#like i’m very glad jello did not keep the old name

[hunnieb33]

me, listening to the Prison of Plastic audiobook: oh, this “Stem” corporation sounds interesting. i wonder why it was added to the story? what role is it going to play? how-

narrator: “Stem has its hand in just about everything nowadays. agriculture, nanobots, you name it.”

me: oh my god it’s toilet apples, he’s talking about toilet apples, holy shit

narrator, confirming: “its CEO, naven”

me: I MEAN I CANT BLAME HIM FOR GIVING TOILET APPLES AN ACTUAL NAME BUT IT’S SO WEIRD

[achliegh]

Golden

Yeehaw Leo… it's all because this song came on one day (I don’t even really listen to country anymore so it really is fate). Leo is based off that song, each chapter is going to be based off a yeehaw song too.

Characters belong to @lumosinlove

Beta: @the-most-slyterin-hufflepuff & @punkkkboi

TW/CW: Smut, terrible yeehaw sayings and jokes, injuries, mentions of past death, minor character death, underage drinking, mentions of past arrests, cringe

Chapter Songs (listening in order is recommended):

Chapter 5:

Redneck Woman

Red Solo Cup

Eloise smiles as Leo continues to ramble on about these boys who have clearly stolen his heart. She sips her black coffee and sets it down on the counter she is leaning against. Walking over to her offspring, that is a total of two inches taller than her, she kisses his cheek causing him to stop mid sentence.

“Was I rambling too much?” The red appearing on his cheeks made her smile, ruffling his hair that is in need of his yearly head shave. He swats her hand away. “I know it's long but because someone told me how to keep my hair healthy.” Looks pointedly at her as she snorts. “I only cut my hair once a year and it's a full shave.” He sticks out his tongue.

“Who even raised you to be so disrespectful?” She dramatically puts her hand on her chest, then tightens the ties on her robe. Giving him a motherly smile she thanks him as he puts some toad in a hole on a plate for her. “I don’t have my hearing friend in to help me listen to you,” She makes a gesture like she is swooning with her hand on her forehead and her hand fanning herself. “ GuSh, about your hockey boys. But, it is very sweet.”

“I really like them Mama… I think you and Daddy would too.” He focuses on his toast as he takes a bite and brushes the crumbs onto the floor, much to Eloise’s annoyance. She knows this is a sign of him wanting to trust his emotions but doesn’t want to jinx himself.

“Come here, let's get all the motherly squishing done before Clay and… what was his name? Rex?” She pulls him into a tight hug and crushes him in her arms with her old lady strength. He relaxes completely into her and hugs back just as tight but making sure not to hurt her. He makes sure to have his head on her right shoulder so she can hear him.

“Reg, his name is Regulus but we call him Reg. I think you should try and adopt him like you did with Clay. Pseudo Mother is just your personality now that you are so old.” He squeaks and gets out of her death grip hug as she pokes his ribs. “RUDE!”

She is still cackling as Clayton bursts through the door announcing his entrance, running into the kitchen.

“I smell food!” He hops on the counter and begins earring Leo’s breakfast. She pats his knee with a happy yet defeated look on her face. She has told him so many times not to climb on the counters that cost more than some people's entire house. “Mm! Ma, meet Reg.” He gestures to a boy who looks like he feels entirely out of place, she was going to tell Clay off for talking with his mouth full but she has a new mission now.

Protect this kid.

After making a mess and eating, Clay and Leo go out to load the trailer and Horses up for the drive to Texas where the rest of their team already is. Eloise has started on the dishes and looks over to Reg and nods him over.

“You know how to rinse dishes?”

“No Ma’am.” She smiles at him and pushes the faucet to face the sink in front of him.

“No need to call me Ma’am, call me Eloise. Now, you just run the dish under the hot warmer and get all the suds off. Make sure I don't miss any food or spots because I am just a helpless old lady at the end of the day.” She gets a small smile to form at his lips as she shows him exactly how to rinse. An easy task, but one that he was never taught. That triggers something in her head that makes her think he was told he only has one purpose in life. No one only has a single purpose in life. “Who are your parents Reg?” She notices him tense at the question and immediately regrets asking.

“Orion and Walburga Black.” Simple and straightforward answer. He doesn’t want to talk about them. She nods and hums in acknowledgement. Passing the last few dishes in silence, she drains the sink and turns to look at him.

“So, what did Marigold and Bluebell tell you to convince you to come with them this summer?” She smiles at him as his whole demeanor changes. He smiles that same small smile but he visibly relaxes.

“First off, Marigold… Bluebell? What the fuck kinda names are those.” Eloise laughs in surprise. “Second, we watched tiktoks half drunk together for two hours while the rest of the team socialized.” She nods her head, that does sound like what those two would do. “And Third, I have been needing to get away from my brother and his boyfriend so they can boink in peace and not have to worry about me hearing.” He looks at her and his smile drops off his face. “Sorry, Leo told me you were laid back and I thought it would be alright to share this type of stuff with-”

“Reg I think you are a wonderful man who is going to keep those two pea-brains in line while on the road. Maybe loosen up a little yourself.” She smiles. “Is it alright if I give you physical affection? I tend to be a touchy person and not realize it.” He pauses for a moment and then nods, she pats his cheek and smiles as the other two walk back into the kitchen.

Reg is still a little stunned when Clay throws his arm around his shoulder and jostles him around.

After kisses and hugs goodbye Leo hops into the driver's seat, Clay in the passenger and Reg in the middle seat of the back. Reg has barely seen a truck in his life but this vehicle was fucking huge. Giant. Thicc some might say. The first few hours of driving was a podcast that Clay was in the middle of listening to when he picked up Reg. Once that ended Reg descended into music hell.

He has come to the conclusion that most country songs are about the three G’s.

Guns, God, Goodies (meaning like titties)

He was absolutely taken aback by how Leo was screaming, we can’t call it singing its terrible, these songs that are the complete opposite of him. Clayton at least liked goodies. There was one song that will probably stick with Reg his entire life. Redneck Woman by Gretchen Wilson.

Holy shit. When that song came on it was like Leo and Clay were having a contest of who could sing it the loudest. So, Reg decided that for his first check in with the team. Which Sirius was making him do because he is paranoid. Reg decided he would turn around in his seat and film a video of him painfully smiling and giving a thumbs up to the camera as Leo and Clay scream at each other.

“I’M A REDNECK WOMAN AIN’T NO HIGH PRICE GAL!”

Clay sees Reg recording and flips off the camera still singing. An hour later they pull up to this massive ranch style AirBnB with stables and all. It must have cost a fortune. Reg hops out of the truck and feels out of place, Yeehaws everywhere. Okay, there were like three of them and this giant man with long hair and a braided beard, covered in tattoos just reading a book on the front porch.

“That's our tattoo artist, he travels with us because he is the only person Leo and I trust to tattoo us. You’d like him, his name is Hagrid. But, no time to chit chat! We need to teach you some of the basics, we’ve got a rodeo in two nights. I am competing on Leroy and Peanut is just here for fun. How about we teach you how to care for them a bit?” Clay smiles at him and Reg remembers he is with people who want to be friends with him… for him. Not because of hockey or his family, not because his brother made them. Just for him. Reg went willingly with Clay to watch Leo as he led the horses one by one out into a pen for them to roam around in for a bit.

Clay went into more detail about how they care for them and what he thinks Reg can do. It was night already so they decided to go inside, Leo asked around to see what people were hungry for and made almost anything after someone had got groceries.

“I didn’t know you could cook.” Reg was sitting across the island from Leo as he finished up the food, having watched him make the entire meal.

“Mama taught me how to cook when I was younger, it was the one thing I did that wouldn’t get me in trouble with the law.” He rolls his eyes at the thought of the sheriff and Reg decides not to press. “What do you want to do tomorrow while Clay practices?”

They got wasted. Mostly on jello shots, Leo taught Reg the trick: rim job, blow job, swallow. Leo had promised the boys he would call them, he didn’t want to do it drunk but he misses them like crazy. Drunk or not he was going to call them. So, there he is sitting on the balcony out of his bedroom waiting for them to answer. Finn picks up first, shirtless and sweating.

“Okay Finn, I love this” Gesturing in a circle at Finn who just smiles out of breath and wipes his face with a towel. “But I need you to calm down, because I’m a little tipsy and that means I’m very horny.” He smiles when Finn laughs.

“Well I’m glad to know that even on truth serum you find me attractive.” Finn sets his phone down but props it up on some books as he finishes his warm down stretches from his run he just came back from.

Then Logan picks up, in Leo’s T shirt he left for him last time. It was baggy on him and his hair was messed up from sleeping. The side of his face is a little red and there are lines from his pillow squished into his face. He sleepily smiles at the camera.

“Hi Leo.” Leo groans in response and leans his head back.

“You two are gonna be the death of me. Fucking Christ.” He signs and looks at Logan who is suddenly bright red but smiling back. “You’re beautiful Sweet Pea.”

“Really?” Logan looks at him with such big unbelieving eyes that it breaks Leo’s heart.

“Mhm you and Finn make my little heart do a pitter-patter every time I think of y’all.” Being drunk Leo’s accent is incredibly thick.

“You sound like a true southern man there, Le. How is Texas?” Finn is sitting on the ground criss cross with his hands resting on his knees. Logan has laid back down and snuggled up with his blanket on his side. “You’ve been there a day right?”

“Yes sir! I have been here for a full 27 hours now and I can say, it ain’t no Louisiana but it’ll do.” He shows off his chipped tooth and hears a trilling sound on his railing and looks over to see a mama opossum with her babies hanging on her back. He smiles and flips the camera. “Look at This Little Mama!” He reaches his hand out and she looks at it suspicious. Logan told Leo to stop and Finn said no, but he knows what he’s doing.

To their surprise, the mama just lets Leo pet her under her chin and Finn takes so many pictures. The opossum lets Leo pet her babies with his finger and he pats her head on last time before he goes inside to flop on his bed.

“So, We’ve been thinking” Leo lifts his phone to be above his face as he slowly starts dozing off. “We want to come out.” Leo’s eyes snap open and he drops the phone on his face, rolling over to his stomach he wiggles his nose as he processes what Finn just said.

“Wait, like all three of us or just your two?”

“Well, we thought we would leave that up to you…”

“I think to start, it would be safest for all of us, if you two came out together first. We can talk about me coming out when I’m done traveling this summer, okay?” They all smile at each other nervously and Finn notices a couple of watery sniffles from Logan, they were going to talk to Dumo and Sirius tomorrow. Maybe then they can talk more.

“Leo, do you want to move in… in the fall? Winter? I mean you don’t have too but I would like it and I bet Logan would too. We miss you.” Finn has his fingers crossed where the others can’t see.

Silence.

“I would love to, let me give you my Mama’s number. She will be so glad to get me out of the house the rest of the year.” He laughs a little, they fall into a comfortable silence and Leo drifts off, fully dressed in his boots and everything. Clutching his phone like he never has.

Finn knocks on the Dumias door the next day. Nervous about this talk they are going to have with the other French speaking people. Finn can’t speak French so he hopes they don’t start speaking it because he will just up and leave. Logan opens the door and Finn can’t help the soppy smile that crosses his face when he sees Logan in his sweatshirt. He wondered where it went. Logan and Him walk into the dinning room where Sirius and Dumo are talking about new plays they want to practice. They look up when they enter the room and stand across from them.

“Dumo, Sirius I need you to mind your fucking business.”

“What he means to say is why did you tell Leo that he hurt Logan?” Finn translated.

“I was the one that hurt Leo! Leo did nothing and you guys fucking made him doubt us even more!” Logan crossed his arms and Finn rested a hand on his shoulder and squeezed.

“What? That's why you were so sad? Because of something you did… Logan, I know we sound like broken records at this point but please start talking to us.” Dumo looks at him with a slightly frustrated look in his eyes but also worry. It makes Logan’s skin crawl.

“I think you meant well with the shovel talk, but Logan was the one who broke things off with Leo before it even started. He told Leo we didn’t want him and all this other shit that was Logan being… scared.” Finn feels Logan take his hand and interlock their fingers. He looks at the smaller man and squeezes his hand as a way to say, I’m here.

Dumo and Sirius didn’t get another word in before Logan was dragging Finn out the door. Staying at his apartment for a few days. Lo already has some clothes there and… they had to film something special.

Rodeo the next day went well. The after party was even better.

They were in a large steel building with everyone, concrete floors covered in dirt with people swinging dancing their hearts out. Leo was drinking and Clay was drinking, they somehow managed to lose clay about twenty minutes ago. Reg was getting a facetime from Sirius and answered it so Sirius doesn’t worry, the music is so loud that he can barely hear him until a less background heavy song comes on and Leo is humming it while drinking out of his red solo cup.

“Reg where are you!?” Sirius was yelling because it was so loud and Remus was in the background trying not to laugh.

“I’m at an after party! Are you with the team?” Sirius nods and flips the camera to show everyone and Leo’s eye catches his boys.

“FINN! LOGAN!” He yells super loud so everyone turns to face sirius’ phone. “IF YOU WERE HERE RIGHT NOW I WOULD TOTALLY SUCK YOUR DICKS IN THE BATHROOM! AT THE SAM- CLAY!” Leo sees Clay in the ocean of people and scurries off before finishing his sentence. Reg looks back at his phone and shrugs. Finn and Logan are bright red and getting chirped to hell for sure but the music is so loud that he can’t hear them.

“I’ll call you when I get back to the BnB!” Sirius nods and hangs up. Wrestling two drunk idiots into an uber is fine but getting them out was like untangling headphones that you left in your pocket for three years.

Just legs everywhere.

Hands? Don’t know how to use them.

Braincell? Reg has it.

At some point Clayton started crying because a guy he thinks he has a crush on has a girlfriend and he isn’t Leo so he can’t convince two people to love him. Very dramatic. Leo thinks he lost his phone, even though he gave it to Reg at the beginning of the night, and he is worried someone will find it and steal his nudes for their own. Reg doesn’t even know how to respond to that.

Waking up the next morning. Leo has a mild headache, but nothing that will stop him from driving. It was going to be a good day. Especially when Leo got his phone back and saw a tiktok notification from Finn and Logan.

They came out last night.

Time to wreak havoc.

[snowe-zolynn-rogers]

Pairings: Past Aizawa/Mandalay, Pre-Bakugou/Kirishima

Word Count: 2,006 Words

Summary: The Sports Festival, part 2.

Warnings: Fighting Mention, Cursing, Fire Mention, Bullying Mention, Trauma Mention, Injury Mention, Teen Pregnancy Mention, Pregnancy Mention, Partial Nudity Mention, Death Mention, let me know if I should tag anything else.

Usernames: Existence Is A Prison   Aizawa: feral cat dad, Aoyama: gay salt, Hagakure: ranch flavored jello, Tokoyami: foil-mecha, Shinsou: farmer toshi, Kuroiro: life is a nightmare, Shiozaki: saviour, Tsunotori: schrodinger better run, Honenuki: pure, Monoma: nat20, Yamada: President Megaphone, Bakugou: deku-deck-you

Notes: Bakugou doesn't get chained down because fuck that part of the canon. The League will just go after him because he's powerful.

Aizawa, We Agreed No More Cats: Chapter 9

11:50 AM

Existence Is A Prison

gay salt: Yaoyorozu is amazing.

ranch flavored jello: She can bench press me anytime.

gay salt: To be fair, you'd let any strong lesbian bench press you.

ranch flavored jello: You're not wrong but you don't have to say it.

life is a nightmare: She did really well, I'm glad she's advancing despite that Tsubasa guy cutting her up with his glass.

deku deck-you: I think that guy might be related to one of my old friends before UA.

foil-mecha: What happened that you aren't friends anymore

deku deck-you: Tsubasa Ryuu? He got kidnapped or something during a break and I never saw him again. My other two friends? They were fake. They ditched me after the Sludge Villain incident.

nat20: I'll kick their asses for you.

deku deck-you: I wouldn't stop you from burning Aldera Middle School to the ground. For Deku's sake, mostly, but also because I hated those teachers.

feral cat dad: What happened at Aldera Middle School?

deku deck-you: Well, you probably know from Deku by now that I wasn't always easy on him or even this easy to get along with. From the time Deku was misdiagnosed as quirkless, I bullied him. Let's be honest, my reasoning wasn't important because I made his life a living hell just because mine was a living hell at home.

deku deck-you: We talked about everything the day after I moved into the dorms, so don't worry, there's no hard feelings and we're working through all the shit I did to him.

deku deck-you: But, anyway, the teachers at Aldera tried to fail Deku constantly because of his 'quirklessness' but I'd vouch his grades for him once I realized they were trying to flunk him out of the school. And, after the Sludge Villain happened, they began doing the same thing to me because they thought I was influenced by a villain even though I'd told them so many times that I was basically a hostage.

feral cat dad: Looks like I'm opening a formal complaint against Aldera Middle School after the Sports Festival.

deku deck-you: Don't, me and Deku just want to leave Aldera behind us.

feral cat dad: Fine.

feral cat dad: Oh, they had a draw while we were texting. Jeez, that was fast.

deku deck-you: Don't you dare underestimate Kirishima.

ranch flavored jello: Someone has a crush.

deku deck-you: Don't you dare speak of this. I'll launch Deku at you.

ranch flavored jello: Jeez, fine. Feral Deku scares me.

deku deck-you: Good. I gotta go.

12:20 PM

Existence Is A Prison

farmer toshi: Wow, Kats. You did great.

deku deck-you: Can't talk right now. She's in pain and won't let go of me.

deku deck-you is now offline

feral cat dad: Fuck, she overstressed herself.

farmer toshi: I want so badly to check on her but I need to fight Tokoyami now.

1:15 PM

Existence Is A Prison

farmer toshi: Katsuki, you're coming back soon, right? I mean, your match is next after Todoroki and Yaoyorozu.

deku deck-you is online

deku deck-you: I'm back, who's won?

farmer toshi: Kirishima won against Tetsutetsu in their rematch, I won against Fumi, Midoriya won against Toru, Kiyo won against Shizuka, Kaminari just won against Fujioka.

deku deck-you: Okay, good.

ranch flavored jello: I'm down by the entrance to the field. What's wrong with Yaoyorozu?

ranch flavored jello has started a video chat

[Yaoyorozu is shown fumbling around a bit in the ring and Todoroki is in a fighting stance, but drops it when she's facing the wrong way]

Yaoyorozu, why are you stumbling? -Unknown

Shut up and fight me, Todoroki! -Unknown

Something's wrong with you, I won't compete if you're hurt. -Unknown

Just fight me! -Unknown

[Yaoyorozu is shown collapsing and Midnight goes to check on her.]

Yaoyorozu cannot compete due to a previous injury, this match goes to Todoroki! -Unknown

ranch flavored jello has ended the group chat

gay salt: Mon dieu. Is she alright?

ranch flavored jello: She's muttering about her eyes.

ranch flavored jello: Oh god, there's glass in her eyes.

feral cat dad: Get up here, Toru. Now, you don't have to see that.

ranch flavored jello: I won't leave her alone without anyone she knows. I won't. She can't see, Dad.

feral cat dad: Okay, keep her company. But please be aware, they're probably going to do surgery to try to save her vision.

ranch flavored jello: It must have happened when she made that smoke bomb and Tsubasa couldn't see her.

feral cat dad: They're already having Katsuki against Kirishima to ease the tension in the stadium. Clearly, Katsuki's winning already.

2:00 PM

Existence Is A Prison

feral cat dad: Yeah, Katsuki won. So did Shinsou against Midoriya, Kiyo won against Kaminari, and Katsuki won against Todoroki.

ranch flavored jello: At least there's some good news.

deku deck-you: What good news? Icyhot wouldn't fight me with his fire and we spent like ten minutes yelling about trauma before the fucker got blown back so hard when his fire hit my explosion that he's now got a concussion.

feral cat dad: I understand you're angry, but you didn't do anything wrong, Katsuki.

deku deck-you: I know, I just feel bad. Now two of the people I've fought today are out of commission temporarily and I feel responsible.

feral cat dad: I know, and I also know they'll both forgive you. You went off with Uraraka for almost a hour and you didn't mean to injure Todoroki.

2:20 PM

Existence Is A Prison

feral cat dad: I'm so proud of all three of you.

farmer toshi: Katsuki, you're helping put my shoulder into place as a punishment for pulling it out. Recovery Girl already said it was fine.

deku deck-you: A punishment I'll accept fully for doing it in the first place. After I'm done visiting Pink Cheeks again.

deku deck-you is now offline

feral cat dad: My chaotic sons.

ranch flavored jello: Alright, I'm back. Momo can't leave the hospital tonight and she's been instructed to have Recovery Girl heal her in two days.

feral cat dad: There's my daughter. It's a good thing you kids are off for two days after today because you need time to heal after all that.

feral cat dad: Nezu's already insisted Yaoyorozu stay in the dorms because he doesn't want her too far from campus and her parents live in Tokyo prefecture and he feels it's too far for an injures student to travel.

feral cat dad: Tokage is already getting spoken to by Nezu, so she'll likely be added to this chat soon enough. Toru, can you turn on Yaoyorozu's screen reader for her so I can add her to this chat.

ranch flavored jello: Done!

feral cat dad has added Yaoyorozu

Yaoyorozu: Hello everyone!

foil-mecha: Hi, Momo!

Yaoyorozu: Hello! I'm going to take a nap, the surgery was very taxing so I'm quite tired. I'll message you all later when I wake up.

ranch flavored jello: I'll stay with her, don't worry!

Yaoyorozu is now offline

feral cat dad: You haven't changed her username yet, Hitoshi.

farmer toshi: I figure she probably doesn't know our usernames yet so I'll do it later after we tell her ours.

deku deck-you is now online

deku deck-you: Nezu's with Uraraka so I can't visit her right now.

farmer toshi: Is she okay?

deku deck-you: I don't know if I'm allowed to say. Honestly, if it were me and someone told other people I didn't know well without me knowing, I'd call it an invasion of privacy.

feral cat dad: Nezu said Uraraka should be fine. There's no need to worry about her, Recovery Girl is nothing if not adamant on the care of her patients.

deku deck-you: Alright, I'm allowed in now that she's asking for me.

deku deck-you is now offline

life is a nightmare: I wonder how badly hurt she is to want Katsuki there for comfort.

3:00 PM

Existence Is A Prison

gay salt: screenshotofurarakaslatestinstagramphoto.jpg

ochako&baby.jpg

Liked by blastyboykats and 57 others

uraravity Welcome to the world baby boy, despite being unexpected.

View all 15 comments

minabeana Oh my gosh, that baby is so cute. I love him already.

winniepie He's so cute.

kiripima Aw, welcome to the world, little guy.

sparklegirl He's cute, Ocha, mon ami!

michipeachy 🥰🥰🥰

farmer toshi: Does Uraraka have a baby sibling?

foil-mecha: Last I heard she was an only sibling.

nat20: Maybe her mom had the baby today?

feral cat dad: Alright, Uraraka is good now, not that I need to tell you since Aoyama apparently stalks people's accounts on everything.

gay salt: Hey, she gave me her account name willingly! I have all the other girl's accounts.

feral cat dad: Anyway. Tokage's also done talking to Nezu. Here's the girls of the hour.

feral cat dad has added Uraraka and Tokage

Uraraka: Hi, guys.

gay salt: Ocha, are you okay?

Uraraka: Oh yeah, Nezu said me and my baby can stay at the dorms.

gay salt: Quoi? Your baby?

Uraraka: Yeah, didn't Katsuki or Aizawa tell you all? That's why I'm moving into the dorms. I went after my match in the Sports Festival with Katsuki and they had to end up doing an emergency C-Section because they weren't finding a heartbeat. Thankfully, my idiot daughter is fine, just chaotic.

gay salt: What's her name?

Uraraka: Uraraka Emiyo.

gay salt: I will spoil her.

foil-mecha: How cute is she?

Uraraka: katsukicryingholdingemiyo.jpg

foil-mecha: Truly a glorious child. I assure you, us 1a students will assist you in your raising of dear Emiyo as best we can.

ranch flavored jello: I'm not good with baby-babies but I'll try.

Yaoyorozu is now online

Yaoyorozu: I'll help as well, once I'm able to.

Uraraka: It's okay if you don't want to, Momo.

Yaoyorozu: I don't believe you were there for it but, in the second rounds, I had to forfeit the match to Todoroki because, in the first round, Tsubasa Yuudai accidentally got glass in my eyes. My win in the first round was a fluke and I was running only off instinct when I got him out of bounds but, since taking the glass out can't fix the amount of nerve damage, I'll likely be blind for the foreseeable future.

Uraraka: Oh gods, Momo, I'd come give you a hug but I can't move around much yet.

Yaoyorozu: It's fine, Uraraka. It was an accident after all, he didn't mean to do that but the smoke bomb I made obscured his vision.

life is a nightmare: If either of you need anything, just text us, someone will get it to you.

Yaoyorozu: Thank you, but I have Toru for now!

Uraraka: Thanks. I'm good, I've got a Katsuki.

nat20: You say that like you've roped him in or something.

Uraraka: Well he's been proclaiming that he's Emiyo's uncle for the whole thirty minutes she's been in this world.

schrodinger better run: To be fair, is he not her uncle by now?

Uraraka: He is. He's the first besides my parents and me to hold her. He's definitely her uncle.

pure: Has he even put her down yet?

Uraraka: katsukiasleepwithemmiyoinhisarms.jpg

Uraraka: No, he hasn't. My mom's about to pick her up though. She's worried she'll fall and I have to feed her and all so he'll be temporarily losing holding rights anyway since I have to make him leave to feed her.

gay salt: He's sleeping, Ocha. Plus, I thought you knew he was 💅

Uraraka: He's gay?

gay salt: No, he's trans, Ocha, us girls had a whole meeting on including our ftm classmates on girl days if they're comfortable with it and you forgot?

Uraraka: Oh yeah, in that case I'm whipping out the titty so my mom can show my how to feed a baby.

Uraraka is now offline

feral cat dad: You kids are going to give me a heart attack one day and I'll put all your names on my tombstone as a reason I died.

@everythingisstardust 

[sanokisses]

Too Much to Drink

| Carlos Oliveira x Reader |

prompt: the reader has too much to drink and Carlos looks after her like the good boyfriend he is.

word count: 1,664

a/n: Also guys, I'd be glad to take any requests if you have any! I love writing for this fandom!

You honestly don't know how you got outside the bar in your state but to be fair, it was really loud and hot in there. Too many bodies and ridiculously loud music soon began to make you feel anxious. Fresh air was definitely needed. The streets and sidewalks were empty for the most part and the city lights lit up the streets quite beautifully. You could still hear the blaring music faintly through the thick brick walls but nonetheless the cool city breeze felt amazing on your skin.

Where was he? You missed him. You rummaged through your purse and finally pulled out your phone. It quickly unlocked it due to the facial recognition feature, the tiny bit of soberness in you silently thanked your phone because there was no way you could enter a password right now.

"Hm, mm, mm~" You hummed to yourself as you focused very hard on your phone screen. It took a couple minutes because your vision was blurred and in double, but there it was, the contacts app.

"Found you.." You were quick to find his number. Drunk or sober you knew the contact you were looking for the name was unmistakable.

"💞💓 Carlos 💕💘"

You clicked on his name and put the phone up to your ear. It rang twice before he answered.

"Hello?" He answered. His deep voice making you feel giddy inside and you unintentionally let out a tiny excited gasp. "Babe? I thought you were out with your friends, why you calling me?" He asked.

"Carlos." You hummed happily as you slightly stumbled against the brick wall.

"Yes?" He asked through a chuckle.

"I miss you." You whined and rested your head on the brick wall you were leaning on.

"How much did you have to drink tonight?" Carlos questioned almost getting cut off by your quickness to reply.

"You didn't say I miss you-" You hiccuped. "-back."

"I miss you too, sweetheart." He said. "How much did-"

"I wanna go home." You said suddenly feeling sad. All you wanted was Carlos right now.

"Do you want me to pick you up?" He asked.

"Yes, please." Your voice was soft.

"Alright, I'm on my way." You smiled and hung up your phone.

"(Name)! We were looking everywhere for you!" Voices called out to you. You looked to see your friends practically running towards you from the club's entrance.

"It was hot in there." You pouted as they stood in front of you.

"Did you call Carlos?" Your blue haired friend, Savanna asked while she smoothed out your hair and fixed your lipstick that was slightly out of place. She was always the motherly one that looked after you and quite frankly the one that freaked out the most when everyone realized you were missing.

"Mhm!" You nodded happily making your friends giggle and laugh.

"Girl, you already know she did. If I had a man that looked like that I would call him 24/7." Your tallest friend, Tyler said making everyone laugh.

"Tyler, enough out of you." Your third friend laughed. "Honestly (Name), we were scared. How were we supposed to tell Carlos we lost you?" She laughed again.

"Aisha's right. So he could body slam us? No ma'am." Tyler said causing everyone to erupt in laughter.

A couple minutes passed by of everyone joking around until a familiar car pulled up on the side of the pavement. You immediately got excited when you saw your boyfriend step out of the car and his eyes landed onto you. He shut the driver's door and walked over to you. He was wearing black jeans, a black V-cut shirt and a leather jacket.

"Carlos!" Your lazily leaped to the tall man and wrapped your arms around his neck losing your balance while reaching for him. Carlos caught you and immediately held your hips steadying you in place.

"Easy there, tiger." Carlos studied your state with an amused expression. You were swaying and very much out of it.

"How much did you drink tonight?" Carlos asked slightly amused but still concerned.

"A lot." Your voice was slightly muffled as you happily cuddled up to his chest. You lost track after your 4th jello shot, but in your defense they "weren't that strong" so it was okay to keep downing them.

"A lot?" He chuckled. You shot your head up to look at him.

"Yup! A whoolee lot!" Your eyes were closed accompanied with a loopy smile.

"Alright, let's get you home." Carlos looked up from you to your friends and smiled.

"Thank you guys." He said politely.

"It's no problem. Take good care of her!" Savanna said.

"Bye, (Name)! Love you."

"We love you."

"Stay safe, babe!"

To you, the seemingly disappeared but Carlos saw that they just walked across the street to their car and pulled off. With ease he shifted you to his side wrapping his arm around your waist helping you to his car. Opening the passenger door he made sure you got in safely not bumping your head on the top of the car. You watched him lean over you to buckle your seat belt when a fabulous idea popped in your mind.

"Baby, can we get a slushie?" You asked with your hands clasped and a hopeful look on your face.

"I really want one. A big one!" The seatbelt clicked.

"Please, babe?" Your hands found their way to Carlos' face turning his attention to you but not before squishing his cheeks together.

"You're gonna make yourself sick." He said.

"Am not." You pouted.

"Look, how 'bout we go to the park tomorrow and get some then. Sound good?" He proposed.

"Mhm~" You smiled and hummed at the idea.

The entire car ride home you kept his free hand in yours. Your favorite thing to do was compare his hand size to yours. Taking his hand and placing it up to yours. His long fingers seemed to keep you occupied for the time being. That and the pretty city lights you would sometimes glance up at through the window. Every once in a while Carlos would glance over at you to see if you were okay. Eventually you both made it to your apartment safely. Carlos helped you out the car and into your apartment. As soon as he opened the door he was greeted with a sweet smell.

Your apartment was homey. Fairy lights, potted plants and always a lingering smell of something incredibly sweet due to the wax melters you had around the place. It was always a cozy vibe at your place. Its the complete opposite from Carlos' apartment. You always buy him cute little decorations to out around the place but he always leaves them in one spot.

Carlos helped you down the hallway to your bedroom and sat you down on the edge of your bed. He kneeled in front of you and took off your heels one by one and sat them to the side.

"I'll be back." He stood up and looked at you. "Be still." He said before disappearing into the hallway. You stood up rather quickly and almost lost your balance but after recovering you stripped of everything but your underwear and rummaged through your dresser to find something to sleep in. Eventually you decided on a old oversized band shirt you're not really sure where you got it from. You stumbled your way into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. You still had makeup on and it felt incredibly heavy on your skin.

"Babe?" Carlos called for you from the bedroom.

"In here.." You replied softly.

"What are you doin'?" He stood in the doorway holding something but you weren't paying much attention, all you cared about was getting this makeup off.

"'m taking off my makeup.." You rubbed your face with the tissue.

"With dry toilet paper? Goddam, (Name). Let me help you out." He said.

You sat on the ottoman in the bathroom crisscross style watching your boyfriend in contentment as he looked for your makeup remover through the tons of product you left scattered on your vanity station before you left to the club earlier that night. He didn't know much about cosmetics but he knew enough to know that it was bad to try to wipe off makeup with a dry tissue.

"Think I found them." He said and took a couple wipes out the pack before turing back to you.

"C'mere.." Carlos held your chin up to gently wipe your face removing the makeup from your face. You felt slightly more aware from the sudden coldness on your face due to the wipes cooler temperature against your warm flushed skin. You were starting to grow more and more sleepy as time went on and the attention from Carlos wasn't helping either but you weren't complaining.

"I'm sleepy, Carlos." You looked up at him with lidded eyes and he smiled softly as he caressed your cheek.

"I know, I know, baby." He turned to the vanity counter once more to get something.

"Take these and drink this first then we can go to bed." He said and held out his hands. In his palm he held two pills of pain relievers and the other hand held a glass of water. You took the pills from his hand and placed them in your mouth and quickly downed the medicine with the water handing him the water back after.

"No. Drink all of it." Carlos said gently pushing the water back up to your lips. You wanted to whine but there was no arguing with him right now. He was in full caretaker Carlos mode. You sulked as you had no choice and finished the water. He took the glass from your hands placing it on the counter.

"Alright. Bedtime." He said as he helped you stand up.

"Can we cuddle?" You asked looking up at him hopefully.

"Of course." He smiled and kissed your forehead.

[savannah-lim]

The Faellen || Chloe & Savannah

Timing: Current Location: The hospital Parties: @savannah-lim and @chloeinbetween Content: Discussion of abuse, illness, trauma, kidnapping  Summary: Savannah pays a visit to Chloe at the hospital to discuss what happened to her and see if she can help in the investigation.

Savannah could scarcely believe it when she heard the news. She was no stranger to awful things happening in White Crest. She’d witnessed many of them with her own eyes. This was something else though. It wasn’t as simple as a quick death at the hands of a mere monster. The actions of Lydia Griffin had been calculated, deliberate, sustained. She left scars more deep than simple physical wounds. Guiltily, she was glad she had another case to look into, one more excuse to remain in White Crest while she conducted more investigations. She just really, really wished it hadn’t been this. 

Nevertheless, Savannah would do her duty. Griffin might still be out there, and she had all her wealth and resources to help her disappear. If they didn’t act quickly, they might lose her for good. The receptionist at the hospital directed her to the right room. The doctors were reluctant to allow visitors, but an FBI badge did wonders to grant Savannah access to places. She knocked gently, then entered. “Chloe?” she greeted, offering whatever sort of smile she could manage, a pained and subtle one. She wanted Chloe to feel comfortable, to feel safe, but she had experience in cases like this. She knew it likely wouldn’t be an option for this poor woman for some time. “I’m Agent Lim, FBI.” She held out her badge, placing it on the hospital tray for Chloe to inspect, if she wanted. “I know it’s been a long couple of days, but I wondered if you might be able to talk to me.” 

Chloe’s hands had been trembling all morning. She wasn’t really sure why, whether it was a side effect of her medical treatments or a side effect of the poison still in her system, but no matter what she did, the trembling wouldn’t stop. She’d turned on the TV news earlier, to try and catch up with what had been happening over the last four years, but the news didn’t really do recaps, as it turned out, and she was the news right now. Chloe had taken one look at the live footage from Lydia’s home, and turned off the TV with an ache in her stomach. She looked up at the door when it opened, tensing up at the sight of a stranger that wasn’t a doctor. She swallowed, her smile even weaker and more fleeting that Savannah’s. "Agent Lim," Chloe repeated slowly, picking it up off the hospital tray and reading the name on it, before setting it down on the tray before she dropped it. "I honestly wouldn't be able to tell if this is fake or not." If Savannah was using a disguise to come here and threaten her or kill her, Chloe just hoped it would be quick. She shifted in her bed, rubbing the rash that had spread up her neck yesterday morning. "I, uhh, yeah, sure. I, um, I've already talked to Detective Agatha Keen. But fire away.”

“You can call me Savannah, okay?” Savannah had enough years under her belt that she wasn’t precious about her title, especially with someone who in all likelihood needed to feel like they were talking to a friend right now, not some government official with their own motives. Savannah did have a motive. It was to see Lydia Griffin brought to justice. She hoped she and Chloe at least had that in common, but experience and a look at the case file had told her this wouldn’t be easy. “Detective Keen is good at what she does. I’ve worked with her.” If Chloe had already bonded with Agatha over being one of the first on the scene, the last thing she wanted was to make her feel like Savannah was coming in and stomping all over her. “In cases like this, it’s quite common for a larger agency to offer assistance. Do you need anything before we get started? A drink or water, some food, some tissues?”

“She’s great. She brought me chocolates. Feel free to help yourself,” Chloe said, pointing at the box of chocolates on her bednight stand, barely touched since Agatha had brought them in. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate them, it was just how little appetite she had right now, even when the alternative was hospital Jello.  “I’ve already got water and tissues. Um, haven’t really been in the mood to eat. And um, you should know that there are things… there are things I can’t talk about. I’m not- I’m not protecting her, I just… I just can’t talk about it.” Because her tongue would swell up and choke her if she tried, because the thought of betraying Lydia was still impossibly painful. “Should I be nervous?”

Of course Agatha had brought chocolates. Somehow that was so… Agatha. Savannah couldn’t help but smile at that. “Well if you need anyone to help catch you up on pop culture, she’s your girl.” Savannah took a seat by the bed, pulling out her notebook and pen. She did her best not to make things personal, to get too invested in her cases, but when she found herself face to face with people like Chloe, it was impossible. “That’s okay. We’ll talk about the things you can talk about.” Chloe’s next question broke Savannah’s heart. “Nervous?” she repeated. “Of me? No. I’m going to investigate as fairly and thoroughly as I can. I know talking might be difficult, but the more we know, the better chance we have to bring Lydia to justice.” 

“I’ll definitely keep that in mind,” Chloe said. “All I have at the moment is daytime soaps.” She gestured at the tv in the corner of her room. She watched apprehensively as Savannah pulled out her notebook, settling into starting her case. She was kind, but then, Lydia had been kind sometimes. It was hard to trust the intentions she was given. “It’s a reasonable question,” Chloe defended herself with a wry chuckle. “I’m kinda new at the whole talking to the FBI about being held against my will thing.” That flash of personality  faded as she looked away, her chest aching sharply. “This is going to sound fucked up, but… I don’t want to approach this from a justice angle. Or a doing anything to Lydia angle.” She was gone. She wasn’t coming back. But, whispered the loudest voice in her head, if she did, she wouldn’t have wanted you involved in any kind of justice against her. You can’t just betray her like this. Shouldn’t you be loyal? Then the quieter, unpoisoned part of her mind chimed in: Look what happened to Sammy when he betrayed her. “It’s easier-” Chloe started sharply, as if interrupting her own thoughts, “It’s easier if we talk about this in the context of just… telling the truth. Being honest. But, um, ask whatever you like.”

Savannah nodded solemnly. After all this time, the hold Lydia had on her would be difficult to break. She might have been out of the basement, but in so many ways, she was still held captive. That fear and anguish would be with her likely for the rest of her life, but Savannah hoped to help her quiet it. "Talking to the FBI about being held captive isn't a life experience many people go through, thankfully.” But she appreciated Chloe’s offer of honesty, her candor. She knew there were things Chloe would be too scarred to reveal, but Savannah would gather as much information as she could to bring that awful woman who’d done this to her to justice. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, it was difficult to know where to begin. “Do you know where Lydia might be now?” 

“Yeah I heard it’s a hard one to get off the old bucket list.” It wasn’t funny anymore. It might not have ever been funny to begin with. Chloe looked back at Savannah, weighing the question in her mind. Without me. I wasn’t good enough. Chloe squeezed her sheets in her fist, breathing deeply.  She waited. The pain had begun to dull, slowly, until she could unglue her mouth. “No,” Chloe replied, huffing in thought. “She could be anywhere. Peru, Argentina or Ireland. But probably dead. She wouldn’t leave this much evidence behind if she was alive. She’s gotten close to being caught before, I’ve heard. If this was an escape, then I wouldn’t still be here talking with you.” 

"She never spoke about where she might go if she had to escape the authorities? Nothing like that?" Savannah asked, trying to be simultaneously direct, yet gentle. She wasn't sure whether she hoped Chloe was right about Lydia being dead or not. In many ways, it would be easier, but she was an agent of the law. She wasn't supposed to think like that. Savannah had been doing many things she wasn't supposed to recently. It was becoming almost easy. "I'm sorry," Savannah said, because she felt she was supposed to apologise at the thought of that awful woman killing her captives before fleeing. "That's the only reason you think she might be dead? Did you hear her mention anyone who might be out to harm her? If she's done this before, I'm sure she made enemies."

“She had that all figured out years before I showed up on her doorstep,” Chloe replied, shaking her head. She ran her fingers over the bandage on her left arm, tracing over where the bandage glue itched most. That was a much easier pain and ache to feel. “Please don’t apologise,” Chloe said eventually, picking at the threads of the bandage. “If you apologise that I might start thinking about what I should be feeling sorry about, and I really don’t want to do that. She’s been doing this for longer than you would believe. So many people knew. People who agreed and people who didn’t, so. I wouldn’t be surprised.”

"Yeah, she seems as if she was a very intelligent woman," Savannah said, her tone making it clear that in this instance, the words weren't a compliment. She scribbled down a few more words in her notebook. "Noted," she replied as Chloe told her not to apologize. "But you don't need to be sorry for anything, okay?" Savannah said directly. Chloe didn't seem the type to want to be treated with kid gloves, which was for the best, considering Savannah was far more comfortable simply being even-toned and neutral. "You say she's been doing this for a long time. Can you tell me anything about people she might have hurt before and what happened to them? If we know their names, we can at least let their families know." 

“Agatha Keen found their IDs,” Chloe remembered, from when she’d been pressed up against the corner of Lydia’s office, trembling in fear as Agatha had searched the room. “Everyone Lydia has ever had. I know Sammy Metz was shot dead on September 30th, and Lydia killed Anneliese Vandergroot in like… April or May, but I think she was autopsied. Then before that, like summer of last year, a kid called Guillaume. There were more, but I don’t remember much of them.”

Of course, the names on the IDs appeared in the police file Agatha had started, but Savannah felt it was important to get the information from Chloe directly. Chloe could reveal more information than the mere names on little plastic cards could. “Do you know why she did this? What her motivation was?” Savannah asked. “Was it just so she could steal your work or was there another reason?” Besides being a fucking sicko, Savannah thought, but opted against saying out loud. Chloe didn’t need to hear it. 

“Would you believe me if I said she was eating us?” Chloe chuckled bitterly, subconsciously touching her fingers against her lips.  So much of her was gone. So much of her was missing. Most of her life force ripped away from her. A few years ago, Chloe hadn’t even known what that meant, but now she felt it in every muscle ache and stiff movement. No one was going to believe her. The doctors had been slowly trying to characterise all her illness, but they couldn’t work out how so much had gone sideways inside her body in those four years. Chloe winced. “Which I… also accidentally said to someone I thought was part of the paramedic team but turned out was just some rando, so now the news coverage also includes pictures from Hannibal Lecter. So. Oops.”

“I… heard something about that. We didn’t find any charred bones or cooked remains or--” Savannah narrowed her eyes in thought. She had seen so many strange things recently. The reports didn’t make sense, just like her Javier case. Lydia was in her forties, but the evidence of captives being held went back for over fifty years. “I hate that sensationalist crap,” she sighed, then immediately shook her head. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t professional.” She lowered her voice and looked around, as if trying to make sure she wouldn’t be overheard in spite of there not being anyone else in the room. “There are things in this town that don’t make sense. I don’t know how much of what happened outside that house you know about, but… if I told you the things I’d seen, you’d think I was crazy. So when I say you can tell me the truth, I really, really mean it, okay?” 

Chloe did fully shudder at the mental image of Lydia slowly cutting through Sammy’s body like one would a joint of meat, cringing away from the bed in apparent discomfort. “Well, you wouldn’t have,” she agreed quietly. What point was there in telling the truth when the truth was this? But Chloe couldn’t be fucked to work out a half truth that explained it just as well. “Would you believe me if I told you that I’ve spent four years being held captive by an evil fairy who is so beautiful that no piece of art could ever fully capture it which is why we’re always compulsively making pieces of art as she drains away our life force, because that’s what she eats? No, I didn’t think so.” 

Savannah was quiet and sombre for a moment as Chloe explained. She was grateful to be wearing a blazer, because the hair on the backs of her arms stood on end, stomach tightening itself into knots. Yes, she did believe. She’d seen them with her own eyes. Was this what would have happened to her if that beast from the mushroom ring had got her? If Deidre hadn’t stepped in, would she even have made it as long as Chloe? “I think I’ve seen something like the creature you’re describing before,” she admitted, voice low. She’d seen not just the beasts in the forest, but Regan too. Was Regan capable of something like this? Savannah couldn’t believe that. Surely if all humans were different, all fae were different too. “Did she have wings?” 

Chloe had already settled into a distant state, waiting for the gentle dismissal she’d already had from the psychiatrist, the nurses, the doctor. Sometimes we make new realities to process traumatic situations, they said. Especially considering the possibility of drugs.  No one, of course, could decide what drugs, but they were sure there had been some. Which wasn’t… inaccurate. Being away from Lydia was worse than any hangover or any set of withdrawal symptoms. Worse than the basement. She was jarred out of her thoughts by Savannah’s admission. “You have?” Chloe repeated in utter disbelief. “Yeah. Like a beetle. But she was like 5 foot tall, not five inches." She weighed this new information with a frown. “Are you like… the real version of the X-Files?”

Savannah narrowed her eyes thoughtfully at the description. Like a beetle. She wasn't exactly familiar with the insect world, but that tracked with what she'd seen of Regan's wings, and, from a distance, the fae that had chased her and Deidre. "Are you asking if I'm Mulder?" she asked with a small laugh. "Not exactly. My superiors don't know about the type of things that come up in my investigations. I have to make it palatable for them. But I believe you, Chloe.” She had continued making notes only for her own benefit, but the details would have to change when she typed it up, She’d have to indicate Chloe was having a reaction to her trauma and of course fairies who kidnap people aren’t real. The medical reports should have her up. It was sad how easy it was to dismiss the truth.  “Do you know where you're going to go after you're discharged? Do you have somewhere to stay?"

“I don’t know, Area 51 could all actually be a fairy cover up instead of an alien conspiracy for all I know.” Chloe chuckled beside himself. “You could be here to Men In Black me with the light pen.” Wouldn’t that be nice? Just… forget the last four years had happened, wake up to a life a mystery agency had already fixed for her. Much easier than the long way around. Remembering all of it and living with it every day for however long she had left. It was terrifying, exhilarating. It was also impossible not to include Lydia in the future her mind held. “Yeah, yeah. My brother’s coming to pick me up in a few days, I’m going home with him. There’s just… well, apparently, the last four years fucked up my body. They’re monitoring some last things, because for a while I kept getting worse.”

“Hmm, nope, don’t have one of those,” Savannah said, her tone even, but a tiny smile barely touching the corners of her mouth; an attempt at comfort. “What I know about them, which is unfortunately not a lot, is that they can do things with their words. That they control you. I can’t begin to understand what happened, but I’ll try and figure out something to write in this report that.. that can make sense to them.” Funny how she didn’t really consider herself a ‘normal’ person any more. She’d seen way too much for that. “Where is home for you?” she asked. 

“You should get one. I think it would make you look cooler. Not that you need much help with that,” Chloe chuckled drily, her spirit not quite in the tease. Savannah made her feel calmer than she had all week, but that really didn’t say much at all. It was a relief, not to have to lie about her experiences to someone in a position to help her, even if she had no idea what Savannah really knew. “Well, uh, good luck with that. My brother should understand, but I don’t know about the rest of my family.” One bridge at a time. When she could feel the unbridled hate of Lydia that she should, then she could think about explaining.  “New Jersey. So quite a distance.”

“Of all the odd things I’ve found, the Men In Black memory wiping pen isn’t one of them, sadly.” It was good that Chloe was trying to laugh, trying to joke, trying to have some semblance of a normal conversation in spite of there being nothing normal about this. Savannah gave Chloe a small nod, reaching into her blazer pocket and pulling out a card with her contact information on it. “I hope you find peace after all this, Chloe. I’m sure we’ll speak again, but call me if you need anything, okay? Even if it’s just to talk about how bad the Game of Thrones finale was.” 

[doc-pickles]

it’s nothing funny just to talk (p. 1)

What happens when you text that random number graffitied on a bathroom stall in your favorite bar? Jo Wilson is about to find out. - In which Bar Princess and Doctor Evil Spawn meet via text.

More Jolex on your timeline because y’all seemed to love what I posted before! Also I’ve posted this whole piece on AO3 as well so it might look familiar.  

this idea came to me in a fever dream and i am not sorry that y'all have to deal with it. 99% of this fic will be in "texting" format, so be prepared for that. 

Jo is regular Alex is italics

Saturday 11:04 PM

heeeeey is thiss doctor evil?

I gotta say ur phone sex namee needs sum weerk

u soud like a comic book village 

fuck

village

VILLAIN

Who the hell is this? And how did you get my number? 

i’m just a girl at thee bar!!!! 

Joe’s Bar?

noooooo

i’m at enerlad city bar

You didn’t answer my question. 

u asked a quesitoon?

whata was it?

i’m goos at takifjg tests 

How’d you get my number?

it qas in the bathrooom!!!

it said “for a good tiem txt dr evil spawne” 

so I did

I am ready to havee fun

You’re drunk, obviously, and I’m going to have to kill Cristina for putting my number up. 

ooooooh is thatt ur girleifnd?

hirlefiend 

girlfriend**

Wow you’re really gone. And hell no, she’s my roommate. One of them. 

ooooh how many do u hav

roomees not girlfriends 

Three. Two girls and a dude. 

intereeesting...

well it’s tome for fireball shoots

steph is yeeling at me 4 txting too much

goodbey doctor eviel apawn!!

Oh lord. Tell Steph you need water. Or an IV. 

I’ve got her. she’s throwing up on her shoes. thanks doctor. - steph

  Sunday 10:11 AM

You know you’re pretty funny, Bar Girl. 

jesus christ what fucking time is it?! 

10 AM

I’m assuming you have a massive hangover. 

hold on I can’t hear you over the sound of me vomiting

TMI as the kids say these days. 

what’re you a grandpa or something?? 

No I just don’t know how to use text lingo. Except WTF. I know that one very well. 

quick question

who the fuck are you?

Dr. Evil Spawn. You found my name graffitied in the bathroom of Emerald City Bar. 

holy shit

I thought I dreamed that... WHAT THE FUCK

Nope. I’m real. 

holy shit i’m so sorry

my texts were so annoying

Who hurt you? I mean you were shitfaced, I’m assuming someone broke your heart into tiny pieces. 

the opposite actually, I was at a bachelorette party

not mine, i’m so single it hurts

Ahhh that makes sense. So you got shitfaced in solidarity? 

exactly you get it

you seem like you’d be the DD at a bachelorette party

Well seeing as I’m a dude I don’t do Bachelorette parties. 

Well I did go to one, but that’s a different story.  

hmmm you seem like a very interesting man doctor evil spawn 

going to bachelorette parties, living with women who aren’t your girlfriend 

OMG ARE YOU DATING THE GUY YOU LIVE WITH?!

George? No absolutely not. And before you ask, my other girl roommate is gay. 

so you’re single?

i’m only asking so when you murder me the police have as much information as possible

Haha very funny. I would be a terrible murderer. 

you didn’t answer my question

Fine. Yes I’m single. 

i’ll note that in the “serial killer file” i’m building 

gotta go, I have to do work :/

Have fun, don’t die. 

  Sunday 8:38 PM

Arizona is trying to set me up on a blind date. 

who’s arizona?

My gay roommate. She wants me to meet this “bubbly blonde” she knows from her pilates class. 

ahhhh. why don’t you go?

Bubbly blonde is not my type. Sounds like she’ll spend the whole date talking about how much she loves dogs or her knitting hobby. 

Plus she does pilates, that tells me more than enough. 

you’re making some good points. I don’t pity you. 

You better not. How was work?

the longest day of my life

it was just paperwork, I don’t actually work on the weekends

What do you do?

hmmmm that’s exactly what a serial killer would say

i’m an elementary school teacher

Oh so you sing and dance and paint pictures all day?

what school did you go to?

were working on multiplication tables and basic photosynthesis tomorrow

Wow that sounds like a lot.

it’s may, ive got three weeks of school left so I have to cram all the crap we didn’t cover into these last few weeks 

Ahhh that sounds more accurate.

and what do you do? 

besides text strangers that you don’t know

I’m a pediatrician. 

oh so you make kids cry and wipe snotty noses all day? two can play at that game

Well we both have to deal with snotty noses sooo...

I GET IT!! Doctor Evil Spawn!! 

why evil spawn though? 

I wasn’t this nice when I started med school. My personality is an acquired taste. 

ha! that’s a funny joke. 

so if you’re a fancy schmancy doctor why do you live with three other people?

I’m only a resident, not making the big bucks yet. Everyone else is a doctor too. 

are they all pediatricians?

No. Arizona is too but Cristina is a cardiologist and George is a trauma specialist. 

interesting!! I too live with my coworkers. it’s not fun. 

the table is always covered in craft supplies. 

Well I can never read the grocery list on the fridge. Stupid doctors script...

oh that’s a classic. you’re pretty funny Dr. Evil Spawn

Thanks Bar Girl. 

I gotta go. monday tomorrow and you know how fourth graders can be. night!! 

Night . 

  Monday 9:47 AM

there’s not enough coffee in the world for monday mornings. 

  Monday 10:52 AM 

Sorry I was yelling at the interns. We have a decent coffee cart here. Keeps me alive. Are you texting in class?

no it was recess

now they’re at spanish class

i’m not totally irresponsible 

Oh good to know the future of America is in good hands. Teacher Princess is “not totally irresponsible”

teacher princess?

Well, Cinderella lost her shoe, you puked on yours. Same thing. 

wooooooooow

that was so uncalled for...

I thought it was funny. Gotta go set a broken arm. 

broken arm vs. adverbs... can we switch? have fun lol

  Monday 3:26 PM

I don’t even think I know what an adverb is. 

how did you become a doctor??

Don’t need to know adverbs to fix a couple broken bones and snuffy noses. 

oh darn I should’ve gone to school for seven more years then

Haha. How were the adverbs?

better than expected, grading papers while I wait for my roomies to be done

we carpool, saving the environment and shit

Okay Eco Warrior.

you text like a 60 year old man

you’re not a 60 year old man are you?

No I’m a 28 year old man though

28 a doctor and you’re single? your personality must be worse than you described 

I’m a busy man, I don’t have time to settle down. And I have no desire to. 

yet you have time to text a complete stranger? 

hmmmm interesting...

Ouch, that one hurt Princess. 

steph is making me socialize with the other teachers

if I don’t respond, they killed me or dragged me to an essential oil party

Hahahaha

  Monday 5:18 PM

Did you get roped into a pyramid scheme?

nooo but therew as wine

I should sotp drunk texting you so often 

It makes your presence that much more entertaining. And bearable. 

woah woah dude

i’m a gem 

I can tell. Elementary school teacher with a heart of gold. 

awwww your too sweet tome

It’s a Monday. Who the hell gets drunk on a Monday?

teachers

we deserve it

You’re a teacher and you’re single and still going to Bachelorette parties. You’re what, 23? 

i’m 25 and i’m doing greta thanks you very nuch 

cnat believe that i’m supplying my perosnal info to a serial killer

What makes you so sure that I’m a mass murderer? 

ur weird nickname and ur intimate knowledge of the himan body

Mmm yes well a good amount of women do find themselves screaming around me often. Or under me. On top of me...

omg are you sending me dirty jokes

you’re crazy 

What can I say. 

Gotta go, I’m on call tonight. Get to bed safe, Bar Princess. 

mmmkay thanks Doc

  Wednesday 11:29 AM

What do you think is worse: School lunch or hospital food?

hospital food, no doubt

thursday is mac and cheese day here... I could bathe in that stuff

We have Spaghetti Wednesday but that’s the only good thing here. 

mmm how depressing

the teachers do a pot luck once a month and that’s always good

the art teacher next door to me makes the BEST blueberry muffins. 

Lucky. All I get here is vending machine cookies. Anything interesting happening in the elementary world? 

a first grader got lice last week so naturally we all have it now

I had to chop off six inches of my hair

Holy crap. Lice can be vicious, be thankful you didn’t have to shave your head. 

it feels like I did, my hair hasn’t been above my shoulders since the backstreet boys were still touring

Wow. I’m glad to know you’re well cultured. 

of course I am

gotta go, kids are back from music class

Don’t be too hard on them, they deserve a break every once in awhile. 

  Thursday 3:06 PM

Incoming Voice Call

“Jenna you forgot your lunch pail. Have a good day!”

“Hello?”

“Hi Mrs. Peters. I didn’t grade Henry’s test yet, I’ll have it tomorrow. Thanks bye!”

“Helloooo?”

“Steph I gotta grab my things, I’ll be there in a seco- oh shit. Hello?”

“Bar Princess?”

“Doctor Evil Spawn? I must’ve butt dialed you, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay I... I don’t mind the interruption. Are you leaving work?”

“Just about, we’re wrapping up the solar system and I have to bring home the diorama.”

“I was never good at the models, I prefer working with the real thing.”

“Oh ho, a man that works with his hands. I can appreciate that.”

“You know now we’re officially talking and we still don’t know each other’s names.”

“Well around here I’m Miss Wilson, but you can call me Jo.”

“Jo. Hmm I like chicks with dudes names. I’m Dr. Karev but you can call me Alex.”

“Well nice to kinda meet you Alex. I’ll talk to you soon, I gotta get out of here.”

“Talk to you later.”  

  Thursday 4:34 PM

I wouldn’t mind if you were my teacher.

how did I know you’d send me something along those lines

I’m predictable. I’m still calling you Bar Princess. 

as you wish doctor evil spawn

I get to assist on a surgery today. Tonsillectomy. 

like removing tonsils? that’s awesome

for you, not for the kid

Oh she’ll be fine, she gets ice cream and jello for a week.  

okay yeah I might be jealous of her now

id love to be off work for a week and have you waiting on me hand and foot

the ice cream is a nice bonus

You think that’s my job?

well you said you aren’t making the big bucks yet so.... yeah 

Keep dreaming. I’ll talk to you later, gotta scrub in. 

have fun!!!!

[wildandsexyjacks]

Maybe It’s a Chicago Thing

I know we’re way past halloween, but here’s Johnny (no The Shining pun intended) + #2 and #56  from this halloween prompts list requested by anon

Hope you like it!

Word Count: 1.9k

“Do I really have to go?” You ask, playing candy crush on your phone while you wait for your friend to finish her make-up.

“Yes!” she shouts from the bathroom of your shared apartment “You promised me, remember?”

You roll your eyes.

“It’s not like you’re gonna miss me, being too busy swallowing Ten’s face and all...”

She laughs and sticks her neck out to look at you through the open door.

“Y/N, come on, you used to love those parties! Is this about Jaehyun? Because that was, like, ages ago. I’m sure he doesn’t even remember it anymore. Probably no one does.”

You throw a cushion at her and even though she actually ducks, it doesn’t even reach the doorway, landing right in the middle of the living room. 

“It was literally last halloween.”

She shrugs and turns back to the mirror.

“Just stay away from jello shots or try not to throw up on anyone’s shoe this time and you should be fine.” after applying a heavy coat of red lipstick, she comes out of the bathroom with her hands on her hips “How do I look?”

You squint at her outfit, uncertain.

“Like a stripper dressed up as a nun.”

You have no idea what her costume really is and the comment was supposed to make her mad, or at least a little annoyed, but your roommate smiles brightly instead.

“You know, that’s why we’re best friends. You just.... get me on a spiritual level. Are you ready?”

-

When you get to your old college friends’ place, the infamous House 127 known to host unforgettable parties, Yuta is at the door, dressed up as Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist. He’s hugging a bowl full of chocolates, surrounded by half a dozen whiny children in cute halloween costumes.

“Come on, little dudes!” he orders, keeping the bowl out of the kids’ reach “Ten push-ups each or no one gets candy.”

Your friend charges at Yuta and punches his arm then takes the bowl from him to give a chocolate bar to each one of the kids. They all thank her very politely and run off to the next house.

“It’s called trick-or-treating for a reason, idiot.” she mutters, handing the candy bowl back to Yuta “They’re supposed to threaten you, not the other way around.”

“And where’s the fun in that? All right, whatever.” he rolls his eyes and gestures at the door “Hello to you too Slutty Nun, nice to see you Jello Shot. Welcome to our house of tricks, ladies, please come in.”

You pass by your friend, bumping her shoulder. “No one remembers, huh?”

The living room is heavily decorated, with purple lighting and spiderwebs and bloodstains on the walls - hopefully fake, but you never know with these guys, Doyoung sometimes takes things a little too seriously. There’s a table with snacks of all sorts and a silver platter with an unholy amount of the jello shots you need to stay away from. There’s also a beautiful jar filled with red wine punch, ice cubes shaped like tiny skulls. 

You’re about to go for the punch but your best friend’s boyfriend - Ten - intercepts the both of you, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing a soft kiss to her cheek. Then he looks at you and frowns.

“Where’s your costume?”

You point at your black smudged eyeliner and the Chicago Bulls shirt like it should be obvious.

“I’m Pete Wentz.”

“She’s lazy.” your friend corrects “And didn’t even wanna come, can you imagine that?”

Ten, you notice, is wearing a sexy french maid costume, and he looks utterly ridiculous but incredibly funny at the same time.

“I’m actually glad I came, though, otherwise I’d miss this.” you point at his costume “You two really deserve each other.”

“Thank you. Donut?” he asks, offering one of the pastries on the tray he’s carrying as part of his costume.

You’re about to take one but a large hand grabs your wrist. You look around - and then up because he’s super tall - to find a man you’ve never seen before. He’s got brown hair falling in front of his eyes, amazingly beautiful cheekbones, broad shoulders, and looks really good dressed in a black button-up and a white lab coat.

“Don’t take it, it’s a halloween prank. He filled it with mustard instead of boston cream.” he explains.

You want to slap Ten, but the nice-looking stranger is still holding your arm, so you stretch your leg and kick him instead.

“WHAT THE HELL?”

The boy almost drops the tray, hopping on one foot with a pained expression.

“Ouch! Thanks a lot, Johnny.”

So that’s his name.

“Thank you... Johnny, right? Are you dressed up as a doctor?” You ask, looking at his lab coat. He turns completely to you, so you can see the rest of his costume. There’s a tiny Snoopy plushie in his pocket, and you raise your free hand to touch it. “Oh! A vet, then?”

Your roommate sighs.

“Wow, you didn’t even bother, John. Congratulations, you’re literally dressed up as yourself.” She complains. “I bet you even came straight from work.”

Johnny laughs.

“No. If I did, I’d be covered in Mr. Flufflestiltskin’s urine. Big boy was really happy to see me today.”

“Oh, I can’t wait for that demon cat to be adopted.” She rolls her eyes, then smiles, holding onto Ten’s arm with one hand and waving the other to get your attention “Johnny is Ten’s best friend. He’s volunteering at our animal shelter while the construction company is setting up his clinic, he just moved back from... Oh.” staring at your Bulls shirt, she tilts her head to the side, a weird look in her eyes “You guys have a lot in common. You both like sports and suck at halloween costumes... Maybe it’s a Chicago thing, he was born there too.”

You look up at Johnny, and he finally realizes he’s still grabbing your arm, quickly letting go with an embarrassed laugh. Ten and his girlfriend exchange a look you know can only mean trouble and make up a poor excuse to leave, abandoning you to Johnny’s care. He looks around, eyes darting in every direction, not knowing what to say.

“Um... Thank you for saving me.” You say again, just to break the ice. “I’m Y/N, by the way.”

“No problem.” He shrugs “In fact, you should be suspicious of pretty much everything from now on, the guys have a bet going on and whoever pranks more people gets a reese’s peanut butter cups box and a month free of any household chore obligation. Trust no one tonight.”

“Not even you?”

You frown, but he shakes his head.

“I don’t live here. Besides, I know all their plans, which makes me the safest person to hang out with right now.” offering his arm, he winks at you “Wanna get something to drink?”

There’s really not much to think of. Your friend ditched you to make out with her boyfriend somewhere in the house, the other boys would not hesitate to prank your scaredy-cat ass... And Johnny looks really good. He’s also very nice, with his soft velvety voice and broad shoulders and warm smile. And he looks really, really good.

You grab his arm and take him to the food table. He reaches for the jello shots, but you tell him a quick variation of your sad jello encounter from last year - not getting into gastrointestinal specifics because that’s not something you tell a cute guy you just met -, and after laughing for a whole minute he ends up filling two cups with punch, handing you one. 

With a steady hand on your lower back, Johnny guides you to one of the couches, and you sit down side by side. He compliments your shirt and starts a conversation about Chicago, then sports, then your interests. It’s easy to talk to him, he has a nice voice when he talks and seems genuinely interested when it’s your turn to speak. And you do have a lot in common, indeed. You talk about music, movies, sports, not even noticing how much time has passed since your friend vanished with her boyfriend.

A few punch cups later, when your favorite Fall Out Boy song starts playing, you drag Johnny to the improvised dance floor adjacent to the back door. He’s surprisingly good at it as well, especially for someone as tall as him. It makes you wonder if there’s anything he’s bad at, and you ask him just that. 

“Flirting,” he replies with a cute laugh. “I’ve been meaning to ask your number for...” he squints at his watch “over an hour now.”

You take a step forward.

“Oh, I suppose it’d be useful.” you joke, smiling “I mean, you’re a vet and I have a goldfish at home.”

He comes closer too, only a little bit, subtly resting one of his hands on your hip. 

“It definitely would. Goldfish need special care, it’s very important to have a professional at hand.”

One more step closer.

“It is isn’t it?”

You’re already on your tiptoes, hands on Johnny’s shoulder, and he’s leaning in... Until Haechan comes from nowhere running like crazy and bumps into the both of you, completely ruining the moment and making you jump back. 

“If anyone asks,” he goes, barely stopping to talk to you “you never saw me.”

And just like he came in, he goes out with no explanation whatsoever. You and Johnny look into each other’s confused eyes before bursting out laughing.

“What was that?” he asks mid-laugh, shaking his head.

“I have no idea. He’s probably in trouble, but it’s not our problem...” you reach for his hand, a little shy, and clear your throat “Where were we?”

He glances at you, chewing on his lower lip.

“I’m pretty sure you were about to kiss me.” 

You avoid his gaze, biting back a smile.

“Really? I think I don’t remember that...” going against your words, though, you move into his personal space, wrapping your arms around his neck.

“Well, in that case...” with his hands on your waist, Johnny closes his eyes and leans in again “I was definitely about to kiss you.”

He does so, and it’s unlike any other kiss you’ve ever had before. Johnny pulls you closer, running his hands up and down your back as you thread your fingers through his hair. 

“Mmhmm....” he hums after you break the kiss “Just like I imagined.” smiling, he takes your hand, intertwining your fingers “Come on, let’s get a drink.”

You move back to the table at the same time as Doyoung storms inside coming from the backyard, carrying a half-empty reese’s box that was probably meant for the bet and looking seriously pissed. 

“Who ate all my candy?!!” He yells, poking random people on the dance floor, looking for the culprit “I WILL find out who did it and WILL kill everything they hold dear, whoever and wherever they are!”

Johnny laughs and squeezes your wrist to get your attention.

“Perhaps we should go somewhere else before he finds out the chocolate thief has left already and things get real ugly... Would you like to go grab something to eat?”

You nod in agreement, and the both of you head for the door, hand in hand and twin smiles on your faces. 

The house really is one to host unforgettable parties. This time, however, you’re set to make good memories and you’re very glad you came.

-

Not nearly as good as I thought it’d be, but here it is. Happy belated halloween everyone, and thank you for requesting, anon!

[kingyeoms]

dolphin keeper!seokmin

pairing: dolphin keeper!lee seokmin x vet!reader (n) genre: fluff word count: 1,840 a/n: this has been sitting in my drafts for forever, i’m sorry it took me so long to finally finish it!! anyways, this was such a cute concept and i’m so glad i was able to write it :’) thank you for the request!! ♡ best read on desktop, use mobile browser if you can’t read under the cut ♡

lee seokmin is the cutest funniest dolphin keeper in the universe

first fell in love with the ocean when his family went on a trip to jeju when he was eight

they were walking around the coast and seok absolutely?? was just mesmerized with the way the waves crashed against the ocean,, the beautiful tones of blue in the waves,, his big eyes peering into the water to look at the little fish swimming around ugh so precious

literally begged his parents to let him take swimming lessons as soon as he got home

and that was the start of a beautiful perfect pair: seokmin and the ocean

at first he wanted to be a marine biologist, but after a seventh grade field trip to the aquarium and seeing one of the scuba divers in the tanks with the fish, he changed his mind -- he wanted to do that!!

luckily one of his friends seungkwan, who was a sloth cuddler at the zoo, mentioned that there was an opening for a dolphin keeper position!

seokmin at the interview: “wanna see my seal impression?”

at first he was a little nervous since he had no experience whatsoever,, accidentally tripped on the fish bucket when first meeting the dolphins

but once he met gyul and podo? literal heart eyes

as soon as he saw them,, immediately wanted to get into the pool and swim with them

“seokmin wait you don’t have proper gear on” “it’s fine!! i’m willing to take the risk!!”

can you imagine him in a blue wetsuit, yellow fishing type overalls with a cute lil dolphin patch in the middle!! i’m sad

turns out, seokmin is really good with dolphins the same way he’s great with people!!

podo is absolutely enthralled with seok.. she thinks he’s soooo handsome!! always squeaks when he comes into the pool~

gyul gets a little jealous,, but he doesn’t mind since seok always sneaks him extra squid snacks

they’re his actual children, literally seokmin walking into the pool room: “where are my babies~~”

does demonstrations for elementary school kids!! he teaches them how to “speak gyul and podo’s language” and also gives a presentation on how to reduce plastic waste

honestly really cute, super endearing seeing seok and a bunch of eight year olds squeaking with the dolphins

has a bunch of drawings of him and the dolphins hung up on his fridge back home,, he always gets them in his work mailbox as thank you notes!!

okay but listen,, as great as he is with children and dolphins alike,, seokmin wasn’t necessarily the.. most careful keeper at the zoo..

to be honest, everyone was a little worried at how clumsy seok was,, but they realized how much the dolphins loved him and so they just kinda deal with it

accidentally slipped and fell into the pool while trying to get one of podo’s toys,,,, it’s fine

you, on the other hand, just recently graduated from vet school, and having interned at the zoo for years now, they offered you a job right away

you watched a ton of animal documentaries growing up!! and honestly, going to the zoo was one of your favorite things to do as a kid,,

so it was no surprise that your dream was to work with animals!! but you’ve always had a soft spot for marine life :(

your first encounter with seokmin was super brief, when you had stopped by the break room to buy some coffee,, he was soaked.. bunches of paper towels in his hands,,

poor kid was trying to dry himself with paper towels and so naturally you just offered some help

seok didn’t even notice you come in!! but when he looked over to see whose voice it was,, perhaps his heart skipped a beat or two,,

“i’m okay, don’t worry! it’s just.. i fell into the pool again and i also forgot to do the laundry so we don’t have any towels..” he rambled, his ears burning a shade of tomato red

“i’m sure we have extra towels at the clinic? and i think the others would like it if there wasn’t a huge puddle of water in the break room,,” you giggled, seok shooting you a confused look

“you work at the clinic?” “yeah, i’m the new vet”

and literally seokmin drops his paper towels and palms his forehead bc,, how tf he gonna look so STUPID in front of the new vet

also since when has the new vet been so cute?

“so,, do you still want a towel?” “please... that’d be nice”

and so that’s how seok ends up in your office for the first time, cracking stingray jokes and drying out his hair while you’re sitting on top of your desk, laughing at the very cute but clumsy dolphin keeper

you don’t really see seokmin all that much for a while, since there was a pretty bad infection going around the seals, you dedicated your time to them

but to be honest seokmin can’t get you out of his head,, he keeps thinking about the cute vet that laughs at his jokes

one day seok asks you to come to the dolphin exhibit because gyul isn’t acting like his normal self and he was absolutely worried,, ran straight to your office

turns out poor baby has indigestion :(

the reason? seok tripped when he was feeding them and the whole bucket of herrings fell straight into the pool

you, jaw dropped to the floor: “are you being serious”

seokmin: “yes listen i’m really sorry okay i tried to stop him from eating all of them but he’s just.. too fast”

you can’t help but laugh at how,, silly seokmin is!! literally the kid has a heart of gold but also legs made out of jello

the two of you are just in the pool, gyul is nuzzling you as you rub his belly,, podo is circling seokmin nervously,, he has to calm her down poor baby girl :(

but you figure out the problem, gyul just has to take some meds and go on a strict diet for the next two weeks!!

you offer to stop by everyday to check up on gyul,, in case seok needs help taking care of him or anything

you may or may not… use this.. as an excuse to see seokmin

gyul starts to grow super fond of you,, squeaking and swimming to the edge of the pool every time you walk into the room!!

but podo doesn’t like you bc she thinks you’re too close to her favorite keeper

even if you give her squid snacks,, she won’t eat them unless seok gives them to her

you’re a little bummed by it, but you know not every animal is going to fall in love with you,, it is a little hard though, especially if you’re the one responsible for their health

two weeks pass and gyul is all better, but podo is still a bit aggressive towards you,,

seokmin’s new mission: getting podo to like you!!

him: “have you thought about dressing as a clown? she’d find it funny”

you: “what”

him: “ok i guess we’ll move onto plan b?”

honestly it’s really cute it’s kind of like he’s trying to convince his little sister that his significant other isn’t a bad person

you and seokmin spend the next couple of days,, coming up with a plan in the break room during lunch

the two of you finding out more about each other along the way, sharing your love for the ocean and marine life!!

seokmin finally gets the courage to ask for your number,, the first text you get from him is a photo of him and gyul in the pool :(

honestly?? you squealed into your pillow that night LMAO

you make it routine to send him cute photos of seals and otters,, he sends you penguin memes probably

your coworkers would start to notice,, teasing you while you’re doing paperwork in your office,, nurses “i see you spending time with that cute dolphin keeper,, when’s the wedding?”

they’d tease you even more once they saw how red your cheeks would get,, because honestly, the more time you spent with seokmin, the more you realized that not only is he handsome, but he has the purest heart in the world

even if he is.. a little clumsy.. and forgetful.. he puts the animals before himself and you love that about him!!

but this was work,, there was no place for any sort of relationship here

seokmin on the other hand?? has three heart emojis next to your name on his phone

absolutely smitten with you,, knew you were the one for him when you first got into the pool, the smile on your face when gyul swam up to you,, he thought you shined brighter than the sun (as cheesy as that sounds it’s true)

he really wanted to take you to his favorite beach,, in jeju,, where he first fell in love with the ocean

but he had to ask you on a date first and honestly,, he wasn’t even sure if you felt the same way

feelings aside, the two of you come to the conclusion that you should try,, spending time with podo by yourselves, without seokmin

so for the next few days,, while seokmin was on his lunch break, you’d hop into the pool and hang out with the dolphins for a little bit!!

gyul was so happy to see you again,, but podo distanced herself a bit from you,, staying in the corner of the pool until seokmin came back

until one day,, gyul was in a different pool for training, and it was just you and podo,,

and you figured,, might as well try one more time,, holding out her favorite squid snack

slowly but surely,, podo came to you, taking the squid snack,, even letting you pat her head!!

you were absolutely over the moon, because after months of hostility,, this was the first time podo had ever let you pet her,,

as soon as seok came back from his break,, you threw your arms around his neck,, telling him that the plan worked!! and even though she wasn’t in love with you yet,, this was a start and progress should be celebrated regardless of how big or small

seok’s face is literally tomato red at this point but thank god you can’t see it,,

“we should celebrate after work then”

and you look at him,, his eyes trying to avoid yours in case you reject him,,, and you do it

you peck him quickly on the cheek,, and you’re just like, “yeah, i think we should”

before he can say anything,, you realize what you did and your face turns into a tomato,, your hands flying up to your lips,, like i can’t believe i just kissed him 

but he grins, taking your hands into his, intertwining his fingers with yours,, pressing his lips against your knuckles

“so it’s a date?”

[lovemesomesurveys]

Would/Do you like having brown eyes? Meh. I wish I had blue or green, honestly. Do you spend a lot of time on the internet? I sure do. Could you live without the internet? Well yeah, but I wouldn’t enjoy it. Have you bought anyone a Christmas gift? Yes, many. I love buying gifts for my family. Do you have a Christmas tree in your house now? I have a mini one in my room. I said I was going to put my decorations away this year (they were up all year last year), but I have yet to do so. :X

How do you feel when someone hates on Apple? I’m an Apple gal, so. Do you have an Iphone? If so, which one? Yeah, an iPhone XR. Favorite flavor of jello? I don’t like jello. I see. Do you have long toes? No. What is one of your favorite compliments to recieve? I don’t receive compliments all that often, so any is nice. Even though I’m awkward af. Do you compliment other random people? No.  Could you see yourself buying a truck as your go to vehicle? No. What kind of car do you want? Something less than $100,000. I don’t know. I don’t even drive, so. What kind of gift would you appreciate for your birthday? I appreciate any gift I receive. Can you type fast? Yes. Can you type without looking at the letters? Yep. Did you take typing classes? Yeah, my freshman year in high school. It was required. What do you use Facebook for? That’s about as social as it gets for me, ha. Even though I don’t interact much with anyone apart from liking or reacting in some way to posts. I at least can see what others are up to. What do you look like in your profile picture? On Facebook? It’s a photo of my mom, brother, and I at Disneyland. I’m wearing a pistachio green Disneyland hoodie, a rose gold Disney hat, and my hair is in a low side pony tail. Do you love cartoons? I like the ones from my childhood.  Name a band that you like. There’s several, but fine I’lll name 2 that instantly came to mind: Linkin Park and Coldplay. Name a genre of music you don't like? EDM, techno, clubhouse music. What genre of music do you listen to around the house? My main Spotify playlist has a shitload of songs of various genres.  You think it's wrong to tell a person ____. Anything mean and hurtful. What kind of compliments have you given? Uhhh usually about something they’re wearing or an accessory they have. Would you rather give or receive? Give. Do you paint your own nails? It’s been a few years since I’ve painted my nails. Do you like acrylic nails? I’ve never had them. What is your favorite red lipstick? I don’t have a favorite. Red lipstick is nice, but I haven’t worn any lipstick in such a long time. What are your favorite colors to wear? I wear a lot of black, but I like some pops of color. What colors do you NOT wear? Brown and neon. Where do you shop for most of clothes? Hot Topic, BoxLunch, and Kohl’s.  What are you favorite clothing stores/shops? ^^^ What kind of shoes do you like? Adidas. Describe your style in one word. Comfy casual, ha. Describe your current personality in one or two words. Awkward. What is your opinion on weed? I think it has a lot of benefits. Are you afraid of child birth/pregnancy? Child birth sounds rather unpleasant. What are you favorite bottoms to wear? Leggings. They’re all I wear. Do you like dresses? I haven’t worn a dress in years.  Would you rather be called a geek, a nerd or a dork? I’m all of those. Do you eat cake with a spoon or a fork? Usually a fork, but a spoon works as well. What age will you be next? 31. Did you graduate high school? Yes. Do you make youtube videos? If so, leave your URL. No. Do you flat iron your hair? I haven't in years. What physical features do you wish you had? ( name 2 ). Nice teeth/smile and blue or green eyes. Would you ever get plastic cosmetic surgery? If it were for reconstructive purposes.  Ever broken a bone? Yeah. What are you favorite youtube videos to watch? Lots of ASMR, but also some vloggers and lifestyle/entertainment videos. What is your favorite sex position? ;) I wouldn’t know. What color will you paint your nails next? I don’t plan on painting my nails anytime soon. It’s been years since the last time. What is one of your favorite Disney movies? Alice in Wonderland. If you could meet a real life Disney character who would it be? Haha I get so excited meeting the characters at Disneyland. I’m such a kid. And a dork. Are you afraid of ghosts/hauntings? Well, there are evil spirits and that’s scary.  Do you like to play computer games a lot? I like playing the Sims. I go through periods where I’m obsessed and play all the time and then not play for a long time. I last played over a year ago. Are you a sore loser? No. What is your favorite game to play with family/friends? I love board games. What is your beer of choice? I don’t drink anymore, but I was never fond of beer. What do you plan to buy next? Food. Do you like shopping? Yeah. Online shopping, especially. What is one of your favorite things to do on the weekend? I don’t do anything different. Here, I'm giving you $500 dollars to one store, where would you spend it? Hmmm. I’d have to think about it. Would you look good in a Beetle car? I wouldn’t want one. Do you play slug bug? I did when I was a kid. You know, it’s been forever since I’ve seen one. I feel like I saw them all the time and then they just disappeared.  What kind of computer are on? MacBook Air. You are attracted to ___. Alexander Skarsgard. Do you like glitter? It’s pretty, but also a huge pain. Have you ever owned a Ouija board? Noooo. I don’t mess with stuff like that. Do you like to text? Over talking on the phone, yeah. I’m not a big texter, though. If you had to be an animal for Halloween, what would it be? A cat. Do you have more dry skin or oily skin? Dry. What kind of shampoo do you use? Be specific. It’s a salon shampoo for red dyed hair. Do you have acne? I get a couple pimples once in awhile. I used to get it a lot when I was a teenager and in my early 20s. You're glad that you don't ___. have school anymore. You're glad that you do ___. have my family.  Your favorite cuss word? I don’t have a favorite. Are you obsessed with any superheros? I love Marvel films. Do you read comic books? No. Do you like the Sunday paper and why or why not? I used to when I was a kid cause I liked reading the comics. I haven’t read an actual newspaper in yearssss. I mostly read the news online, but I also watch it on TV. Do you have cable? Yeah. What's a show you wish that was still on air? True Blood. Do you listen to the radio at all? I haven’t in quite a long time. My parents and brother play their Spotify in their cars (and I’m in their cars).  Do you like hip hop? Yeah. Do you like pretzels? Soft pretzels with cheese are good. Do you like snow? Yesss. What's your favorite thing about your favorite season? Name the season. I love fall and winter. Everything about it is lovely. Name something that starts with the first letter of your first name. Snacks. Name something that starts with the first letter of your middle name? I don’t wanna. And your lastname. Fruit. Do you have pets? If so, what and what are their names? Yes, I have a 3 year old German Shepherd/Lab mix named Princess Leia. Are you a religious person? Yes. Do you like pina coladas? I’ve never had one. Do you like coconut scents? Yeah. What is your favorite Bath and Body Works candles? Their autumnal ones. Would you spend 20 dollars on a candle? Nooo. What is the goriest thing you've seen in real life? Roadkill.  Do you look in the mirror a lot? Nooo. I avoid it as much as possible. When I do, I keep it short.  What brand of toothpaste do you use? Sensodyne.  What is a dessert that you DON'T like? Pie or pudding. And one that you love? Cheesecake, cupcakes, brownies, donuts, and muffins. Twilight or Harry Potter? I liked both.  Would you rather be a vampire or a mermaid? Vampire I guess. Do you have a favorite number? 8. Had a crush on somebody that every1 around u thought was ugly? I mean, I’ve found people attractive that my friends didn’t and vice versa. We all have different tastes.  Are you happy with your physical features? No. P.E or Math? Ew, neither. Math or Science? Neither. Creative Writing or Art? Creative writing. When you doodle, what are you usually doodling? Usually hearts and random words in cursive. What is something that you like that is really cheap in price? Ramen? Haha. Like the packs you get at the grocery store for less than a dollar. What is something that you like that is kind of expensive? Apple products. Those aren’t kind of expensive, they’re hella expensive. What do you do when someone is really rude to you in public? I wouldn’t do anything towards them, I’d just talk a lot of crap later ha. Do you argue with your significant other a lot? I’m single. Have you ever had a really painful breakup? Yes. Which is better smoking or vaping? Neither. Do you write in print or cursive? Print. Do you have neat handwriting? No. My handwriting is awful. What do you like to write with? Pens. Do you keep a journal/diary? This is it. Do you eat salads? What do you like in your salad? If you do. If not, what is 1+1? I like them, but it’s honestly been a few years since I’ve had one. Anyway, I just like lettuce, spinach, shredded cheese, olives, croutons, green onions, carrots, and hard boiled eggs with ranch on top. Back when I could eat spicy food I would add pepperoncinis and/or cayenne pepper. If you HAD to change your eyecolor, what would you change it to? Blue or green. What is one of your favorite colors? Rose gold. Do you prefer to be pale or tan? Don't say in between. I’m very pale due to anemia, malnutrition, and I like never go out in the sun. I wish I were tan. I used to be. Favorite thing to do on your phone? YouTube, Spotify, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Kindle, and play some games. What magazines do you like? I don’t read any.  What is your favorite book? I couldn’t possibly choose just one. What is your favorite thing about Christmas? Everything. I love Christmastime. I'm giving a ticket to wherever you want, where would you go? Oh man. I’d really think about that before making a choice. Here's $5, what do you do with it? Put it towards food later. Cool. Cool. Favorite flavor of Ice Cream? Strawberry. Least favorite flavor of ice cream? Chocolate. Do you prefer white or black electronics? Uhhh depends. What is your favorite deodorant? I use Secret. Are you a good kisser ( make out )? Probably not. I’d be very rusty now....it’s been a long time. A stranger comes up to you and gives you a big hug, what do you do? Uh, I’d quickly back away and be extremely uncomfortable. I’d be like wtf? That would catch me completely off guard. Do your eyes tear up when you're nervous? Sometimes. Have you ever gotten the shakes in public? Yes. What do you like to order from Starbucks? Usually a caramel macchiato or a white chocolate mocha, but I do enjoy some of their seasonal drinks. Vanilla or Chocolate? Vanilla. Apples or Bananas? Bananas. Fruit or Veggies? I don’t eat much of either one. :X Water or Milk? Water. Regular Milk or Chocolate Milk? Ew. Would you milk a cow given the chance? No. What kind of underwear do you like? Hipster/hip huggers whatever you wanna call ‘em. Where do you shop for your underwear? A few different places. Chicken or Fish? Chicken. I hate seafood. Firm pillow or soft pillow? Soft, but firm.  What are you wearing when you go to sleep? Leggings and an oversized shirt. That’s all I wear now all the time. Do you take any meds? If so which and why? Pain medication.

[pixieungerstories]

Housemates - 19

Vinny really was planning on going for a run, but it turns out cumming so hard that your legs shake leaves you with muscle cramps afterwards.  Not in the same places that Derick left her aching though.  She snorted into Tristan’s pillow imagining what kind of work out you would need or could get fucking.  The phrase ‘three more reps on the minotaur, then back to the werewolf’ floated through her mind.

As it was she was sitting gingerly on a chair (not Kevin, she checked) drinking coffee and eating toast as Derick was out for his run by himself.

Tristan had fixed her breakfast, then kissed her head on his way out to work.  Now it was just her and Kogan who was reading the paper with his glasses perched on the end of his nose.

He sighed and put down the paper.  As he took off his reading glasses, Kogan looked at her, “Are you alright?”

“Sure?”

“Did Derick pressure you into sleeping with Tristan?”

Vinny blinked, “Not exactly.”

Kogan narrowed his eyes and looked at her.  Vinny looked away.  Kogan made the strangest little orc noise that there really wasn’t a human equivalent for, it startled Vinny enough that she looked back at him.  “Look.  I’m not bothered by who you choose to fuck, as long as it is your choice.  Hell, you’ve never been to an orc wedding, but remember that bar I took you to?  It had a pool table.  Orcs have group marriages and the wedding is basically we put down a drop cloth and watch while everyone welcomes the new member to the family.  It’s a pool table because we break less substantial furniture.  I’m not trying to shame you, but I will kick the pup’s head in if this wasn’t your choice.”

Vinny nearly choked on her toast at that last bit.  “I was raised catholic; I needed a push to get over the monogamy thing.  But it was my choice and I knew I could say no.”

Kogan nodded.  “Good.” He put his glasses back on and opened the paper with a snap.  “It’s OK if you need to take some time to process all of that.  Just because it happened once doesn’t mean you have to make it a regular thing.  Not unless you want to.”

Vinny finished her breakfast and headed to the kitchen.  As soon as her back was turned, Kevin called out, “Kogan wants his name on your roster but is too afraid to ask.”

Vinny froze then peeked over her shoulder.  Kogan had his eyes fixed firmly on his paper but was blushing.  “Is that true?”

“I’m too old for you.”

“That isn’t a no,” Kevin pointed out.

Vinny could only reply, “Huh.”

“You’re going to be late for class,” Kogan said without looking at her.

“Shit!” Vinny hobbled off.

----

That night, Vinny made a platter of Smitten Kitchen’s ratatouille and quinoa.  It smelled amazing and everyone dived right in, chatting about how their days went.  Vinny just watched them all in awe.  It really was like one big family.

She didn’t know how to ask what she really needed to know.  She had be practicing in her head all afternoon, but she still wasn’t sure how to even ask.  So she sat there picking at her food, lost in thought.

“Vinny?” Thea asked.  “Are you ok?”

“I’m fine.”

“Really?  Because you’ve moved that piece of pepper four times, but you aren’t actually eating anything.”

That made people stop and look up at her.

“I have no idea how to even bring this up and I’m terribly afraid that mentioning it will be another case of me being hugely misinformed except even worse than the jello incident.”  Vinny was prattling a bit but working up to it.

Derick, cleared his throat and gave her an out, “This is about us all being a pack marriage, isn’t it?”

Vinny swallowed and nodded, “Is that really true?”

They were all quiet for a moment.

Then Kevin announced, “Yup!” and dived into dinner.

Vinny blinked.  “Yup?  Just like that?  I hate to say this, but could someone who isn’t Kevin comment?”

Thea went next, “Which answer will make you not quit?  I don’t want you to leave, Vinny.”

“I’m not planning on quitting,” she replied.

“Are you sure?” Thea pressed.  “If we are, your mom would want you to quit.”

Vinny licked her lips, “Ma only gets any say in her own sex life.  Not any of yours, or mine.”

That made Kevin stop eating.  Vinny hadn’t figured out how to reliably tell if he was looking at her or not, but everyone else was, with a faint deer in the headlights expression, now that she thought about it.  She coughed, “Is that a yes then?”

There was a round of everyone avoiding her gaze.

Kogan was the one who finally owned up, “It isn’t really a formal thing. We just sort of help out when needed.  So, in the spring, when-”

“Don’t,” Thea whimpered.

Kogan stopped for a moment then said, “We’ve got nothing to be ashamed of son.”

Bazur shrugged, “I’m ace, but I’m not averse to giving someone a hand, if they need one.”

Vinny looked at Dren,  who shrugged, “I like warm wet spaces, except I taste with my whole body. Kevin is adaptable.  The others don’t really do it for me, but I can make warm wet spaces for them if they need it.”

“So… all of you are having sex with each other on a ‘as needed’ basis?”

Slow nodding.  Kogan helped himself to some quinoa, “What brings this up?”

Vinny took some then passed the casserole to the left.    “I kind of took advantage of Tristan last night.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“And it’s nice having someone to cuddle with.” Vinny continued, ignoring him.

Kevin snickered, “I’ll cuddle any time you want.”

“Can you say that without sounding sinister?” Dren asked.

Derick frowned, “I don’t think he can, actually, but I think it’s fairly safe to say we all consider you part of the family.”

Vinny rolled her eyes, she wasn’t really worried about him.  There were three of the guys who barely interacted with her.  She was worried this would be a problem for them and they wouldn’t say until it got really bad.  “Well, I know you do, but there are practical considerations.  Like how is Bazur going to feel if he’s not the only one who comes to movie night not wearing pants?”

“Honestly, it would take some of the pressure off,” Bazur admitted.  “I’m not good at remembering.  I have had to put a sticky note up on the doors in my bedroom and office.”

Vinny nodded, “Dren, you have enough stress in your life, I don’t want to add to it.  Thea - I make you uncomfortable.  I’m glad you don’t want me to quit but I don’t want you to be any more weirded out by me than you already are.”

Dren shrugged as he was slowly dissolving and absorbing a piece of eggplant.  “You won’t stress me out.  And anytime you need someone to keep you warm, my bathtub is your bathtub.”

Vinny blinked as she tried to imagine how that would work.  She would need to wax everywhere for that.  But Dren was warm and silky and gave great massages.

Derick’s nose twitched and suddenly he was grinning.  Vinny blushed and looked at her plate, then she caught herself and forced herself to met Dren’s gaze.  He was still very calm and off hand.  Nothing ever seemed to phase him.  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Dren nodded.  “Please do.  I’m not big enough or scary enough to walk you home after class, but I would be more than happy to wait up for you.”

Thea just nodded, wide eyed and silent.

It was Kogan who said, “Anything you need, you can come to me,” but there was a chorus of agreement from around the table.

Vinny had no idea what to say to that, so she just nodded, “Thank you.”  After a bite of zucchini she managed, “I promise not to be upset if any of you ask me, if you are also OK if I say no sometimes.” That was met with a thoughtful silence, so she continued, “I don’t want to be rude but I do want to get this all out on the table.  Bazur isn’t paying me to fuck  you-”

“I certainly am not!” the gargoyle sounded somewhat offended.

“But I… don’t mind a friends with benefits arrangement as long everyone is polite about it and everyone is ok with saying no, if they want.  On an as needed basis.”

Tristan cleared his throat, “While we are getting it all out there, we have a no pictures policy, for obvious reasons.”

Vinny blinked, “I hadn’t really considered that.”

Tristan gave her a look, “You should.  No revenge porn.”  Everyone was nodded.

“That sounds reasonable.  Anything else?”

“Kevin can make his dick look like a rubber duck!” Thea blurted out before covering his mouth with both hands.

Kevin snorted, “Yeah, and if you rub it, it will get hard and then squirt you.”

Vinny looked at Kogan, “Really?”

Kogan shrugged, “Sadly, yes, so if you see a rubber duck sitting on a chair or table, you may want to think twice before picking it up.”

“Your dick is a duck,” she said flatly.

“Or a tentacle, or the usual boring shape.  Lady’s choice,”  he grinned showing off those needle like teeth mimics are famous for.

“Huh.”

-----

Kogan picked Vinny up after late class.  The first thing he said once they were out of ear shot of her friends was, “Now, really, how do you feel about all of this?”

“Kogan, I’m here on a scholarship.  I don’t have time for a boyfriend who is going to get pissy because he wants to take me to a frat party and I have a paper due on Monday.  I really don’t have time for the emotional turmoil of finding out he went without me and had a threesome with Trish and Olivia.”

“Christ.  Someone did that to you?”

“Yeah, second year.  The thing is, I still like sex.  I just need it to be simple.”

Kogan shook his head, “What you need is someone who will be respectful.”  He thought for a few moments, then added, “Or someones.  That I can promise we have covered.”

“Except for Kevin.”

“Kevin is an asshole, but I’ve never seen him be malicious just mischievous.  He was really angry with himself after the jello thing.  He wanted to have some power in the relationship.  Something to tease you about.  He wasn’t really thinking.  He’s been better since then, hasn’t he?”

Vinny had to think about that.  “He may have downgraded from asshole to jerk.  Sometimes I can see that he’s trying.  Other times he’s…” she struggled for a moment and settled on “dismissive.  Like what I think doesn’t really matter.”

Kogan nodded, “You have power over him.  What he eats.  What shell care he gets.  If he gets to go out.  That pisses him off.  He likes you anyway and that pisses him off even more.  I’m afraid Mr Moodswing is just going to be like that for a while.”

By then they had crossed campus and Vinny laughed as she opened the door.  

There was a new front entry way table.

It had a rubber ducky sitting on it.

Vinny ignored it as she walked up the stairs.  As she made it to the first landing, she heard Kogan say, “Son, that woman is carrying a good twenty pounds of textbooks.  You are very lucky she didn’t just drop them on your duck.”

As she looked over her shoulder, she saw the duck melt and be absorbed into the table.  She chuckled all the way to her room.

[shinobicyrus]

Hungry Like the Wulf

@logicalghost requested that their Christmas Truce gift be “Some content of Wulf and Danni together being pals.”Friend, you came to the right place. 

Dani spots the ghost-cops first, over a dozen of them flying in formation, armored in riot gear and faces hidden behind visors like the ghosts of police brutalities past. She steers clear, backing into some midnight shadows against a brick wall, but it’s not necessary. They’re completed focused on something else; calling out to each other, harassing and circling and firing beams from their nightsticks at something she can’t see. 

This all seems very familiar, somehow. 

Whatever, ecto-memory déjà vu is something Dani is used to at this point. She pulls out her phone from her pants - because jumpsuits don’t have pockets and Danny is stupid - to check the time. Sees not only is it late, but she has four unread messages from her clone-bro and six more from Jazz. Probably wondering where she is. 

Duh, making great decisions, obviously. 

Turning invisible and trailing them cautiously, Dani catches up to them near the warehouse district, because everything great at one in the morning always happens near a bunch of old warehouses. She hears the tail end of a scuffle as she approaches one building painted with tagger handles and ghost graffiti and peeks her head through the wall. 

There are definitely less riot-cop ghosts in here than she had spotted in the air- the smears of lightly glowing ectoplasm splattered on the floor and walls are pretty strong evidence what probably happened to them. 

Even with only half of them left, it’s still enough to dogpile on the single hulking shape on the floor. The dusty concrete floor is scratched with huge gouges and the thing is all muscles and fur, snarling and struggling to shake off the Ghost-Zone Five-O while they affix glowing, high-tech looking manacles to its wrists.  

It snaps out with a wolf-like muzzle full of sharp teeth, growling obscenities in an eerily familiar language that flips a switch in the back of Danielle’s head. Her lips move without her thinking.

“...Wulf?”

No one else in the warehouse seems to hear her, but the pointed ears of the werewolf-looking ghost (Wulf, why does she know his name is Wulf?) twitch before the ghost-cops shove his face into the ground. 

One ghost is semi-standing a few feet away overseeing the spectacle, shirtless except for the long, douchey red cape. He’s got an eyepatch and an even douchier goatee. There’s some kind of blaster belted on his hip, but he’s still just standing there watching the other ghosts do all the work, holding up a fist-sized cube that has a warbling, glowing aura coming off of it. 

“Walker’s gonna be glad to hear that this little toy ended up doing the job,” Eyepatch tosses it up and down lazily,, savoring the whole situation. “This new mayor’s got a lot more goin’ for him that the last duly-elected meatsuit.” 

“Mi eskapis iam antaŭe,” Wulf snarls into the ground. One of the cops prods the sparking end of its baton into his neck and he flitches. “Mi...mi povas fari ĝin denove.”

“Not this time, mutt,” Eyepatch gives the cube another toss. “So long as we’ve got this, you can’t use those claws of yours to cut through the fabric between dimensions and...and...”

About this time he notices that the cube never came down. 

“See, I thought this looked like one of dad’s evil doohickeys! Nice to see he’s making friends with someone besides his cat.”

Eyepatch whips around to find Dani floating visibly overhead, turning over the cube and studying at it closely. 

(Yep, definitely looks like a box-thingie. Hmm, yes, fascinating)

Eyepatch wastes a few seconds staring at Dani, then back at his empty hand still hanging expectantly open. “Wha- who- where did you- give that back!”

“But I’m looking at it.” She keeps fiddling with it like it’s a stubborn Rubik’s cube. “Is this twisty bit here important? This seems important.” 

“I don’t know where the black hells you came from,” Eyepatch raises a two-pronged blaster that charges up with a high-pitched whine. “But you have three seconds to turn over Walker’s property before I-”

Dani licks the cube.

It tastes like metal, ozone, and that buzzy weird taste she’s come to associate with ectoplasm. Like someone put formaldehyde and grave dirt in a blender with old lime jello. Blegh.

The arm holding up the blaster wavers, then lowers as the ghost gapes at her. “Did you- did you just-”

“I licked it it’s mine now,” Dani tells him. “Sorry, I don’t make the rules.”

“That’s NOT a ru-” He grinds his teeth. With a snap of his fingers, the entire posse of ghost-cops rush off of fully chained-up Wulf and flank Eyepatch in a loose cordon. Shields up and batons all pointed at Dani like a firing squad. “I don’t know who you think you are, interfering wi-”

“Dani Phantom.”

“-official poli- wait what?”

“Dani Phantom,” she repeats. “You asked who I am. That’s me.”

“You’re not Danny Phantom.”

“Uh, yeah I am. Look!” She points at the symbol on her hoodie. “See! I have the ‘D’! And I am clearly talking about the logo, not my chest, for the record.” 

“You’re not Danny Phantom! We’ve all met Danny Phantom and he’s a-”

“Oh yeah, he’s like my...cousin? Twin brother? We’re related, but it’s like, really complicated.”

A few of the cop-ghosts lift up their helmet visors and exchange puzzled looks. 

“You’re both named Danny Phantom?” One of them speaks up.

Eypatch spins around to face him, furious. “Shut up, Gerald!”

Dani says to Gerland, “Yeah, but I’m Dani with an ‘i’.” 

“That must get really confusing,” the same ghost-cop nods sympathetically. 

“Thank you, yeah it really is! Everyone else is like, ‘oh we can just call you ‘elle’ and yeah Danny had the name first but I still don’t see why I have to change my-”

Eyepatch lifts up his blast and fires, making the upper body of the ghost-cop that spoke up disappear in a rush of ruby energy. What’s left of his lower half loses all consistently and melts into a puddle on the floor. 

“Fraternizing with lawbreakers is. Against. The. RULES!” Eyepatch roars at the puddle. The other cops float back a few nervous feet. 

Dani’s gasps. “Gerald, no! He was like, my best friend and everything! What the hell, dude?”

“Now imagine what I’m going to do to you, you little punk.” He levels the blaster up at her again. “If you don’t that box over right the fu-”

“Kay.” Dani tosses the cube at him. He actually drops his gun, fumbling with both hands before he finally gets a solid enough hold on it.

“Uh...right. That’s...good.” He looks down at the cube at his hands as if he can’t quite believe that it’s actually there. “Well...don’t think this means we’re going to be lenient on you, especially since you just gave up your only bargaining chip! Heh.”

He chuckles with a grin of crooked teeth and nasty promises. The rest of his crew join in, if a bit more nervously. 

Dani flaps her hand. “Meh, it’s okay, I didn’t really need it anyway. I just needed to district you for a bit while the other-me got Wulf outta those chains.”

Eyepatch and the ghost-cops stop laughing.

“....come again.”

“Saluton.” 

Warily, they all turn in unison and see Wulf, free and towering over them, teeth bared. Peeking over his shoulder is another Danielle, who waves at them. 

Wulf growls out in stilted English: “Run.”

The ghost-cops all scatter in different directions, leaving Eyepatch rooted to the spot, still holding the cube. 

Ever-so slowly, Eyepatch lifts up the cube up to Wulf, who plucks it delicately out of his hand with two claws and crushes it in his massive paw. 

“I think I’ll just...uh....” Eyepatch cocks his thumb over his shoulder. “I think I’ll just go...now...?”

Wulf’s grimace turns into a grin. “Lasu min helpi vin.”

With one paw, he grabs Eyepatch by the throat and lifts him clear off the ground. The other paw reaches out and slashes at the empty air next to them. 

It reminds Dani of a green screen, like he’d ripped away a piece of the fake background and revealed another world beneath it. Through the jagged hole Dani can see the writhing black expanse of the Ghost Zone, but no place she’s ever seen before. Skeletal trees of jagged crystal fractals, pits of crackling ectoplasmic fire, and somewhere- echoing distantly but still incredibly loud- a hungry roar shakes the rusted guts of the warehouse all the way down to Dani’s ribcage. 

“Waitwaitwaitwheredoesthatportallead-AGGHHH!”

Wulf throws him through. The air snags and the hole seal itself up with a little pop of air, cutting off Eyepatch’s scream instantly. 

“THAT WAS FOR GERALD!” both Danis roar simultaneously.

The warehouse is suddenly very quiet. Wulf’s heavy panting echoes very loudly on hollow concrete. His hoodie is filthy and torn in places and his hackles are raised. 

“Hey man, you okay?” Dani asks. 

“Yeah, you were kind of in a bad way,” her duplicate adds. 

Wulf steadies his breathing. “Mi estas...mi estos bone.”

“Really?” Dani says skeptically. “’Cause you do not look okay.”

He stands up a little straighter, ears perking with interest. “Vi...komprenas min?”

The duplicate Dani (Dupli? Dupli-Dani? Yeah! Dupli-Dani) shrugs. “I mean...more or less? We know a couple of languages including Spanish or Portuguese.” 

“So we can get the gist of it,” Dani finishes. 

Seeing Wulf’s head dart confused between two different Danis, she floats up to her duplicate and holds out a fist. “Nice work on the chains, Dani.”

“Thanks, Dani!” Dupli-Dani returns the fist bump. “You weren’t so bad of a distraction.”

“Aw, shucks, now you’re making us blush.”

“You know we can’t resist making cute girls blush,” Dupli-Dani winks. 

“Mi tre konfuzas nun,” Wulf confesses. 

“Sorry,” they say in unison. Both Danis glow, and then Dupli-Dani’s form wavers like a reflection on water and shifts back into Danielle’s body. “Sorry about that, just unlocked that little trick last week and it takes some getting used to. Is it weird that I always end up hitting on myself when I do that? No reason, asking for a friend.”

Wulf is suddenly in her face- she’s floating only a few feet off the ground, and she almost recoils at such something so huge and toothy in her personal space, but starts giggling when his noises starts sniffling all over her. 

“Ahhh! Hahahaha, quit it!” She giggles and squirms when his cold wet nose snuffles over her bare midriff. 

“Oh! So-ry,” He rears back, brow scrunching adorably up in confusion. “Amiko Danny?”

“Uh...sorta?”

“Vi odoras kiel li, sed vi estas...malsama.”

“It’s a long story, but...you can call me Danielle, if it helps?” 

He thinks about it for a few moments, then shakes his big, furry head. “Ne, vi estas Amiko Dani.”

“Aw, I heard the ‘i’ in there. Thanks big guy.” She rubs the back of her head and looks helplessly around the warehouse. “So uh...were you like...doing anything tonight before the Green Meanies tried to throw you in the slammer?”

“Ne vere,” He shrugs. “Eble vi povas diri al mi vian tre longan rakonto?”

“I’d...I’d like that? Yeah! You hungry?”

Even someone without any understanding of Esperanto couldn’t misinterpret the sudden lolling tongue. “Ĉiam.“

Wulf glances nervously up and down the street. This late there aren’t even buses or a stray car going down the road. Nothing but the traditional creatures of the night: ghostwolves, half-ghosts, goths, and service industry workers on the skeleton shift. 

The shop window next to them was dark. Wulf adjusts his baseball cap in the reflection of the glass. “Ĉi tio estas stulta.” 

“Is not.” Thinking it would be unfair that he’d be the only visible ghost in the place, Dani stayed in her ghost form as well. When she stood next to him, she could see both of their eyes glowing back at them in the window. 

“Ĝi ne funkcios.”

“It’ll totally work, trust me.”

“Bone. Sed estos via kulpo, se ili panikos.”

“Midnight breakfast or a coffee shop full of panicking goths. I’m fine with either one.”

She walks across the street towards the diner, completely undisguised save the her spare hoodie covering her noticeable costume. 

Perfect. No one will suspect at thing. 

Wulf sighs loudly before following her. 

They elected to take the long route there, Dani flying along Wulf while he loped on all fours across rooftops. She doesn’t think he can actually fly, which is weird because the only other ghost she’s met that doesn’t is Sidney, and he claims it’s because he gets vertigo when he floats.

Still, at least Wulf has the claw-portal thing. That’s pretty cool. 

At the door, Wulf hunches low, ears flat against his head while he wrings his giant paw-hands nervously. 

“Relax, Duran-Druan,” Dani reaches up and pats his arm. “I have it on good authority that freaking out over a ghost is an instant loss in goth-cred. It’ll be fine.”

He only nods quietly and hunches lower, trying to appear as small as possible. 

The diner is exactly like she remembers: skulls everywhere, memorabilia of vintage movie monsters, some occult imagery that would make Sam’s mom faint, a wall turned into a crowded collage of dozens of punk-rockers from unknown local bands to Violent Pacifist and Dumpty Humpty.

“Hi there!” Dani walks up to a bored looking waitress whose dark mascara is hiding the tired bags under her eyes pretty well. She’s cute, all piercings, short pink hair, and a skirt that is mostly impractical buckles. 

“Hey,” she returns, bored and sleep deprived. 

“Can we get a table for three, please?”

“Three? But there’s only tw-” she freezes, finally noticing the seven foot tall shaggy wolfman ghost behind what she’d probably originally assumed to be a white-haired goth girl.

Dani smiles pleasantly at her, fully aware that her eyes are glowy ghostly bright. “I think he counts as two on his own, yanno?”

Wulf waves at her shyly. 

“Uh. Right. Yeah. Sure.” She actually recovers admirably, blinking a few extra times at Wulf like she’s trying to reset her eyes before gathering up two menus. “This way, please.”

She leads them through the diner, past couples, trios, and small booths of various goths, punks, the occasional emo, and a few ghost-groupies in Ember merchandise. 

Most look at Wulf for no more than few seconds before returning to their black coffees, phones, and conversations. 

Dani elbows Wulf and stage-whispers. “Told ya.”

The waitress sits them down at a corner table next to a rainbow flag that’s decorated with spooky bats. It’s a bit of work with the tail, but Wulf manages to situate himself on the study metal chair without any problems. 

“Can I uh...start you off with anything?” She asks. 

“Kafo, bonvolu.” 

“Two coffees, please,” Dani translates.

“Got it,” her black sneakers make next to no sound as she goes to fetch the pot.

“Bone, vi estis korekta,” Wulf admits. He looks around all the diner, tail thumping against the legs of his chair as he takes in the atmosphere. ”Ĉu vi multe venas ĉi tien?”

“Yep, come here all the time after patrol. It used to be just goths but after a while it kinda became this...safe-spot for anyone that was out late at night that needed someplace safe. Plus, the coffee’s not bad.”

As if to prove her point, the waitress returns with a fresh pot and fills their cups to the brim. 

“Dankon, sinjorino.” Wulf says, still reading the menu. The menu looks cartoonishly small in his paws.

“No prob. You two want anything to eat?” 

Dani looks up from her menu. “Oven still on?” 

“‘course.”

“I’ll have the Black Dahlia.”

“Tri...’March of Pigs,’” Wulf manages.

“You want three whole-” She looks at him again. “Uh, sure yeah, okay. Take about half an hour.”

“That works,” Danny hands back her menu. Wulf carefully does the same.

The waitress (the name tag on her chest says Abigail, Danielle finally notices) hesitates a moment at the sight of Wulf’s claws, but just as carefully takes the menu and says, “Just holler if you need anything,” before she leaves again.

Neither Dani or Wulf say anything. Somewhere, old speakers static out deceptively cheery Voltaire songs to serenade the witching-hour crowd with.

“Do..” Wulf starts awkwardly. “Vi diris ke vi havas longan rakonto-”

“I’m a clone.”

Wulf’s mouth snaps shut.

Dani noisily sips her coffee. 

Thing is, Danny, Sam, and Tuck already knew. Danny had told Jazz, Valerie had found out in the worse way possible, and when the time came to finally out himself - and her- to Maddie and Jack, he’d done most of the talking while she sat next to him on the couch, squeezing Jazz’s hand hard.

She’s never actually said it. Especially not the ‘C’ word. 

“I mean, I know I said it was a long story and it definitely is but when you boil it down that’s sort of the major part. We call each other ‘cousins’ to make it less weird but technically Danny’s more like my twin brother and the guy who made me was evil and couldn’t decide whether to throw me away or dissect me for evil science and it’s not like I can like, go to a therapist or a non-Jazz professional about this 'cause I think being the unwanted byproduct of an evil plot to replace a deranged billionaire’s teenaged archnemesis because I was a girl and had health problems from botched cloning techniques might have given me a few...issues.”

Wulf never once takes his eyes off of her. He blinks at her slow, gaze steady and pupil-less, but strangely not at all unnerving. His big wolf ears are perked and attentive. 

“Also I can’t be 100% sure but I think I’m gay.”

Holding up the coffee cup with precise, dainty care in his claw, Wulf took a polite sip with a big, slooping green tongue, then set it down with a clink. 

Finally, clearing his throat, Wulf says, slow and heavily accented: “That iz ruff, buddy.” 

Dani stares at him. 

He nods at her sagely, a giant, furry philosopher wearing a filthy hoodie and a stolen ‘Axion Labs’ baseball cap. Then, with a twinkle in his eyes, he grins at her. 

Dani can’t hold it in anymore and bursts out laughing, keeling over and slapping the table as her sides start to ache. 

When Abigail comes back to their table with two trays loaded with food, she’s even more confused than she had been before.    

[stuff-from-the-void-matron]

Blast From The Past (Ch. 3)

Pairing(s): (future) RK800 x Female!Reader x RK900

Characters: Reader, Elijah Kamski, Gavin Reed, other miscellaneous characters

Summary: You wake up and don't feel so good. Also they found your emergency contact. :)

You opened your eyes very slowly, almost reluctantly. At first things were just vague blobs of color but after steadily blinking you noticed things started coming into focus. You didn't know what was going on or where you were but you were too groggy to really be worried about it at the moment. Your throat felt bone dry so you tried swallowing in an attempt to wet it but almost gagged in the process. Your mouth tasted absolutely disgusting, like you hadn't brushed your teeth in a month. Harsh coughs shook you and a few seconds later someone came into your blurry line of sight and started speaking frantically. "Oh! Oh my god! You're awake. Uh- here, have a sip of water. You probably need it."

During a break in your coughing fit you felt the rim of a glass touching your bottom lip. You gratefully started drinking, glad that your dry throat could be soothed and the nasty taste could be semi swallowed away. While blinking away the tears from your coughing fit you tried to regain your bearings. For a moment you couldn't recall what was going on but after a too long moment of thought you remembered where you were last. You were at the facility and going to test their new sleep pod or whatever. You'd have to tell them that it wasn't working so great. Not only did you not feel 'refreshed' like they'd said, but you felt like you'd slept for a week straight. Your body felt heavy, your limbs ached, and you head felt swimmy.

It took a second but you finally noticed that someone was snapping their fingers in front of your face. You wiped away the rest of the tears on your face before giving the new lab coat next to you your attention. You didn't remember her, and she was dressed kinda weird, with her hair cut in an asymmetrical bob and her frameless glasses cut in a half moon shape. But you reasoned that she must just be new to the lab. Interns came and went pretty often.

She opened her mouth to speak but hesitated before simply remaining silent. She was definitely new, only new technicians and lab assistants behaved this awkwardly around you and the other testers. So you decided to cut her some slack and start for her. Plus it was best you didn't sugar coat how terrible the sleep pod had been. Especially since they’d more than likely try to have you test it out again.

"Hey uh, the sleep pod didn't work like you all thought it would. I feel more tired now than before I got in the damn thing." The woman blinked in mild confusion before the look faded into understanding. She took a deep breath and pushed her glasses up further on her nose. Then she glanced down at what you assumed was a clipboard but after she pressed a few buttons you realized it must be a tablet of some sort instead. She didn't seem totally focused on the tablet and instead just appeared to be staring at it in order to gather her thoughts. She still seemed anxious, which was kinda amping up your own anxiousness, but finally she tore her eyes away from the screen to look at you. You hadn't looked away and she gulped before clearing her throat, willing some of her professionalism back into place. She glanced back down at the tablet and spoke, "Your name is Y/n Kamski, correct? Born in uh-...1991?"

You quirked an eyebrow before telling her yes, that was you. If anything, your confirmation just seemed to place more anxiety on her already slumped shoulders. But she plowed on. "I'm Dr. Vonn, and you're currently at St. Fabiola's, a hospital in-" You cut her off in shock. "I'm in a hospital?? Why?"

Dr. Vonn looked tired but dutifully broke the news to you that you and a few others had been found in crude cryo-pods underneath an old building downtown that was scheduled for complete renovations. She told you that you'd only been discovered because the building's new owners couldn't figure out why the building itself was using so much electricity despite the fact that it had been stripped of all electrical outlets and lights a week before. It was pure chance that they'd found an old fashioned electric cable that had been artlessly rigged up to the newer power breaker. "They'd assumed that a building nearby was siphoning power from them for free. So they tore up the foundation to try and find which building it was going to. But it wasn't leading them away from their building, instead it was going downwards. No available blueprints of the building showed there being anything below it so when they unearthed an illegal, underground basement level you can imagine their shock."

You felt ill at the implications this woman was putting forth. Your heart sped up and you weakly gulped and asked in a shaky tone,

“How...how long was I down there? They- I was only on c-...I was only supposed to be there for a few more years. I have to call my brothers and Aunt!”

Dr. Vonn looked pained at your quivering form, almost guilty. In a soft, consoling voice she told you that it was currently 2040. Nausea was swimming in your throat, there was no way any of the shit this woman, Vonn, was telling you was true. No, this has to be some kind of fucked up test. Maybe the lab coats were trying to test your emotional responses to stimuli or something. That has to be it. Because...if it's not then.......you can't even imagine. "Ms. Kamski, I know this is a lot to take in. But please, try to calm down."

The sound of your heart monitor finally registered to your ears and it was going nuts, beeping up a storm. You hadn't noticed but your heart was practically beating out of your chest. You can't really explain why but you had to move, you needed air. You just had to get away. From everything! The room around you felt so stiflingly hot all of a sudden. You threw the sheet covering you off before shifting your legs over the side of the bed. Dr. Vonn gasped and tried to direct you back into the bed, telling you that your body couldn't handle moving right now. You ignored her and tried to stand but your knees buckled almost instantly and you fell against the heart monitor stand that was right next to you. Your legs felt like jello but somehow you painstakingly got yourself into a partially standing position. You were clinging to the heart monitor like an erratically beeping crutch, but you were deaf to all the noise. Somewhere next to you Dr. Vonn was yelling for assistance as she tried to keep her arms around you to steady you. But she and the machines all sounded so far away. Your vision began to swim, black creeping into the corners of your vision. Then out of nowhere you felt weightless for a second before the ground rushed at you and then all you knew was darkness.

Three different nurses all rushed into the room just as you crumpled to the ground like a wet paper bag. Dr. Vonn was struggling to keep your larger frame from totally hitting the floor. But thankfully a second later the nurses had you back on the bed. Dr. Vonn got back to her feet and gave you a look full of pity. You no doubt thought this was all a nightmare.

“I’m guessing she didn’t take the news well?”

Dr. Vonn have the male nurse a withering stare and replied in a dry tone,

“How well would you handle finding out you’d been asleep for over 20 years?”

----

After you were stable and resting in bed Dr. Vonn sat in her office thinking over the last few days. Her and the other doctors working to keep you alive had been given a brief rundown of exactly where you’d been discovered and how by the police. Your case has been the most interesting one to crop up in years. And the news outlets; local, countrywide, and internationally, have been having a field day over it. The headlines have been going crazy. Vonn looked up at the muted tv in the corner of her office and re-read the headlines that have been circulating since you were discovered.

////Missing Detroit Woman Found Alive Under Building Two Decades Later\\\\

Von had never heard of anything like this happening before. At least not out of science fiction. Sure, scientists had dabbled here and there through the modern age to create cryo, or ‘stasis’, chambers. But to everyone’s knowledge they’d all ended in failure! None of the test subjects could live in the stasis past a year or two. But then here you were, plopped into the world’s lap, apparently a success story.

You’d been safely put into a synthetic coma by god knows who for over two decades ! Not only that but you didn’t look any older than you had BEFORE you’d gone into the chamber. At least according to your missing persons picture anyway. Sure, your hair was shorter and you were a bit chubbier in the photo your family had given to the police all those years ago compared to now. But the resemblance was uncanny. And you’d definitely responded to being called Y/n Kamski, the woman born in 1991. There’s no other explanation.

And honestly the only reason they knew your name and other basic information at all was thanks to some shredded documents that had been found at the site of the pods that had been put back together by some police androids. Vonn looked down at the patchwork file she had on you.

Name: Y/n Kamski Age: 49 (technically) [looks mid 20s] Birthdate: --/--/1991

They’d looked you up in the system, to try and see if you had a record or if they could dig up anything on you. And lord they sure as hell had. You’d been reported missing in 2014 by your Aunt after you failed to keep contact with her and your younger brothers for over a month. Vonn hadn’t been able to get a look at the full file but from what the officers had mentioned you’d supposedly gone off to a job out of state and had been keeping regular contact with your family for over a year but then one day you’d just disappeared off the face of the earth with zero warning.

“Dr. Vonn?”

The petite woman looked over to the open doorway at the same male nurse from before. He had a medi-pad in his hand and he had a mix between disbelief and excitement on his face. Vonn wished she had another cup of coffee for whatever the hell he was no doubt about to tell her.

“What is it DJ?”

His face split into a grin and he practically skipped into the office and laid the pad on her desk with no small amount of giddiness.

“The results of that blood relation test came back for Ms. Kamski. And I was RIGHT!”

Vonn winced at his exuberant tone and snatched up the medi-pad and read over the data quickly, her eyes widening the more she read.

“Holy shit. You were right?”

Dr. Vonn stared down at the file showing your closest living relatives. Both being your brothers. Gavin Reed, whom Vonn had never heard of before? But the second one...Elijah Kamski, the actual father of modern androids and AI intelligence. He was your...younger brother?? Vonn shouldn’t have been as surprised as she was. With your last name being Kamski it wasn’t a total surprise. But she’d denied it anyways. Because what were the chances??? But she sat the pad down and slumped back in her chair before looking up at the eager face of DJ.

“Well, I suppose all we can do now is call him to let him know his….sister has been found.”

[aileen-dunbroch]

TOO DRUNK TO DREAM → BRAILEEN

TAGGING → Aileen Dunbroch & Bryce MacGuffin (@brycemacguffin)

TIMELINE → Tuesday, October 31, 2017

SETTING → Halloween Party

SUMMARY → TFW your roommate’s been slipping you narcotics for over a month and you have no idea you shouldn’t be drinking...

Aileen knew it was still early in the night, but she was already well drunker than she'd planned on being for Halloween. Whoever was mixing drinks at this house party really needed some training from the bartenders at Le Pub or something, because they'd gotten her completely sloshed without her even tasting a thing. She smoothed down the skirt of her Velma costume, her eyes blinking as she tried to regain focus on the room around her, and finally she spotted a familiar face - Bryce MacGuffin, who she'd known for as long as she could remember. She bumped her way through the crowd until she got to her friend, throwing her arm around him drunkenly and slurring, "Hiiiiii! You're out so late, who knew you were so fun?" Aileen leaned against him for support, sure that the room was going to start spinning any second and hoping that he wasn't here with anybody who was going to be mad at his brand new arm-accessory.

Bryce loved Halloween. Not only were the costumes always fun to look at, but you always had a few people try to convince you that ghosts were real and boy was that fun to shoot down. Dressed as the Grim Reaper - complete with the medicine mask that he'd let hang around his neck as he got to a party and started drinking - he made his way through the crowd, looking for Archie or Aileen or someone. He smiled gratefully when he saw one of his favorite triplets, but his smile faded slightly when he heard her. "You sound like my dad," he joked, though his dad's hard-to-understand dialect was more endearing than drunk-girl speech. "The night is young and you're already so sloshed, who would've thunk it? What'd you do, chug a bottle?" He put an arm around her as she leaned on him, wondering if this was when he should try giving her coffee.

Aileen furrowed her brows together... or she tried to, anyway; her face felt fuzzy, too, and she wasn't sure that the motion came across as she'd intended for it to. It was stranger, though; usually Aileen was much better at gauging her alcohol intake for this, it was strange to be so out of it so quickly. She'd been so tired lately, too, though, with or without the alcohol, and she found that same feeling of exhaustion creeping up on her, too, mingling with the confusion and the haziness of the night. Later, she'd probably decide this was her worst Halloween of all time, but right now all she could focus on was moving her lips and her tongue in conjunction to actually fumble out a reply to Bryce. "No, I didn't -- I didn't even drink that much," Aileen protested meekly, resting her head on his shoulder as she scooted closer to him, glad that he was strong enough to keep them both upright. "Mmmh, you're comfy, I could take a nap right here and then rally," she giggled feebly.

Bryce let his mind get cynical and skeptical all the time for fun, but when it came to his friends from the clans, it was hard to imagine anything bad happening to them. He knew, realistically, that Aileen was a bartender and knew her liquor - he knew even more realistically from hanging out with her that she could out-drink him with her hands behind her back. She had to be wrong about how much she'd drank, because this was Aileen, and this was Walt - people didn't go around putting weird stuff in other people's drinks here like they did in the episodes of Law and Order he loved so much. "How much is 'that much'?" he asked, almost with a laugh before shaking his head. "No, come on, we're going to get you some coffee. And then you're going to sober up a little and get me on your level." He led her to the kitchen in this house, but leading her there was harder than he'd expected - it felt like holding a tall doll in his arms, and he found a clear seat at a table and helped her into it. "Wait there, and keep talking to me," he suggested, looking around for something to make coffee with.

Aileen nodded, although the motions that she intended to be a quick agreement felt sluggish, like her head was in a vat of jello that she was trying to shake it up and down through. "Like... two? Three? I remember..." She blinked, wishing she could rub her eyes to try and see straight, but if she let go of Bryce she might just sink down to the floor and take a nap right there, and that didn't seem like a very good idea, people had probably spilled beer or even puked all over it in the past. "I took one shot for me, one for Elly, and... and not one for the other one," she slurred, not even being able to recall her own third triplet. Her legs felt stupidly heavy as Bryce led her away from the noise of the party, and as soon as she sat down, she slumped. It wasn't as warm or secure as clinging to her friend had been, but it would do. "Why are there two of you? I always knew you wanted to be more like us," she joked weakly as she finally rubbed her eyes, trying to clear away the double vision that had just kicked in. It was hard to open them again once she was done, though, so Aileen rested her elbows on the table and her head in her palms instead, listening to the far-away sound of Bryce making coffee for as long as she could.

Bryce snorted at the triple shots for the triplets. Granted, he thought it was adorable - he'd always been a fan of the Dunbroch sisters, all three of them - but he doubted he'd ever get drunk enough to forget their names and they weren't even his sisters. "Was it three shots of everclear or something? Dang," he muttered, more to himself than to Aileen as he got her situated and tried to help out. Coffee helped him when he was drunk, at least, and whether it was a placebo or not he wasn't sure. He found a coffee maker and got to work, snorting again at the two-of-you comment before thinking that that was really weird. A really high level of drunk. And Aileen wasn't even watching him anymore, covering her eyes. "I'd have five of me. It'd be great, you'd be so outnumbered," he joked, hurrying over while the pot warmed up. "Are you still awake, Ails?" He wasn't totally sure what to do when a friend was this drunk. "Do you want to go home, maybe? Take a nap and rally? It's early, there'll still be party when you're done, but if the coffee doesn't perk you up, I don't think you're really in the partying state, lassie."

Aileen loved Halloween and hated to admit defeat, but she had always prided herself on knowing her own limits and on this night she'd somehow barreled right past them into a total state of incoherence. She whined, no real words coming out, unable to quite process everything Bryce had just said to her at all -- but she had made out the word home, that much she knew for sure. "Home," she nodded miserably, the smell of the coffee he'd so kindly made making her stomach swoop dangerously, like it wanted to eject everything that was inside of it. "Just... five minute nap here, then I'll walk," she murmured, not sure if Bryce could make out the words uttered between the palms her chin was resting on. It was the best she could do, though; everything else seemed too difficult, like it was asking too much of her in this state, and she let her elbows slip downwards as her head softly thudded against the table, her brand new pillow, instead.

Bryce kept a hand on her shoulder, leaning close to try to hear her over the party. She nodded, and that was probably a good sign - he knew Aileen, he knew she knew above all how to take care of people, including herself. He couldn't quite here what she'd muttered, but her head fell softly towards the table and he felt his heart stop in his chest for a second. Did she really just fall asleep right there on the table? She must have been more far gone than he'd thought. "Ails? Aileen?" he asked nervously, his joking demeanor that was so easy to keep with her slipping away as he shook her and got no response. He couldn't just leave her there. Looking around, he took a deep sigh before realizing what he'd have to do. Bracing himself, he pulled her chair out and held her, eventually cradling her in his arms, glad both that he'd inherited some of his father's strength and also that Aileen was quite thin. He took a breath before fighting his way out of the party, his oldest friend in his arms. Home. He had to get her home.

Aileen was slipping in and out of dreams -- or maybe the jogging and jarring motions were part of reality, and the blackness was where the dreams should have been. She really didn't know; she didn't know much of anything, except that someone was saving her from herself. Tomorrow, she'd kick herself for getting so drunk. Tomorrow she might even wonder if someone had slipped her something to get her this way, because the fact that she felt completely drowsy, like she didn't want to imagine having to wake up again, was so not a familiar sensation to her. Right now, though, she didn't wonder anything except maybe when she'd stop being jostled around and could just fall deeper and deeper into the slumber that had ruined Halloween night.

Bryce looked at his childhiid friend and could only assume she was knocked out. It was something to behold and something to worry about a little, too, but then again he worried about most things. Getting her home at least had been easier than he hoped, though getting her in bed was no easy feat. It was worth it when he'd managed to tuck her in and her face looked more peaceful than it had. If she was going to be passed out for Halloween, at least itd be in the safety of her own home. The urge to sing an old Scottish lullabye was strong but he ignored it, choosing instead to make himself at home in a nearby seat. "If you need anything, I'm right here," he promised, though he wasn't sure if she'd heard him. He hoped she had. He hoped she knew he was there even though her eyes seemed close and even though she must be the most woozy person on the planet right now - he hoped she knew she wasn't alone.

Bryce looked at his childhiid friend and could only assume she was knocked out. It was something to behold and something to worry about a little, too, but then again he worried about most things. Getting her home at least had been easier than he hoped, though getting her in bed was no easy feat. It was worth it when he'd managed to tuck her in and her face looked more peaceful than it had. If she was going to be passed out for Halloween, at least itd be in the safety of her own home. The urge to sing an old Scottish lullabye was strong but he ignored it, choosing instead to make himself at home in a nearby seat. "If you need anything, I'm right here," he promised, though he wasn't sure if she'd heard him. He hoped she had. He hoped she knew he was there even though her eyes seemed close and even though she must be the most woozy person on the planet right now - he hoped she knew she wasn't alone.

Aileen was never the deepest of sleepers, but once Bryce had tucked her into her bed, she was out like a light. More and more lately she'd been conking out early and sleeping all through the night, but usually when she was drunk like this she woke up to get water, to go to the bathroom, to vomit... to do anything. On Halloween, though, she didn't know how long it was before her eyes finally blinked open again, and when they did they were bleary and heavy, like she could sleep for another twelve hours if she just let her eyes blink shut again. They managed to catch sight of Bryce, in the dim lamplight beside her bed, asleep in a chair he'd pulled up to her side, and as her heavy lids slid closed again, she reached out her hand to squeeze his, to let him know she was okay, and maybe to thank him for taking care of her while she was such a mess like this... and her hand stayed there intertwined with his for God knows how long, as she slipped back into the heavy slumber that had overtaken her however many hours before.

[limpblotter]

5Pointz

a/n: In memory of 5Pointz being announced for demolition in August of 2014; it was one of the saddest moments of modern-gentrification in NYC history. It was a real shame losing one of the most iconic buildings in Urban Expression only to be made into luxury buildings, I’m sad that the 7train view won’t ever be the same but I’m hella glad it existed and I couldn’t stop thinking about how a certain fictional character would have taken this news.  Summary: Pete takes a blow to his mood, Carla helps a brother out. Warning: Curing and Gentrification talk also this is PLATONIC Carla and Pete. w/c: ~3k

“Sonny you’re late.” Usnavi heard the door swing open; his back was to the front since he was restocking a few shelves. A job that belonged to Sonny but again, he was late. This was around the time Sonny would say something cheerful yet mocking. Something about how he’s family or how much Usnavi loved him. Two years of this nonsense, Sonny was seventeen now and still cracked the same jokes without fail. He was a creature of habits. So every nerve in Usnavi’s body tingled when he didn’t hear any response. “Sonny?” Was he mistaken? Was it not Sonny? When he turned he saw Sonny had moved to the register. His eyes down, as he tapped the keys absently not pressing down hard enough to actually type anything.

Usnavi’s makeshift parenting senses were firing alarms. Something was wrong.

“What’s with you? Tienes un bajon de bilirrubina (you look down**saying not literal translation**)” Usnavi cocked a brow at his direction but it did nothing to lighten his absent somber face. Usnavi drew a bit closer, pretending to be scanning the shelves and not the bags under Sonny’s eyes. When he got to the front desk he found his eyes were puffed, red outlined the waterline of his eyes and worry grappled Usnavi’s chest as it did many of times. It wasn’t easy being a patron figure to a teenage boy. Con cuidado. Tread with care. 

  “So…um…what were you doing last night? Hanging? Chilling?” Crap what did the kids call it now?

Sonny shrugged no comment to Usnavi’s poor grasp of today’s terminology. It was actually painful to see someone who was so cheerful look so devoid. “Nothin’” Sonny pursed his lips as he angrily fiddled with the cashier.

“Ta’bien.” Usnavi started to back away, “Just wondering If maybe you got something on your mind or—“

“I’m gonna check the backroom, k?” Sonny brushed past Usnavi so quickly the wind of his afterimage smacked him in the face. It had been a good while since Sonny acted this way, this distance…Usnavi like to think they were over this kind of teenage angst and they were a lot more understanding and open.

Aye, dios. Usnavi did not want to relive Sonny’s emotional years again. It was time to call in the big guns.

After making a very swift phone call, Usnavi stayed at the front. Sonny didn’t seem to come out from the backroom which, one could say did make a good dupe for Sonny’s bedroom. The smell was about the same. “I came as soon as I could.” Nina walked through the doors, hair a mess, still dressed in her gym clothes. Usnavi eyed her up then quirked a brow. They shared a silent question and answer before Nina sighed, “Vanessa started a Zumba class and I’m beat.”

“I figured, you know she tried to get me to do one of those….sweaty, shake-your-ass classes?” Usnavi chuckled a bit letting Nina catch her breath.

“Ha.” She snorted cutely, covering her mouth with her hand. “Esa loca.” With a short scan of the store, Nina’s laugh was stifled by the lack of chipper hellos and small talk. The store did feel less welcoming without Sonny’s almost unnaturally cheerful, teenage presence. “Where is he?”

“Back room…”

“How bad?”

“You remember the day someone told him feeding rice to pigeons was actually one of the main sources of their death when he was ten?”

“Poor boy couldn’t stop crying everytime he saw a bird…I had to blindfold him everytime we passed the park or it was waterworks until we got home from school.”

“Worse.”

“No”

Usnavi thumbed to the door. Nina didn’t need to say much, she could tell but Usnavi’s tired expression he was worried about him. There wasn’t many things that would put Sonny in such a sour mood. Usually it was something large scale, like politics or news. Nina could only keep her mind on so many topics, Sonny was far better at keeping up to trend with what was going on in the world. She opened the backroom and found Sonny slumped up against one of the 50 pound rice bags, using the produce as a make shift beanbag chair while his hat covered his face and his phone was flat on his chest. “Hey, Sonny” Nina smiled closing the door behind her. “Mind if I…pop squat on the grains?”

She got no answer, not even a hello from her favorite kind in the barrio. Sonny shrugged a bit giving Nina all the ok she needed. “Thanks, my legs are like jello…” the Zumba class was Sean Paul themed, there was just a bit too much leg and hip action for Nina’s tastes. “So…you gonna tell me what’s up or is Usnavi gonna have to start breaking out the Santeria candles from Carla and Daniella’s place?”

They both wished she was joking but if Sonny didn’t start explaining soon the whole store was going to start smelling like rose water and old, waxy incense from the Virgin Mary candles they had laying around. “Pete…” Sonny croaked a bit, the name made Nina’s mouth open into an “O”. This all made sense now that Sonny said that. After all Usnavi had no idea… “He hasn’t said a word to me…he’s been real cold Nina…like…” He sat up, teeth gnawing at his full lower lip.

Teenage romance was always a lot more dramatic than it needed to be. “Its summer, maybe Pete is busy meeting his August tagging quota.” She smiled, but something in Nina knew better. Pete and Sonny weren’t normal teens. In a lot of ways, they were tiny adults. Far more mature than most their age. Seen a lot more stuff, more pain and trails. It didn’t sound right that this would bother Sonny this deeply.

“Its not like him not to talk to me…What if he’s hurt or upset?”

Nina leaned over from her bag of rice, feeling the millions of grains shift her weight making her nearly sink to the ground. With her last efforts she ran her hand down Sonny’s arm (though was actually aiming for his head) and frowned, “why don’t you tell me when you last spoke with Pete?”

Sonny stiffened a bit at the question, he readied himself and slowly coughed out with a slight pink hue forming at the apples of his cheeks. “I…was taking the train back from Pete’s place in Queens.”

“Ok….” Nina smiled, of course masking her immediate need to ask questions. Everything in her screamed for more details of why, how, and what happened but she channeled OUT her father’s interrogatory genes and went for her mother’s understanding. “And everything was fine?”

“It was cool, he walked me to the train station, usually he rides back and leaves me at the turnstile so he can just hop back on the train but…I dunno he got to the top of the station and all the sudden he just said he had to ‘bounce’ and left me there…” Sonny flipped over his phone. He scanned the messages he left Pete. The progression of emojis and playful goodnights then turned into worried ‘hello?’ and ‘you there?’s was almost too painful. He over analyzed every text and every emoji. “He hasn’t spoken to me since…” He roughly placed the cap on his head and yanked it down until the brim was bent irregularly against his nose.

“Whatever it is, I’m sure Pete has a reason.” Nina rubbed his arm a bit more before Sonny fully turned and released a few frustrated tears. Just like those blindfolded tear jerkers back when he was ten, Nina soothed her favorite barrio babysitting boy with soft head pats and promises of lechosa smoothies.

“So Sonny is having trouble with Pete? That’s terrible – “ Carla was rudely interrupted by some of the larger rats that scurried the wet sidewalks of the city during the Summer nights.

‘Hey Mami where are you headed’

‘Heeeey bella~’

“Carla donde en el diablo eres?” (Carla where the HELL are you). Daniella’s voice did not seem too pleased from the other end of Carla’s flipphone. “Don’t tell me you took that malido siete otraves!” (Damn seven again).

Carla quickly covered the phone as she hurried passed somewhat drunk catcallers, up the uneven, iron and trash ridden staircase of the subway. “Dani, I’m sorry but the other trains are delayed, only one runnin is the seven.” She smiled quickly getting on the platform.

“Aye padre santos.” Daniella groaned, “just be careful, ok? I don’t want to turn on my tv and find out that you’re on the news.”

“Oh I’ll be on the news? What for? Will I win something? Like Family Feud.”

“No you’re going to win, where the hell did Carla go, I dunno she was last seen taking the damn 7 train to the ghettos.”

Carla pursed her lips a little, “Daniiii, I don’t think there is a game like that on tv.”

“Muchacha, pay attention to the train, call me when you’re walking home, ok?” Carla could hear Daniella sigh into the phone; she could almost hear her pinch the bridge of her nose too. With soft goodbyes and Carla closed her phone and waited under the dim, orangey subway lights.

Nights in the city were beautiful in a somber way. Things were grayscaled once dusk hit. Everything was a muted color, with a few splashes of bright lights off cars and traffic signals. It was a sea of muddled browns and gray, an ugly background with electric pops of color that brought the nightlife to life. The seven train was a good place to see it all, the brick and iron that rose up from the concrete jungle. Once the seven train left Manhattan it was above ground giving Carla the view of Queens. A flat borough in comparison to the towers of Manhattan and the brick palaces of Brooklyn but it was home to Carla.

The train, as always, stopped at Queensborough Plaza. And as always, it was nearly vacant. Carla almost missed it, but the moment she looked up she noticed a figure sitting on the outer, iron support beams of the train station. “Pete?” Carla blinked then shot up, narrowly getting caught between the closing doors, she squeezed past with all her curls intact. She drew closer, wobbling on her high wedges as she made her way over to the far railing of the subway. She looked down and Carla felt her face grow pale.

What a drop.

“Pete, that you?” She knew that cueball head anywhere, his headphones stuck in his ears as he just stared out. Pensive, even in the dark his expression was still gloomy enough for Carla to take some notice. “Y-You know it’s a little dangerous to be sitting up on the beam like this? I know you’re into that hardcore stuff but I don’t think you’ll do ok if you fall.” Carla spoke shakily keeping her legs as far from the edge as possible. “Pete can you hear me?”

No answer, Pete kept looking forward; his eyes fixated on a building that was just a little too dark for Carla to make out clear enough. With a small nudge of her wedged foot, she poked Pete’s arm and caused him to jerk so hard he shifted off the far side of the beam and pulled his body up so he was standing, the back of his heels dangling dangerously off the edge. “What?” He snapped at Carla, who’s face immediately fell a bit. “…what are you doing here, Carla?” He hissed, taking the headphones out of his ears.

“I was going home when I noticed you were just sittin there like some gargoyle.”

“Yea…I’m not really feeling up to going back to my place.”

“Or the shelter?” Carla knew Pete’s home life wasn’t stable. He left and came back frequently, more often than not he stayed in city run shelters.

Pete shook his head a bit, “not feeling it.”

“Not feeling Sonny either?” He didn’t respond, he looked away, debating whether or not to stick the headphone back in his ears. “You know if something happened, if he did something…”

“Sonny didn’t do nothing.” Pete huffed, “just…something came up…its dumb.”

“Not too dumb, you’ve been leaving Sonny on read.” Carla’s point to the obvious made him cringe. “You know Sonny is real sensitive, whatever is buggin you is buggin’ him, and if it’s buggin him then its buggin Usnavi and if its buggin him its buggin Benny, then Nina, Vannesa, Daniella, then—“

“I get it, I get it!” Pete yelled a little angrier than he liked to be. “The whole fucking barrio is wondering what’s my deal but its stupid no one will get it.”

“Try me.”

Pete paused for a second, and then looked up at the various, criss crossing support beams that framed the upground train platform. “Can you climb?”

“Um…I guess, I use to climb those rocks in Central Park when I was a kid…like once.”

“If you wanna know…you gotta be able to see it….” Pete held a hand out to Carla.

“You…want me to scale the side of a train station platform? Are you…nuts?”

Pete didn’t say a word, he kept his hand out for her as Carla deliberated. With a small huff she kicked off her wedges and took Pete’s hand. The surprisingly strong grip guided her around the iron beam until she was hanging off the outside, very aware that dropping from here was most certain death. “You know if I die, Daniella will kill you.”

“You’re not gonna die, there is a ladder right here that construction uses to fix up the seven.” Pete laughed, as did Carla. It was common Queens knowledge the seven was never truly ‘fixed’ it was a dying line barely chugging along. Keeping her close, Pete helped Carla shimmy across a small strip of metal towards the ladder and began to climb up. Her thin arms shook by the time she got to the top. “Like the view?”

“Oh my…god…Pete…” Carla’s eyes lit up as they stood at the top of the train station, overlooking several buildings. The lights that danced off the windows of the apartments, streetlights were glowing but most importantly, there were large, spot lights all pointing up at a large yellow building.

There was graffiti all over the building, really all over it. It looked abandoned but still so…alive? The function of it was clear, it was living and growing canvas. The original yellow paint of the building poked out between art pieces from armature tags of gang names and signs to pieces of memorials to Biggie Smalls and Tupac. There were images and symbols, from works that were dated and began to melt into the yellow to newer, clearer pieces that stood out vibrantly. Every inch of the building was a work of art, even spots that seemed humanly impossible to reach had a piece. “I know this building; I pass it a few times…It’s a school right?” Carla spoke but couldn’t tear her eyes off it. IT was like no matter where her eyes glanced there was something newto see, another artwork lurking like the most amazing game of I-Spy yet.

“Nah it was a water factory in the 70s, but never came to be. Local taggers started getting to the place until finally in the 90s’ some guy bought it up and never did anything with it. Some of the best Graffiti artists come here. 5 Pointz…from all 5 boroughs.” Pete smiled looking over the building. “First time I saw it…I was 4…maybe 5…my mom and I walked passed this HUGE building and I saw a couple of guys taggin it. They were just writing their names but…their name was right next to some of the greats. Tracy 168, Cope 2, Dan Plasma. They took back the name “vandal” and coined aerosol artist…”

Carla watched the small smile grace Pete’s lips. Pete had no mentor, no artist teacher, he was a student of the city. Of the Urban culture, and she could almost make out in her head a small bald Pete spying on the big time artists. Watching what they did, copying them until he could hold a can. The City was his teacher and for an artist this was the biggest canvas in all of New York. “Did ya ever get to tag anything on there? Maybe we can see it from here.”  Carla squinted her eyes and tried to spy a Peter Ospina original.

“No.” He declared coolly, exhaling deeply from his flared nostrils. “Never got the chance…I’ve been thinking about what I’d put there…nothing ever felt good enough so I practiced for years and…” He motioned to the otherside of the building where bulldozers were parked menacingly around the side.

“…Oh…Pete…”

“They’re tearing it down. The city is tearing down one of the oldest…most urban form of expression. This is a god damn symbol of New York and-and they’re tearing it down like its nothing!” Pete held out his arm in exasperation. “They’re building apartments no one can afford to live in instead.”

Carla felt the anger roll off Pete’s body. She couldn’t lie…she was angry too. “So that night…”

“I was walking Sonny to the train and I saw construction crew filing up I knew…I just had to see for myself and I didn’t want to believe it…” Pete pressed the palms of his hands to his eyes and squeezed with so much pressure, Carla feared his eyes would pop into his sockets. “I know its dumb…I shouldn’t be this mad but…I haven’t been able to let it go…how could they tear this all down? They’re erasing us…whether it’s the latinos and blacks in the ghetto, or the Asians in Chinatown…even the Jews by the Waterfront. Where are we going? Where will we end up? Who's going ’o remember us when the city is white and covered in glass…in buildings to high up they can’t even see out their own asses…”

Pete’s breathing got irregular as his annoyance of his nostalgic building posed more existential worries inside of him.

“It sucks this gonna be gone…” Carla began softly, her eyes looking it over once more. She was happy…Pete shared this with her. She …understood what he meant. It was bigger than just a building full of forgotten art work. It was a statement being whited out and taken off the narrative only to be written over. “But it won’t be gone-gone.” She glanced at Pete. “There won’t be another 5 pointz, but I mean think of all the greats who’ll never know this place? There are other…pointz out there. And you? Pete you’ll carry this place no matter where you go. You remembering this, keeps this alive just like the people who remember us keep us …alive.”

Pete hung his head a little; her words were chipping away at his attitude slowly but surely.

“When my parents kicked me out…I was all alone on the streets. Who was going to remember me? Poor Carla just another statistic of girls being kicked out of the house. Poor Carla will probably end up being a baby mama with no job…poor Carla…can’t go back home so who’s going to care when she’s not around.” She twiddled her thumbs a little. “There is a reason why I always say I’m from Queens…”She muttered softly. “No one would have remembered me if I didn’t find Dani’s salon and begged for a job. And now?” Her hand gently patted Pete’s shoulder. “I got people who wait for me, people who call me, people who will remember me.”

His eyes darted up at Carla who was staring right back at him with a smile. “You sharing this with me? Keeps it alive…keeps you alive…I’ll never forget this.”

They sat there for a long moment, taking in every piece possible trying to ingrain every nuance of color into their minds. Finally Pete stood up slowly and opened his phone. He typed fast, and fumbled a bit making some typos but didn’t bother to fix them. He sent the text and nodded. “Thanks Carla.”

“For what?” She slowly stood up with him, being careful not to fall off the top of the station. She went for the ladder hastily, clinging to the iron bars for dear life.

“For keeping this alive…there…um, there might be someone else I gotta show this to…”

“Oh who?” The curlycued woman waited for Pete to begin climbing down the faded, brown industrial ladder before following.

“Let’s just say I hope Sonny is good at climbing” Pete chuckled slowly scaling down the ladder behind Carla.

[bakafox]

The Flute Player

Oh hey I found a thing I wrote for a college class back in ‘08 or so, and that I’ve always kind of liked. It’s a fictionalized bit of my life, names and some conversations/details changed around, and I maybe have posted it on LJ and DevArt and some other places, don’t think I ever did here before.

It’s the end of August, and my hair is green again. I’ve been swimming every day that I can get away with it back home, and the chlorine sticks no matter how much they make me wash my hair. There’s no pool here though, just a sprinkler to run through, which helps with the heat because Grandma’s house doesn’t have air conditioning. Grandma’s house doesn’t have a lot of things, no good TV stations, only a tiny radio that can’t play records or tapes, not much space when you get down to it, and just lately, no Grandma.

She’s in the hospital now, so we come almost every weekend to see her. It makes this little house feel funny when we stop off here. There’s no smell of baking clinging to the place, just a kind of blank, clean smell, with a little bit of the powdery scent in the bathroom, because the powder she uses after a bath there smells STRONG right through the bottle.

I miss the baking smell; it used to always smell like cookies, streudels, and kolaches when we’d visit her before . . . I miss the taste too, but mostly the smell really. And Grandma would smile and everyone else would smile, and we’d eat, and then I ‘d go run through the sprinkler with everyone watching, talking, and laughing.

Not so much laughing now either. A little from Aunt Mamie and Mom and Dad when we’re here, but not if my uncle is here too. Then there’s just polite conversation, pretty serious, or what I hate, the arguing about Grandma being in the hospital.

           None of that now, at least. I should have dried off more before coming in, because the creaky plastic on the couch is sticking to my bare legs, and it bugs me when I move around.

           I’m thinking of going back outside, where the roses smell sweet and the wandering Jew is deep purple against the green grass beneath the pecan and fruit trees. Or maybe into the store, just beside the house, where it smells like canned goods and dust, and there’s a humming freezer that might still have a soda or popsicle lurking inside.

I like the store, it’s just one little room and it feels like a playhouse sort of store, and real old fashioned, with the Big Red and Dr. Pepper still in glass bottles that pop and hiss when you use the bottle opener that’s bolted to the doorway. Sometimes I count the bottle caps that are there, or scoop them up and let them fall again, going clink, clink, clink.

And I wonder, if Grandma does die, what’s going to happen to the flute player?

There’s lots of plates in Grandma’s house. They’re all over the walls, with religious scenes or flowers, or other kinds of pictures on them. Since there’s never really much on TV I like to watch the plates instead, making up stories about what’s going on in them and pretending the pictures are moving. That’s what I’ve been doing right now from the squeaking couch.

I don’t like the way the plastic feels, but I do like the squeak, so I wiggle around a bit to hear it.

Anyways – the plates. They are part of what makes this place Grandma’s somehow, and I’ll miss them even more than the baking smell. Especially my favorite plate. The flute player.

She’s a beautiful woman, all outlined delicately in black and gold. She’s wearing a dress that’s red and blue, and all around her are these big flowers and small birds. It’s easy to pretend she’s moving, she’s dancing around as she plays, with her dress made of silk blowing around her. She’s totally unlike Grandma and everything in Grandma’s house – delicate, bright, and rich. Not even the quilts on Grandma’s bed or any of the other plates are as bright. The flute player makes everything else seem dull.

I love to watch her, like she’s just in a window to another part of the world.

I wonder where Grandma got her. I’ve never asked because I always forget to.

My uncle is coming over, so I’m going to pull on my jeans and go back outside. Dad’s hitching his belt up, so there’s probably going to be another fight, though somehow they don’t usually yell, which is weird because usually when Dad is mad he yells a lot.

Outside the roses are pink and red, and I touch their soft peals while avoiding their long thorns. I like to pull off a petal or two and crush them in my fingers, and smell them and feel them. And I pretend that I’m a ninja on the G.I. Joe team, beating up the bad guys as I move over the sidewalks and having adventures even better than in the cartoons. Inside, I hear Dad and Uncle Ken’s voices rising inside, and I try not to listen.

Sometimes I wonder if they ever really got along, for brothers.

In the sidewalk beneath me there’s old marbles pressed into the cement, and I pause to try digging one out, a milky cat’s eye. It probably won’t happen, they’re deep in the cement and have never come out any other times I’ve tried. I think Dad must have put them in there when he was little. I never bring them, but Grandma gave me a lot of marbles last year, some old milky white and orange ones, and a big bag of new ones, clear glass with twisted ribbons of color in the centers. I think I’d like to start collecting marbles, I pretend they’re diamonds and other gemstones for my toys.

“Amanda, it’s time to go see Grandma.”

They must finally be done fighting, since Mom’s calling me from by the front porch swing, and I go to hop in the car for the hospital. I stop to snap off a red rose for Grandma, and I’m glad I don’t get in trouble for doing it, though I do get a few pokes from the tiny thorns up near the flower, which aren’t really all that tiny, really.

It reminds me of the flute player’s flowers, but those aren’t roses, even though they’re pink and red. I’m not sure what they are, but I bet they smell pretty too.

I read in the car, it never makes me sic to; besides the ride is short since it’s a small town. I only get another chapter done, and the car stays pretty hot. The hospital itself is nice and cool though, smelling like cleaners, floor wax, and cafeteria food when you walk in the main doors. It’s not quite as bright as outside, but the lights do glare on the polished floors and stainless steel.

Grandma’s room smells a little different somehow than the rest of the hospital. A bit like flowers from all the ones people have brought her, but there’s a smell that to me smells like “old” too. Or maybe just “sick.” It’s kind of dried out but sticky too, and it lingers around in spite of all the flowers.

As for Grandma she looks too pale, and there’s tubes and things all stuck in her, and her breathing is a little raspy – you can hear it. I was a little scared of the way she looked with everything stuck in her once, but I’ve gotten used to it. It’s just hospital stuff, to help her, and really I don’t even notice it much. But I do notice how she looks kind of thin and a lot older than last time we came.

Delicate, like the flute player, but not in as pretty a way.

She still smiles a little to see us though, and I can sort of half hug her around a shoulder.

“I brought you a rose.”

“Thank you, dear.”

And I tell her I’m doing well in school, which isn’t totally true, but at least my grades really are good. And I tell her I have lots of friends too, which is a lie, but the kind people like to hear. And mom and Dad tell her they’re doing well too, and they talk more but I don’t know what to say, really, until they mention our last trip to the zoo , and then I can join in and talk about feeding the bears and monkeys and how I got a neat wax figure of a bear . . . but it’s not too long before Grandma is snoring softly, and we are going down to the cafeteria for a bit of lunch. The food is OK. It reminds me of a Luby’s and the JELLO is lime green and different from what I’ve had before. I kind of like it, though it’s not my favorite – I like purple JELLO better.

And now it’s time for the ride home, which goes on until after dark, when I can’t read anymore because I’m not allowed to use the ceiling light. So I fall asleep in the car, thinking of roses and flute players and dying Grandmas.

Because I know she’s dying though no one’s really TOLD me anything other than that she’s sick. But I’ve heard Dad and my uncle arguing about where she should die, at the hospital or at her house, and today she wasn’t awake long at all, and she was very quiet.

I’m not sure I’m supposed to know, so I haven’t said anything to them either.

 It’s probably very bad that I’m glad the funeral is happening on a school day. I’m getting to take the whole week away from St. Pius for it, and to visit with family and things like that. Maybe Grandma understands, where she is now, I don’t think anyone else does.

I’m not glad Grandma is dead, and I’ve cried about it, but she’s gone to Heaven, and I heard them saying she was really hurting, so it’s good that it’s over. I’m going to miss her, and I wonder what’s going to happen to her house and store. And I wonder what will happen to the flute player, and other things in her house.

I didn’t really know we had so many relatives here either – there’s cousins and second cousins and third cousins and probably fourth cousins everywhere, plus great aunts and great uncles I’ve seen only a couple of times before. I don’t get much time to be myself and think about things, and the cemetery seems too crowded and noisy in a whispering way. They’re burying her next to Grandpa, and I’ve got some roses to put on the grave whenever they’re finished.

 So we’re at Grandma’s again, and they’re talking about who wants what. I’ve been waiting for them to ask me what I want. Maybe I should just say something because the plate is still on the wall and I keep looking at it. There’s other things I love in the house too, but I really want the plate, with its garden and beautiful woman.

“I want the flute player plate.”

I get Those Looks from them, maybe because I interrupted but maybe because of what I’ve said, too.      

“You’ll get some jewelry and her sewing machine when you’re old enough for them,” says Uncle Ken, and everyone nods. I guess I’m looking greedy now, because I say it again.

“I want the flute player too. It’s my favorite thing.” And then, because it’s the right thing to say, “Please?”

“You’re too young to really understand what you’re asking,” and this seems to be agreed on. Maybe I am too young because I don’t see a problem with me having the plate. I’m not going to break it.

“Why am I too young? I want the flute player.”

“You’ll just break it, it’s fragile. That’s why you won’t get the jewelry until you’re older too.”

Sometimes I think I’m never going to be forgiven for breaking that hand mirror of Grandma’s last year, that had the painting of the lady on a swing on the back of it. Even I kind of still get mad at myself. But I’m older now, and I know I won’t hurt the flute player.

 “I won’t break it, it will be on my wall. I’m not going to play with it, I promise.”

 They act like I’m throwing a tantrum, and I feel like I might start crying. It’s always been MY plate, they just don’t know it, and if I say it they’ll probably get mad.

“Please, I want the plate.”

“I suppose she can have a plate or two . . . ” (and I want to hug Aunt Margie for saying this!)

My parents are agreeing now too, so it’s just my uncles, and it seems to take FOREVER for them to agree. I don’t get why I’m too little to get just one plate, there’s so many more plates they can still have.

“All right, maybe three plates,” Uncle Ken says, and he seems to be the final person.

I only needed the one, but I get my flute player, and the Last Supper, and a parakeet plate that the bird sticks out of. My three favorite plates! And the old pedal sewing machine that Grandma made her quilts on, with its little drawers full of thread and buttons, and later on I’ll get some of her pins with the rhinestones all over.

I also get a couple of her old hats . . . and I’m not going to tell my uncles or aunt, but I’m going to play with them, and maybe the pins if mom lets me, whenever I play dress up.

But I’ll keep my promise about the plate; I’m not sure how exactly I’d play with it anyways. It’s going to go on my wall where I can watch the flute player dance and the birds fly through the garden, and I can smell the flowers and remember Grandma’s roses which are sweet outside of her house. And remember grandma too, even if she never was so colorful on the outside, and only delicate after she got sick.

And since I’m going to get my plate, I’m going to go one last time into her little store, with its dust and canned goods, and play on the sidewalks surrounded by roses and wandering Jew, listening to cicadas.

.Maybe pretending I’m a flute player myself, until I get tired of being delicate and decide to be a ninja again too.

[cybertronianlovenest]

The bitch named Karma: Section 1

The bitch named Karma 4/3/16 Chilisha POV: I shook my head as I finally parted fully from my extinguished vessel. I had gotten very little notice this time around and it left me scrambling to pull together lose strings in the few days I’d gotten. Thankfully I’d just gotten everything set in time before being run over by a bus. It’s not fucking funny! Being human had really sucked and I was so ready to be something else for a while. Lucky for me, I had connections. ‘I’m out Wave. I assume you had a good reason for herding me into traffic.’ A prod over our bond let me know that he heard me as the blue hummer pulled away and drove off. ‘I thought maybe you’d be up for revenge. Megatron is going through a heat cycle currently. Soundwave would not be adverse to being your sparker. I miss having Melody scampering about. Jazz is welcome as well if Melody would like. It may be beneficial to have you both the same age, Soundwave doubts Melody will retain memories and it will be difficult since you’re bonded.’ I hadn’t really thought about it. It would be fun watching that fragger squirm when he found out he was carrying twins. I knew Wave would make sure he didn’t have us destabilized, and it would be nice to have Jazz with me. I reached out over my bond and poked him gently. He was recharging but I didn’t think he’d be that way for long. A few more light prods and he pushed back giddy happiness. 'Hey babe! Haven’t heard from ya in so long! What’s up!?’ As I thought, he was fully awake now. 'Missing you. I need to talk to you though. Wave just helped me from my vessel and offered to become our sparker. I was hoping you’d come with…’ He paused for a second. Apprehension and unease flickering in his field. 'Jazz?… You know if you don’t want to start over, its OK…’ He groaned and tugged me into his side of the bond so I could see Prowl sleeping next to him. 'Ah wanna come, and am going to. Ah just have to try and explain everything to Prowl… We got close Flames… Ah wanna make him like us…’ For a few long seconds I could just stand there. 'Flames?… Please don’t be mad. Ah still love ya!-’ 'I’m not mad Jazz. I just didn’t think after all this time you’d find someone else. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to it at all. I wish I would have known sooner but I’m all in for Prowl joining us, as long as he is. Keep in mind though, this isn’t for everyone and he may not choose us. I will let you talk to him.’ 'Hey wait! Ya didn’t tell meh who our carriers gonna be.’ I smirked, this was the fun part. 'Soundwave is evil. Megatron is going through a heat cycle. Wave is gonna pick his processor until we’re too far along to get rid of. It’ll likely put a damper on, if not end the war. This could end very well for us. Then I don’t even have to kill him, I love the way Wave thinks!’ Jazz pushed along agreement and no small amount of love. 'Ah’ll talk to ya later lil lady. Hopefully Prowler takes the news ok.’ 'I hope so. I’m glad you like Prowl, I think he’ll do well.’ A bit more love was pushed at me and I returned it before dampening our bond to allow him privacy to speak with Prowl… Prowl POV: I tensed on an inward stretch as Jazz’s fingers traced soft lines over my doors. He always gave me the best wake up calls. “Ya awake Prowler? Need to talk…” He sounded up set and that chased away the last of my recharge. “What’s wrong Jazz?” I caught his helm turning it side to side, looking for any clue as to his sudden unease. “Ah love ya Prowl. Ah love ya so much… But ahm gonna have to go for a while.” I swallowed hard, trying to understand just what was going on. “You mean on a mission? I don’t recall Optimus giving any orders.” His optics finally met mine, after flicking around the floor for a while. “Ah mean like Flames… She just talked to meh. Said Soundwave is arranging to become our sparker. If we pull this off, we could very well end the war…” My spark felt really tight and cold. “Please don’t look at meh like that… Ya know how much ah love ya. That’s why ah gotta do this. If this works ya won’t have to fight anymore!” He grabbed my hands holding them to his chest as he looked at me. I couldn’t stand the thought of him leaving, but I knew that if anyone could pull something like this off, it was him and my sister. Still. “What if it doesn’t? Who is he planning to have carry you?” He smiled a little, though one may be hard pressed to call it such. Maybe a grimace, would be a better term. “Megatron is going through a heat cycle. Sounders wants to knock him up. If it goes bad… How adverse would ya be to carrying twins?” My jaw dropped and he freed a hand to rub the back of his helm while giving me a sheepish grin. Finally my denta clicked together. “You best be bothering Megatron to the full extent first.” A nervous laugh escaped and he nodded. “Ah will! Promise! Just a back up plan for worst case. Ah really hate dropping this on ya so suddenly Prowler… Ah didn’t get much warning either though. Ah have a good feeling about this. Ah think we can change everything!” I really hoped he was right. I couldn’t stand to lose him altogether… Jazz POV: Well, this was it. I really hoped this worked because Prowl was going to have my aft if it didn’t. The battle was raging around us and it wouldn’t be too hard to get myself offlined. Megatron flew over helm and I growled, firing off a few shots at my perspective carrier. One hit and he swooped down, snatching me up. I could have avoided it but it was best to get it over with. 'Better know what yer talking about Flames!’ She poked me. 'I sure hope so. Come over here so you can’t feel it.’ She tugged me over into her side as I peppered Megatron with shots. “Ya wanna piece of meh!?” He snarled grabbing my legs and ripping until my body gave way. I was so glad Flames was keeping meh over there. All ah could feel was calm reassurance, flooding our bond. 'Over yet?’ 'Almost. Fragger ripped meh in half and tossed meh off a building. Don’t worry. Am sure he’ll make a wonderful mommy. Can’t wait to see what happens when one of us gets a tank ache and purges on him.’ She cracked up laughing as I landed with a huff. Thankfully things were fadding fast, I hadn’t fueled this morning so there wasn’t much in my tank to burn through after me and Prowl faced our way to near deactivation. Ratchet had not been pleased. 'Alright. Am out, am gonna go see Prowl. Then am coming for ya!’ She giggled madly before letting me free to go talk to our soon to be, newest member to the family. Prowl POV: Arms curled around me suddenly, pulling me back just in time to miss a blast. “Primus Jazz! I know your trying to get killed but I don’t want to be the one to do it!” He gave me a sad smile and kissed me. “Already done lover. Just wanted to say, see ya later one more time before going since it’ll be a few vorns then.” I sighed, wrapping my arms around him. It wouldn’t be easy to have him gone, but if he made this work. It would be worth it. “How did you offline?” He shrugged. “Meh would be carrier ripped meh in half, Flames kept meh on her side of the bond though, so I never felt anything but her love and assurance. Ah know it will be hard seeing meh like that. Just remember that ah never hurt, ahm excited to see how things go. Have to get going babe. Remember, ahm just fine, and ah’ll be back as soon as ah can. Probably won’t remember ya right away though, sorry about that.” I sighed, claiming one last kiss before letting him go. It would be hard without him, but I’d manage. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to carry if Megatron couldn’t fill the role… Chilisha POV: I smirked as Jazz jumped onto the ledge beside me. “Ya got the all spark! How did ya get the allspark!?” His jaw was nearly on the ground as he looked at it. “Please. Those thick helmed mechs are too busy fighting to realize their prize is already lost. This is going with a friend of mine until everything is settled.” I blinked at her though a human stepped up, taking it. “Um. Why are ya giving the allspark to a human?” “Azerack is not human. He’s from another dimension, and he’s taking the allspark there to keep it from both these guys until we see if we can get things settled. Till then. I believe we have a few hours we can be keeping each other busy until Wave gives us the go ahead. I want his predacon coding, freaking awesome!” Then I dove from the ledge, shifting forms into a dragon with Jazz following shortly after. He wouldn’t let me get far without him…. My back hit the ground, a chuckle sounding in my audio as my vision cut off. “Ya like that? Snagged it from meh frame before going. Couldn’t leave all meh goodies behind when ah knew ah’d be playing with ya.” My frame went lax suddenly, and I couldn’t move at all. “Gonna miss having mechapire coding. Makes meh so hot to see ya squirm under meh! Ya love it too… Look at ya, already so wet, lubricant is leaking down yer legs.” Something hot and wet ran over my thigh making me squeal. “Please! Jazz!” Another chuckle was my only answer as he shoved away my valve panel and dove into me. A hot glossa eating at me from the inside out until all I could do was lay there panting….. My frame felt like jello when I finally came online once more. “What?!” 'Finally. Melody is wasting time, Megatron is ready to break and you are not paying attention. Get yourself here before your chance is lost.’ I groaned, making Jazz look at me before finally standing on my admittedly shaky legs. “That was Soundwave. He’s going to fuck Megatron now so we need to be ready to make the jump. Come on.” He huffed. “Hope this works. Ah don’t wanna be inside old bucket helm for nothing.” I laughed lightly, giving him a light tug after me.