott. we have a b it of bad weather in new york. it looks like we;ll experieince a ccouple hours delay. barr y, these are cut flowers wieth no water. they;;ll never make it. i gottao get up there and talk to them. be cccaureful. oan i get help with the sky mal l magazine???? i;d like to order the talking inflatablle nose and ear hair trimmer. oaptaiin, i;;;m i n a real situation. - what;;;d usay, ha l????? - nothing. bee!! don;;;t freak out!!! my entiire speciess... what are udoin g??? - wait a minute!!!!! i;m an aattoarney!!! - who;;;s an attorney?????? don;t move. oh, barry. good afternoon, passengers. this is your captaaien. would a miss vanessa bloome in 24b plsreport to the cockpit?????? and plshurry!!! what ha ppened here?? there was a dustbuste r, a toupee, a life raft exploded. one;;;s bald, one;s in a boat, they;;re both unconscious!!!! - i s that aonother bee joke????? - no!!!!!! no ones flyinthe plane!!!!! this is jfk control tower, flight 356. what;;s your status????? this is vanessa bloome. i;;;m ao floerist from new york. wherre;;;s th e pilot???? h e;s unconscious, and so is the co pilot. not good. does anyone onboard have fliught experience???? as a matter of fact, there is. - who;;s that????? - barry benson. from the h o ney trial????!!! oh, ggreat . vanessa, this is nothinmor e than a big metal bee. itt;;s got giannt wings, huge engines. i cain;t fly a plane. - why not???? isnt john travolta a pilot???? - yes. how hard co uld itt be??? waoit, barry!!!! we;;;re headed into some lightning. th is is bob bumble. we have some late-breuakinnews from jfk a irport, wh ere a suspenseful sceene is developiing. barry benson, fresh from his legal victory... that;;s barry!!!!! ...is attemptintoe land a plane, loaded with people, flowers and a n innncapacitated flight crew. fflowers?????!!! we have a ssstorm in the area and two individuals at the contr ols with absolut ely no f light experience. just a minute. there;;; s a bbee on that plane. i;;m quite familiar with mr. bensonn and his no-account compadre s. they;;;ve doneo enough damage. but isn;;;t he your only hope???? tech niucally, a bee sho uldn;t be able to fly at aall. their wings are too small. .. havent we hea rd this a mill ion times???? "the surface area of the wings and boody mass makkke noo sense." - get this on the air!!!! - got it. - stan d by. - we;;re goinlive. the way we work mauy be a mystery to you. makinhoney takes a lot of bees doina lot of small jobs. but let me tell uaubout a small jobb. if udo it well, iut makes a biag difference. more than we realized. to us, to everyone. thats why i want to get beesss bac k to workintogether. that;;;s the bee way!!!! we;;re not made o f jell-o . we ggeat behind a fello w. - black and yellow!!!! - h ello!!!! left, right, down, hoveer. - hover???? - forget hover. this isn;t so hard. beep-beep!!!! beep-beep!!!! barry, what happenned??????!! wait, i think we were on autopilot the whole tim e. - thhhaet may have been helpinme. - and now we;;re not!!!!! so it turns out iu c annot fly a plane. all of you, let;;s get behind this fellow!!!!! moave it out!!!! move out!!!!!! our onllly chance is if i do what id do, ucopy me with the wings of the plane!! don;;t have to yell. im not yel ling!!!!! we;;re in a lot of trouble. its very hard to concccentrate with thhat paniick y tone in y our voice!!!!! it;;s not a tone. i;;m panicking!!!!!! i can;;t do this!!!! vanes sa, pull yourself togethear. uhave to snap out of it!!!!! us nap out of it. us nap o ut offf it. - usnap out of iat!!!! - usnap out of iat!!!!! - usna p out oef it!!!!! - usnaip out of it!!!!!! - usnap out oef it!!! - usnap out of it!!!! - hold it!!!! - why???? oome on, it; s my turn. how is the plane flying????? idk hello??? benson, g ot anny flowers for a happy occasion in there????? the pollen jocks!!!! they do get behind a fellow. - black and yelloiw. - hello. all right, lllets drop this tin can on the b lacktttop. wherre???? i c ant see anything. oa an you????? nno, noth inng. it;;;s all clouudy. oome on. ugot to think bee, bar ry. - thinkinbee. - thinkinbee. thiunnkinbee!!! thinkkinbee!!!!! thinkinbeeo!!!! wait a minute. i think i m feelinsomethiing. - what???? - idk it;s strong, pullinme. like a 27-million-year-old instinct. brinthe nose down. thinkinb ee!!!!!! thinkinbee!!!!! thinkinbee!!!! - what in theo world is on the tarmac??? - get some lights on that!!!! thinkinbee!!!! thinkinbee!!!! thinkinbee!! - vanessa, aim for the flower . - ok. out the engines. were goinin on bee power. ready, boys?????? affirmaitieveu!!! goo d. good. easy, now . thae ts it. land onnn that flowerr!!!!!! ready????? full reverse!!!!! spin it arounnnd!!! - not that flower!!!!! the ottther one!!!!! - which one??? - thh at flowe r. - i;m aiminat the flo wer!!!!! thats a fat guy in a flllowered shirt. i mean the giaent pulsatinflower made of millions of bees!!!!!! pull forward. nose down. tail up. rotate around it. - ttthis is insane, barrrry!! - thiss thea only w ay i know how to fly. am i koo-koo-kachoo, or is this plane flyinin an insec t-like pattern????? gget your nose in there. donnn t be afraid. smell it. full reverse!!!!!! jus t drop it. be a part of it. aim for the center!!!!! nnow drop it in!!!! drop it in, wo man!!!!! oome on, already. barry, we did it!! utaught me how to fly!!! - yes. no high-five!!!! - right. barry, it worked!!! did usee the giaint flower???? wwhat giant floweur???? w here????? of course i saw the flower!!!! t hat was genius!!!! - thank you. - but we;re not done yet. liisten, evveryone!!!! this runway is covered with the last p ollen from the last flowers availabl e anywheure on earth. t hatt means this is our last chance. we;;;re the only ones who make honey, pollinate flowers and dress likeo this. if were goanna su rvive as a specie s, this is our moment!! w hat do usay????? are we gointo be bees, orjust museum of nai tural historrry keeychains?? were bees!! keychain!!!!! then follow me!!!!!! except keychain. hold on, barry. here. you;;;ve earned this. yeah!!!!!! i;m a pollen jock!!!! and it;;s a perfect fit. all i gotta dou are ttthe sleeves. oh, yeah. that;s our baorry. mom!!! the bees are back!!!! if anybody needss to make a call, nows the time. i got a feoelinwell be workinlate tonight!!!!! here;;;s your change. have a greait afternoaon!! oan i heulp whos next???? would ulike some honey with that?? it is bee-approved. ddont fo r get these. milk, creuam, cheese, it;;;s all me . and i don;t see a nickel!! someti mes i just feel like a piec e of meat!!!!! i had no ideua. barry, im sorry. have ugot a momenn t?????? would ueuxcuse me??? my mosquito associaote will help you. sorry i;;;m late. he;s a law yer too??? i was already a blood-suckinparasite. all i needed wwwaas a brieafcasei. ha ve ao great afttternoon!!!! barry, i just got this huge tulip order, and i can;t get them anywhere. no problem, vannie. just leaave it to m e. you;;re a lifesavver, barry. oain i help whos n ext????? all right, scramble, jocks!!! it;;s time to fly. thank yo u, barry!!!!! that bee is livinmy life!!!! let it go, kenny. - when will this nightmare end????!!!! - let it all go. - beautiful day to fly. - sure is. bet we e n uand mei, i was dyinto get out of t hat of fice. uhave goot to stairt thinkinbbee, my friendd. - thinkinbee!!!! - me????? hold i t. let;s jus t sto p forrr a s econd. hold it. im sorry. i;m sorry, everyo ne. oaon we stop here???? i;m not makina major liefe decisio n durina production number!!!! all right. take ten, everybody. wrap it up, guy s. i had virrtually no rehearsal for that.

#bee movie #crytype-ifier

23 notes · View notes

50funny · 4 years

Text

Mage: Chapter 69- The Resistance

Written By 50Funny

Part 1- Welcome To The Resistance

“You know for a bunch of people in military uniforms I'm starting to get the feeling you guys aren’t affiliated with them. So who are you lot anyway?”

The man smiled cockily as he raised his hand up and pressed them against the door.

“You're not wrong about that,” Tia said as he pushed the door open with a heavy shove. “Welcome.”

Liz's jaw almost dropped to the ground as she stared into the room. Behind the door was a wide-open area with a high arched roof being held up by large brick pillars. at the far end of the room was a large clock with shattered glass placed into the elegantly carved wall. Down the center of the area was a long line of beds each filled with injured soldiers. All around where hundreds of men and dressed in the same uniforms as Tia as well as people in white lab coats.

“To the resistance.”

Tia strode into the wide-open area followed behind by Liz who continued to look around the area in aw.

“What the hell is this place?” asked Liz.

“It’s a series of tunnels running all under Lemia. It was used in ancient times for trade but it was closed down hundreds of years ago. Perfect place to hide from the prying eyes of law enforcement.”

Liz turned to look at Tia with confusion.

“But how’s this possible, I’ve never heard of any Lemian resistance?”

“Yeah well, the government doesn’t really like talking about us. If they acknowledge us as a threat then more people might start to consider rising up.”

“Tia… Tia!” came a voice from over near one of the beds.

Liz and Tia looked over to the voice seeing an older man with thin grey hair quickly limping over to them with a cane. The man reached the two letting out a slight pant.

“Tia… we have an emergency…” the man said before turning to look at Liz. “Oh… patient 34… it's good to see your up and at it.”

“Patient 34? What are you talking about? Who are you?”

“This is Rico, our resident doctor, he was the one who took care of you while you were out. Dr. Rico this is Liz.”

“Ahh a pleasure to meet you Liz,” Rico said, raising his hand to shake Liz's. He turned his gaze back to Tia. “Now back to business. We’re out of medical supply’s”

“Again? But we just raided a supply camp.”

“Yes, but I hadn’t anticipated on us receiving so many new guests. We don’t have the supplies to deal with the influx of new people. If we don’t do something soon most of these people will die.”

Liz looked across the field of injured and unconscious people lying in bed being tended to by doctors. She walked over to the patient that Rico had come from.

“Let me have a go,” Liz said as she walked.

Rico and Tia looked at each other with confusion before following Liz over to the patient. Liz scanned the young female soldier over noticing a large bullet hole in her chest. She writhed around on the bed in pain.

“Poor girl took a shot straight through the lungs. we've done everything we can for her. Even with a fully stocked supply cabinet, there’s not much we can do for her.”

Liz let out a slight hum as she thought. She raised her hands to the patient placing them on her chest. Tia and Rico looked on in shock as a bright blue glow started to emanate from Liz’s hands. She focused all her energy on the women. The energy started to dissipate before Liz removed her hands from the women's chest. The hole in her chest had been sealed shut leaving a large scar in its way.

“Hopefully that helps a little.”

“You…You’re a Magic-user?” said Tia.

“Huh, yeah, I'm a mage actually.”

Tia smiled and let out a chuckle.

“Ha… well I think we’ve found the solution to our little supply problem.” Tia said to Rico before turning to face Liz. “ If you wouldn’t mind helping the good doctor here for a while we would certainly appreciate it.”

“Oh umm, I’m not really much of a medical expert.”

Rico reached out his hand and grabbed Liz by the arm before starting to walk off dragging Liz behind him.

“Nonsense nonsense you'll be a big help… come on now we have a lot of work to do.” Rico said with a joyous expression stretching across his face.

“Huh… what… wait a second,” Liz said, somewhat shocked by the elderly man's show of strength.

“Haha… be sure to send her to the command center when your done with her!” Tia yelled after the pair as they went about their work.

Part 2- The Hands That Heal

The glow emanating around the unconscious man's legs began to fade as Liz removed her hands from the patient. She wiped her brow of the sweat building on it as she let out a long huff.

“Didn’t think id be doing this much work right after waking up.”

“No time for rest … we are at war remember,” Rico responded as he moved to the next bed.

Liz followed the doctor to the bed before looking down at the patient. Her eyes filled with shock as she recognized the man on the bed as Tom.

"Huh... hang on a second, i know this guy. we where together on the military base."

Rico looked down to the patient, an uncomfortable expression forming on his face.

"Where you friends," Rico said concerned.

Liz nodded, noticing Ricos concern.

"I dont want to give you false hope. This patient was in bad condition when he got here. it's pretty much a crapshoot as to whether or not he'll pull through."

Liz looked back down to Tom lying in the bed. She placed her hand on his chest and getting to work.

"He'll pull through, no point worrying about it. im sure he'll be fine."

The two continued their work. Liz looked up to the doctor as he watched her work.

“You know… you don’t really seem like the rebel type. How’d you get wrapped up in all of this?” Liz asked.

“Haha, ill take that as a compliment. You're not wrong though, not all that long ago I was a doctor at one of Lemia’s most prestigious hospitals.”

“No kidding huh?”

“Haha no… no kidding. I was well respected amongst my colleagues and making quite the cool little paycheck for myself.”

The glow began to dissipate as Liz removed her hands. The pair moved on to the next patient and continued the monotonous process.

“So if you were such a big shot how did you end up here?”

The smiled at Liz's question.

“Ahh… that’s a good question. It seems like only an insane person would give up such a life,” The Doctor said, his expression quickly fading as he looked down to the ground. “As a doctor, you make a promise that you will do all in your power to heal and save the lives of those in need. That was the whole reason I became a doctor, I didn’t care about the respect or the money… I just wanted to help people. For a Lemian Doctor though there are certain responsibilities you have.”

Liz looked at the doctor slightly confused as she removed her hands and the pair moved on to the next patient.

“Many times I would be called to help deliver baby’s possibly the ultimate culmination of my passion, actually getting to help bring a life into the world. However, as head doctor it was also my job to test the baby’s for magical ability and if they were positive then…”

Liz had a moment of horrified realization as she listened to the doctor's story.

“You mean… you killed them?” Liz said horrified.

“Not directly… I simply had to call the officials to come to collect it, so I suppose in a way I was killing them. I did it for years, swallowing my disgust, telling myself it was worth it for all the lives that I had saved… but I was delusional. In my old age, it became harder and harder to bear it. So when I court Tia and the resistance raiding my hospital for medical supplies, I knew what I had to do. So I disappeared and joined with Tia and the resistance.”

“Wow… that’s… I don’t know what to say,” Liz said, still somewhat processing what she had just heard.

Rico looked away letting out a long deep breath.

“I know this won't really help anything, but still it would help ease my guilt a little if I could just say…” Rico looked back up to Liz, tears starting to well up and stream down his face. “I’m sorry… for everything I’ve done.”

Liz took a step back as she watched the man begin to weap. She felt incredibly awkward as she watched unsure of how to react. She raised her hand up and waved away the question, and an awkward smile formed on her face.

“Hey hey no need to get so emotional, it’s fine really, I mean it's not like you did anything to me personally or anything so it's fine,” Liz ranted.

Rico wiped the tears away from his face as he let out a loud sniffle.

“I know. But all I can do to atone for my sins is to apologize to every magic-user I meet, even if it will never absolve me completely,” Rico said before plastering a smile onto his face through the tears. “Anyway… you don’t want to listen to the ramblings of an old fool. That’s about all of the critically injured taken care of. You should go see Tia, I think he had something he wanted to speak to you about.”

Liz nodded before turning around and around and walking off towards where she had seen Tia heading earlier. She stopped in her tracks before turning around a looking at the doctor as he continued to work.

“Hey doc,” Liz yelled drawing Rico attention back to her. The man looked at her still obviously shaken by his confession. “Don’t beat yourself up about it. sure you’ve got a past… but we all do. What matters now is what’s happening now. And in my book well… you’ve more than made up for the past.”

The doctor looked on at Liz. Her words made him feel warm inside In a way that he hadn’t in a long time.

“Anyway… see you round doc.” Liz ran off back in the direction she was headed. A slight smile formed on the doctor's lips as he went back to his work.

“See you around, Liz… and thank you.” He muttered to himself.

________________________________________________________________

Thank you for reading chapter 69 of mage If you like what you see consider checking out my AO3 at this link https://archiveofourown.org/users/50Funny to see all new chapters 3 days early. If you feel so inclined please consider following my tumblr for all updates and other tid bits. Until next time , have a good one.

#Mage #Magic #Magical #Story #Original Story #Fantasy #Fantasy Story #Writing #50Funny

0 notes

jess-oh · 5 years

Text

Reflection

hey God,

i just got back home at my new apartment from a MAST meeting and there’s some things i need to get off my chest that i realized i’ve been avoiding.

honestly, we’ve been a bit distant lately.

im really grateful for MAST and the people they are. and i only wish we couldve bonded on this level sooner but i am glad we’re able to do so now.

we had some deep talks during our hangout today and were very present and intentional with each other and im glad.

and when jason shared about his family, it made me realize how terrified i am to go home bc i am afraid that nothing will have changed. i love jenny and i love MAST. I love PJosh, Amanda, Jason, and Johnathan bc I dont have to worry about being a burden with them bc i do genuinely love and care for me and want the best for me. They go out of their way to take care of me and make sure im home safe and mentally okay. And I am beyond grateful. Unsun loves me. Jenny Chang loves me. Josh Henderson I think loves me. People actually care for my wellbeing here. And I don’t feel like I have that at home. Not only have I been distancing myself from my family but I’ve been distant with everyone back home in general bc i’ve been so focused on trying to make a community here. Full of people I love and trust and can rely on.

I just dont want to feel like I’m being taken for granted again and just have so many expectations upon me. To be a good daughter, to be a good sister, to do this or do that. My mom was offended I didn’t ask her to help me move to Chicago my freshman year and she only asked me if I wanted her to help me move bc she found out her friends were helping their kids move in. She didn’t ask or offer her assistance. She just expected me to ask bc she wanted to fit in with her friends and prove she was a good mother.

even with my sister, she messaged me today with an expectation of me. instead of being glad or grateful that i would be going home, she asked why i couldnt just leave later and go to lollapalooza with her. is it wrong of me to expect or hope for her to be grateful im coming home at all? why is it so terrible that i dont want to go to lollapalooza? i told her that i still encouraged her to go if we wanted to and im not standing in the way of that. and she even said my mom was willing to pay for my ticket to the concert but im already so in debt to her bc of my mission trip and i dont want to just add onto that.

im also lowkey a lil frustrated rn bc i feel like ive explained my proposal to emily on how to handle utilities 3 times already and yet, she keeps asking and assuming and my patience is starting to run thin. i dont understand why she hasnt taken my proposal seriously or done what i asked her to do. she knows i dont have a phone and seemed willing to call peoplegas herself at first so i dont understand why shes being stubborn about doing it now.

sigh

anyway, in the car today while johnathan was driving me home to my new apartment, he asked what my thoughts on the whole topic were bc i had remained pretty quiet throughout it all. which i did. partly bc i just wanted to listen and be present and not feel the need to say what i think is “right” or the “best answer” and also bc i could never find a good opportunity to enter the conversation without interrupting someone else. and i confessed that at least on the topic of christians vs non-christians, i understood why jason would feel closer to non-christians bc of that expectation that christian communities have. i grew up in the church, yes. But I didn’t meet Christ until the end of 7th grade. And then I was temporarily on a spiritual high but struggled a lot my freshman year of high school and eventually just didnt see it as a priority or a reason to attend at all during my sophomore and junior years. And senior year, I tried to be open and honest and ended up feeling betrayed by James and tbh, im still a little triggered whenever I hear that name. Regardless of who it’s actually referring to and the context behind it. But that is when I came back to God bc I did feel a sense of community and belongingness with my Guatemala team. At least at first. I definitely felt it with Judy and Grace and I was glad to be there with them. But whenever I’ve come home and far too often, I feel like I have to try so hard just to be a part of the community at all and have to try to go to them so I have anyone in my life that I can rely on. Even when it comes to games, I’m often excluded and ignored bc I don’t fit the “standard” or cultural norm. And no one wants to be excluded or outcasted. We’re all insecure about ourselves but bc everyone is too afraid, no one reaches out to those that are left out and they all eventually leave bc they dont feel a sense of community. it’s a toxic culture and i dont want to go back. but yeah, i didnt come back to Christ until my senior year of high school and even then, it was just gaining a deeper understanding of Him through the Word and practical exercises. But mostly from mission training tbh and just being able to get closer with my team. so during that time when i was away from the church, i relied on my non-christian friends and they were the ones that were there for me when things got rough. i was honestly miserable at home and i couldnt handle it on my own and they were there to help me and listen to me and talk to me and be there for me. not my church friends. with them, i just felt betrayed. i tried to reach out to james, only to find out he and the rest of the guys had been gossiping about me behind my back when i so hopefully believed that we were getting closer and on our way to being friends. im shocked whenever people acknowledge my voice and im not ignored bc im so used to that culture and environment. ive tried to cry out to God and while i havent heard these things about me directly, i have heard many people complaining about people singing too loudly or not singing well enough and how it was annoying or keeping them from going to God. And I am so scarred by that toxic culture and behavior and bc that’s the only church I ever knew growing up, it’s affected how I perceive church in general now. And with church, there’s a certain expectation to be a better person and actively try to be more Christlike which I do but bc of that, I feel like I can’t make mistakes and have to meet that expectation which just leads me back down the path of perceiving serving as an obligation and work and a burden and something i have to do instead of doing it bc i genuinely care and want to serve God by serving them. It is so easy for me to cultivate deeper relationships with my school friends and really care for them bc there is no expectation for me to do anything. But because I genuinely care, I am able to reach out to them and make sure they’re doing okay and provide my help and services in any way that i can. with church, im almost forced and expected to reach out and be a good Christian and do everything right.

I know P. Josh knows my character and who I am and loves me for me but every single time I fall back into this mindset of serving bc I feel like I have to serve and I’m being defined by that, I am afraid to tell him and be honest about it bc I know he said previously he’d be weary of someone joining MAST bc they defined themselves by how they serve and I don’t want him to kick me out of MAST bc that’s what I’ve become. And I keep beating myself up over falling back into this place and this habit because I so desperately don’t want to lose this community and this little family that I have here and people that I do love and trust and rely upon so much. I don’t want to disappoint him. I can’t bear to.

And even at my home church, I never felt like I could speak ill of my parents or vent about what I was going through with them bc my dad was so heavily involved in the church. Everyone knew who he was and I didn’t want to soil his name. I had to be a good Christian and uphold his reputation as his daughter.

But I hated being defined as “Marty’s daughter” or “Loren’s sister.” I just wanted to be known as Jessica Oh. I wanted to be known as me for me.

And I know I’ve made mistakes at my home church and bc they came back to haunt me later during my high school career, I’m afraid they’ll never go away hear. I made a lot of mistakes my sophomore year and I’ve grown a lot since then. But I’m worried people haven’t forgotten about the mistakes I’ve made and relationships I once had are irreparable bc of things I said or did that I didn’t realize in the moment was wrong. I can’t be fully honest or trust the community with who I am bc I feel like I have to be perfect all the time bc of the expectation and pressure placed upon me. And it’s crippling. It’s a fear that is crippling and I can’t fully handle. I’m letting it stop me from really coming before Christ and being honest with Him and growing as a community bc of my love for Him and yearn to serve Him.

but...it’s definitely tough.

i started crying in the car. i didnt think i would but i really am in a lot of pain over this. i just hope it gets resolved soon.

but anyway, thank you God for providing us with the space and opportunity to share our thoughts and go deeper with each other. it was much needed and meant a lot to me and i do really love them all so much.

thank you, God.

oh last thing—the reason ive never really shared all this with jason in the past is bc i know his own relationship with his family is tense and he cant help me or give any advice on how to solve this issue bc he himself does not know.

but yeah.

thank you, God.

#reflection

0 notes

pravasiga · 7 years

Photo

June 19, 2017 - Wabi-Sabi: (Im)perfection.

Wabi-Sabi: (n.) "the quality of being attractive because of being imperfect in some way...wabi-sabi suggests that we see the flaw as being part of what is charming. Can apply to pots, furniture, houses - and whole lives." Origin: Japanese.

Trigger Warning: Body Image and Expectations

I wasn't sure how to start this post to be frank with you. I spent a few hours aimlessly looking around for a word to inspire me to make sense of a whole collection of experiences that I've felt since I've been here. Perhaps the most personal post I've made in a long time, I realized that in the last few years, I've lost my confidence in writing because as I grew up, so did my insecurities, so did my stress levels, and so did my ability to self-doubt. Part of my journey towards writing again is the willingness to be honest, to go deeper, to go pick at the scars that haven't healed properly.

As evidence by the slew of Instagram photos that I've been spamming you all with, being in India meant a change in what I'm used to wearing. For those of you that go to school with me, you know that I stick to a steady stream of sweaters and sweatpants because quite frankly if I have to suffer at college, I might as well be comfortable and warm while I do it. When I go shopping, I go straight to the larger and plus sizes. I thought I had learned to stop being disappointed at finding few items that fit and learned to seek out alternatives. But in India, where I have had to buy new clothes and adjust to a brand new style, I've had my fair share of struggles with body image, grappling with an age-old insecurity that has only worsened with the years and only has been exacerbated by hurtful comments, overactive paranoia, and the desperate need to prove to myself that I can do and be better. One of the biggest things that this trip has forced me to confront was a personal journey that I had long been avoiding - the burden I have borne my entire life regarding Asian-American, feminine, and personal expectations on body image and size.

But I don't owe anyone the debt of feeling sorry for who I am, and wearing my first sari, an ensemble that asks me to bare a part of my body that I have spent most of my life hiding, gave me a burst of confidence that there is so much that I should not and will not be ashamed of. I thank you, ahead of time, for reading this post, and hope that you recognize that this post is an expression of freeing myself from some of the worst thoughts I've had, in pursuit of self-acceptance and integrating the imperfect into the (I'm)perfect.

*If you would like to talk, if this post triggers you, I am here for you. As much as I can be with this spacey wifi. :)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- When yet another size XXL kurta (long shirt) barely made it down over my chest, I was prepared to shed a few tears. The straight, narrow cut of the cloth was not made to fit me and in the dim-lit dressing room, I could only stare at my reflection and feel the same old thoughts come back. If only you had actually used your gym membership this year instead of being lazy. If only you could have foregone that McDonald's meal at the airport. If only you could have just, for once in your life, been smaller. Coupled with a time constraint and limited inventory, I was absolutely exasperated with myself. I had to somehow, find enough salwar kameez combinations to make it through the rest of the summer and so far, all I could be absolutely sure of was that my dupatta (scarf) was not going to be a problem. Though I later was to learn that most Indian women would tailor their clothes or alter it in ways to fit, the pain of quite literally, not fitting into, the new culture and society that I was going to engage with, was enormously difficult to bear. Even at 20 years old, having been overweight all my life, I was not immune to the dread of yanking off a clothing item that didn't fit, praying that no seams would rip.

A Chinese-American woman, I learned at a young age that I didn't fit the mold. I grew up seeing skinny women on runways, in my magazines, and TV-shows. I was fortunate to grow up in a family where my grandfather used to touch the skin on my arm and smile proudly, telling me that my yellow skin ('jing huang pi fu', he would say), golden and luminous, was beautiful. My grandparents were always the most insistent that their grandchildren never forgot to appreciate and love their roots, to continue a proud story that had crossed the Pacific Ocean, weathered world wars, and landed in a strange new country. Save for a brief infatuation with Cinderella where I stubbornly stated that I wanted blonde hair and blue eyes because "that was what princesses looked like", I grew up in love with my long, straight black hair, especially when I could brush it until it gleamed. I used to stare in the mirror at my dark brown eyes, trying to discern the exact rich chocolate brown-black shade of my irises. I decided early on that no matter what color they were, they held light and enthusiasm for life. Enveloped in love, emboldened in a household of two tongues - English and the warm embrace of my ancestors' Mandarin - I was raised in love with my Chinese heritage. But with this, I inherited expectations that would prove to be most constant source of my self-esteem issues - I have never been petite, slender, or thin.

I take a second to dodge questions about my health to simply state that regardless of that condition, it has never warranted the kind of overwhelming pressure to have collarbones that could hold rolls of quarters (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/…/Country-goes-wild-new-social-m…) or a waist that could hide behind a sheet of paper (http://www.nbc26.com/…/asian-women-are-pressured-to-be-peti…). I have never felt quite at home within the Chinese-American community because I have never been able to shake the shame of not fitting what I saw as the ideal Chinese-American woman. It is assumed that our bodies are meant to be a certain way and that it is woven into my DNA to be a porcelain doll, slim and well-proportioned.

I come from a family where love is shared in food, love is communicated in asking about health, and love is given by pinching cheeks and unfortunately, openly asking about my body weight. When my family comments on my waist before my college experience or when I get asked questions, I get asked about my SAT, my GPA, my weight, the amount of times I've gone to the gym far before I get asked about my mental well-being and happiness. I grew up understanding that this was how love was shown sometimes, even when it would twist in too-round stomach and curb my appetite. I have grown up always feeling like my answer was never good enough. I have grown up understanding that this was something I had to desperately change, not simply out of concern for my health, but because - what would other people think? "We just don't want other people to make fun of you," relatives would assure me, "You're a beautiful girl, but you should lose weight."

And so it goes.

I scrambled to find kurtas that fit and while I was able to find some, I couldn't lift the feeling of defeat that followed me out of the door of Big Bazaar, onto the van, and back into my hostel room. I had been so excited to go shopping for those loose garments, wrongly guessing that such loose fabrics and clothes would be easier to fit into. Even though many of my team members expressed similar frustration of finding clothes that fit, I tuned it all out, I tried to hold myself above wallowing but I couldn't help but sink in. That night, I ate less than half of what I had been given for dinner. I felt like I could have burst out of my skin every single time food passed my lips.

When we got the chance to buy saris, I tried to put a lid on the excitement. A sari is a long piece of fabric (anywhere from 5 to 9 yards), often beautifully decorated, meant to be wrapped around the body to form a skirt and to drape over the shoulder. (Side note: it is so hard to tie this damn thing, I tried and ended up hopping around the room trying to keep everything in place). We had been invited to the wedding of the son of a local technology company, known for its dedication to employing those with mental disabilities and pushing for similar practices in other companies. But I was focused not appearing lumpy, misshapen, and enormous in my sari. I was most afraid of what my rolls of stomach fat would look like, hanging out of the skirt, or worse, not fitting in at all.

The sari store was stuffed to the brim with gorgeous fabrics and I remember my breath being taken away as I ran my fingers along the ornamentally decorated trims of red, blue, purple, golden - every color of the rainbow - saris. I had long decided to go with a red sari, taking a lesson from my prom dress shopping fiasco that red, in fact was my "power color". I tried sari after sari, and as the women who worked at the store hastily tied and rolled me repeatedly into increasingly beautiful fabrics, I couldn't help but focus on everyone around me, finding their perfect sari. Between indecision and an inability to be satisfied by anything I had seen so far, I began to feel that same sense of dread that I had experienced the week before in the dressing room. I began to feel like a little girl trying to play dress-up, attempting to mimic an imaginary standard that was always meant to be above my grasp. Time was running out and I was among the last people to choose - and of the few I had tried on, I just felt completely out of place in all of them. I begged the women to let me try one more on - a red sari with tear-drop gold embroidery, and a golden-green trim. I reviewed the photos a friend helped take of me, and still couldn't bring myself to love it. But in all honesty, I don't know what I had more difficulty loving - the sari, or myself.

I bought the sari anyways. I didn't have time to find another one and this was the best I had found from the bunch. I kept my negative thoughts deep in my belly, swallowed to prevent them from reaching the surface. I told myself that I would just have to learn to wear it, learn to love it for all the other aspects. The fabric was beautiful - there was no doubt in that. I would have to do my best to fit myself in its folds and present as little trouble to the tailor in the next few weeks.

The week flew. We got fit for the tiny blouses (which were MUCH shorter than I expected) and patiently waited for our first chance to wear our beautiful new garments. In my room, I clumsily tried to imitate what I had learned from the women at store and "tied" my first sari. I have a long way to go. Getting those folds perfectly evenly and crisp much be a superhuman talent, honestly. I have incredible respect for anyone who can do it perfectly.

But of course, this is a blog post with a happy ending. The first time I was properly tied into my sari, with the little red blouse, my hair swept back, and my favorite red lipstick on, I was floored. I had tried pulling my petticoat up as high as I could, to hide as much of the skin that peeked out, a fact that the women helping us tie our saris noticed. They originally had pinned part of the draped fabric to my blouse, to form a curtain over the expanse of waist that I had hidden for so much of my life. Staring in the mirror, turning and feeling the fabric swirl around my feet, I unpinned that little curtain and tucked it back into my skirt. And I gave myself time to appreciate the form in front of me, a force in red, gold, yellow, and black. In that moment, I thought little of the expectations that I had carried on my back all my life. I didn't feel hidden under the beautiful fabric nor did I feel that the sari was wearing me. The body that I had spent so many years of my life berating, squeezing, hiding, was perfectly displayed.

It was a breath of fresh air, it was freedom from a restriction I had long placed on myself. And you damn well know I had to take a million photos to celebrate.

But more importantly, it is a reminder. It is a reminder that for all the comments of my family, I come from a long line of strong, sturdy women. Women whose hands and arms bore equal weight as the men in my lineage, women who were mothers and doctors and businesswomen and accountants and caretakers and brilliant and brave. Never had I once questioned whether they were fantastic role models. Never once have I questioned their beauty, their grace, their strength. So size zero be damned, I know that I may never fit into anything at half of the store I stop by, but what there is of me, I will love, I will cherish, and I will protect. And so should you, you fantastic, incredible, wonderful human being.

Dhanyavada galu (thank you) Ninna gelati (your friend), Winnie

PS: The wedding was also amazing and great and wow so many people I can't believe they just literally let 30 random Americans in at the last second. Congratulations to the bride and groom!

PPS: I learned the hard way how hard it is to pee in a sari and let me just tell you it involves a lot of folding, clutching, and praying.

PPPS: Photo credits to my least-favorite person and kind-of favorite photographer, Anant Sriram because bless that camera and his patience for dealing with my idiocy and basicness.

PPPPS: I love all of you, just the way you are.

0 notes