#luckily i was able to just keep restarting the game and getting the rest of them

[gifti3]

most of those king texts were giving, 'happy valentines day! my gift to you is sex'

[britishassistant]

I wonder what the supervillains (the dorm leaders) would do if they get switched with their other self in Twisted Wonderland.

They'll meet a younger Yuu calls them senpai and probably get shivers when they hear someone shout Prefect but then realize its Yuu's role in that world.

Bonus would be if Yuuken's there too, sharing the dorm with Yuu.

Thank you for the ask, dear anon!

I decided to take a little inspo from my Villainous Paranoiac series for this one! Not a whole lot, but the idea of Twisted Wonderland Yuu being put in the infirmary after the events of Chapter Five!

(Also consider it non-canon, since it kinda involves everyone’s identities being exposed!)

Basically imagine that the supervillains find themselves in what looks like a private school infirmary, late at night. The air is buzzing with a strange energy, almost like the powers back in their home world, but...different, somehow.

The room nearly empty, save for one occupant in a cot close to the door.

Poison Queen and King immediately begin bickering over whose fault this mess is, while Royal Flush tries to get them to keep their voices down or else they’ll be detected. Charon is half a minute from going to curl up in a corner, clutching his freeze ray like a lifeline, while Octo Dealer and Snake Charmer are busy inspecting their surroundings for anything of value or that can be requisitioned into a weapon on short notice.

Tsunotaro has wandered over to inspect the sole other living being in the room with them.

He is pleasantly surprised to see what looks like a younger version of the reporter he’s so fond of, fast asleep in the infirmary cot. Their cheeks still retain the last bit of baby fat from childhood, and there’s some acne left that will fade with age. He may give one cheek a gentle poke, just to satisfy his curiosity. The sleepy mumble they let out is a little more high pitched than normal, but that’s the reporter’s voice alright.

He is less pleased to see dark circles under their eyes, or the bandages around their throat that stink of medicinal salves. If this truly is a younger version of his child of man, then why do they look so worried, even in sleep? Why are they injured and sleeping in this place of healing in the first place? They’re a mere child, barely old enough to operate a vehicle or live alone. Their only worries should be trivial things, not whatever is causing this furrow in their brow and hunch in their shoulders.

The other supervillains have begun to migrate over to where Tsunotaro is crouching in silent contemplation. King flips his eyepatch up to get a better look, whistling lowly. Octo Dealer busies himself with refilling their water glass, sneaking glances at them as he places it within easy reach. Snake Charmer pulls their pillow more under their head from where it’s almost slipped off. Poison Queen straightens the arrangement of the very tasteful bouquet on the bedside table, so the flowers’ best angle is shown to the bed’s occupant. Royal Flush carefully tucks their covers in over them.

Charon takes a picture with his tablet.

He forgot to turn off his flash.

Yuu cracks their eyes open...

To see seven adults looming over their bed in masks that resemble the ink from the overblots that haunt the Prefect’s nightmares.

Cue terrified screaming.

Snake Charmer lunges forward instinctively to cover Yuu’s mouth—

It’s only thanks to Poison Queen yanking him back that he doesn’t end up with an arrow in the shoulder.

Several more follow the first one through the window above the prefect’s cot, cold iron sharp and perfectly aimed to seriously maim if the supervillains don’t immediately get away from the screaming teenager. Rook was lax in protecting the Trickster after VDC ended, assuming there was no more danger after Roi du Poison’s overblot was saved. He will not make that mistake again.

The infirmary doors burst open, a younger Yuuken in a sleep-rumpled uniform barging in from where he decided to sleep outside because Ramshackle felt too empty and quiet to bear, but was forbidden from staying in the infirmary himself. He only has a pillow, but he brandishes it at the strange adults, fully willing to defend his dorm mate in whatever way he can.

The vanguard appears in a flurry of bats though, too many to fight off, small and vicious and furious. Their commander materializes in the center if the swarm, hovering over the head of Yuu’s cot, pink eyes brimming with a cold rage that makes his small and cute form look like it’s bursting at the seams holding something much older and angrier back. He opens his mouth, fangs long and glistening—

Only to stop short at the sight of one of the supervillains. “Malleus? Malleus Draconia?”

Tsunotaro nods warily.

“Wh-What in Twisted Wonderland are you wearing??”

Tsunotaro ducks his head like a chastened child. “I could say the same thing.” He mutters sullenly.

From there the lights get turned on, and the seven supervillains are made to explain themselves to the sleep-deprived students and staff who trickle in to see what’s going on. All six dorm leaders and one vice dorm leader vanished from their beds, setting everyone on high alert until news of these...alternate versions spread.

It is very weird for the supervillains to see all their minions as teenagers (again in some cases). It is only surpassed by how weird it is for everyone else to see their dorm heads and vice head all grown up and adult, even if they are dressed weird.

Ortho still wants to shoot them with a beam until they bring back his nii-san. Luckily Charon is able to convince him that Idia should be fine if he’s in Charon’s lair—he’s got plenty of the latest games, manga and tech for him to play with, so that should keep him occupied for a while.

Sebek is in a state of Malleus awe. He has shut down and will not restart. Silver has taken to pinching himself just to make sure this isn’t a Lilia’s cooking induced fever dream, while Lilia himself scolds Tsunotaro that he raised him better than to go around watching people sleep like that! Tsunotaro tries to use the “but I’m a supervillain” excuse, only for Lilia to shoot back “and I’m a war criminal in some nations, what’s your point?”

King is enjoying watching the overgrown lizard get scolded. Now if only the tiny Ruggie would stop asking him what injury the eyepatch is for, and making remarks about how embarrassing it would be if it were totally pointless—King does not pay his adult self so much to put up with this shit. The baby Jack also needs to stop demanding to know if his adult minion self can pull a sled faster than a moose or something...

Jade and Floyd are attempting to wind up the adult Octo Dealer, trying to see how much they can get away with compared with the normal Azul. Octo Dealer is legitimately at a loss as to how this world’s Azul doesn’t keep them in line without letting them turn to a crime or two. Then he learns about Azul’s contract business and feels a pang of commiseration and understanding.

Poison Queen, Royal Flush, and Snake Charmer are unpleasantly shocked when their dorms address them by their respective secret identities in front of their fellow supervillains out of the blue.

Poison Queen has to put up with King’s uncontrolled laughter as he finally understands the full extent of the incident with White Neige so long ago, while Tsunotaro tries to tell him he liked Schoenheit in his role as the evil dragon prince in the GaoGao dramatization. Royal Flush is about two seconds away from throttling Octo Dealer if the bastard doesn’t stop trying to make a deal to guarantee his mother doesn’t learn about her son’s private activities. Snake Charmer’s just glad his civilian identity flies under the radar enough that Charon has to try and look him up to understand who he is (and fails because he’s not on school wifi and his cellular data is bust).

Poison Queen is also getting a headache from Rook rhapsodizing about how his villain form is another, enhanced mode of beauty he is fortunate to lay eyes upon, as if he hadn’t been willing to skewer Poison Queen along with the rest of the supervillains five minutes ago. He’s at least able to amuse himself by letting Epel run away with his speculations about how he’s the buff hyper-masculine muscle for Poison Queen.

Kalim is crying that Jamil had to resort to becoming a villain in his home world! He must be so sad if he has to do that! He’s mildly cheered up when Snake Charmer tells him they work together on schemes, and that Snake Charmer is actually reasonably happy with his chosen vocation—and then he begins panicking that Jamil will like that world so much, he won’t want to come back.

Royal Flush is glad his counterpart at least has good people around to look after him, even if it is odd to have young versions of Trey and Cater trying to mother hen him despite the fact that he’s the older one now. At least Ace and Deuce acting up seems more fitting now considering their age than it ever did on their adult selves.

Ace huffs a sigh and leans on Yuu’s shoulder. “This is a mess, huh Prefect?”

“You said it.” Yuu replies. “I just wanna sleep forever.”

The supervillains go still.

“I’m sorry,” Snake Charmer says carefully. “But isn’t Enma-san the Prefect?”

“No?” Yuuken replies, confused. “Yuu’s the prefect of Ramshackle Dorm. I’m their vice— or would be, if we had any other students apart from them, me, and Grim.”

Octo Dealer laughs, sounding slightly strained. “Ah, apologies, but you see, that isn’t possible. It can’t be. Yuu isn’t—”

“But I am the prefect, Azul-senpai.” Yuu the Prefect says. “I’ve–I’ve always been the prefect.”

There’s a stunned silence.

Royal Flush places his head in his hands. “What the fuck.”

Back in the Supervillain AU universe, Yuu the Reporter sneezes sharply while trying to wrangle five frightened teenagers, one frightened-but-playing-tough twenty year old, and one confused however-old-he-is-but-younger-than-Tsunotaro fae.

They wonder what the chill down their spine is.

[thefanficmonster]

Not Alone

Valkyrae (Rae) x Reader (Gender Neutral)

Warnings: Mention of death of a pet, Grieving

Genre: Fluff, Comfort, Angst

Summary: When Y/N doesn’t join the scheduled stream of Among Us with some cheap reasoning that everyone else falls for, Rae is far from convinced. She goes on to check the situation on her own just for her suspicions and worries to be confirmed further - something is off about Y/N and Rae is nothing if not determined to find out what.

Requested by @alex3atsbugs  Hello dear, consider this my farewell to the adorable little Marceline, I hope the cutie is looking down at us from heaven right now. Marceline, I might not have known you but I miss and love you regardless.  You have a special place in our hearts and you will never be forgotten. All my love, Vy ❤

“Ok so we’re only waiting on Lily now, right?“ Sykkuno asks, adjusting his earbuds as he scans over the settings for the game since he was the one to create the lobby which is now almost complete - lacking one more astronaut before the game can start.

Rae, who’s been scrolling through Instagram, looking at fanart and edits, snaps her head up to look at her computer monitor with confusion written all over her features, her brows furrowed, “Wait, what about Y/N? Aren’t they coming?”

This sudden change has surprised Rae more than someone would consider reasonable. But, in her eyes, it’s perfectly reasonable and justifiable considering Y/N has never skipped a stream nor have they ever not reported to her even for the tiniest of things such as running late. Even if they are not joining today, which is a huge oddity in and of itself, they would’ve definitely told Rae about it.

“Oh, no they won’t be joining us today. They said they were experiencing some technical troubles.” Sykkuno replies nonchalantly which aggravates Rae a tiny bit. She cannot comprehend how no one else is seeing anything odd here. Maybe it has something to do with how attentive she is when it comes to Y/N - she’s not sure why, but she is - or maybe it’s just a gut instinct but regardless, she can’t shake the feeling that something’s wrong. Not to mention that in all their years of streaming together on Twitch and now on YouTube never has Y/N dealt with technical difficulties that led to them not being able to stream. 

Y/N is the type of organized person that is constantly on top of things. They’d never let a technical difficulty get between them and providing their fans with entertainment. Chances are, if there really was an issue, it would’ve been fixed by now and even if it wasn’t...

Y/N would’ve let me know they wouldn’t be joining, Rae’s mind screams, almost altering her calm facial expression. 

“Hey can you give me about five minutes? My router’s acting up, I’ll restart it.“ Rae blurts out without as much as a second thought. Her thoughts are elsewhere right now, she’s got more important things to worry about. Luckily, her ability of rational thinking pushes through to the surface even without her guidance. 

She mutes her in-game and stream mics, takes her phone and rises from her chair, giving the camera what she hopes is a more apologetic rather than distressed smile before walking off-frame. Once out of view, she dials Y/N’s number, tapping her foot anxiously as she waits for her call to be picked up.

“Hello?“ When it does get answered, she’s met with a sniff before the weak voice utters the hesitant greeting word.

“Hey Y/N! What’s up?“ Rae tried to balance her question between a ‘what’s up?‘ in the ‘what’s wrong?‘ sense and the usual cheerful greeting she uses it as. She doesn’t want to end up seeming paranoid.

“Oh, hey, Rae. Nothing much. Aren’t you supposed to be streaming right now?“ Y/N’s tone raises a bit as they try to apply a bit more energy and enthusiasm into their words, presumably to erase any suspicion that sniffle might’ve caused in their friend who appears to have a sixth sense for when things are up with the people they care about. Or with Y/N specifically.

“Um...“ Rae spares the stream set-up a skeptical look, buying herself time to think of an excuse to partner her negation. She doesn’t want to lie to Y/N but she’s aware that they’ll be quick to ditch the conversation and postpone it if she admits to indeed be streaming. “Um, no, not yet. We scheduled it a bit later. Will you be joining us?“

“Uh, no, sorry, I won’t be able to. I’m sick and feeling like absolute crap so...“

Rae automatically stops listening, not on purpose, she just can’t hear Y/N’s voice over the alarms going off in her head, screaming at here that there’s something SERIOUSLY wrong. The stories not adding up - neither of them making sense to begin with - the lack of any authentic energy in Y/N’s voice, that sniffle she heard at the start of the call. It’s all so scarily wrong that it sends Rae one second away from entering full panic mode.

“I thought you were having technical difficulties.“ She blurts out without any thought of it’d make Y/N feel or how it would change the course of the conversation. 

Y/N inhales sharply as if caught completely off-guard and backed up into a corner, “Oh, yeah, that too. My computer keeps crashing.” Being backed up into a figurative corner doesn’t stop them from trying to further pursue this lie they’ve come up with. A lie so blatant and obvious there’s really no point in them trying to keep it going. Yet they choose to do exactly that.

“Y/N, you’re BSing me, you should know better than that!“ Rae whines almost desperately, “Please, tell me what’s going on? We’re friends, I don’t deserve to be kept in the dark, Y/N!“

There’s silence on the other end, loud silence that almost sends Rae into a breakdown. Some may consider it an overreaction, but let me ask you - wouldn’t you be upset and worried if someone you immensely care about was acting oddly and completely out of character.

“You’re going to think it’s ridiculous.“ Y/N’s voice cracks, letting it be known, clear as day, that they are barely balancing on the edge between keeping it together and crying.

“Of course I won’t, baby! I would never! Talk to me.“ Rae pursues, her heart breaking a little at the sound of her friend’s sadness. It’s taking a really big toll on her, not being able to hold Y/N in her arms instead of trying to gauge out their answers over the phone which is proving to be not at all effective or helpful to either of them.

Y/N sniffles again, “My hamster, Marcy...” She inhales to prevent a sob from escaping her lungs, “...died this morning.”

Rae has heard enough to be sent into action.

                                                            *  *  *

“Thank you so much, Rae. I would’ve probably stayed in bed all day with no effort to keep living whatsoever. You’re an amazing person, I hope you know that.“ Y/N gives the hand of Rae’s that’s holding hers a small squeeze, “I’m so lucky to have you.“

The two friends have been sitting on the couch in Y/N’s living room, the atmosphere a mix of melancholy and comfort. The comfort Rae’s been offering Y/N for the past hour or so has been almost entirely silent, in the form of physical affection, to be exact - hugs, soothing backrubs, gentle abstract patterns drawn on their arm, playing with their hair etc. Needless to say, it’s been far more effective than the attempt of calming them down and helping them out over a phone call.

“Don’t ever thank me for being your friend, Y/N. The honor’s all mine“ Rae rubs Y/N’s shoulder reassuringly, resting her head against theirs.

“Rae, you ditched a whole damn stream for me! Of course I’m gonna thank you! Who else would do that for me?“ Y/N protests, their glossy eyes looking up at Rea, lit up by the small smile that has managed to make its way onto their face.

“Only someone utterly stupid and heartless WOULDN’T do that for you.“ Rae says firmly, holding stern eye-contact with her friend.

Y/N looks away almost shyly, smile growing wider, their cheeks becoming rosier. “You have a way with words, you know...” They bite their lip nervously, “Could you help me express my emotions in the post I’ve been planning to make all day? My fans loved Marcy and I’m sure they’ll be as crushed as I am, I just want to appear strong so they don’t worry about me, you know?” They shrug their shoulders hesitantly as another tear escapes their eye.

Rae carefully and gently wipes their tear away with her knuckles, “Of course, Y/N. You don’t have to do this alone - you don’t have to do ANYTHING alone. Because you are never alone - you’ll always have me.”

Something about what Rae just said and the way she said it has struck a nerve in Y/N that has provoked a few more tears to spill out of their eyes as they somehow manage to whisper a: “Thank you” before throwing their arms around Rae, enveloping her entirely in the warmest of embraces. 

Meanwhile....

“Yo guys, how long does it take for a router to be reset?“ Sykkuno asks his fellow ghostie buds out of the blue.

“Less than five minutes. Why?“ Lily replies.

“Cause Rae said she’d reset her router and be back but she’s been gone for two hours so....“

[yayeetsonny]

Teamwork Makes The Dream Work~USWNT x Baby reader

Prompt: Baby reader gets injured during the World Cup final

Requested by: @defenseless-squad Enjoy!

Y/N PRO//

If you had told me a year ago that I would be walking on to the field where the women’s soccer World Cup final was being held and that I was starting in the game, I would have laughed in your face and called you crazy. This has been my dream since I was 4 years old, and now here I am suiting up along side some of the greats of this generation, Alex Morgan, Christen Press, Tobin Heath, Megan Rapinoe and so many more. My teammates are my idols and I look up to all of them tremendously. At 17 years old I never thought that I’d make it here, or if I did it was going to be several years down the line. I was trying to remain calm and focused but I was practically buzzing with nervousness and excitement. 

“You good, kid?” Megan asked as she wrapped her arms around me from behind. 

“Yeah, Yeah. Just a little nervous is all.”

“I know. We all feel that way, but don’t let it overshadow this. You can do this and you deserve to start today.”

“Thanks Pinoe, I’ll play my very best.”

“I know you will. We all believe in you.”

She squeezed me once more before letting go, as she did Alex turned around to give me a pep talk too.

“You have nothing to prove, you earned your spot on this team and you are gonna kill it out there.” She said while giving me a quick hug, kissing me on the head.

I always thought it was crazy how all of my teammates seemed to know what I was thinking or feeling without me having to say anything. It was a blessing more often than not because I struggled with explaining how I felt a lot of the time.

“What are we?” She asked

“One nation. One team” I said proudly

“That’s right. We play as a team, whatever happens out there, win or lose we do it together.”

And with that It was time for us to walk out of the tunnel onto the field. After we lined up for the anthems, greeted the Netherland’s national team and did the coin toss it was time for kick off. Alex was the captain this game so she started in the circle with a Netherland’s player opposite her. She turned to look at me briefly, winking at me and then the referee blew the whistle and the game was on.

From the start we controlled the game, we wanted to find the back of the net as soon as possible. The Netherland’s had other plans however and were able to hold us off, it was nearing the end of the first half already, I could tell some of my teammates were getting frustrated and I was too. I hadn’t been able to hold onto the ball long and when I did I was taken down with a foul. The entire team, including those on the bench were getting more fired up as time went on. They definitely did not take kindly to people hurting me in any way. After another particularly brutal foul Tobin was in the offending player, Vivianne Miedema’s face while Alex was yelling at the ref to card her.

“Dude, What the hell was that?!”

“I’m just playing the game Heath, Take a chill pill.”

“What did you just say?”

“You heard me.”

At this point several players from both sides were trying to get in between the two but they were determined to keep going.

“Don’t you even care that you could’ve seriously hurt her?”

She gestured to me as I stayed on the ground clutching my ankle with several of our teammates crowding me. They all fussed over me and nearly bit the head off of a Netherlands player who tried to see if I was okay.

“Don’t touch her. This is your fault.”

“How is this my fault?! I didn’t even touch her.” Jill Roord said.

“Your team has been picking on her all game. Don’t act like you don’t know.”

“I’m sorry some of my teammates are being extra rough, Especially Vivianne but don’t blame all of us.”

“Whatever. Just leave her alone.” Julie said a bite to her tone.

“Look, I’m just trying to be nice. I just wanted to see if she’s okay.”

“She isn’t, thanks to you. Just leave.”

“I already told you this isn’t my fault.”

At this point I was worried this was going to turn into an all out brawl on the field as I looked up at my teammates. They all had a fire in their eyes and they looked extremely angry at the entire Netherlands team.

Several Players on both sides were arguing with each other and some looked close to throwing a punch but luckily when I called out to them they all shifted their focus to making sure I was safe and okay. Well, all except for Tobin, she was still giving Miedema a piece of her mind.

“Where on your ankle does it hurt?”

“Do you need to be subbed out?”

“Don’t get up, stay down until the medics come check you out.”

The medics rushed out asking me if I needed to be taken off but I said I was okay and that all I needed was some of that numbing spray and I’d be good to go. The girls didn’t like the idea of me staying in the game because they thought

“You need to ice your ankle little one.”

But I needed to convinced them that I was okay to keep going. I could do this, I needed to do this.

“T, It’s not worth it. Please calm down.” I said as Kelley helped me to my feet.

“Easy, put your weight on me babe.”

“I’m okay Kel, I promise.”

“But your ankle- ”

“I know, it didn’t feel great but I can do this. please let me.”

“Y/N, we really think should- ”

“Guys, I promise I’m okay.”

I finally got them to let up and they agreed to let me keep playing as long as I asked to be subbed out if I needed to.

I was afraid Tobin was going to punch our opponent if I didn’t stop her.

“Tobin, I’m okay. Please let it go.”

“No, she hurt you.”

“Tobin, please.”

I went up to where they were standing, continuing to stare each other down and put my hand on her shoulder.

“I’m good T. It’s okay. Drop it before you get in trouble.”

“Fine. If you pull anything like that again I won’t be so kind.” She said while shoulder checking Miedema as she walked passed her.

The ref blew her whistle impatiently and we all went back to our positions so we could restart. The rest of the half went on without a hitch and after the pep talks in the locker room we headed back out onto the field. Jill decided to keep me in for the second half as well and I was beyond thrilled to have the chance to play a full 90 minutes. We kept trying to find the back of the net almost immediately as the second started and after 62 minutes we finally got the break through we were looking for. Alex drew a foul in the box that led to the referee awarding us with a penalty. 

Pinoe being the legend she is of course, stepped up to take it and just like I knew she would, she sunk it in the bottom right corner of the net. We cheered wildly as we had finally gotten what we were after and we could feel ourselves getting closer to being champions for the second straight time. 

After Megan scored there was a renewed energy to the game and we were ready to close it out. 7 minutes later Rose made the score 2-0 as she shot the ball just out of reach of Sari Van Veenendaal. We once again went crazy with the players on the bench joining us in our celebration. We knew at this point that the game was ours to win as long as we remained focused and saw it out.

Miedema was still going after me, clearly not having learned anything from the first half. I did my best to stay away from her or find my way around her but it wasn’t enough. As I crossed the ball to Alex she slid into me, taking my legs out from under me, causing me to land face first in the turf and then as I stayed down she proceeded to step on my back, digging her cleat in as much as she could. 

“Stay down, kid. You know you deserve this.” She spit at me as she walked away.

I didn’t reply as I was too busy holding my back and crying from the pain. My face throbbed and I didn’t doubt that my nose was bleeding, if not broken as well. My teammates were furious and several of them were up in her face and protesting as it looked like she’d once again get let off the hook. Alex was by my side immediately, telling me not to move.

“Y/N, it’s gonna be okay. The medics are coming.” She said as she leaned down by my head.

“Al, my back and my face hurt so bad. Please make it stop.” I cried

“I know babe, I know. They’re coming, you’ll be okay.” 

She got up after telling Chris, Julie, and Alyssa who had come up field to make sure the medics knew everything while she went to go talk to the ref. 

“Come on! That’s a red!” I heard Alex yell

After more protesting on both sides, the ref finally showed Miedema a red and she walked off the field. At this point the medics had gotten me up and on a gurney and I was being wheeled off the field. Alex ran up next to us before I could completely leave the field.

“It’s okay little one. We got it from here, you did so good. I’m proud of you.” 

She kissed me on the forehead and ran back to the rest of the team. I was holding a cloth on my nose and I was strapped to the gurney with something supporting my back. As I was wheeled off the crowd cheered for me and several of the players on the bench came up to pat me on the shoulder. Telling me I did good and that it was okay. I was crying a lot now and it wasn’t just because I had gotten hurt. I had wanted so badly to stay on the whole game and I was frustrated and angry.

I was taken back to the medical room by our locker room and there they examined me for a concussion and any other injuries besides my nose and my back. They determined that neither was broken but that they were both pretty bruised. After getting my nose cleaned up and ice for both I was allowed to go back out and sit on the bench. As soon as I sat down I was swarmed by my concerned teammates.

“How’re you feeling Y/N?” Mal asked

“You played so well.” Ashlyn said 

“It’s okay, we know you’re bummed about being injured but we’re so proud of you.” said Emily.

They all started to ask me a bunch of questions about my injuries and after a moment I snapped.

“Will you guys cut it out?! Please.”

“We’re sorry we’re all just a little worried about you.” Morgan said

“I’m sorry. I know, I shouldn’t have snapped at you guys like that.”

“It’s okay, we get it.”

“I’m so tired.” I whined

“It’s okay. The game is almost over.”

Just like they said, the game came to an end shortly after and when that final whistle was blown I was overflowing with pride and joy for everything we accomplished. We all charged the field and celebrated together, many of us were crying and overcome with emotion, in shock of what we had just managed to do.

“We did it!” I yelled as I jumped on Alex and wrapped my legs around her.

My tiredness long forgotten as I enjoyed the moment.

“Yeah we did, baby! We’re world champs!”

She spun me around and then let me down so I could run off to the group of young players gathered in the center of the field.

“Guys! Holy shit, we’re world champions!”

“Hell yeah!” 

We continued to celebrate and after the trophy presentation we were allowed to go back to the locker room to continue celebrating there. My back and my nose were bothering me but I wasn’t going to tell the others that. I was bummed I couldn’t drink but I still enjoyed watching everyone else (Minus Christen and Alyssa) get absolutely trashed. I got so many videos of my drunk teammates doing stupid things. They were gonna kill me when they were sober enough but it was totally worth it.

“You okay bub?” Christen asked, coming and sitting next to me on the bench.

“Yeah I’m good.”

“You sure? I saw you rubbing your nose and you look uncomfortable sitting here.”

“I uhh… am a little sore.” I admitted

“Y/N L/N, you should have told me sooner. I would have found a way to help you. Come on, we’re gonna go somewhere a little quieter.”

“No what about the celebrations? I don’t wanna take you away from that- ”

“It’s okay, Y/N. We aren’t gonna stop celebrating for several days, I won’t miss much.”

After she convinced me to go with her somewhere we ended up just going to a spot close to the locker room but away from prying eyes. She grabbed a couple ice packs and we got settled on the ground outside one of the many bathrooms in the facility. She had me lay down with my head in her lap, she placed the ice pack under my back and held the other gently against my nose. We stayed there together until it was finally time to get on the bus and head back to the hotel.

Once we got there her, Alyssa and a few of our more sober teammates had decided to lay down in my room with me for awhile before we had to take off again to another party. Just as Chris had said, we partied and those who could; drank for several days after winning, we appeared on good morning America and we had our own ticker tape parade. These experiences were some of the best of my life and being able to do them along side my 22 best friends was all I could ever ask for.

Many days later when everyone was finally sober again and drinking water only for the next several weeks they all coddled and dotted on me. They were determined to help me heal and feel better even though it wasn’t that serious and I’d be good to play in a couple weeks time. Becoming a world champion was certainly the biggest and best thing to ever happen to me and I couldn’t wait to get back out on the field and play the sport I loved with the people I loved.

//

Sorry for any mistakes, mostly unedited.

[pangzi]

Otome Gay [Nielan] - Chapter 2

word count: 2394  other chapters:  INTRO - Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 [AO3]

 Another week had passed since Huaisang gave Mingjue the game, and Mingjue was addicted. He had finished most storylines quite quickly, going for all endings as Huaisang had asked him to.

He had started with purple barista boy. At first he seemed like a brat with anger issues, but Mingjue quickly learned that with a few compliments the boy turned soft. Both stealing his heart and getting him to hate you weren’t very difficult with him. The neutral ending, however, was a pain in the ass to get. Give him one compliment too many, or say one wrong thing and your chance of a neutral ending drops to nearly zero.

Then he chose to try the med student. He was exactly as Mingjue expected him to be from the way he was drawn. He was a cute, shy boy. He looked up to his sister, as Huaisang had told Mingjue and was extremely driven. He was sweet, sometimes a little too sweet. Mingjue had to try his route so often he almost started to wonder if this boy even had a negative ending. Both the neutral and positive endings, however, were fairly easy to obtain.

Mingjue was currently trying to finish the rich kid’s routes. At first he didn’t like this one. The boy was a bit too proud for Mingjue’s liking. Mingjue kept getting stuck trying to get the positive ending, always getting the neutral one. This was the longest Mingjue had ever spent trying to finish one route without getting an alternative ending or having to restart. As a last resort, Mingjue was currently working all possible jobs in the game, trying to get enough money to buy rich kid the most expensive gifts. Right when Mingjue was about to buy said gifts, rich kid showed up at Mingjue’s house! To say Mingjue was surprised, when rich kid presented his character with a bouquet of roses and asked to give him a chance. Mingjue wasn’t sure whether he was annoyed at this ending, or if he was just happy he finally got the good ending and could finally move on.

After a shower and a quick meal, Mingjue decided to start the last character. Mingjue liked to tell himself that he left this one for last just because he was always together with the dancer kid Mingjue didn’t like. Definitely not because he was saving the best for last. 

He played the game all weekend and had only managed to unlock the neutral ending several times. Still, this was the character he enjoyed the most. Can a video game character have a calming aura? Because this character definitely had it. 

This was impossible. Absolutely impossible, and still Mingjue knew it shouldn’t be impossible. He had been able to unlock all endings for the other characters, so why was Art Guy different? Huaisang had said he was special, but it wouldn’t be that dating him was impossible, right? No, Art Guy was special enough without that. He was kind, more kind than any of the other characters. He had a beautiful smile, the only smile Mingjue actually noticed even. Conversations with him were always nice, never felt repetitive, and Mingjue just wanted to date him!

He was getting in too deep, way too deep. He had to stop playing. As a last resort, Mingjue had even tried to befriend the annoying little dancer boy, who ended up being even more annoying than expected. Befriending dancer boy only ended in Mingjue unlocking his positive ending, which made him want to throw his laptop out of the window. That’s when he knew it was time to stop. Enough otome game for the day…

Mingjue was going to get in bed, and have a nice long rest. It wasn’t until he got to bed he looked at the time. It was nearly 3AM and Mingjue wanted to die of shame. He needed a break from the game, he really did. This was going too far. He got in bed and promised himself that tomorrow he would not open the game, he wouldn’t even think of it or Art Guy. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t think of it right now. Yes, he was definitely getting in too deep. 

Mingjue was forcefully awoken from his slumber by his phone. Before he even looked at who was calling him, he checked the time. It was 7AM. What idiot calls him this early? Nobody he knew was even up this early. 

The idiot was Huaisang. Mingjue’s heart stopped for a minute. If Huaisang was calling him this early something must be up, Huaisang never woke up before ten. 

“Dage~”, Huaisang whined dramatically, the way only his brother could do. 

“Huaisang, what’s wrong?” Mingjue asked.

“Dage, you need to help me”, Huaisang whined. “It’s urgent” 

“Huaisang, tell me what’s wrong you’re worrying me” 

“Promise you won’t get mad at me first”, Huaisang mumbled. 

“Huaisang-” Mingjue grumbled, but then just sighed and promised. 

Huaisang hesitated for a bit. “I forgot my backpack at home and there’s a super important assignment inside it that I need to hand in this afternoon”, he mumbled and Mingjue immediately felt himself get annoyed. “I have class all morning so I can’t come pick it up, could you please, please, please, come bring it to my dorm.” 

Mingjue would like to say this was the first time Huaisang had forgotten his backpack at home but, sadly, it wasn’t. Mingjue couldn't even count the amount of times Huaisang has forgotten it on two hands. This was the first time it took him an entire week to notice, though. He sighed deeply, trying his best not to sound as annoyed as he was. 

“Is it in your room?” Mingjue asked, “I should be able to get it to you around lunchtime.” Huaisang immediately let out a sigh of relief and started thanking his brother. “How did it take you this long to notice, though?” Mingjue couldn’t help but ask. 

“I didn’t need it”, Huaisang stuttered.

“You didn’t need your backpack, full of school equipment, for over a week?” 

“I have to go to class”, Huaisang said quickly, “I’ll send you the address of my dorm again later. Thank you, dage!” Mingjue received the address and directions soon after Huaisang ended the call. 

Too annoyed by his brother’s stupidity to sleep, Mingjue decided to just get up and take his time getting ready. He had three more hours to fill before he had to leave. Looking in the mirror, he needed his time to get ready. He hadn’t shaved since Huaisang left and his hair resembled a bird’s nest.

After a thorough shower, a big breakfast and some exercises for his still healing foot, Mingjue was on his way to Huaisang’s university. He had forgotten how horrible public transport was, his hurt foot only making the two hour journey that more annoying, but seeing his brother again would be worth it. He had only seen him a week ago, but he just couldn’t help but miss the brat more than usual now that he was stuck at home alone. 

Huaisang’s directions were great, until he actually arrived on campus. This place was a maze and Huaisang’s directions were incredibly confusing, it didn’t take Mingjue long to get lost, at the moment he couldn’t even find his way back to somewhere the directions actually took him. With a deep sigh he gave up on even trying anymore and decided to just ask someone for help. 

But that was easier said than done, most people either shied away from the giant man asking them for help, or just told him they had to get to class and bolted, some girl even just said “I have a boyfriend” the second he approached her. 

“Good for you”, Mingjue replied but before he could even ask her for directions she had gotten up and left. This was hopeless, was he that intimidating? He had no choice but to keep trying until Huaisang got out of class, though. 

After two more people who just plain ignored him, and one who just told him no, he finally found someone who didn’t seem to think Mingjue was out to murder or date them. This one actually approached him, tapping him on the shoulder softly.

“Do you need some help?” A gentle, melodic voice asked. Mingjue couldn’t help but thank the gods as he turned around.

“Yes, please”, he replied and then completely lost all ability to speak. Right in front of him was Art Guy from Huaisang’s game. Was he hallucinating? Had the sun gotten him so dehydrated he was now imagining hot men? But, this man had tapped him on the shoulder, he had to be real! Or had he hallucinated that too? In his slight panic, he completely missed the hot stranger asking him something. 

“Are you okay? Here, have some water it’s quite hot today”, Art Guy pressed a bottle of water in Mingjue’s hands and ushered him to drink something. Yes, Mingjue needed a moment to get his thoughts in order. 

“Thank you”, Mingjue muttered, slightly ashamed of his reaction. “Could you maybe tell me how to get to this building? My brother forgot something at home over the weekend and asked me to drop it off”

Luckily Art Guy didn’t seem too bothered by Mingjue’s completely shocked reaction and just beamed at him. “You’re lucky, I’m going to there right now.” Mingjue was still trying to process the beautiful smile blinding him only seconds ago, to realise the man wanted him to follow him. With a deep breath he shook himself out of it, trying to calm his heart that was beating out of control, and followed the handsome stranger. 

They walked in silence for a while, Mingjue trying to figure out a reason for this entire situation, but he couldn’t really come up with anything, his brain to caught up in trying to take in the absolutely stunning human being walking next to him. 

“My brother lives in the same building as yours”, Art Guy suddenly said, “He might even know your brother, he seems to be on the same floor.”

“What’s his name?” Mingjue asked, “Maybe Huaisang has mentioned him, he usually has quite some dorm gossip whenever we speak”

Art Guy laughed. The sound did something to Mingjue’s heart and he couldn’t help but smile. It was a sound Mingjue wouldn’t mind hearing more often. 

“I doubt he will have any gossip about my brother. Wangji is quite the model student.” Art Guy said. “I’m Lan Xichen, by the way” Art Guy, Xichen, threw him another bright smile, after he introduced himself and maybe Mingjue’s heart stopped for a moment. Mingjue had no idea what was happening, no man had ever had such influence on him this fast. 

“Nie Mingjue,” Mingjue hummed, “Huaisang might have mentioned him” Mingjue was almost sure he had, but he couldn’t exactly remember in what context. Huaisang told him so much gossip about so many people, it was only normal Mingjue couldn’t remember. 

“We’re almost there”, Xichen said, “Wangji and I have lunch together every Monday, I got lost on my way to his dorm every single time in the beginning”

Mingjue felt his cheeks heat up a bit, but it was nice to know he wasn’t stupid for getting lost. “Huaisang gave me directions, but this place… Everything looks the same I couldn’t figure out where to go”

Xichen laughed again. “I know, I know exactly how you feel, and when you ask for help everyone looks at you like you’re insane!”

“I was starting to think something was wrong with me”, Mingjue chuckled, “Thankfully you found me!” 

“I immediately recognized the signs”, Xichen said, “I knew I had to help!”

“I’m glad you did, otherwise I’d still be begging people to help me”

Xichen smiled at him and then motioned to a building. “I have safely brought you to your destination!” They walked inside, only to be stopped by someone immediately. 

The person in front of them looked at Mingjue with a slight frown on his face for a moment before turning to Xichen. “Brother”, he greeted Xichen. 

“Wangji”, Xichen beamed, “Sorry I’m a bit late, I couldn’t help but help Mingjue here find the way here too! We got a bit distracted chatting and I took a wrong turn somewhere” They did? Mingjue hadn’t even noticed, which wasn’t that surprising as he didn’t know the place at all. Wangji nodded at Mingjue and then turned to his brother again. 

“Shall we go then? If we are late they might give our table to someone else”, Wangji asked his brother, and before Mingjue knew Xichen was saying his goodbyes, quickly pointing him towards Huaisang’s hallway before disappearing with his brother. 

Mingjue tried to say goodbye as well, but everything went so fast and before he even got the chance to say thank Xichen properly for helping him, Wangji had already pulled his brother towards the doors again. Mingjue should have asked for his number… Not that there had been a good time, but he should’ve created a good moment to asked. 

Trying not to sulk about it too much, Mingjue made his way to where Huaisang’s dorm was. He had barely knocked on the door when it swung open already.

“Dage~!” Huaisang yelled, pulling him inside and immediately pulling his backpack from his brother’s shoulders. “Did you find your way here easily? I guess you did as you didn’t call me for more directions”

“Actually”, Mingjue huffed, “Your directions were shit, I had to ask someone here for help” 

Huaisang looked at him with a shy grin for a moment, before shrugging and starting to rummage through his backpack. “But you found it!”

“I did… And about that, Huaisang” Huaisang’s eyes got big at his brother’s tone. He knew something was coming that his brother wasn’t too happy about. “How come I bumped into one of your video game characters. I almost thought I was hallucinating!” 

“You didn’t tell him?” Huaisang’s roommate asked, Mingjue hadn’t even noticed he was there too. Huaisang just laughed nervously and hid himself behind his fan as he always did when nervous. 

“Tell me what?” Mingjue grumbled. 

Huaisang’s roommate turned around in his chair, Mingjue nearly cringed at the way he was sitting, that position couldn’t be comfortable. “We based our character designs on people we know! My brother is in it, my sister’s annoying peacock boyfriend, my boyfriend’s brother and his best friend, my best friend…” 

Mingjue turned to his brother again, slightly annoyed. “And you didn’t think I should know?” 

Huaisang shrugged. “We live two hours away, it’s not like the chance was big you would ever bump into them!”

Mingjue was about to open his mouth again but Huaisang was already pulling him back outside. “Dage, stop worrying about it, now you know! Let's go eat, I’m hungry and you don’t want to spend the precious time you have with your brother being angry at him, do you?” 

Mingjue just sighed and wrapped an arm around his brother. He was right, it wasn’t like it was something that could’ve harmed him. It was just weird bumping into someone he’d been actively trying to date in some game all weekend. Mingjue couldn’t help but be curious, though.

“Which one is he?” Mingjue asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Xichen, is he the brother, the sister’s boyfriend, the boyfriend’s brother…?”

Huaisang grinned at his brother, softly bumping his shoulder against him. Mingjue stopped the teasing words that were about to leave Huaisangs mouth with a glare. “The boyfriend’s brother.” Huaisang answered instead. “And if you would like to know, I’m pretty sure he’s into men, maybe I could even set up a date!” 

“Nie Huaisang!” Mingjue grumbled, pushing his brother away. He didn’t need his brother setting up dates for him! He could do that perfectly fine himself! If only he could meet Xichen again… 

[cuddlepilefics]

Whumptober Day 16 – Comfort food

Fandom: Stray Kids

Sickie: Seungmin

Caregiver: Chan

 It had been four hours of dance practice already and for some reason the choreographer never seemed to be satisfied. He kept picking on the smallest mistakes any member made and had then repeat the same dance over and over again. The mood in the practice room was tense to say the least. None of them wanting to be the reason they got yelled at and had to stay longer. They had been promised that they could go home as soon as they completed one run-through to perfection. It sounded easy at first as they were already familiar with the choreography and had memorized the steps. The choreographer thought otherwise. Sure, the group had the basic steps down but their movements weren’t precise at all and there was frequently at least one member losing the beat. He allowed the panting dancers a five-minute water break in hopes they’d pull themselves together and just do it right on their next try. Chan used the time to talk to his members cheering them on and reminding them that they might be home within the next twenty minutes if they just give it their all for one last time. And they did give it their all when they were called to continue. It wasn’t enough though and with the exhaustion of having danced for hours rising so did their mistakes. Everyone was tired and achy, struggling to stay focused. The choreographer getting more annoyed as time passed. He wanted to go home too and was slowly losing hope that those boys would stop messing it up anytime soon. At some point after he finished scolding the members he told them to continue on their own. They would do the exact same thing tomorrow first thing in the moment. It would be their choice whether they’d like to stay longer tonight and present the result in the morning or whether they’d just dance the entire next day till they had it down. After hearing the door close the group just remained sitting on the floor, their defeat dawning on them as they hadn’t managed to pull of the choreography to their teacher’s satisfaction. The leader was the first to speak up: “We’ll do three more run-throughs. We’re all tired, doing more than that won’t get us anywhere but going home immediately doesn’t feel right either. I’m sure we’ll do a lot better with a few hours of rest tomorrow. Alright?” He received a few confirming grumbles as everybody got back to their starting position, heads hanging low. It seemed to be going well at first, as well as it could with their exhaustion anyways. That was till Changbin and Seungmin collided during a position change and Seungmin tripped losing his balance. The older tried to catch him but it was to no avail and the vocalist crashed to the ground. Felix went to restart the music with everyone getting back to their starting position. Well, except for Changbin and Seungmin. The rapper was kneeling next to his dongsaeng who had pushed up into a seated position but remained on the ground. The truth was, he had twisted his ankle during his fall but he didn’t allow himself to show the pain as to not hold them back any further. Noticing them not getting up, Chan walked over crouching down as well. “I’m sorry”, Seungmin mumbled turning his face away and hoping they wouldn’t notice the way his voice cracked. “It’s ok. Are you ok?”, Chan softened and placed a comforting hand on the younger boy’s shoulder. The younger bit his lip shaking his head, afraid he’d break into tears if he tried to speak. He carefully removed his shoe and pulled his sock down too. The leader looked shocked at how swollen his dongsaeng’s ankle was already, given he had fallen not even two minutes ago. Chan and Changbin let the younger wrap his arms around their necks and supported him over to a bench close to the wall. The rest of the group watched on worriedly as Changbin comforted Seungmin by rubbing his back and Chan called for a driver to take them to the hospital. “Alright guys. You’re done for today. I’ll go with Seungmin to have a doctor look at his ankle. Please go back to the dorm and get some rest. You’ll need to be on top of your game tomorrow.”, Chan instructed. “Will you two be alright?”, Changbin questioned getting two nods as reply. Seungmin was squeezed in a group hug and told to “Please be fine”, before six tired idols made their way back home. Too tired and scared even to fight about who’s going to shower first.

During the ride to the hospital when it was just his leader with him, Seungmin finally allowed himself the tears he had been fighting earlier. The pain was bad and he truly doubted, he’d be able to dance at all tomorrow or anytime soon. He was terrified about what this might mean for their schedule and Chan reassuring him he’ll figure something out by talking to management in the morning barely calmed his anxiety. They had been sitting in the waiting room for almost two hours with Seungmin dozing off resting his head on his hyung’s shoulder before he was finally called up for examination. A few different scans proved there was no fracture and luckily nothing torn either. The vocalist had just suffered a bad sprain and would have to take it slow the next two weeks. The nurses put some ointment onto his swollen foot, bandaged it tightly and sent him home after offering some painkillers. When the pair left the hospital, it was already late at night and they rode back to the dorm in silence. Both of them feeling drained and deep in thought. Chan was trying to work out how they’d get the younger the amount of rest he’d need while Seungmin was beating himself up for holding his group back just because he had to be clumsy and hurt himself. 

Upon arrival the leader pulled the younger onto his back and carried him to their dorm, placing him down on the sofa to take his remaining shoe off. “Stay here. Don’t run off!”, he joked before rustling around in the kitchen. “What are you doing?”, Seungmin whisper-yelled attempting to not wake the rest of the members who had already gone to bed. A few minutes later Chan returned with some fried eggs and a cup of hot chocolate: “You’re not going to bed without dinner.” His smile faltered immediately when the younger’s reaction was quiet the opposite from what Chan had expected. His dongsaeng just started crying into his hands at the look of his favorite meal. “Hey, what’s wrong?”, the leader asked placing the food down on the coffee table and wrapping his arms around the sobbing vocalist. “S-Sorry, it’s j-just, I keep messing u-up and now I don’t e-even have a chance to make it right tomorrow. I-I’m holding everyone b-back b-but you’re still k-kind to me a-and..” – “Hey, it’s not your fault you got hurt. And don’t think about holding us back because you’re not. We’ll find a way to change up our schedules, you’ll heal and everything will work out just fine. Nobody is blaming you, ok? We’re just worried because seeing you in pain hurts us too.”, Chan interrupted before Seungmin could get too worked up. “I understand you’re upset but your health comes first and if that means not dancing for a bit then that’s how it’ll be. It’s important that you take care of yourself. So please, eat something so your body has the energy to repair the damaged bits and then get some sleep. Yeah?” – “Thank you”, Seungmin sniffled picking up his plate. He slowly calmed down as the familiar taste relaxed him. Seeing the younger’s tears stop, the leader picked up his own plate and started eating. They sat in comfortable silence filling up their energy resources. Seungmin felt nice and warm inside by both his dinner and by his hyung’s actions. Not caring what time it was the leader had never left his side and had prepared him his favorite food to cheer him up. This was especially important considering all of them had had a shitty day, the older being no exception, but he still went out of his way to care for Seungmin. 

When both had finished Chan put the dishes away and helped his dongsaeng get comfortable on the sofa with his foot elevated on a few pillows. He then pulled the boy into his arms leaning against his chest and handed him the cup of hot chocolate. As the leader had expected Seungmin was to anxious to sleep no matter how tired he was and though the younger didn’t like to show it, he was still in pain. So Chan kept holding him stroking a hand over his hair while Seungmin sipped on his chocolate occasionally bringing up points of their schedule he was concerned about. Being the patient hyung he is the aussie reassured him, proposing ideas how they could possibly work around the injury and talking each of the other‘s worries down. Finally pleased with the solutions offered by his leader, the vocalist placed the empty cup down and leaned back in the other’s embrace yawning. “Thanks, hyung” – “It’s ok, get some rest”, Chan whispered. The younger was quickly lulled to sleep by the gentle strokes through his hair and the leader followed soon hugging his dongsaeng tight.

[jujywrites]

Always Falling Down, part I

This was part of a rarepair gift exchange. mricj and I got matched because sometimes u CAN manifest what u want for urself~~~

This is Rosawatts for sure, but also very poly, very id-ficcy and very long (just under 7k....). with a small part 2 pending because WE BUILT THIS SHIP WE SAIL IT HOWEVER WE WANT oh and a playlist (click plz~)

PS: the plotbunny emerged from "i thought you (loved me)" by livj707. One of my top 10 TTM fics and the rest of them are in there too!

AO3

FF.net

or keep reading

(Part II here)

~~~~~

~We hold on to the good times and the right now and the long nights~

Can you hear when I say "I have never felt this way"? (I can't see you and me and her without each other)

Roxie

You were 8 or 9 when you realized that you responded to people’s emotions in an unusual way. Your mom’s anger made you feel like there was a small fire in your belly, no matter the amount or what the anger was directed at. Her joy when hummingbirds visited the garden you both made to attract them made you feel invincible. When she felt sad, everything looked gray.

So what, you thought. She was your mother; of course you’d be attuned to her mood. The same with the rest of your family. But there was a slight wrinkle in that logic— you sensed the emotions of your friends at school, and that affected you similarly, if with less intensity.

Soon after realizing that, though, came the realization that even friends of friends, even complete strangers, had emotional signals that you picked up without trying. You brought this up with one of your dad’s sisters (one of your favorite family members, were you ever pressed to admit it), because you couldn’t quite stomach having your mom worry about you. You were pretty sure what happened to you wasn’t normal.

Your aunt introduced you to the term empath, said her wife had the same ability that you did. She taught you ways to handle the side effects (as she put it), how to channel and control it, to some extent. Even with this, though, things got more complicated as you grew older. People’s emotions got louder.

The maelstrom this caused in you was nigh unbearable and (luckily?) manifested itself as stereotypical moody teenage behavior, when you weren’t wrestling with the attendant physical ailments. That led you to what’s turned out to be a lifelong interest in astronomy and stargazing. Or more accurately, it increased your at-the-time budding interest exponentially. Others’ emotions couldn’t sink their hooks into you, not when your mind was buried in a book or when you were alone outside on a clear warm night. Stargazing served as meditation, too, and slowly you gained a better grasp on this whole empath thing.

That was how you met Neil. He lived in another school district; somehow both of you claimed a little park in town as a prime stargazing spot. He said his gramps took him gazing every summer, and Neil found he wanted to do it more often than that. You didn’t know much about him besides that and some shows and video games he was into, but that was hardly a deterrent to your talking a blue streak in the rare times when both of you were done watching the sky. You talked about your hobbies, how school went, how your little brother was doing, what music you were obsessing over. You told him everything except your biggest secret, and even though he didn’t always acknowledge it all, you could feel he took it all in. He was the first person who had ever done that.

Then he moved away with hardly a goodbye, and that was that. You remember feeling hurt and sad for longer than a day, maybe a week or two, but time has worn away the memories of how you felt. College, of course, was the next big chapter in your life, when your present-day reputation for being bubbly and carefree developed. That had always been with you; college life simply made you turn it up to eleven, a coping mechanism of sorts in navigating the world as an empath.

Strange how the peace you found back then has led you right back to that feelings maelstrom, into the difficulty of parsing what belongs to you and what doesn’t.

You didn’t see Neil until you got to SigCorp, at which point all the moments he was in your periphery during training slapped you across the face, along with hazy childhood memories.

“You’re Roxie, right?”

And all the years without him collapsed together. Maybe you didn’t see much of each other, but your friendship still easily restarted, helped along by your shared sphere of work.

You’d say he’s your best friend, if you were asked.

Meeting Eva was a different kind of slap.

You could count the number of crushes you had on one hand, your relationships on six fingers. You hadn’t felt love yet.

You fell fast and hard for Eva. Then you got back up, and cut that off quicker than breathing, because no way would someone as cool, collected and straight-laced as her would ever be interested in you. (Plus, you had no idea if she was queer and that’s not something to ask someone you just met.)

And then there was Neil.

The two of them had capital-h History, obvious from the moment you saw them together. If anyone knew how much time you spend thinking about your friends’ relationship, the effort you put into trying to push them together, how much time recently you’ve invested in worry (especially over Eva, but Neil too) you’d get therapist recommendations at the very least—

It’s not just wishful thinking. Your empathy gives you a sixth sense as to which people are meant for each other, and/or are dealing with feelings towards each other (which also gave you a leg up in office gossip). And Neil and Eva fit so well; that’s why they were paired together, why you convinced Rob they should be a team, despite how much you liked working with her. Not that he needed convincing. That’s how obvious their compatibility was. And yes, this was despite their bickering (and Neil’s pranks on his partner).

What drew you to Rob, as a colleague and as a person, and helped you decide to permanently partner with him, is how quiet his emotions are. He’s hardly unfeeling, despite what others (like Neil) might say. No, it’s just that his emotions are blissfully subtle. Sometimes when you feel them flare up it’s like a gift.

His emotions toward you aren’t subtle, not these days. And sometimes you feel terrible for relying on him as much as you do. But that’s another thing.

Eva

The cases that go wrong from the beginning are always easier on you than the ones that go wrong when you’re so close to closing them out. Talking to loved ones afterwards is the common denominator, the same intensity of pain no matter what went wrong when. But you’ve grown used to that pain, used to letting it glance off your skin because this is your job, and perfection is impossible.

You thought you had, anyway. The case you failed barely twenty minutes ago, the one from which you’re walking to the car with Neil now, found a chink in your armor. A stupid rookie-level mistake that both of you believed you’d fixed came back to bite you; you almost didn’t log out of the machine before your client flatlined. You owned up to it, the client’s brother took a swing at Neil and tried at you, and the only reason you’re both out of there alive is the brother’s wife calming him down.

There’s still paperwork to finish. You did the bare minimum before getting the hell away from that place. And Neil has one whopper of a black eye that he’s too bullheaded to do anything about, because he had a spare pair of glasses and that makes everything just fine.

In the car, the practically-visible wall between you and Neil is even more unbearable given the post-case mood, and it makes you feel sick. This is far from the first case you’ve failed, with or without him. Hell, it’s not even the first case involving bodily harm directed at either of you. It still feels like the last straw. But you’re not going to quit, you tell yourself. Someone has to keep fighting.

Neil may have stopped trying, but there’s nothing stopping you from fighting enough for you both.

Robert

For the most part, you’re an analytical person. You’re able to compartmentalize your thoughts from your emotions, and often able to see past others' emotions to what might be eliciting them. And that’s why your work at Sigmund fits you so well, why you chose memory traversal over being a tech, as much as machines in general and Sigmund’s in specific interest you.

Your personality and Roxie’s make you an excellent team. Even though her default mode is happy-go-lucky, you’ve been partners long enough to know that she’s the kind of person who can feel everything, all at once, and weather it. That talent must have always been there, under the surface; it’s probably what drew you to her in the first place.

Being able to compartmentalize, however, only gets you so far. You’re hardly immune to base emotions, yours or others’. You get frustrated when you know something is wrong, someone’s having a problem, and that your clear-headed distance from the situation isn’t helping fix it.

Watts and Rosalene, one of your best teams, one of the best you’ve ever seen since you joined Sigmund, have been backsliding for some time. Their ratio of completed cases to failed ones is still good (and they’ve had some brilliant successes), but their previous case was a failure and the mood leading up to their next one is not promising, to say the least. They’ve had innumerable rough patches, no question, but even you can tell there’s a good bit of the personal getting muddled with the professional in this patch. You’re in the unenviable position of having to monitor them, getting closer to explaining to the higher-ups why they are still viable.

Viable. What a cold word. Makes you clammy to think of it in reference to your colleagues. Your almost-friends. It’s... bothersome, to see them fracturing, or whatever less-ominous thing might be happening.

On top of that, there’s something off about Roxie. A dimming of her natural light. The only other time that’s happened is when her brother got sick; he’d been in dire straits before he recovered, and the recovery had been hard.

You know this because Roxie told you. You seem to be good at listening. If only you weren’t abysmal at asking. Not that Watts— Neil— would divulge anything, and Rosalene— Eva— seems even less likely to.

You’d ask Roxie but with her, you’re terrified of not knowing what to say.

Neil

You could’ve decked that guy. Definitely could have. For once it isn’t braggadocio— the things he said about you and Eva made you see red. He telegraphed really badly too, so you could sidestep him (he was like two feet taller than you and you aren’t a total idiot), but taking a swing at Eva?! Good thing the guy’s wife stepped in or things would’ve gotten even more fucked. Because of you and for you.

Of course, with the adrenaline gone, your mutual antisocial...ness, toward each other (what? You can’t word when you’re tired) rushes in to fill the vacuum. It’s frigid out too, which is great. And your face kind of—

“Ah, fuck me,” you mutter as your piece-of-crap company car decides to break down in the middle of an empty road.

Eva sighs epically. Her breath clouds. “Shit.”

Ha, she legit swore.

Your momentary amusement is bulldozed by the inconvenient need to talk. The second you’re alone alone with her, in lulls before or after cases, in downtime at the office, the words bubble up in your throat, more insistent every time. And every time you try to open your mouth, they disappear. It’s been like this for weeks, ever since The Incident.

She found the not-from-Sigmund company letter. She found the (other) pills. Unlocked door or not, you haven’t forgiven her for the breach of privacy. She hasn’t forgiven you for keeping (those kinds of) secrets from her. And here you are now.

You don’t know how much more you can take.

Eva speaks before you can get your voice working. “I’m calling Roxie.”

“How?” Flipping open your phone, you glare at it. “No reception out here.”

“We passed a payphone on the way here. Shouldn’t be more than a 5 minute walk.”

You just gape at her while she bundles up in her scarf and hood. “It’s minus fifty!”

Her eyes meet yours for half a second. “Don’t exaggerate, Neil. Not tonight.”

And, predictably useless, you watch her get out of the car and start walking, snowflakes shining around her in the dimming headlights.

Roxie

One of the things about being an empath is, it’s easier to tell when someone’s romantically interested in you. (Too bad there’s no one-night-stand-interest sensor.) That feeling has a certain color to it, distinguishing it from friendship or dislike. And it’s the reason why you haven’t dated much. Every time you’ve felt it, it’s been like a flipped switch, a lightning bolt, leaving you unprepared and uncomfortable every time. Sometimes it’s been because you don’t return their feelings, sometimes because you need a few days to adjust to the idea. Even with one of the ones you liked back (a post-college roommate, because you may be an empath but that doesn’t exempt you from so-called clichés), it petered out eventually when you didn’t fit together anymore.

With Rob, it’s different. So subtle you don’t realize right away. And so soft it’s easy to lean into and pretend you don’t quite know how he feels, keep your already intimate friendship separate from that other kind of intimacy.

You like him. Want to like him as more than a friend, the way he likes you. If you could only let go of your ridiculous double crush.

There’s only so much room a heart should have, anyway.

Eva

The incongruity of using payphones hits whenever you have to use one, which thankfully is extremely rare. You’ve learned the hard way to keep a small stash of quarters within easy reach on cases, whether they’re located in the boonies or not. Even with gloves on, your hands are so cold that there’s a lot of fumbling involved in getting them into the machine, more fumbling while you pull up Roxie’s contact info on your phone. Not that you need to; you’ve got it memorized. She’s picked you up more than once.

It hits you square between the eyes this time, so you can’t ignore it: Roxie’s been like emotional glue, from back when you were a greenhorn changing partners every couple of weeks to now. She was the constant for you back then, and then became your tech specialist for a hefty amount of cases until you got paired with Neil. She’s patched things up several times when you wanted to strangle him, by talking you down, or being a mediator, or just listening to you rant. And since tonight is turning into one giant negative thought spiral, you get stuck on how much emotional support you’ve taken from her without giving anything back, alike or different. After this, well, you have to come up with something. A restaurant gift card? Ice cream from that new place down the road from yours? Why is food the only thing you can think of? True, food has meaning, but you sh—

“Hello?”

“Roxie. It’s me. Eva.”

“Hey! What’s up?”

“Hope I didn’t wake you,” you say on automatic. Nope, she’s probably—

“Nah, binging a few Shadow Junction episodes before hitting the hay,” she replies with a giggle.

Over this line, the brief silence is crackly. “I need a favor. Our car died on us…”

“Oh my god wait, you just finished a case!” There’s some scuffling and a small thump; when she speaks again her voice is closer. She must have taken you off speaker. “Where are you? I’ll pick you up ASAP.”

You give her a handful of landmarks, the compass direction. With the dark, the gathering snow, your barely-held-back exhaustion, you're starting to think you might be back in the simulation.

Your hands hurt. At least they still have feeling.

“There’s a storm coming, isn't there? Are you okay?”

“Tired. Cold. But, yeah, okay.”

“Hey, Eva?” Hearing your name wakes you up a little; the weight in Roxie’s tone wakes you up more. “I’ll call a tow for you on the way, but do me a favor and don’t hang up.”

“Sure,” you whisper.

She chatters about the latest plot developments on Shadow Junction for a few minutes; you feel like you're absorbing some of the energy in her voice. Then she says, “I’m getting on the highway now,” and then she says, slightly more subdued, “Do you want to tell me about your case?”

Nope. “It went badly, that’s all.”

More crackly silence. Then: “I know I’m repeating myself, Eva, but… are you okay?”

I’m fine.

I’ll be fine when I’m back home.

I’m used to this. It’s fine.

You say, “I think I’m losing Neil.”

The metal of the phone booth bites into your hand even through the glove. “I… found some things I shouldn’t have.” Roxie can keep secrets, contrary to her reputation. This one shouldn’t be her burden, and so you don’t share what you found. “He’s been conflicted about what we do for a while. I think he might be trying to leave Sigmund. And that’s his prerogative, but I just—”

You trained together, joined Sigmund together, starting planning to join Sigmund together. It’s been an enormous part of both your lives, and now you’ve been a team almost as long as your dream to be a part of this company existed. If Neil walks away, what will you have left?

Roxie. Robert. The McMillans. Eddie, Lisa, Logan. You won’t be alone, and you still have your purpose to guide you. But...

You were so certain you’d see that purpose through with Neil at your side, you don’t see how it would possibly be the same. How you could be the same. Sure puts a dent in your faith that you’re your own person.

You can’t simply ask him to stay. Some small irrational part of your brain thinks bringing up the subject at all will make it come to pass. And those pills. If he does leave, if Sigmund is part of his will too, what if—

You wipe at your wet cheeks and nose. “He’s my partner. I need to fix this, and I don’t— I don’t fucking know how.”

Your voice doesn’t sound nearly as broken as you feel.

Robert

It’s another night of Roxie on your couch, eating takeout from your favorite place and watching a movie together. Neither of you have defined your relationship. You’re fine with that, and you think she is too. And yet...

“Roxanne, I—” You love her, have for a long time now. But you’ve seen how she looks at Eva, and at Neil, and you know she doesn’t have room for you right now, don’t know if she ever will.

You had a chance. You realized your feelings for her well before she fell in love with them (or at least before she began to show signs). The obstacles were too many: she’s half your age, you work together but are sort-of kind-of boss and subordinate. All true. All excuses, too, because you weren’t brave (stupid) enough to take that chance.

But she’s come to you for comfort, and you aren’t an asshole; you won’t deny her that because she has a different measure of your relationship. You love her. You would care for her even without that.

Then she kisses you, and she says, “I’m sorry,” and curls up against you.

Roxie

You’re making a mistake, and you don’t care.

You needed that kiss. It soothed these pangs, this hollowness that’s grown over the past few weeks from whatever is going on between Eva and Neil. And the way Rob’s emotions have started to swirl feels dangerous. Addictive. You want more of that, the power to make his emotions dance with one touch.

It’s getting harder to ignore the voice calling you an awful person.

“I’m sorry,” you mumble into his chest. “I know, in every rule book ever made, that I’m leading you on. But I’m not trying to! I’m so sorry. I…” You swallow, sudden clarity hurting your throat. “I think I want to be with you. But, Neil and Eva…”

Saying their names brings fog back over you, reddened by wine. “I can’t explain it,” you whisper, arms around his shoulders. “I can’t... decide.”

You can’t give Rob what he deserves, what you finally know you want to give him, if you can’t make your mind up.

“We’ll figure it out.”

Despite the uncertainty you can practically taste, it feels like a promise. He holds you tighter, and you let yourself sink into him.

Neil

You’re tired, exhausted, and that makes your brain go all overdramatic, but even with that you’re pretty sure this is the shittiest night of your life. You can’t talk to Eva, and she won’t talk to you, and now you’re stuck in the middle of nowhere trying not to freeze to death, watching her freeze to death while she waits for Roxie to rescue both of you from freezing to death. The least you could do is stand by Eva and suffer with her. Then again, maybe she’d rather turn into an Evasicle in peace right now.

You resent how much this case haunts you. You resent even more your inability to walk away from Sigmund and from Eva. They wouldn’t care, but she (probably) would. Does. You wish that didn’t matter so much to you. It shouldn’t anymore, after what she did. The one time you don’t lock your office door. Like a goddamn house of cards. If she’d told you right after instead of sitting on it for a few days, making you wonder what the hell was wrong with her…

You’re such a hypocrite, with all the secrets you’ve kept and keep.

Everything feels gray. Heavy. Tunnel vision, maybe, from the cold and your lack of sleep. Stepping out into the wind chill would probably help you stay awake at this point, except you’re not so far gone as to actually follow through on that.

Eva’s left the phone booth and is standing in the snow, hood blown off from the wind, and she’s too bullheaded to pull it back up. You stare at her hair streaming out, your eyes grow blurry from snowflakes, and your thoughts drift back to distant nights spent with a talkative girl who shared your love of stars.

Roxie

You’re up late at home, watching the Shadow Junction episodes in your queue, when Eva calls you, voice tinny over a payphone. You can’t sense emotions tangibly without being in person, but her and Neil’s voices have a similar effect on you regardless, by now.

You talk with her until you’re on the road.

Something’s wrong besides their dead car, and Eva reveals the tip of the iceberg. You’re relieved. Your instinct hasn’t yet devolved into paranoia.

“He’s my partner. I need to fix this, and I don’t— I don’t fucking know how.”

The turnoff to where they are is coming up. “I can’t imagine how that must feel,” you say into your head mic. A white (gray?) lie. Her pain is making it hard for you to breathe. “But I’m getting you back to the office, and we’ll go from there. One step at a time. Okay?”

“Yeah. Okay.”

You call the tow place as soon as you end her call. After that, things blur together until your car meets theirs.

The snow hasn’t stuck; it’s the light, fluffy kind that would be nice in another time and place. You can see Eva and Neil hunkered down in their seats.

You can’t get out of your car fast enough.

Eva’s first to get out once you reach them. She hugs you, and, yeah, you could probably die happy now. You’re such a mess.

“Thank god for you, Rox. Seriously.”

You’re such a mess. Neil’s relief nearly makes your knees crumple with its warmth, but there are... layers to it. Those layers and the ever-present knot of worry in your stomach keep you alert. Besides, it’s not (won’t ever be) the time or place to let them know everything you’re feeling. So you smile past your shivers and wave off his comment. “No problem. Of course I’ll bail you guys out of this weather!” Then you force your offer of a ride back out of lungs tightened with the fear that they’ll know what lies behind it. “Brought you some cider. Blankets too. To thaw you out for the paperwork, y’know.”

They accept. Of course they do; they don’t have a choice. If either of them suspect anything they aren’t showing it and dear god you are so overthinking this. “Tow truck should be here any minute, if you don’t mind waiting a bit longer.”

“You have heat in your car. That’s all I care about,” says Neil, and Eva says, “A few minutes more doesn’t matter.”

Then she puts her hand on his elbow as they walk the short way to your car, and all your stupid mushy probably-touch-starved brain can think is, there’s hope.

They settle in the back instead of splitting up over the passenger seat, and dumb hope unfurls further in your chest. You waste no time in unfolding blankets and handing them each a thermos. Eva acknowledges with a grateful smile, and you pretend not to notice how Neil flinches when you drape the blanket over him. You ignore the flashing burn when your hands meet their bodies, ignore how fast your heart is beating.

You have a plan, even though it’s a selfish one.

Eva

Roxie still believes her bright shiny mask is impenetrable, but you know her better than she thinks you do; something is worrying her. A lot. And here she is, practically saving both of your lives, and trying to hide it so you don’t feel any worse—

You’re faced with the sudden urge to kiss her.

She’s been a shoulder to lean on, a friend, a good friend. Why did this feeling burst through now? Did the weight of what you and Neil failed to do, the weight of what you know and what he’s not telling you, crack and cause this shift?

(What would she think if you tried?)

You push the urge away, but feel it beaming through when you take your first sip of cider.

Maybe in another life.

Robert

Roxie’s on the verge of breaking, and you can’t do one thing to help.

She stands by you, thermos in hand, while she waits for Eva and Neil to tie up some legalities and gather what they need. At this hour, the offices are silent to the point of suffocation. Having these three around is reminiscent of oxygen. Even so:

"I was really scared, you know?" she says, smiling, eyes painfully bright. "All I knew was I had to get them. So I did. They’ve been dealing with something tough and I couldn't ask them even though I wanted to and they were nearly hypothermic, Rob!" The noise that comes out of her is a shrill mockery of laughter. "So after they're done here, we're going back to my place. All of us. I don't want them to sleep alone. I'll hogtie Neil if I have to, I swear to god.”

There’s nothing you can say, so you just nod. And then you realize: there is something you can do.

You want Roxie to yourself, of course; most one-sided relationships are likely that selfish. You want her to be happy even more than that. So you excuse yourself to the bathroom, and then double back to the offices and poke through Eva’s ajar door, knocking on the jamb.

They’re both in there, which makes it easier for you. Neil’s already got a file folder stuffed with papers in his arms (which he nearly drops upon seeing you). You also notice the overnight bag next to him, and that Eva’s looking over hers.

(Of course. The weekend’s coming up. You should get your bag too.) That’ll make it easier for Roxie.

You’re also worried about them, so this isn’t only for Roxie’s sake. Eva looks like a shell of herself, and Neil’s posture seems to indicate he’s in pain.

“What’s up, Bob?” Neil plops the file folder into his bag. “We taking too long or something?”

You shake your head. “Take the time you need. I heard from Roxie tonight’s case didn't end well, so I thought I should check in.”

“We’re as all right as we can be,” Eva says, zipping up her bag. “And anyway, we’re done here.”

She stops when you don’t move from the doorway.

“She’s really worried about you two. I don’t know any details, but… go easy on her. She means well even when she’s overbearing.”

You turn and head back to the lobby, feeling overheated.

Neil

Roxie seems like a supernova in the frozen night (and if you weren’t half-frozen you'd be slapping yourself for your dumb metaphorical thoughts), and that light is enough, combined with Eva’s presence, to propel you into Roxie’s car.

You flinch because, somehow, her brief touch feels like it unlocks all your secrets. Ridiculous, because Eva got there first and you really hardly know Roxie.

The paperwork is second nature. You and Eva go to your respective offices; you squint as if that’ll make your handwriting look any less blurry (okay, guess your glasses need cleaning); at the last second you grab your overnight bag, and instead of heading back to the lobby you gravitate to Eva’s office and stand there like a dumbass while she finishes up.

You thump your bag on the floor. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she says without turning around.

You busy yourself with organizing your papers. But every so often you glance at her, and when you see she’s going through her overnight bag the urge to ask if she wants to stay at your place, or if you can stay at hers, is overpowering. Don’t ask, don’t— “Do you—”

There’s a knock, and of all people Rob’s standing there, as if tonight isn’t freaky enough. Still. Saved by the Bobert bell.

What he says, along with the sheer incongruity of his presence, knocks you out of your numbness for a few minutes. “Jeez,” you say once he leaves as fast as he came by, “he’s really got it bad for her, doesn’t he?”

A barely-heard whisper in your mind hisses, You should know.

She’s wearing an indecipherable expression. “I suppose so.”

It all makes slightly more sense when you get back to the lobby. Before you or Eva can open your mouths, Roxie’s talking.

“It’s been a really bad night for you two. I’ve been there, you don’t have to tell me anything, and... I won’t ask. But I’ve got a spare room and a couch at my place and you should take advantage of that for the night. I’ve already convinced Rob, and I won’t bother any of you, a-a-and I really think it’s for the best so, so please…”

As exposed as you’re feeling, you can see the appeal of staying at her place. It’s closer than yours, and yeah, okay, your brain cannot handle the logistics of dropping off and heading home. Besides, it’s pretty uncomfortable how upset she seems (even if it’s just about her sinking ship, har), and if this makes her feel better, well. You don’t know what’s going on, feel like you haven’t for hours, but you’re with people you know and who know you, even though they don’t know everything. There’s something to be said for having friends in the same line of work.

This rift between you and Eva hurts far more than you can admit to yourself, never mind anyone else. And even though Roxanne and Rob have no idea what’s happened, happening, between you two, them being with you feels like a bulwark holding back any further damage.

Maybe they might even help fix what’s broken.

Roxie could, maybesomehowsomeway. She seems like that kind of person, the kind who wants to fix people’s issues and is good at it, though who the hell knows where you got that impression. She’s standing closer, an arm’s length— a fact you only realize when she reaches up and takes off your glasses.

Roxie

You didn’t notice how close you’d gotten to Neil and Eva while you were talking, or that you’d been moving at all, until a shadow near Neil’s eyebrow catches your attention. At that instant, your accidental proximity doesn’t matter. Your heart stops for a split second. “Neil, your eye!”

“What about my—”

You remove his glasses. Eva gasps, like it’s A Bad Thing you just did (and okay, you can’t remember ever seeing his eyes before), and you can even sense Rob standing protectively close behind you. “Holy schnikes, Neil!” His right eye is nearly swollen shut, the bruise radiating nearly to his temple on that side and nearly across his nose on the other. “What happened?”

A tidal wave of guilt from Eva makes the room wobble, but Rob catches you.

“Sorry, more tired than I thought,” you say to their combined are you okays. Your nervous smile lands on Rob, who doesn’t look convinced. Still, he helps you upright silently.

Neil squints at you with his good eye. “What do you mean ‘what happened?’”

How can he not know? “It’s totally black??” You look from Neil to Eva and back, panic surfacing slowly. “It’s barely open??? Doesn’t it hurt?????”

Eva sighs, pulls a hand mirror from her bag, and holds it in front of him.

A pause.

“Huh,” he finally says. “Guess that explains why it’s a little harder to see.”

“Our client’s brother punched him.” Eva rubs at the bridge of her nose.

“He did not—”

“He said he was fine, but I thought he was just shrugging it off. I didn’t know he didn’t know! Don’t you remember your glasses broke?”

“He was huge! I dodged him easy! I…” Neil digs through his pockets indignantly for a few moments, then stops. “I don’t have my spare pair. Which… means that those…”

“Are your spare pair,” you finish gently, handing them back to him. “Neil, I think you might have a concussion.”

“Well, shit,” he says, at the same time Eva says, “That’s what I’m worried about.”

“That settles it.” You step back a couple paces, reluctantly. “You’re definitely coming back with me. I have ice and I have some bruise cream that’s pure magic, I swear.”

Neil huffs. “I already said I would.”

“You only thought it because I didn’t hear you.” You eke out a grin. “I’m not a mind-reader, you know!”

“Okay, well, this is my official yes let’s crash at your pad agreement.”

“Heard and acknowledged!”

Putting her bag over her shoulder, Eva says, “Then let’s go,” and leads the way to the elevators.

She and Neil take the backseat again, leaving Rob to sit in the passenger seat. Now that you’ve executed your plan, you seem to have lost whatever energy you had left.

The silence that falls, though, feels comforting instead of stifling.

~~~

The first step through your front door pulls a deep sigh out of you. Rob, Eva, and Neil’s various flavors of tension decrease slightly.

“I’m just gonna… stop for a minute.” So saying, Neil plops onto the floor in front of your stupid-huge couch.

“Sit wherever you like,” you say as you go to the kitchen for an ice pack.

You’re glad you turned the room into something slightly more presentable, even when you weren’t expecting three people to come by— cleaned up junky desserts from the coffee table, put pillows back, et cetera. You wrap a hand towel around the ice pack and bring it back to Neil, telling him to use light pressure. “I’ll go get the supplies.”

As soon as you flick on your bathroom light and see yourself in the mirror, your throat tightens with the need to cry. A few gasping sobs come out of you but, “Okay okay okay,” you whimper, clutching the sink rim, they’re here, you got them, you’ve made them safe now. “Get it together. Snap the hell out of it. You’ve got a job to do.”

You gather everything you think you need and then go back over it: disposable gloves, the arnica bruise cream, antiseptic wipes, washcloth, cup of warm water, 8-hour painkiller/swelling reducer. Then you splash off and dry your face, finagle all of it into your arms, and get back out there.

Neil’s made it onto your couch, probably because Eva’s sitting there now. She’s on his left. There’s space for you between them.

You’re friends. Colleagues. You’ve all been through highs and lows working at Sigmund, in parallel with each other. They can’t read your mind.

You unload your supplies onto the coffee table and take the seat.

Eva lets out a breath.

“Sorry for grabbing your glasses,” you say to Neil as you put on the gloves.

“Eh. Extenuating circumstances.” He shrugs. Takes them off. “‘Kay, do your worst.”

“I’ll be as careful as I can. First, these.” You hold up the wipe pack. “Your skin’s not broken so it shouldn’t sting, but I’ll make sure any excess is gone anyway. Oh—” You grab the pain pills. “Take these first, actually. I can get you water.”

“I have my own… water,” he mumbles, digging through his bag and retrieving a bottle. “Thanks.”

Once he’s taken the pills, you run the wipe all around the bruise, holding your breath while you dab at his closed eye. “Don’t move.” You wet the washcloth then and apply that, making sure no residue stays to get into his eye. That would suck.

“Okay, move if you need to. Magic cream’s the last thing!” You hold it up with a flourish. “Never had to use it on something this, uh,” you fumble for the word, “extensive, but I promise it’ll help.”

“Who died and made you Florence Nightingale?” he said with a chuckle.

You pause in the middle of daubing cream on your finger. “Who?”

“It’s an old reference. Really old. Like, my gramps knew the history, that’s how old.”

“Early 20th century nurse, I believe,” Rob says in a musing tone. “Founded the profession.”

“You’re almost as old as him, so you don’t count.”

“She opened the first nursing school, too,” says Eva.

“And you’re a nerd so you also don’t count.”

“She sounds pretty cool,” you say quietly; you’re close to Neil’s face again, applying the cream from the outside of the bruise in. “Glad someone’s remembering her, still.”

You don’t even notice the silence fall, you’re concentrating so hard.

Neil holds his breath this time when you put the tiniest amount of cream on and around his eyelids, using the barest pressure to rub it in and still wincing in his place.

You’re very close to him. Your hand tingles. Whatever’s charging the atmosphere is impossible to analyze.

“Um. All done.” You pull your hand away, look away, throw the glove into the little trash can under the table.

“Rox?”

You look back at him and try to breathe evenly.

“Just… thanks. For all this. And…” He leans forward to catch Eva’s gaze. “...sorry I got my head bashed in and forgot about it.”

“We should get that checked out tomorrow.” Her voice is worn, but her eyes are soft.

Your worry changes form in that instant, from low-key constancy in your veins to the choking kind of worry that comes from realizing you love them, are in love with them, your best friends who are in love with each other and either don’t know or can’t admit it. They certainly don’t have the room to accept your feelings.

You’ve known this for long enough; it’s hardly a revelation. But something about tonight has crystallized your feelings, made them impossible to bury. Now you know the origin of the physical ache that’s been dogging you for weeks, to the point of becoming a second skin, and you desperately wish you could do anything to ease Neil and Eva’s pain as much for yourself as for them. You just squeeze Neil’s hand, pretend Eva taking yours doesn’t stop your heart, and stare at Robert who graciously doesn’t stare back.

You nod, because you don’t trust your voice. But then you speak anyway. “We’re a team. Mismatched as we may be. We gotta stick together, you know?”

Looking at them both, you see Eva smile, and even Neil has a tiny flash of one when he says, “The four musketeers, or something?”

“Close enough.” Robert, soft, as he eases onto the couch next to Eva.

“No, exactly. One for all, and…” You swallow, looking at Neil, wishing so hard for Eva’s sake. “And all for one.”

Your hands left Eva’s and Neil’s to settle on the couch minutes ago, but now, almost synchronized, their hands cover yours again.

Every ounce of tension rushes out of you, in spite of the fact that your brain is in red alert mode, your heart’s beating fast enough it hurts, and heat’s flashing through you from head to toe.

Maybe one day you’ll tell Neil and Eva everything you feel. Maybe one day you’ll share your biggest secret with all three of them. But for now, all that matters is that you’re all together, safe for tonight, warm and dry. All that matters is the others’ emotions are blending into a shared, soft calm, that you’re almost, just about, being held by them. All that matters is that you all have each other.

For once in a long while, your mind is quiet.

[peterstanslizzie]

Reacting To: The Hollow (Season 2 Episode 6)

Episode Title: Dead End

Spoiler Warning: Kindly proceed if you’ve watched the episode already or don’t care about spoilers.

1. The episode begins on a somber note; Adam, Mira, Kai PLUS Reeve and Vanessa are standing next to Skeet’s burial. They’re obviously distressed by the sudden passing of their friend. Regardless of what we’ve just seen, I still think that the show is going to find a way to bring him back. 

2. As they make their way to the Jazz Club, Reeve tells Vanessa he still doesn’t trust the trio and the same goes for Adam. Reeve also believes that they’re still playing the game. 

3. Kai notices Adam wearing the skull key he had stolen from Jules’s chateau in episode 5 and points it out for everyone to hear, including Reeve and Vanessa. Reeve is suspicious of Adam collecting random objects without keeping them in the loop. Umm, they just got together as a group; Why would he think that Adam is withholding information from him especially after everything they’ve been through last episode? Reeve is always so hot-tempered; It’s really annoying. 

4. Adam and Kai get to arguing with each other and thank goodness for Mira because she pulls them by their ear, which causes them to stop. She must have done that plenty of times when the three of them were a team back in the day. But they go back to bickering when they couldn’t decide on a path to take. This time, Kai is the one to stop them. We also find out some tidbits about Kai’s parents; Apparently they don’t seem to have a good relationship with one another. I wonder if they’re separated or divorced...

5. Reeve asks Vanessa (who seems out of it) to fly out to scout for locations but there’s no need for that because Mira discovers a random underground metro station behind the bushes. As they descend, Kai reminds Vanessa that he’s still mad at her for manipulating him last season. 

6. I’m glad Mira is around to keep the peace between Adam and Reeve. Their constant arguing is getting old real fast. They board a train and it immediately starts moving. But they’re not the only ones on this train because there is also a group of ghosts seated on the train as well and just like Jules, they’re French too lol. PS, I didn’t catch the ‘ghosted’ pun Kai made at first when he was talking to one of the ghosts. 

7. They look at the map of the metro and are unsure if the train will take them to the jazz club. Vanessa points to a headline of a newspaper one of the ghosts is reading that mentions about a train that had crashed at the end of a train line. By the way, can Mira read French? There are also photos of the victims and it turns out that the ghosts of the victims are in the same carriage as them. Creepy!

8. They then realize that these ghosts are there to relive the crash again, which means that the very train that they’re on will crash too. They run over to the driver (also a ghost) and pleads for him to stop the train but he isn’t able to do anything; I guess it’s because he’s a ghost lol.

9. Yet again, Adam and Reeve are arguing about which buttons to press to stop the train. Kai, who is extra sensitive to listening to people argue because of his parents’ history isn’t coping well during this time. Poor Kai! He must have been so traumatized. Adam, go get yo’ man, even if y’all are about to die. 

10. Vanessa tells Kai to fix the predicament they’re in but Kai is still hurt by the bad stuff she’s done to him. I’m glad Kai is calling her out and not sweeping those things under the rug. What she did was absolutely terrible. Anyways. with his powers of ‘engineering’ (I guess), he asks Adam to pull the lever to set off the braking system but Reeve starts to butt in. OMG REEVE! Kai asked Adam! UGHHHH! It’s not a competition. They accidentally break the lever and I am so mad. Mira does the best thing in the episode so far and that is locking them out of the train conductor’s room. Thank you Mira!

11. Kai breaks open the control panel, exposing the wires underneath but he’s not sure which ones to disconnect. Luckily, Vanessa realizes that the metro map isn’t a location map, it’s actually a map of the circuitry. With the basic knowledge of French she has, she tells Kai to disconnect the blue and green wire and the train manages to stop just before it could crash.

12. The doors open and the ghosts are free to leave the train at Montmartre station. But they’re ghosts?! They should be able to phase through objects, no?

13. I’m loving Mira in this episode! She is not taking any of Reeve or Adam’s BS! I agree, their constant fighting is so dumb and it’s not accomplishing anything. To be honest, the main problem here lies with Reeve. He is so stubborn but I  wonder what really happened that caused him to leave Adam and Mira in the first place.

14. They exit the station and immediately, they see the jazz club just opposite of them. The door opens and from the looks of it, another team is leaving the club. They explain to our protagonists that they don’t have their memories and they have their own set of powers. These people are probably in the same positions Adam. Kai, Mira and Vanessa, Reeve, Skeet were last season. 

15. However, the long hair girl (we find out later that her name is Nisha) quickly assumes that our main characters are the bad guys and she threatens to attack. Reeve, who is the most annoying person on this show so far makes the first move on the only guy on their team, Tyler. But he’s not down for the count because he strikes Reeve with a lightning bolt. So, we get this episode’s first fight scene.

16. Nisha also has fire powers like Kai and she proceeds to attack Kai and we get a fire on fire battle between the two. We also find out here that players can’t have the same powers within ‘The Hollow’, which is definitely not the case at this moment. Interesting! I didn’t know that. Hence, the digital world that they’re in now is very different to what the game was last season. 

17. The shaved-head girl, whose name is Iris I believe (from me checking the end credits) has the power to grow bigger. She tries to attack Mira but Reeve uses his telekinetic powers to stop her. Oh and on top of Tyler having lightning powers, he has the ability to summon hail too. So, he has weather powers a la Storm from the X-men, I’m assuming. He distracts Reeve with the hail, allowing Iris to break free from Reeve’s grip. 

18. She then confronts Adam and wants to fight him but Adam, with his chivalry, doesn’t believe in hitting girls. Well, Adam is gonna have to face the consequences because she grows into a giant and picks Adam up and she snatches the skull key from him. He really should’ve left that thing in his pocket. We see that this opposing team has stolen a gun-like weapon from Jules’s chateau and thinks that the key will activate the weapon. But Iris is shrinking and they decide to make their escape instead. 

19. Okay, so it seems to me that Vanessa had something to do with the game restarting and all of them being back in ‘The Hollow’ once again. With tears filling her eyes, she tries to tell them but the rest of the group were too busy focusing on getting to the club. Ughh, I want to know what she did! Maybe her eventual revelation will explain the glitch she had in her eye at the end of Season 1 after the game was over. And no wonder she acted weirdly when Reeve mentions about the glitch to her earlier in this episode. So, is Vanessa a glitch herself? Hmm....

20.  ‘Death’ is back! And he’s working as a bartender/mixologist behind the counter lol. However, Death doesn’t recognize them, just like how Akuma didn’t seem to remember them in episode 4 either . I guess resetting the game had something to do with it. They ask him about Weirdy and he tells them that Weirdy is going to be performing later tonight.

21. Benjamini, the short-stature bodybuilder-like Italian man from the carnival last season is also working at the club. The five of them sit around a table, waiting for the show to start and Vanessa tries to confess to them something about the weapon the other team has but she gets interrupted again! It would be best if these people actually listen to her! So, is her secret about the weapon and not about the glitch? Or is it both? I’m confused. After interrupting her, the others talk about the other team they just fought and what would happen to them if they were to win the game. 

22. Anyways, the show starts and Plague (from the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse) is on stage and he introduces Weirdy to everyone. Our heroes try to go over to him but they are blocked by Benjamin, Benjamini’s partner/brother?, also from season 1. Weirdy proceeds to play the piano and he starts to sing the song, ‘Creep’ by Radiohead. How appropriate, given his name. I’m actually digging this cover. It starts out similar to the actual song and then it turns a corner and we get a Jazz rendition of it. It’s pretty cool!

23. They do their best to capture Weirdy’s attention but the Benjamins are making sure his act doesn’t get interrupted. Reeve uses his powers to disable them and they manage to get to the front. Weirdy is really into his own performance but eventually, he notices the group and is really surprised to see them. He actually flat out tells them they don’t belong here and he thinks that they’re coding errors, despite telling their truth to him. He ends his song with a snap of his fingers, which opens a portal under them and they fall into it. 

24. They all teleport to the tip of a mountain, where the only thing supporting them is a weird looking platform. What’s with ‘The Hollow’ and it’s love of high altitudes? LOL. Anyways, they are all balancing the platform at different points and if anybody were to make even just a slight step, it would cause the entire platform to tip over. Why can’t Reeve use his powers to levitate everyone? Adam reminds everyone not to move, which is sound advice but guess who doesn’t like being told what to do? F*ckin’ Reeve. LIKE WILL HE EVER SHUT UP?!

25. For the 4th or 5th time this episode, these two argue on the platform. Kai calls out for Mira to stop them. And ironically, she’s in the centre of all of this...lol. I feel for Mira in the picture above; She’s either going to yell at them again or break down crying from all of the stress of them two arguing. And the episode stops here. Well, this was certainly an episode filled with argument after argument, wasn’t it? It annoyed me to no end. Check back with me tomorrow for when I upload my review of episode 7. Till then, have a great day everyone! Bye!

[zachsgamejournal]

COMPLETED: Thief Gold

All done! I thought this was going to take me longer (much longer). I may have cheated (used a guide), but honestly I'm ready to move on...

So first--Undercover. In a sense, this level is super easy. It's small and contained, plus you're desquised--so get to walk about freely for the most part. Ironic that I've wanted disguises in this game. Unfortunate that it's a forced use. Ah well.

The problem with this level brings me back to the 90's level design. To solve a "puzzle" the player must find four switches. After an hour or so, I had explored every inch of the level and didn't know what to do. I looked up a guide and read that the player has 5 minutes to flip 4 hidden switches. To my knowledge, there was nothing informing this, and the switches are in pretty ridiculous places. Clearly they wanted to "challenge" the player by putting them in stupid places, but it's just frustrating. Luckily I had the guide.

Next was Return to the Cathedral. I was feeling pretty done with the game when I started this level, and I hate the zombie stuff since you can't really knock em out like guards. At first I tried to rely on a guide a bit, but it was confusing (since they want you to steal EVERYTHING). I started running around and actually got pretty good at being stealthy from zombies and undead guards. But I was done with the game and didn't want to deal with this.

The guide I was using praised the level. I think they made a GoldenEye 64 referencce, or maybe I made the connection, but once outside the cathedral, it was easy to move around undetected and find the items. I relied heavily on a guide, but I think I would have been fine without if I gave it the chance. I didn't hate the level, but I wish it was regular guards.

Next came ESCAPE! This level was hard. You're introduced to new enemies that are basically demi-human guards. Unfortunately, you don't start with a ton of equipment and it's hard to begin the level steathily. I mostly just found myself sprinting through the level, trying to find the best path.

I ended up falling into a "space" area, and the guards didn't follow. I was able to move to a deadend hallway where I was trapped by four guards, but I was able to use some gas mines and arrows to knock'em out. (I really should have used these tools more.) Past that, I found myself back in the Mansion with the crazy nature levels. It was kind of a frantic mad dash to get around the baddies and rush out the front door. Lots of restarts.

Really dont' want to play that level again.

Strange Bedfellows has the player return to the Hammerite temple from Undercover. But now all the Hammerites are dead and crazy monster guys roam about. Once again, I just wanted to be done and this is a big level, so I looked up where I needed to go. Once in the basement, I was able to figure most of it on my own. I also learned to sneak around the monkey guards and knock'em out. This level offered a lot more opportunities to sneak, so not as hard as Escape.

With that success, I kept on going with Maw of Chaos. Strangely, this level was super linear. It made it really easy. In fact, I mostly just ran past all the enemies. Fuck it. I'm kind of surprised, cause this seems like the time you should making crazy-ass maze levels. But I'm also thankful they didn't do that. They did do some cool anti-grav water stuff, allowing me to swim on the cieling. Ridiculous, but interesting.

And then you get to the bad guy. All you have to do is place the eye while his back is turned. Strangely simple, but I'm also thankful that I can put this game to rest.

I've had trouble keeping track of the story. You get 30-60 second videos about this or that between levels, and then you play the levels for a few hours without much narrative at all. So I constantly lost the plot. At the end, The Keepers--who helped your character--try to explain how destiny isn't yet done with the character. The character is typical, 90s macho--"You tell the keepers I'm through!" I get that the writers thought he sounded tough, but I thought he just sounded naive and stupid. I don't know how you defeat a god from prophecy while battling zombies and mantis-men just to be like, "Everything's fine and I don't need help from magic-dudes."

Ultimately, I loved this game (despite its flaws) and I'd love to play thru again one day. But I've got Thief 2 & 3 waiting in the wings. I love the emphasis on stealth and the de-emphasis on killing. I wish it had been open world and allowed for disguise changes. But it's a great game for the 90s!!

[creativeskullcreations]

HTaHHQ Episode 1: First Meetings(part 2)

Okay, so this was originally gonna be a two part thing, but part two ran long so now it's gonna be a three parter! Which is fine, since each "episode" is gonna be it's own little fic anyways, though it does mean a little more time before I can work on Outside again. Shouldn't take too long though, as part three is already written out and just needs edited.

Stacy was vaguely aware that Lydia and Riley could turn their attention to her any moment, but she remained frozen. She stared, with wide eyes, at the space where Riley's puppeteer should've been. Rather than a human, like there should've been, there was instead a strange, wheeled, metal stand. Between the wheels was a joint of some sort, since the stand was tilted forward as Riley leaned over the counter

'WHAT THE SHIT?!' Stacy stared silently, hand resting on the fallen beaker as her heart pounded in her ears. 'Are all of them like this?! Was Mortimer?!' She swallowed thickly. 'What was really on that paper he wanted me to sign?!'

The stand started to tilt back, and Stacy quickly stood up, beaker in hand. Without a word she put it back in place and quickly left the room, shoving her hands into her shorts pockets to keep them from shaking.

Luckily, nobody seemed to have noticed, as they simply restarted the scene without saying anything to her about anything. Taking advantage, she rushed to the bathroom, locking herself in one of the stalls.

'-shitshitshitshitshit-' Was the current commentary going through her head at the moment as she paced in the small space. Her hands covered her mouth to keep the sobs in as tears streamed down her face and she tried to will herself to stop crying. 'I can't! I can't stay here! Oh god...' She sniffed, rubbing at her eyes and sitting on the closed toilet lid. 'I want to go home...'

"Hey! Hey, Human!" Stacy's head snapped up just in time for something to fall on her face. She flinched and it slid off, landing on her lap and giving her a good look at it. It looked like a rather large hand puppet, like the ones given to the guest children at the end of filming. Only this one was moving on it's own, like Riley and, possibly, the others.

"Uh..." Was all Stacy could think of to say. It had snapped her out of... whatever that was, but this was yet another Puppet. Granted, it was certainly more adorable than the others, but still...

"Why are you in here? Shouldn't you be out there, doing Human stuff?" It -she, she had a female voice- asked, "standing" up in her lap. When she started to tip over, Stacy reached out a hand to help keep her steady.

'I felt like I was literally going to die because I discovered you guys have no puppeteers.' Yeah, no. She wasn't going to answer with that. "Well, this is the bathroom, so..."

"Yeah, but you aren't doing bathroom stuff. You're just crying." The Puppet dismissed, and Stacy felt vaguely offended at being called out so bluntly. "Why were you crying, anyways?"

"No reason..." 'That I will ever tell you or anyone ever.' She rubbed at her eyes, trying to get rid of the tears. "Where did you even come from, anyways?"

"The vents." She pointed up, and Stacy looked to see an open vent right above her. She would've said something about it, namely how creepy that was, when the Puppet spoke up again. "Anyways, my name's Scout! What about you?"

"Uh, Stacy. Stacy Al-Stein! Stacy Stein..." She looked back down at Scout. "What were you even doing up there?"

"Escaping, duh!" She then covered her mouth, looking almost sheepish. "Uh, please don't tell anyone, though. I'm not actually supposed to be out here right now."

"Don't worry. Nobody will hear about it from me." The girl promised. 'Not that anyone would even believe me, anyways...'

"Awesome!" The Puppet gave a open-mouthed grin that, in Stacy's opinion, killed any cuteness she had. "I'd still better go, though. Just, like, close your eyes or something."

Stacy did as asked, and felt the light weight vanish. She looked up in time to see the Puppet disappear from sight. '... That was really weird. I kinda hope I see her again before I leave, though...'

Feeling somewhat better, thought not really knowing why, the girl finished up and left the bathroom. Somehow, she felt confident enough to try and finish out the day. And, with any luck, she could convince Mary not to make her come back ever again.

Moving quickly, she managed to find Lydia again. To her relief, nobody seemed to have even noticed she was missing. Thus, she was able to smoothly rejoin Lydia as she led the kids over to the next segment.

"Ah, there you are Stacy!" She was greeted cheerfully. "We're just setting up for the next next segment. Then we've got Daisy's bit, and then it'll be time for lunch."

"Okay..." Stacy helped get the kids in place at the many different easels, making sure everyone had their markers and pads of paper. She paused briefly, staring when she saw Nick Nack helping a girl set up her paper. He was leaning over the table, showing her the proper way to put her pad on the easel. It was almost sweet, watching the usually stuck up Puppet help a kid out.

But knowing what she did now, Stacy found it pretty creepy.

But she ignored it. She helped Lydia make sure everyone had what they needed, and then moved off set so the cameras could get rolling. But even though she wasn't on set, she kept as close an eye as she could on the Puppet without being obvious. Danny was around somewhere, and like hell would she let these things get him.

The segment went as they normally did. The kids drew something and Nick Nack sang some stupid little song about being creative or something. It made Stacy scoff internally. 'I could write a much better song than that. I thought Nick was supposed to have standards.'

"Hey, kid." Lydia leaned in, trying not to be caught by the mic. "Head on over to the kitchen set and help Daisy get set up." Stacy gave her a horrified look, but it was misinterpreted. "Look, I know you're supposed to stick close to me, but she always needs the extra help. So if you could give her that today, I'll make sure she saves some pie for you, okay?"

'It's not like I have much of a choice, do I?!' The girl nodded mutely, and quietly started to sneak over to the proper set. She paused when she reached the edge, the angle allowing her to watch Daisy without being seen herself.

So far, it didn't seem the Puppet was doing anything sinister. She was just "pacing" back and forth behind her counter, setting out ingredients for whatever she would be baking on the segment. Most likely it would be pie, but from what Stacy knew she did occasionally make cake, and at one point she made donuts. She was also humming the theme song as she worked, which made her seem just a little bit more... human. At the very least, it gave Stacy enough courage to actually approach, making sure to make a bit of noise as she did so.

"Oh!" The Puppet jumped as the girl kicked a pen someone had left on the floor, turning to face her. "Well hey there Stacy! I didn't expect to see you here yet."

"Uh, Lydia said that you, y'know, might need help getting set up before all the kids showed up." She couldn't quite keep her voice from shaking, and prayed that it wasn't too obvious. Luckily, the southern belle didn't seem to notice, though Stacy wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"Well shoot, I sure could. Some of these assistants just put my things far too high on the shelves." She pulled a pad of paper and pen from her apron and scribbled out a quick list. "If you could just get me these out of the storage closet, I'd be ever so grateful." She handed over the list,, which Stacy took with some hesitation. "The closet is right over there, sugar. Shouldn't be too hard to find it."

"Yeah." She said, but Daisy had already moved on, disappearing from sight as she ducked under the counter. It left the girl feeling very much like character from a video-game.  Still, she shook it off and went over to the closet, finding it easily as it said Kitchen Storage on the door.

Entering with only a brief hesitation, she found the entire small room completely unorganized. "Jesus Christ! Did a hurricane come in through here?!" She glanced between the list and the mess piled around her with a heavy sigh. Even though there were only three items on it, she felt her heart sink as she looked around the room. "This is gonna take forever..."

"Stacy!" Came a cry from above, followed by something soft landing on her head. The girl gave a stifled scream as the Hand Puppet from before slid off her head onto a box in front of her.

"Scout?!" She struggled to keep her voice low. "What the hell?!"

"Are you getting stuff for Mom?" The Puppet asked, "hopping" from the box she was on to a lower one.

'... Mom?' Stacy's mind went blank for a moment, trying to figure out the logistics. "Uh..."

"Cause I know where everything is in here." She climbed up onto a set of boxes set up like stairs, ending up at almost eye level with the teen. "Sometimes Bonzai likes to hide stuff, but I always know how to find it. Just tell me what you need!"

"Uh, okay!" Stacy perked up, not one to ignore a miracle when it happened. She looked over the list again to make sure she got it right. "Okay.. First thing she needs is a hand mixer."

"Over there!" Scout pointed to a shelf and Stacy made her way over. Right there, underneath a box meant for a set of mixing bowls was the mixer. She picked it up, then looked at the list again.

"She also needs some measuring spoons, and some sort of special rolling pin, I think." Stacy scratched her head, confused, but Scout nodded.

"I know what you mean! The spoons are in here, and the rolling pin is way up there." Stacy could feel her hopes shatter once again as she looked up at the tall shelf the Puppet pointed to. "But don't worry, I can get it for you. You grab the box of spoons!"

"But-" Stacy looked back, only to find Scout had vanished. "Okay, then." She picked up the box and put the mixer in it. After a moment, she also dropped the list in too, in case Daisy needed to double check.

"Look out!" Stacy caught the falling objects in the box as well, said objects being Scout and the rolling pin. "Awesome catch! Totally saved my life there." She climbed out of the box, and the girl watched in concern as she dropped to the floor.

"Uh, don't you want to, I dunno, come with?" Stacy asked as the Puppet crawled away behind some boxes.

"Nah, I got stuff to do, vents to map out." She answered flippantly as she disappeared from sight. "I'll see you later, though!" Stacy looked behind the box, but couldn't see the Puppet despite there being nowhere she could go.

"Huh..." She chose to ignore that for now and left the closet, not sure if she was leaving or entering the Twilight Zone. She went back over to where Daisy was, hefting the box up onto the counter. "Um, here you go. This is everything you needed, right?" She backed away quickly as Daisy sped over to where she was, rifling through the box.

"Yep, sure is sugar!" She had a beaming smile on her face, but it just made Stacy uncomfortable, so she looked away. "Thank you so much for your help. Now I can get everything all set up before the kids get here."

"No problem..." Stacy muttered, backing up slightly. She watched as Daisy set everything up, unsure of whether to help or not. On the other hand, it felt wrong to simply stand there doing nothing. On the other, well...

Stacy had seen the older episodes of the show. One wrong move, and she was "burnt toast, sliced thinly" as the quote went. So she just stayed back and watched, waiting in case she did need help.

In the end, however, she didn't make a move to help. Not that it mattered much, as soon Lydia had showed up with the kids, and Stacy had her hands full helping get the in their places and sitting still.

"Thank you so much for doing that." The woman muttered as they helped everyone get set up for recording. "Seriously, it's making everything go so much faster."

"No problem..." Stacy said, wondering how much worse things would've been if she hadn't helped. 'It really didn't take that long. Although Scout did help me out. Maybe they should ask her for help next time they need stuff from in there.'

She helped finish getting things set up, then hurried out of the way so they could film the segment. She sat nervously next to Lydia, watching as the kids ran around "helping" Daisy bake a pie while she sang about it. It was all very typical for the kid's show, and Stacy found herself bored again very soon.

"Y'know, after this it'll be lunch time." Lydia whispered when she noticed her fidgeting. "Why don't you head on over to the cafeteria and get something to eat. I'll meet you over there when this is done."

"Are you sure that would be okay?" Stacy questioned. It wasn't that she didn't want to leave, but what Mary or Lydia's boss might say if they saw her just "wandering" around.

"It'll be fine. If anyone complains, just tell them that I sent ya on ahead to save me a seat." The woman told her with a wink and a grin which Stacy hesitantly returned. "It's down that hallway over there, and is the big room with the big windows. You can't miss it!"

"Okay." Stacy went off in the indicated direction, dodging around a few other workers. Nobody said a thing, or even seemed to take notice of her as she made her way down the hall, easily finding the cafeteria. Looking in the large windows, she saw a buffet style set up, not unlike the one at her school. The only difference was that it looked, and smelled, far more appetizing.

She was just about to open it, when she heard voices coming from the room across the hall. Before she had even registered who exactly was talking, she was already making her way over to listen in. Carefully, she opened the door just a crack, then crouched low to look through the opening.

"I can not believe those children! They ruined my set, and refused to listen!" Stacy watched as Riley wheeled back and forth, looking and sounding madder than Stacy would've thought possible for the seemingly nice Puppet. Nick Nack also watched her from where he was leaning against a desk, looking quite bored.

"Riley, please, he knocked over one empty beaker. The new girl even picked it up for you. It's fine." He sounded exasperated, but quickly backed up with an almost fearful expression as the scientist got in his face.

"Shut up you paint covered fool! I value each and every tool!" She shouted, making Nick and even Stacy flinch back. "One day a brat will make a mistake insurance can't cover! This is why I prefer working with children that are older." She hissed out.

"Yes, well, these segments are still integral to the show. The parents love them, more than the kids I think." The artist had recovered quickly, now looking unfazed by the rant. He took a paint brush out of his pocket and examined it, making a show of not looking at his fellow Puppet. "Besides, we're recording the actual story after the humans eat, and you're on first again. So surely you can keep a hold of yourself until then."

Riley just grumbled, crossing her arms. Nick sighed, putting his brush away, and Stacy ducked to the side when he turned to face the scientist and, consequently, the door.

"What do you think of the new girl, anyways?" He asked. "She seems rather shy to me."

Riley scoffed. "It's her first day Nick Nack, and she's being taught by Lydia of all people. Just give her a week, and I'm sure she'll, uh..." Riley trailed off, and Stacy found herself trying to think of what could possibly rhyme with "people".

"Talk yourself into a corner, did you?" He asked smugly, and Stacy looked back to see the absolute smirkiest smirk on his face. Riley was on him instantly, smacking him with both hands.

"Shut up shut up SHUT UP!" She snarled with every hit. "At least I actually try! Not my fault you can't continue the rhymes!"

"Now you wait just a minute there!" The artist snapped as he backed away from her, but anything else he would say Stacy didn't hear, as something - or rather, someone - once again landed on her head. She snapped her head forward and caught Scout as she fell.

"Hi Stacy!" The hand Puppet greeted, a little too loudly for the girl's taste. She felt her heart stop as the argument beyond the door did, and quickly backed away.

"Hey, Scout..." She said quietly as she hurried away. The cafeteria, while not full, did have people in it. Which meant it wasn't a good hiding spot so long as she had Scout with her. Instead she ducked around the corner, hoping the two Puppets wouldn't be curious enough to look very far. Her heart sank when she noticed it was a dead end, but she ignored it for the moment. "What were you up to?"

"Looking for you." The Puppet said. "How'd Mom's part of the show go?"

"Uh, good?" She winced at the questioning tone. "I don't really know, Lydia sent me over here, so I didn't get to see all of it."

"That's too bad." Scout said, then almost deflated as the squeaking of wheels approached. "Oh no."

Stacy felt everything go cold, and started to hold Scout tighter. Her heart pounded, and she backed up as Riley came around the corner with a glare.

"Scout!" She snapped. "We have told you before, during the day you're not to venture beyond your door!"

"Indeed." Nick said as he joined the scientist. Together, they managed to block a good portion of the narrow hallway, blocking any escape. Stacy felt her throat constrict, heartbeat quickening as she realized she was cornered. "You should know better by now."

"But I wasn't seen!" A pause as the small Puppet glanced at the human holding her. "By more than one person. But Stacy's my friend! She's cool with it! Right, Stacy?" Scout looked up, frowning when she gave no answer. "Stacy?"

Pupils shrunk and breathing quick and shallow, the girl was staring straight ahead and clutching the Hand Puppet in an ever tightening grip. It was starting to hurt, actually, and Scout was beginning to worry about her new friend. "Um, Stacy..."

Riley ignored the girl and simply sighed, approaching and reaching for the Puppet. "Enough of this nonsense! It's time to-"

Stacy shrieked, flinging Scout at Nick and catching him in the face. While he stumbled back, scrambling to grab the Hand Puppet, she shoved Riley to the floor and bolted. The three of them watched  as she vanished around the corner, the sound of her footsteps fading fast as she raced away.

"Well." Nick said, holding Scout as he stared after the girl and Riley struggled to pick herself up off the floor. "That was certainly... something." He cleared his throat, desperate to think of what he should do, but nothing came to mind.

"Man, I can't believe you two chased off my only friend!" Scout lamented, interrupting his tumbling thoughts. He stared down at her as she flopped over in his grip in the most over dramatic way possible. "She was so cool! Didn't talk down to me or anything. And now I'm never going to see her again!"

"Er..." He blinked, now even more confused. He wanted his paints back, as at least he understood those. 'Blasted humans, making a mess out of everything. Father, at least, was never this bad!'

"Just help me get off the ground!" Riley demanded, shaking the artist from his thoughts and confusion. "And don't worry about the girl Scout, I'm sure we'll see her around."

"But, not you." Nick told the Hand Puppet as he helped Riley up. "You, I'm sure, will be grounded."

"Boooooooooo!" But Scout didn't complain beyond that, letting Nick haul her back to Daisy's room. Riley, meanwhile went in search of another human. There was a human child now lost somewhere in the studio, and proper procedure was to tell the adults so they could handle it. And Riley wasn't one to ignore proper procedure.

[harryandhishook]

1-Reintroduction 100 writing prompt challenge - ConVin

Pairing: Connor x Gavin Reed

Setting: Detroit

Warning: Swearing, Gavin being Gavin, Connor and Hank being adorable Father and Son, Parental cuteness from Hank, SUMO

Summary:  After a year of Androids not being allowed to work as Markus help create new laws and regulations for his people to be safe, Connor is allowed to return to the DPD, there is only one problem he is facing, seeing the face of the man who tried to kill him. Will he start his old job fresh and keep away from the man who taunted him? Or will he try to restart his life and make amends?

Words: 4702

Requested: No, however it is part of a 100 writing Prompt challenge I’m challenging myself to do, I found this on DeviantArt from ribonsnlace and wanted to give myself more than just Descendants and I needed more Android Connnor cuteness 

Side note: For anyone reading my Harry Hook fanfiction, ‘Wings are made to Fly’ I promise I will update soon, I’ve just been so busy and had a slight bit of writers block on it for a while that I needed to try something else to get me into writing again, thanks for understanding :D

It had taken almost a year after the revolution for things to go back the way they were; a year of discussions, government meetings, speeches, planning and new laws; a year of androids being placed in safe homes with volunteers who had been through extensive background checks and many home visits, finally, it was all back to normal.

Androids were now free to apply for jobs, rent or buy houses, get married, live life and be alive. Most androids had made the choice to stay with their volunteers while others chose to make a life for themselves, some went back to the things they did before the revolution, some decided to explore new career paths as well as become stay at home wives or husbands.

There was only one problem that seemed to arise during that year; as the Androids were not allowed to work, a lot of hiring had to be done which was great for hundreds of people but not so good for the DPD. Hank was the first to be affected by it, luckily, with a lot of paperwork and convincing, he was able to take Connor in, however, that meant he was alone, he didn’t have his little crime fighting buddy by his side and it was causing a lot of his cases to go slower than usual.

Fowler, along with the entirety of the police department, realized just how much the cases suffered without Connor here. Most of the detectives missed the way he talked; Chris and Tina really missed how much he seemed to care about everyone around him, if their stress levels were higher than normal, he would instantly be by their sides, asking if they needed any refreshments. It was almost like Connor was their little therapy puppy, hovering around the bullpen with a soft, goofy smile and adorable way of speaking.

No one suspected just how much the sudden change had affect the one person who hated the android the most; Gavin Reed was barely functioning by the end of the year, every day, almost 15 cups of coffee would be scattered across his desk while he sat, staring almost hopefully at the empty desk across from Hank. He knew that he could easily go visit, he knew he could just open his phone and call, but Gavin also knew just how much of a heartless prick he had been to the poor Android and for some unknown reason, he really missed him.

The night before Connor was able to go back to work as an actual detective, everyone celebrated, his desk was covered in gifts and flowers for him, new instalments had been added just to make sure he had everything he would need to continue through the days and Hank had to be the one to begrudgingly go through a lot of annoying smiling face as he helped everyone decorate; even he didn’t know why everyone was going crazy over the idea of Connor working with them again.

Finally, after the excruciating annoyance of his co-workers, Hank was able to go home.

The sky glistened as the heavy droplets of snow fell, covering the houses, the wind around Hank as he walked the footpath toward his bungalow felt like sharp daggers slicing across his skin, the freezing temperatures taking a toll on his aging bones but it didn’t matter as he spotted the one person he was waiting to see, his friend, his co-worker, his son.

The silhouette of the Android danced across the closed curtains as he ran around the living room, the shadow of a big, hairy dog, bouncing after him; the laughter from inside was enough to make him realize just how much he needed Connor, the joy he could hear was enough to remind him why he had kept on living, why he had stopped drinking and why he no longer played a game with his gun.

The man shook himself from his thoughts quickly and stepped up to the door, only realizing it was a bad idea to be so loud when a huge fluff ball blocked his vision, causing the man to stumble and yell in surprise, making the four-legged softie more excited,

“Alright, alright, down you big mutt!” the older man said in frustration, his beard and cheek now covered in slobber. With a bit of hidden strength, he pushed the dog away from him, shuffling around so he could close the door with a soft thud; moving into the living room, Hank felt the edges of his lips curl up as he watched Connor clean up after Sumo, “So, seems you’ve been making the most of the day before you go back to work” the man commented as he placed a neatly wrapped parcel down onto the table just as Connor turned to look at him,

“Well, I suspected that I won’t really be able to spend much time with Sumo as much as I have over the year so I tried to use as much time as I could now to give him all the affection he deserves” the android replied, moving closer to the lieutenant as he deposited the items in his hand into a pile on the floor for a moment, “However, I am very grateful that Captain Fowler has allowed me to return to my position, I think I am going to enjoy being around everyone again” he continued as he wrapped his arms around Hank, “and I’m also so happy to be working along side you again, dad” he whispered, his arms pulling the older man into tighter embrace.

It didn’t really take Hank by surprise too much, Connor had become very affectionate over the year, deviating had caused Connor a lot of struggles, his emotions were all over the place for months but Hank, Markus and few others had quickly helped him through it all. Markus was the one to help Connor find hobbies, things he could do while he wasn’t working, they tried many things; cooking, baking, painting, reading, etc, not many things did interest him but he did enjoy losing himself in the imagination of the books Hank had collected over the years and to everyone’s surprise, cross-stitching; Connor had explained quite calmly to them that he quite enjoyed using the colours to bring an image together, or in Hanks words, ‘stabbing something a thousand times to make a beautiful piece of work’.

Beside all that, it was Hank who had given Connor the help he needed through emotions, Hank was there at every nightmare, Hank was there for every breakdown, Hank was there, always by his side, always holding him close, it was Hank who brought him out of the darkness he had put himself in, given him purpose when he thought he had lost it and without realizing, had given him a reason to live. Connor hadn’t ever told him but through some of the worst times, all he wanted to do was deactivate, he spiralled out of control, but Hank had saved him, just as the Android had saved Hank from himself.

Pulling himself back to the present, Hank kissed the top of Connor head softly, pulling himself back to look down at his son with a playful smirk, his hands resting on the Androids shoulders as spoke,

“Don’t get all emotional on me now, you haven’t even opened your present yet” he chuckled and quickly maneuverer the man to sit on the couch, even as the younger one protested against any presents, “And don’t give me all that crap about not needing any gifts, you’re my son, I’m allowed to and anyway, technically this isn’t from me” he argued cheerfully as he sat beside the Android, grabbing the gift and placing it on the other mans lap, “Open it”

Reluctantly and with a roll of his eyes, Connor slowly pulled the wrapping from the gift, he wanted to argue back but he knew Hank would never take it, the man was stubborn … now he knows where he gets his cocky little attitude from. A moment passed as he pulled the paper away from the present inside and noticed a form inside of what appeared to be a plastic bag. He glanced at Hank confused before reading over the form; realizing it was a complete order form for a new uniform, he quickly pulled it out to examine it,

“Why am I getting this now? I thought I would be getting my uniform as well as my badge tomorrow?” he asked confused as he opened the bag but a hand stopped him, causing the Android to move his gaze to the older man sitting beside him, smiling softly as he explained,

“Fowler wanted me to give you this, it took him a lot to get the uniform to look like this … Connor, you’re special to us but everyone thought this might be more of a Father-Son type thing so … just take it out” he finally said, too impatient to say anything more as he prompted Connor to look at the Uniform.

The Android agreed as he pulled the uniform from the bag, placing them down on the table as he picked up each item, the uniform was the basic Police uniform, not really much difference until he spotted small details, details that normal civilian wouldn’t notice; his shirt was slightly more blue than the normal shirts, his tie had a single blue strip at the bottom and the collar of his shirt had a very thin strip of blue around the edge like his old Cyberlife jacket.

Connor stared for longer than he should have, Fowler had taken time out of his busy schedule to get his uniform design slightly more custom to him. It wasn’t like he was someone important but the fact that they were all doing something like this for him made him feel more than just an android … and that was the moment his emotion decided to run on overdrive. Quickly, he placed the uniform back onto the table and threw himself at Hank, hiding his face in the man’s shirt as he cried, unfortunately for Hank, he was now stuck with a crying Android tightly holding him and no idea what to do,

“Hey kid, it’s okay, you mean a lot to us, Connor, you’re one of the best detectives we have and anyway, if you want to thank anyone for the uniform, thank Reed, he put the idea into Fowlers head … I don’t know how but he did” Hank explained as he slowly ran his hands up and down the Androids back, trying to comfort him. Slowly, the sobs turned into little sniffles as the younger man looked up,

“Detective Reed? H-He did this for me?” he asked as he looked over at his new uniform, his expression becoming one of confusion, “Why? He hated me, he hates me, he hasn’t spoken to me since the incident in the evidence room” he mused, more to himself but loud enough that Hank heard, making the elder sigh softly,

“He’s a disaster, since you left, he hasn’t been the same, we thought it was because he didn’t have you to torment but I think he actually misses you, Connor” Hank stated, trying his hardest not to jump to conclusion but it wasn’t hard to see the very obvious signs, “What do you think about it all, Connor? If Gavin does want a second chance, if he does actual miss you … do you want to try?” he asked, looking down at the Android who had now turned his head away from the brand new clothes, a frown on his face as he shrugged,

“I’m not sure … I …” he struggled to think of the correct words for the situation, he tried to think of the right words that wouldn’t make him look like a heartless monster, “He hurt me deeply, he punched me, he held a gun to my head and tried to kill me … he hated me as well as other Androids, he never liked me and he never will … but if he really wants a second chance, if there is a chance he does miss me … then I will try” he said, looking up to his dad with those big puppy dog eyes that no one could resist, “Was that a good response?” he asked, hoping he had read the situation correctly and when he saw the soft expression of Hank watching him, he knew he had,

“Yeah, it was good, Son, now, get some rest, you have a lot to do tomorrow” he instructed, helped the Android up off the couch, kissing his head softly, “I’m so proud of you” and with that, the older man left the room, heading to his own bedroom to get as much sleep as possible, leaving the android alone with the clothes and his thoughts.

The next day came quicker than expected; Connor, as punctual as ever, had exited sleep mode, fed as well as walked, Sumo, made breakfast for Hank and woken him, all before six in the morning. Hank hadn’t been expecting to wake up to smell of fried eggs and bacon but damn, he knew this was going to be a good morning, even if it was six in the god damn morning. However, what Hank hadn’t been expecting more than the breakfast, was entering the kitchen in nothing but his boxers and a shirt to find Connor completely dressed, uniform neatly on him, his hair styled like normal with a slight curl instead of his usual flick on his forehead but the thing that topped it all off was the large toddler like grin on his face,

“Good Morning Lieutenant, I hope you don’t mind but I took the liberty of making breakfast for you, I also made you some coffee, just how you like it” he cheerfully exclaimed as he placed a mug on the kitchen table for Hank, turning away to plate up the food, “I’ve estimated that we will have enough time for you to eat this as well as pick you up a cup of your favourite coffee from that little café you like” he stated before handing the older man his food.

Hanks smile was reminiscent of a proud parent as he ate, watching Connor almost skip around the place, anyone could see that the Android was happier and it made Hank understand just what it meant to stay alive,

“So, Connor, are you ready to start you’re first day as a fully paid detective?” he asked as he chugged almost half of his coffee and shoved some more of his bacon into his mouth. He could see Connors LED become just a little bit brighter as the Android beamed happily,

“I am so excited, Hank, I get to do the thing I was made to do but this time actually do it with a passion … I’m just a little scared” the androids face slowly turned into one of worry, the light covering his left temple became a soft yellow, “I know that, now I’m deviant, it’ll be a different experience, I can feel and emote unlike before so I’m worried about how cases will affect me, however, I see it as more of a learning curve, it scares me more than I thought but it excites me too …” he explained as his LED slowly turned back to blue as his usual smile appeared on his face, his head turning towards Hank, “I’m just glad I’ll get to work along side you, dad” his voice was soft and his eyes showed adoration.

The older man slowly stood, the faint sound of clicks filled the space as his joints tried to fight the action; he placed the plates in the sink before placing a hand on Connors shoulder, speaking with a smile,

“Connor, you’re going to be just as amazing as before, don’t worry” he encouraged before slapping his shoulder gently, moving around him to finally dress for another days work, “make sure you’ve got everything before we leave” the Lieutenant yelled through the house a moment before a soft click of his bedroom door could be heard, leaving Connor to wait for him on the sofa.

As Connor waited, his mind wandered back to one thing Hank seemed to continuously mention, Gavin Reed, he knew he would have to go back and be in the same building as the man, he knew he would have to either interact with him in the precinct or on a scene and unfortunately, Connor was going to have to think of what to do; he could ignore him and only talk to him when it is absolutely necessary but Connor quickly shook that from his head, if he was being honest, he didn’t want to ignore Gavin, or anyone for that matter, he wanted to restart and make friendships, not cause rifts before he’s even had a chance to try. The only other idea was to try again … he shook that from his head as well, Gavin wouldn’t dare, he wouldn’t look twice at the android and Connor knew that there was only one thing to do, only speak when spoke to when it comes to Gavin.

Soon, Hank and Connor were on their way back to the Precinct, both smiling at the silence of being together in the car once again. Hanks music was quietly playing through the old speakers as the engine rattled against the bumps in the road, neither one of them wanting to ruin their quaint little journey but they knew it would end when Connor spoke up, refusing to turn his head away from the racing world outside the passenger window,

“Hank … I seem to be experiencing a strange feeling I’m not familiar with …” his gaze flicked down to his hands, watching as his fingers picked at the fabric of his recently pressed trousers. After a few moments of deafening silence, the android finally looked up to his partner who’s eyes were still trained on the road but there was an unreadable emotion behind them,

“Son, why don’t you try explaining it as best you can and we’ll see if my old ass can help” the older man finally answered, flicking his gaze towards the other for a second. Both knew of Hanks inability to read emotions and his very bad handle of them but he was also a man who secretly tried to help where he could and had been there for Connor thousands of times but if anyone ever asked, they would be going home with a black eye.

Connor thought for a while, watching as the Detroit community continued with their every day lives, he had trouble explaining his emotions to Markus when he was trying to learn and especially to Hank since the ex-alcoholic had a very bad habit of ignoring his own but he knew he would need to try, problems on a case would be difficult and as Connor had learnt … well, in reality, he had taken the advice of Evie Frye from an old game Hank had shown him, ‘never let emotions compromise a mission’, and well, it was pretty good advice,

“I don’t know how to describe what I’m feeling … It’s almost like … like something is causing my Thirium pump to accelerate in speed” Connor started, trying to think of some of the best ways to describe what he felt, “I also seem to have this overwhelming urge to turn around and go home and never come back, which is confusing as I’m more than ready to restart my work as a detective” the android continued, watching the older man closely, their journey slowly coming closer and closer to its end. Hank sighed, he didn’t need to be good with emotions to know just how Connor felt, he just didn’t know what specific thing was causing it, however, he knew it was one of two things; going back to work after about almost a year or Gavin and he was going to guess it was the latter,

“Connor, listen to me, this feeling you have, the awful drop in your stomach, the excruciating beating of you heart, it’s just nervousness, you’re scared and I’m going to guess it’s not about being a detective again” Hank questioned, amazingly for an android, Connor was pretty damn easy to read and the lieutenant just wanted to help, “Con, I know you’re scared about seeing Gavin again but I know you, I know that you are strong and I know that you’ll make the choices you think are right, even without that little probability thing you have, you can get through this day perfectly fine” the man stated as he pulled the car into his usual spot, turning off the engine so he could turn to look at his son, “Son, you can get through this and I know you can, you don’t need to be nervous” he said before slipping himself out of the car, leaving Connor in thought for a moment.

The Android didn’t realize he was scared, he had never felt this type of scared before, it was so much different from the fear of playing a scary game or watching a horror movie but now that he knew of this emotion, he couldn’t help but feel slightly worried that it would affect him more than it was; at least he had most of the precinct to talk him out of it.

Finally, Connor moved from the car, moving quickly to catch up to Hank who was already stood at the door of the station, watching the android from a distance. They stepped inside together and almost instantly, the receptionists smiled upon seeing him, it was the same Android he had met the first day he came. With a quick hello and a little chatter about both being able to return to what they loved doing, Connor followed Hank with a bit more of a skip in his step and a smile on his face. Rounding the corner, they came face to face with the doors to the bull pen, making the happy little Android freeze and become slightly timid than he’s ever been before.

When Hank couldn’t hear the perfectly rhythmic footsteps behind him, the man turned to see the once smiling Connor stood completely still, for a moment, he was scared the boy had shut down from how motionless he was until he saw the blink of his eyes; He walked back towards his son and placed a gentle hand upon his shoulder, smiling reassuringly,

“Connor, you’re gonna be fine, tell me your stress level” he demanded softly, trying to keep his voice steady and low for him,

“74%” Connor whispered, his eyes moved from the point they were focused on in front of him to gaze at the commotion of the precinct only to receive a squeeze to his shoulder as Hank tried to keep him calm,

“Connor, I know you don’t need them but deep breaths, you can do this, Chris and the others have been excited to see you” he stated happily, trying to coax Connor into going in, “You can do this, Son” Hank slowly took his hand away, moving back towards the bullpen, if Connor was ready, he’d follow and he knew he had the moment he heard everyone around him cheer, the one sentence on their lips,

“WELCOME BACK CONNOR”

And Connor felt more than welcomed, once he had received his badge and gun from Fowler, doing some quick paperwork, Connor was back in the bullpen, surrounded by all his old colleagues and hopefully new friends; the entire day was taken up by talking, laughing, joking, opening the gifts everyone had left for him and questions about the year that passed and Connor couldn’t have been happier.

Chris and Tina were the ones who mainly stayed around Connors desk the entire day, others coming and going as they had some work to do but those two had been curious about everything, their questions consisted of; What is it like living with Hank? What did you do? Did you make friends? Is there anyone special your life? Simple gossipy questions which made Connor smile wider than he had in the past year.

There was only one person in the entire Precinct, one person who hadn’t moved from his desk and hadn’t spoken to Connor once, Gavin Reed. The man hadn’t even gone to get himself a coffee, he didn’t dare move from the position he was in, on the fear he would be stopped by someone; his head was down and a pair of headphones shoved in his ears but the slight movement on his eyes towards Connor would be enough evidence to anyone that he desperately wanted to join them all, join Tina and Chris, celebrate and smile … but after what he did, he couldn’t.

It wasn’t until closer to the end of the day that movement from Gavin was seen by anyone; the man stood suddenly, startling quite a few people around him, silence filled the room as everyone watched the rugged, sleep deprived man make his way through the large space of the bullpen towards the one desk he hadn’t been seen near in a very, very long time. Before anyone could stop him, not even Hank was quick enough, he was stood beside the once empty desk; his hands shoved deep in his pockets as his gaze pointed to the floor, finally, his mouth opened to speak,

“Tin-C … I mean, Connor, listen, I … erm … I want to apologise for everything I d-“ before he could finish, Connor stood, turning to look at the man who had taunted him for weeks with a stone cold expression on his face,

“No, you listen to me, Reed, I don’t want your apologies, I don’t want your ‘I’m deeply sorry’ speech or ‘I regret what I did to you’ because I don’t want to hear any of that” he started, his expression never changing once as everyone stared with their jaws on the floor and their eyes the size of sauce pans, “Detective, you really hurt me, I may not have felt most emotions back when we first met but when I think back, I realize how much of a complete asshole you were to me … Detective, you tried to kill me” he stated, anyone in the room could see the regret and heartbreak on Gavins face as he continued to stare at the floor, “I thought about that the past year I wasn’t here, I thought of the words you said and the glares you sent my way … and I worked through them with Markus and Hanks help, I can identify emotions and get through them better than my first few months as a newly turned Deviant …” Connor explained, his expression softening a little as he took a single stepped towards Gavin, making the detective look up confused, “That’s why I forgave you months ago, I heard about what you did for me, I heard about your suggestion on my uniform, the way you’ve been acting … and this is why I’m restarting it all” he stated, watching as Gavin looked around more than confused.

Hank slowly stood from his desk, even though it was going against what he thought Connor should do to the prick, he watched on with a proud fatherly expression as everyone else watched on in utter disbelief.

Connor smiled softly as he held his hand out in front of him, waiting for Gavin to take, which he slowly did, still utterly confused over everything that was happening, especially the current handshake,

“Hello, my names Connor Anderson and I’ll be working here along side you, I hope that we can be friends” he finally finished, a proper smile gracing his face. The rugged detective in front of him smiled, for the first time in a long time, he smiled, shaking Connors hand properly before he spoke,

“It’s nice to meet you Connor, I’m Gavin, Gavin Reed”

[crazyrandomfucker]

Adrien Augreste: Lucky Charm

Hey ther, today it’s just a short one, but I knid of enjoyed creating it. I hope you do too

________________________

Adrien was having a funny dream, he as trapped with his friends inside a videogame, just like in Sword Art Online or Log Horizon, but the genre of the game kept randomly changing, making it hard to keep up with the game. Luckily, Mari was there and she was the best at games, his brotjer was also good, but not as much as her. Unluckily for Adrien, Mari was also there. After having that talk with Marin, Adrien hadn't been able to get the bluenette out of his head, not even in his own dreams. He had been reassuring himself that he was only in love with his Lady and that Mari was just a friend, that he was loyal to Ladybug. Yet, as the designer girl was beating another game, he couldn't help to think how awesome and skilled she was, restarting once again the whole reassuring his love for Ladybug cycle.

When he woke up with a faint blush on his face everyone else was still sleeping like babies, so he simply went to the bathroom. As usual, Plagg would tease him on his latest slip while he washed his face, but this time, Adrien couldn't think of a good comeback for Plagg's teasing, so he just ignored it and went back to his bed, grabbing his phone to play some games. He had already download the brand new UMS game for mobile and thought to give it a chance. He oppened the app and registered to have access to the multiplayer servers and not just the classic story mode. Apparently, aside from playing with the pickable charcters, one could also made his own robotic fighter with parts that could be unlocked upon meeting some requirements or paying for the special chests for VIP users. Since he had payed the full price for the game, he was a VIP user and recieved a chest just by logging in for the first time, giving him pretty neat part to customize his robot. He instantly assembled one and went straight to PvP battles, after all, the best way to learn it's by experiencing it at its purest..

Despite losing the first few battles, he quickly began to catch on the game mechanics and began to wonder if there would be someone near battling in the local PvP server. Adrien, lead by his curiosity, went to the Local Mode, expecting a long queue or to simply be empty. To his surprise, there was a single player at that exact moment, someone that went by MDC_designer. He instantly asked for a battle and he got a quick response, the other player accepting the challenge. As the countdown was going on for the battle to begin, he observed how his rival was also using a custom made robot, but all its parts where unlockable parts given rather early in the game, which weren't really useful on his opinion. Unlike that pink bot, his Chat bot was perfectly tailored with the best parts that matched his fighting style, so he thought it would just be an easy win.

A minute later, his opponent had already won the first round, leaving Adrien gawking at the unbelievable fighting style he had just witnessed, revaluing his opinion of his rival and feeling nothing but respect for them. The second round, thought it was a bit longer and Adrien presented a bit more of resistance, was still won by that misterious yet skilled player. adrien wasted no time to send a Friend request to the player, getting an equally faster positive reply.

"Hey there @MDC_designer, great battle" texted Adrien. "Thanks, the same goes for you. thought your built was actually pretty cool" said the other player. "Thanks, I like to call it: The ChatBot. you know, in Chat Noir's honor and that" explained Adrien. "I'd expect nothing less since your nickname is @Chat_inthehouse". "Yeah, that was kinda an obious one, wasn't it?" said Adrien. "Anyway, where did you learnt those moves?" "Well, I've always been a huge follower of UMS and I've already been playing since it was first relesed, so I got practice. But I also had a bit of luck" said the other player. "Luck? Wow, you must be very lucky then. I have a lucky charm a friend of mine gave me and it had always worked" "I also have one, a friend of mine gave it to me in my birthday. Perhaps he put more luck in it than your friend?" "I don't think so, Marinette always does perfect jobs. That's my friend, btw" said Adrien. "Marinette? As in Marinette Dupain-Cheng?" asked suddenly the stranger. "Yes, do you know her?" asks curious the model. "You could say so Adrien" "Wait, how do you know my name" "Well, your the lucky charm you gave me is certainly a lucky one, thought I didn't expect you to be awake" "Wait... Mari? Is that you?" "Yep, the girls are all asleep and I was bored, so I just grabbed my phone and searched for any contendant near" "Same, thought I battle a bit first to learn the mechanics, I hadn't had an opportunity to try the game 'til now" "Really? You were really good at it, I'd never thought it was your first day" "Thanks Mari. By the way, I talked last night with Marin and now we've sort of dug the war axe" "That's great, I can tell Adrienne was really pissed at you for that" "Weren't you also?" asked Adrien, smiling for himself. "That was because Marin was being an idiot. Adrienne was mad about how you reacted to Marin" excused herself the bluenette. "Right. BTW, I'm glad to be texting like this. You're always looking as if you'd want to run whenever I'm around, but MArin told me that it's because you still feel nervous for reacting to the gum issue that way. Don't worry about that, I can't blame you. And I'd really like to talk to you and get to know you. You're a really amazing girl" "Oh.. Um.. I'll try to. Sorry for being like that" "Don't worry about it. I'd rather be your friend instead of minding such a little thing" "That would be great! I mean... I'd love to!"

Adrien chuckled and looked at his drawer, where the lucky charm rested, sending him lucky vibes. He thought that the charm was actually lucky, as he now could be friends with Marinette. Perhaps he should think about taking it everywhere, it was the best lucky charm after all.

[hamilton-one-shots]

Land smut?..

(I wasn’t sure what to do at first, so I went to my prompts list and had my roommate pick two at random. 169: “What a pretty sight.” 175: “Well, fine; just this once.”)

“I’m home,” Alexander announced as he shut the front door behind him, loosening his tie. Saturday cases were the worst… But he had to do what he had to do. He took a few steps into the house before he realized that he didn’t hear an answer from his boyfriend. What he did hear was muted music coming from the basement.

“John?” Alexander asked as he made his way towards the basement. Now, he could hear the music clearly, but he couldn’t quite place it. It was some old, sensual song. Definitely in John’s taste, but…

It wasn’t nearly enough to prepare him for the sight before him.

“Alex? I didn’t think you’d be home for another hour,” John said, holding himself upside down on a pole.

“Uh… I got off early.. Did I just ruin my birthday surprise?” he teased.

“Ha ha,” John mocked, letting himself down. “You know, it is a pole dancing class I’m taking. I do have to practice,” he reminded him as he grabbed his water.

“Yeah, I know.” Alexander remembered just how nervous John was at first, when he lost a bet and Lafayette got him to sign up for the class. Now, John was fairly confident in his abilities, constantly going down to the basement to practice, but Alexander had never seen him.

“Besides, we’re having a class competition and I’m not exactly the best one there.” Definitely not the worst, but far from the best. “If Laf beats me, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“Then… Maybe you can show me?” Alexander suggested, though his ulterior motives were fairly obvious. He knew that John didn’t like seeing it as a sexual activity, but Alexander found most things that John did pretty damn sexy.

John rolled his eyes, but smiled a bit. “You just want me as your own personal stripper,” he teased.

Alexander shook his head. “Well.. Kind of, but I know that it’s just a sport for you and I’m going to respect that. It’s like with high school band, if you can’t do it in front of me, how can you expect to do it in front of everyone else?”

And, as Alexander expected, that was what convinced John. It was that mindset that made him first chair horn as a freshman who’d moved over from trombone. Okay, that and the fact that there were only a few others, but still. “Well, fine; just this once.”

Alexander smiled and sat at the couch down there. Besides John’s practice, the basement was reserved for game nights with their friends, but Alexander was hoping he’d get screwed by more than a game of Monopoly that day.

John restarted the music and took a deep breath as he began his routine, pulling and pushing his weight through the air with the most grace he could.

To Alexander, that meant he looked like a god, gliding through the air with almost no resistance.

Luckily for the Caribbean man, John had a bad habit of gauging his audience’s reaction right after the more difficult moves and he was able to see the mixture of awe and lust on Alexander’s face. The way his mouth hung open and the shade of red in his cheeks.. John decided to improvise.

The next time that his feet were planted on the floor, John strode over towards Alexander, the blush on his boyfriend’s cheeks looking almost dark enough to hurt. He straddled his waist and pulled him into a deep kiss, shutting off the music remotely.

“That’s not part of your dance, is it,” Alexander asked breathlessly.

John shook his head. “I’m just winging it now.” He moved off of his lap to kneel on the ground. “Consider this my thank you for not making this sexual,” he joked as he pulled down Alexander’s pants and boxers, his fully hard erection springing out.

John licked his lips, then the head of Alexander’s cock before taking it into his mouth, Alexander groaning above him. He ran his tongue around it before pressing his tongue just below the head, making Alexander hiss with pleasure and push a hand into John’s hair.

“Fuck, you’re so good at this..” he gasped through the pleasure, lightly tugging at John’s hair.

John moaned and made eye contact with Alexander before lowering his face further down on his cock, moaning as his lips reached the base. When he couldn’t hold his breath anymore, John pulled his head up and off, then stood up and tugged off his own shorts, as if they’d been doing much to hide his own erection at that point.

John grabbed Alexander’s shoulders and laid him down on the couch, then kissed him, letting him taste the salty precum that was left on his tongue.

Alexander put a hand on the back of John’s head, holding him in the kiss longer and deepening it, letting know just how much his actions were appreciated.

“We’re not even done here,” John reminded him as he pulled away. He straddled Alexander’s hips and used one hand to spread himself, holding Alexander’s cock with the other, and groaning as he sank onto it.

Alexander groaned and put his hands on John’s hips, gripping tightly. “I’m going to need you to do this more often,” he joked, making John laugh.

“We’ll see,” John hummed as he began to roll his hips, moaning at the feeling. “If I do keep doing this, trust me, it’ll be more for myself than for you.” He rolled his hips a few more times before putting his hands on Alexander’s chest and beginning to bounce against him. “Fuck,” he moaned out, picking up speed slowly.

Alexander dug his fingers into John’s hips, the pleasure being almost overwhelming. “God, John, I’m already close-” he warned, the pressure building up in his abdomen being from more than John’s weight.

John began jerking himself off as he rode Alexander’s cock, using only his left hand to keep his balance. The pressure of being confined to his shorts hadn’t been enough to get John off, but the anticipation that came with it sure helped.

As Alexander got closer to the edge, the growing pleasure began to make him buck his hips involuntarily and the moans that the action elicited from John made his cock twitch. “John, I… I’m gonna-” Alexander cut himself off with a gasp and a deep groan as he came, shooting his seed deep into John.

John let out a sharp breath and pressed his hips down against Alexander’s as he reached his own orgasm, spilling all over Alexander’s shirt. “Sorry..” he panted out as he pulled himself off and plopped next to Alexander. “I’ll clean that later.”

Alexander shrugged. “I have other shirts. I just want to bask in this moment for as long as I can,” he sighed out, enjoying his post orgasm high.

John nodded and rested his head on Alexander’ chest, closing his eyes for a quick nap and snapping them back open as he heard voices from upstairs.

“Guys, we’re here for game night!”

[thesydneyfeminists]

Fitness Programs For Women aka That Time Vee Joined A Cult

Disclaimer: I am in no way getting paid to spruik these programs (but if they want to throw some money my way, I wouldn’t object) and I am definitely not a qualified health professional. This is all based off my own experiences with these programs and my very poor level of fitness.

Over the last few years, one thing that I’ve learned about myself and had to come to terms with, is that I am shockingly susceptible to a fitness cult. There’s no use denying it, the evidence speaks for itself. Like most people, when I started my “fitness journey” (God, I really am a pod person), I had absolutely no idea about what I should be doing for exercise or eating to fuel my body. My knowledge of nutrition and overall health was basically “go for a run and eat salads”, so it shouldn’t be surprising to hear that when I first lost a large(ish) amount of weight (in 2006), it was just by running on the treadmill and restricting calories in an extreme way – I was also going through a lot of personal issues at the time, so stress played a part as well. So I may have lost weight, but I was in no way healthy, and once I’d stopped running, my weight fluctuated once more.

Cut to September 2015, and I’d decided it may be time to change my life a little. I still ate the way I did when I was a teenager, and unsurprisingly, I constantly felt bloated and sick, and I was drastically unhappy with how I looked and felt. Mind you, this was all personal, I’m not saying I looked bad, but my clothes weren’t fitting properly anymore, and I was tired of it (and too cheap to replace anything). I’d been seeing ads on social media, and hearing from people I knew, about an online program called The Bikini Body Guide (hereafter known as BBG) by Kayla Itsines, that people (mostly women) were getting great results from. So, after obtaining a copy through dubious means (as in, I never paid for it, but received it from someone who did), I decided to give it a go – despite my doubts and reservations that the results from the #bbgtransformation / #bbgprogress tags could be real and/or achieved at home, like the guides claimed. I was very wrong.

For some background, BBG was founded by Kayla Itsines and her partner, Tobi Pearce, in 2013, based off the training regimes Itsines (a personal trainer) had been using with her clients. The first two guides (BBG1 & BBG2) were made available for purchase online as ebooks in January 2014, and the program is relatively simple in theory. It’s a 12 week program that consists of three 28 minute high intensity circuit work outs a week, and for the first month, on your “off” days (the days you don’t complete the circuit training), you have three days of LISS training (Low Intensity Steady State – as in a 35-45 minute walk), and one day of stretching. It then ramps up, and for weeks 5-8, you do the 2-3 days of circuit training, 4-5 days of LISS, and one stretch session. Come weeks 9-12 (the home stretch), you then up your game with 3-4 days of circuit training, 2-3 sessions of LISS, 1-2 days of HIIT training (my least favourite cardio activity – sprints!) and 1-2 stretch sessions. The idea of the resistance circuit work outs, are also pretty simple. It’s broken down two 7 minute circuits with 4 exercises in each, and you repeat both circuits twice – but you do the four exercise sets in each circuit as many times as you can in the seven minute timer. That sounds a little confusing when written down, but basically it means if you get through all your repetitions of the four exercises, you start again at the beginning of that set, and keep going until that blessed 7 minute timer goes off. Then you rest for (a year) 30-90 seconds, and restart the timer for the next set. So it’s easy, you can mostly do it at home with some improvisations (I bought a few hand weights, but when I started, I was literally using bottles of water as my weights, and I used a chair from my kitchen to step up onto).

Example of the way the guides are set up

There are some pros and cons to doing exercise this way, for example, on one hand, you can do everything in the comfort of your own home. I used to put a TV show on and watch that while I did it. Plus, it’s only 28 minutes out of your day, and I found that made it hard to make excuses as to why I couldn’t do it. It also means you don’t have to join a gym if you don’t want to, as long as you can either buy some weights yourself, or substitute with various heavy objects in your house. The biggest thing I took away from doing BBG was that it taught me about habits and routines. Working out stopped being “a chore” for me, and it just became part of my daily routine, something that’s held up to this day. There are some definite cons, however, and I think the biggest one is because it’s an online program, you actually can’t tell if you’re doing the exercises correctly (or in exercise speak, “if your form is correct”). It also gets a little boring after a while, because there’s no variation (this has changed now, since Itsines launched the Sweat With Kayla app where there are at least 3-4 different programs) – I did BBG1 and BBG2 twice over, so I completed 48 weeks all up, and by the end of it, I was bored and ready for a challenge.

Photo of me at 4 weeks, then 24 weeks, and finally, 48 weeks (apologies for the terrible quality).

So for the first time in my life, I set foot in and joined a gym. I started slow, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be strict about going, so I joined one of the cheaper 24 hour gyms, just to get a feel for it. After all, my workouts at this point had only been at home, DIY sort of jobs, and now I was venturing into the scary world of weights and men taking up way too much space. Knowing what I know now, this wouldn’t be an issue, but looking back, I probably should’ve joined a gym just for women. I used to feel intimidated walking into the weights section, where too many buff dude-bros were busy “do you even lift?”-ing, and (it felt like) staring at me. So, I did what I do best in these situations, and in busy hours, I stuck to the cardio section (a treadmill, stair master and cross trainer, I can work with), only daring to venture into the weights section when I worked out at odd hours (the benefit of a 24 hour gym is that I could do a 10pm weight workout – though, unstaffed and only with a panic switch around my neck, luckily I never got into any trouble). But it was the best way for me to learn and gain confidence. After a few weeks of working out late at night to avoid people (mostly men), I finally felt confident enough to start working with weights at normal hours. And I soon learned that no one was looking at me, everyone is too busy doing their own thing to worry about the five foot Korean girl squatting a measly 10kg (total).

Now it’s 2018 and here I am, flirting with F45, the latest cult. F45 (functional training for 45 minutes) started in 2011, and it’s whole schtick is that it’s a fast paced HIIT circuit that goes for 45 minutes, for classes of up to 30 people. Men do attend, but it was initially targeted at women, as the classes are set up like group personal training sessions (and all the people I know who have signed up, are women – not to mention at all the classes I’ve been to are 99% women). I’d seen F45 around for a while, and I’d heard various things about it; how it “changed your whole life” on the positive, and “how I threw up during a session” as a negative. I’d always been tempted to give it a go, but the price tag always stopped me (and the thought of throwing up mid workout, to be honest). But then, just two weeks ago, a brand new studio opened up in my suburb, a 5 minute walk from my house. They were offering a free class on their open day, so I bit the bullet and signed up for it, anxious about whether or not I’d be able to keep up. I was sceptical going in, after all, it’s literally a HIIT class, and I’d done those before, so I didn’t think it would, in the words of Shania Twain, impress me much. Well, as I’ve probably proved by now… you introduce me to a fitness cult, and I’ll want to join. The class I did was Hollywood, a torturous hour mix of cardio and weights training, and though I kept my eye on that timer the whole time, I had an absolute blast (by the way, the me from 2015 cannot believe I’m saying this). The atmosphere is great, you’re in there with a team of 20+ people (all drowning in sweat together), and the trainers are encouraging and really do push you as hard as you can go (one trainer asked if I could do push ups on my toes, and I said that could was a strong word, but sure enough, with her encouragement, I managed to complete my 40 second round on my toes with proper form). There are the standard cringey high fives and supportive cheering (I feel high fiving strangers while covered in sweat is not a pleasant experience for either party involved), but after the class, I felt elated (I also nearly threw up while walking home, but managed to swallow my pride… and vomit, I guess), high on those exercise endorphins, and I really started to understand why people swore by it. So now I’m signed up for the free ten day trial, and I’ve even dragged myself to a few 6am classes (it’s a different class each day, so you can pick and choose which you want to do, and they alternate cardio and resistance days) – I’m at the point where I have to choose what I’m going to do, and I think I’m going to stick with it, at least for the summer, to see if I can push myself a little harder and add some variety to my workouts.

Kayla Itsines, the cult leader of BBG

For me though, it all comes back down to that original program, if I hadn’t started BBG, I never would’ve gained any confidence to join a gym, or even to know what to do in a gym. I’ve heard people look down on the BBG program, or say that the results aren’t real, that the people doing it were already fit when they started (definitely not true, especially in my case), but I think a lot of flack seems to come from the fact that it’s specifically targeted at women and as a result, it’s seen as a waste or time, or something to not take seriously – that’s the real heart of the problem, like most things in society. Things for women are deemed frivolous, not as good, or something to look down on. But the reason Itsines has built this multimillion-dollar empire is because it’s for women. It’s a program designed by a woman, for women, and that goes a long way to proving its worth, in my opinion. Women all over the world swear by this program (I’m one of them), because if you follow it properly, it works. Itsines understands what her target market are looking for in terms of fitness goals, and she gives a very easy guide to achieve them (note: I don’t mean easy as in it’s way too simple to do, honestly I pushed myself so hard in these I threw up in my mouth several times while completing her workouts).

There are many programs out there like BBG, ones targeted for women, off the top of my head, there’s FitazFk and Toned by Ashy Bines, all designed to help women achieve some relatively easy fitness goals. It’s definitely a good way to start, if you’re new to working out and intimidated (like I was) at the idea of joining a gym and jumping right into it. The worst thing that happens with at home programs is you just feel like an idiot squatting while holding a 1L water bottle to simulate weights.

I honestly think fitness programs for women (and especially by women) are essential; they give you routine and structure, they know their target market and teach you to build muscle and strength in a way that’s easy to understand; and most importantly, they create a supportive community online –during my time using BBG, I had my own little #fitfam, with whom I would share progress and exchange tips and tricks. I think that’s probably the best thing about programs like BBG, the community that grows behind it and the support you get from random strangers on the internet, there’s no room for negativity, it’s a safe space that’s all about supporting one another and cheering on successes, but encouraging each other when things are tough. So yes, I may have joined a cult back in 2015, but it changed my life for the better.

By: Vee H

Image sources:

BBG1, Kayla Itsines

Personal photos

https://twitter.com/kayla_itsines/status/758793723270627328

[theolivechickken]

Windy in Wien

Jan 24

The bus ride to Vienna was super comfy. I’ve realized that I get ansy when I haven’t been in a car for a while. There’s something so comforting about being in a moving vehicle. And I love that it allows me to see parts of the city or country that I wouldn’t be able to see on foot or in a plane. Still haven’t tried trains yet though.

Still weirded out by how much snow there is. I wasn’t expecting it to melt overnight, but I think this is the longest I’ve been in a place with actual seasons so I keep expecting winter to end pretty soon. But it’s mid-January so I don’t think that’s going to happen.

We rolled into Vienna after a pretty quick drive (5 hours and half of it spent asleep) and immediately were welcomed into the city scene: towering renaissance and baroque architecture, gothic churches, rounded off street corners, and narrow cobblestone roads. Street art (or graffiti in some people’s eyes) stylizing public walls. Gentle waves in the Danube river. Trains, cars, and cable buses. Individuals and groups bustling through and conversing in different languages. It seems larger and livelier than Salzburg, yet still very similar to our home there.

We dropped our luggage off at Hotel Post, hobbled into a restaurant for a quick lunch (had some goulash), and met up in front of St. Stephen’s Cathedral for a guided walking tour lead by our professor, Elizabeth. IT WAS SO COLD AND WINDY. Thankfully, we were able to step inside the Cathedral and warm up before carrying on with our tour. We roamed the streets as Elizabeth bombarded us with historical facts and information about the city and architecture. I think the one thing I took away from the tour was the fact that there are bumpers that stick out on the sides of the walls and posts, and this was designed so that carriages wouldn’t scrape and damage the walls. This really got me thinking about just how long this city has been standing and how much history has passed. It’s wild to visit the museums that used to be actual homes of noble families or to see works of art that portrayed life in a specific period of time. Not long ago, individuals from a very different lifestyle roamed and built these magnificent structures or gave the lord a visit in these beautiful, Gothic churches.

For dinner, we stopped by a little Asian restaurant next to our hotel. I ordered soup and was expecting a cup but got a massive bowl. Perfect for my throat. Afterwards, we went to the Vienna State Opera (Wiener Staatsoper) to watch Sylvia. Both the opera house and the ballet were breathtaking. The architecture and interior design of the were so captivating to look at, and the story of the ballet kept me on my feet. I’ve seen many ballets, and this one was unique because it was accompanied with a live orchestra. It was a long performance with 3 intermissions, but it was a lovely performance.

Jan 25

Found the complimentary hotel breakfast and had some toast with eggs, bacon, and VITAMIN JUICE which I was probably slightly allergic to since it made my tongue all fuzzy (are there apples in it?) Once again we went on another walking tour with Elizabeth and tried not to freeze as we strolled through Imperial Vienna. Also went to the Kunsthistories Museum and got to freely explore all of the floors and exhibits. The top floor was interesting because it contained a collection of different coins and forms of currency that even dated back to ancient Greece. The middle floors were the main focus for our trip. We walked through several rooms that showcased portraits and

We still had some time to wander, so Patrick and I also explored the bottom floor which showcased several artifacts including glasswork, wooden figurines, and bronze and marble sculptures.

For lunch, we found a Chipotle style restaurant that advertised themselves as California-style burritos. We were excited because it was Mexican food, but also prepared for it to be not that great. Not gonna lie: it was off-brand, semi-sad Chipotle. But it was food and it was quick. We also saw a guy wearing a horse head and playing the accordion as we walked to Haus der Musik. Betty had us speed walk through this museum as well, but I liked that it was interactive and each room showcased a different composer and his personality.

Man, Beethoven was DEAF but I really feel like that could be me in the near future because I can’t hear half the time anyways.

You would think that I’d be all museumed- out but I’m only in Vienna once so might as well soak it all up! I ended up visiting the Albertina and this was probably my favorite part of today. I loved being able to walk through a museum and explore it completely on my own time. Also love modern, contemporary art and they definitely had an exhibit right up my alley. Discovered Erwin Wurm’s work and had a grand ol time feeling inspired by it.

Later that night, we were trying to find a place to eat dinner before going wine tasting. Nadia, Raine, Patrick, Aubree, and I were intrigued by the photos of the dishes that one restaurant was offering. BUT WE LEARNED TO ALWAYS REQUEST THE MENU BEFORE SITTING DOWN AND COMMITTING. We were seated and opened their menu to reveal extreme prices (for dishes that were probably worth the money but not within our budget). We ended up getting two dishes of spaghetti and sharing it family style. Which resulted in us each having legit 3 bites each.

Then the wine tasting place that we were trying to visit was packed and didn’t take any reservations for the rest of the night :( Most stores were also closed by 7pm and restaurants were shutting down for the night. It was nearly 9pm but there was one grocery store that was still open till then. We RAN to that place to get some wine, bread, and cheese and throw our own little tasting party at the hotel.

Jan 26

We had the chance to sleep in a little this morning but we had a tough time getting up and being ready on time as a group. We really scarfed down a quick breakfast and hurried to catch the bus so that we would make it to our museum appointments. We went to the Belvedere Gallery and visited the Schönbrunn palace. I wish I could say more about both but I think I really was museumed-out at this point. I wish I had more time to digest and enjoy Vienna instead of constantly going from one event to the next. However, both were very beautiful and I’m glad we had the chance to see these places.

In between these stops, we were dropped off at Naschmarkt to have some lunch in a restaurant of our choice. We stopped inside an Asian restaurant and I had some pad thai (I don’t think i’ll be missing Asian food as much as when I was in Swaziland, but I do miss some good Mexican food). We also stopped at a little cafe afterwards for some sweets. I got this pancake (crepe) with strawberry jam filling and it was pretty tasty.

After Schönbrunn Palace (sadly, we weren’t able to go inside since it didn’t fit in our schedule), we boarded the bus to head back to Salzburg.

It was a cozy, comfortable ride back. And a beast to climb the mountain. Aubree, Raine, and I were plopped on our floor for a good hour because we were too tired to move. Finally, we decided to go downstairs with Patrick to have a family dinner. Pasta Time. What could go wrong? Aubree and I had one pot boiling pasta noodles, one pot simmering the red sauce, and another pot warming pesto sauce. Then we tried to get creative with garlic bread. Patrick had the genius idea to stick the foil-wrapped butter in the microwave to warm it up. I was in the process of dumping out the boiling water and noodles into a strainer in the sink when we all heard ZZZZZZPT and saw a flash of lightning happen in the microwave.

Patrick learned something that day. I think we all learned something that day. Pro-Tip (brought to you by yours truly): hold the foil-wrapped butter in your hands to soften it up.

Eventually, we got the butter spread on the bread and the garlic powder dumped all over for some pizazz. Then SaVanna came in to make a grilled cheese. One too many people in the kitchen. One minute we were all trying to hustle and bustle to continue making our food. The next? GRILLED CHEESE IS BLACK AND BURNED, OUR PESTO SAUCE IS SOMEHOW BOILING (who turned it up to 9???), AND WE ARE ALL OPENING WINDOWS AND DOORS AND FANNING SMOKE WITH TOWELS (which Raine accidentally whipped Patrick in the eye with) AND CHAIRS SO THAT WE DON’T SET THE FIRE ALARM OFF AND GET A HEFTY FINE.

What a night.

Jan 27

Definitely slept 12 hours that day and could go for more. Only reason I got up was to eat some food. Raine, Patrick, Aubree, and I went to a cafe for some good eats. We were in the mood for sandwiches but that’s not really what we ended up with. We tried some glühwein and were intrigued by “burgers” on the menu (not a great combo btw). Afterwards, we stopped at the grocery store and then carried on to New Town to hang out at the coffee house and do homework. I think we were pretty productive for the few hours that we were there.

We came back to the Mönchsberg for pasta, wine, bread, and cheese night 2.0.

We started out strong with some pasta and tortellini boiling on the stove while we enjoyed our bread, wine, and cheese. Then Aubree’s tourettes decided to kick in. Her arm spazzed out and knocked over her glass of wine onto Patrick’s laptop. Poor guy was just trying to watch the soccer game.

We were up quickly, scrambling to throw towels and napkins onto the table and holding Patrick’s laptop upside-down while blowing on it to get the liquid out. I was quickly scrolling through Google’s answers on how to fix this situation while trying to make sure that our pasta wouldn’t somehow burn and catch fire.

Luckily, we had a Christmas miracle come early this year (or very late??) and Patrick’s computer finally turned on after attempting to restart 12 times.

What a night 2.0.

[ayearofpike]

Spooksville #11: The Deadly Past

Pocket Books, 1996 116 pages, 11 chapters + epilogue ISBN 0-671-55072-1 LOC: CPB Box no. 507 vol. 4 OCLC: 35120993 Released August 1, 1996 (per B&N)

The pterodactyl appeared out of nowhere and carried Cindy off, presumably to be devoured and digested. Now the rest of the Spook Squad has to track her down and hopefully save her, with the help of the mysterious Bryce Poole and a little advice from Ann Templeton. Can they find her? More importantly, can they figure out how the dinosaurs are getting into Spooksville, and how will they stop it?

Dammit, I already blew my joke by putting the We’re Back image on the Wishing Stone post.

I haven't mentioned that in the last couple of books Pike has given more description of the kids up front. I guess we're going on a year of Spooksville books now, right, and it's possible that people are getting into them without having read from the beginning. So we have wiry Sally, short Adam, beautiful Cindy, and mysterious Watch, who BY THE WAY still doesn't have a last name. Like, he tells people it's been so long since he's used it that he no longer remembers it. I'm worried about this twelve-year-old, you guys.

We don't learn it here either — the kids are too busy trying to rescue Cindy. She gets snatched first thing, or close to it anyway. The gang is out for a hike in the woods, and you'd think they'd know better by now, but sure enough that's where the pterodactyl attacks. It swoops in from a distant mountain peak and immediately goes after human children, like it knows they're going to be good to eat. They manage to scare it away with a big stick, but then they get trapped in a cave and the animal is coming after them. Sally lights the stick on fire and Adam shoves it down its throat, but it only stuns the bird long enough for them to get out of the cave. Not long enough to get to a better protected spot, because it snatches Cindy and flies off.

The rest of the crew is left to figure out what to do. Obviously a dinosaur grabbed our friend, she's dead, right? Watch hopes not. He's thinking that maybe the pterodactyl is a mother, and grabbed Cindy as baby food, but he recently read that flying reptiles were supposed to have slept during the heat of the day, so maybe the babies are still asleep. He steals a pickup truck to try to go after her, since he's the only one that can drive, and since Adam got a huge scratch running from the thing and needs stitches. But before they can get back to town, Bryce Poole shows up riding an apatosaurus. He's known about the breach in time for two days and is only just now coming back to warn Spooksvillians, which again makes Adam question his trustworthiness. Me too — Bryce Poole feels like one of those kids who always saw the movie before it came out and who beat all the video games before you ever got them. Did you really? I doubt it.

Meanwhile, Cindy's waking up in a giant nest, where there are four eggs as big as she is. Were pterodactyls that big? I feel like they were more like a turkey or a vulture (not able to look it up right now). Also, I believe the preferred term is "pteranodon." But whatever it is, one of them is hatching, and Cindy needs to get out. She climbs up out of the nest, which is on the side of a cliff, and to the peak of the mountain, at which point Mama Pterodactyl comes screeching back — and dives right past her at someone yelling down the bottom. It's Watch! He drove his truck through a temporal vortex and saw Cindy on the peak, and now he's taunting the monster into a cave that is too narrow for it. He takes it through a tunnel up to a higher point on the mountain, and when the 'dactyl is forced to back out, he drops a big rock on its head and knocks it out.

But now they need to figure out where they are and how to get back, and maybe along the way they can close the vortex to our world. They happen to spot a flying saucer at the base of a nearby volcano, which you know that's never good news. Behind the saucer is a tunnel going inside, and, well, it's not like Watch and Cindy have any other options. They observe some golden aliens with white hair working on some kind of computer box, but suddenly these guys get gunned down by big-headed aliens in black jumpsuits, who turn to the computer and do something else to it. While they're trying to decide what to do, Bryce and Sally show up through a magic portal. It seems that Bryce Poole apparently knows a shortcut along the Secret Path that will let them travel through time, and this very spot is where Madeline Templeton's grave lies 70 million years in the future. As smart as he is, though, he doesn't know enough about time or aliens to make a quick decision here — the big-heads capture the kids and chain them to the wall.

Where is Adam in all of this? He didn't think it was the right decision to just go blasting through space-time, and instead went to get advice from Ann Templeton, who is shooting dinosaurs with magic fire to keep them off her property. She can see what's happening with Adam's friends, and wants to help him save them from danger. But she won't give him all the answers outright — she expects him to do some of the work, because we learn better that way. She tells him that the aliens aren't actively trying to affect the time warp, but it will happen anyway. Then she shows him the shortcut to the Secret Path that Bryce and Sally just took.

He shows up in the cave with enough surprise to take down the big-heads and free his friends ... but now what? Ann Templeton's advice seems to indicate that this box was placed here to mitigate the time warp, and the big-heads have disabled it to let destiny take its course. But our heroes don't want dinosaurs in Spooksville, but they can't figure out how to restart the computer. Luckily, one of the goldies is waking up, and Watch manages to communicate to him that they want him to do what he was already doing. He resets the computer, points to the display, and then points to one of Watch's watches — like, hey kids, you have a countdown to get out.

They make their way back to the truck, because Watch would like to return it even though he broke a window and broke the ignition. But as they're driving back along the not-road, here comes that fucking pterodactyl again. It dives and screeches after the kids who have to ride in the truck bed, and Adam's shooting it with the laser he stole off an alien to no effect. So Sally has to save the day: she takes off her shoe and chucks it down the bird's throat. This stuns it long enough that they make it through the time portal just before it seals itself. And back in Spooksville, there's no sign that anything changed, because they changed the past and now the present is dinosaur-free.

So I guess Bryce is officially one of the Spook Squad now? I guess we'll find out in the next one. I'm really starting to wonder more about how the Lemuria thing and the alien thing and Bryce Poole and Mysterious Watch are going to tie up into a package. Or are they? I mean, in plowing through Pike this year I've certainly seen enough places where he just abandons a thread or tries to tie it off with a one-sentence throwaway wrapup. So maybe none of this will pay off. But I'll read the rest of the books before I sell him short. JUST LIKE ADAM OH SNAP