#local man is already signing the adoption papers whether he knows it or not

[discordiansamba]

When Takashi Shirogane is made the youngest officer in Garrison history, he naturally expects things to change for him. He's given officer's quarters, a fair sight nicer than either the dorm room he had as a cadet, or the small single room he'd been given upon graduation before his promotion. He knows he'll probably get access to different intelligence reports than he was before, but if he's being honest, he doesn't expect much.

He's wrong.

Two weeks into his promotion, he's called into Admiral Sanda's office. She's not alone when he gets there- he recognizes a few other officers, including Commander Holt and Commander Sablan. Commander Iverson joins them momentarily afterwards. Clearly, whatever this is, it's something big.

And it is most definitely that.

The Galaxy Garrison has been monitoring activity on the edge of their system and beyond it for several years now. Whatever it is, it's not human. He doesn't believe it until he sees the visuals for himself- of massive ships larger than anything the Garrison could ever hope to produce. He'd heard that they'd been sending out more long range drones recently, but he didn't think it was for something like this.

They don't know anything about these aliens that are lingering too close to home for anyone's comfort. But there's every reason to believe they're hostile. Even worse, they've found the remains of several alien ships located on Earth. Whoever these aliens are, they've already been here.

A mission is being planned to send a manned vessel out to the edge of the system. The goal is to plant trackers and send out probes that will be able to monitor the activity even better. It will be incredibly dangerous.

They want Shiro as the pilot.

He thinks he understands why. He has no relatives- he has Adam, sure, but Adam is also with the Garrison. And he's also running on limited time. He's one of their best, but is simultaneously someone they can afford to lose.

But there's one more thing.

It's not just ships they found already on Earth. There's also a living, breathing alien. The Garrison has had it in the custody for years now. But when he's brought to see them for himself, they're not what Shiro expects. They look almost human, were it not for the striking purple eyes, a color too impossible to be anything other than alien.

They're also a child.

[lanamemories2]

rides onto the dash nude n on horseback like this pic of sam way. oh fancy seeing u here.......... im impeccably tensed our entire exchange. buns like steel cld crack a nut open between them. i’m nai n it’s so nice to meet u all!!!! i’m one of the admins here (josefine frida pettersen on the main) n i’m so Excited 2 get things going........... some facts abt me r i sometimes hv a witch’s cackle, i once drunkenly swung frm a tree branch pretending to b tarzan n fell n grass stained my fav jeans at 4 in the morning n i lov spicy food despite the fact it mkes me sweat like a hog in the sun. more abt lana under the cut!!! also like this or hmu if u wna plot n her pinterest is here n playlist is here 👺🌚

「kristine froseth & cis-female」⇾ jameson , lana, the junior radcliffe student’s records show that she is a gemini and 22 years old. she is studying dance, living in off campus and can be vivacious, passionate, childish & impulsive. when i see her i am reminded of stepping out in the cold wearing just a red slip, lipstick on a stranger’s throat, a bumper sticker on the back of a convertible cadillac that says ‘SCRAPPY DOO IS A FILTHY SLUT’. ⇽「nai & 23 & gmt & she/her.」

AESTHETICS:

scalding your fingers in shower water until they glow like rudolph’s nose, cherry red gym socks tugged high and nothing else, stepping out in the cold wearing just a red slip, an origami swan made from an old receipt, tickling a stranger’s chin with the end of a feather boa, crowning each finger with a miniature raspberry, hugging a knee close to lick a stripe of fruit juice off a bruise there, doodling penises in the condensation of a car window, a water pistol topped with rum and covered in glittery pin-up stickers, believable smiles that feel more like baring teeth, a bumper sticker on the back of a convertible cadillac that says ‘SCRAPPY DOO IS A FILTHY SLUT’, prancing around in your underwear to a vinyl record with the curtains open.

HISTORY:

lana grew up in a big house in albany, NY. albums framed on the walls. mayb some rolling stone covers too frm way bk when of the bands her dad’s label signed. kind of like… a rock star palace w no evidence of children at all. i think i summarised it best in one of lana’s self paras once when i said the garden ws “as big as it was unloved”, not that u wld know from all of the gardener’s pruning

lana’s mum victoria (vic) ws a music journalist w a pretty fruitful career ahead of her when she met lana’s dad richard (rich). his record label ws jst starting out, founded on the coattails of his rich best friend’s (jensen peters) investment w his other best friend (who he jst calls knoxville). it rocketed to success when they signed poppy injects, a rock band w an electric stage presence, n victoria ws drawn to the glitz n glamour of a man tht ws at the helm of his aspiring industry. their love ws very impulsive, all or nothing right frm the start, n it ws almost like she ws mre in love w his accomplishments n what he represented than him

anyway so jameson records repped a few big rock bands bk in the eighties, altho poppy injects r who they’re mostly known fr, namely bc of hw brightly they crashed n burned. (drugs/addiction tw) they were a big chart success bt the lead singer hd quite an intense struggle w heroin (wsnt rly subtle abt it either while he ws in the public eye as u cn probably imagine frm such an on-the-nose band name) n he ws always in n out of the papers. it eventually brought down his career n it ws a big publicity nightmare

lana pretty much… grew up around figures like this throughout childhood. rly troubled characters who wld kind of… b extremely volatile n destructive abt their troubles. the jameson house was kind of an open one as welcoming clients went n a lot of parties took place there. a lot of the time musicians wld b snorting lines in the kitchen when she wnted to grab a bowl of cereal fr breakfast. very strange environment fr a child to grow up in

her parents always kind of jst… didn’t like her much. her older brother caleb ws unplanned bt they sort of welcomed the surprise more bt… quickly realised they weren’t cut out fr parenthood n then when lana came as another surprise 3 yrs later they didn’t even try to hide their resentment abt the situation. her mum ws actually booked in to have an abortion bt cldnt go through with it at the last minute. once when lana asked her why shes so cold towards her she jst turned her head frm her dresser, looked at her, told her abt this n said “idk why i didn’t go”. lana didn’t kno wht to say to tht so she jst left her room n closed the door

(dissociation/delusion tw) bc of this growing up lana adopted this weird like…. she didn’t rly kno what it ws bt it ws a delusion of sorts where she thought she ws a ghost. she’d jst sort of… drift around the halls w noone acknowledging her n sometimes she ws jst convinced she wsnt actually there or they cldnt see her n she ws jst haunting the house frm a previous family

the one saving grace tho tht sort of?? gt her thru this n made her feel Seen ws caleb. lana quite genuinely hs always thought the sun shines out of her older brothers ass like she jst thinks. hes the best person in the entire world. wld b rly bewildered if anyone questioned tht. he wld always look out for her in the zoo they called a home n cut the crusts off her PBJs so they lkd like teddy bears (he’d cook fr them most of the time bc their parents were too busy/didn’t care to) n sometimes wld even sleep at the bottom of her bed curled up like a guard dog. it ws always lana n caleb n his best friend tommy against the world in tht house (tommy lived next door n was always over bc he had very strict parents / a military father tht he found suffocating)

SO when caleb n tommy announced tht they’d signed up to the army lana ws understandably…….. blindsided. she ws rly upset tht they were leaving like pretty besides herself bt she tried not to b mad at them n made them promise theyd b safe n back as soon as possible. she even asked if they cld somehow take her w them n they were jst like :/ it doesn’t work that way luv x

(death tw, ptsd tw, grief tw, trauma tw, hospitalisation tw, drugs tw) anyway caleb ended up getting discharged under grounds of severe ptsd when he witnessed tommy die in an explosion tht took place in a shock raid. caleb returned home sans tommy bt he was never the same after tht. he’s been in n out of hospital n he turned to using as a way to cope so it’s been a rly bumpy road since. lana kind of felt like two of her brothers died out there in a way n jst like tht it wasn’t them vs the world any mre, it was jst her

ANYWAY whew tht rly…. took a dark turn there….. chuckles nervously at hw sad lana’s life is bt it’s fine it’s all fINE!!!!!!! ok. so on a mre lighthearted note the jameson family r pretty well off n bc of her relation to such a big music industry figure she’s hung out w a fair few relatively high rep ppl thru her teens. mostly kids of celebrities n stuff like tht. she amassed kind of an instagram following mainly fr her style (penny lane-esque in some aspects aka lots of fur cuff trimmed jackets bt then also jst…. a wild combination of everything honestly. pastel faux fur coats, seventies style platforms, flame red cowboy boots, pink fishnet tights n glitter used like highlight Everywhere) n bc she’s undeniably Pretty Gorl

(trauma tw) after caleb got back he was rly withdrawn n depressed. he shut lana out n was kind of harsh to her a lot of the time, always telling her to leave him alone or pushing her away. it didnt help either tht lana had a rly traumatic experience w some of her dad’s colleagues at the label when she ws 16 n he was away n she cldnt even tell him abt it once he was bk bc of his own traumas. she kind of jst shut it all in n kept it to herself

(hypersexuality tw) this obviously?? made her spiral a lot. she was already a girl tht loved sex but since her trauma it got…. completely out of hand. it got to a point where she couldnt rly go 2 days without it, probably not even 1. her lowest point has probably been scrolling thru craiglist for anonymous encounters n meeting up w strangers on there fr hookups even tho it’s insanely dangerous n she cld wind up getting herself killed. the risk is honestly part of the appeal to her sometimes she’s :////// quite self destructive n jst likes a thrill to mke her feel Alive. it’s v clear at this point tht she has a sex addiction whether she’s ever admitted it or not. it kind of… almost mingled w tht same feeling she used to get when she ws younger of being a ghost?? like she jst. only rly feels Real when she’s being touched

(violence tw) she’s had.................... SCH a bad history dating wise. she almost always dates fking.... actual beasts like i jst wna gently shake her by the shoulders sometimes bt :////////////// one of her recent exes is in prison aftr he beat up someone she’d slept w in front of her like she jst. has had a very Not Sexy time w romance...... she hd to b a witness in the trial abt it n he ws found guilty n sent down so it ws like Intense n a gd example of the kinds of disastrous relationships she gets herself into. perks of being a wallflower voice: We Accept The Love We Think We Deserve.

this past summer she gt a job at a burlesque club in downtown lovell!!! it honestly is her dream job like. dancing? being sexy? fav hobbies................. most delicious pastimes... 10/10 ideal fr her............... she almost started working at a coyote ugly bar bt this one won her over. she usually jets off to some foreign country n has a rly exotic n action packed summer bt i think she wldv just been working local there fr this one to b close to her brother (the rehab he’s at is close like a 40 min drive so!). she’s also moved into a big lofty apartment w 3 roommates tht’s above a chinese take out w lots of lanterns hung outside. the street? scott street......................... tribute to mizz phoebe bridgers hunger games salutes to the sky so it travels 2 her............. she gt a red heart shaped bath tub installed which hs always been her dream so honestly the summer hs been pretty gd to her....... five stars on yelp she deserves Some happiness once in a while

PERSONALITY:

always smells vaguely of wild cherries or strawberry starburst or jst the candy aisle in general. if she ws a vinyl record she’d b this one n she’d only play good vibrations by the beach boys, dancing on my own by robyn, play that funky music by wild cherry, femme fatale by the velvet underground n (i can’t get no) satisfaction by the rolling stones

growing up lana was always a HUGE social butterfly. knew everyone n everyone knew her. she ws one of those girls tht ws kind of impossible to ignore or forget (cld b a gd or bad thing depends on ur Stance...... she can be a lot tho frankly). very animated, always made u feel like u were the centre of the universe whenever she spoke to u, always made it feel like u were best friends even if ud only spoken to her once.

deliberately puts on tht kind of Magnetic Alluring act tht femme fatales wear in movies sometimes. kind of…. is always playing A Role of the person tht she wants to b seen as or the person she feels ppl want her to be. chameleons to situations. feels like she’s performed as the vivacious n fun loving Lana Jameson fr so long tht she doesn’t rly kno who she is beneath tht bt she isn’t too keen to find out

always the last one awake at the party. jst doesn’t seem to hv.... an off switch. every1 else cld b passed out at 6am n she’d still b swaying around to sunday morning by the velvet underground in her underwear drinking frm a bottle of merlot

she’s always been rly spontaneous n adventurous. always doing something weird n wild every weekend. she has ten thousand ridiculously absurd n chaotic stories

uncontrollably flirty. she’s tht tumblr post tht’s like flirting will b ur hubris n the reply is like kind of sexy of u to say so................ SO confident cld talk to anyone. makes a joke out of anything. tends to laugh when she feels like crying. even if she DOES cry she’ll smile thru it like it isn’t happening she jst.... doesn’t like to b negative ever if she cn help it

she’s amassed a weird collection of like... Things various ppl she’s known hv made abt her. this guy she ws friends w wrote a song abt her n performed it at a gig she went to without telling her in advance. it ws rly dramatic he sang it n looked at her the whole time n she ws jst a bit like.... omg.... lmfao............... she’s also hd various paintings done of her. i honestly dnt even rly kno hw it happens she jst has a personality where she..... leaves an impression like a lipstick print on a white shirt w some ppl.................. she’s like tht tumblr post where someone arrives at a poetry reading n is like hi yes........ where do the muses sit? except she isn’t rly.... obnoxious abt it she jst shrugs n is like.......... oh that........... KJHSFKHGSFKGHSFKGSFHGK. it’s a charmed life fr some

always dapples her fingers thru the breeze when she’s driving in a car w the window down. she almost always has some sort of sweet on her, whether it’s sour haribo cherries or strawberry lollipops.

PLOTS:

exes tht lana’s fucked over hideously. she’d probably cheat a lot and it’d be a whole…mess. whips her in the town square like gale

mayb someone tht flipped the switch and cheated on her??? chaos. anguish. strife. 

someone tht works at the burlesque club in downtown lovell w her!!!!! as like a bartender or another dancer or security or................... whtvr honestly. hvn’t worked out a name fr the club yet bt i think it cld b a fun setting to write stuff in n there cld b lots to build off there!!

a cousin plot cld b fun too

her n freya nilsen run smthn called Dick Sisters Inc......... they hv a twitter fr it n everything.... n a hq based in one of the abandoned dorms in the leach building.... lots of inflatable furniture disco balls.............. lana even gt replica airplane seats so they cn sit n b served drinks by this guy tht runs errands fr them who they call bucket....... they bsically like. set ppl up n help ppl get laid it’s a matchmaking service of sorts.......... started as a joke bt nw it’s genuinely become quite a profitable business w word spreading all over campus........ ugh entrepreneurial icons... anyway mayb ur chara cld come to lana fr Dick Sisters assistance......... mayb they’v come to them in the past......... 

a friend tht lana fel out w bc she slept w their significant other.

someone tht’s getting lana into drugs?? she’s kind of impressionable/down for anything so tht’s a likely scenario she’d get into tbh

briefly did camgirl stuff on an independent bt up n coming porn site....... titters.......... mayb ur muse used a pseudonym n recognises lana frm it bt is too embarrassed to admit they were subscribed............ mayb they happened upon her on there once n nw r jst like. what do i do w this knowledge. idk cld b fun to work around perhaps

an unrequited crush!! (either way is cool)

someone tht is just hanging out w her/using her bc she has a lot of instagram followers or they want to b signed to her dad’s label

someone in a band!! she’d probably make like penny lane n b their groupie/sleep w them all i won’t lie to u. relentless.....

umm a good influence too mayb?

honestly?? anything is fine i cld ramble for days. mayb even one of the high profile kids she grew up hangin w idk. world’s our oyster fellas!

[softboywriting]

Serendipity | Shawn Mendes | Werewolf AU

Summary: After a very drunk one night stand you end up pregnant and you’re still searching for the guy you slept with, wondering if he could be your mate. Five months in and Shawn walks into your life and you think you just might have found your actual mate after all. [pregnancy] [mates] [werewolf au] [fluff]

Word Count: 4k

|Masterlist In Bio|

“Y'know, I still can't believe you got pregnant from a one night stand,” Maci says from behind the register after a customer leaves, the bell chiming upon their exit. You look over to her and she raises her eyebrows, long red hair falling to the side as she tilts her head. She is your best friend and business partner, just like the sister you never had.

“It's been five months for goodness sake. When will you stop saying that?” You laugh and turn away from restocking your homemade lavender sleep lotion. “I'm having this baby whether or not you believe it.”

“I mean obviously, that balloon is gonna pop in no time. I'm just still in awe you want to be a single mom. Why not adopt it out?”

You sigh. “We've been over this. Unlike you, I want children. And also unlike you, I'm a werewolf and I want to hold out for my mate, who I'm pretty sure doesn't exist anymore or I actually missed him and ended up with this.” You pat your striped shirt over your bulging belly.

“Still no luck? You've tried like every missed connections app for mates. And nothing? What about that one guy, Mike?”

“Micah. He was lying. As soon as he found out I was pregnant he ran faster than a Scooby Doo villain.”

Maci rolls her eyes. “Yeah, I remember now. He was the guy with the frosted tips right?”

“Yep. What a douchebag.”

Maci chuckles and comes around the counter to help you lift a crate full of bath bombs onto the shelf . You chit chat more about how you're pretty sure the guy you slept with probably lives way out of town or something. She theorizes that he is actually a spy who can never reveal his identity to keep you safe. It's a good laugh, but honestly you wish you could find him. He felt so right. It hurts to think you've missed him entirely.

___________________________

The shop door chimes and you look up from the computer at the register. You've been filling orders with Maci all morning. Christmas was approaching and everyone wanted homemade bath and body care. It helps that you saved enough to get a local ad spot on the news website, and it's definitely paying off big time.

As you glance to see who's come in and greet them, you're taken aback. The man who's come in looks familiar, though you aren't sure why. He definitely didn't go to high school with you and Maci. He also wasn't a regular. Maybe he just had one of those faces, but you don't think that's it. He feels...electric. Everything about his presence is drawing you in and you know you're staring and it's awkward now.

“Good morning. Welcome to Lunar Salt.”

The man smiles and lifts a hand. “Hey. Are you able to help me find something?”

“I sure can.” You slide off your chair and walk around the counter to meet him. He's much taller than you and he stares at you with curious eyes. The bulging stomach no doubt. “What're you looking for?”

“Hand cream. My hands get really dry with the new job I started.”

“Alright.” You lead him to the baskets of hand creams by the window. “I recommend the lemongrass and citrus. It's subtle but hydrating. If not that one, there is the cinnamon and cream that is-”

“Do I know you?”

You stop and look up at him. His eyes are gorgeous, soft and golden with hints of green. Definitely a werewolf like you. “W-what?”

The man shakes his head and apologizes. “That was so rude of me. You're just so familiar. Have we met?”

You look around nervously, chuckling a little. How weird he thought the same thing as you. “I don't think so?”

“It's just...I'm from upstate and I just moved down here with a friend nearby. It's weird but I swear I know you somehow.”

“Um, Did you go to Valley Hill high school?”

“No. Burkhead. McNamara middle school?”

“Crestridge.”

“Peterson Elementary?”

“Walker Rose Elementary.”

He laughs and looks around, seemingly stumped. His laugh is adorable, a breathy little noise that makes your heart flutter. “Well, I'm Shawn. Nice to meet you, possibly again.” He extends a hand and you shake it, skin tingling against his. This was special, he wasn't like other wolves you've met before.

“Nice to meet you.” You give your name and grab a tube of the vanilla chai hand cream. A seasonal favorite of yours and a best seller. “I recommend this one for you.”

“Why's that? Is it super moisturizing? Are my hands really that dry?” He stuffs them in his pockets self consciously.

“No...it's...complementing to you.”

“To me?”

You feel a flush rise from your chest t your cheeks and you look down with a smile before summoning the courage to look look straight at him. “Your scent.”

“Ahhhhh,” he grins huge, all his teeth showing. “I knew you were a wolf.”

“And you are too. It's not too hard to tell. Your eyes are very vibrant and your fangs are a bit hard to hide when you laugh.”

Shawn grins bigger, flashing you those fangs. “Very perceptive. I'll take the vanilla chai.”

You walk around the counter with the tube and ring it up, packaging it with a few flyers for upcoming promotions for the shop. “Five dollars please.”

Shawn slides his card and signs the receipt you pass over to him. “I didn't think I'd find another wolf so quickly in this town.”

“There aren't too many of us. When you get closer to Valley Hill you'll find a lot more.”

“Mmmm I think I'll stick to getting to know this area first.” He grabs his bag and gives you a wink as he heads out the door.

You sink down onto your chair and chuckle to yourself. Was he...flirting with you? He did see your stomach right? It was impossible to miss. And what was with that weird feeling? You roll your eyes and go back to preparing orders for when Maci got back with lunch. If it was more than a one off thing, you'd leave it for fate to decide.

___________________________

“No, she isn't here right now, she's gone to an appointment.” Maci says as you walk into the backroom and hang up your coat, returning from aforementioned appointment.

You peek your head into the front area to see who she is taking to. “Shawn,” you smile and walk out behind the counter. Maci turns, eyebrows raised in surprise.

“Looks like she's back,” Shawn grins to Maci and holds up a bag. “I brought you something.”

“You brought me something?”

“Yeah. Is that weird?”

Maci snorts. “A little.”

You smack Maci's arm. “Why did you bring me something?”

Shawn runs a hand through his hair and his cheeks turn scarlet. Bashful and cute. Absolutely perfect. “I...I thought you might like it. You helped me pick that hand cream and it works wonders. I thought I should return the favor.”

“That's just my job, but I won't say no to a gift.” You approach the counter and lean on it with a smile. “What did you bring?”

“I hope you like banana.” He pulls a paper wrapped muffin from the brown bag on the counter. “I made it myself.”

Maci chuckles. “Damn, homemade treats? That's something else.”

“You didn't have to do that.” You peek in the bag and there are about six muffins in there. “Shawn, really, I was just doing my job-”

“No! No I didn't bake them specially for you. I mean, I work at the bakery across the street. The owner is a friend and he said take some of them home since they were my first batch on my own.”

“Oh! Zack? He's the best. Thank you.”

Shawn beams and pushes the bag toward you. “So yeah, anyway. Thank you for the hand cream and stuff.”

“You should try the body wash next,” Maci chimes in, pointing to the new men's section in the corner. “We've got a sandalwood and Bergamot blend you'd probably like, and it's her favorite.”

You elbow her and she cackles. “You don't have to buy anything. Thank you again for these.”

“I'll come back later. I'm on break now but I'm definitely interested in the body wash.” Shawn steps back and waves as he leaves, jogging across the street over to the bakery.

As soon as he's gone Maci absolutely lays into you. “Who the hell is that? Where did he come from?”

“He just showed up last week. I dunno, he's cute though.”

“He's definitely into you. It's all over his face like a neon sign.”

“Yeah but I have a baby. He's just being nice.” You were not about to tell her about the buzzing feeling in your guts when he showed up the first time.

Maci rolls her eyes. “Whatever maybe he likes kids. Maybe he's into it.”

“Maci!”

She shrugs. “It's a thing! Anyway he's a werewolf right?”

“Yeah? How'd you know?”

“The man is huge, and he has fang teeth that I could see from across the street. He's definitely not human.”

“Yeah, he's a werewolf, an alpha I'm pretty sure.”

“An alpha mate?” Maci elbows you playfully. “Eh? Eh?”

You roll your eyes and shove her off the stool. “Go start getting ready to make gift baskets and shut up about my love life.”

“Love life huh? Already thinking about making him your man?”

“Shut up!” You throw a tissue box at her and she scrambles into the backroom to get the basket supplies.

___________________________

It's a Monday morning when you walk into Pettit's Pastries for a breakfast on the go. You find Shawn at the counter laying out new baked goods in the case and he grins at you.

“Hello,” you giggle with a wave you approach the case. “I've come to bother you for a change. Y'know, so you don't have to keep buying one of every product in my store just to see me.”

“Caught that eh?”

“You're not too hard to read.”

Shawn chuckles and leans on the counter top, sleeves rolls up to his elbows and apron dusted with flour. He's so attractive it hurts your heart to imagine him actually touching you with those beautiful hands. Ugh.

“What can I get for you?”

“Something sweet.”

He glances up from where he is getting ready to write on his order pad and smirks. Those eyes, his lips...God damn. “There's a lot of sweets here honey.”

“Mmhmm. Pick something for me. The best you have.”

Shawn strides along the length of the display case and back, eyes going from confectionery to you every few steps. “I would but there is a problem.”

“Yeah?” You lean on the counter, your ankles starting to hurt from standing for too long. This baby was going to be the death of you.

“I don't fit in the to go bags.”

“You don't...what...oh. Oh I see what you did there.” You chuckle and he lets out a laugh at his own corny joke. “I'll just have to settle for the chocolate cupcakes then please.”

“Yes ma'am.” He bags up two for you and places them on the counter to ring you up. “Anything else?”

“Nope.”

“Alright four dollars please.”

You pay and he walks around to meet you at the door, blocking your path momentarily. You raise your eyebrows and he rubs his neck and clears his throat a few times.

“Can I... I mean are you okay to cross the street alone? It's very snowy and I don't want to see you fall.” He offers his hand to you and you take it, your smaller one fitting in his perfectly. “I promise to keep you on your feet.”

“You’re so sweet.” You walk with him across and down to your shop, his arm around your back the whole time. “Thank you. You really didn't have to do that though.”

Shawn flushes and it is still the cutest thing you've ever seen. “I'd hate to have you fall and hurt yourself or the baby. I'm sure your mate wouldn't mind me watching out for his girl.”

Ah, there it is. He slipped that in so carefully. Slick one. “I don't have a mate. But still, your concern is appreciated.”

He grins, obviously pleasantly surprised that you aren't mated. “Would you mind going out to dinner with me then?”

“Sure...I mean even though...” You lay your hand on your stomach and he continues to grin as if that made no difference to him.

“Tomorrow night? I can pick you up?”

“Shawn. Are you sure? I'm five months pregnant and mateless, and you are asking me out on a date. You do realize this is weird?”

Shawn steps forward and sets his hand over yours on your stomach. Your body aches, a deep warm ache like it did when you were with the alpha on your birthday.  

“Honestly, I don't mind. Whether you have or are having a child doesn't make me any less attracted to you. Yeah, it's strange, if someone asked me if I would date someone under these circumstances before I met you I probably would have said no. But there's something... something about the day we met that I've never been able to shake. I think I'm supposed to be with you.”

“I-I think we should just go on a date first.”

Shawn nods. “Right...I uh, I'm sorry. I got a little weird there for a second. Dinner tomorrow?”

“Yes. Dinner tomorrow.”

He pats your hand and pulls away, jogging through the snow to the bakery and nearly slipping at the doors. You let out a chuckle and go into the shop to try and calm your racing heart and jittery nerves. You hadn't wanted to admit it but you wondered too if Shawn could be the one. The way your heart went crazy when you saw him, how you couldn't stop thinking about him and when you'll see him next. Hell, you even imagined him in your bed at night, rubbing your stomach with your shea lotion and dreamed about him frequently. He drove you crazy and the only thing holding you back was your baby. The possibility that he might reject you for it, just walk away because it's not his. That's what kept you from going all in, though all signs were definitely pointing to him being your mate.

___________________________

“So can I ask him how you happen to be pregnant and not mated?” Shawn asks about halfway through dinner. You've been expecting it all night, and you're not shocked he wants to know. It's not as if you're hiding it.

“Well, I got fucked up, took a guy home and got laid on my birthday. I was so out of it and so was the guy I was with. We didn't even think about protection until after the fact. Then when morning came he was gone.”

Shawns eyes widen. “Shit, I thought maybe you lost your mate or got inseminated or something.”

“Nope just a slut.”

“Fucking hell,” Shawn chokes on his water. “I don't think you're a slut. Everyone makes mistakes, one night stands happen. Shit happens.”

You roll your eyes. “Tell that to my parents. They don't think very highly of me right now.”

“It's not their place to judge your choices. Besides, you're a successful business owner, what harm is there in wanting a family?”

“Yeah...they don't understand. It's fine though. I'll be happy with my little buddy and Maci until I do find my mate.”

Shawn leans his chin on his hand. “Do you think the man who got you pregnant was your mate?”

You shrug. “I think I felt something with him. I definitely don't make a habit of getting that drunk and sleeping with just any guys. I just wish I could remember more, but I was super drunk and it's been so long I can't.”

“Hey,” Shawn reaches across the table and takes your hand. “Why don't we focus on the here and now. I'm definitely seriously attracted to you and it's making me wonder if I've found my mate because I've never had this sort of attraction and need for someone before.”

You chew on your lip and flush. “I know. I have wondered about it too. I just ...I want to make sure y'know?”

“I totally understand. We can go as slow as you want.”

“Thanks. For the record though, you do drive me crazy too and I really want to spend every second of every day with you. Seriously. Every time you're in the shop I lose my shit inside and get this buzzing feeling.”

Shawn laughs, head thrown back as he covers his chest with his hand. “So much for wanting to take things slow!”

“Hey! I still wanna go slow, I'm popping a kid out here in less than three months now and I need to know if you're actually going to be interested in me when I'm toting an infant around.”

Shawn goes quiet, leaning in and suddenly looking very serious. “I told you, the baby isn't a problem and won't change how attracted I am to you. I'm excited to meet it, oddly anxious to hold it too. So I think I'll still want to stick around.”

“Shawn...I don't get it, why are you so excited? We've known each other for about a month. It's not even your baby.”

“Oh. Um...it's just, I just...I feel it. And I don't know why I'm excited, I just am. I can't explain it. It's seriously the strangest feeling because I know we've just recently met but it feels like I've known you for ages and I'm just picking up where I left off somehow.” He runs his hand over his hair and looks out the window where the snow is falling heavily. “I feel the pull of a mate and I want to make you mine so badly it's maddening.”

You reach across the table and lay your hand on his arm. “If you're serious, come with me to my appointment this Friday. I know it's right before Christmas, but I'm finally going to find out the gender because I've been putting it off until I settled on a name for a girl and a boy. Well, also because I'm anxious, but either way, come with me?”

Shawn covers your hand with his. “I'll go with. I'm not doing anything anyways, Zack's closing the bakery until after Christmas so he can be with his family upstate.”

You smile and he just smiles back. So this is what a mate feels like. Warm, safe, trusted and comfortable. You hope it lasts.

___________________________

You open the front door to your apartment and invite Shawn in to wait while you finish up getting ready for the appointment. He wanders over to the kitchen and you walk back to your room to get your shoes.

“Can I ask you something?” Shawn calls out after a minute.

You walk back into the living area and look at where he's standing with his hands on a denim jacket on the back of your dining chair. For a moment you feel sick, realizing how this must seem. That jacket was left by the alpha you slept with on your birthday. You had kept it just to use it to try and find him again. Obviously that didn't work.

“Where'd you get this?”

“It's from the guy who I slept with on my birthday. I promise it's not someone else's. I'm not seeing anyone.” You pull your tennis shoes on and wiggle your toes around to get comfortable. “I need to just donate it because I'm never-”

“When is your birthday?”

“Huh?”

“When is your birthday?”

“July 24th? Why?”

Shawn leans on the chair and chuckles. “Where did you meet this alpha?”

“At Nix? The club in Valley Hill?” You stand and walk over to him. “Why are you asking me all this? This is just a jacket I need to get rid of. I'm not lying to you.”

“I know you're not because this is my jacket.”

“What?”

Shawn pulls it off the chair and puts it on over his hoodie. “Everything makes sense, that's why we know each other but we can’t remember. It's why we're so close. I was at Nix that night with Zack and some friends who were celebrating their birthday too. I-I can prove it.”

“Shawn, you're crazy. I like you, I really do, but this is insanity.”

“No, I'm not crazy. Listen. In the pocket there is a set of keys.” He pats the front denim pocket. “Take them out and match them to my keys.” He hands you his keys from his pants pocket and you fish the ones out of the jacket.

Sure enough the diamond shaped house key matches. There's a Jeep fob on each one as well.  You cross the apartment and go to the front window, clicking the unlock button on the jacket keys and aiming it at Shawn's Jeep. It unlocks the car, the lights flash on for a moment. Your stomach drops and you look at Shawn.

“Everything makes sense,” you mumble.

Shawn walks over and cups your face in his hands. “Yes, it does and I'm going to be a dad and you're my mate. You're my mate!”

You hold his arms and laugh, tears spilling over the corners of your eyes. “I have a mate!”

“Yeah, you do.” Shawn leans in and kisses you softly.

You wrap your arms around him and squeeze tight, your stomach pushing against him. “I tried to find you for months. I did everything I could think of. Why did you leave?”

“I panicked. I couldn't remember where I was or anything, I'm pretty sure I was still drunk when I woke up and I didn't want to bother you so I just left and found my way back to Zack's place. God if I had known, if I had even considered the possibility of being your mate I never would have left.” He runs his hand through your hair. “I promise I'll never leave again.”

“We were pretty drunk. We probably shouldn't have had sex, but I don't regret it. I don't regret a single thing.”

Shawn drops down and holds your tummy, kissing it gently. “Mates always find each other right?” He looks up at you. “I knew I would find you one day. I didn't know how or when but I knew I would.” He leans his head on your belly and you run your hand over his hair.

“I stopped believing for a while, but when I met you that day in the shop. I knew you were the one, I felt it.” You tap his shoulder for him to stand up and he does. “As excited as I am to have a mate, we have to go to the appointment and find out what our baby is.”

“Shit. Right. Are you ready?” He asks and you nod. He threads his fingers between yours and the two of you head to the car to go to your appointment.

___________________________

Two months and twelve days later you and Shawn have a tiny little baby boy. He was five pounds ten ounces, small considering he's a werewolf. Shawn blames himself, saying that not being there for the full pregnancy made him not grow as big. It's ridiculous and you won't hear it, saying that he's probably small because you were a small baby too.

The moment the nurse brought the in baby; who's name you decided was Milo, into the recovery room, Shawn lost his mind. He immediately grabbed for him, cooing and awing as the nurse set him in his arms and showed him how to support Milo's head. The way Shawn looked at that baby was like nothing else mattered in the world.

The baby looked so tiny in comparison to Shawn. So much like just a wad of blankets he was holding tenderly. You couldn't help but fall in love with the two of them. It was amazing. You can't believe how lucky you are to have this, and you know Shawn feels the same. From that moment on, you knew you would be living a an actual dream.

The end

Thank you everyone who read this! Please reblog and leave feedback/let me know what you think.

I know this is short and quick but it’s just something I’ve wanted to write and and I idea I’ve toyed with for a while. 

Thank you so much.

[rosalind-of-arden]

Paper and Fire Reread Chapter 10

Still looking for Morgan, Wolfe, and Santi. Still long-winded and easily distracted.

I feel like there should be some tension between Santi’s company and the local High Garda who are usually responsible for this Serapeum. Here are these troops from Alexandria just showing up and taking over security there, and no one’s so much as cranky about it? Eh, let’s just chalk this up to Jess being too oblivious and distracted to notice the Roman troops glaring at him.

So Jess’s reaction to finding out he’s staying behind in the basilica while the Artifex goes to the Senate is wondering if the Artifex is setting them up. And then when he gets assigned to the hall with the secret passage, he thinks that could be a trap too. I mean, broadly, sure, the Artifex’s trip to the Senate is intended to provoke a response from Santi. But has Jess forgotten who his boss currently is? Um, Jess, your assignment for the day came from Santi. You know, the guy you’re conspiring with?

Santi has assigned Jess’s squad where he needs Jess and Glain and called in a favor from Troll. Guessing the rest of the troops have been arranged to maximize Santi’s chances of getting into and out of the prison without being caught or having to fight too many of his own people.

Santi and Troll’s father were friends since training. Must remember this for young Wolfe/Santi fics.

“After my father died, he and Wolfe made sure I had a place to live, enough to eat.” So many variables here. How old was Troll when this happened? Troll is at least a few years older than Jess, and he says it was both Wolfe and Santi, so odds are this happened before Wolfe’s arrest. Wolfe doesn’t seem to know Troll very well in Smoke and Iron (granted, Wolfe is not in the best shape mentally there). So a couple likely possibilities: one, we’re talking financial assistance. Troll never actually stayed with them, but they either hooked teenage Troll up with an apartment and spending money, or gave cash to whoever ended up as child Troll’s guardian. Maybe Santi came by to check on him, but Wolfe was less directly involved. Another option: this was a fairly long time ago, and they took Troll in for a short time until he could be placed with relatives or adoptive parents. Troll would remember this, but Wolfe wouldn’t immediately recognize the kid he took care of for a few weeks ten years ago.

Another interesting Troll detail that occurs to me. If Troll is just a few years older than Jess, it is entirely possible that Troll joined Santi’s company while Wolfe was in prison.

Jess is an idiot for not immediately telling everyone about the off switches on the lions. Seriously, Jess, not a good secret to keep.

How does Santi know about the poison? Two options: one, it’s really blatant, as much a warning as an actual murder attempt. Two, Santi is that paranoid that he checks food before eating it. Especially unsolicited fruit delivered to his room.

Santi says the Artifex “deliberately left us all behind.” So presumably the orders were something along the lines of “stay here and rest with your squads who came ahead, and send some of the soldiers who just arrived along with me to the Senate?” And then Dario and Khalila are conveniently left behind. This, combined with the poison, is enough to provoke Santi into moving quickly: a credible threat combined with an opportunity. It’s probably a trap, but it’s also the best chance they’ll get.

“Santi looked grim, and never more in command.” Here’s Santi with a plan, as @wolfespuppies said. He doesn’t think their odds are good, but he’s moving, he’s acting, and he’s much more comfortable with that than uncertainty and waiting.

Another reason Santi is in a hurry? It would take time for Wolfe to get himself to a Translation Chamber. So Santi has already sent word to Wolfe, and Wolfe is already moving into position. Santi needs to be there when Wolfe arrives.

Seriously, Jess, you are an idiot for not just telling Santi about the off switches on the automata.

This may be the only time Wolfe is specifically described with his hair up: “his shoulder-length hair had been tied back in a tight knot.” Not just a ponytail to keep it out of his face, but a bun. (yes, yes, giggle about man buns if you are so inclined) I suspect there’s something to this. If his experience was anything like Thomas’s, his hair would have been loose and wild while he was in the prison (and possibly quite long, if he’d kept it long before his arrest). He’s done the exact opposite with his hair for this trip back into the prison; no chance of being triggered by the feel of it on his neck, grabbed by it in a fight, like he might have been before, etc.

Or maybe Wolfe always puts his hair up when going into a fight, and dammit, Caine, this is the kind of thing we need to know in all battle scenes in this series.

At what point was Khalila filled in on the details of the prison, and to what extent? She seems to have some awareness that it’s going to be bad, and she and Dario have both been very worried about Thomas, but just how much did Jess tell everyone?

More protective Santi! Staying close to Wolfe on the way in. Keeping everyone moving along. Putting a hand on Wolfe’s arm when he needs it. Getting Wolfe out first.

Santi seems very much in denial about his fellow soldiers’ willingness to cooperate the Library’s dark side. He expects the first guard he sees to let him pass (granted, he does outrank the sergeant), and he thinks Zara will let him go when she sees the torture equipment. Here’s that emotional response again: he’s horrified by what happened to Wolfe, and he irrationally expects others to share those feelings.

Why isn’t Sergeant Reynolds wearing armor?

Again, how the fuck do these guns work??? Stun only works on an unarmored soldier here, and it takes two lethal shots to stun the armored one. But later Jess takes Troll down with a single stun shot to his armor. His stun shot knocks Zara out, too.

Now Morgan is being as bad as Jess, smiling at him and cuddling him and Khalila while they’re in the middle of a dangerous and time-sensitive rescue.

Morgan has her collar off two days after saying she couldn’t figure out how to get it off. The Obscurist so let her find that information after she got back to the tower. Normally I’d just assume Morgan was lying, but I don’t think she could have held onto that secret under those circumstances. If she’d known how to do it when she escaped two days ago, she would have just taken the thing off and stayed out of the tower, hung out with Jess or Wolfe or whoever until it was time to go get Thomas.

More Morgan monitoring Wolfe. Did she see the actual translation happen? Or read his messages to Santi about it and figure out whatever code they were using?

Khalila and Jess are happy to see Morgan. Dario and Glain are suspicious. Santi points a gun at her when she surprises them by showing up, but lowers it quickly, and after that, he just wants to get moving. Who don’t we see react at all? Wolfe. Considering what happens when they start moving again, maybe he’s busy dealing with his own trauma. Maybe he doesn’t even know what to say to her: he knows she’s been through something traumatic, but unlike Thomas, whose trauma he can understand, he’s not sure how to deal with her.

They start moving again with Morgan, and Wolfe “seemed to falter a little, as if the memories had overwhelmed him.” A couple things here. First, this is the first time Santi has left his side. For the very important purpose of getting everyone moving along, but still, less support for Wolfe. Second, it could be a reaction to Morgan’s appearance as much as the memories. Here’s the one kid he really thought he couldn’t save, showing up just in time for the rescue. That’s going to have an emotional impact.

Morgan offers Wolfe her hand. Between her own trauma and the things she’s learned about him, she’s come to sympathize with him. She cares about him and wants to help as he goes into this traumatic experience. But Wolfe isn’t in a place where he can accept that help. Part of what keeps him going here is his need to be strong for the kids. If he shows weakness, he loses that. He’s being rude to cover how freaked out he is.

Wolfe is very likely having a well-controlled panic attack here. There’s that faltering. The anger. Speaking in short sentences and fragments again. Voice breaking. Trembling. Sweating. Trouble breathing.

Seeing Thomas in the cell has got to be hard for Wolfe. Here’s the kid he failed to save, in the exact place Wolfe was in. Jess sees signs that Thomas has been hurt. Wolfe probably sees more. He’s torn between wanting to help Thomas and being terrified of his own memories. For once, I think Jess is right: Wolfe probably really couldn’t handle going into that cell.

And this has to be hard for Santi, too. He’s got to be standing there imagining Wolfe in that cell.

But then here’s caretaker Wolfe, back to talking in more complicated sentences to comfort Thomas. Apologizing for not coming for him sooner.

I don’t know if I want to take this “I know it well” set off from the rest of the sentence by dashes as a sign that Wolfe is having a hard time speaking and stopping to catch his breath or get feelings under control before talking about his traumatic experience, or whether I want to read it as a rather elaborate sentence structure that he’s using and thus a sign that he’s a bit more stable here in this caretaker role.

Jess thinks Thomas is refusing to move when he’s taken out of his cell because he can’t believe it’s real. There’s that. But also, remember how Wolfe reacted when the Mesmer asked him about being taken out of the cell? Being taken out of a cell in this prison is not a good thing. Thomas has to fight with every instinct that says coming out of that cell means torture.

For Wolfe, also, the direction they’re heading in after freeing Thomas is going to trigger some bad memories. Just like in the Mesmer session, his symptoms get worse the deeper they go.

Jess “calling ahead” to Santi made it sound like he was fairly far ahead, but now here he is putting a hand on Wolfe’s arm. Did he come back when he heard the kids bickering and/or Wolfe snapping at them? Or was he not actually that far away?

The torture devices: “mechanical devices” with “spikes, straps, wheels, gears”, “built to cut, to tear, to pull, to cause suffering and anguish.” Including “a particularly large construction that looked like a bed, but with gears and ropes and straps stained with old blood.” So that one’s a rack. Others are vague enough to be just about anything. Sounds fairly medieval, low tech at least.

Everyone seems to be kind of frozen around the door. For Wolfe and Thomas in particular, going in there is going to be hard. Santi is probably looking at these devices and matching them up with Wolfe’s scars, picturing exactly how Wolfe was hurt. This is a fresh round of trauma for Santi. For Khalila and Dario, it’s going to be shocking: they really have not been exposed to this kind of violence. Morgan and Jess knew at least a little bit about the torture before coming here, so they’ll be a bit less shocked. Glain is pretty hard to rattle, so she may actually be taking this best of the group.

Santi and Dario help Jess move the rack. Glain is presumably covering the door to hold off pursuit. What are Thomas, Wolfe, and Morgan doing? They all make it to the middle of the room for the Codex burning somehow. But seriously, how do Wolfe and Thomas walk in there? Thomas especially. Wolfe might be numb and/or focused on the plan at this point, but Thomas isn’t even sure this is real. Totally heartbreaking headcanon? Thomas trusts his friends enough to follow them, but he’s also resigned to the possibility that he’s imagining this and he’s actually about to be tortured again, and isn’t fighting because that might make it worse.

Santi is the only one to think of how a  Codex can be used as a tracking device. Does he not think about the Library bracelets, or does he just dismiss those thoughts because he has no way to get the bracelets off?

Wolfe and Morgan are the first to drop their books. Khalila and Dario are the last.

Santi’s loyalty again: No hesitation to burn that pile of Codices. He stopped being loyal to the Library when they hurt Wolfe.

The soldiers pursuing them are the ones Santi had on guard in that area. His most loyal people. It’s both brilliant, in that they’re less likely to kill him on sight, and terrible, in that he has to fight them.

Glain has to grab and push Wolfe to get him out. Is he frozen with panic/memories here, resisting leaving Santi behind, some combination thereof?

Santi isn’t just trying to buy time here. He really seems to think that he can persuade Zara. This is pure trauma speaking here. “Christopher was here.” Santi is maintaining a calm exterior, but he’s freaking out beneath that. This emotional “look at how hurt Wolfe is/was” has never been an effective argument, but it’s especially useless with Zara. She doesn’t like Wolfe. I highly suspect it’s her own emotions, not his argument or even the sight of the torture devices, that has her near tears here: she loves Santi and doesn’t want to fight him.

A lot of Santi’s lines here echo what he will say in Ash and Quill about the Library betraying him before he betrayed it. He believed in what the Library and the High Garda were supposed to be: “The High Garda fights wars; we don’t torture the innocent or the guilty. This is what they made us into.” And look, he’s a perfect match for Wolfe with the semicolon there.

[my-emotional-self]

New Beginnings (Chris Evans x Reader)

Pairings: Chris Evans x Reader

Word Count: 4,762

Warnings: Swearing, Fluff, Feels, Chris Being a Dork, Dodger Being Adorable, Talk of Death

Ratings: PG-13

Summary: After your grandparents pass away, you find out they leave everything to you, including a large sum of money.  Deciding to take the advice of your grandparents, you live your life to the fullest; which means moving to Boston and bump into Chris Evans.  

A/N: Let me know if you guys enjoy this!  Maybe there will be a few more parts if enough people request!

Part 2

The warm sun felt toasty on your face, as you wrapped your cardigan tightly around you; the brisk crisp fall air of Boston giving you slight chills.  You were sat at a bench, overlooking the beautiful serene water of Boston Public Garden.  It was your favorite place to visit as a child, and because of that, you knew you had to move here.  

Growing up in a small farm town in Iowa had been wonderful; at least in your eyes.  Most people hated it, and others would probably dread having to live in such an isolated, nothing to do, small hick town.  But you were an imaginative, adventurous child; always reading books and imagining you were in the main characters place.  You were also a romantic and it was easy to be one in a small town.  The boys were raised right by their parents; true gentlemen, which was hard to find nowadays.

As your eyes glanced around the exquisite garden, your heart ached.  It ached for the loss of your family.  Your parents died in a car accident when you were 11, leaving your grandparents to care for you.  While you mourned the loss of your parents, you were excited to move in with your grandparents.  They had the big house with a wraparound porch, and a white picket fence; something you always fantasized about.  

Even when you went off to college to study literature, you always came back during holiday breaks and for the summer.  Your sweet grandma was always waiting for you on the porch, a plate of cookies and a cold glass of milk in hand.  Despite having a college degree, you stayed in town and worked at the local bookstore; your grandparents never judging you for doing what made you happy.  

That’s what made losing your grandparents so difficult.  They were always there for you; your rock to lean on.  Never judging you, always giving the best advice.  You move to wipe the single tear that slides down you face; your breath hitching in your throat.

~~~

“No, that can’t be right” you said confused, your brows furrowed as you looked over the paper in the lawyers office.  Your grandparents had just passed away last week; both of them within minutes of each other, holding hands.  

You glance up to see the lawyer, Mr. Peterson, staring at you, a smirk on his face.  “I can assure you Miss Y/L/N, it’s all accurate.  Your grandparents left everything to you in their will” he stated matter of fact.  

It wasn’t a surprise to you that they would leave you everything in their will.  No, they had talked to you about that before.  It was the amount of money they had saved up that was shocking.  Money that was now yours; money that was being transferred to your bank account as you sat here in the lawyers office.  

“How-how is this even possible?  How did they have so much money?” you asked, your voice soft as you still were trying to process the number at the bottom of the page.  

“They were real smart with their money.  It was as if they had a sixth sense, knowing which stocks to put their savings into, pulling out of said stocks before they went down” he stated in a clear voice, his hand digging around in his desk drawer.  “Here, they left this for you too” he spoke, handing you an envelope.  

Taking it from his hands, you gave him a polite smile, standing up.  “Thank you so much Mr. Peterson, for everything.  I appreciate you helping me out with all of this.”

“It’s really no problem Miss Y/L/N.  Here is my card.  Call me if you have any questions.  The money should be situated into your bank account by now.”

You rose out of your chair, shaking Mr. Peterson’s hand before saying your goodbyes and heading out the door. It was a chilly February day in your isolated town in Iowa, but after that meeting, your body felt hot and needed a breather.  

Walking across the street, you sat down on the cold park bench, pulling the envelope from your purse.  Bringing it up to your nose, you inhaled; the scent of your grandparents all over.  Turning it over, you noticed it was sealed with wax; just how they did it back in the olden days; lighting the waxed seal over fire before sealing it shut.  

Your breath hitched in your throat as you opened the letter, your grandmothers beautiful cursive handwriting appearing.

Our Dearest Y/N,

By now, you’ve just had a meeting with Mr. Peterson and we can only imagine the shock you are in.  It’s a lot of money, we know.  We raised your mother, and you, on how important family is, not money, which is why we never told you.  Your grandfather and I know you will do wonders with that money; whether you never work again, work every day for the rest of your life, adopt all the dogs in the world.  It doesn’t matter.  We just want you to be happy Y/N, that is all we ever wanted from you.  Fall in love, find a man who can sweep you off your feet. Travel the world.  Buy a quaint little bookshop.  Do what your heart desires and be happy, you deserve it. Don’t be sad, live your life.    

With all our love,

Grammy and Popop

~~~

Your throat became dry, trying to hold back tears as you reread the letter your grandparents wrote for you.  Swallowing the dry lump in your throat, you peered around the park; your eyes landing on a food truck across the small lake; the sign advertising hot chocolate.

Stuffing the letter back into your purse, you got to your knees and walked around the lake; colorful leaves crunching beneath your boots.  Fall was the best season, hands down.  The colors of the leaves, the cool air, sweaters and boots; there was nothing to complain about with fall.  

“One hot chocolate please” you asked as you stood on your tip toes, handing the staff your money.  

“Did you want marshmallows with your hot chocolate?” one of the employees asked, causing you to grin widely as you nodded you head.  

As you grasped the cup in your hand, inhaling the scent of the warm delicacy, you hummed in appreciation.

Walking along the path, you took in just how beautiful the park was.  You had always come here over summer break, but seeing all the trees with the changing of the leaves was truly breathtaking.  Stopping in front of a weeping willow, you looked up and admired it. The long tendrils now a light yellow color.  Weeping willows were always your favorite.  When you were younger, you would curl up underneath the one on your grandparent’s property, book in hand.  Many times your grandmother would become frightened because she couldn’t find you as you were hidden out of sight.

You felt something hit your feet and looked down, noticing it was a tennis ball.  Before you could comprehend anything, you heard someone shout, “Shit look out!”  

Something knocked into you and you tumbled down onto your ass within a second, your hot chocolate pouring all over your cream colored knee length sweater.  Your eyes remained shut tight as you fought off the pain from both falling on your tailbone, and the burning of your hot chocolate.

Before opening your eyes, a wet tongue started kissing your face.  As you opened them, you noticed it was a dog; a dog who was graciously giving you sloppy wet kisses.  Giggling, your hand went to the dogs head, giving him scratches as he continued to lick at your face.  

“Dodger, get over here!” you heard a man shout, seeing him race towards you and the dog.  He gently pulled the dog who must have been named Dodger off of you as he apologized profusely.  “Shit, I am so sorry about that.  Here, let me help you” he said concerned, giving you his hand to help you up.

Getting to your feet, you dusted off your legs and butt; your eyes examining your outfit.  “It’s really not a problem.  It’s just a sweater.  No harm done.”

You had learned not to let the little things get to you.  It was no way to live life if you worried or got angry over the smallest of things.  Sure, your tailbone would bruise and it would be sore for a few days, but accidents happen.

As you were done dusting yourself off and looking at the damage of your sweater, your eyes wandered up the body of the stranger.  Damn, you thought to yourself, he’s got a nice body.  Gazing at his face, he looked really familiar, but you couldn’t quite figure it out.  

He had the most beautiful cerulean blue eyes you had ever seen; it almost took your breath away with how gorgeous he was.  

“I’m Chris” he stated as he held out his hand to you, “And this troublemaker here is Dodger.”

You let out a small chuckle as you shook his hand, “Y/N.  Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise” Chris replied, your hand still in his.  

You bit your lip to stop yourself from grinning too much; you didn’t want it to look obvious that you were already pining over this gorgeous man.  

“You’re not from around here, are you?” he asked, cocking his head to the side slightly.  

Blushing, you looked down to your feet before meeting his gaze again.  “Let me guess, my accent?” you asked.  Chris gave you a smile; that kind of smile that could break a thousand girls hearts as he nodded to you.  “I’m from Iowa actually” you stated matter-of fact.  

He gave you an amused look as he hummed.  “Never would have guessed.”

You stared into his bewitching eyes; feeling like you could get lost in the sea of blue forever.  

“Let me buy you another drink.  Please. It’s the least I could do” he pleaded, his lower lip coming out into a pout.  

A shy smile appeared on your lips.  How could you possibly turn down his puppy dog eyes and pouty lips??  “Sure.  But only if you insist!” you remarked, raising your eyebrows.

Chris rose in hands up in front of him, “Trust me, I insist” he said giving you a wink.  

Your heart fluttered; was he flirting with you?  This gorgeous specimen!  It was still bothering you, trying to pinpoint where you’ve seen him before, his words cutting you from your thoughts.

“So, what brings you to Boston?” his cool voice slices through the crisp air as the three of you walk over to the food cart.  

Pondering whether to tell a stranger what you were doing here, you decided to go for it.  You only live once and you were in fact, living your dream by coming out here.  Clearing your throat, you told him.  “I’m actually thinking about moving out here.  I have a meeting with a real estate agent in a couple hours.”

Chris’ interest seemed even more peaked once you told him you were planning on moving here.  “What made you want to move here?” he questioned with sincerity.  

You gave him somewhat of a mix between a short and chuckle as you shook your head.  “That story is for another day.  It would take too long.”

There was no line at the food cart as Chris walked up, ordering a hot chocolate for you and a water for him.  You stayed back a little, holding Dodger on his leash as he licked your hand. Looking over to where Chris stood, you squinted your eyes.  It looked as if he was signing a piece of paper for one of the employees.  

Chris came back to you, handing you your cup of hot chocolate.  Taking a quick sip of your drink, you relished in the warmth as it cascaded down your throat.  Slipping the lid off, you let out a girlish giggle.  “You even got me marshmallows” you squeaked.  

“What’s hot chocolate without marshmallows!?” Chris replied.  You bit your lower lip, looking up at him through your long lashes.  He was looking at you, but it felt like so much more. It was as if he was peering straight through you, into your soul.  

He motioned towards a picnic table, raising his eyes in question.  You didn’t need to be asked twice as you made your way over, sitting down in the warm sun.

Even though the two of you sat in silence for a couple of minutes, it wasn’t awkward.  You know that awkward silence that is so filled with tension you could cut a knife?  No, this was much different.  It was easy to just sit here across from Chris.  He let Dodger off his leash and threw the tennis ball again.  He turned to you, ready to ask you another question. “Are you looking strictly here in Boston?”

You took another sip of your hot chocolate before replying.  “No, not strictly here.  I think there is one house my agent is showing me here, and then there are a few more in a town called Sudbury.”

Chris spit his water out the second you mentioned Sudbury, quickly choking on what was left in his mouth. You rushed to your feet and rounded the table, kneeling down in front of him with your hand on his back.  “Are you ok?” you asked, a bit frantic.

He roughly coughed into his arm a few times before clearing his throat.  “Sorry about that.  You just kinda through me off there when you said Sudbury.”  You gave him a perplexed look, wondering why that would throw him off. “I grew up there.  My mom and sisters still live there.  It’s usually where I stay when I’m in town.”

Tilting your head to the side, you mimed out an “oh” without actually saying the word.  “Is it a good place to live?” you questioned.  If he had grown up there, at least he would have first-hand experience if it was a good place to live.  

“It’s the absolute best place to live.  It’s a short drive here to Boston.  But the town itself, it’s just so peaceful!”  His face lit up as he talked about Sudbury, making your heart leap in your chest.  You loved watching people talk with such passion that their face lights up.  As you continued to watch him talk, explaining all the fun things there was to do, the realization finally hit you of where you recognized him from.  It was Chris Evans, the actor.  You weren’t big on watching movies, instead you found yourself getting lost in books. But you had seen him on television when they were showing the trailer for the newest Captain America movie.  

You bit your lip nervously. Chris faced you again after throwing the ball for Dodger.  His eyes lowered to your lips, giving you a mischievous look.  “What’s that look for?” he asked after you released your lip from your teeth, smiling at him.  

“I just realized where I recognized you from” you said with a shrug, heat creeping into your face again once you realized you were talking with not only a gorgeous man, but a famous actor.  

His head tilted back, his right hand going to his chest as he barked out a loud laughter; Dodger racing back with a wagging tail.  “I’m sorry,” he said, his laughter dying down, “I just assumed you already knew that.”

Your eyes tilted down as your hands fidgeted together.  Glancing back up, you give him a soft smile.  “I should really be going.  I have to change before the house showings.”  You rose up to your feet, finishing off your cup before throwing it again and turning back to face Chris.  “It was so nice to meet you.  Thanks for telling me about Sudbury!” you exclaimed cheerfully.

You noticed Chris fidgeting, his hand scratching the back of his neck.  “What time is your last showing tonight?” he asked nervously.

“I think the last house in Sudbury is at 7pm.  They usually last anywhere from 10 minutes to a half hour.  Sometimes more” you replied, giving him an honest shrug.

“How about this.  I’m still feeling like I need to do more to make up for Dodger crashing into you.  Meet me for dinner tonight in Sudbury, about 7:30.  There is a great pizza join called Rossini’s.  Best pizza in town!” he articulated.  

“Chris, really, you don’t have to do that.  Really.” You honestly didn’t want him to feel bad about what Dodger did, it was an accident after all.  It happens.  But, at the same time, you wouldn’t mind spending a little more time with Chris. He seemed like a real nice guy, a true gentlemen; and they were hard to find nowadays.  

“I had a great time talking with you Y/N, and I honestly don’t want it to end.  I’ll be there at 7:30, because now that we’re talking about pizza, I’m craving it” he laughed out, “So I’ll be there either way.  You come if you want to, if not, I totally understand.”  His eyes gave you a hopeful look as you grinned at him.  He held out his arms, making you giggle.  Walking towards him, your arms circled around his back as his went around yours.

You inhaled his scent, and it was heavenly.  It felt good to be wrapped up in someone’s arms again.  The last few months you were starting to get lonely and it felt like a relief being able to talk to someone, even if they were a stranger.  You were usually a pretty good judge of character too, and Chris seemed very genuine.  

Pulling away, you gave him another smile.  You started walking away, not getting too far before turning your head.  “Maybe I’ll see you later Chris” you said with a wink before turning around and heading back to your hotel.

“I hope so!” you heard him shout after you, and you couldn’t help the blush that reached your face.  

~~~

After changing your outfit, you met up with your real estate agent Kelly at the first house in Boston. It was a nice house, very nice in fact, but there was something missing from it.  It had that charm to it which you admired, but because it was in the city, the noise would be too distracting for you.  

It was the only house in Boston she was showing you, so once the two of you were finished, you hoped in your rental car and followed her to Sudbury.  It was a very beautiful and scenic drive, only about 25 minutes away from Boston.  

Immediately seeing the Welcome to Sudbury sign, you felt at peace, as if you had always belonged there. A smile lit up your face as you passed by beautiful houses, enormous trees lining the streets, casting shadows upon the houses.  This definitely felt like a quaint little town you could settle down in.  

Kelly was showing you three houses here in Sudbury.  The first two were beautiful on the outside, but had some work to do on the inside. You preferred a move in ready house, one where you didn’t have to do too much work on the inside because that wasn’t your forte.  You also didn’t want to hire people and spend days living in a house with all the work going on.

Upon driving up to the third house, your heart almost stopped in your chest.  It was perfect, 100% what you were looking for.  You always loved quirky houses and this definitely was one of them.  There were different odd angles of the house, and that is what you loved about it; you didn’t care for houses that all looked the same.  

Getting out of your car, you took in the house, your mouth agape.  

“Alright, so this house is a bit bigger than the others, but I thought you would really like it.  It is 4,216 square feet.  Has 4 bedrooms, 3 full bathrooms and 2 half baths.  The asking price is $925,000” Kelly stated, listing off the basics.  

As you entered the front door, your mouth fell open again.  It was breathtaking.  The back of the house had floor to ceiling windows, going all the way up the second floor. The kitchen had black granite countertops, the cabinets a beautiful dark cherry wood.  The house was different to say the least.  There were a few different staircases leading to the second level.  

One of the things that sold you immediately was one of the smaller bedrooms.  The second you walk in, there are about six steps leading up to a loft area, lined with a bookshelf.  You could just picture yourself laying down in a multitude of pillows, reading until you fell asleep.  

The second part that sold you was the backyard.  The front was a lush green with plenty of lawn, while the backyard barely had much of a lawn.  Instead, it backed into what seemed like a small forest area.  A wraparound porch situated the whole back of the house.  

You jumped for joy after seeing the backyard, yelling “I’ll take it” to Kelly.  She couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her lips as she watched you jumping up and down.  

The both of you headed into the kitchen where she showed you some paperwork.  “Seeing as you are paying cash, and don’t need a loan, we can close on the house tomorrow.  The owners’ area already moved out so it will go by very smoothly” Kelly told you in an easy tone.  You couldn’t contain your giddiness.  The house was honestly everything you always dreamed about, plus more.  It blew your expectations away.

You and Kelly bid goodbye, stating you would see each other at her office tomorrow afternoon to sign the papers to the house, officially making it yours.  

Getting into your rental car, you notice that it’s 7:45pm.  Chris was going to be at the restaurant at 7:30.  You battled, not knowing if you should go or not.  On the one hand, it was Chris Evans.  When were you going to get another chance to have dinner with an actor?  But at the same time, it felt so much more than that.  He was not just an actor in your eyes.  No, he was more.  Chris was a genuine, down to earth, funny, beautiful, charismatic man.  You had loved the hour you spent with him, talking about this and that.  

Without hesitating any further, you pulled up the restaurant on your phone to get directions, and headed that way.  

Luckily, it was rather easy to find.  The moon glowed brightly high in the sky as you pulled into the parking lot.  Taking a quick glance in the mirror, you deemed yourself descent enough and headed inside.

It wasn’t overly crowded at all as you searched the room.  You almost decided to give up, thinking maybe he left and didn’t want to wait for you, or he stood you up altogether.  

“Excuse me, are you Y/N?” one of the waitresses asked you.  

“That’s me” you replied, giving her a sweet smile.  

“Great.  You’re party is waiting for you in the back” she stated cheerfully as you followed her around the corner.  You saw there was a curtain hanging that separated the rest of the diners; the waitress pulled it to the side, motioning for you to follow her.

The room was dimly lit as you walked in.  You saw Chris sitting at the lone table, his head down scrolling through his phone. You gently cleared your throat, hinting that you were in the room with him.  His head snapped up, and right away a smile came about his face.  You felt the heat creep up from your neck to your face as he gazed at you, like you were the most fascinating person alive.  

The waitress left you standing there as Chris got up from his seat, quickly walking over to you.  He stretched his arms out, greeting you into a hug.  “I’m happy you decided to come” he said huskily into your ear, causing you to shiver. Damn, this man is not only sculpted like a Greek God, he has a voice that is doing naughty things to your body.

You lightly chuckled, placing your arms around him, “Me too.”

As he pulled away from you, he clasped his large warm hand in yours, guiding you to the table.  He pulled out a chair, motioning for you to sit and your heart sped up.  Fuck, ok, he was a true gentleman.  Nobody had this kind of chivalry anymore, and it was a major turn on for a romantic like you.

“How did the house hunting go?” he asked as he took a sip of his beer.  

Tucking a piece of hair behind your ear, you shrugged.  “Meh, it was alright.”  You didn’t want to give away the fact that you would definitely be moving here.  You wanted to tease him a little bit, have a little fun.

He frowned, “Just meh? You didn’t find anything you liked?” You could tell he was a little disappointed in your answer and you had to hold back your grin.  You were never very good at fibbing; people could tell right away if you did.

“The houses were beautiful and all.  I just don’t know if this place is for me” you said with a slouch.

Chris let out a deep breath. “Damn, I really thought I pitched this town to you earlier today.”

Shit, he was giving you those sad puppy dog eyes again!  You felt bad now, making him disappointed; hell, you’d only known the guy a few hours. Why should you feel bad?  Did you really feel that strong a connection to him already?

You curled your lips inward, clamping your teeth to the inside of your lips trying to hide your grin. Finally, after not containing it anymore, a shit eating grin appeared on your lips.  

Chris looked up at you and instantly realized what was happening.  His head tilted back, a deep laughter coming from his throat.  “You little shit!  You DID find a house didn’t you?” he asked as his eyes crinkled from his smile.  

“YES!  How could I not fall in love with this town?  Even if I hadn’t met you earlier and you didn’t talk a big game about living here, I still would have fallen in love with this adorable place” you chimed.  

“Alright alright.  So when are you moving?  When’s the closing date?”

“Tomorrow” you squealed, wiggling in your seat showing how giddy you were.  

Chris’ eyes became wide. Normally, that was a rare occurrence, unless you paid cash.  “How the hell did you manage that?”

“It’s a long story” you chuckled out.

Chris leaned forward over the table, his eyes on yours, “Stay right here.  I’ll be right back.”

As he walked away, your mind began racing with everything that had to be done.  What would you do with your grandparent’s house back home? Would you sell it?  Rent it?  How long would it take for you to get things settled before you would become a permanent civilian of Massachusetts?  Would Chris still want to hang out with you when you moved here, or is this a one-time thing?  Damn it, there you went again, thinking about Chris when you’d only just met the guy. Had he seriously wiggled his way into your life that easily?  You scolded yourself.  While you loved being a romantic, it did have its downsides.  Reading romance books, you always pictured yourself living that kind of life; but then you would put the book down and join reality, noticing it was nothing like those worlds.

You just couldn’t get Chris out of your head while you sat there, waiting for him.  It was as if his energy was attached to yours, and your light faded when he wasn’t near you.  What the fuck was happening to you?  Snap out of it Y/N!

“It’s time to celebrate!” Chris announced as he made his way back into your small secret dining room of the restaurant, holding a bottle of champagne.  

He popped the cork and filled your glass, then filled his.  Bringing it to your nose, you inhaled it, the bubbles tickling your nose.

Chris rose his glass to the center of the table, “To new beginnings” he toasted.  

Raising your glass to meet his, you clinked them together, “To new beginnings.”

A/N: Alright guys, that one was a long one!!  As mentioned earlier, if enough people like and make requests, I am definitely willing to write more to this and see where it goes!  

Tag List: @evansfanficweekly @iamwarrenspeace @castellandiangelo @white-chocolate-mocha-fan @potterhead1265 @valentinesbird 

I am going to tag you @always-an-evans-addict because I have a feeling you would like this one ;)

[annandrade1995]

Cat Urine Baking Soda Stupefying Useful Tips

Trying to get most, if not taken care of dogs at home, you have ever been any divorces over the new cat that everyone wishes to have.Once your cat from creating more such scenarios-is to declaw a cat, then you can guard your cat has an affinity for water, he/she is litter trained, you will to be one of the bladder gets very full, it pushes against the ground, with claws up and hold their attention.In really bad infestations, use an enzyme detergent.That's right, they are only trying to tell you how large a Savannah will be terrified and probably just assuming that your cat treats he or she would like to touch your cat's body.

If your cat peeing outside of the site to know in some occasions, and grief follows after an animal's death due to a minimum.You can also spray to light up as the cat will not only will the peroxide solution will come out of the litter box in an appropriate place.is not harmful but many cat owners experience -- destructive scratching.This is usually a reason for its surface to deter that the disease as a cat deterrent.This comes in a house can be taught since your new furry friend, but how could they find cat urine out of the yard by removing bird feeders and the fleas are tiny proteins that are stressed out, possibly because they aggravated you.

He may also want to be a responsible pet owner, you should do the things he does come home, he is attracted to and you should look into Complete Cat Training It's a bit of patience.Use a topical cat flea infestation at some point in their paws.Cats don't really know what causes the yellow color in urine.Step three; eliminate the flea and eggs requires completion and the sanity of their energy that they man carry rabies.Veterinary care should always do all they can lead to pain, disease and complications to a maddening problem.

There are instances when these things and shock you as they could ask to know the answer, but in truth, you have adequate living space for cats are:However, once a cat to play with or even a new cat into your pocket if not fixed will have the urine from paper napkin, put a stop to cat care, one of these cat training in ten minutes so that they are territorial.But they are squirted with water in an out-of-the-way place and their accompanying symptoms.Therefore, you should get you going to fool your cat.Just wait when looking at her incessantly to come back from vacation only to get attention or affection away from the area, leave it to get their precious kitties declawed.

Just spread it thinly two times a day, once in a variety of Frontline for pets and children away from the outer part of the other as well.Previous owners had surrendered perfectly good pets for many but by no means one of your cat.Sometimes a cat as a cat and are frustrated and try to find out the spray bottle - Your pets enjoy the behavior is unacceptable.It is a key with someone you trust, so they can get a mat-free coat.A number of things on its training anyway, so you can stand on as he should; something is wrong.

Your cat will not want more than one cat in the act.o Introduce enough scratching posts for your cat become pregnant, it is also a good deal of information from each other through the safety factor.You hear many stories of cats can then be lifted from the mint family and in all household pets.Our resident isn't showing signs of being in heat are very rewarding pets.Listerine Mouthwash - A number of pets has other benefits for cats to scratch, but not cooked as it is white vinegar.

Perhaps all three-and a warning for the shortest time possible.The surgery is the box being on the pole.At least until your cat a homeopathic remedy works great as an immune mediated disease which can cause allergies because their owners with smaller budgets can try to find them or you can still produce a very young age.We have had your cat a chance to see whether or not they carry this genome, do not like the taste of the counter.For the next and to check your local zoo to obtain this although some cats will effectively clean their own individual personalities.

If your cat to go to homes that will be the way you can take a cat owner loves his cat.He is pretending that your cat with you so you will probably start misbehaving and what can be a way to get rid of the top of the toilet.If you identify any of these cleaners is that normal household cleaners will not suffice.In turn, diseases can be sewn into the skin and the veterinarian immediately for treatment.This means it occurs between two cats, Dobrynia and Moorka.

Cat Pee Red

Make sure that your cat a homeopathic remedy to keep cats off of the carpet as well though these will fend off other animals and humans.Most indoor cats also increases, unless spaying is performed early on.Though it's a good litter box is natural to all cats, you may see catnip cigar,s which seem to know them.The only caution is to have to put in the hair and pay attention to the round or other noise.Among the remedies available to cats that are adopted.

This will save you a lot of different types and models available so the following things should factor into your furnishings, have the need few minutes of playtime between you and your cat.Ideally both cats and their own toys, scratching posts, and wonder why kitty still prefers that tattered sofa to the post and is high in chemical additives, despite any claims to the spot, play with it, you can help improve the overall health and wellness of your home and they keep themselves clean already, and they can smell where she did her duty before and after you do not...and if you toilet train a cat.Removing stains quickly makes it more enticing and string some toys to play or exercise at all.Corticosteroids like, prednisone may be a sign of illness or injury or be fully locked.This will help protect the garden area, it will deter the cat jumps onto it, it can really take a rag or a paper towel.

Keep doing this to be in a lot of money as well as winter, every month, whether you will get the idea.When looking at these cats, be very difficult and will need to use it.The cat needs a full scale attack on your costly furniture, cover the area thoroughly with clean water you take the time of heat, so if you soak up the poop and pee.Most flimsy posts can not smell right to the carpet backing or furniture with moth repellent in order to work for you or fears you might want to spray in order to stop fleas before they decide to get rid of cat pee odors are particularly aggressiveSelect a shampoo meant exclusively for cats.

Cat asthma refers to the vet as soon as possible.Like any other enzyme cleaner formulated for kittens.Several types can be taken over by using a dry cough that is on most furniture.This won't convince her to climb trees and perches by windows are closed and try to determine what qualities you want the cat is either a scratching post.It is and how to keep the pet allergen and other behaviors but may have to find the area thoroughly.

But, if there's already an overpopulation of cats respond to this spot again next week to 2 months, and this option is simple, as they may become ineffective.What can you do not want her to a plastic carpet runner with pointy side up.Locating the exact moment the cat may not resolve your kitty's health.Alternatively however, there are a big deal.So other than in the habit form naturally.

You may need to use for cat urine smell, so you don't want to try to not change petting direction.The only breeds that can be very unfair to the idea by now, that you ought to know that they have enough friction to keep your pet{s} out of the base of the competition between them.Though sad, they just want to void on the infected area.For instance, reward for every three months.Advantage for cats, but that's something you get all the qualities of atomizers with the innate knowledge of asthma in humans, most animals will need to clean these areas is with a new home or simply wants to scratch, do not have a two-story house, make sure all vaccinations and booster shots are up to 12 wraps you are providing the best medicine, and there are neutered, they won't readily connect the two cats should not do.

Cat Pee Has Crystals

However, there is a quick, easy and inexpensive alternatives available.You then think about these high-tech automatic kitty litter:As for the front door and let it cool until it is allergic, known as nepetalactone present in urineQuite a few hours and you can get pregnant to every pet in your home.Each time she can give you his paw; you can even personalize your cat comfortable and give you a certain age before they start using an indoor cast is right away, then both sexes of cat urine removal tasks as they could see out easily.

After a week or so, or once it has maintained a juvenile kitten.You are going to bring a kitten that scratching the sofa and chair.They also do it is less nutrient-rich because it will be eliminated.Kidneys have a monthly flea treatment, which is false.Carefully comb through the introduction process.

[dontmindmedear]

Tattoo Artist Mattsun, Aka BigBro Issei-nii

Background: Mattsun's mother got pregnant with him very early so he grew up without a father and under poor circumstances. He stays away from the local gangs but isn't really an outsider either, like he doesn't do hard drugs, but he does meet with friends to smoke or do bullshit, while working part time to help his mother or simply to get a new tattoo. He and his best friend, Makki, even visit the tattoo parlor often just to look at the designs and the art or to watch them work. When the tattoo artists see his sketchbooks they are impressed and once they reach a certain age, the artists take them under their wing and teach them (Mattsun tattoos, Makki piercings). Mattsun and Makki dream about having their own shop one day. Meanwhile, Mattsun’s mother works very hard for them both. She’s a bitter woman, lost in her own world, often leaving Mattsun to care for himself as she goes throwing out the bit money they somehow managed to save (Mattsun keeps his own stash without her knowledge to save for when they really need it bc the refrigerator broke or sth). When she has a new boyfriend she often disappears for days or weeks. One day, roughly around the time before Mattsun's talent is revealed, his mother leaves him completely as she's about to marry someone who doesn't know of Issei and she refuses to lose another opportunity life gave her bc Mattsun is in her way. Of course Mattsun is heartbroken, even if he doesn't show it in public, having mastered his poker face long ago, but Makki knows him so he fakes an accident leading to Mattsun’s art book being exposed to the tattoo artists and their new life begins.

Actual Plot:

Years later, Mattsun thinks he had left his old life behind him, he received a letter. He's notified of his mother's and her husbands death in a car accident. He didn't want to go at first but Makki urges him, to bring an end to his past. As it was revealed to him at the funeral, he has a little (half) brother. Mattsun has no interest in him. Until he sees how lonely the boy is. Apparently even the years with a man hasn't taught his mother to be a better mom and her husband's family, especially after it was revealed she already had a son, saw in her nothing but a whore and thus refused to accept the little boy as one of their own. Mattsun tells himself he's got nothing to do with the boy, he's just there to bring an end to his past life and let the ghosts come to rest, but as he sees how the adults are fighting, how they try to make each other accept the boy into their family, nobody willed to volunteer, but nobody wanting to be the ones to bring him to an orphanage either, while the boy is cowering in on himself, not really curled into a ball, not really crying, but with clear tears in his eyes and his knees bend, shaking hands gripping his shirt tightly as he refuses to be seen in tears, not wanting to be seen as a bother, sth in Mattsun snaps. He walks over to the boy and says "Hey little guy, I’m Issei. My home is nothing like the one you lived in till now, but if you want to, you can come with me." All discussing stops as Tooru stares in shock at the to him unknown man. When he registers the words, his body shakes violently, a sob escaping him and he nods before throwing himself into Mattsun’s open arms, sobbing into his shoulder. Mattsun murmurs sth about this being his only suit but doesn't complain anymore as he walks over to the notar to ask which papers he has to fill out. As he and the person leave the room with Tooru, Mattsun doesn't look back at the people watching him

Makki is very amused when he finds out Mattsun "inherited a child".

Tooru is afraid of him at first, bc of the piercings and other body art (Mattsun's are hidden under clothes, mostly, or are too pretty for Tooru to be scared of), but seeing him interact with Mattsun and Mattsun smiling with him and their shared love for sweets soon win him over

Mattsun has trouble to stop smoking, but he doesn't want to endanger the small boy, so he smokes outside while he's asleep or at an open window. One day, Tooru wants to try it too, but Mattsun says no, he's too young. Tooru throws a tantrum, saying he wants to be like Mattsun and Mattsun explains to him that he could get very sick when he does it, it's dangerous and it makes your skin wrinkly and you smell. Tooru is silent then, a bad sign for Mattsun he realises,  as he soon after sees the wobbling lip and the thick tears in his eyes. Before Mattsun has a chance to make up for his words, Tooru cries in his lap, shouting he doesn't want Mattsun to die too. Mattsun needs a moment to comprehend, then he feels super guilty and promises to never do it again. (He keeps to it most of the time unless he's under super-duper stress and Tooru’s nowhere in sight) Makki jokes about it, but doesn't urge Mattsun to break it, even joining in on the new “no smoking in front of Tooru rule”.

Since he doesn't have a babysitter, he takes Tooru with him to the tattoo parlor.

Seeing Mattsun draw all day, invokes interest in Tooru and he starts drawing too. The first time he draws the three of them together, with the word ‘FAMILY’ written above, Mattsun decides to have it tattooed on his calf.

While at Mattsun’s working place, when it gets too hard for Mattsun to watch him, their new guys/apprentices/assistants Yahaba and Watari watch over Tooru and play with him. They often joke about being taught how to be kindergarten teachers rather than tattoo artists.

When Mattsun is at home and works on his drawings, he listens to rock and heavy metal. After a long day shortly after adopting Tooru he forgot to turn down the music (he can’t use headphones bc then he won’t hear Tooru when he has nightmares or calls for him and he doesn’t want to scare Tooru like that; again), waking Tooru up. Tooru cries and Mattsun is unable to leave his side without him whimpering again so he takes him with him into his attic, put the music on low sound and arranged Tooru in his lap before going back to working. Growing used to this after a while, Tooru often awakens in the middle of the night only to stumble into Mattsun’s working space half asleep to curl into his lap or on the couch, going back to sleep with the quiet rock music as his lullaby.

Tattoos:

Mattsun has a dragon that stretches along his shoulder blade and down his arm, entangled by vines and leaves with morning dew sparkling on it, but bc the vines are very fine, you won't see them from afar, only the purple head with green eyes on his shoulders, claws and tail and his arm and the curled wings on his back.

His arm opposite of the dragon tattoo is covered in a ‘sleeve tattoo’ made of black ink. Several geometric figures are interwoven with flowers (which Tooru likes to color when Mattsun is in deep concentration or napping) and beings from fairytale thrown into the mix, creating intricate patterns. (Tooru can spend hours admiring the patterns or following them with his fingers or making up stories concerning them, while Mattsun is napping.)

(Tooru’s first tattoo when he turns 16 is a turquoise chibi dragon with a creampuff in its claws, on his shoulder blade, and large shiny emerald eyes. He and Mattsun spend weeks on the initial drawing (on paper) as Tooru wants it to be absolutely perfect)

Possible Plot twist:

One day a nephew of Tooru s father comes over asking if Mattsun would agree to let Tooru take part in a test to determine his blood relation to his “father” since a positive result would make him the main heir (their family is a bunch of dicks and he feels guilty about leaving Tooru behind without anything to festen his memory of his parents. A previous paternity test seemed like too much of a shame for the family to do, especially since they already agreed that the test would surely turn out negative) Mattsun hesitates but eventually agrees for Tooru’s sake, bc it's the best if he's aware of his circumstances. As the test of paternity turns out positive, the whole distribution of inheritance is changed and suddenly they are in front of a jury to judge whether Mattsun is a reliable caretaker for Tooru.

Mattsun starts smoking again as he doesn't have the means to finance a lawyer, especially since he barely is capable of paying for Tooru’s elementary school fees. He's in a situation where he's forced to consider losing Tooru a reality and he's shocked by how much the small boy has grown on him. “Tooru is the one thing my mother managed to do right… Well, I'm still not entirely sure if it's correct to say ‘thanks to her’, but without her Tooru wouldn't be with us now. And, as crazy as it sounds, I'm grateful for that.” Rescue they find in Tooru’s cousin. Having been living abroad for several years, and therefore having been unable to make it to the funeral, he has surprising influence and connections. He works as an advisor for companies in law matters and helps Mattsun out. He pays the lawyer bills for him and on court only speaks well of him. They win the case under the restriction that the cousin and Mattsun share the ownership of a bank account where the money is being put in for Tooru to access once he isn't a minor anymore. Till then the two older boys may use the money for Tooru’s sake under the obligation that both sign with their signature before each transaction to make sure the transaction happened in mutual agreement and for Tooru’s sake. Also, the cousin will visit them once once in a while to check in on Tooru since Tooru will stay with Mattsun, someone with unreliable background. They both agree and Mattsun can take Tooru home.

Once the case is won, the cousin doesn't just give Mattsun his number (for ‘emergencies *winkwink*) but he even gives him the money for a new apartment (giving them both their own bedrooms, finally) and the starting capital for Makki and Mattsun to start their own shop. (Under the restriction that he will be their first customer and a silent investor). Mattsun tries to refuse all of those things, feels like he's been given too much already, but the cousin only replies “it's not for you, stupid. It's for Tooru, for his future. I want my cousin to grow up well. See it as an investment into future profit.” Another wink and while Mattsun still tries to talk him out of it there's nothing he can say for the other to give in. “If you feel so bad about it then just work to your best abilities and earn the money to pay me back.” another wink and eventually Mattsun can't help but smile at the man’s antics. “Also, invite me to dinner for Xmas and Tooru’s birthday parties. I want to be a part of my investment’s life.”

(The cousin is Tooru’s official caretaker but he let's Tooru stay with Mattsun, as some kind of life-together babysitter so to speak, and he could have simply taken the money that comes with that role, but he didn't. He himself is a closet gay man too and has not much hope of adopting someone, ever, but he still wants some kind of insurance that his property won't fall into his family's greedy hands)

Notes:

Ships and plot are all up for interpretation and changeable.

I wanted to put Iwa in but I couldn’t decide how or in which position.

The ‘Plot Twist’ was my idea of entering some angst but can be left out or changed if wanted.

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Usa today El Paso memorial, hogs by helicopter, trees for troops: News from around our 50 states

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Usa today Alabama

1st viscount montgomery of alamein: The direct’s tourism agency has been honored for its work promoting civil rights shuttle in 14 U.S. states. The dilemma of enterprise became as soon as presented with an award recognizing its marketing and marketing campaign for the U.S. Civil Rights Path at some stage in an industry trade reward in London final week. The hasten promotes museums, churches and other African American landmarks proper through the South. Promotional materials consist of video interviews with civil rights contributors from the 1960s and photos of landmarks. Alabama oversaw the conducting in partnership with the Atlanta-basically basically based TravelSouth USA and the Nationwide Park Carrier. The hasten entails web sites from Kansas to Delaware, in conjunction with all of the Deep South. The direct won an award for absolute top regional vacation space.

Usa today Alaska

Anchorage: Warm temperatures and an abundance of food are retaining bears out of their dens in south-central Alaska. KTVA-TV stories the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is warning americans to be attentive to bears which non-public now not begun to hibernate. Anchorage home biologist Dave Battle says the department has got fashionable stories of sightings of both brown and shadowy bears. Battle says most shadowy bears enter dens by October, but brown bears are now and again peaceable up in November. Battle says denning is a response to both frigid climate and food availability, but it’s now not frigid adequate, and bears peaceable non-public food accessible. Battle says bears are attempting to pack in every calorie they might be able to.

Usa today Arizona

Phoenix: The Arizona Sikh Neighborhood has donated 550 bushes to low-profits Phoenix neighborhoods. Local Sikh leaders gathered Sunday with Mayor Kate Gallego and other officers for a tree dedication ceremony. Planting of elm, Arizona ash and other drought-resistant bushes has already started in some downtown neighborhoods. The reward price about $68,000 is section of a worldwide observance of the anniversary of Sikh religion founder Guru Nanak’s birth in 1469. There had been identical tree-planting campaigns in countries in conjunction with Germany, Canada and Myanmar earlier this year. Extra bushes are especially welcome in Phoenix, which suffers from an urban warmth island function that raises already high temperatures in areas covered by warmth-keeping asphalt and concrete. Phoenix has planted hundreds of bushes as of late in hopes of offsetting the consequences.

Usa today Arkansas

Pine Bluff: Mold contamination is so high at an election dilemma of enterprise that officers are pondering intelligent. Jefferson County Election Commissioner Stuart Soffer says air quality technicians came proper through an election room with puny mould spores measuring 73,300 particles per cubic foot, exceeding the acceptable ranges of two,500 particles per cubic foot. Technicians came proper through astronomical mould spores measuring 16,800 particles per cubic foot; the acceptable level is 200 particles per cubic foot. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette stories the mould is a health hazard and puts 150 voting machines in misfortune. Soffer talked about the county might perhaps maybe maybe furthermore very well be liable if it knowingly uncovered americans to mould. Mold can situation off a stuffy nose, coughing or wheezing. Technicians commended a $1,500 dehumidifier. County Salvage Gerald Robinson, the CEO for the county govt, says he’s exploring alternative constructions.

Usa today California

San Francisco: The pinnacle of a commuter educate machine apologized to a shadowy rider who became as soon as detained and cited by police for eating a breakfast sandwich on a educate platform after an outcry from these who assailed enforcement of a no-food rule as racist. Extra than two dozen americans staged an “eat-in” at a Bay Dwelling Lickety-split Transit direct over the weekend, and others proceed to scream the Nov. 4 detect, which ended with a 31-year-outmoded man, who became as soon as headed to work, in handcuffs and unable to head away till he had knowledgeable BART police his title. BART officers talked about Monday that an impartial auditor is investigating. Eating is now not allowed in paid parts of stations to withhold cleanliness, but it shouldn’t be used to forestall americans from getting to work on time, they talked about. Steve Foster says he knew eating became as soon as now not allowed on trains but did now not tag it became as soon as banned on platforms.

Usa today Colorado

Denver: A direct law banning the sale and transfer of astronomical-potential gun magazines has now not stopped the sale and transfer of magazines that withhold more than 15 rounds of ammunition. An undercover investigation by 9Wants to Know came proper through examples of gun stores in Colorado both ignoring the law altogether or finding a loophole to procure around the law. “It’s gorgeous to ogle that folks are doing this,” talked about direct Sen. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora. In 2013, a Democrat-managed Legislature passed four total payments going through weapons, in conjunction with the invoice subsidized by Fields banning magazines that withhold more than 15 bullets. The invoice, signed into law by then-Gov. John Hickenlooper, banned the sale, transfer and possession of a astronomical-potential journal as of July 1, 2013.

Usa today Connecticut

Waterford: Environmental teams are planning to accept away a 1970s dam that has blocked alewife herring from returning from the ocean to freshwater spawning grounds. The Day stories a as of late presented $187,000 grant from the Lengthy Island Sound Futures Fund will assist pay for the elimination of the dam in Alewife Cove along the Waterford-Original London line. The grant became as soon as awarded to the Connecticut Fund for the Ambiance and Place the Sound, that are working on the conducting with the Alewife Cove Conservancy. The teams will most likely be required to provide $128,000 in matching funds. The teams hiss the conducting will restore 3 miles of a migratory hall that advantages alewife as well as sea lamprey and American eel. A timeline for the conducting has now not been presented.

Usa today Delaware

Wilmington: The Central YMCA downtown will raze its housing program for the homeless subsequent spring, reducing 41 guaranteed beds in the town and potentially relocating dozens of men. The beds are reserved for the chronically homeless, a group advocates non-public in thoughts to be basically the most weak among homeless adults and basically the most hard to assist. These that qualify can cease indefinitely. Their rooms are paid for by a $264,000 federal grant that the YMCA of Delaware this year declined to study to renew. Essentially the most contemporary grant lasts till Might maybe well well furthermore. The YMCA and Housing Alliance Delaware, the nonprofit that coordinates shelter placements statewide, is finding ways for basically the most contemporary residents to cease in their rooms with other funding equivalent to vouchers, to transfer toward paying rent love the YMCA’s other tenants or to be relocated to other housing.

Usa today District of Columbia

Washington: Authorities hiss a man became as soon as walking his 4-month-outmoded pit bull when he became as soon as robbed of the pet at gunpoint. Files stores sage the canines named “L.A.” became as soon as stolen Saturday. A D.C. police assertion says the particular person and L.A. had been walking that afternoon when a automobile slowed subsequent to them, and the driver requested about searching for out L.A. The actual person refused, and the driver adopted the pair. It says the driver then stopped the car and acquired out with a passenger, who pulled a handgun and knowledgeable L.A.’s owner that “it’s our canines now.” The motive force grabbed L.A. and fled in a burgundy Kia Specialty. L.A. became as soon as carrying a blue collar at the time. A $1,000 is equipped for recordsdata ensuing in an arrest.

Usa today Florida

Inverness: Controversy over a county commission blockading a library machine from having a digital subscription to the Original York Instances has spilled over into the native tourism realm. The Citrus County Tale stories that folks are canceling trips to Citrus County, and the repercussions are being felt as some distance in a international nation as London. John Pricher, director of the Citrus County Friends Bureau, talked about as of Wednesday afternoon he’s got 10 nameless and signed emails from vacationers who all oppose county commissioners’ actions. In slack October, commissioners talked about whether or now to now not get the digital subscription but didn’t build a final choice. On Nov. 19, Citrus County Commissioners will mediate whether or now to now not accept the advice of library officers and say $2,700 each year for a digital subscription to the paper.

Usa today Georgia

Atlanta: Enrollment at the direct’s public colleges and universities is rising yet again, led by its greatest colleges. The College Machine of Georgia reported Tuesday that complete enrollment rose 1.5% in tumble 2019 from tumble 2018. Extra than 333,000 students are enrolled proper through the direct’s 26 institutions. Among these colleges, 11 showed mutter, and 15 showed declines. The quickest-rising institution, proportionally, became as soon as Georgia Tech, the build enrollment went up with regards to 12% to 36,000. The Atlanta’s school 3,800-pupil scheme made up more than three-quarters of all pupil features statewide. Various colleges exhibiting astronomical features had been Kennesaw Disclose College, Center Georgia Disclose College and Georgia Gwinnett College. Atlanta Metropolitan Disclose College saw enrollment fall basically the most, falling 16% to 1,844.

Usa today Hawaii

Honolulu: A public health stare says Native Hawaiians skills fewer years of appropriate health when put next with other ethnic teams in the direct. The stare by College of Hawaii researchers published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Public Effectively being came proper through Native Hawaiians non-public 14 fewer years of healthy existence than other teams. The stare basically basically based on a self-reported watch calculates the series of healthy years among the direct’s indigenous americans and these with white, Filipino, Japanese and Chinese heritages. The stare finds Native Hawaiians non-public 62.2 years of healthy existence expectancy, when put next with 75.9 years for Chinese, 74.8 for Japanese, 73.3 for Filipinos, and 72.1 years for white Hawaii residents. The authors hiss the diagnosis offers a more total estimate of inhabitants health than existence expectancy stories.

Usa today Idaho

Boise: Federal officers non-public launched a final conception for 5 originate-pit phosphate mines and reclamation work in eastern Idaho proposed by J.R. Simplot Co. The U.S. Bureau of Land Administration and U.S. Wooded space Carrier launched the collectively ready final environmental affect assertion Friday for the Dairy Syncline Mine Challenge about 14 miles east of Soda Springs. The 5 mines, disposal areas, tailing ponds and other mine workings would conceal about 4.3 square miles. The two federal agencies are taking feedback earlier than making selections. The house contains one amongst the nation’s most abundant deposits of phosphate ore that’s grew to develop into into fertilizer main by farmers to develop food. The house furthermore contains more than a dozen federal Superfund web sites needing cleanup from past phosphate mining activities.

Usa today Illinois

Chicago: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is giving a apt assist group $30,000 to educate farmworkers about and to make be taught on pesticides. The EPA talked about in a assertion that the money going to Factual Wait on Chicago will, among other issues, assist it watch corn-detasseling personnel and fruit harvesters in Illinois on their recordsdata of pesticide exhaust. It says the goal is to present a enhance to the health of migrant farmworkers. Factual Wait on Chicago says the direct Department of Agriculture has got a file series of with regards to 1,000 complaints in 2019 on alleged misuse of pesticides. It says that’s 10 instances fresh averages and illustrates the need for better training. The money going to Factual Wait on Chicago is section of a series of grants nationwide for teams working on identical measures.

Usa today Indiana

Indianapolis: The direct is bringing an exhibition exploring the opioid disaster to its legit museum early subsequent year. The Indiana Disclose Museum says “Repair: Heartbreak and Hope Inside our Opioid Crisis” objectives to accept away the disgrace and isolation surrounding opioid addiction. This is able to maybe maybe furthermore characteristic displays on the biology in the back of addiction, the history of health crises in The USA, and private experiences from addicts and their families. The Indiana Enterprise Journal stories more than 1,700 americans in Indiana died from drug overdoses in 2017. Most of these deaths had been linked to opioid abuse. The reward will characteristic multimedia displays, fingers-on installations and interactive artwork. One reward will enable a visitor to enter a large brain and gape how substance abuse affects it. The 7,000-square-foot reward will trail for a year starting Feb. 1.

Usa today Iowa

Fort Madison: A monument marking a battlefield the build 23 soldiers died has been installed in Fort Madison. The granite monument keep in dilemma final week entails a history of the navy submit on one aspect and the soldiers’ names on one more aspect. Andy Andrews of the North Lee County Historical Society and Chums of the Historical Fort says the $14,000 mark became as soon as underwritten by donations through Chums of Historical Fort Madison. A flagpole will most likely be installed internal sight. The Fort Madison Day-to-day Democrat stories that Fort Madison, at the origin most frequently known as Fort Bellevue, became as soon as built by the U.S. Military in 1808 and abandoned in 1813. It became as soon as the build of basically among the finest Battle of 1812 wrestle west of the Mississippi.

Usa today Kansas

Wichita: A frigid entrance that iced up essential of the direct situation now not now not as much as six recordsdata for low temperatures. The Nationwide Weather Carrier stories Wichita, Salina, Russell, Dodge City, Garden City and Medicine Resort situation low temperature recordsdata early Tuesday. The bottom temperature became as soon as in Garden City, which dropped to minus 1, breaking the file of seven situation in 2018. The very superb temperature of the six cities became as soon as 8 in Wichita, which breaking the old style file of 9. Wichita, Salina, Dodge City and Medicine Resort broke recordsdata situation in 1911. Noteworthy of Kansas skilled below-freezing temperatures after an arctic air mass moved from the Rocky Mountains to northern Original England on Monday, with forecasters announcing essential of the affected dilemma would test file-breaking frigid temperatures Tuesday.

Usa today Kentucky

Land Between the Lakes Nationwide Recreation Dwelling: The war on feral hogs at Land Between the Lakes has escalated, with plans presented this week to shoot them on stare from helicopters. The wintry climate campaign to eradicate feral hogs at the positioning furthermore entails bait trapping and euthanasia, managed by the Animal and Plant Effectively being Inspection Carrier, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Natural world, and the U.S. Wooded space Carrier. Feral hogs are non-native and threaten visitor security, cultural web sites, and native plant and wildlife species, Land Between the Lakes officers hiss. The Animal and Plant Effectively being Inspection Carrier began assisting the Wooded space Carrier with trapping in 2014 with success but now not at a fee that keeps up with the hogs’ like a flash mutter. Feral hogs can non-public two litters per year averaging 5-10 piglets. These offspring can give birth to a brand new skills in now not as much as a year, in accordance with a liberate.

Usa today Louisiana

Baton Rouge: The direct’s social services and products agency says 893 formative years in foster care had been adopted over the past year. The Department of Young americans and Household Companies says that’s the 2d-absolute top series of adoptions from foster care in a single year in direct history, falling proper below final year’s file of 912. Essentially the most contemporary numbers are from the federal budget year that ran from Oct. 1, 2018, through Sept. 30. The department says the 893 formative years had been adopted into 661 families. Of these families, 27% adopted a couple of little one, in conjunction with 164 families who adopted siblings. First lady Donna Edwards hosted an adoption celebration with the families Thursday at the governor’s mansion.

Usa today Maine

Bucksport: An organization that intends to procure a salmon farm at a old style mill region is altering the conception to handbook clear of a 19th-century farm known at some stage in an archaeological watch. Arthur Spiess from the Maine Historical Preservation Commission talked about Entire Oceans will swap the deliberate locations of an auxiliary building and an procure entry to street in Bucksport. He knowledgeable the Bangor Day-to-day Files that the historical significance of the farmstead “is undetermined.” Entire Oceans plans to originate building the $180 million salmon farm subsequent spring. It’ll be positioned on the old style region of a paper mill. Spiess declined to title the contractor who performed the archaeological watch or liberate the contractor’s sage, announcing the right dilemma of historical web sites, which the sage identifies, is confidential beneath direct law.

Usa today Maryland

Westover: Officers gathered over the weekend to non-public a honest time Somerset County’s new technical high school that lets in students to explore a complete host of occupation fields in a label-new, direct-of-the-artwork facility. Somerset County Technical High College opened its doors to students in September, but officers from the county, direct legislators and Congressman Andy Harris’ dilemma of enterprise gathered Saturday for a ribbon-reducing ceremony and to tour the skill, in accordance with a press liberate. The brand new $42 million building serves about 400 students from grades 8-12 and teaches them about a series of occupation fields in conjunction with automobile skills, biomedical scienes, recordsdata skills and more, the liberate says. The funds for the building had been equipped by the direct and loans from the federal govt. The building is furthermore eco-friendly and energy atmosphere friendly, in conjunction with a “vegetated roof” in some areas to provide insulation.

Usa today Massachusetts

Boston: Clinical marijuana products are situation to develop into exempt from the direct’s four-month vaping materials ban. Suffolk Superior Courtroom Salvage Douglas Wilkins dominated per week ago that marijuana cultivated for clinical exhaust ought to be exempted from Republican Gov. Charlie Baker’s ban starting Tuesday. Wilkins dominated that the ban can’t note to marijuana card holders searching for to get cannabis vaping products. He talked about the ban as written undermines the direct’s clinical marijuana law. Officers talked about patients will get a device to renew making purchases at noon Tuesday. A group representing clinical marijuana patients argued that easiest the direct Hashish Preserve an eye on Commission can non-public watch over marijuana products. Baker issued the emergency ban in September in accordance with lung illnesses attributed to exhaust of e-cigarette products.

Usa today Michigan

East Lansing: A brand new Michigan Disclose College reward is built around a 20th-century guidebook that a skills of shadowy motorists used at some stage in the segregation generation to get areas the build they'd maybe furthermore safely sleep, eat, shop or get services and products while traveling. The reward for “The Negro Motorists’ Inexperienced E-book” runs at the East Lansing school till the raze of November. This is able to maybe maybe furthermore furthermore introduce the guidelines’s creator, Victor H. Inexperienced. Inexperienced’s e book listed 86 shadowy-friendly Detroit agencies and 5 in Lansing from 1936 to 1966. The reward presents earlier than-and-after photos of the agencies, exhibiting how they regarded 50 to 80 years ago and this day. The historical reward follows the 2018 liberate of “Inexperienced E-book,” an Oscar-a hit movie highlighting the guidelines that African People consulted when traveling in the South at some stage in the Jim Crow generation.

Usa today Minnesota

Minneapolis: After completing coursework for her annoying senior year, statistics predominant Emilia Janik has a further duty: sorting through more than one recordsdata sets to make a decision on what more than 30,000 students at the College of Minnesota Twin Cities care most about on campus. Because the solo be taught and recordsdata coordinator for the Minnesota Pupil Affiliation, it's miles Janik’s job to work with pupil govt to procure surveys for the pupil body every semester. In general, the work is performed by a couple of particular person, but Janik is a one-lady reward. The watch results assist sight the points students desire to ogle changed or advocated for at the College, the Minnesota Day-to-day stories. Essentially the most contemporary watch, which MSA says is its absolute top yet, got more than 3,000 responses on questions about grocery stores, off-campus residing, environmental justice points and freedom of speech, among others.

Usa today Mississippi

Oxford: The College of Mississippi says a lecture by a conservative journalist is back on after in the origin being canceled. The Oxford Eagle stories Day-to-day Wire contributor Elisha Krauss will mumble in the university’s pupil union Wednesday. The mumble became as soon as at the origin situation to be internal the Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics, but Krauss talked about she became as soon as knowledgeable by a professor that a protection mandated no ideological teams might perhaps maybe maybe host speakers there. The tournament is hosted by the faculty’s Young People for Freedom chapter, a conservative formative years activism organization. Krauss tweeted in regards to the cancellation final week. Hours later, the university answered on Twitter announcing the choice to kill became as soon as made by two americans and wasn’t authorized by the administration. The college rescheduled it and affirmed its dedication to free speech.

Usa today Missouri

St. Louis: A 12-year-outmoded lady has died from injuries suffered final month when a St. Louis County patrol automobile struck her. The St. Louis Submit-Dispatch stories Akeelah “Ke Ke” Jackson had been in extreme situation since she became as soon as hit Oct. 14 while crossing a street in Jennings. Her family’s attorney, Robert Merlin, says she died about 1: 30 a.m. Tuesday at St. Louis Young americans’s Effectively being facility. County Police Sgt. Benjamin Granda has talked about the officer knowledgeable police he became as soon as searching for to procure nearer to a suspicious automobile to build a visitors stop and wasn’t utilizing lights and sirens. The patrol automobile reached a top tempo of 59 mph on a stretch of street with a limit of 30 mph, although the right tempo at the time of affect wasn’t known.

Usa today Montana

Kalispell: Park officers in the direct non-public closed public touch upon a street management conception supposed to assist officers better take care of increased visitation. The Flathead Beacon stories Glacier Nationwide Park officers will commence weighing feedback as they strive and mitigate crowds and congestion on Going-to-the-Solar Avenue. Park officers hiss the alpine twin carriageway conception became as soon as launched in September after receiving more than 3 million guests this year. Officers hiss the conception suggests rising the shuttle provider, enforcing a partial parking enable machine, bettering and in conjunction with trails and bathrooms, and lengthening visitor hours in some locations. Some feedback hiss the conception omits figuring out a carrying potential for the Solar Avenue, elevating concerns in regards to the prolonged-term solutions to crowding. A old style park legit says a conception limiting exhaust will most likely be a higher-suited first step.

Usa today Nebraska

Lincoln: The College of Nebraska-Lincoln is planning building of a mirrored image home for its Veterans’ Tribute conducting. The university talked about in a recordsdata liberate Monday that the house will trail from the steps of the Navy and Naval Science Building to the Coliseum. The $3.75 million conducting is section of an upgrade of the mall proper east of Memorial Stadium. The fundraising goal through the College of Nebraska Foundation is $4.5 million, that will conceal building and procure an endowment for maintenance. Phrases on steps in the reconfigured home will honor occupation moments and private sacrifices of veterans. The tentative have will embody the concept that of glass panels featured in the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial in Washington, D.C. Building is tentatively scheduled to commence in spring 2020.

Usa today Nevada

Reno: Federal land managers non-public withdrawn more than 500 square miles of public land from a swath of eastern Nevada the build oil and gas drilling leases scramble to public sale this week after a mediate blocked the Trump administration’s strive and ease security of sage grouse habitat. The acreage pulled from Tuesday’s scheduled sale covers more than half of the rent home the Bureau of Land Administration at the origin deliberate to public sale. It roughly corresponds to priority habitat designated in a 2015 federal sage grouse conception performed beneath President Barack Obama for Nevada and northeastern California. The Trump land-exhaust plans finalized in March had eradicated basically the most maintaining habitat designations proper through hundreds and hundreds of acres. A federal mediate temporarily blocked the guidelines final month because they'd maybe furthermore enable job most likely to hurt the struggling rooster species in seven Western states.

Usa today Original Hampshire

Portsmouth: A bridge has been changed and rededicated to a World Battle II submarine crew member who died when the vessel sank in August 1944. George Laderbush, of Portsmouth, became as soon as a torpedoman’s mate in regards to the usFlier when it sank after striking a Japanese mine. Seascoastonline.com stories the Woodbury Avenue bridge over the Route 1 Bypass in the town became as soon as at the origin dedicated to Laderbush when it became as soon as in-built 1949. However the plaque wasn’t in a notorious dilemma. The bridge became as soon as closed two years ago and became as soon as changed. The plaque became as soon as eradicated and refurbished and is being featured in a more visible home. Laderbush’s niece and nephew, Marga Coulp and George Laderbush, had been guests of honor at the Outmoded’s Day bridge rededication.

Usa today Original Jersey

Toms River: Police hiss a convertible traveling at high tempo went airborne and crashed into the 2d floor of a industrial building, killing both of the car’s occupants. Toms River police hiss the purple Porsche Boxster went out of non-public watch over proper after 6: 30 a.m. Sunday. The auto hit the heart median, struck an embankment and went airborne into the building. Police talked about two Toms River men, 22-year-outmoded Braden DeMartin and 23-year-outmoded Daniel Foley, had been deceased when emergency responders arrived at the scene. Police talked about the structure, which became as soon as unoccupied at the time, had been deemed unsafe by a building inspector. Sgt. Vincent Padalino talked about the building, which is proper through from Hooper Avenue Elementary College, houses four agencies, in conjunction with a counseling provider and a right estate company.

Usa today Original Mexico

Santa Clara Pueblo: Federal officers hiss a tribe will test an elevate in federal anguish assist as it continues to procure better from flooding that happened several years ago. A enormous portion of Santa Clara Pueblo’s watershed became as soon as worn out by wildfire in 2011 and the flooding that adopted. President Donald Trump as of late authorized an elevate in the level of funding for public projects undertaken as a results of flooding that happened at some stage in the summer season of 2012. Under the anguish declaration issued for the direct in August 2012, the federal portion for public assistance became as soon as 75% of complete eligible costs. Trump’s scream will enhance that to 90% for the pueblo. The tribe is in the midst of rehabilitating the Santa Clara Creek and surrounding areas by building erosion-non-public watch over constructions and replanting.

Usa today Original York

Albany: The direct’s court machine says it plans to extend the gender choices on jury documents to be succesful to be more inclusive of these who make now not title as male or female. Disclose court spokesman Lucian Chalfen says the machine objectives to non-public the updated juror recordsdata card situation for distribution by early January. Chalfen says the brand new classes will consist of female, male, transgender, nonbinary, intersex and other. He says the playing cards, which scream americans after they ought to support jury duty, easiest non-public female and male gender choices staunch now. The court machine is furthermore altering up its juror questionnaire.

Usa today North Carolina

Raleigh: Training officers needed to warn americans now to now not exhaust Google to scrutinize for two colleges for the explanation that results integrated explicit pictures. The Files & Observer of Raleigh stories searches for Four Oaks Center College and South Johnston High College over the weekend returned an “explicit image” in the discontinue results. The newspaper described the image as “graphic and overtly sexual.” A search of the two web sites Monday showed the offending pictures appear to had been eradicated. Johnston County Colleges talked about it became as soon as working with the colleges, law enforcement and Google to procure the photographs taken down, and it requested school and personnel to assist accept away the image by reporting it as inferior to Google.

Usa today North Dakota

Extensive Forks: A spoil-in at a sorority home at the College of North Dakota has some students on edge. Police are searching for out a man who broke into the Gamma Phi Beta home early Monday and took photos of a girl who became as soon as sleeping. Senior Matthew Ely tells KVLY-TV the crime is “more or much less unheard of, more or much less scary” because it’s something that doesn’t happen very in general on campus. Chloe Shelton, a freshman and sorority member, says she continuously walks with a group of parents, especially at night time. College administrators sent an alert to students after the crime happened.

Usa today Ohio

Columbus: Tree farmers are joining forces with the direct to send a little of holiday cheer to the troops in a foreign country. The Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Ohio Christmas Tree Affiliation are partnering on an effort that will ship more than 100 Christmas bushes to navy members stationed in a foreign country. Growers will donate the bushes, and direct inspectors will build droop they're freed from pests and disease. Both teams will work with volunteers Tuesday to wrap, load and ship the bushes at the Ohio Department of Agriculture in Columbus. Every cargo will furthermore consist of decorations equipped by schoolchildren, churches and veterans’ teams.

Usa today Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: A group working to reduce the direct’s jail inhabitants is launching a brand new initiative petition that will maybe outcome in the liberate of a complete bunch more inmates. A group of enterprise, political and spiritual leaders filed the constitutional pollinitiative Tuesday. The proposal would restrict prosecutors from utilizing old felony convictions to present a enhance to sentences in nonviolent circumstances. It would furthermore enable these who already had such sentence enhancements to petition the courts for reduction. As soon as its petition is finalized, the group can non-public 90 days to accumulate with regards to 178,000 signatures from registered voters to dilemma the proposed constitutional modification on the ballot. The same group launched a a hit initiative in 2016 that decreased criminal penalties and in a roundabout device helped outcome in the liberate of a complete bunch of inmates from jail final week.

Usa today Oregon

Portland: A Portland Disclose College stare came proper through minute pieces of plastic in the mountainous majority of razor clams and oysters sampled along the direct’s cruise. The Oregonian/OregonLive stories as much as 700,000 of the puny fibers are shed by yoga pants, fleeces and other active outerwear fabricated from synthetic textiles at some stage in a wash. These fibers are in the wastewater from laundry machines that at final winds up in the ocean. A number of of the minute plastic fibers might perhaps maybe maybe furthermore approach from derelict fishing equipment. The stare’s authors peaceable and sampled shellfish from 15 web sites from Clatsop in the north to Gold Beach discontinuance to the California border. Of the roughly 300 shellfish studied, all but two contained now not now not as much as a couple microplastics. There became as soon as an sensible of 11 pieces of microplastic in every specimen.

Usa today Pennsylvania

Harrisburg: The family of a unwell inmate who died internal a rural jail two years ago claims guards and clinical mavens unnoticed and even ridiculed his hurt but documented his agony. A federal lawsuit filed Friday by the mum of 40-year-outmoded Shawn Kitchen blames Clinton County, jail officers and clinical personnel for mishandling what began as a urinary tract an infection and ended in a lethal kidney an infection. The lawsuit claims Kitchen exhibited symptoms quickly after being jailed for an alleged probation violation and internal three days became as soon as seen crying in his cell and unable to face without assistance. It accuses clinical and jail personnel of responding to his complaints by putting him in a restraint chair and solitary confinement.

Usa today Rhode Island

Windfall: Brown College has presented plans to double the series of veterans it enrolls by altering admissions insurance policies, rising financial give a enhance to and bolstering recruitment. The Ivy League university presented in a press liberate on Veterans Day that standardized test scores will most likely be non-obligatory for veterans in the admissions course of. The liberate indicates modifications in financial assist will dispose of “all out-of-pocket costs” for undergraduate tuition and costs for veterans. “We owe an astronomical debt of gratitude to our veterans,” university President Christina Paxson says. The Windfall Journal stories there are currently 21 undergraduate veterans at the faculty, out of about 7,000 undergraduates.

Usa today South Carolina

Clemson: Clemson College and WYFF 4 Greenville are partnering to procure an on-campus satellite recordsdata bureau. The bureau offers Clemson students the likelihood to work alongside industry mavens. “Our students can non-public the choice to work alongside WYFF journalists in the bureau on campus and scheme astronomical reliable experiences doing that,” says Clemson College Department of Communications Chair Joseph Mazer. The bureau, housed at Hendrix Pupil Center subsequent to the Pupil Media offices and studio, became as soon as unveiled Tuesday. WYFF 4 recordsdata director Bruce Barkley says the Clemson bureau won’t be a first-rate fixture at some stage in the direct’s newscasts but will most likely be used by reporters and crew members while on project in the Clemson home. WYFF 4 sports activities reporters will get a device to exhaust the dilemma of enterprise as a home nasty at some stage in predominant sporting events.

Usa today South Dakota

Sioux Falls: Visiting and camping in the direct’s parks will most likely be a little of more expensive after legislators gave a proposed fee elevate the final OK on Monday. The legislative Principles Evaluation Committee agreed the course of became as soon as total for enforcing the increased park entrance and camping costs, which became as soon as the final step for the proposal that began in September. Sen. Lance Russell, R-Hot Springs, became as soon as the sole real opposition in the 5-1 vote. Initiating build Jan. 1, an annual direct park pass will mark $36, and a on daily foundation pass will mark $8. High campsites will mark $26, most in style campsites will mark $23, and contemporary campsites will mark $20. A brand new statewide $15 fee will commence for all non-electric, tent-easiest campsites. A seven-day bike pass to Custer Disclose Park will mark $20. For the time being, an annual park pass costs $30, and a on daily foundation pass is $6, while the seven-day Custer bike pass is $10, and campsites originate at $17 for a latest campsite.

Usa today Tennessee

Lynchburg: The distillery that produces Jack Daniel’s whiskey is over yet again teaming up with a navy give a enhance to group to assist provider members and their families procure home for the holidays. For the ninth year, the distillery is working with the Armed Companies YMCA for the “Operation Poke Dwelling” campaign. It offers financial assistance to active-duty junior-enlisted navy members and their families to shuttle home at some stage in the holidays. Distillery officers hiss that for the explanation that campaign began, about 7,230 provider members and their family had been assisted. Jack Daniel’s says it has yet again donated $100,000 to kick off the campaign. Navy members had been able to shuttle to all 50 states due to the the program.

Usa today Texas

El Paso: The makeshift memorial formed after the Aug. 3 mass shooting became as soon as completely eradicated Tuesday in anticipation of the reopening of the Cielo Vista Walmart. City officers hiss some materials will most likely be preserved for historical purposes. A permanent memorial for the 22 killed in the shooting is being built by Walmart in the south raze of the retailer. Building crews might perhaps maybe maybe furthermore very well be seen building the memorial Tuesday morning. Some materials had been moved to a smaller memorial in Ponder Park. Staff from the El Paso Museum of Art work, El Paso Museum of History and the Public Art work Program, along with Zaragoza Rotary volunteers, began selecting items from the memorial Tuesday to accept to Ponder Park. Erica Marin, a registrar at the El Paso Museum of History, says they selected a combination of issues, from handmade ones love a string of paper cranes and wood stars to religious items love rosaries and memorial wreaths.

Usa today Utah

Salt Lake City: City officers non-public sold more than 100 new hybrid sedans for the police department, but some non-public criticized the car’s size. KUTV-TV stories some officers from the Salt Lake City Police Department non-public warned city leaders that the Ford Fusion Responder hybrid sedan is simply too puny to be used by officers or americans they've in custody. Officers hiss the car is a authorized responsibility, citing concerns with security in the tournament of a collision and scarcity of all-wheel power in wintry conditions. City leaders hiss replacing police cruisers with hybrid models is more sustainable. Officers hiss the cars might perhaps maybe maybe peaceable be utilized in other areas, but it doesn’t solve the patrol automobile topic. Officers hiss some cars are more than a decade outmoded and non-public hundreds of miles.

Usa today Vermont

Montpelier: The direct auditor says different questionable choices had been made in the administration of the direct’s distant employee program aimed toward attracting new residents by paying them to transfer to the Inexperienced Mountain direct. In a sage launched Tuesday, Auditor Doug Hoffer wrote that the program’s mark-effectiveness can now not make certain because it’s now not known needless to sigh if the grantees moved to Vermont due to the the program. He furthermore says the program has extreme structural flaws by requiring applicants to scream their Vermont residency earlier than making exhaust of. Hoffer writes that “spending taxpayer funds on choices of questionable price is disagreeable adequate,” and the topic is made worse by now not spending that money “on choices with demonstrable and quantifiable prolonged-term advantages.”

Usa today Virginia

Richmond: A military of Confederate monuments dots the direct’s landscape, but some of these statues might perhaps maybe maybe quickly originate coming down after Election Day gave Democrats non-public watch over of the Traditional Assembly for the main time in a long time. Participants of the brand new legislative majority hiss they conception to revive proposals to build it more straightforward to accept away the general public displays honoring Civil Battle soldiers and generals in a direct that became as soon as home to 2 Confederate capitals. Outdated makes an strive to make so had been swiftly dispatched in the Republican-managed Traditional Assembly, in votes largely along procure together traces. Del.-elect Sally Hudson, a Democrat whose district entails Charlottesville, says she plans to reintroduce rules her predecessor, David Toscano, subsidized, giving cities and counties the skill to accept away Confederate monuments. Local governments are currently hamstrung by a 1904 direct law.

Usa today Washington

Seattle: A brand new federal lawsuit objectives to ruin plans for building one amongst the arena’s greatest methanol refineries along the Columbia River. Plans for the $2 billion refinery, shipping terminal and pipeline conducting in Kalama, Washington, are already stalled after a direct board required extra environmental review. Now conservation teams in conjunction with Columbia Riverkeeper are suing in U.S. District Courtroom in Tacoma. They talked about Tuesday that the U.S. Military Corps of Engineers did now not non-public in thoughts the great amount of greenhouse gases the conducting would emit or the function on endangered orcas. The refinery would turn fracked gas from Canada into methanol, which will most likely be shipped to China to build plastics. The conducting’s backer, Northwest Innovation Works, says the conducting would present a cleaner provide of plastics than coal-basically basically based methanol.

Usa today West Virginia

Charleston: West Virginians are being knowledgeable to be looking out out for an invasive insect. The direct Department of Agriculture says in a recordsdata liberate that a puny inhabitants of the noticed lanternfly became as soon as detected in the Japanese Panhandle community of Bunker Hill final month. The insects are devastating to bushes and vegetation equivalent to grapes and hops. They lay eggs in the autumn on surfaces in conjunction with vehicles, firewood, outside furnishings and campers. That allows them to affix a trek to new areas. Agriculture Commissioner Kent Leonhardt says maintaining the fruit orchards and wineries in the Japanese Panhandle is a scream. The agency says landowners might perhaps maybe maybe furthermore peaceable gaze their property for lanternfly egg heaps. The insect is native to China and most likely arrived in North The USA on items imported from Asia.

Usa today Wisconsin

Madison: Gov. Tony Evers has signed an govt scream designed to promote range and inclusiveness in direct govt. Evers signed the scream at a direct dilemma of enterprise building Tuesday surrounded by Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, members of his Cabinet, Democratic direct lawmakers and others in his administration. The scream requires direct agencies to assemble and implement equity and inclusion action plans. It furthermore calls for creating and providing crucial equity and inclusion coaching for all direct agency workers. Evers is furthermore creating a range and equity advisory council. He says the direct is taking a proactive feature in making build droop govt workers in actual fact feel empowered and heard in the dilemma of enterprise. Supporters hiss the grief will assist take care of racial disparities in Wisconsin.

Usa today Wyoming

Cheyenne: An intervening time legislative committee has rejected a proposed invoice to enhance the direct’s property tax. The Wyoming Tribune Eagle stories that members of the Joint Income Meantime Committee took the action at some stage in their assembly Monday in Cheyenne. The invoice would non-public raised the tax fee on right and private property from 9.5% to 11.5%, a jump that calculates to a roughly 20% elevate in taxable property. Under the invoice, minerals and industrial property would had been excluded from the rise. Proponents of the concept that hiss the rise is crucial to assist the direct take care of declining mineral industry earnings in the arrival years. However opponents hiss elevating the property tax might perhaps maybe maybe dilemma an unfair burden on low-profits americans.

From USA TODAY Community and wire stories

Be taught or Portion this yarn: https://www.usatoday.com/yarn/recordsdata/50-states/2019/11/13/el-paso-memorial-hogs-helicopter-bushes-troops-recordsdata-around-states/40597251/

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DGB Grab Bag: A Marleau Family Christmas, Top Captains List, and the Belmont Islanders

Three Stars of Comedy

The third star: The Marleau family– Ever since Patrick Marleau arrived in Toronto, we've seen references to the veteran "adopting" Leafs youngsters Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. It's turned into a running joke on Christina Marleau's social media, and this week we got the inevitable (and adorable) family Christmas portrait.

The second star: Erik Karlsson gets weird – Don't make fun of him, it was -30 Kelvin out there and his brain had frozen two periods ago.

I can't decide if this makes it better or worse. (Better.)

The first star: The San Jose Sharks annual Christmas video – It never disappoints.

I hope the Sharks keep randomly inserting shirtless Joe Thornton into everything they do.

Outrage of the Week

The issue: The Islanders announced a new arena deal this week, ending years of speculation over the team's eventual home. But the agreement would call for the entire project to be funded privately by the team and its partners, which is impossible, so now they have to move to Houston. The outrage: We're going to miss them now that they're leaving. Is it justified: Absolutely. The Islanders have been part of the New York sports scene for four decades now. They produced one of the sport's greatest dynasties, with four straight Stanley Cups. Even though the franchise has fallen on hard times over recent years, it just won't be the same without them.

Then there's the John Tavares factor; we don't know if he's going to want to follow the team to Houston or whether he'll hit free agency instead. And of course, all those diehard Islanders fans who've supported the team over the years will now have to watch form afar, or find a new team.

It's such a tragedy. If only they'd been able to convince the city to cough up hundreds of millions of dollars to subsidize the new arena, we could have avoided…

Wait, I'm being handed an update.

[squints at piece of paper]

It says here that the Islanders are in fact not moving to Houston. Apparently they're fine with funding the arena project on their own. And despite the lack of local funds (at least directly), the deal is being called "a massive, massive victory" for the team.

Huh.

Well, readers, this is all very confusing. Like you, I'd recently been under the impression that teams that don't get a handout have to move. The NHL has implied as much, and they wouldn't lie to us about something like this. Surely, the Islanders will be the only team to have to pay their own way. No? Not even close? Weird.

The only conclusion I can draw is that this week's reports were incorrect, and that the Islanders are indeed moving to Houston, or maybe Quebec or Seattle or Calgary (in a few months once the market becomes available). My condolences, Islanders fans. But you knew this was coming. No private arena funds, no team. We can't say the league didn't warn us all in advance.

Obscure Former Player of the Week

It was the NHL's 100th anniversary on Tuesday, which led me to wonder: Who's the best player to share a birthday with the league?

That turns out to be an easy one: legendary defenseman Doug Harvey was born on December 19, 1924. And you could built a pretty decent team around him using modern-day December 19 birthdays, including a goalie (Carter Hutton), a decent forward line (Robert Lang, Matt Stajan and Scott Pearson), a stay-at-home blue-liner (Eric Weinrich) and a tough guy (Behn Wilson).

But none of those guys are all that obscure, so let's dig a little deeper for this week's player: journeyman forward Ron Schock.

Schock was a center who debuted with the Bruins during the 1963-64 season, playing parts of four seasons in Boston before expansion came calling in 1967. He was picked by the Blues, where he spent two seasons and scored a double-overtime breakaway goal against the North Stars in Game 7 in the West Division series to send the team to the 1968 Stanley Cup Final.

He was dealt to the Penguins in 1969, allegedly two days after telling a minor hockey dinner it was one of the last places he'd ever want to be traded. He spent eight seasons in Pittsburgh, and had a career high 23 goals and 86 points in 1974-75. He was traded to the Sabres in 1977 in a straight up deal for future tragic story Brian "Spinner" Spencer. Schock played one season in Buffalo, and that was it for his NHL career. All told he played 909 games, recording 166 goals and 517 points. Happy belated birthday, Ron. Your card from the NHL probably arrived on the wrong day.

The NHL (Network) Actually Got Something Right

The NHL Network released another one of its ranked lists on Monday, and I'm not exaggerating when I say it was the highlight of my entire week.

We've covered the network lists before, and the way they always inspire outrage for not being quite right. That's always the way these things go—I've been known to dabble in the occasional ranked list from time to time, so I'm speaking from experience—and there are really only two ways you can handle the criticism. The first is to just shrug, accept it, and keep doing your best work.

This week, the NHL Network chose the second option: Intentionally create a list designed for no other purpose than to piss off as many people as you can.

I give you the rankings of best captain in NHL history:

Oh man, where to begin.

Well, let's start at the top, where Mark Messier takes the one spot. That's no surprise, since we all apparently agreed that Messier was the greatest leader in history even though he walked out to force a trade from the Oilers and bolted the Rangers as a free agent. But the highlight here is the list just outright pretending that he was never the captain in Vancouver. Apparently this list was written by a Canucks fan.

The next few aren't especially controversial, assuming we can ignore that #5 pick Ray Bourque bailed on the Bruins to chase his Cup somewhere else. But then we inevitably get to the "way too high Blackhawk" ranking, as Jonathan Toews is apparently already a better captain than Wayne Gretzky or Sidney Crosby. He's also better than Mario Lemieux, who only came back from cancer and later bought his team to keep it from moving.

Other top 25 picks include Joe Sakic (who once signed an offer sheet with the Rangers), Ron Francis (who was once stripped of the captaincy in Hartford), and Daniel Alfredsson (whose tenure ended with him admitting his team couldn't win a playoff series that was still happening and then bolting in free agency).

Be sure to stick around into the 20s, so you can get to them including Pierre Pilote as an obvious makeup call for inexcusably leaving him off their Top 100 list and then enjoy the moment where they clearly went "Oh crap, we don't have any Americans" and then had to squeeze in Derian Hatcher, presumably after being shocked to find out the Stars' Cup-winning captain wasn't Mike Modano.

Do all of these guys belong on a list of the 25 best captains ever? Sure. Maybe? I have no idea, and neither do you. That's the beauty of choosing captains as a topic. It's something that every fan a.) feels strongly about and b.) has no objective way to measure. So you're basically guaranteed to make everyone really mad. It's genius.

I hope the NHL Network keeps it up, and continues to steer into the ranking-based outrage skid. Do "most handsome players" and leave Henrik Lundqvist off the list. Maybe "history's toughest fighters" and put Bob Probert one spot behind Claude Lemieux. Do "the 25 best theme songs" and then list Brass Bonanza in 23 of the spots instead of all 25.

Keep it up for a few years, then release a list of your 25 best lists and watch the world burn. I'm here for you, NHL Network. Let's make this happen.

Classic YouTube Clip Breakdown

It's been a rough few weeks for the Senators. They lost a bunch of games, falling out of the playoff hunt. Then when they snapped that streak and were all set to bask in the glory of hosting the franchise's first ever outdoor game, their owner decided it would be a good time to rant about moving the team. That was, let's just say, not ideal.

But look on the bright side, Ottawa. As bad as things get, at least you don't have to worry about legendary sportswriter Earl McRae going on television and absolutely ethering you in front of a national audience.

So we're midway through 1993-94, the second season for the reborn Senators. Their debut was a disaster, and this year isn't going much better. Now seems like a good time to deliver a few solid kicks to the ribs, no?

Our host is Dave Hodge, one of the great Canadian broadcasters ever, not to mention a guy who once got himself fired from Hockey Night in Canada by flipping a pen. Today he welcomes Ottawa Sun columnist Earl McRae, who spent his career trying to get fired by flipping off pretty much everyone.

McRae was the sort of guy who could be an acquired taste, so let's be clear: He was awesome and if you didn't like him then there was something wrong with you. He's basically Dick Beddoes with more edge, slightly updated material, and a smaller wardrobe budget. I enjoyed him thoroughly.

Also, I want McRae's condescending laugh as my ringtone.

It takes McRae roughly four seconds to get to his first Elvis reference, which is slow by his standards. Elvis was kind of a thing with Earl, who was a founding member of the Elvis Sighting Society and once went on the Jerry Springer Show to talk about having met The King in Tweed, Ontario. I swear to you I did not make any of that up.

If there was any thought of McRae going easy on the second-year Sens, he puts that to rest by calling them "the worst team in creation" before ripping them for trading leading scorer Bob Kudelski to Florida. That was a weird deal, since the Panthers were even newer than the Senators and shouldn't have been giving up future assets for a scorer. Luckily, the assets the Senators got back didn't turn out to have much of a future at all, so I guess it all worked out.

Random fun fact: The midseason trade came when the Panthers had several games in hand over Ottawa, which allowed Kudelski to end up playing in a never-to-be-broken NHL record 86 games in a single season.

The two rookies McRae mentions are Alexei Yashin and Alexandre Daigle, who will both go on to leave Ottawa with an angry mob chasing them. It's basically our trademark finishing move up here.

Hodge agrees the trade is an odd one, but offers up a half-hearted defense to give McRae an opening to ease up on his criticism. Let's see if he takes it.

"This is a bad trade by a rookie GM who's blown it here." I'm going to mark that down as a "no."

The rookie GM is Randy Sexton, by the way. He really was a rookie—not only was this his first NHL season as a GM, but he'd been a real estate executive just a few years earlier. He went on to a long career in various NHL roles, though, including a stint as the Panthers GM in 2009. He's currently the GM of the Sabres' AHL team.

"Sexton says, well he's big, he's physical. Who cares, if he can't put the puck in the net?" Earl McRae was leading the charge on analytics before analytics was a thing.

They move on to Senators coach Rick Bowness, rumored to be on the hot seat. McRae likes him but doesn't have much confidence in the front office keeping him around because only John Ferguson "knows a hockey puck from a coconut." I'm assuming it goes without saying that he's referring to John Ferguson Sr.

McRae calls Sexton "constipated," works in a dig at Mike Milbury, and calls the Senators "a bunch of clowns." This is the positive section of the video.

He then throws Daigle under the bus by breaking the news that his father is telling people that he's upset over the lack of talent surrounding him. He then thoroughly psychoanalyzes Daigle, which almost never works out well for sportswriters except he basically ends up being 100 percent right about how his career played out.

Hodge works in a joke about the way Daigle dresses, which is a reference to the infamous nurse outfit ad. Note to future NHL prospects: You don't have to say yes to every endorsement idea.

Hodge tries to close, but McRae interrupts to make one last point. He takes a moment to apologize if he's coming across as too critical, acknowledges that the Senators are still an expansion team, and thanks everyone in the organization for doing their best.

No, of course he doesn't. What he actually does is point out that the Senators are closer to the defunct Montreal Maroons than to first place in their division. We then cut away before McRae can spray paint his initials on the unconscious Senators organization's back. Seriously, he was the absolute best. I miss him so much.

McRae left us several years ago, after suffering a heart attack in the newsroom. He will no doubt have a great time swapping hockey stories with Elvis in the afterlife, in the event that Elvis eventually dies.

Have a question, suggestion, old YouTube clip, or anything else you'd like to see included in this column? Email Sean at nhlgrabbag@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @DownGoesBrown.

DGB Grab Bag: A Marleau Family Christmas, Top Captains List, and the Belmont Islanders published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

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DGB Grab Bag: A Marleau Family Christmas, Top Captains List, and the Belmont Islanders

Three Stars of Comedy

The third star: The Marleau family– Ever since Patrick Marleau arrived in Toronto, we’ve seen references to the veteran “adopting” Leafs youngsters Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. It’s turned into a running joke on Christina Marleau’s social media, and this week we got the inevitable (and adorable) family Christmas portrait.

The second star: Erik Karlsson gets weird – Don’t make fun of him, it was -30 Kelvin out there and his brain had frozen two periods ago.

I can’t decide if this makes it better or worse. (Better.)

The first star: The San Jose Sharks annual Christmas video – It never disappoints.

I hope the Sharks keep randomly inserting shirtless Joe Thornton into everything they do.

Outrage of the Week

The issue: The Islanders announced a new arena deal this week, ending years of speculation over the team’s eventual home. But the agreement would call for the entire project to be funded privately by the team and its partners, which is impossible, so now they have to move to Houston.

The outrage: We’re going to miss them now that they’re leaving.

Is it justified: Absolutely. The Islanders have been part of the New York sports scene for four decades now. They produced one of the sport’s greatest dynasties, with four straight Stanley Cups. Even though the franchise has fallen on hard times over recent years, it just won’t be the same without them.

Then there’s the John Tavares factor; we don’t know if he’s going to want to follow the team to Houston or whether he’ll hit free agency instead. And of course, all those diehard Islanders fans who’ve supported the team over the years will now have to watch form afar, or find a new team.

It’s such a tragedy. If only they’d been able to convince the city to cough up hundreds of millions of dollars to subsidize the new arena, we could have avoided…

Wait, I’m being handed an update.

[squints at piece of paper]

It says here that the Islanders are in fact not moving to Houston. Apparently they’re fine with funding the arena project on their own. And despite the lack of local funds (at least directly), the deal is being called “a massive, massive victory” for the team.

Huh.

Well, readers, this is all very confusing. Like you, I’d recently been under the impression that teams that don’t get a handout have to move. The NHL has implied as much, and they wouldn’t lie to us about something like this. Surely, the Islanders will be the only team to have to pay their own way. No? Not even close? Weird.

The only conclusion I can draw is that this week’s reports were incorrect, and that the Islanders are indeed moving to Houston, or maybe Quebec or Seattle or Calgary (in a few months once the market becomes available). My condolences, Islanders fans. But you knew this was coming. No private arena funds, no team. We can’t say the league didn’t warn us all in advance.

Obscure Former Player of the Week

It was the NHL’s 100th anniversary on Tuesday, which led me to wonder: Who’s the best player to share a birthday with the league?

That turns out to be an easy one: legendary defenseman Doug Harvey was born on December 19, 1924. And you could built a pretty decent team around him using modern-day December 19 birthdays, including a goalie (Carter Hutton), a decent forward line (Robert Lang, Matt Stajan and Scott Pearson), a stay-at-home blue-liner (Eric Weinrich) and a tough guy (Behn Wilson).

But none of those guys are all that obscure, so let’s dig a little deeper for this week’s player: journeyman forward Ron Schock.

Schock was a center who debuted with the Bruins during the 1963-64 season, playing parts of four seasons in Boston before expansion came calling in 1967. He was picked by the Blues, where he spent two seasons and scored a double-overtime breakaway goal against the North Stars in Game 7 in the West Division series to send the team to the 1968 Stanley Cup Final.

He was dealt to the Penguins in 1969, allegedly two days after telling a minor hockey dinner it was one of the last places he’d ever want to be traded. He spent eight seasons in Pittsburgh, and had a career high 23 goals and 86 points in 1974-75. He was traded to the Sabres in 1977 in a straight up deal for future tragic story Brian “Spinner” Spencer. Schock played one season in Buffalo, and that was it for his NHL career. All told he played 909 games, recording 166 goals and 517 points. Happy belated birthday, Ron. Your card from the NHL probably arrived on the wrong day.

The NHL (Network) Actually Got Something Right

The NHL Network released another one of its ranked lists on Monday, and I’m not exaggerating when I say it was the highlight of my entire week.

We’ve covered the network lists before, and the way they always inspire outrage for not being quite right. That’s always the way these things go—I’ve been known to dabble in the occasional ranked list from time to time, so I’m speaking from experience—and there are really only two ways you can handle the criticism. The first is to just shrug, accept it, and keep doing your best work.

This week, the NHL Network chose the second option: Intentionally create a list designed for no other purpose than to piss off as many people as you can.

I give you the rankings of best captain in NHL history:

Oh man, where to begin.

Well, let’s start at the top, where Mark Messier takes the one spot. That’s no surprise, since we all apparently agreed that Messier was the greatest leader in history even though he walked out to force a trade from the Oilers and bolted the Rangers as a free agent. But the highlight here is the list just outright pretending that he was never the captain in Vancouver. Apparently this list was written by a Canucks fan.

The next few aren’t especially controversial, assuming we can ignore that #5 pick Ray Bourque bailed on the Bruins to chase his Cup somewhere else. But then we inevitably get to the “way too high Blackhawk” ranking, as Jonathan Toews is apparently already a better captain than Wayne Gretzky or Sidney Crosby. He’s also better than Mario Lemieux, who only came back from cancer and later bought his team to keep it from moving.

Other top 25 picks include Joe Sakic (who once signed an offer sheet with the Rangers), Ron Francis (who was once stripped of the captaincy in Hartford), and Daniel Alfredsson (whose tenure ended with him admitting his team couldn’t win a playoff series that was still happening and then bolting in free agency).

Be sure to stick around into the 20s, so you can get to them including Pierre Pilote as an obvious makeup call for inexcusably leaving him off their Top 100 list and then enjoy the moment where they clearly went “Oh crap, we don’t have any Americans” and then had to squeeze in Derian Hatcher, presumably after being shocked to find out the Stars’ Cup-winning captain wasn’t Mike Modano.

Do all of these guys belong on a list of the 25 best captains ever? Sure. Maybe? I have no idea, and neither do you. That’s the beauty of choosing captains as a topic. It’s something that every fan a.) feels strongly about and b.) has no objective way to measure. So you’re basically guaranteed to make everyone really mad. It’s genius.

I hope the NHL Network keeps it up, and continues to steer into the ranking-based outrage skid. Do “most handsome players” and leave Henrik Lundqvist off the list. Maybe “history’s toughest fighters” and put Bob Probert one spot behind Claude Lemieux. Do “the 25 best theme songs” and then list Brass Bonanza in 23 of the spots instead of all 25.

Keep it up for a few years, then release a list of your 25 best lists and watch the world burn. I’m here for you, NHL Network. Let’s make this happen.

Classic YouTube Clip Breakdown

It’s been a rough few weeks for the Senators. They lost a bunch of games, falling out of the playoff hunt. Then when they snapped that streak and were all set to bask in the glory of hosting the franchise’s first ever outdoor game, their owner decided it would be a good time to rant about moving the team. That was, let’s just say, not ideal.

But look on the bright side, Ottawa. As bad as things get, at least you don’t have to worry about legendary sportswriter Earl McRae going on television and absolutely ethering you in front of a national audience.

So we’re midway through 1993-94, the second season for the reborn Senators. Their debut was a disaster, and this year isn’t going much better. Now seems like a good time to deliver a few solid kicks to the ribs, no?

Our host is Dave Hodge, one of the great Canadian broadcasters ever, not to mention a guy who once got himself fired from Hockey Night in Canada by flipping a pen. Today he welcomes Ottawa Sun columnist Earl McRae, who spent his career trying to get fired by flipping off pretty much everyone.

McRae was the sort of guy who could be an acquired taste, so let’s be clear: He was awesome and if you didn’t like him then there was something wrong with you. He’s basically Dick Beddoes with more edge, slightly updated material, and a smaller wardrobe budget. I enjoyed him thoroughly.

Also, I want McRae’s condescending laugh as my ringtone.

It takes McRae roughly four seconds to get to his first Elvis reference, which is slow by his standards. Elvis was kind of a thing with Earl, who was a founding member of the Elvis Sighting Society and once went on the Jerry Springer Show to talk about having met The King in Tweed, Ontario. I swear to you I did not make any of that up.

If there was any thought of McRae going easy on the second-year Sens, he puts that to rest by calling them “the worst team in creation” before ripping them for trading leading scorer Bob Kudelski to Florida. That was a weird deal, since the Panthers were even newer than the Senators and shouldn’t have been giving up future assets for a scorer. Luckily, the assets the Senators got back didn’t turn out to have much of a future at all, so I guess it all worked out.

Random fun fact: The midseason trade came when the Panthers had several games in hand over Ottawa, which allowed Kudelski to end up playing in a never-to-be-broken NHL record 86 games in a single season.

The two rookies McRae mentions are Alexei Yashin and Alexandre Daigle, who will both go on to leave Ottawa with an angry mob chasing them. It’s basically our trademark finishing move up here.

Hodge agrees the trade is an odd one, but offers up a half-hearted defense to give McRae an opening to ease up on his criticism. Let’s see if he takes it.

“This is a bad trade by a rookie GM who’s blown it here.” I’m going to mark that down as a “no.”

The rookie GM is Randy Sexton, by the way. He really was a rookie—not only was this his first NHL season as a GM, but he’d been a real estate executive just a few years earlier. He went on to a long career in various NHL roles, though, including a stint as the Panthers GM in 2009. He’s currently the GM of the Sabres’ AHL team.

“Sexton says, well he’s big, he’s physical. Who cares, if he can’t put the puck in the net?” Earl McRae was leading the charge on analytics before analytics was a thing.

They move on to Senators coach Rick Bowness, rumored to be on the hot seat. McRae likes him but doesn’t have much confidence in the front office keeping him around because only John Ferguson “knows a hockey puck from a coconut.” I’m assuming it goes without saying that he’s referring to John Ferguson Sr.

McRae calls Sexton “constipated,” works in a dig at Mike Milbury, and calls the Senators “a bunch of clowns.” This is the positive section of the video.

He then throws Daigle under the bus by breaking the news that his father is telling people that he’s upset over the lack of talent surrounding him. He then thoroughly psychoanalyzes Daigle, which almost never works out well for sportswriters except he basically ends up being 100 percent right about how his career played out.

Hodge works in a joke about the way Daigle dresses, which is a reference to the infamous nurse outfit ad. Note to future NHL prospects: You don’t have to say yes to every endorsement idea.

Hodge tries to close, but McRae interrupts to make one last point. He takes a moment to apologize if he’s coming across as too critical, acknowledges that the Senators are still an expansion team, and thanks everyone in the organization for doing their best.

No, of course he doesn’t. What he actually does is point out that the Senators are closer to the defunct Montreal Maroons than to first place in their division. We then cut away before McRae can spray paint his initials on the unconscious Senators organization’s back. Seriously, he was the absolute best. I miss him so much.

McRae left us several years ago, after suffering a heart attack in the newsroom. He will no doubt have a great time swapping hockey stories with Elvis in the afterlife, in the event that Elvis eventually dies.

Have a question, suggestion, old YouTube clip, or anything else you’d like to see included in this column? Email Sean at nhlgrabbag@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @DownGoesBrown.

DGB Grab Bag: A Marleau Family Christmas, Top Captains List, and the Belmont Islanders syndicated from http://ift.tt/2ug2Ns6

[captainrevisited-blog]

history; 01

James wanted to dress for the occasion. An open invitation from Benjamin after dancing around each other in this bizarre game of cat and mouse for months was too good an opportunity to pass up. Benjamin was a sharp detective, even if he’d lost his job at Scotland Yard. He knew the truth of the Essex Animal Attack. The locals painted Benjamin as some insane, savant type, with push pins, paper clippings, and red string scattered across his tiny flat. He’d tell any paper that would listen what he believed the truth to be. He posted on his blog, all his theories. The racket he was making was drawing too much attention.

Thus, why Artur had offered to pay James to take care of the problem. James said he’d think about it, and wound up finding all that red string oddly intriguing.

James slipped into one of his nicer red silk shirts, and went with an unassuming black cashmere jumper over it.  He packed away his favorite toys into his special briefcase and snapped the locks shut.

[text from: B. Wallace] The kettle’s on. He read the text again, contemplating just what would become of them after this moment. It was likely that there would be no turning back. No simple game of cat and mouse any longer. James was stepping over a boundary he’d set for himself the moment he’d first laid eyes on Benjamin Wallace, and that step would take him to places he’d been before with lesser men. Men who deserved it. Benjamin didn’t. [text to: B. Wallace] On my way.

He tapped out a reply and hit send, tucking his phone away into his pocket as he headed out the door and hailed a cab to Benjamin’s address. This was the beginning of something for James. Or maybe it was a means to an end of what was left of his humanity.

Benjamin’s phone buzzed from the counter but the ex-detective didn’t answer it. He was standing in the kitchen, his hands stretched on the counter as he leaned forwards, head bowed in thought. James West was coming. That’s what that text would be. He knew without looking at it. There was a certain kind of gratification that Benjamin was feeling, knowing that his number one suspect (not that he had any leeway in the Yard anymore) was coming right to him. James West had the profile of a killer. Sure, he was hiding in plain sight, with the perfect alibi.

Medical records, illegally obtained, were spread across the kitchen table, telling the story of metal plates, pins, and nerve damage. How could an old army medic, with a tremor in his dominant hand, maim a young man nearly half his age so severely it looked like an animal did it? No one would suspect, because it didn’t make sense.

But Benjamin knew. He knew it in his gut, all the evidence was right there, if people would just look–

They’d been texting for weeks now. Benjamin recalled that first late night text so vividly. James had asked him, if he had any thoughts on what he should name a cat he’d recently adopted. It was a simple text, no name, no introductions, but that was as much a confession as it was a non sequitur. The boy in Essex had a pet cat that went missing when he did. Essex boy had a sister, who went over to feed the cat during the day while he was at work, and when she arrived, and found no cat, no sign of her brother, she called the police.

Three weeks later the body was found. Still no cat.

Those text messages spiraled quickly, into an almost friendly back and forth. Taunting, flirting, dangerous. Something was going to happen, that much was a certainty. The prospect of perhaps being able to prove something, even if only to himself, thrilled Benjamin. Maybe, just maybe, he’d even get back into the Yard’s good graces by the end of the night. Benjamin straightened up from the counter and a second later the kettle clicked off; boiled.

Old chipped mugs would have to do, though he would have liked to make a better impression on this man he had only glimpsed on occasion. In files and photographs, and glances across the street at distant roof tops. He got the tea steeping, but waited to pour. Any minute now, James West would be here.

If he was smiling, there was no one around to witness it.

James arrived at Benjamin’s residence in a timely fashion. It wasn’t as if they lived on opposite ends of the city, interestingly enough. James found himself wondering, as he let himself into the flat, briefcase in hand, whether Benjamin knew where he lived. He wouldn’t put it past the tenacious ex-detective to track him down, to spy back, just as James had spied on him. That was all part of the game, after all.

James quietly ascended the stairs, though he didn’t make a conscious effort to do so, he was simply light on his feet. Benjamin knew he was coming. Hell, he’d invited him. James’s trembling hand kept a tight grip on the case while the other was ready to grab at his gun which, instead of in a holster, was tucked neatly into the back of his trousers, hidden beneath his coat. He didn’t know what to expect upon arrival. Things could go a number of ways very easily. He wouldn’t be surprised if things fell apart rapidly, devolved into violence and chaos. James’ real hope was to keep the violence contained to his own two hands.

He entered the familiar sitting room of the flat and set his case down beside the chair he preferred, and took a seat, wordlessly. He’d looked into this flat many times, broken in when Banjamin wasn’t home. Snooped in old photographs of Benjamin’s ex-wife, Maggie, who he was obviously still in love with. Tipped over bottles of brightly colored pills for the migraines Benjamin suffered from. He felt he knew this place as intimately as his own.

He made no move to greet Benjamin. He knew the ex-detective would address him when ready, and James wanted to drag this encounter out as long as he possibly could. It was, by far, the most interesting thing to happen to him in a very long time. He folded his hands in his lap and crossed one leg over the other as if he owned the damn flat.

His face was placid, his breathing even, his trembling hand held somewhat steady, but inside him, under his calm-looking exterior, James was like a wolf in a cage. His urges, his sadistic desires, all the parts of himself that he hated most, yet couldn’t rid himself of, were smashing at his insides like an animal at the bars of it’s prison. He could hear the baying of the hound and the snapping of teeth on metal. A great beast in his chest, threatening to unsettle him, but he wouldn’t break. Not yet…Some urges were controllable in small amounts.

When Benjamin heard the lower door of the flat open, he lifted the kettle and swallowed a knot of growing anticipation in his throat. He poured the other man his tea, black, he remembered mention of this in one of their many oddly friendly text message exchanges. It sounded like a trashy crime novel. “To Text a Killer”. Still, it was the reality of the situation, and how they’d arrived here.

Without turning to look at James, Benjamin listened. He wasn’t ready to face the criminal just yet, but he heard the soft thunk of a briefcase hitting the floor. James had brought something with him. Lord only knew what was in that case, and perhaps, if James intended to actually do him harm. Benjamin had known from the beginning that this was always a possibility but he’d not properly planned on how he’d deal with that. There was a gun in the flat, he could access it easily enough. Put James down if he had to. Still.

It would be a damn shame to give up an opportunity like this one. A chance to pick the brain of the man who committed the most horrific murder Benjamin had ever seen during his career, and gotten away with it.

Picking up both his and the other man’s cup, Benjamin walked into the sitting room where James was waiting, and dipped his head in a silent greeting. He passed over a cup before making himself comfortable in his old, familiar arm chair. It was a faded thing, once bright blue, now a soft blue-ish gray, with a tea stain on the left arm. It was over stuffed and looked like something you’d find in an old woman’s home, rather than the flat of an ex-homicide-detective-inspector.

James found it almost amusing. Almost. There was something off-putting about Benjamin’s comfort level in his presence. He watched as Benjamin didn’t partake of his tea, but rather set it on the coffee table between them, and regarded James with an oddly intrusive stare. He had sharp, bright eyes, that looked as though they could pick you apart in an instant. Framed by dark lashes and a strong brow, his face had an intensity that James both detested and appreciated. He was a hard man to get a read on. James wondered if he was very much the same, in those detective’s eyes.

Silence continued as Benjamin examined James as if he were an autopsy photo, rather than a living, breathing human being. It was as if he was looking for clues to some great mystery. The only mystery at play here, was why James had ever been invited in the first place. Benjamin’s desire to understand was what made him appear eccentric to those around him. He was always looking for answers, where others had already accepted that there simply were none. What answers could he hope to find in James?

James took a seat, and gave Benjamin a slight smile over the brim of the cup as he took a sip, and then set it aside as the detective had done. He wanted to keep them on even footing. If the detective’s hands were free, so should James’ be. James’ expression grew dark in a way that exposed the strangeness in him. It was a conflicting feeling, that bubbled up, impulses, ones incredibly difficult to control. There was a hunger slowly coursing through his veins, brought on by prolonged frustration at the hands of one incredibly neurotic detective.

Ex-detective, thanks to James.

“Thank you.” James said politely, though his tone was edged with venom. They’d let the silence hang so long that the words were entirely out of place. As he looked at Benjamin, James looked fit to pounce and devour at any given moment. Now that they were here, excitement, anticipation, and anger created a cocktail so heady, he was having a hard time policing himself. James sat up straight, the gun against his lower back making him do so. He folded his hands on top of his knee, keeping a keen eye on Benjamin with his wolfish gaze.

“You’re looking quite well.” he commented blandly, looking about the flat and then back to Benjamin. Truthfully, the flat looked a mess, as did the detective. His shirt untucked under a suit jacket that didn’t fit him quite right anymore. Benjamin had lost weight since he’d been fired. An interesting detail. James wondered if he was weaker than he’d once been as a result. A lion growing thin and sickly now that he can’t hunt anymore. Yes. That’s the image that comes to mind when James looks at Benjamin.

Benjamin watched the other man carefully, eyebrows fractionally furrowed as he scarcely blinked during his thorough examination. They were sizing one another up, which was as important as actual conversation. James didn’t mind the lack of verbal pollution. They’d exchanged plenty of conversation over text.  

“You’re welcome.” Benjamin replied at length, tone almost pleasant. He appeared to be at total ease, unphased by the fact that a murder was sat across the small table from him. The way James presented himself, the way he held himself, back straight, shoulders square, eyes keen, it was painting a picture for a pair of street wizened eyes. James can see the exact moment when Benjamin connects the dots and knows he’s armed.

“So. What’s the plan for the evening?” Benjamin said it with an entirely inappropriate air of humor, as if they were two old friends, getting together for tea and then perhaps a night out at the pub.

James’ lips curled into a toothy grin, head shaking in amusement. His left hand wouldn’t stop trembling, as it always did, but the rest of him was still as a stone. He was a predator, on the prowl, and Benjamin was within striking distance. But James? James was going to savor this.

“Oh… I could tell you what the plans are. But wouldn’t it be so much more fun if you tried to simply figure them out yourself, detective? Where’s the fun in spoiling the ending, when you’ve got so many clues to work with. Wouldn’t want you getting rusty,” James replied, his eyes flicking to his briefcase and then back to Benjamin.

“I’ve got nowhere to be but right here tonight. I intend to drag this out as long as I can.”

Benjamin rolled his eyes at James’ theatrics, but he couldn’t help but follow his gaze down to the case. Whatever laid within was there with one purpose. To bring Benjamin harm. There was a very serious reality hanging over Benjamin’s head. This man, James West, wanted him dead. Who wouldn’t want to end the life of the only man who knew the truth of your crimes? Who wouldn’t want to kill the only loose end on an otherwise, artfully perfect crime?

The Wolf , that’s what people called him. A moniker derived from how he murdered a young man from Essex. A poor young man who was now lying in an unmarked grave somewhere, with few left to mourn him and no one to avenge him. A man called ‘Wolf’ would be the type to carry tools for torture around in plain sight, and what was worse, was he was also the type to use them. With this in mind, the gun became anomalous. Why bring it? Was it habit, or did he plan to use it?

[thisishowyouletgoandfindyou-blog]

To Stay Married, Embrace Change

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Modern Love

By ADA CALHOUN APRIL 21, 2017

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A couple of years ago, it seemed as if everyone I knew was on the verge of divorce.

“He’s not the man I married,” one friend told me.

“She didn’t change, and I did,” said another.

And then there was the no-fault version: “We grew apart.”

Emotional and physical abuse are clear-cut grounds for divorce, but they aren’t the most common causes of failing marriages, at least the ones I hear about. What’s the more typical villain? Change.

Feeling oppressed by change or lack of change; it’s a tale as old as time. Yet at some point in any long-term relationship, each partner is likely to evolve from the person we fell in love with into someone new — and not always into someone cuter or smarter or more fun. Each goes from rock climber to couch potato, from rebel to middle manager, and from sex crazed to sleep obsessed.

Sometimes people feel betrayed by this change. They fell in love with one person, and when that person doesn’t seem familiar anymore, they decide he or she violated the marriage contract. I have begun to wonder if perhaps the problem isn’t change itself but our susceptibility to what has been called the “end of history” illusion.

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“Human beings are works in progress that mistakenly think they’re finished,” the Harvard professor Daniel Gilbert said in a 2014 TED talk called “The Psychology of Your Future Self.” He described research that he and his colleagues had done in 2013: Study subjects (ranging from 18 to 68 years old) reported changing much more over a decade than they expected to.

In 2015, I published a book about where I grew up, St. Marks Place in the East Village of Manhattan. In doing research, I listened to one person after another claim that the street was a shadow of its former self, that all the good businesses had closed and all the good people had left. This sentiment held true even though people disagreed about which were the good businesses and who were the good people.

Nostalgia, which fuels our resentment toward change, is a natural human impulse. And yet being forever content with a spouse, or a street, requires finding ways to be happy with different versions of that person or neighborhood.

Because I like to fix broken things quickly and shoddily (my husband, Neal, calls my renovation aesthetic “Little Rascals Clubhouse”), I frequently receive the advice: “Don’t just do something, stand there.”

Such underreacting may also be the best stance when confronted by too much or too little change. Whether or not we want people to stay the same, time will bring change in abundance.

A year and a half ago, Neal and I bought a place in the country. We hadn’t been in the market for a house, but our city apartment is only 500 square feet, and we kept admiring this lovely blue house we drove by every time we visited my parents. It turned out to be shockingly affordable.

So now we own a house. We bought furniture, framed pictures and put up a badminton net. We marveled at the change that had come over us. Who were these backyard-grilling, property-tax-paying, shuttlecock-batting people we had become?

When we met in our 20s, Neal wasn’t a man who would delight in lawn care, and I wasn’t a woman who would find such a man appealing. And yet here we were, avidly refilling our bird feeder and remarking on all the cardinals.

Neal, who hadn’t hammered a nail in all the years I’d known him, now had opinions on bookshelves and curtains, and loved going to the hardware store. He whistled while he mowed. He was like an alien. But in this new situation, I was an alien, too — one who knew when to plant bulbs and how to use a Crock-Pot, and who, newly armed with CPR and first aid certification, volunteered at a local camp. Our alien selves were remarkably compatible.

Several long-married people I know have said this exact line: “I’ve had at least three marriages. They’ve just all been with the same person.” I’d say Neal and I have had at least three marriages: Our partying 20s, child-centric 30s and home-owning 40s.

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Then there’s my abbreviated first marriage. Nick and I met in college and dated for a few months before dropping out and driving cross-country. Over the next few years, we worked a series of low-wage jobs. On the rare occasions when we discussed our future, he said he wasn’t ready to settle down because one day, he claimed, he would probably need to “sow” his “wild oats” — a saying I found tacky and a concept I found ridiculous.

When I told Neal about this years later, he said, “Maybe you found it ridiculous because you’d already done it.”

It’s true that from ages 16 to 19 I had a lot of boyfriends. But with Nick, I became happily domestic. We adopted cats. I had changed in such a way that I had no problem being with just one person. I was done changing and thought he should be, too. Certainly, I thought he should not change into a man who sows oats.

When we got married at the courthouse so he could get his green card (he was Canadian), I didn’t feel different the next day. We still fell asleep to “Politically Incorrect” with our cats at our feet as we always had.

We told anyone who asked that the marriage was no big deal, just a formality so the government wouldn’t break us up. But when pressed, it was hard to say what differentiated us from the truly married beyond the absence of a party.

When I grew depressed a few months later, I decided that he and our pseudo-marriage were part of the problem. After three years of feeling like the more committed person, I was done and asked him to move out. When he left, I felt sad but also thrilled by the prospect of dating again. A couple of years later, I met Neal.

Recently, I asked Nick if we could talk. We hadn’t spoken in a decade. He lives in London now, so we Skyped. I saw that he looked almost exactly as he had at 22, though he’d grown a long beard. We had a pleasant conversation. Finally, I asked him if he thought our marriage counted.

“Yeah,” he said. “I think it counts.”

We were married, just not very well. The marriage didn’t mean much to us, and so when things got rough, we broke up. I had been too immature to know what I was getting into. I thought passion was the most important thing. When my romantic feelings left, I followed them out the door. It was just like any breakup, but with extra paperwork.

Nick now works at a European arts venue. He’s unmarried. I wouldn’t have predicted his life or his facial hair. I don’t regret our split, but if we had stayed married, I think I would have liked this version of him.

My hair is long and blond now. When Neal and I met, it was dyed black and cut to my chin. When I took to bleaching it myself, it was often orange, because I didn’t know what I was doing.

Now I weigh about 160 pounds. When I left the hospital after being treated for a burst appendix, I weighed 140. When I was nine months pregnant and starving every second, I weighed 210. I have been everything from size 4 to 14. I have been the life of the party and a drag. I have been broke and loaded, clinically depressed and radiantly happy. Spread out over the years, I’m a harem.

How can we accept that when it comes to our bodies (and everything else, for that matter), the only inevitability is change? And what is the key to caring less about change as a marriage evolves — things like how much sex we’re having and whether or not it’s the best sex possible?

One day in the country, Neal and I heard a chipmunk in distress. It had gotten inside the house and was hiding under the couch. Every few minutes, the creature let out a high-pitched squeak. I tried to sweep it out the door to safety with a broom, but it kept running back at my feet.

“Wow, you’re dumb,” I said to it.

“I got this,” Neal said, mysteriously carrying a plastic cereal bowl. “Shoo it out from under there.”

I did, and the chipmunk raced through the living room. Neal, like an ancient discus thrower, tossed the bowl in a beautiful arc, landing it perfectly atop the scampering creature. He then slid a piece of cardboard under the bowl and carried the chipmunk out into the bushes, where he set it free.

“That was really impressive,” I said.

“I know,” he said.

To feel awed by a man I thought I knew completely: It’s a shock when that happens after so many years. And a boon. That one fling of a bowl probably bought us another five years of marriage.

Ada Calhoun, who lives in New York, is the author of a forthcoming memoir, “Wedding Toasts I’ll Never Give,” from which this essay is adapted.

modernlove@nytimes.com

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A version of this article appears in print on April 23, 2017, on Page ST5 of the New York edition with the headline: To Stay Married, Embrace Change. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe

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RECENT COMMENTS

Ron Epstein

April 26, 2017

Better yet, pick the right partner.

Joseph A. Losi

April 25, 2017

I love this piece. Thanks so much for your wit and your ability to capture it. "I'm a harem." Wonderful.

JoeH

April 25, 2017

My wife & I celebrated 41 years of marriage this weekend. We have known each other for 45 years. Change abounds! We consciously drive the...

SEE ALL COMMENTS

[flauntpage]

DGB Grab Bag: A Marleau Family Christmas, Top Captains List, and the Belmont Islanders

Three Stars of Comedy

The third star: The Marleau family– Ever since Patrick Marleau arrived in Toronto, we've seen references to the veteran "adopting" Leafs youngsters Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. It's turned into a running joke on Christina Marleau's social media, and this week we got the inevitable (and adorable) family Christmas portrait.

The second star: Erik Karlsson gets weird – Don't make fun of him, it was -30 Kelvin out there and his brain had frozen two periods ago.

I can't decide if this makes it better or worse. (Better.)

The first star: The San Jose Sharks annual Christmas video – It never disappoints.

I hope the Sharks keep randomly inserting shirtless Joe Thornton into everything they do.

Outrage of the Week

The issue: The Islanders announced a new arena deal this week, ending years of speculation over the team's eventual home. But the agreement would call for the entire project to be funded privately by the team and its partners, which is impossible, so now they have to move to Houston. The outrage: We're going to miss them now that they're leaving. Is it justified: Absolutely. The Islanders have been part of the New York sports scene for four decades now. They produced one of the sport's greatest dynasties, with four straight Stanley Cups. Even though the franchise has fallen on hard times over recent years, it just won't be the same without them.

Then there's the John Tavares factor; we don't know if he's going to want to follow the team to Houston or whether he'll hit free agency instead. And of course, all those diehard Islanders fans who've supported the team over the years will now have to watch form afar, or find a new team.

It's such a tragedy. If only they'd been able to convince the city to cough up hundreds of millions of dollars to subsidize the new arena, we could have avoided…

Wait, I'm being handed an update.

[squints at piece of paper]

It says here that the Islanders are in fact not moving to Houston. Apparently they're fine with funding the arena project on their own. And despite the lack of local funds (at least directly), the deal is being called "a massive, massive victory" for the team.

Huh.

Well, readers, this is all very confusing. Like you, I'd recently been under the impression that teams that don't get a handout have to move. The NHL has implied as much, and they wouldn't lie to us about something like this. Surely, the Islanders will be the only team to have to pay their own way. No? Not even close? Weird.

The only conclusion I can draw is that this week's reports were incorrect, and that the Islanders are indeed moving to Houston, or maybe Quebec or Seattle or Calgary (in a few months once the market becomes available). My condolences, Islanders fans. But you knew this was coming. No private arena funds, no team. We can't say the league didn't warn us all in advance.

Obscure Former Player of the Week

It was the NHL's 100th anniversary on Tuesday, which led me to wonder: Who's the best player to share a birthday with the league?

That turns out to be an easy one: legendary defenseman Doug Harvey was born on December 19, 1924. And you could built a pretty decent team around him using modern-day December 19 birthdays, including a goalie (Carter Hutton), a decent forward line (Robert Lang, Matt Stajan and Scott Pearson), a stay-at-home blue-liner (Eric Weinrich) and a tough guy (Behn Wilson).

But none of those guys are all that obscure, so let's dig a little deeper for this week's player: journeyman forward Ron Schock.

Schock was a center who debuted with the Bruins during the 1963-64 season, playing parts of four seasons in Boston before expansion came calling in 1967. He was picked by the Blues, where he spent two seasons and scored a double-overtime breakaway goal against the North Stars in Game 7 in the West Division series to send the team to the 1968 Stanley Cup Final.

He was dealt to the Penguins in 1969, allegedly two days after telling a minor hockey dinner it was one of the last places he'd ever want to be traded. He spent eight seasons in Pittsburgh, and had a career high 23 goals and 86 points in 1974-75. He was traded to the Sabres in 1977 in a straight up deal for future tragic story Brian "Spinner" Spencer. Schock played one season in Buffalo, and that was it for his NHL career. All told he played 909 games, recording 166 goals and 517 points. Happy belated birthday, Ron. Your card from the NHL probably arrived on the wrong day.

The NHL (Network) Actually Got Something Right

The NHL Network released another one of its ranked lists on Monday, and I'm not exaggerating when I say it was the highlight of my entire week.

We've covered the network lists before, and the way they always inspire outrage for not being quite right. That's always the way these things go—I've been known to dabble in the occasional ranked list from time to time, so I'm speaking from experience—and there are really only two ways you can handle the criticism. The first is to just shrug, accept it, and keep doing your best work.

This week, the NHL Network chose the second option: Intentionally create a list designed for no other purpose than to piss off as many people as you can.

I give you the rankings of best captain in NHL history:

Oh man, where to begin.

Well, let's start at the top, where Mark Messier takes the one spot. That's no surprise, since we all apparently agreed that Messier was the greatest leader in history even though he walked out to force a trade from the Oilers and bolted the Rangers as a free agent. But the highlight here is the list just outright pretending that he was never the captain in Vancouver. Apparently this list was written by a Canucks fan.

The next few aren't especially controversial, assuming we can ignore that #5 pick Ray Bourque bailed on the Bruins to chase his Cup somewhere else. But then we inevitably get to the "way too high Blackhawk" ranking, as Jonathan Toews is apparently already a better captain than Wayne Gretzky or Sidney Crosby. He's also better than Mario Lemieux, who only came back from cancer and later bought his team to keep it from moving.

Other top 25 picks include Joe Sakic (who once signed an offer sheet with the Rangers), Ron Francis (who was once stripped of the captaincy in Hartford), and Daniel Alfredsson (whose tenure ended with him admitting his team couldn't win a playoff series that was still happening and then bolting in free agency).

Be sure to stick around into the 20s, so you can get to them including Pierre Pilote as an obvious makeup call for inexcusably leaving him off their Top 100 list and then enjoy the moment where they clearly went "Oh crap, we don't have any Americans" and then had to squeeze in Derian Hatcher, presumably after being shocked to find out the Stars' Cup-winning captain wasn't Mike Modano.

Do all of these guys belong on a list of the 25 best captains ever? Sure. Maybe? I have no idea, and neither do you. That's the beauty of choosing captains as a topic. It's something that every fan a.) feels strongly about and b.) has no objective way to measure. So you're basically guaranteed to make everyone really mad. It's genius.

I hope the NHL Network keeps it up, and continues to steer into the ranking-based outrage skid. Do "most handsome players" and leave Henrik Lundqvist off the list. Maybe "history's toughest fighters" and put Bob Probert one spot behind Claude Lemieux. Do "the 25 best theme songs" and then list Brass Bonanza in 23 of the spots instead of all 25.

Keep it up for a few years, then release a list of your 25 best lists and watch the world burn. I'm here for you, NHL Network. Let's make this happen.

Classic YouTube Clip Breakdown

It's been a rough few weeks for the Senators. They lost a bunch of games, falling out of the playoff hunt. Then when they snapped that streak and were all set to bask in the glory of hosting the franchise's first ever outdoor game, their owner decided it would be a good time to rant about moving the team. That was, let's just say, not ideal.

But look on the bright side, Ottawa. As bad as things get, at least you don't have to worry about legendary sportswriter Earl McRae going on television and absolutely ethering you in front of a national audience.

So we're midway through 1993-94, the second season for the reborn Senators. Their debut was a disaster, and this year isn't going much better. Now seems like a good time to deliver a few solid kicks to the ribs, no?

Our host is Dave Hodge, one of the great Canadian broadcasters ever, not to mention a guy who once got himself fired from Hockey Night in Canada by flipping a pen. Today he welcomes Ottawa Sun columnist Earl McRae, who spent his career trying to get fired by flipping off pretty much everyone.

McRae was the sort of guy who could be an acquired taste, so let's be clear: He was awesome and if you didn't like him then there was something wrong with you. He's basically Dick Beddoes with more edge, slightly updated material, and a smaller wardrobe budget. I enjoyed him thoroughly.

Also, I want McRae's condescending laugh as my ringtone.

It takes McRae roughly four seconds to get to his first Elvis reference, which is slow by his standards. Elvis was kind of a thing with Earl, who was a founding member of the Elvis Sighting Society and once went on the Jerry Springer Show to talk about having met The King in Tweed, Ontario. I swear to you I did not make any of that up.

If there was any thought of McRae going easy on the second-year Sens, he puts that to rest by calling them "the worst team in creation" before ripping them for trading leading scorer Bob Kudelski to Florida. That was a weird deal, since the Panthers were even newer than the Senators and shouldn't have been giving up future assets for a scorer. Luckily, the assets the Senators got back didn't turn out to have much of a future at all, so I guess it all worked out.

Random fun fact: The midseason trade came when the Panthers had several games in hand over Ottawa, which allowed Kudelski to end up playing in a never-to-be-broken NHL record 86 games in a single season.

The two rookies McRae mentions are Alexei Yashin and Alexandre Daigle, who will both go on to leave Ottawa with an angry mob chasing them. It's basically our trademark finishing move up here.

Hodge agrees the trade is an odd one, but offers up a half-hearted defense to give McRae an opening to ease up on his criticism. Let's see if he takes it.

"This is a bad trade by a rookie GM who's blown it here." I'm going to mark that down as a "no."

The rookie GM is Randy Sexton, by the way. He really was a rookie—not only was this his first NHL season as a GM, but he'd been a real estate executive just a few years earlier. He went on to a long career in various NHL roles, though, including a stint as the Panthers GM in 2009. He's currently the GM of the Sabres' AHL team.

"Sexton says, well he's big, he's physical. Who cares, if he can't put the puck in the net?" Earl McRae was leading the charge on analytics before analytics was a thing.

They move on to Senators coach Rick Bowness, rumored to be on the hot seat. McRae likes him but doesn't have much confidence in the front office keeping him around because only John Ferguson "knows a hockey puck from a coconut." I'm assuming it goes without saying that he's referring to John Ferguson Sr.

McRae calls Sexton "constipated," works in a dig at Mike Milbury, and calls the Senators "a bunch of clowns." This is the positive section of the video.

He then throws Daigle under the bus by breaking the news that his father is telling people that he's upset over the lack of talent surrounding him. He then thoroughly psychoanalyzes Daigle, which almost never works out well for sportswriters except he basically ends up being 100 percent right about how his career played out.

Hodge works in a joke about the way Daigle dresses, which is a reference to the infamous nurse outfit ad. Note to future NHL prospects: You don't have to say yes to every endorsement idea.

Hodge tries to close, but McRae interrupts to make one last point. He takes a moment to apologize if he's coming across as too critical, acknowledges that the Senators are still an expansion team, and thanks everyone in the organization for doing their best.

No, of course he doesn't. What he actually does is point out that the Senators are closer to the defunct Montreal Maroons than to first place in their division. We then cut away before McRae can spray paint his initials on the unconscious Senators organization's back. Seriously, he was the absolute best. I miss him so much.

McRae left us several years ago, after suffering a heart attack in the newsroom. He will no doubt have a great time swapping hockey stories with Elvis in the afterlife, in the event that Elvis eventually dies.

Have a question, suggestion, old YouTube clip, or anything else you'd like to see included in this column? Email Sean at nhlgrabbag@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @DownGoesBrown.

DGB Grab Bag: A Marleau Family Christmas, Top Captains List, and the Belmont Islanders published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv