#or checking up on he and al to see if they’ve made progress with their quest

[adrift-in-thyme]

Roy and Ed have the best mentor - mentee relationship. Discuss.

THEY DO

Roy after thirty minutes discussing a plan: Ed did you listen to a word I said

Ed: yeah totally. I especially liked the part where you suggested we go get some sandwhiches. I heartily agree

Roy: *internal screaming*

[where-dreamers-go]

“Satisfaction” Luke Skywalker x Reader

(A/N: A Part 2 for “Patience” where Reader has temporary amnesia. I was asked to do a part 2 where Reader gets their memory back. I told my sister and she just looked shocked…because I don’t end insert readers like that. I always end with fluff and happy endings. Writing Luke and Leia scenes are quite fun. I don’t remember ever doing that before, besides the last insert reader.

Warnings: Angst. Fluff.

Word Count: 585 words)

“It’s been more than a week.”

“Luke, it’s been eight days.” Leia watched as her brother held his face in his hands. “Technically two weeks. They’ve made a lot of progress.” She glanced down to her datapad when he did not respond and she read over the last few lines of a report. There would have been less unread reports if Luke had not walked in and dropped himself into her room, but that was not the issue.

thump

Sighing, Leia placed her datapad aside. “You can’t force them to remember you.”

“(Y/N) remembers Artoo,” Luke murmured as he stared up at the ceiling, his back on the bed. His face scrunched together. “Do you think I could—?”

“Don’t.”

Luke turned his head, “I didn’t say it yet.”

“Well, don’t. Let (Y/N) regain their memory on their own.”

Grumbling, Luke glanced back to the ceiling. Having one friend in any form of discomfort gnawed at his heartstrings. How could he stand by and do nothing? He wanted to do something. Unfortunately for him, that meant letting nature take its course and realize that he might have a mission to go on in the next few days. Luke was worried and distracted. Not the best combination if he wanted to help anyone.

“Luke,” his sister sat on the edge of the bed and spoke softly. “Why don’t you run a check on your X-Wing? Get your mind on something else. It’ll be good for you.”

“Or I could go meditate. That’s been helping…some times.”

“Maybe you’ll think of better flirting techniques to use with (Y/N) later.”

“Leia!”

. . .

Rebels walked through the halls, droids rolled along, and stomachs rumbled.

With knowledge that his ship was in good shape, Luke Skywalker was headed elsewhere. On his way to the commissary, Luke’s attention was drawn to hurried steps and the sound of his name. It was your voice. No question.

Luke turned around, slightly alarmed, but happy to see you.

“Luke!” You threw your arms around him and he was was quick to return the embrace.

“Is everything al—?”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” You rambled into his shoulder.

“For what?”

You held him tighter, “I forgot you. I forgot everything and you’ve been coming to see me everyday and I still didn’t remember you. I’m so sorry.”

Luke tucked his face into the crook of your neck. A warmth and a relief filled him.

“I’m so sorry, Luke.”

“It wasn’t your fault.” Luke said, voice partially muffled. “I’m just glad you’re okay.” A smile spread across his face the longer the hug continued. To have you remember again was a large weight off of his shoulders. To have you remember him again was a welcome relief that soothed his aching heart.

“Thanks for keeping me company.” You pulled out of the hug. “I could tell it was hard for you…with the whole me not knowing who you were. But thank you…for not pushing.”

“Hey,” Luke placed his hands on your shoulders. “You’re alright. That’s what matters. You made it back from the mission, you’re not seriously injured, and you have your memories back. That’s all I could ask for.”

You glanced up at the ceiling, “Don’t make me cry.”

“Oh—I didn’t—.”

“Come on,” you interrupted and looped your arm with his. “I’m hungry and I remember where we usually sit. I can cry happy tears later.”

Luke’s shoulders relaxed and he couldn’t help but to chuckle. “Lead the way.”

~~~

(If you love my writings and want to support me, I have a Ko-Fi where you can buy me a coffee. I would be eternally grateful. coffee

Best wishes and happy reading.)

~~~~~

DreamerDragon Tags: @cubedtriangle

Star Wars Tags: @darkenwolfy @sweetheartliz07

**Let me know if you would like to be tagged in insert readers, either through replies, ask, or message.**

[pi-cat000]

FMA:B/BNHA Crossover (2)

Summary: Ed gets stuck in the BNHA world after the end of brotherhood. He starts trying to find a way home and ends up inadvertently working for the league of villains.

Part 1 here

..

..

At one point, the ground level of Ed’s building had probably been a nice-looking shopfront, maybe a flower shop or grocers or something more befitting this weird world…like a tech repair store.  Now, the ground level doubles as apartment space, large windows caked with dust and grime, curtains permanently drawn to hide its occupancy. Heck, if Ed hadn’t been around to fix the glass with alchemy the ground floor would have been pretty much unliveable. Like many buildings in the area, it was a victim of a villain/hero confrontation which always seemed to generate an obscene amount of property damage. Great for leveraging his repair skills in exchange for free accommodation and about nothing else. Not that the people here saw it as much of a problem.

Ed scowls, flipping his OPEN sign to CLOSED, yanking the door shut, locking up as he goes.

Ed doesn’t quite understand the whole thing, and he had had one of the worst track records for property damage when it came to state alchemists. The difference being that he had always returned to reverse as much of the alchemical damage as he could and if he couldn’t Mustang had some other military alchemist/personal waiting in the wings to see to the problem. Rebuilding here was the responsibility of some external agency or other. Ed is a little hazy on how the system was supposed to work, seeing as the military had little to no involvement with anything hero related. Though, considering how the Amestrian military had been in the process of feeding the souls of its citizens to a loosely defined truth God, maybe that was a good thing. Honestly, researching how this place ran its bureaucracy was low on his priority list.

“Hey! Ed! You’re out early? Off somewhere interesting?”  

“Did you see the guy who just came through here,” he asks, eyeing his fellow apartment-liver who seemed to have nothing better to do than loiter outside and yell at people on the street. The greasy-haired man is puffing smoke near the corner of the building with his two equally scruffy friends. They all have a physical abnormally, a lizard tail, claws, bulging eyes, that remind him uncomfortably of chimeras despite knowing it was a result of more quirk bullshit.

The guy blows smoke in his direction, “Big, tall dude? Pretty suspicious looking with the hood and all. I saw him go in. Didn’t see him leave …funny that.”

“Yeah…funny…” Ed mutters, “Did you recognise him?”

“I might have.”

Ed huffs, rolling his eyes and continues down the road. He would leave bribing his neighbours for possible information as a last resort.

He passes the vacant lot holding a near identical half-collapsed block, followed by another nicer looking building, then another, before they gave way to shops and smaller structures. That was something he was still getting used to…the sheer scale of the city. Even Central had barely been a quarter of this city’s size. Luckily, his destination isn’t too far so he doesn’t have to worry about getting lost.  

The building he arrives at is taller than the rest and full of office space. The main lift is out of order so Ed trudges up three flights of stairs to the top floor, stomping into the empty reception/waiting area only hesitating for a second before slamming his hand onto the bell sitting atop the front desk.

There is a muffled voice, “I’m coming. I’m coming. No need for that racket!”

The door behind the desk swings open.

“Edward?”

“Hey, old man,” he gives a small wave, “It’s been a few weeks.”

The man, tall, well-built, cropped brown hair, stares at Ed.

“Yeah it’s been a few weeks! You need to check your phone and answer your messages every now and then. You’re giving me grey hairs. More grey hairs!”

“Right…my phone….” He forgot he had it when not using it to help with navigation. Also, messaging was a pain. He had picked up the local spoken language fast enough out of necessity, but his reading and writing were still a work in progress. Lucky for him, this reality had a few languages similar enough to Amestrian that if he really wanted to read something he could get a translation. It still made written communication tricky.

“I'll try and check it more often," he placates, "I’m here for some information about a job I was offered and seeing you know a bunch of the local businesses I thought I would drop by.”

“Information?” Masao Uraraka lets out a long breath, “And there I went thinking that you were going to take me up on my apprenticeship offer.”

Ed shoves his hands into his pockets, shrugging. The older man grunts, “Well come on through. You’re lucky you caught me in the office. I’m usually on-site supervising about this time. But, can’t do much of that until those idiots at HC Construction.co get the go-ahead from their insurance company.”

Ed slips past and into a dimly lit office space which is surprisingly well organised. Across the wall is a collage of family photos, depicting a woman and young girl at various stages of growth.

“…that’s not your problem though. How have you been kid? Hope you haven’t been in too many fights.”

“Hey,” he objects, “Some idiots need a good punch,” and then adds a little less aggressively, “But no. No fights. I’ve been researching quirks....”

“Quirks. That’s different? Weren't you studying chemistry or something?”

Ed shrugs again, unwilling to divulge much else. Uraraka tended to be nosey out of some misguided notion that he could help Ed ‘get back on his feet’ after whatever tragic backstory he had cooked up for him.

“You’re still living at Old Man Watanabe’s right? He not pulling anything is he? Old coot always tries to weasel more out of his deals.”  

Ed can’t help but agree,  “He’s been trying to get me to re-wire the whole building. Nothing I can’t deal with.”

Of course, this just sets Uraraka off on a round of angry muttering, “Is that right? I can have a talk with him. I’ve told him that he needs an electrician and a proper plumber. He owes me a few favours so I can… ”

“It’s fine,” Ed quickly interrupts. Uraraka had his own problems and family to look after. The guy reminded him of Hughes in that he cared way too much. “One grumpy landlord isn’t worth worrying about.”

Uraraka visibly deflates, “Yes, well, most kids your age shouldn’t be worried about that sort of stuff at all. You should be finishing up your schooling, getting your Japanese up to scratch and studying for college entrance exams. You remind me of my daughter. Stubborn.” He pulls a framed photo from his desk, pointing it at Ed, shaking it for emphasis, “She wants to be a Hero you know. A HERO! Can you believe it! My cute little girl, getting into fights with villains.”

Ed clears his throat awkwardly. Yeah, this guy was definitely this world’s weird version of Hughes. If Hughes had worked in construction and had, you know, not died. This isn’t the first time he has had a picture of Ochako, Uraraka’s daughter, shoved in his face.

“About that information?” He cautiously interrupts and gets another sigh.

“Yes, yes. You kids are always so impatient. What’s this job then? What idiot is going around hiring 16-year-olds.”

“Actually, the guy that came in just mentioned some construction work,” Ed rubs his neck, now slightly subconscious, realising he doesn’t have a whole lot to go on, “he didn’t give me a lot of details, just left this.” Ed pulls out the envelope placing it on the desk next to the assortment of framed photographs and scribbly kid drawings.

With a raised brow, Uraraka pulls it towards him, peering in. The man’s eyes widen and he closes the envelope, frowning, “This supposed to be a down payment in advance of a job, or is it for material costs? Because it’s a bit much for a down payment and nowhere near enough for materials. Not if it’s for anything serious. What sort of work is it? You know I can’t lend you equipment without a licence…but I’ll help you source anything that you…”

“No,” Ed rushes to interrupt, “the guy said it was a sign of goodwill. I take it that’s not a normal thing people do in the, ah, construction business?”

“No. It definitely is not,” Uraraka now looks concerned, “there would usually be a contract for services before any sort of payment. Especially, if you’re going to be working as an independent contractor.”

So that just confirmed what he already knew. Ed continues, “So you haven’t heard about people asking around for under the table construction work then?”

“No. I can ask a few of my freelancers if they’ve had similar offers but I deal above the board with licenced workers only, so it’s unlikely they’ll have heard anything.”

“Yeah, I figured.” He glares at the envelope.

“What did he look like? This man that came in?”

“Oh, he was tall, made of dark purple smoke and had a teleportation quirk…I think. He also asked about my quirk and its limits.”

“I’ll keep an ear out.”  Uraraka promises and frowns at Ed, “I hope you’re not considering this offer.”

Ed grunts noncommittally and gets a look of disapproval that reminds him so much of Hughes its almost painful. He tries not to feel disappointed at the lack of answers because coming to Uraraka had always been a long shot. ‘You’re sad, lonely and the only conversations you’ve had this last week were yelling matches with your landlord and neighbours. Uraraka is a nice man. Of course, you would come to him for advice.’ A voice that sounds suspiciously like Al chimes in. ‘I don’t want him to worry. I’m not staying here long. What’s he going to think when I suddenly disappear,’ he snaps back and immediately feels foolish.

Maybe the isolation is getting to him a bit.

“If it's money you need that I’m more than happy to help you get licenced and certified…” Uraraka continues to talk oblivious to the fact that Ed is barely paying attention.

He doesn’t want to settle down and get a popper job or finish off his schooling or talk to youth services or whatever other things Uraraka had brought up in the few months they had known each other. That would be admitting defeat. Also, he had no ID or history and he was pretty sure you needed both to work any legitimate jobs.

“I can handle myself,” he says out loud.

“Yes, you’re worryingly self-sufficient but there is a difference between unlicensed quirk use and aiding and abetting criminals. No self-respecting, above board, organisation hires a kid to do construction work and throws a bunch of money at them.”

“I know.”

Yeah, he knows Tall-Dark-and-Mysterious was probably a criminal of this reality. He knows he is probably getting himself into something dicey and illegal but he needs to follow whatever lead he can to get back home. Finding a quirk with either the ability to transport him between realities or one with the power equivalent to a few thousand souls was his last hope of ever hearing Al's, the real Al’s, voice again.

The older man rubs his forehead, visibly exasperated, “But you’re going to ignore me. Stubborn brat.”

[lifeofkaze]

When Stars Ignite - Chapter 2

HPHM Rockstar AU

A/N:

General Warning: This whole fic has a general warning of being NSFW / 18+. We will give specific warnings for every chapter in itself, but several adult themes will be more or less present in every chapter, may it be explicitly or in mention. These include sexual topics, drug abuse, (ab)use of alcohol, smoking and a whole lot of cursing.

Specific Warning: Mentions of alcohol, mentions of drug abuse, swearing, suggestive NSFW content

~~~

Find the masterpost here, the previous chapter here and the next one here. The songs featured before every chapter can be found on this pretty badass playlist here.

~~~

This work is a collaboration with @the-al-chemist

Taglist: @slytherindisaster

No, we won't tell a soul where we gone to

Girl, we do whatever we want to

Ah, I love the way that you do me

Cherry, babe, you really get to me

~ Neil Diamond - Cherry, Cherry ~

It had already been pretty late when they had finally left the O2 arena and made their way into the heart of the city. They’d just had enough time to order something to eat at one of their favourite restaurants at the still bustling Heron Tower before last orders were called.

None of them being in the mood to go home just yet, they had taken a cab to Mayfair for an opportunity to wind down from the high of their show. Ethan had wanted to join them, but had waved them away after checking his phone, mumbling something about a lot of work waiting for him in the morning.

No one was particularly sad about Skye’s dad opting out, however; they were currently making their way past the line of people queuing up in front of the nightclub they had chosen for the evening. Orion wasn’t a fan of crowded dancefloors and music he didn’t like blaring so loudly he couldn’t hear his own thoughts, but had bowed to the will of the others.

Many people considered the glitz and glamour that came with being famous as a perk; he just found it shallow and irritating. However, he was still too wound up to just return to his flat; he hadn’t seen his friends in weeks and was looking forward to properly catching up with them. Even if it wasn’t his preferred location for sharing talk and laughter, nothing was perfect after all.

As expected, music washed over them the moment they entered the building and the air grew increasingly warmer as they were led deeper into the bowels of the club. He could see Everett checking out the women on the dancefloor as they walked past, while Lizzie was slightly nodding her head to the music; naturally, she wasn’t able to resist a compelling beat.

The uncomfortably loud volume lessened to a more agreeable level when they arrived at their designated table in the private area. Their first round of drinks hadn’t even arrived yet, when Everett rose from his seat again and left for the dancefloor; none of them had any desire to join him. Lizzie had been considering it for a moment, but Orion knew how exhausted she must be from their performance. His own muscles were burning with fatigue, he could only imagine how she must feel.

Unsurprisingly, there were a lot of stories to tell; before their break, they had spent every day together for months on end, making a span of four weeks feel like an eternity and a blink of an eye at the same time. Skye was telling them about the side project she had started with her brothers while Merula spoke about her dabbling into poetry. Lizzie had spent the whole four weeks in the States with her brother and had brought back quite an assortment of stories to tell.

Orion himself had travelled a fair bit as well; there was nothing sparking his creativity like visiting new places with a clean and open mind. Thanks to a surge of inspiration, the songs for their next album were coming along greatly. Although they were still far from what Orion considered good enough to openly share them, he was satisfied with the progress.

When Everett returned after some time, the atmosphere cooled noticeably. Hanging from his arm was a girl with long brown hair, who was looking at Everett as if he was Keith Richards and Kurt Cobain combined. She was dolled up to a ridiculous degree, with heels as high as her dress was short.

Glancing down at her simple dark jeans and top, Lizzie chuckled to herself. “Now I feel underdressed.”

“If anyone is underdressed, that would be her,” Merula muttered, eyeing the hem of the girl’s dress, which barely covered her bum, with an arched eyebrow.

As she and Everett sat down next to Lizzie, the contrast between the girl’s artificial look and Lizzie’s more natural beauty couldn’t have been greater. Orion would probably never stop wondering why women felt the need to distort their looks in such a way.

Real beauty was not something to be put on and worn on display, forced about with flashy jewellery and an absurd amount of makeup; it was like light shining from the inside. It illuminated everything around it, drawing eyes without even trying to.

Their conversations all but ceased as Everett started boasting about their band’s success, his impact on their music and the solo career he had been fantasising about ever since Orion could remember.

Orion had to bite back a laugh as he saw Skye mimicking Everett’s expression when he didn’t look her way. Granted, he was a passable guitarist and talented singer. None of the other band members had the way of enticing the crowd and holding their attention like Everett did; nor did any one of them want to. He was about show and performance, the way he liked to celebrate himself all smoke and mirrors, but this didn’t stop his act increasingly getting on all of their nerves.

Everett didn’t use to be that way back when he had joined Equinox; while he had always been a charismatic guy, their continuous success had started getting to his head. Judging by his erratic gestures and slurred speech, Orion wouldn’t bet on alcohol being the only thing he had coursing through his system and clouding his view on things at the moment.

It wasn’t long, however, before Everett eventually decided he'd had enough of them.

Ignoring the annoyed looks of his friends, he and his girl had started making out right next to them. After a while she giggled, pulled on his sleeve and whispered something into his ear. Without sparing them so much as another glance, Everett got up and pulled her along towards the exit. There was a collective sigh going through the group after they had left.

“Fuck it, a few more minutes and she’d taken her bra off,” Merula muttered.

Lizzie shuddered. “No need, it’s not like she was wearing one.”

Skye shook her head. “I don’t get it, what do they all see in him? He’s not even that good looking.”

“You don’t find any man good looking,” Lizzie answered wryly while taking a sip of her almost empty drink.

“Fair enough,” Skye shot back, blowing her a kiss over the table. Lizzie rolled her eyes, but had to laugh anyway.

“I see what you mean, though,” she continued a moment later. “He’s been getting downright nasty lately. The way he was talking to Charlie during the feedback round? That was so unnecessary; a little more and Charlie might have hit him.”

“He’d never,” Skye chuckled. “It takes more than Ev to rile someone like Charlie up. That would be like Orion punching someone.”

They laughed at the ridiculousness of that idea. Skye was right though, Lizzie thought. While Charlie had been offended at suggesting his work wasn’t absolutely flawless and up to his own standard, it wasn’t like him to lose his cool over something like that.

“Like anyone pursuing what they love with a passion, Charlie does care about his work deeply,” Orion picked the conversation up again, “it is only natural to feel defensive when attacked. When you pour your heart and soul into something, it doesn’t matter if the results or yourself are doubted; it comes down to the same thing.”

“Maybe, but Charlie’s attitude is causing problems,” Merula said glumly. “As much as I hate to admit it, Ev is right; the pyros are a joke since Charlie’s doing two jobs at the same time.”

Lizzie immediately jumped to her friend’s defence. “It’s only temporary; he’ll concentrate on sound as soon as a proper replacement is found.”

Merula snorted in response. “I’m not sure there is anyone Charlie would be happy with who’s not himself.”

“Giving up something you love to the care of someone else is no easy feat,” Orion conceded, “but Murphy said it himself, they have a new applicant in for an interview tomorrow. If they meet him with an open mind, maybe we’ll have the newest member of our crew faster than we think.”

Merula’s answer was cut short by the waitress approaching their table carrying a fresh round of drinks. She handed them out and was about to leave, when she turned around again. Hesitating for a moment, she blushed a little, the change in her skin colour barely visible in the dimmed lights of the nightclub.

“Excuse me if I’m rude or anything, I really don’t want to disturb you,” she mumbled, looking visibly flustered, “but you are the guys from Equinox, aren’t you? The rock band?”

Skye grinned. “Right you are. You a fan?”

The waitress’s eyes lit up. “A fan? Are you kidding? I adore your music! I’ve got tickets for your show tomorrow and can’t wait! It’s such an honour to have you here tonight.”

“That’s sweet of you to say,” Lizzie smiled, idly stirring her cherry margarita with the cherry that had come as decoration.

The eyes of the waitress followed the swirls she was creating in the dark liquid. She was visibly gathering her courage before blurting out, “Is it true what’s written on your website? On your character profile?”

Lizzie raised her eyebrows in confusion. “Pardon me?”

The girl started blushing again. “In the misc-section, you know. They’ve written you could tie a cherry stem with your tongue; I’ve never met anyone who can do that.”

Now it was Lizzie’s turn to blush and hide her face behind her hand; sitting directly next to her, Orion could see that she was laughing behind her fingers.

“I knew I should have never told anyone about this,” she sighed, “I had no idea Ethan had them put this on my damn profile.”

“Shut up, you can’t really do that,” Skye exclaimed incredulously. “No way that’s true.”

Lizzie furrowed her brow. “Of course it is.”

“You never told me about that.”

“Why would I?”

“Then why did you tell dad?”

“He asked,” Lizzie shrugged.

Now it was Merula’s turn to look incredulous. “Ethan asked you if you could tie a cherry stem?”

Lizzie snorted. “He asked if I could do a party trick.”

Skye crossed her arms in front of her chest and leaned back in her seat. She nodded at the cherry between Lizzie’s fingers. “Prove it.”

Amused, Lizzie tilted her head. “What, right now?”

“Scared I’ll call you out, Jameson?”

Her eyes sparkling in prospect of a challenge, Lizzie plucked the stem off the cherry and twirled it between her fingers. “Watch it, Parkin.”

She flashed the still sceptical looking Skye a mischievous grin before she let the cherry stem disappear behind her lips. She knew everyone was watching her intently and Orion could see she was trying not to smirk.

He himself was so concentrated on whether she would succeed or not, he was caught completely off guard when he suddenly felt Lizzie’s hand coming to rest on his knee beneath the table. His breath hitched as she was squeezing it lightly. He had to bite his cheek as her fingers started grazing the inside of his thigh in slow circles, her hand steadily dancing higher and higher. All the while, she was keeping a straight face, her blue eyes fixed on Skye.

Orion couldn’t believe what she was doing; he took a deep breath that came out a lot shakier than he had meant it to.

Just before he had to stop her wandering fingers, she retracted her hand abruptly. Her eyes flickering towards him for the briefest of moments, she pursed her lips and pulled the now doubly tied cherry stem from between them in a deliberately slow motion. With a confident smile, she flicked it at Skye, whose jaw had dropped open.

“Teach me,” was all she managed to say before Lizzie broke into laughter.

“That’s my secret technique, Parkin; I’m not sharing.”

Lizzie leaned back in her seat, visibly satisfied with herself. Judging by the devilish smile playing around her lips, it was not only because she had proven Skye wrong.

Orion closed his eyes for a moment and brushed his hair out of his face to give his fingers something to do. While Lizzie and Skye were bantering back and forth, Orion was counting to fifty in his head in an attempt to reign his thoughts in again.

Just when he thought he had himself back under control again, Lizzie leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand while appearing to listen to Merula attentively. What the others could not see was her using her shift in position to press her leg against his. The cheeky smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth was hidden by her hand, only visible to him.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Orion moved himself out of her reach. “As much as I would love to stay with you, my friends, I’m afraid tonight’s show has taken more of a toll on me than I thought,” he explained at Merula’s and Skye’s confused expressions; Lizzie was merely blinking at him innocently. “If you don’t mind, I’ll head back home to get some well deserved rest.”

Without waiting for any of them to reply, Orion quickly turned around and left for the exit, all the while feeling Lizzie’s eyes on his back.

[zrtranscripts]

Home Front, Mission 17: Drone On

Take to the Skies

~

[mechanical work sounds in the background]

JANINE DE LUCA: Ah, is it that time already? No, Mr. Yao, I can do it. I have equipment here. No, you do not need to come down and help. Please continue calibrating the comms. Attention, listeners, Janine De Luca here. I've just been informed by Mr. Yao that it is time for today's workout session. Please take a moment to gather two or more tin cans, two bags, and if possible, a chair for exercises you'll be doing later on. Ensure the bags have strong handles. Once you're ready, commence warming up, perhaps by jogging on the spot.

Unfortunately, I'm rather busy attending to a task in Abel's workshop at present. Under the workshop, to be precise. I'm in a crawl space, stripping out old copper wiring for use elsewhere. Still, I have a portable mic, so we can conduct our workout as planned. In fact, being in a confined space has brought to mind exercises for those locked down with limited room, such as Runner Thirty-One, who is unfortunately trapped within a cottage pantry.

So on to today's first exercise: seated leg raises. For this, you'll need one sturdy chair and just enough space to stretch your legs. I believe Thirty-One has that much room in his pantry, along with several thousand legumes. If you don't have room, continue jogging. Otherwise, sit upright in your chair with your back straight and your hands on the chair on either side of you. Plant your left foot on the floor, then straighten your right leg so it extends in front of you with your hip flexed and your knee straight. Hold the leg there for a few seconds, then lower it.

We will raise and lower your right leg thusly for 30 seconds, then your left for 30 more. And start. That's it, keep going. 15 seconds down. You're doing well, everyone. Please ignore my working in the background. Very good. 30 seconds, listeners. Switch to your left leg. That's it, 15 seconds left, listeners. We are both nearly done. The wiring down here is from defunct pre-apocalypse electrics. There is little left to salvage. And exercise complete, as is my collection operation.

I shall trigger a music break while I emerge from the crawl space. You could continue exercising or relax, listeners. I admit I've let Mr. Yao pick out today's songs, so I imagine something cheerful should be about to play.

~

JANINE DE LUCA: Welcome back, everyone. I'm afraid I am far from done with the day's labors, so you will have to bear with me while I conduct essential work. Abel's machine shop has been rather cluttered for the last few months. Just before the superhorde, we recovered a crashed military drone from nearby countryside, an extremely advanced attack model. Mr. Yao claims it resembles a predatory bird, though I know few birds of car size. At first I was worried the drone was damaged beyond repair, but I have had ample incentive to work on it of late. Now while I rewire some circuits on the drone's underside, you've a round of torso twists to do.

Use the tin cans and bags you obtained earlier. Place one tin in each bag. Feel free to use more tins for a greater challenge. This ought to be a fine use for all those cans of condensed milk in your pantry, Runner Thirty-One. Of course, you wouldn't have been trapped by the horde if you hadn't disobeyed orders to go back for those cans. Now sit holding the weights very close to your chest. Twist from the waist to your left hand side, then twist back to the center, and then twist to the opposite side. Keep alternating twists like this for one minute. And begin.

Very good, 15 seconds complete. For camaraderie purposes, you may wish to know I am removing fused components from the drone. They are of a similar heft to your weights. That's it, 30 seconds elapsed. Patience is the key, listeners, in exercise and engineering. No matter how many panels need to be pried loose, one must persist. 15 seconds left, nearly done. And exercise complete.

It has been weeks of work, listeners, but I am close to restoring this drone, I know it. Air support in this day and age... it could bring us a major victory against the superhorde. Dr. Myers is concerned that I've been going without sleep for the project. For more than a few days, in honesty, but completion is so near. I need only... [components zap] Ah, damn! I need only bypass the power systems. The main battery still holds charge, but its connections are ruined. This wiring is delicate. I must concentrate. More music will follow. Rest or continue pushing yourselves and when I return, with any luck, some progress will have been made.

~

JANINE DE LUCA: Hello, listeners. You have just missed Mr. Yao, who has been down here on the pretext of delivering unsolicited cocoa. The truth is, weathering the superhorde, trying to plan a counterattack... the pressure has been intense. Bouts of flu and dysentery have other settlements low on medical supplies, beseeching us for aid. Tinkering in here is the closest thing to relaxation I've been able to manage. Hopefully you have found our exercises similarly restorative.

Today's next task: incline press-ups. If you're confined near stairs, find them. Adopt a press-up position with your hands shoulder-width apart on the second or third step of your stairs and your back straight. Bend your arms to lower your body until your chest is close to the floor, hold there for a count of two, then return to your starting position.

For those of you without stairs, like Thirty-One or Runners Nineteen and Twenty-Two who are trapped in the ale house toilet after a failed romantic escape, try wall press-ups. Stand before a wall with your legs together and your arms straight out with your palms on the wall at shoulder height, shoulder-width apart. Keep your back straight and bend your elbows to bring your nose close to the wall. Hold for two seconds, then return to your starting position.

There will be one minute of press-ups. Begin. 15 seconds down. I believe I am close to finishing the rewiring. 30 seconds down. The drone appears to be coming online. Excellent. 45 seconds down. I imagine wall press-ups are especially useful for Runner Thirteen, who is sheltering in an old police box, to Mr. Yao’s perplexing amusement.

And stop. The drone is ready for launch. With so little fuel, there is no opportunity to test it, but I have a plan in mind. The people need a victory against the horde. To be candid, I feel I need one, too. There will be a music break while I conduct the launch. Recoup or continue doing press-ups. When you hear from me again, we shall find out one way or another whether my efforts here have been in vain.

~

SAM YAO: Uh, hello? Hello, listeners, are you there? It's Sam in the comms shack. Janine told me to take over the broadcast while she launches her drone. Apparently, she's rigged up a remote to steer it, so she's got to focus on that. [paper rustles]Anyway, she's given me a list of exercises for you. Next one is... oh, planking. Janine says it's, uh, an excellent test of patience, inspired by Runner Twelve, who's stuck in the back of an overturned campervan. She's been planking to pass the time.

So lie down on your front, supporting your weight on your forearms and tiptoes. Keep your back straight and lock your core. You're going to hold that pose for 60 seconds. And go. Oh! Got an update from Janine. The drone just launched, and ah, I see it on the cams, rising from the workshop like a big scary robot eagle. 15 seconds down. That's it, plank like Runner Twelve. Halfway done. Huh, that's weird, the drone's just drifting over the horde. I mean, shouldn't it be, I don't know, shooting missiles or something? 45 seconds down. Keep your body locked. Imagine you're that drone soaring through the air like a plank. And done. Good job, everyone!

Yeah, there's still no bombs or missiles from our drone. It's uh, oh, it's losing altitude, drifting east toward Naxdale Settlement. Yeah, they've always been a bit twitchy over there. They keep claiming some mysterious beast is looting their stores. I mean, everyone knows it's just rats. Anyway, I'd better check in with Janine, make sure everything's okay. You guys know the drill, keep exercising or relax in the break and I'll be right back.

~

SAM YAO: Hey, folks! Me again. Couldn't get ahold of Janine. She must be busy steering the drone. Well, I guess we should just get on with our exercises. Uh, the next one is inch worming. According to Janine, it's Runner Thirty-One's favorite, even if he only has enough space to halfway do it in his pantry. Janine says it's the kind of bracing challenge that patience sometimes earns. Right.

So stand up straight, feet hip-width apart, then slowly bend forward, putting your hands on the floor in front of your feet as near as you can get them to your toes. Walk your hands forward, keeping your abs engaged, until your back is completely straight, then reverse it. Walk your arms back to your feet and stand up straight again. And well, just keep doing that over and over again for one minute. Ready? And go.

Hmm. Uh, you've done 15 seconds. Oh, that drone is getting really low. It's banking. Oh my God, it's going down!. Uh... uh, sorry, listeners. Um, yeah, you're halfway done. I'm just a bit distracted here. The drone’s careered right into the middle of Naxdale Settlement. Uh, I'm checking nearby cams. This can't be good. Uh, yeah, 15 seconds left, guys. Looks like the locals in Naxdale are surrounding our crashed drone. They look really agitated. Uh, good job, everyone. That's one minute.

Listen, I'm gonna raise Janine, find out what's happening. You just... hang in there. Janine's been slaving over that thing for weeks. If it's some kind of dud, she'll be devastated. Oh God, I hope Naxdale don't think we're attacking them. Okay, this could be bad, but don't panic. I'm just... just going to put on some relaxing music for you to cool down to while we get this straightened out. Oh boy.

~

JANINE DE LUCA: Hello, listeners. I apologize for alarming you and Mr. Yao. All is well, I simply chose to focus on implementing my plan before explaining it. Lost time is lost health in this case. The drone was never meant to fight the horde, you see. We lack the ammunition for that. No, the drone is packed with medical supplies. I gutted its weapons systems to make room. I have piloted the drone to our nearby neighbors.

And to those listening from Naxdale, you are entitled to 1/8th of its contents. The drone's landing gear is permanently jammed, hence today's crash. You will use spare parts aboard to repair any landing damage and I will pilot it to the next nearest settlement, where this process will repeat. The drone has enough fuel to deliver to every settlement for miles. You will all get the supplies you need. And if anyone tries to take more than their share, well, the drone has a self-destruct.

We could not beat the horde with one damaged drone, listeners, but sometimes the key to victory is redefining your success conditions. No settlement near Abel will run out of key supplies. That is worth a little lost sleep, I fancy. Alas, we are out of time for today's exercise session. Naxdale, I will be in touch to help prepare the drone.

And everyone else, please do watch the skies. I promise when you need Abel Township, we will be there. That goes doubly for Runner Thirty-One and all the other runners out there in tight spaces. One day soon, we will be coming to rescue you, no matter what it takes, I swear. This is Janine De Luca, signing off for now.

~

[reversecreek]

clicks onto the dash wearing kitten heels n coyly holding my bang....... hi. me again. it took me so long to select a gif to use on cricket’s intro n i settled on this one bc he looks so unsure abt his smile n it’s rly his essence <3 u can find his pinterest board here n his (work in progress) spotify playlist here. hmu to plot!!! 

* alex wolff, cis male + he/him | you know cricket donahue, right? they’re twenty-two, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, all of their life, on and off? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to should have known better by sufjan stevens like, a million times this year, which slipping on wet leaves to photograph a tree struck alight by lightning, delivering a tedtalk to your own reflection to hype yourself up to buy groceries, hiding your hands inside of your sleeves in case you grew an impromptu megan fox thumb overnight thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is october 1st, so they’re a libra, which is unsurprising, all things considered. ( nai, 24, gmt, she/her )

HISTORY:

cricket ws born to a couple tht lived in lilac ridge. their trailer was tucked closest to the woods n always fell under the shade. it was like the leaves wanted to pretend they were a perpetual hanging cloud on the family n that was kind of fitting. their only reason fr having him in the first place was a kind of shrugged like........... we’re under the income bracket we’d get child benefits so why not! may as well try it to rake in some extra cash! needless to say they didn’t rly think it thru or anticipate all of the responsibilities tht came w children n wound up seeing him as an extremely large burden n boy didn’t he know it!

(child neglect & abuse tw) i’ll try to keep this part vague n brief but things were Not Good for cricket growing up. people in lilac ridge didn’t like his parents n it was for a gd reason. he remembers foggy things. being little n wandering around combing the grass with a stick to search for wrappers to suck on bc he was hungry. feeling uneasy when the front door opened. finding out his name was cricket bc the insects used to crawl into their trailer thru the vents n his parents liked to squish them into the carpet -- his mum told him as much once. i think this says a lot. to excessively trim the fat of the story he wound up entering the system at around 8 after his latest and most serious hospital visit. his parents hd to deal w the authorities n last he heard they bounced to evade charges.

(anxiety & violence & trauma tw) cricket sustained a few lifelong injuries from his time in lilac ridge. his knee didn’t heal right which meant he had (n still has to this day) a limp n he’s partially deaf in one ear. he’s always been an incredibly insecure n anxious person so this mde him rly self conscious going into a strange n new environment tht wld b difficult fr any kid to adjust to, nvm w these added worries. he jst felt like something weird to ogle at honestly. he probably wld have felt like that no matter where he was or what he looked like. he cld be in a huge hall of 200 people all wearing the same uniform n he’d still feel like the odd one out. needless to say this didn’t rly help him make friends

cricket’s coping mechanisms were romanticising the things tht other people found ugly or embarrassing or painfully ordinary. he liked it when the rain hit clunky drops against school windows n forbid everyone from playing outside bc he could feel the vibrations through the rubber soles of his shoes n it was a little bit like hearing all of the world at once fr just a moment. he liked medieval fantasy lore about stout gnomes w crumbs in their beards n cheeks red from ale. he liked fallen nests with the remnants of hatched eggs still dirty from the branches n soil they’d hit on the way down. he liked the way the sunlight leaked thru the leaves of the trees in the woods and how, when he sat very still, he could tune into the ringing that was always in his ear n pretend it was coming from the same place, that light thru the leaves, that the angels were trying to talk to him.

he spent a lot of time in the red room at his high skl (i’m begging u this is not a 50 shades reference) (after googling i jst realised it’s called a darkroom bt i’m leaving this fr the sake of sexy bimbo authenticity) n felt quite at home in there. he borrowed a camera whenever he cld (maybe he did yearbook) n photography became his way of immortalising the world as the romanticised version he wanted it to be. his memories were bad bt his photos were beautiful. maybe if he took enough they’d paste over n bleed into each other. maybe bad cld be replaced w beautiful if he tried his very best.

he got placed into fostering w a family once bt apparently didn’t meet the vibe check of their tastes so he wound up returning to the group home he’d initially been placed in. overall this is where he grew up n he aged out the system rather than getting adopted. there was a sense of floundering/isolation/not feeling gd enough in tht bt cricket made do the best he knew how. 

that said there were some gd points! (shocking i kno bc his life hs been so fking bleak so far bt please it’s ok........) (is it?) (🤔). basically he interned as an assistant at this local photography studio during high skl working under this kind of whimsical yet endearing old man. suspected wizard possibly in cricket’s eyes, as an avid fantasy genre reader. for one of his bdays said old man / his boss bought him his very own film camera n cricket cried bc he’d never been bought a bday gift. this ws rly embarrassing bc this old man didn’t know how to emote n neither did cricket so he ws jst sort of sat wiping his eyes n sniffling saying he wasn’t crying as the old man pretended to suddenly clean his lenses. when cricket graduated he offered him a full time position there. they do like. wedding photographs n family portraits n all kinds of things...... pay isn’t huge bt it’s something n he Loves taking photos so it’s sexy <3

PERSONALITY:

SUCH an anxious person it’s actually unreal. overthinks absolutely everything he’s ever said. one morning he might hv put green socks on n for the rest of the day he’s nervously looking around like omggggggg they’re all looking at my socks probably thinking im a little green sock boy thinking i’m a fool n a jester this is all everyone’s probably thinking about i hv to hide my green socks..... even tho literally no-one cares

once saw a girl eating a chicken wing n in his head was like ok she likes chicken good future gift idea..... n turned up at her house with an entire rotisserie chicken

probably thinks WAY too hard abt what to write in bday cards n googles like generic ideas that he can use.... u open a card from cricket n it always says smthn weird like “Warmest wishes and love on your birthday and always!” or “You deserve everything happy. Wishing you that all year long!” tht he got off google

nervously fiddles w things a lot. literally anything. his hair. the cuffs of his sleeves. a thread on his bag. u name it

struggles w eye contact sometimes............ it’s like. he wants to talk to ppl n make friends bt he’s honestly so bad at it. he’s fumbling thru life like a nervous headless chicken

ALWAYS has his camera on him. like always. will tke a photo of u bc he thinks u look nice then be like im so sorry im so sorry...... bowing his head shakily holding his camera bc he doesn’t even kno what possessed him he jst thought it’d be a nice photograph bt boundaries exist. probably breathes very heavily over this later in his room panicking thinking he nw seems like hannibal lecter

probably more confident online bc he has time to think abt what he says more.......... i can see him hving a group of online friends tht he’s more confident w. honestly he’s pretty witty at heart he jst has a hard time verbalising things so ppl overlook him sometimes bt once u get to know him more / he’s more comfy he can b a funny little man.....

loves photographs where he cuts something out of them. loves missing spaces n voids. thinks it’s a rly interesting concept when something that isn’t there becomes the focus of a photograph where everything else is. probably loses his mind fr a collage like a front row 1d stan. likes experimenting w light n perception. pretty artistic honestly hs probably made a stop motion film in the past bc that’s just an extended form of photography in his mind bt i doubt he showed anyone

ummm...... very sweet bt like. he reminds me a lot of this quote. “he had the awkward tenderness of someone who has never been loved and is forced to improvise.” feel like tht sums him up quite nicely

WANTED CONNECTIONS

someone he met at a wedding: cricket probably ws forced to photograph a wedding fr his boss one time n it cld b interesting as a place to meet from that....... like. i can imagine either it being rly awkward maybe he accidentally spilled a drink on ur muse n was stuttering rly apologetic n it ws just a train wreck. or mayb they took pity on him or even (in a shocking turn of events) a shine to him n invited him to drink n dance. omgggg the thought of cricket trying to dance makes me wna die n probably mkes cricket wna hyperventilate bt idk maybe he went wild n let loose. mayb they wound up damaging the camera somehow. mayb they had to scramble to get another one n ur muse covered the cost n it was a strange late night excursion tht cricket thought about a lot since. cricket probably vowed to pay them bk somehow no matter what. idk. we can work things out. lots of diff options here. doesn’t have to b a wedding either can b any event tht required a photographer

ppl he went to school w: pretty self explanatory i suppose...... maybe they were frm completely different worlds..... mayb ur muse was popular n cricket was definitely not but they got paired fr an assignment n had to work on a project together....... mayb cricket asked ur muse on a date one time n it was completely embarrassing bc he didn’t realise they had a bf n it haunts cricket at night still bc he’s rly dramatic.... mayb ur muse felt sry fr him n ate lunch w him n inducted him into their group like a lost puppy finding a home.... world’s our oyster

neighbours from his brief time at lilac ridge: not to reference taylor swift but i’m gna reference taylor swift n say we cld do a seven inspired plot here. sighs a little..... then sighs a lot. he was here ages 0-8 so idk. we cld work out childhood plots perhaps....

sickening simp: i mean.............. cricket probably gets crushes on ppl so easily like just. anyone who’s the slightest bit nice to him.................. he’s a disgrace. ok i take it back. bt also please get it together freak............... i didn’t say that. he’d probably b extra nice to this person n try n pay close attention to things they liked so he cld get them little gifts. just a bit embarrassing n lovestruck bless his heart. wldn’t expect anything back tho honestly that just isn’t something he tends to do.

let’s go gays: cricket’s bi but he probably was rly in his head abt liking boys n tried to sort of squash it internally during his younger yrs...... i think he’s more comfy w it now MAYBE idk bt back then i picture him having a friend tht ws kind of like. similarly loserish as him perhaps (no offence to ur muse potentially filling this plot or cricket bt let’s face the facts) n they’d hang out n play games a lot n one time it jst kind of happened n he was like............. *struts in looking around sharply* What going on here? except not. bc it’s cricket. more like *shambles in looking around anxiously* What’s, uh... What’s... the happenings? S--... I’m sorry. (immediate apology for saying what’s the happenings bc nobody talks like that n it was an impulsive panic bc he didn’t know what else to say)

those who grew up in the system w him: maybe at the group home or i’d also like the family that fostered him n said sayonara. honestly i imagine the parents just thought he ws a bit too much of a handful / had too much baggage which is rly quite merciless n terrible but. if u think that aligns w ur muses home situation hmu......

um. can’t think of more bt just anything honestly. jst go wild.......

[bellamyblake]

I’d love to know your thoughts on sab 👀 I also didn’t enjoy it and liked the books a lot more

This will go on under cut because I can't deal with more hate right now.

I didn't like the sa/b books. I only ever liked the so/c books. I honestly can't believe they are written by the same author, in my head it feels like s/oc was written by an entirely different person and it always felt that way.

Now I read so/c because back at the bellarke fandom a few fellas recommended it and I liked it. I just can't believe that now, I am living to see the day where ma/tthias and n/ina are compared to bellarke of all things when back then I remember that was everyone's least favorite couple and people were glad he died LOL. I guess it's cause the author compared them to one another but tbh to me they couldn't be more different, but that's just me.

So I'm putting s/oc aside. Not that I mind it. I honestly just think that the entire shit was absolutely fucked up. Everyone always wanted just so/c to become a show not s/ab. In the fandom everyone couldn't fucking stand s/ab and then THAT became the foundation for the show???

Stupid af. At least for me.

Then I realized why that happened.

So/c is fine but it's like a story that won't go anywhere from a certain point. Even the fans agree that the second book from the duology is a little like...felt pushed, not too honest to everything that was happening. Like the sequence you thought you wanted but didn't really.

So/c is a story of a bunch of people coming together to do a task and then everyone goes their way. That is the reason why it's no good for a show-they are bound by the idea of doing this heist and getting the money so they could all part ways and in reality they do because all of them want different things or outer circumstances demand their presense elsewhere.

They are cool as a side storyline-you know the rush of a heist and all that, all the bickering and the smart lines, it's cool right?

Plus it appeals more to the younger audience as well.

But they I realized later on ofc, needed s/ab because it fits perfectly not only into what is popular lately (aka bad hero who everyone likes but we've reached the point of no defending needed if he's hot enough and a young girl he chases which is the more fucked up thing I believe). but also what sells.

So you got a very attractive 40 y/o dude who girls are known to fangirl on and a young new face that you know nothing about but that apparently fits in the narrative, though I'm sorry but as much as I dislike A/lina, I cannot see that girl as her either. i think the casting wasn't good, esp when it comes to so/c I'd only exclude the actor for J.esper they've chosen. Perhaps for Ma/tthias too. I'm very disappointed with the casting of K/az. That is what pushed me off at first. I didn't see In/ej that way either but I'd say perhaps the actress fits to a point. But K/az is a total disaster for me. Anyway, so you got the hot dude, the girl and the very basic idea of darkness and light colliding-so that is a story that albeit very stupid in its core can perhaps progress in a way-

and it progresses in the romantic way I guess? The allure to darkness, the love, the absolute finn of a character on the other side forming a very weak triangle that nobody cares about though I've heard ppl like M/al more in the show which is kudos cause he's an absolute disgrace in the books.

Can we also please talk about the fact that A/lina is considered ugly in the books and only grows beautiful when she gains her power?

I won't even go into casting a thin N/ina when she's absolutely the only ever slavic character I've seen in any show/movie/book that i've related to cause honestly-the best written character imo despite L/eighs fucking no knowledge of this culture.

And that brings me back to the absolute main point that is-I don't get why more slavs aren't outraged by this blasephamy that the show and the book is. She says the entire time that she wrote about it and based it on imperial russia cause it was *more interesting* and sounded like *something cool* but that she had no knowledge of it at all.

Start with their names perhaps? Why the darkling has a female surname and alina a male? I think you could at least check that out it's not as hard lmfao.

I remember while reading the books how she used some absolute idiotic words that made no sense like otkazastsya which what??? what's that ma'am. In its sense that's a verb you're using it as a noun and has absolutely no meaning whatsoever???

So that was something that always pushed me away from the books and that's why I knew I wouldn't watch the show after it. the casting solidified it for me, that being also because I'm not a personal fan of b/ bar/nes but that's just my problem in an overall scheme of problems.

i could probably go on and talk about the saints, the killing of animals for power or the dark/ling some more but i'm quite tired and I don't think that'll add much to it. i think that it could've been done a lot better also costume wise if they wanted to represent the slavic or russian culture some more. seeing the soldiers even on the promo clip before the show was out made me close the tab immideately.

[x-rainflame-x]

First You Dream- Royai Week Prompt 1, Letter

Rating: PG Genre: Angst/Romance/Fluff Read on AO3 or FF.

Summary: The world is not the only thing Roy is navigating blind.

_______________________________________________________________________

Roy held the letter in his bandaged hands, noting the smoothness of the envelope, how it felt cool against his fingertips, the faint indentions of pen strokes rolling and looping under his touch. It was one of those squared, unofficial ones, the kind that didn’t come from the military but from friends and family. For all that he could discern though, he could not tell what it said, or even who sent it.

He missed the days when he was only useless in the rain.

He held it in front of his face, like the words could somehow bypass his blind gaze and be absorbed straight into his brain. When that didn’t work, he sighed and slouched in his chair, tapping the letter idly against his leg.

He waited patiently—or so he thought—but Riza had dropped the stack of papers on the coffee table a while ago with the promise of returning and had not been back since. In her absence, he had grown bored and begun rifling through the mail himself, trying to guess as to their source by touch alone. The long, folded stack had to be the Central Times, and he thought he recognized the weight of a few bills. Another bearing the raised seal of Amestris signaled some sort of work document, but this small, innocuous envelop captured his interest.

Something clanged in the kitchen, drawing Roy’s attention to Riza as she set about making lunch. He was both miffed that he’d been left behind for so long, and that she had left a mystery like this envelope behind unexplained.

Roy was a patient man, but there were so few points of interest in his dark world anymore. One of those points was Riza, and the other was this stupid letter and he wanted answers.

He blatantly, firmly ignored the quiet voice in the back of his head that whispered how helpless he was, needing Riza to read his mail. How long would she put up with that? With any of this?

With a growl, he reached beside him, feeling for the walking stick he’d left propped against the table. He had only been out of the hospital for two weeks, and Riza only one, but she had insisted on using her medical leave to help Roy grow more accustomed to his disability. She was there from sunup until he ordered her home, and she still didn’t leave until Breda or Falman came to take over for the evening. He was growing weary of being babysat, but not of Riza’s company. If he had known she would be in the kitchen for so long, he would have asked to come with her.

Tentatively, he swept the stick in front of him, the narrow end smacking against a piece of furniture he assumed to be the couch, and it took him a moment to map out exactly which direction he needed to go from there. It was strange how being robbed of his sight could suddenly make him a stranger in his own home.

Slowly, he shuffled forward, one sore hand weakly grasping the stick and the letter, the other held in front of him to spare his nose from anymore unfortunate encounters with the walls. He followed his memory and the sounds of garlic chicken sizzling on the stove, becoming more confident when his shins didn’t encounter any obstacles.

Then, something caught against his toe, bending it at a particularly painful angle. He let out a yelp, yanking his foot from the ground reflexively. The quick motion of it set his black world spinning around him and he overcorrected, stumbled, then fell hard to the ground.

“Roy!” Riza’s voice called into the darkness. It was amazing how blackness could spin.

“ ’m fine,” he huffed into the carpet. It wasn’t his first fall, and unfortunately would not be his last. He brought a hand under him, pushing himself up and wincing through the motion as it put pressure on his healing hands. His toe throbbed mercilessly, and he pressed it into the carpet to try to relieve some of the throbbing pain.  

Suddenly, Riza was beside him, her soft fingers gripping under his elbow to help him up, the scent of spring and her lavender shampoo emphasizing the closeness of her. He fought down the urge to run his hands through her hair once he was standing again, briefly wondering if she’d worn it up or down today. “Sir, we’ve talked about this.” She sounded completely exasperated, her warm voice rendered raspy by her own healing injuries. “You’re walking too fast.”

“I was in a hurry to be with you,” he said by way of defense. He wished he could see her cheeks tinged with pink at the comment—she was delightfully easy to fluster when she was unprepared— but he had to settle for her weary sigh. She picked up one of his hands in hers, then placed his walking stick into his palm before he got too excited about it.

“And while I’m here picking you up off the floor, the chicken is burning,” she said, grabbing his other hand, and he brightened when she didn’t simply release it. “Come on, Roy.”

He loved the way she said his first name; the intimacy of it, the knowing.

“Wait, I dropped something,” he said, gesturing vaguely to the floor.

Fabric rustled as she bent down, or so he assumed by the way her hand twisted in his. “A letter?” she asked.

“Yes. Who sent it?”

“It says ‘Elric.’ That leaves only a couple of options.”

Roy’s lips quirked at that. He felt an excitement stir in his chest at the thought of the Elric brothers writing. Ed was loath to visit, as any amount of time outside of the hospital was time away from his little brother’s side, and Al would be stuck in the hospital for at least another month if not two. Roy missed them both—even Ed, as annoying as he could be.  

“Could you read it?”

“Let me save the chicken first.”

She led him into the kitchen by hand. He heard a chair scrapping tile, then her hands on his shoulders, gently guiding him to sit. He did with the utmost trust, only floundering a bit to find the table’s edge. Paper hissed gently as she set the letter down on the scarred, worn tabletop, then headed back into Roy’s small kitchen.

She puttered around a bit more, and he could picture the way she looked in his mind’s eye; the gentle curve of her spine as she lifted the cast iron skillet from the stovetop, a pale hand brushing her bangs from her eyes as she caramelized carrots in another pan, the light from his kitchen window making her sherry eyes shine.

For all he knew though, it could have been cloudy.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, propping up his elbow and resting his chin on his knuckles. The position hurt his hand though, so he settled for leaning against the edge of the table.

“Just fine, Sir,” she answered.

“You’re not getting lightheaded, are you?”

He could hear the eyeroll in her voice that she was far too dignified to ever physically enact. “I will let you know if I do.”

“Hmm,” Roy hummed in his throat. “I don’t want you working yourself too hard. You’re on medical leave, after all.”

“If you will save me from the strain of picking you up off the floor, it would help tremendously.”

Roy pouted. “Picking on the blind man? That’s pretty low, Lieutenant.”

“So is the floor.”

“Cruel.”

He heard her smirk now, sharp and self-satisfied. “Maybe I will lay off if you eat your lunch without making fun of my cooking.” A sharp thunk indicated a plate being set before him, and she would probably already have cut it up for him into smaller, more manageable pieces. He tried to push away the flush of humiliation that burned his face at the thought and tried to instead relish the fact that she was near, here in his house, almost in the way he always wanted it.

But not like this.

She settled into the chair next to him, ready to intervene if he was unable to feed himself again. After his hands had been run through, his fine motor skills were abysmal at best, and using small utensils like forks or pens sometimes left his hands spasming in such a way that he was unable to continue without assistance.

It was all in all both painful and very embarrassing, another blow to his dwindling dignity, and Riza was the only highlight, even if she had to see him this way.

He heard paper rustling. “It’s from Edward,” she said, a note of hesitancy in her voice.

It took Roy a moment to realize what she was talking about. “The letter?”

“Yes.” More hesitation.

“That bad, huh?”

“. . . worse.”

Was that . . . embarrassment in her voice?

Against all of his better judgement, Roy sighed. “Well, go ahead Lieutenant.”

“Sir,” she said with a great deal of reluctance.

“Dear Colonel Idiot, congratulations on your release from the hospital. It’s been a little quiet without you here to yell at, but Al thinks it’s peaceful. He’s also begging for you to come get me out of his hair for a few hours, but we all know that’s not going to happen.

“You asked for me to update you on Al’s condition. He’s gained eight pounds since you checked out, and his physical therapy is coming along. He says to let you know that he misses you guys and to stop by and visit. As the elder brother, I’d like to revoke that invitation from you specifically. You’re not invited.

“You also asked to be kept in the loop on my progress. They’ve technically released me, though I’ve still got a lot of therapy to go to get my right arm in shape. Either way, I’ll be sticking around the hospital until Al’s out.”

Riza stopped.

“That’s it?” Roy asked. That wasn’t nearly as painful as she’d made it out to be. It was almost polite, by Ed’s standards.

“No, sir,” she said with a sigh. “There is one more paragraph.”

With mounting dread, Roy waited for her to gather herself.

“One last note,” she continued reading. “If you’re reading this, that means you’re having someone else read it to you out loud. I’m going to bet cenz that that someone is the Lieutenant. And if she’s reading it to you aloud and you’ve gotten this far, that means you two are alone, so why don’t you go ahead and confess your love to her already and stop stalling. Most sincerely, Fullmetal.”

The loudest silence Roy had ever heard stretched between them.

Well.

Roy could imagine his face was about four shades of red, and he was almost thankful he couldn’t see Riza’s reaction. His ears were on fire, and he ran his sore hands through his disheveled hair just to give them something to do. “How . . . nice of him to write.”

“Very,” she agreed tersely.

He cleared his throat. “I can’t argue with his sentiments, but his delivery is terrible.”

He wasn’t quite sure what caused him to pursue such a bold course, but something about it felt right, and if he knew anything about navigating disquieting situations, he knew to listen to his gut.

She paused, and he listened carefully, trying to gauge her reaction by sound alone. “Sir,” she protested, “I don’t think it’s appropriate—”

“Fullmetal is a lot of things, but appropriate isn’t one of them.”

“You know what I mean.”

He reached out in front of him, finding her hands and holding them, the same way he might have held her gaze under different circumstances. She resisted his grip only for a second before allowing him to intertwine his aching fingers in between hers. “Riza,” he said. “Fullmetal is an ineloquent buffoon, but he makes a valid point. We’ve got a very unique opportunity here.”

“Sir, the law—”

“Is not going to mind a couple of officers on medical leave sharing a moment of honesty in my kitchen,” he finished softly.

When she didn’t flinch or otherwise shoot him, he continued.

“I understand that I must be quite the sight to behold right now,” he said, trying hard to keep the self-depreciation out of his voice, “but nothing has changed for me. If it weren’t for the law—”

“Don’t.”

Her sudden protest startled him.

Nothing had changed for him, but maybe . . . could things have changed for her?

It had been so long since he’d been alone with her. Between her transfer, and all the fighting and recovery, it seemed like the past few months had been a whirlwind. Maybe at some point during that time, she’d lost interest. He couldn’t blame her, of course. After all, what hope could a blind man possibly have to change the country? How could he keep his promise to her like this?

What if the only reason she was here was out of duty? Some misplaced sense of guilt?

The depression he’d been teetering on the edge of for over two months threatened to swallow him in that moment. He released her hands, then cleared his throat, feeling like a fool and worse. All of the shameless flirting he’d done over the past week . . . no wonder she had been so uncomfortable. “I see. I’m sorry, it seems I’ve . . . misread the situation.”

There was movement from her chair, then it came closer and he could smell lavender again. “You have not misread anything,” she said, and she must have been mere inches in front of his face, her warm, sweet breath brushing against his lips.

Her calloused hands came from nowhere, one catching him under the jaw, one sliding around his neck.

This sudden turn of events did wonders for his mood.

His hands moved of their own accord, one wrapping around her waist and drawing her onto his lap, the other cupping the side of her face before running his stiff fingers through her hair—it was down, he knew it—circling back again over her bandaged throat to catch her jaw. Her weight settled against him, strong and steady, and without his sight, he allowed Riza to initiate, her lips meeting his almost chastely. He followed her, eager to escalate the situation, but she pulled back.

Now he was really confused.

With a heavy sigh, she pressed her forehead against his, their breath intermingling in the small space between them. “I want this,” she said softly, her nose brushing his. “I want this more than you can know.”

He swallowed thickly. “We can have it.”

He felt her shake her head against his. “No. We can have lies and secrets, but we cannot have what I want. Not until the laws change.”

Roy stroked her hair, almost hesitantly. “Will you wait?” he whispered. “Will you wait until the laws are abolished?”

“I will wait for you as long as it takes,” she promised. “But I will not settle for half of what we should have. I will wait until I can have all of it.”

“And until then?”

“I will be your most trusted subordinate.”

His laugh was more sad than not, almost a sob. “Well. I’d better ask Fuhrer Grumman to get started on the laws that really count.”

“You’d better,” she agreed. Her closed lips met his one more time, a gentle pressure that he returned, savoring this contact with the woman was irrevocably, madly in love with.

Then she pulled away from him entirely. The chair across from him squeaked as she settled into it once more, leaving him feeling too light and too heavy all at once, already missing her grounding weight against him. “Your food is going to get cold,” she reminded.

He started to reply, only to have a piece of chicken stuffed in his mouth.

He blinked, then gave an indignant scowl as he began to chew, swallowing it all too soon. “Firstly Riza, it’s burned.”

“Your fault,” she reminded.

“Secondly, I can feed myself.”

Something was shoved into his hand, and it took him a moment to realize it was a fork. “Better get to it then, Sir.”

Roy offered her what he hoped to be a convincing smirk found his plate with his other hand, delicately gripping the edge as he began to blindly chase chicken and carrots around his plate.

It didn’t take very long for his hands to start spasming, and without comment, Riza swiped the fork from the tabletop where it had fallen and pushed another bit of carrot into his mouth.

And she did it all without derogatory comment, and as embarrassed as he was, he was grateful. Roy Mustang did not deserve Riza Hawkeye, and that was that.

He had waited for her for years, and would wait for her for an eternity more if he had to.

But he knew she would be worth the wait.

_______________________________________________________________________

A/N: This is my first time posting a full one-shot to Tumblr (I think) xD

I told my muse it was time to sit down and work on DOA and SSB, so it sat in the corner and wrote this to spite me.

I have no idea how to write Royai, but I wanted to give it a shot anyways, because I love them and I haven't written for them specifically and explicitly in forever. I'm, frankly, a bit terrified of posting this because I feel like I cannot do these two justice xD Will I do the other prompts? It depends how much I cringe when I go back and reread this :'D UGH I don't even know if this is in character, but I've spent literally all week on the first prompt, sooooo *throws it out there*. EdWin Week burned me out a bit on the posting-ever-day thing, so that's definitely not gonna happen. Maybe I can finish this in June? Unless my muse *pointed glare* does not cooperate.

We'll see how it goes xD

If you have time, please drop a comment/reblog, and I'll see you next time c:

God Bless, -RainFlame

[zukuthehero]

Chapter Five- Decisions Decisions

First Chapter || Previous Chapter || Next Chapter || AO3

Aizawa POV

I sighed, picking at my bandages. So many bandages.

It could’ve been worse, according to the doctors I’d narrowly avoided damage to my quirk factor when I’d been smashed down. It was a very close thing.

I was, frankly, relieved, I’d gained a small scar under my eye, but it was much better than not being able to use my quirk.

Besides, I’d rather get hurt a thousand times than allow a single one of my student’s to be harmed.

I sighed, I won’t let this happen again. My poor students, they weren’t supposed to deal with this yet. They were kids. I hate that they’ve already had to face the pain of losing a classmate.

My mind flashed to the loss I suffered when I was in school before shaking my head.

Not now. I can’t get lost in memories right now.

I need to get ready to go teach class.

“Knock Knock.”

I looked up to see All Might in his shrunken form standing at the door.

“Yagi,” I grumbled. “What are you doing here?”

“Just thought I’d stop by to check on you. Classes are starting up again and all.”

I scowled, “I’m fine thanks.”

I grabbed my shirt and struggled for a moment to pull it on. I’d been half way through dressing when the number one hero had shown up unannounced.

“Here, let me help.”

I jerked when All Might took the shirt.

“I don’t need the help, I’m just getting ready.”

“You looked like you were struggling a bit, just let me help you put it on.”

I glared up at Yagi (stupid tall hero even shrunken), “I’m fine.”

All Might ignored me, helping me pull my shirt on despite my scowl and grumbles.

I ignored how I might have definitely needed the help, “I didn’t need the help.”

“Right, uh, sorry for bothering you. I’m sure the students were worried, so I just wanted to be able to tell them that you’re alright.”

My eye twitched, “I’ll be telling them myself when I go in to teach them.”

All Might stared for a moment, “You’re not going in.”

“Yes I am. I have students to teach.”

“No, you’re not, you’re injured! Your whole face is wrapped in bandages! And so are your arms, Aizawa you’re in no state to teach.”

“It looks worse than it is, my arms are nearly healed and so is my face. Recover Girl was able to heal a lot of the damage. In a few days, maybe a week, I’ll be able to take off the bandages.”

All Might frowned, “Still, you should rest until you can take them off. Better safe than sorry.”

“I’ve never missed a day of teaching and I’m not starting now. You can shove it Yagi.”

I grabbed my bag, “Is there any new info on the attack?”

All Might scowled, “Not much, all the villains are still missing, and no new info was found on the Nomu. But don’t change the subject! You shouldn’t be going in today! I’m covering your class.”

“You’re injured too so you hardly get to talk, and you’re definitely not covering my class. I’m going in.”

I glared at All Might, who glared right back before sighing.

“I’m not gonna be able to stop you, am I?”

“Nope. Bye.”

I headed for the door.

“Fine. At least promise to take it easy. It won’t do anyone any good for you to delay your recovery because you’re stubborn.

I rolled my eyes, “Yes fine, I’ll be careful, happy Al- Yagi?”

“Satisfied,” He sighed.

“Great, I’m heading to class.”

All Might shook his head. “I’ll drive you,” he grumbled resigned.

Izuku POV

I walked through the halls of school, heading to my classroom.

‘Maybe if I focus more on kicking? I should still learn about pressure points and the like, it’ll take a lot of practice to get accurate, maybe add something as a weapon for just in case? Weapons can really give you the edge you need in a fight against a superior opponent, of course that’s assuming that I can get good enough with my weapon or it’d just hinder my progress. Of course, I have practiced some with a bo staff, but not nearly enough to be considered proficient, I’ll have to practice more again. Plus working on my new style for One for- er, I should probably also think of it as Enhancement, better safe than sorry, especially since I have the bad habit of mumbling.’

I shook my head as I realized I was in front of my classroom’s door.

“Right,” I mumbled, “Class now.”

I carefully released the power of One for All I’d been holding in my hands.

It barely hurt to hold it there now, and I’d been experimenting in spreading it up my arms. If I spread it out more than it hurts even less, but it was also harder to hold there. It’d take more practice to get it right.

For now though, I opened the door to the class.

The other students looked up immediately.

First thing I noticed was how subdued the room was, no one was really talking.

Tsu shot me a careful look and I flashed her a small, nervous, smile.

“Hey Midoriya, how are you doing?”

I looked over at Kirishima, “I’m alright I guess. You?”

He offered me a wane smile, “Alright. Wasn’t injured at all like you were. It was super manly how you fought.”

I nodded nervously, “Th-Thanks.”

I quickly moved to my seat, slinking past Kacchan and sliding into my chair, putting my bag at my feet.

Ashido, Uraraka, Jiro, and Yaoyorozu weren’t in the room yet. I hope they’re alright.

I carefully didn’t look back at the other empty seat. The weight of it settling in my stomach.

I started fiddling with one of the new pens my dad got me. Twisting the lid around and slowly pulling the pen apart.

Uraraka was the next to arrive, Ashido right behind her. Both nodded to the students, Uraraka looking over at me worriedly.

I offered her another nervous smile and started putting the pen back together again.

I really like these pens, lots of parts, good to fiddle with without making noise.

Kacchan usually got annoyed and destroyed them after a few days though.

Yaoyorozu was next, pausing to look over the class, a small frown on her face.

“Um, I brought a snack for everyone. I know things have been hard and thought that maybe we could all enjoy a nice treat?”

She looked nervous, hovering at the front with a box in her hands.

“That sounds great,” Ashido said brightly, her smile slightly forced, “I’ll help you pass them out.”

A flash of relief crossed Yaoyorozu’s face before she nodded, “That would be wonderful. I’m unsure if anyone has any allergies so I made sure that they are all vegetarian and nut free. There are chocolate, vanilla, and green tea mochi, you can pick your favorite of them.”

The students brightened a bit with this new addition, and Jiro arrived in time to pick out a green tea mochi for herself.

I took a chocolate one and watched Tsu take a vanilla one.

We shared another look, both of us offering each other a reassuring smile.

I felt a bit better, the class would come together. We wouldn’t lose anyone else.

And that was the scene that Aizawa arrived too.

The students nibbling on their mochi, sitting quietly, a few students talking quietly amongst themselves.

I straightened when I saw Aizawa at the door.

“Aizawa-sensei!” I said in surprise.

I’m glad Aizawa-sensei is alright, but he’s still covered in bandages.

I blinked when I noticed All Might (in his hero form) standing at the door.

“Ah, just making sure your teacher made it safely to your class!” He posed with a big thumbs up and his eternal smile in place. “Well, places to be. Behave young heroes!”

All Might left quickly.

Aizawa sighed, “All right class.”

“Should you be here!?” Ashido asked worriedly, “You’re covered in bandages!”

“I’m perfectly fine. Nearly fully healed. Now then. We still have important things to discuss.”

The class went quiet, for once without the need for Aizawa-sensei to use his quirk. I leaned forward to hear, this seems important.

“First things first, all of you will be having an appointment with Hound Dog. A schedule has been set up and you’ll be informed of when your appointment is privately. Whatever you discuss with him will be strictly between you and him. You have no need to worry about anyone else hearing about it.”

The other students murmured, some sounded hesitant but I looked over at Tsu, remembering our conversation before Recovery Girl had interrupted.

Yeah, we kinda need this appointment.

“Next, I regret to inform you that the majority of the villains captured in the USJ attack have escaped.”

“WHAT!?” Kaminari cried, his eyes wide.

“The warp villain managed to retrieve most of them, though the Nomu is still in holding.”

The students murmured again, this time in fear. They thought they were safe, but the villains had escaped!?

This wasn’t good, my stomach twisted, how did this happen?

“Which leads me to my next subject. The Sports Festival.”

I frowned, how did those connect?

Aizawa studied the class, “It has not been decided if we will hold the Sports Festival this year.”

“What? Why?” asked Hagakure.

“Think about it,” I said, understanding now. “We were just attacked by villains, one with a warp quirk who’s capabilities are unknown. The villains captured have all escaped, it’s unknown if they have other’s with more powerful quirks, and if they have anyone else like Nomu. The Sports Festival would be a prime target for them.”

“Oh no,” murmured Ashido, “That’s not good. Shouldn’t we cancel it then?”

Aizawa was watching quietly.

I frowned, “Well, that depends, the Sports Festival is usually filled with Pro heroes looking for new interns and checking out the new talent. So, on one hand it’s a prime target, but on the other it’s also the worst place for a group of villains to be. It’s likely that we’ll have multiple of the top ten at least in the area, so attacking then would be basically asking to get caught. It really just depends on what their goals might be if they decided to attack. If they succeeded…”

“We don’t care Deku.”

I flushed, “Um yeah… sorry…”

“Thank you for Shutting Up now nerd. Honestly.” Kacchan huffed in front of me.

I sunk down in his seat. I didn’t mean to ramble

“That’s exactly right Midoriya, thank you for explaining.”

I peaked up to see my teacher nodding at me, a small smile curling his lips.

“The Sports Festival has a risk, however small, but the school has decided it isn’t appropriate for us to decide. Thus, we are leaving it up to you. You were the class attacked and the class affected by the attack. You are the one’s who lost a classmate.”

The class went silent.

He sighed, “Regardless of what you decide, I’ll be putting you through training from hell.”

I blinked.

“I won’t let something like that happen again. I was supposed to keep you safe and yet you all lost a classmate in that attack. I’m going to train you until you drop so that never happens again.”

I swallowed, that sounded intense but… but I need that training.

“You have till the end of the day to decide. Just let us know. You can vote for the Festival to happen even if you don’t participate, or you can vote for it to be cancelled entirely. You can decide to have the Festival and for you to participate as well. Whatever makes you all most comfortable.”

He studied all of the students, “I’ll let you have the rest of homeroom to decide.”

With that Aizawa-sensei pulled out his yellow sleeping bag and sat against the wall.

I watched as the class started talking.

“Do we have to participate, like, I don’t care if others want to but I don’t really want to myself.”

“This is scary! What if they attack again?”

“Is it safe for us? I don’t know if I want to.”

“Come on! It’s manliness! We can do it, those villains won’t get us down!”

“Maybe we could do it to honor Mineta?”

“I’m scared, it’s scary, what if they come back.”

“We could all wear something purple? To honor him.”

“Honestly I hated him already but you’re right, he didn’t deserve to die, we should try and honor him somehow.”

I frowned as their voices blended together.

It really does depend on what the villains might want, honestly if they’re trying to hurt us attacking and not attacking both have advantages and disadvantages.

“What do you think Deku?”

I looked up at Uraraka.

“Oh um… I don’t know.”

“Do you think they’ll attack again?”

“Well- uh- it- it depends. It’s all ab- all about what their goals are. Uh, if they’re trying to hurt us then attacking them would give them an immediate base to harm us and with their warper they might be able to escape if they plan carefully. On the other hand, if they’re willing to wait then they could use the Festival to get info on us and our quirks then attack us at a later date, one at a time or in a group ag….again…”

I trailed off, realizing everyone else had gone quiet and was staring at me. “Um…”

“That’s… scary Deku.”

“Wow, I didn’t even think of that.”

“That’s really scary Midoriya!”

“I- I mean,” I hesitated. “Their target was originally All Might, but like, they’re villains. So, they might decide that we’re trouble and target us later to get rid of us before we’re a real threat. Or they might just want to show that we couldn’t beat them. Or maybe they want revenge. Or they could try recruitment. It all depends on their goals…”

“So… do you think we should have the Festival?”

All the students were staring at me.

“I- I don’t- I don’t know,” I whispered, sinking down. “It…” I took a deep breath. “I- I think- I want to participate. I…. I don’t want to be afraid. But I also don’t think… I don’t think we should show off the real power of our quirks.”

“So what?” Kirishima asked, “Limit ourselves?”

“Um, I guess? I would also be a good exercise I guess. To limit what skills we demonstrate, it means we’ll have to be better in other ways to make up for it.”

“Hmm, that’s a good idea!” Ashido chirped. “And we could totally do like, purple nail polish or something to honor Mineta too. We’ll fight for him! Remind the villains why we’re gonna be heroes!”

“So, does everyone agree then?” Iida chopped his hands, “Let’s take a vote. If you want the Festival to occur raise your hand.”

It was slow but everyone eventually raised their hands. Izuku one of the last.

“Alright, it’s unanimous. Aizawa-sensei!”

He lifted his head, “Yeah?”

“We have decided. The Sports Festival will go on!”

“Yay. I’ll tell the other teachers.” He yawned. “You all… get your books out. English is about to start.”

++++++++++++++++++++

I stretched as the others started gathering their things.

Class had been interesting. The teachers were giving us today off before intense training started. I was excited.

I managed to ask Aizawa-sensei to talk to him after class so I’d be staying behind until he returned from the teacher’s lounge.

Everyone was hovering awkwardly now.

I get it, none of us really want to be the first to leave our safe place. None of them had left to eat lunch, staying in here the whole time.

It felt safer to stick together, but now we’d be separating, heading home.

I don’t like it.

Todoroki was the first to head to the door and opened it, only to pause at the large group of students at the door.

“What do you extras want?” Kacchan snapped.

“You can’t call everyone you don’t know extras!” Iida cried.

“I’m just here to check out the competition.” A purple haired boy said, leering at us.

Everyone tucked closer together.

“You all think you’re so special?”

“Look at them,

“Gosh, your Class 1-A. The big strong class that fought the villains. HA, don’t make me laugh, our class could’ve done it easily, you all are pretty pathetic huh.” The blond boy was laughing and pointing at us.

I felt myself snap.

“What did you say,” I snarled.

Everyone turned to look at me but for once I didn’t care.

“How dare you. How dare-“ I breathed hard. “One of our classmates died. A student died and you’re mocking their death? Did you see him die? Did you stand there and move to slow and realize far too late to do anything as the student died, right in front of you? Did you watch it like Tsu did!?”

They stepped back, eyeing me warily.

I felt energized, angry, the air seemed to crackle.

“Aizawa-sensei fought over three dozen villains at once! And he was winning till the villains leader got involved too! His quirk can disintegrate anything. One touch and Mineta was dead. One touch and our teacher’s arm was crumbling. How dare you dismiss his death. How dare you mock our teacher’s pain.”

I stalked forward.

“You know nothing. We don’t think we’re special, we were terrified. We were split up, two to three students versus a dozen villains each. It was terrifying. We all almost died and it’s nothing short of a miracle that most everyone made it out with minor injuries.”

I stopped in front of the crowd.

“All Might himself was injured by the creature the villains brought along. Two teachers fell to the two main villains, and the final creature was able to go toe to toe with All Might for nearly ten minutes. You think it’s funny? You think it’s alright to mock us?”

I choked back the tears threatening to fall.

“We had a class- We had a classmate die.” I was breathing hard, “We had a classmate die and you’re telling us you could do better? Don’t ever speak to me or my class ever again. You’re horrible. It’s not something to joke about and-“ I angrily wiped the tears away, “And you suck for saying that. Go away. We don’t want you hear.”

The purple haired one looked guilty, the blond haired one shifted nervously.

I turned away, seeing Tsu crying too. I swiped the tears again.

Uraraka quickly came forward to hug me, “Oh Deku, I’m so sorry.”

“Dud you were sparking,” muttered Kirishima.

What?

The other classmates hurried forward to comfort both of us.

“You heard him,” Jiro snapped, “Go away.”

Aizawa POV

“You heard him, Go away.”

I frowned, staring at the large crowd.

“What happened here.”

The students took one look at me and scrambled away.

“Aizawa-sensei!”

I turned to look at Yaoyorozu, “What happened?”

“They said they came to check out the competition. But then they started to make comments about how we were pathetic and how they could’ve done better…”

My eyes narrowed. I’ll have to get a list from Nedzu, those students will be punished.

I stepped inside and paused when I saw Asui and Midoriya.

Oh no, those asshole kids said that stuff with those two here? The ones who saw Mineta die!? Not good.

“Midoriya, Asui, with me.”

I moved out of the class, ushering the two kids along. These poor kids.

“are you two alright?”

I crouched in front of them.

“I’m okay Aizawa-sensei- Ribbet- It was just a little upsetting.” She sniffed slightly, looking away.

“It’s okay to not be okay,” I murmured.

“Ribbet- I know, I just… I’m okay.”

I stared intently.

“Alright, your appointment with Hound Dog is tomorrow during the first free period. I’ll walk you to it.”

She nodded, “Can I go?”

I nodded, reluctant to let her leave when she’s upset but… I can’t keep her here.

She quickly left, leaving me with problem child.

I turned to him now.

“Hey problem child. Are you okay.”

He looked at me with a tear stained face and nodded.

“I’m okay,” He whispered.

Well that was less convincing then Asui.

“Problem child?”

He looked away, “I’m- I’m okay.”

I frowned at him.

He shook his head.

“Um, anyways, I was wondering if you could help me with my training plan? I’ve uh, I’ve got an outline but wanted some help figuring it out and…”

I blinked, “A training plan? Problem child, you still can’t use your quirk without hurting yourself.”

He flushed, “Well… I’ve started to figure it out. See!”

He held out his hands, brow furrowed in concentration for a second, then his hands started sparking, until they were almost glowing green.

My eyes widened, was that was his quirk looked like?

“I renamed it cause Super Power doesn’t really fit anymore. I’m calling it Enhancement now. Cause I think it was an overall enhancement, for my mind too. And I was always using the mind part before but it wasn’t noticeable because, well, I just looked smart. But then when I did a lot of intense training and that villain attack happened, it let my quirk unlock? The physical enhancement. I misunderstood how it worked at the time, but I understand better now.”

“When did your quirk evolve then?”

“Um… a little bit before the entrance exam.”

I stared.

“Pardon?”

“It was just a little before the entrance exam.”

“How much did you get to practice it before the exam?”

He shifted, “Um… none?”

My eye twitched, “And why, did you not inform me of this?”

He blinked, “Was it important?”

I let out a slow breath and calmed myself as he flinched back.

“It is, in fact, important. The training regime is planned under the assumption that you’ve had years to figure out your quirk. If you’ve only had, what, a week? Then it’s not going to help you.”

I turned away, “No wonder it’s hurting you. You just got it! You have no idea how to control it!”

“I’m getting better!” he cried, “I worked on it all weekend and now I can hold it up to my elbows. The more I spread it out the less damage it should do to my body.”

I frowned, turning back to him, “That doesn’t make it better. It means you need a specialized training program.”

He flushed.

I sighed, “That’s not a bad thing. I just wish you’d told me.” I frowned again. “And we should get you a special class for your mental enhancement.”

He blinked, “What?”

“That’s something to hone. I’ll talk to Nedzu, he’ll probably set up a test to figure out what to do about it.”

He nodded slowly, “Okay…”

I crouched in front of him again, “Hey, it’s okay. I’ll help you with your training. We’ll get you set up to learn how to control your quirk properly. You’ll need to meet a quirk counselor too. Or have you talked to one about the change in your quirk?”

He shifted, “I- I was diagnosed as quirkless previously. I’ve never seen a quirk counselor.”

I stared some more. This kid…

“Alright, I’ll set up everything you need.”

I shook my head, this is a wreck, who’s taking care of this kid?

He perked up, “Really? It’s not too much? I can figure out my quirk, it’s okay, really!”

I shook my head, “I know multiple quirk counselors, and if worst comes to worst I have a license too. Don’t worry problem child, it’s no trouble.”

I ruffled his hair, my kids need a lot of help.

…

I MEAN MY STUDENTS.

Anyways.

“You should head home and get some rest. Tomorrow will be intense. Your appointment with Hound Dog is tomorrow. Oh yeah, and Naomasa, the police man, needs to get your statement still. The breakout delayed him. If you want someone with you let me know.”

He blinked and nodded, shifting slightly, “okay.”

“Go on problem child, get home safely.”

“Okay Aizawa-sensei! Stay safe!”

He turned and hurried out, much happier than when he came in.

Now to go talk to the other teachers, and Nedzu. Oh boy how fun.

[goblinconceivable]

Still puffs of wind

Part 2 of me looking at Hooked Queen in season 7.  Relatively happy with where I got so far, so a little course correct, mopping up and going a bit fanon/shippy eyes.  Also I made a huge error, I admit my embarrassment to the world and it makes me less embarrassed.

Still referring to Wish!Hook as Rogers.

I screwed up badly by being careless and imposing my own reading, and I hate when I do that.  In the family-reunites scene after Gothel is defeated, Alice is staring at Rogers, and he’s looking at her.  She CAN’T run and hug him, end the enforced distance contrasts with all the inter-hugging that happens through the rest of the scene.  More importantly for my purposes, Robin is looking at him too, for the entirety of that shot.  She turns and comforts Alice in the next, but we’re still looking at a tentative continuation of a family unit comprised of Alice/Robin/Rogers we started when Robin asked for his blessing and happy hugging immediately commenced, and just formalized when the three joined hands.

More damaging to my case is that Tiana totally went to speak to Rogers, and I believe was holding his hand for a moment.  It’s very background, which is why I missed it the first (um, few) times until I looked for it.  It’s validation that the extended family unit in the Enchanted Forest was a real thing, and that means: inclusionary.  It’s a payoff for the few Rogers/Tiana moments we got under the curse, because curse-relationships are weirdly close to the uncursed-relationships, so we can assume they really are friends.  It also supports an unrequited crush interpretation*, because Rogers approaches Tiana, which isn’t so much his MO.  See later point.

Net result: in this scene his inclusion outweighs exclusion. 

I do still think it’s notable that Henry and Regina and Ella and Lucy end up ignoring him.  Scene-wise, it makes sense.  It’s a blocking disaster to have anyone running over there, and core nuclear family runs to each other first.  Yes they could have had Rogers still standing, but I think it WAS a stronger choice to have him physically removed, to remind us that he’s not alright, and that his curse isn’t just separating him from his daughter but from everyone.  

Hyper-focused on finding his daughter, he is barely capable of forming relationships with anyone else.  And we get to see this emotional distancing manifested!  On a gurney, he literally cannot approach anyone, he observes from afar.  

This contrasts heavily with Regina, who’d the most huggy of all.  She’s with Henry, she greets Robin, and then the scene finishes with Regina/Lucy.  We’re left with three couples in relationships, plus Regina/Lucy.  Rogers and Rumple remain odd ducks, only Rumple’s on a quest and has left.  So they’ve tidily avoided setting Regina and Rogers together.  Which... was a major theme.  Keeping them apart.  Was it a creator’s choice in order to avoid shipping?  Did they not think they could write them in scenes and maintain a platonic friendship?  Did they just not think it was important to show?  

In a show about family, and a Regina who’s heart is open wide enough to mentor a random girl she meets (Drizella), why avoid giving her an interesting relationship with the reboot of a character that a) can play against the relationship she had with the original, b) who has a history with her That We’ve Seen and c) she’s known for 10 years and has massive screen time and development so it’s not like “Tiana’s a secondary character we can limit her interactions because of that.”

It’s that enforced disinterest that provides the negative space for speculation and fanon.  But it’s frustrating.  I don’t know what to do with it.  I’m left wondering if a huge sense of the Rogers!exclusion isn’t just down to Regina.  Who plot-wise was scattered but was the heart of the season.  What would be different if she’d checked in on him, how he was getting on with Tilly?  If he’d continued meeting Henry in the bar and she had to balance playing along with them while running a bigger picture?

(I sort of forgot about Lucy.  Does she even HAVE a scene with Rogers?  Lucy is, like Henry in the first 6 seasons, the glue of the family.   She is open love.  She and Tiana are tight in cursed-world.  But Rogers is practically an uncle, he’s known her since she was born.  And nada.)

Which feeds in to a/the reading that his failure to join the table with Charming et al is his own sense of exclusion rather than anything else.  Charming extending his hand isn’t an outreach on behalf of the family, it’s standard fare for the family, and Rogers hasn’t considered it an option.  Having been rebuffed by Regina and Henry probably didn’t help though.  But looking at that again narratively: it wasn’t personal on Henry’s part, in fact he knows Rogers well enough to know he needs to defy him, and respects him enough to believe that he COULD have stopped him.

And now, our technically non-canon scene hinting at the crown.  Which is inclusionary, which means progress.  The open hand remains open on the part of the family, and Rogers has accepted.  Our Alice/Robin/Rogers unit is tight, and his friendship with Henry remains quite strong.  I mean, Henry literally stops his mad rush to confirm with Rogers that he got the thing.  It’s important that Rogers knows, just so that he knows.  Satisfying his investment in the process, and cementing him as one of the ones who are not just aware of the event, but are at the heart of creating this moment -for Regina-.

Which, to sidetrack, is both beautiful and weird.  It was an election, did Regina even know she was running?  All indication was that everything happened behind the scenes and all the Realms just sort of quietly agreed they wanted her and then, SURPRISE!  What would have happened if she didn’t want the gig?  Being part of a council is quite different than “Hi you get to run it all now.”  I mean, she dropped being mayor to live in a forest 

I guess the only thing left is to finally land squarely on Rogers/Regina.  Which...  still doesn’t fall out of canon for me, even including the crown moment.  It does add flavouring for Rogers to be invested not just in the event everyone is pulling together for, but for Regina personally.  Ie, there’s something special about that crown, some special connection to Regina?  Which she doesn’t mention and isn’t mentioned, so it’s very obscure for the uber!fan or the whole quest for it makes no sense and that’s why the scene was cut?

But his interest in Regina for her sake is new.  Generally we saw her reaching out to him - when he was watching Henry/Ella/Baby!Lucy, when he was attacked by his heart when seeing Alice for the first time, when she told him to reach out to Tilly.  With his curse broken, now he can accept and give love more generally, so at the very least we get an extension and deeping of whatever baseline we ascribe to their previous reationship.

And while I’m all about plationic male/female relationships, the best way for the writers to do that is to have GIVEN them a platonic relationship.  In the relative void we have open-ended potential, where happily neither has been pining for the other, because that’s just sad.  But where Regina’s efforts and support can be reciprocated and love birthed from that.  Which is where I’m at, and probably where I end, for meta, the rest is fanfiction ~!

*The possible/probable crush Rogers had on Tiana doesn’t bother me because it counts as a safe space.  She was firmly placed with someone else in canon, and it’s natural to gravitate to someone gentle and friendly, especially when you’re socially inept.  So really what it says about him is he does want to reach out and part of him does want a more intimate relationship, but he wouldn’t with Regina because she’s intimidating.  Complete matriarch.  You can’t crush on her, you lowkey love her and don’t notice until it could be a thing.

[ziracona]

Do you have a favorite round you played in dbd? everyone seems to have some exciting ones.

Ahhh that’s so hard! I don’t know if I have just one, hmm. I pulled off a really clutch victory as Dwight recently vs a Freddy where I saved al three of my teammates at least once & got a full team escape plus did a clutch last second BT rescue with NOED up that felt real good. Back when I was trying to get Evil Incarnate as Michael, I had one match where I only hit tier three right as gates went up, so they didn’t know I had mori add-on, and this one dude was tbagging me and so I snatched him through the barrier and killed him and he just sent me “...I did not enjoy that” & we had a really funny conversation after, and I remember it fondly.

Probably though, my most fondly remembered are these 3. I’ve talked about this first one on Tumblr before, but right when I first started DbD back like 2 something years ago, I had just started writing my fic & I played a match where there was a bunch of Claudette’s & one was really cute & I was in a loving mood and exclusively played Wraith as killer back then, so I decided to just be friendly and followed the nice Claudette around the whole time as a friend, and they were a Latin American player with English as a second language (before dedicated, there was a certain time of night where if I played killer I almost exclusively got Latin American players & I loved it bc they were way less toxic than the Americans lol). We were both baby players at the time, and she messaged me a really sweet note that I had been cute and she hoped we’d meet again someday. I’ve never memorized someone’s username before for any reason, or since, but she was so sweet I did, just in case something miraculously happened someday. Then, almost a year later to the day, I got her in a lobby again. I flipped out I couldn’t believe it. I swapped to Wraith as fast as I could and played hard/normal & did well, but whenever I saw her—now a Quentin main (ofc she was—they’re such sweet people)—I walked away. (I also didn’t kill any of the others, bc if you’re going to spare a survivor it’s only fair to spare all four, but I did down them & hook twice each. After, I just re-downed them in chases but wouldn’t hook). She figured it out after I followed her but didn’t ever attack a few times, and started running over to body shield her friends every time I downed one & it was adorable. Finally, they lit all 5 and left, her last, and I was watching her go when I saw the hatch in the house in Rin’s map so I called her over to try to get her to take it, but she wouldn’t, and she got killed by endgame collapse & I was horrified & messaged her to tell her who I was and she still remembered me!! It was so cute & I was really happy. I promised if I see her again in a year, I’ll make sure the Entity doesn’t get her this time. TuT it was kinda miracle the stars aligned like that for me & I really hope they do again. It meant a lot.

Other favorites hmm. One game I loaded in as Wraith, and saw a four stack of Pizza Dwight’s & was like “Hmmmmmm”. I couldn’t not play them, but I used my best addons & burned a mori as a safeguard just in case they were super toxic bc I’d gotten two nasty four stacks earlier and just wanted a chill good time (it was a bluff lol. I’ve never morid someone as Philip and do not ever plan to). So I load in, addon that shows me gen progress while cloaked, and I circuit the whole autohaven map. Nothing. It is silent as the grave. I see no one, I hear no one, no gen is even SNEEZED on. This goes on for a full irl 2 minutes of game time. I am at such a loss. Completely and utterly confused. Where are they? Why? What is happening?? It has never happened to me before. It occurs to me then I haven’t checked the Basement. Nothing to lose, I go there, and I catch a Dwight opening a chest. I uncloak and he freezes, terrified, and looks at me. Walks nervously in a circle. I stare at him. Then I look at the stairs, at him, nod, and move aside & let him walk. It sucks to be caught basement at start. He cautiously walks past me & then happily goes his merry way. I spend the next fifteen minutes giving these nice pizza boys hell. Run them ragged, down, hook, rinse repeat, across the map fast, start slugging after second hook, my basement pizza boy sees me when I find him on a gen early on and runs up excited to see me, but I recognize him too late bc they all look exactly the same, and hit him and break my own heart. Nonetheless, game is great. I push them hard and they work hard, save each other, run wild. V cute. Eventually, I quit slugging bc they run out of blood and just let them do stuff, show them totems, etc. they’ve earned it they worked hard as hell & I love them all. After they light the last gen, they form a weird crouching train of Dwights and follow me around and it’s crazy but I love it. Finally they go their merry way. Basement boy messages me “Marry me” and I send him My Heart Will Go On as consolation bc I know the Entity would never allow it & I want him to be safe.

There are others for sure too! One time a Laurie figured out I was playing hard but wasn’t about to kill her-kill her as Michael, and started bullying me when I’d down and lift other survivors, then messaged me, “Thanks Bro” after and gave me life. As survivor, I’ve had so many clutch games we pulled off insane last second wins I can’t possibly pick one fave. Did have a great match once where a rank 1 Rin mowed down my whole team & one DC’d & I was last man standing as Quentin, so instead of killing me, she ordered me around for a while and made me do stuff like get dragged out of lockers and do a gen. She killed me after a bit & I messaged her “Somedy I’ll win you over, Rin!” And the dude messaged back “I don’t speak weeb sorry” bc he was expecting hate & didn’t know her first name & thought it was some weird reference 😂 but I was like “W-which part? Her name? Does it echo a quote from something? Uh. ‘Somedy I will befriend you, The Spirit’ : )” and he was like “Oh. Ok.” And immediately loosened up & I had a nice convo w him & he said the Spirit agreed w him id deserved some BP for playing hard even when my team abounded me & it was sweet.

[darcypalmer]

After a long day od questioning and interrogation, @diegojaimechavez​ surprises Gen with a phone call and spend the night chatting

It was a long, never-ending day. Gen was ushered into an interrogation room the moment they stepped into the building and not so long after the FBI showed up too, and it had begun. She thought she was tired before, but dealing with the FBI sucked every bit of remaining energy out of her. It wasn't the same as the interrogation all those years ago, but the feelings were the same - the extreme tiredness, both emotionally and physically, feeling like she was the shittiest person, the confusion and the knowledge that she was missing so much, even now she was missing so much information, the emptiness and weirdly feeling dirty to her core. She was sure there were moments when the FBI looked at her as a potential ally to Vivien and the syndicate, that was inevitable, but she wasn't sure what made them realize that wasn't the case, or even if they realized it or if they still considered her another suspect.

They barely took breaks, but during one of them Al brought her a cup of coffee, which she was more than grateful for (though she really wished it could have been Diego who brought it, just seeing him for a few moments would have been nice, but she assumed that he wasn't allowed anywhere near her during the interrogation, not that it would have made any difference). While Al brought the coffee to her, she quietly ask him to make sure some kind of medical professional would check out Diego and his injuries, and he promised her with a look that Diego most likely would have recognized, but to Gen it was just a kind face agreeing to what she asked.

She lost her sense of time completely by the time the FBI released her that night with the promise that they'd be contacting her about any questions they had so far and that in the next couple of days she would be informed about the next steps and what would happen to her from here on out. She felt like a washed rag as she finally headed out of the interrogation room, and to her surprised her eyes immediately found Diego. She expected him to be home, or at least out of here already. "Hey, what are you still doing here?" she asked him once she headed over to him. "You're not in any trouble, right?"

_______________________

Diego expected Gen to be whisked away for processing, and then questioning once the FBI arrived, he recognized a couple of the agents, but merely nodded at them.  He knew he had to let them conduct their work, just as much as he had to conduct his.  But Gen was his work, and so once Gen was taken away, Diego went to locate Al.  He spoke extensively with his boss and with the North California Director as well, about Gen's well-being, her state of mind, her situation.  About Vivien showing up without anyone expecting it.  And reluctantly he even brought up Tyler Ellis, knowing Al was already familiar with the trouble-maker from their past.  He told them Rita should be coming soon, to share what she knew as well.

Everything seemed to be going well - although there was only so much that Diego could do about how the FBI spoke with Gen, at least Al offered to take her in some coffee at one point.

"And about those kids from Sunnymead-" Diego started in immediately after Al returned.  His boss held up a hand.

"In due time, Di, you're going a mile a minute.  And you look like shit.  You sure you don't need anyone to take a look at that mug of yours?  It's even uglier than usual, no wonder you scared those kids."

Diego gave his boss a wry look and waved off the concern.  Al opened his mouth, looking like it was going to say something - but instead, he changed his mind and said something else.  "I talked with Agent Karmeni.  She said your girl's gonna be staying here in the city for a couple of days, while they get things sorted. And yeah - don't worry, you'll be staying with her."

On the brink of insisting he should, Diego relaxed when Al assured him that he'd be there.  "I want to stick by her to the end.  After all this shit that's happened, she needs someone around who she can trust.  Or she'll go rabbity, Al.  She can't just get shunted around again like a pawn on a chessboard.  Not after all this."

Al looked at Diego carefully, and Diego avoided his boss' eyes, knowing that look.  He knew if he made eye contact, then Al might feel responsible for saying something that Diego didn't want to hear, not right now.  So he kept his eyes steadfastly focused on middle-ground, not filling up the silence but also not allowing Al to see any vulnerability in his eyes, no softness.  He knew Al could read him too well.  And he also knew this wasn't the first time Al had seen him like this, about a woman he was assigned to protect.

Finally with a sigh, Al spoke, raising his hands to his eyes like horse blinders.  "Without addressing the elephant in the room - yet - we'll see what we can work out, Diego.  Based on what the FBI need from her - and she's gonna have to go through another psych eval as well.  So we'll consult with the experts and then go from there.  But if you want me to support you in staying on as her handler then....I'll do that.  But that elephant's gonna come charging over sooner or later, and when it does, Di, we're gonna have to talk about it.  You hear me?"

Diego finally looked up at his boss, giving Al a squinting but appreciative smile.  It was small and tentative, but Al knew Diego well.  "Crystal clear.  Al - thanks."

Al pointed a finger at him.  "To be continued, son.  Now it looks like they're releasing your girl.  Go on."

Diego didn't hesitate, because he saw the door opening too through the glass walls of the office building.  He nodded at Al once more then crossed the halls until he got to Gen and the FBI agents.  Diego restrained himself long enough for the FBI agents to get out of earshot, but Gen apparently didn't bother with restraint as she floated right over to him, surprise in her exhausted eyes.

"I'm fine, just went through a lot of paperwork while you were in there."  He gave Gen a huffy look.  "Where else would I be?  C'mon.  You're done for the day, and you gotta be back here bright any early tomorrow.  We're going.  You need food and a shower.  And maybe some ambien."

_______________________

Diego reassured her that he was doing just fine, just working on paperwork and a huge relief flooeded through Gen's body. For a moment she was worried that the FBI took him, too, and tried to twist the narrative in a way that was more than negative towards Diego. That was the last thing she would have wanted, but thankfully it was just some paperwork. Well, probably an extreme amount of paperwork, if he was still here, so long after they've arrived to the offices.

But then Diego asked where else he would be as if it was stupid of her to even assume he would be anywhere else, and it staggered Gen for a moment because... well, she knew he said he would want to stick around for all of this, but she also assumed that meant he would come to New York, make sure everything went down smoothly. Not, say, wait for her for hours without end while she was sitting in an interrogation room, the FBI drilling her. She figured he'd get some rest, she was certain he needed it, she would get escorted to some motel or something and then they'd meet and talk the next day - if she would be allowed.

So she just stood there, kind of confused for a few moments while Diego was already moving towards the exit and she had to shake herself out of her surprise and rush to catch up with him. "Yeah, sure, all of that sounds really good." She would have killed for a shower, anything to wash off all the dirt she felt on herself, and now that Diego mentioned food, she felt like she could actually properly eat, as for the sleep... god, a full night's rest possibly without nightmares was a dream.

"Actually, do you think we could get some burgers on the way to-- where are we going exactly?" she asked, frowning as they exited the building and headed for Diego's car, which felt like the most welcoming sights she's seen in hours, for sure.

She looked at him for a few moments after they settled in before she said, "Thank you. For helping me and sticking around. Really can't thank you enough."

_______________________

"We can get whatever you want," Diego said, although the generousity was mostly in sentiment than action.  If she wanted to go back to Sunnymead, for example, he would've refused.  They had to stay in the city, close to the offices.  But really he could tell that Gen just seemed too exhausted to do much but follow his lead.  Ironic, considering how she'd pushed and resisted and challenged him constantly, for nearly a year now.    He almost wished for those old days of arguing, if only because she was safe and comfortable in Sunnymead.

But Diego also had to remind himself that progress and change was uncomfortable and disturbing, but that didn't mean it was bad.  Vivien Salazar was arrested, Darcy Palmer was no more.  Wasn't that a good thing?  Or wouldn't it eventually be a good thing for Gen?  If, by some miracle, it was determined that she wouldn't need to stay in witness protection, then she'd be free.  Wasn't that what she wanted?  Even more importantly, wasn't it what she deserved?

He stopped at her franchise restaurant of choice, parking so she could go inside and order whatever she wanted.  Diego gave her $20 and told her to get him something too.  By now, after months of serving him, Gen knew what sorts of things he liked to eat.  As he waited, watching her closely, he made one more phone call to Al.  This would be a huge favour, but surprisingly it took little convincing of Al for his boss to say he'd see what he could do.

After Gen gathered her feast, Diego took her to a drugstore to pick up some toiletries, and some fresh clothes.  After that it was checking into the designated motel.  It wasn't anything fancy or special, but it was spartan and clean.  The clean was the most important part.  It was a motel used by the authorities enough to know that it was secure, and had good vantage points and escape routes.  Diego cased the room first before he let Gen settle in.

"Go take a shower, then you can eat afterwards, hm?" he suggested, because he believed food always tasted better when one didn't feel dirty and grungy.  "I can take a shower afterwards, don't worry."  Once Gen agreed, Diego sighed and inspected his face in the motel mirror, then gently pressed his fingers between his legs.  Jesus, that still hurt.  Vivien had quite the high kick, and he'd probably be feeling it right into tomorrow morning.  But he didn't linger on his injuries when All called him again, and gave him the information he wanted to get.

It was maybe just a minor thing, but Diego was elated that it could happen, and so fast.  Al could sometimes work miracles, and Diego always appreciated it.  "Damn, thanks," he exhorted, hanging up just as Gen came out of the bathroom.  She still looked exhausted, but at least she looked clean.

"Hey, come over here for a second."  Diego sat on the edge of the bed, letting her sit next to him.  He showed her his phone.  "In a few minutes, I'm going to get a call.  That's it, just a call, no video - er, facetime - or anything.  But the call's going to come in from your brother, Benji.  Just so you guys can finally talk, hm?  I thought - I figured maybe you'd want to hear a familiar voice right now and...ah..."  Diego scratched the back of his neck.

"If you don't got it in you to talk to Benjamin right now that's fine.  Totally fine I understand maybe I was just getting a little ahead of myself with setting this up, hm? It's fine, just lemme know now, because I can tell his handler not to call.  Just - I thought it might help if - if you heard...if you got to talk to...ah...."

_______________________

Gen just sank into the car seat and spent most of the car ride in a comfortable quiet with Diego as she was looking out the window and barely taking in anything she saw. The city was dark, the lights periodically lighting up parts of the streets and it probably looked beautiful and interesting, but Gen barely saw any of it. Her brain was running the events of the last day of loop, hyperanalyzing everything Juliana and Phoenix told her, and all the different questions the FBI asked and how her answer must have come across, if she could have given a better answer to any of them.

She quickly got them some food, not needing any sort of direction from Diego about his order either - she saw what kind of food he prefered and kept going back to in the Grub, it wasn't hard to figure out what he would like the most, and then they hit up a drug store and got some basic supplies and she really hoped she could just burn everything she was wearing in that moment. She never wanted to lay eyes on those clothes ever again, let alone wear them.

She was mostly operating on instinct and her body automatically taking her where she needed to go. She felt the exhaustion in her bones. She was sure once she hit the bed, though, she wouldn't really be able to fall asleep, not without at least some sleeping pills, and for once she was going to take them happily because she needed that release that a hopefully dreamless, full night's rest could offer for her. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she had that. Probably before everything turned to shit all those years ago.

After they got everything, they finally headed to the hotel, and she just nodded along to everything Diego was saying as she set the food on the small table and headed right into the bathroom to take a shower. The hot water pouring onto her skin offered such relief she didn't even realize she needed and for the first few minutes she just stood in the shower cabin, letting the water run on her without her doing anything. And once she managed to get herself to move, she spent at least fifteen, maybe even twenty minutes just scrubbing at her body because no matter how many times she washed herself, she just didn't feel clean. It didn't feel like she got all of Vivien off of her and she compulsively wanted to get rid of every bit of that woman from her skin, from her memory and her past and present. But since that wasn't possible, she would have been happy with just washing away everything that happened.

Even though it never felt enough, eventually she stopped and got out of the shower and got into the pajama (one that included a plaid short and a loose tank top with some kind of drawn figure, it was the first thing she could grab at the drugstore when they were there) and with her wet hair falling all over her shoulder, she headed back out. "Sorry, I kind of took my time, but you should still have some hot water."

Instead of taking a shower himself (it didn't even fully register for her at that point that he would be taking a shower in the same place, which meant he didn't have his own room and they would have to share that single bed he was sitting on at the moment), he called her over to sit down next to him, and her mind immediately jumped into alert mode. "What happened? Is everything okay?" She was already imagining the worst possible scenarios - Vivien escaped, Phoenix and Juliana in danger again.

He quickly started explaining to her what was going to happen in a few minutes, though, and Gen went quiet in just a few moments, her hearts beating faster and faster, running her fingers through her hair to at least do something with her hands suddenly this felt like a dream all over again. Did she pass out in the car and now she was just dreaming about what she wanted so desperately to happen? She reached over and pinched her own wrist - but no, it hurt, this couldn't be a dream. Diego was telling her that she could talk to her brother.

She could talk to Benji.

Gen could feel her hands starting to shake and tears brimming in her eyes for the first time in a really long time not because she was scared or stressed or on the verge of a break down, but because she was elated. She couldn't put it into words even if she tried to, but if she wasn't in love with Diego already, she would have fallen in love with him for this. She couldn't imagine just how much pull he had to make to make this happen and she could never thank him enough for this.

And somehow he managed to read her quietness as something that she might not like his gesture and he turned sheepish and started reassuring her that it wasn't required, she could postpone it for later too and fuck, she loved this man so much it felt like she might just burst and she kept meaning to say something because really, she can't stay silent forever and she needed to convey just how grateful and happy and joyful she felt in that moment for this but no words seemed to be enough, no words could ever be enough for this, and she just wanted to lean closer and kiss him, but that was not possible, she couldn't screw things up for him in the same moment when he's doing something so important for her, so instead she ended up just leaning in and throwing her hands around him, hugging him close and hard and tight, burying her face into his neck for a few moments and hoping that he understood everything she couldn't find the words for.

"Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you so much. I just-- thank you," she kept saying over and over again because what else could she do than hold onto him and thank him for all of this.

_______________________

Gen was so completely still and quiet, Diego was fairly sure he'd done it this time.  He'd sent Gen spiralling into some sort of catatonic state of shock.  He really should have known better - after everything she'd just been through in the space of 12 hours, after losing two people she cared about, and finding her ex-girlfriend alive only to realize Vivien was a bad person, and destroying an identity she'd cultivated for four years...now this?  Spring a phone call to her brother, after she'd been beaten up so thoroughly both emotionally and mentally?  He realized then that he was a fool to think it could help her.  All this offer did was probably terrify the poor thing that she'd fuck this up as well and ruin her relation with her brother now too.

"Dar - Gen, I'm -"  Diego started to say, wanting to shove the phone into his pocket so Gen wouldn't have to look at the accusing object.  But then suddenly her arms were around him, and her face buried against the crook of his neck.  For a moment Diego braced himself, thinking she had turned to slap and smack at him in frustration and hurt.  He was expecting her to yell at him for putting her through this new fresh torture - but she wasn't slapping him.  Or yelling.  Instead, she just held him close.

And eventually Diego relaxed, and slid his own hand across her back.  She was hugging him.  God Jesus above, she was happy.  He could've kissed her then if it wasn't for the fact that his face hurt, and he had stale cigarettes-and-coffee breath while she was clean and minty.   But he held her tightly, and gingerly pat her back.

"Of course, of course..." he muttered, feeling suddenly awkward.  She was so happy, and it made Diego's heart ache for so many different reasons.  Fortunately, his phone rang then, and Diego had to let her go to answer it.

"Yeah.  Okay, sure," Diego said over the phone.  "Alright, put him on."  Diego held the phone out to Gen then, and he spoke gently to her.  "He'll be on soon.  I'm going to take a shower, give you two a bit of privacy, hm?  Take your time, his handler will keep a track of the phone call for us.  You'll be alright?"

_______________________

At first it was like hugging a dead piece of wood, Diego was just sitting there, unmoving and Gen was about to move back, not wanting to force her touch and embrace on him when he finally wrapped his hands around her and give her a sheepish pat on her back. In any other situation she would have probably over analyzed that pat and came to the conclusion that it was even further proof that he didn't want anything from her, they've been in each others arms plenty of time before after all, and now he could barely hug her back along with that pat? It surely would have been clear signs in her mind. But now aside from the sheer gratitude she felt towards Diego, her mind was hyper focusing on Benji and the fact that just in a couple of moments she could finally talk to him, hear his voice, make sure he's okay. Diego couldn't have given her a better surprise for the end of the day. Or for any other time, really.

She pulled back when the phone rang, pulling her legs under her, her eyes immediately focusing on the phone and Diego, her hands shaking a little bit from excitement. It felt like it took forever for Diego to hand the phone over to her and it felt like no time has passed at all, and she kept nodding to everything Diego was saying. "Yeah, I'll be fine, I promise. Thank you so much," she said again with a smile and waited for Diego go into the bathroom before she scooted up to the end of the bed and leaned against the header.

Suddenly she was nervous, not really sure what she would even say. If Benji would even talk to her. Maybe she'd pick the phone up and his handler would be waiting for her, telling her that he didn't want to talk and she couldn't do a single thing about it or even blame him for it. All kinds of different scenarios flooded through her head and overwhelmed her and she had to force herself to push all of them out of her brain because anything, even if it was just a simple hello from Benji, would be amazing at this point and she knew she could be happy. She just wanted to hear his voice.

She took a deep breath and put the phone to her ear, listening for a few moments before carefully speaking, "Hello?"

_______________________

It hadn’t been long since Benji had fallen asleep when he heard a knock at the door. He decided to ignore it. The few people he was close to - which he thought was a relative term - knew that he wasn’t ever up late. What was the point in it? It wasn’t like there was much that he liked to do outside of the house. Staying in with Finley was ideal to him. He pressed his face against the pillow again. They’d leave eventually.

... except, they didn’t. Each time there was another knock at the door, he swore his pulse kicked up a beat. Was he going to die? Was he seriously going to die as a math teacher in Texas? He moved to grab his phone so that he could call someone in case of an emergency when he realized how many missed calls and unread messages he had from the agent working his case. The last message said that he needed to open the door immediately. Throwing a pillow across the bed at his sleeping husband, Benji sighed. “Why does my ringtone wake you up every time except for the time it needs to?!” Finley mumbled something which Benji wasn’t sure was in English. He climbed out of the bed, looking back to make sure that he was being followed and walked over to the door.

Pressing his palms flat on the door, Benji decided to look through the peephole. There were so many things which could go wrong and... nope. That was definitely Abigail. Opening the door slowly, Benji didn’t bother trying to make eye contact with her as she stepped inside. “In... uh, in my defense, this usually doesn’t happen. I’ve - we’ve - answered your calls later than this. What’s - what’s so important though?”

Once his sister’s name came from Abigail’s lips, Benji wasn’t sure what was happening. He was hearing bits and pieces, words like Gen and Vivien, but didn’t hear the rest of it. He couldn’t even say how he’d ended up seated on the couch with Finley’s hand on his knee. For a moment, he thought that she had to be dying for any of this to be happening. She couldn’t be, right? There was only one way to find out. Truthfully, he hadn’t felt present in his body until he noticed Abigail thrusting the phone his way.

Fumbling with the phone, Benji held it up - mindful of the fact that it was on speaker so that the handler would be able to hear what was happening in the conversation. The moment Gen’s voice came through the speaker, he started crying. “Genevieve... Gen... what the fuck is going on?!”

_______________________

The moment Gen heard Benji's sporadic, worried voice, she burst into silent tears while a grin spread across her face. It really was Benji and he sounded distant but so close at the same time, and worried about her and it didn't really hit her until that moment that he must have been scared shitless if his handler just burst in through the door and gave him the phone with little to no explanation, but that was okay because he was on the other end of the phone and they were talking and she could reassure him all by herself.

"Benji, hi. On my god, it's so good to hear your voice. I-- I'm okay now," and for that moment she was and felt like she could take on the world all by herself even if the next day all of that might be gone. "A lot of, well a lot of things are happening, but I'm okay, you don't have to worry about me. I'm safe and I'm good and-- are you okay? How are you doing?"

"Gen, we got the gist of what happened, but I doubt your brother heard any of it past your name, so could you maybe...?" A different, familiar voice came through the phone, and Gen breathed a sigh of relief. Finley was there with Benji, that was good, that meant he was not alone completely. When the FBI placed her in Sunnymead she tried to figure out if Finley was allowed to go with Benji or not, but everyone refused to tell her anything. "Really glad to hear you are doing okay, though."

"Finley, really glad to hear you too. But okay, Benji, I swear I'm okay. It's just-- don't freak out but turns out Vivien is alive and she found me, but she's arrested now and I'm okay. I spent the day talking to the FBI and they're gonna figure out what's next in the next few days." She tried to keep it as short and to the point as possible both because she didn't want to worry Benji more than necessary and because she didn't want to sound her time talking about Vivien and what happened, she wanted to hear from Benji.

"But none of that matters, are you okay, are you guys are okay? Happy? How's your life? Tell me something, tell me anything."

_______________________

To hear that she was safe sent a wave of relief over Benji. Still, he began to bite at the bandages wrapped around his fingers - an attempt to keep him from biting his nails. It was attempt number 500. It might as well be anyway. “I’m fine,” he mumbled. There would be more details because he didn’t know how long he had to talk to her. Whatever stubbornness he was trying to hold on to could only go for so long before he spent the whole call being angry with her.

He had lost so much. He might have Finley, but he also needed Gen and Olivia... Olivia who had passed away as a result of this whole mess. His parents had never been people he was close to and he doubted he would talk to them much if they were around. How many nights had he cried and wished he could talk to his sister. Bitterness wasn’t going to ruin this chance.

“She’s alive?! And don’t tell me not to freak out because you know me! I’m not going to keep calm about this!” He glances up and saw Abigail staring at him. She certainly wasn’t one of the people with whom Benji was totally comfortable with. She’d never seen him like this. “So you’re... what now? Did you talk to her? Where are you? What have you been doing?!”

And Gen had questions of her own. Benji sighed softly. “I — yes. We’re happy.  As happy as can be expected. Um, married? Also they made me be a math teacher! Someone asked me what 12 times 12 was the other day and it took me a good thirty seconds to figure it out!”

_______________________

Benji's reassurance came quietly and not with the most positive tone of Benji's voice, but Gen didn't care in that moment, she was just happy to hear her brother confirm he was okay. Or, well, as okay as he can be. She doubted either of them would fully be okay like they used to be after all of this.

Gen couldn't help it, she let out a small, quiet chuckle at Benji's frustration about her trying to calm him down. She could tell that Benji was angry, probably holding back all the hate he had in him for her over everything that happened, but even that anger was welcomed because at least they were talking. At least she could hear him being angry. And really, it was kind of stupid of her to tell him not to freak out, he was already in the middle of freaking out.

"Yeah, okay, that's fair. Just-- don't stress over it too much, please? Finley, please make sure he isn't losing sleep over this."

"I'll do my best," he interjected.

"But yeah, apparently somehow she survived, I'm not exactly clear on that front. She showed up at my apartment and we talked a bit, yeah." Could have spent more time talking, but she did some stupid things instead, not that she was going to get into that. "Not a lot, she wanted me to go with her, thought we could go back to how things were. I told her no. And I'm in a motel right now, I don't think I'm allowed to say more on the where."

"I'd prefer it if you kept quiet on that one, Genevieve, the least all of you know about each other's locations, the better, at least until further notice," a woman confirmed in a stern, matter of fact voice - probably their handler.

"Alright, so yeah, just a motel. Far away from where I was originally placed. And uh... fuck, suddenly I can't think of anything I did. I have a diner! Well, more like ran a diner, still not sure how that will go now. Honestly, I had a really boring life until now." She stayed quiet for a moment before she added. "I really missed you."

Happy and married. That was the best news Benji could have possibly given him. It calmed and relaxed her, and made her happier than she thought could be possible a couple of hours ago. There was an underlying sadness added to it, though - she wished she could have been there, wished she could have seen Benji and Finley get married, and more than anything wished Olivia could have been there too.

"Married? Congratulation, guys, that's so great! When did it happen? How did it happen? I'm so sorry I missed it. Did you guys manage to have a good celebration at least?" She frowned when he mentioned being a math teacher. "Why would anyone make you a math teacher? Did they know you have no clue about numbers? How are you even doing it properly? Do they give you an earpiece and whisper help you through it?"

_______________________

Benji would stress over it. He knew Gen was safe now, but he also knew it wouldn’t be the case forever. He could fixate on the good, but Vivien’s arrest wouldn’t make everything go back to normal. Things were never going to be normal again. This was their new normal.

“Finley isn’t going to know if I’m losing sleep! He sleeps like a rock!” Benji insisted. It wasn’t a lie either. They would end up in bed and, the first moment they laid in silence, Finley would be out like a light. Benji was bad about sleep though. He’d lie there and looked up at the ceiling.

He shook his head. “At least you told her no. You’ve never made the best choices with her. You know she made me uncomfortable!” It had been easy for Gen to write that off, however, because a lot of people made him feel that way. “Are you sure that’s all you did? Because if you - if you did something which might put me or god forbid Finley in danger, that’s on you. Just like with Liv.” He said it harshly bur the look on his face was more sad than it was angry. The thought had been running through his mind over the past few weeks and he wasn’t able to let go of it. He knew, logically, that she wouldn’t have done anything to hurt the people she cared about. There was no way she could have known what Vivien was up to... but someone had to be blamed and she was on the receiving end.

“A motel? Are they - do you think they’re moving you? Or is it... over now?” His brows were furrowed. That certainly couldn’t be the case. Didn’t she have associates involved? Logic wasn’t always his strong suit though. Benji led with his heart.

He shot the agent a dirty look, but knew she could end the call the instant he stepped out of line. “A diner? You weren’t... you weren’t by yourself, right? You have people? God, I hope you have people.” If Benji couldn’t be there, someone had to be for her. The level of closeness that he had with her was irreplaceable, but there were women in his life who he was... relatively close to. (For Benji, that was good.)

A soft laugh left him. The whole thing had been an ordeal and involved a lot of arguing with people they shouldn’t have in a million years. It worked out for the best. “They said they were going to split us up because we weren’t married so... I said we were engaged.” He had blurted it it out without any plan whatsoever. It wasn’t a romantic, yet it wasn’t something that he regretted at all. “Um, not really. We kind of got married legally then we kind of... celebrated privately?” It could have come out wrong, but it also seemed like exactly the right way to describe things. And he was happy about that. A large party would have only bothered him and raised his anxiety.

It was difficult not to grin at this point. “There are a bunch of little booklets that I have filled with notes and equations and formulas. It’s all Greek to me. I don’t... I’ve been trying with this for years and I’m still just as lost!” The students learned things though. He’d had some of them say that he was their favorite teacher. He figured it was the confused looks on his face. “I mean, kids finish it and do well the next year. I’m pretending pretty well! You’d think I would have learned, but...”

_______________________

"I can stay up long enough to try and see if you can sleep, come on!" Finley grumbled in the background, and Gen smiled a little. They were doing okay. They set up a certain kind of life, they adjusted and they stayed strong together. She assumed there were bumps on the road, but she hoped it only made them stronger, and that Finley was there to help Benji through it all. He's always brought the best out of Benji and she couldn't even imagine how Benji would have been like if Finley couldn't went with him.

"Come on, you've always had difficult time getting used to new people," she couldn't help but counter, even though looking back now she wished she would have listened to him. She wished she would have been less blind, maybe all of this could have been avoided.

She dropped her head, running her fingers through her hair as Benji asked if she really only just talked to her or did something else,  memories of Vivien and her entangled in her bed flashing in front of her eyes. Fuck, she hated so much that she's done that, that that was her first reaction. It probably only made things worse. maybe if she could have just used her brain and turned Vivien away, just sent a 911 text to Diego and they caught Vivien by surprise, Juliana wouldn't have been taken, they could have avoided everything that happened. Maybe Diego's face wouldn't have looked the way it did. So many what ifs that would keep running through her head and fill her up with guilt for endless nights, she was sure of it.

"Yeah, Benji, we only talked. I was in shock, I couldn't really do anything else." Well, at least she was good at lying and Benji couldn't see her face. She was sure if he could, he'd know she was lying, but through the phone, she could pull it off. "And I swear you guys are okay. It's not gonna be--- nothing's gonna happen to you, okay? She's in custody along with one of her friends and everyone's at the FBI and the US Marshall's are working on this. You're going to be fine. You're going to be fine." They had to be, she could not survive losing Benji too.

She shook her head at his question and it took her a few moments to realize that he couldn't see. "I don't know. I'm not sure if even the FBI knows so far. Or maybe they do, they're just not telling me. But I'm guessing it depends on what kind of information they can get out of Vivien and her friend and what they can do in the next couple of days. But honestly, I have no idea how all of this works."

At the question of whether or not she had people, she rubbed her face, remembering Phoenix and Juliana. She had people, and then she screwed it up. Really, she could only blame herself for that. She looked over towards the bathroom door. She did have one person left, though. She was still baffled by it, especially after everything that happened recently, but somehow Diego was still on her side and there for her, and she couldn't help the small, soft smile that crept up her lips. "Yeah, I-- it's a bit complicated right now, but I have somebody. Not like that, it's not like that," she quickly added before Benji misunderstood, "but I have somebody I can count on. And I had people. I'm nowhere near where I was now, though, so who knows what's going to happen there."

She let out a chuckle when Benji told her how the proposal happened. "And all of this while I had a ring hidden in our bedroom! You know that, Gen, you helped pick it out, and he still beat me to it!" Finley fake complained and it almost felt like she was in the room with them in that moment, just telling stories and reminiscing about the past. "Can you believe it?"

"At least you guys didn't have to worry about things like rings or tradition or planning," Gen chuckled, shaking her head. "And either way, big or small wedding and celebration, I'm just really glad you guys are okay. That you guys are happy and safe and together. You guys deserved to have your happily ever after, even if it didn't exactly go as you guys planned."

"At least they helped you out with those booklets." Seemed toe FBI gave both of them the starting help. They gave her some money so she could start renting the Grub, and they helped Benji out to make sure he didn't fail during his very first class. They did help at least a little bit, even if mostly they probably ignored Benji and only cared about Gen long enough so that she would one day testify in their case. "And I'm not surprised you didn't pick up anything, but I'm proud of you for pulling it all off."

_______________________

Diego took a long shower, even if the hot water did taper out towards the end.  But it still felt good, and Diego found himself wishing he could hit a pool and just swim until his limbs gave out.  Typically when he had this much exhausted energy, he'd either swim until his brain shut off, off fuck someone nameless for the same goal.  But both were out of the question.  And the latter not just because he didn't want nameless sex anymore - not with that woman out there, who he loved so much - but also because his junk was still a little too tender for anything strenuous like that.  Dammit Vivien Salazar.

Eventually he couldn't dawdle any longer, so he rinsed off and washed his mouth as well, before putting on some clean clothes as well.  Drugstore underwear and cheesy-logo t-shirt and jogging shorts.  He looked a mess, but he'd also looked worse.  Toweling his hair, Diego emerged, knowing Gen was  still on the phone.  He gave her a half-wave, motioning for her to talk as long as she wanted.  He knew Abigail was keeping track of everything, and Abigail got a little testy whenever Diego questioned her.  They didn't really get along, even though Diego did highly respect Abigail's work ethic.

He sat at the front of the bed, opening the food bag up and pulling out his own burger and fries.  They were still a little warm, which was nice.  He settled back against the bedhead, flicking through his phone and chewing his dinner like a cow chewed cud.

Eventually though, he couldn't help listening to what Gen was saying.  His gaze was drawn to her like a magnet, watching the defeated slope of her back, her stubborn shoulders still straight.  As if she was trying to still hold it all together, for the sake of a brother who couldn't even see her.  Her dark golden hair fell over her face, in that way where Diego wanted to tuck it behind her ear.  He wanted her to feel good, just for a moment.  Hopefully, she did.  God, he hoped.

_______________________

Benji rolled his eyes. “You’ll never be able to stay awake that long,” he said before laughing a little bit. “No, but we’re good, Genny. Like... I’ll stress, but I’m not alone.” If he could have her as well, things would have been so much better. There had to be a loss though. He wasn’t going to get everything which made him happy. Honestly, he was lucky his life was at least the way which it was.

“Yeah, I know. I’m just saying. I was right about this one!” It had to happen some time. He hate that he was this time. It was easier when people would tell him that none of his anxieties were going to come true. It certainly wasn’t any help when the time it was had ended up with their family torn apart.

That was a relief. He knew how much his sister had loved Vivien. “I don’t know if I would be able to do that if it was me,” Benji admitted. Gen was stronger than he was, that much was clear. He thought he’d have done anything to get Finley back if he lost him. Letting Vivien go must have been hellish for her. “I’m proud of you,” he said softly then left it at that.

“You can’t promise that though. You can’t. Try - trying to promise that is going to won’t make things any easier for either of us.” He didn’t want to say it meant things would hurt more for both of them if something happened to the other with that reassurance.

He nodded. Things wouldn’t go instantly back to normal on the very off chance that they might. There was a lot of work which needed to be done on the side of FBI and the associated agents. “I want to see you,” he said softly. It didn’t seem like it was ever going to happen. He would give anything to hug his sister again though. “It’s not really fair. I don’t... if I don’t see mom and dad, I don’t mind, but you telling me that you’re fine doesn’t make me feel much better.”

It hadn’t struck him that it may have been like that until his sister was denying it. If she could see his face, she would have known how little he believed that. “Are you going to tell me the truth or are we going to have to pretend that I believe you? I’m hoping for the former.” Though he was counting on the latter to be true. There was a reason she was lying about this. It was difficult for him to figure out what it was.

There was a story there. He knew there was one. He attempted to think of the reasons which would cause her to lose people who cared about her. It wasn’t as if people grew tired of Gen. That made it clear there was, yet again, more than she wanted to let on.

Smiling at Finley, Benji shook his head. “Do you know how many times he’s complained about that? A ridiculous amount of times! I don’t think he’s going to let it go!” He didn’t mind if Finley did though. It made Benji feel special and everyone deserved to feel a little special sometimes. She was correct about that though. They hadn’t had to worry. “We got rings! I was okay skipping parties and ceremonies, but I had to have a ring.” It might be a simple band, but he wasn’t going to trade it for anything. He sighed. “Yeah. It would’ve been nice if you were there though. I didn’t think I would ever get to even tell you.”

It was true. He wouldn’t be able to do this without the help. “At least you can cook though. Diners.... you’ve always liked diners.” When they were younger, the three of them - including Olivia, of course - would go off to diners whenever they had the chance to. Was that gone now? Shit. Change the subject, Benji! He cleared his throat. “I’m not a good teacher, but I could be worse. That’s what I tell myself.”

_______________________

Hearing Benji say that he was proud of her because Gen didn't do anything other than talk to Vivien felt like a punch to the gut, but she didn't want to go back and explain herself, not now, not after this. Even if he said he might have not been able to do that, she felt like he would have been disappointed and angry at him if she actually told the truth and really, she didn't want the rest of their conversation to be about her mistake. So she just buried her face into her palm and tried desperately to not make a sound that suggested anything was up or that she was feeling extremely guilty on that moment.

She instead focused on what she said next. "Okay, that's fair, I can't promise you that, but I can promise you that I would try my best. How's that sound, hmm? I will try to do my best to make sure I don't do anything to get you or me in any kind of trouble or hurt. And in return, you do the same?" She doubted he could ever actually do anything to get himself in trouble, though. It was her who kept finding trouble wherever she went.

I want to see you. Her heart skipped a beat at the sound of that. "Yeah, I want to see you too." She wasn't sure if it could ever be possible, but she also wasn't sure if talking to Benji could ever be possible, so maybe with time it could happen as well. "I am not sure how all of this is gonna go, what's going to happen, but maybe if everything goes okay, I could go visit you guys? Or you could come to me wherever I will end up being? If the people who decide what happens to us deem it safe to do it, of course."

God, he saw right through her. They haven't spoken in years and they were who even knows how many hundred miles apart, and yet he still knew her, he still saw right through her and it warmed her heart to know that it wasn't something that could be lost. Sometimes she wondered if it was possible, if you could unknow a person if you don't see them long enough, but it felt like Benji just proved that theory wrong in a way.

If she would have been fully alone and knew Benji was alone as well, she would have probably talked to Benji about Diego, too, but with Diego coming out of the bathroom this very moment (how did he have such impeccable timing?) and knowing that the other agent hearing things could get Diego in trouble, she opted to say, "can we go with the second one?" And because she didn't want him to feel like she was trying to keep something from him, she quickly added, "it's a bit complicated and a really long story, so I don't wanna get into it over the phone. Maybe next time?"

She knew offering this was wishful thinking, more of a hope than a sure thing, but she also felt like treating their conversation as a once in a lifetime opportunity would have only turned this entire conversation into something even sadder and more tragic than it was, and neither of them needed that for a moment.

Diego got his foot and sat down next to her against the headboard and Gen scooted over a little bit to give him more space, crossing her legs under herself as she shifted position and got herself more comfortable. She shot a warm, happy smile towards him while she was listening to Benji talk about their wedding, and then she couldn't help but reach over and steal a few fries from him and pop it into her mouth after mouthing an apology and a thank to him.

"Yeah, I wish I could have been there, but I'm just glad to hear about it too. Nobody told me whether Finley was with you or not, so it's just nice to hear and know that you haven't been alone all this time. And-- well, I don't know, maybe one day you can show me some pictures. Or just show me those rings yourself. Maybe." It felt so surreal to sound so optimistic or hopeful, but if a call could happen, why couldn't anything else, right?

She chuckled slightly. "Yeah, sure, I can cook, but I got a cook who was 10 times better than I was, people loved his food. Well, they still love it, that just sounded like he died when really he didn't, nothing like that happened, just bad word choices. And now i'm rambling, sorry. Anyway, do you guys have any pets? Did you ever get a dog?" They spent their entire childhood wanting a dog but being told they can't by their parents, and she knew Finley and Benji were thinking about adopting one before everything turned to shit. It would have felt natural for her that after a while they went back to that route and found a sweet puppy for themselves.

_______________________

Their best was the only thing they could offer one another. It was fucked up. Benji hated this situation. He had settled into a sort of compliance. He hadn’t liked it, but he’d grown used to it. Now, there was this. He was actually able to communicate with one of the people who mattered most to him in the world. He had Finley, of course, and he loved him with his whole heart. But it wasn’t the same. His family was gone and... then the one person that he still held in that regard was on the other end of the line for however short of a time period this would be. He wished there was a way to prolong it.

“Of course I’m not going to get either of us in trouble. Well, the three of us.” He shot Finley a gentle smile. “If you thought that I was cautious before, you should see me now.” It wasn’t always a good thing. It was probably helpful for Abigail though. He figured working with himself and Finely was an easy job.

Benji bit his lower lip. For a moment, he considered breaking the rules. He could find a way to contact her outside of this... there had to be a way. Perhaps he could convince Abigail to - no. She was more staunch on the rules than he was. Before meeting her, he hadn’t thought it possible. “I don’t know. I just - I know that you’re safe. All I want to do is see you. I just have to see you. Hug you.” That way, he could make sure that she was really there. It might not make sense to a lot of people, but it made sense to him.

Complicated? Most things with Gen were complicated. She was a bit odd in a lot of ways, but so was he. They had that in common. He wanted to point out that there was no guarantee for there to be a next time. He almost did. Instead, he simply sighed. “Fine, but next time, I’m going to lead with that. I’m just gonna ask you to promise that you didn’t fuck someone you shouldn’t have again. I had build my life up twice. I’m not going it a third.” The subject could be dropped there. Benji held up his hand. “But it’s done. It’s over. There’s no going back.”

He smiled, knowing that she wanted him to be truly happy more than anyone else would. “Yeah. It would have been much better if I threw up on your shoes rather than a member of the FBI, but...” he trailed off and laughed. “Maybe. And you know what I’m going to want you to do if we’re ever able to see each other again -“ It sounded a lot more realistic when she said it, “- which is that you make a grilled cheese because nobody can master it the same way you do.” He paused. “I also want to see you smile.” For as much as Genevieve wanted him to be happy, he wanted it for on the very same level.

“Your diner, what’d it called. Tell me all about it. Don’t spare any of the details.” There was no way he was going to hear everything about the past few years. If they focused on one thing, however, they would never make any progress. “Any - anything that’s good. Tell me about the good things.”

The mention of a dog had Benji looking over to the one curled up in his husband’s lap. “Her name is Missy. I don’t know what her breed is... other than small. What about you? Are you a parent?” He paused. “To a small furry animal because if there’s a human child in your life and you didn’t choose to lead with that, I might have to kill you.”

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Diego tried not to listen too hard in on the conversation.  It was technically his right as Gen's handler, but he didn't want to make it seem like he was eavesdropping, after he told Gen he'd give her privacy.  When she scooted next to him though, he figured she didn't mind him picking up the conversation here and there if it happened.  It struck him, suddenly, how...domestic this was.  Both of them relaxed back on the same bed, having dinner, Gen chatting on the phone with her brother while he checked his own phone.  It would've been almost normal, if it wasn't for the fact that they were hiding out in a motel to protect Gen from possible attacks, and her brother was in a secret location, hidden for the same reason.

Diego took out Gen's food for her, and laid it out on the paper bag.  She could take as many fries from her own pack as she wanted, but she wasn't getting any more of his.

When she asked about her brother's pets, it reminded Diego again - damn.  That hedgehog.  He knew Gen asked Flo to look after it but he really should drive into town tomorrow and pick the thing up, as well as his remaining belongings and some of Gen's - Darcy's things.    First he'd talk to Al to inquire about the fate of the diner and if there was anything to be done about it.

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"Good. All three of us should be good then." Gen didn't doubt that Benji was sticking to all the rules and keeping everything in order. In that regard, Diego might have been luckier if he was assigned to her brother instead of her. He wouldn't have had to deal with things like her running off to LA without a word or warning. A lot less headache and a guns pointing at his face. Would have been a real treat.

"If it's ever going to be possible, we'll make it work however we can and then I'm going to hug the shit out of you. You'll be complaining and asking me to let you go," she joked. "But until then, Finley, would you give him a hug for me?" She could hear some rustling of clothes and moving on the other side of the phone and she smiled to herself for a moment. "Done." "Thanks."

Promise that you didn't fuck someone you shouldn't have. Right in the middle of it. It was like Benji just knew what went down for a few months between Diego and her. And then it hit her. Again. She did it again, she fell in love with somebody she shouldn't have. Did she have a type? Did she somehow draw in people that she shouldn't have and get attached? Granted, she couldn't have possibly known that Vivien would bring such horrors into her and her family's life, but she did in fact know Diego and her probably shouldn't have done what they did, she just didn't care, because no matter what Diego says about it being wrong, it wasn't. It couldn't have. Not after everything that happened and everything she felt.

(It was interesting how out of the two of these relationship, one of them looked so perfect, so right in the beginning only for the holes to show up and reveal just how wrong it was, while in the beginning it felt like there was nothing but holes between Diego and her that they needed to patch up and work through, but in the end it turned out to be so good and so important. For her at least. And even if it was only important for her, she still cherrished every memory, every moment.)

Through all of this she was watching Diego move back over to the food bag and take out her dinner too, probably glad to see her trying to actually eat without nudging after she stole some of his fries and wanting to make sure it wouldn't disappear or she wouldn't end up eating his food instead (she mouthed a quick thank you to him once he settled back onto the bed), and really, maybe according to the rules of his job, what they did was wrong, but she didn't regret any of it. She just regretted that if any of it got out, she could get him in trouble with it.

She was definitely not going to say any of that to Benji, though, not with Diego hearing it and definitely not with Benji and Finley's agent hearing it. She just replied in a cheerful tone, "I promise, I promise. You won't have to rebuild your life again, I didn't do anything stupid." Partial truths, they could work wonders.

She let out a small chuckle. "I would normally not approve of you throwing up on my shoes, but yeah, I would have preferred that scenario over anything else. And of course I'll make you all the grilled cheese you want, but only if you won't leave my side cause I won't be willing to stay too far from you." Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but even if it was just a small dream that wouldn't happen, it was nice to be able to talk about it with Benji.

"Hey, I smile!" Gen objected and purposefully did not look at Diego because she didn't want to see him look at her skeptically. Sunnymead and the townsfolk had that effect. When she first arrived, she didn't think she would ever smile again, but they worked their magic and changed that. They helped her a lot, without even realizing it. "Not all the time, sure, but there are moments. You can't see it, but I am smiling right now. Your voice kind of has that effect." In that moment it felt like if she could only keep talking to him, she could smile forever.

"No diner names, or any other location names that could be followed up," Gen heard the woman interject sternly when Benji asked about the Grub and she cleared her tone. "Okay, okay, no names, I promise. Good things - I got it on a lease, I fixed it up when I got there originally and somehow it became the town's staple. I heard so many rumors and gossips there, you have no idea. Got some really good people working for me. I also live above it. Well, lived. I keep forgetting to use the past term."

She was glad at least one of them could finally get the dog they've always wanted. "I'm sure she's the cutest of the cutest. And no, I don't have a kid, don't worry, I'm not holding out on you," she couldn't help but laugh at his suggestion of having a kid, even though a part of her heart was bleeding over it, knowing that for such a long time that hasn't been an option for her. "But I do have a little animal, though she's not so furry. It's a hedgehog and her name is Vex."

_______________________

As far as Benji was concerned, he wasn’t going to complain about her hugging him when (if) they saw each other again. He’d done so in the past, but this was different. There hasn’t been the constant contact which had been present in the past. Even then, he hadn’t done more than dramatically sigh and make a bigger deal of it than it truly was. He’d be far too busy taking her in were they to get that opportunity.

Leaning into Finley, Benji shook his head. “Oh, come on. I’m not going to complain. I know I... kind of complain a lot, but I’m going to probably cry if I ever get to see you again...” He wasn’t counting on it, but Abigail wasn’t objecting so it might be possible.

There was a pause before she answered and Benji could feel his anxiety rising. He knew his sister well. This seemed to mean that she was hiding something. Interrogation wasn’t the move though. They had limited to communicate. If all of Benji’s time was spent doing that, he would kick himself.

He hummed nonetheless, an even tone which made it perfectly clear that he didn’t believe her. There was no pushing though. He didn’t want to stress her. “Alright. Consider the subject dropped. No more discussions of your sex life in front of all of these people.” Which didn’t mean it was truly dropped, simply (hopefully) pushed off to a later date.

“Trust me. Do you honestly think that I’m going to go anywhere but where you are? No. I’d hole up wherever we were and here every detail about your life while I gave you every detail of mine.”

Benji laughed. “Remember how Mom used to joke that me and Liv were the only ones who could get you to smile?” It was an exaggeration, sure, but it was fun to joke about... even if the mention of their sister made him feel like there was a hold in his heart which would never be filled. “I’m smiling like an idiot. I’d say Finley could confirm, but he’d argue that I wasn’t an idiot like he always does.”

Furrowing his brows, Benji stared at Abigail. He had never argued with her in the past. It wasn’t in him. However, this? This was grinding on his last nerve. He couldn’t hear most of the things about his sister’s life and he hadn’t asked to. He just wanted to know the name, so that he could picture in his mind. There were so many gaps which he wanted filled. It was a small one, but it seemed there was a problem with that.

“Yeah, Abigail. I know. It’s the one diner in the whole country which has that name. Hearing the name of a diner, would put us both in imminent danger! I forgot that I didn’t have any control over my life!”

The outburst was uncharacteristic of him, but he was realizing now how over this he was. He missed his sister. Was the conversation allowed any depth? He sighed. Perhaps he should apologize to Abigail. He didn’t.

He nodded. “So was it like an HGTV show? The ones we used to get wine drunk and say we were going to do? You did that!” Benji frowned. Though he didn’t have to rebuild his life again, Gen did and he hated the concept of it. She’d had a good life then... it got fucked up. This time, he couldn’t even rationalize it in his brain as something that she had done. It was all one big mess. He could hardly understand that. “Are you at least allowed to tell me about the gossip?” A hedgehog? “Like the tiny porcupines?” he asked.

_______________________

Gen let out a small chuckle. "Alright, we'll be attached at the hip and just talk through every little detail we missed. I like the sound of that."

Her smile softened at the mention of Liv and her heart ached a bit at the thought that she couldn't be in this call, that they could never see her again. "Yeah, and Liv made those badges for it after and you guys wore it everywhere for like a week." They would have to talk about Olivia at some point. They probably should be talking about her and what happened now, if she was being honest, but this felt too good, too nice to go down that path. Maybe if they could ever meet and get drunk together. That was the kind of conversation that would require a lot of alcohol.

"He really isn't an idiot, but he is smiling like one," came the confirmation from Finley and Gen smiled. They were both smiling and happy to enjoy a simple phone call, even just a couple of hours ago it didn't feel like it could be possible, so it was great to know that there could still be happy moments amidst all of this. Well, thank to Diego. All of this could only happen because of Diego and she wasn't sure how she could ever thank him for this. She'd need to figure something out.

Gen winced at the sound of Benji snapping at the handler, but even more so when he said he didn't have any control over his life. It wasn't life him, to snap at people like this, but it also hit her that it has been years since she's seen or talked to Benji and she couldn't possibly know what kind of changes he went through. And being forced into a situation like this... it would have made sense, if Benji snapped at people more. But even if this was just a one time thing coming out of frustration of how the two of them couldn't even have a simple conversation without somebody else butting in and telling them what they can and can't talk about... she did this to him. She caused him to lose complete control over his life and it was sheer luck and persistence that they allowed Finley to be there with him instead of dropping him off somewhere else and leaving her brother completely alone.

Fuck, she hated how much pain she caused him, how much she ruined his life.

She rubbed her face, feeling the tiredness and the guilt creep in, even though she was trying to not think about it. At least until they had to hang up, she wanted to enjoy just talking to Benji without feeling horrible, she could do that later.

Unfortunately, it came earlier, way too early than how she would have liked, because when Benji brought up the gossips, she could hear some movement from the other side of the phone and then the handler's voice came, "Alright, if you want to hear about gossip, I think it's time you two wrap it up. The call already went longer than you two were originally allowed, so say your goodbyes. We don't want anyone accidentally tapping into these phones and track either of you."

"Fuck," she muttered and she could feel a panic rising inside of her because she didn't want to hang up, she wanted to keep talking to Benji and with not knowing when or if she could ever talk to him again or see him again, this felt a little bit like losing him all over again. But she also didn't want to push the boundaries because this has already been more than she could ever imagine and now she knew that he was okay. She knew he was good and happy and safe and this was not enough and more than enough at the same time.

"Fuck, okay, Benji, I love you. I can't believe I didn't start with this, but I love you so much and I'm really sorry for all of this and I am so happy you're doing okay and just-- fuck, I miss you and I love you. I don't know what else I could say."

_______________________

It was likely exactly what Benji should have expected given his reaction earlier, but it didn't make hearing that their conversation was over now. He clenched his jaw and was refusing to make eye contact with Abigail. He felt like he was going to cry and he would be damned if he did it in front of her. It wasn't her fault, not really, but he needed someone to blame she could take the heat of that.

He felt like he was going to vomit. Running his fingers through his hair, he let out a shaky breath. "I love you too. More than fucking..." he paused, to try and get as much control over his voice as possible. Though, Benji knew he hardly had any time to do. "More than anything. I miss you and I don't know if it's better or worse now," he had to admit. "But I wouldn't trade this for anything. I love you, Gen. This is so fucking unfair."

With that, he got up and left the room, knowing that Abigail would hang up the phone and Finley would see her out. He didn't want to deal with a second more of this.

_______________________

Gen could hear Benji's voice shaking and fuck, she wished she could be there to comfort him and hug him and make sure he was okay, but then if she was there, they wouldn't be in this predicament either. And it hurt, having to say goodbye because she wanted to keep talking, but at the same time it felt like the entire conversation filled her up with a new kind of energy she didn't think she could have. So she listened to Benji and nodded and she could feel the tears brimming in her eyes, but at the same time she was smiling.

And then the call was over and she just sat there for a few moments, staring at the now dark phone in her hand and didn't have the faintest clue what to do or say after this. The conversation kept replaying in her mind and she hoped Finley was already there for Benji and helping him and more than anything she hoped this wasn't the last time. Vivien was arrested, they had to be slowly getting out of this, right? There had to be an end to this somehow.

Then again, maybe in two days she would be told that she would need to get relocated once again and she would become Jenna Sills or some other random person next. She wished she would have even the slightest bit of control over her life and she wouldn't be in the dark constantly.

She took a deep breath and shook herself out of these thoughts, even if just for a few moments, and finally turned to Diego with a small smile and handed the phone back to him. "Thank you, seriously. This... I don't think thank you si really expressive enough to emphasize how much this meant to me, but nothing else really comes to my mind, so just thank you."

_______________________

One thing Diego didn't take into consideration was the possibility that allowing Gen a phone call meant that it could end up making her even more unhappy, after the initial elation of speaking with her brother.  He watched her carefully, gauging her quiet devastation that she was so good at repressing.  She'd been practicing it for four years now, of course it was like second nature to her.  He said nothing until she spoke first, and then he just listened.

Granted, she didn't talk about herself, but then that was so like Gen, wasn't it.  Both Gen and Darcy - they both put people before themselves, thought about other people first.  Not in any sort of self-sacrificial way, but in a way that just meant her heart was full of others.  She was used to thinking about other people, being empathetic, taking care of them. It fulfilled her to help, as much as it helped others.  Even her thank yous to him were kind and considerate.  When she wasn't yelling at him for some indignity or the other, she could actually be quite generous with her kindness.

As if he didn't know that already.

A smile tugged his lips, and Diego moved the food between them to reach and arm around her shoulders.  He tugged her to lean against him, and he pressed his mouth against her damp hair on the crown of her head.  She felt fragile and birdlike right now, so small and broken.

"So...he's got a - a - a husband? Is that what they call 'em?  Husband and...what, husband?"  He asked, awkward, ignorant, and curious.  "I didn't really realize that the both of you were like, y'know.  I didn't realize more than one sibling could be, uh..."  But even as he said it, he was pretty sure it was a stupid thing to say.

_______________________

It was a new kind of torture to have Diego pull Gen close against him, knowing it was just to comfort her after the emotional rollercoaster that was the last 24 hours and especially after the call just ended. She knew she was a mess and she knew that Diego could see it all over her face. She didn't even try to hide things from him anymore, there didn't seem to be any point. He seemed to have learned how to read her like an open book. So even if the memories of the times they've spent in each other's arms flashed back in front of her eyes, she knew this was different. She also knew she should pull back and not let herself enjoy it, it wouldn't end well for her emotionally, but she also couldn't just entangle herself from Diego somehow, so she just closed her eyes and try to forget about everything around them.

It didn't last too long, however, because then Diego started talking awkwardly, and Gen's eyes grew wider and wider at what he was saying. She pulled away and fully turned towards him, frowning in confusion and surprise. "Jesus Christ, Diego, you are so painfully straight," she couldn't help saying, her face still full of disbelief. He didn't say any of it with malice, he didn't intend to hurt anyone, and it wasn't about him being against it either, he just asked something he didn't know about because he never needed a reason to learn and get to know more, and it showed in his question. A lot.

"I don't even know where to start." She picked up her burger - it was cold at this point, but she didn't really care, she was just glad she could eat something. She took a bite to have at least something in her stomach and then started munching on her fries while she started talking. "Yes, they are husband and husband, unless they prefer something else, I'm not sure, I didn't ask them. All of the marriage and proposal happened after... well, sort of during the beginning of the relocation process, so I wasn't there for any of it. Not that any of that part really matters in the whole family question that you just..." She let out a sigh, she was rambling and she didn't even know where to even begin, it was such a surprising thing in that moment. Then again, maybe that was his goal with this, to get her out of the stupor and get her to think about something else, even if that something else was explaining to Diego that more than one person in the family could be part of the LGBTQ+ community.

"Okay, so there aren't any genes or rules or laws of the universe that say that only one person in the family can be non-straight. It just... happens. Sort of like how sometimes a family has three boys and no girls, and then another family has one girl and a boy and the mix could go on and on. It depends on the person and not the family."

"Also, you can say the word gay, it's not an insult. You can also say queer, to me at least, it generally stands on shaky legs, some people love it and embrace it, some people take it as an insult, so don't throw that word around before making sure the person you're talking to is okay with it. But it's okay with me."

_______________________

Diego held Gen and what was more important, Gen didn't resist him.  It seemed like all the animosity and frustration that had built up between them over the last few weeks had dissipated completely.  It made sense in a way - after dealing with the insanity that was Vivien Salazar showing up out of nowhere and kidnapping poor Juliana, a spat over something that was no longer relevant seemed...well.  No longer relevant.

And then there was the matter of Gen sleeping with Vivien.  Given that Diego was a king of making poor sexual choices throughout his entire adult life, he'd be a hypocrite to feel angry about that.  Plus, while he and Darcy had been cooling their heels, he'd slept with Rita.  Maybe in some weird, twisted way, Darcy sleeping with Vivien was just tit for tat.  Granted, sleeping with Vivien was a disastrous choice, but not something that Diego had to deal with.  That was something Gen herself would have to deal with - emotionally and mentally.

So it felt calmer, watching Gen eat the cold burger, and then sit up to give him one of her patented annoyed and slightly pitying looks.  He blinked back at her, stealing some of her fries now, and eating them.  "What?  You say 'straight' like it's an insult," he said, using the most stereotypical hurt-feelings comeback that straight people used, when queer people called them straight.

But he did listen attentively when Gen explained, with the patience of a saint, about how it all worked.  There was very little he knew about Benjamin Soto's casefile, other than the basics. It was all in the name of protecting, and keeping the Sotos safe.  So he didn't realize Benjamin swung that way, and he really didn't realize that the 'husband' had been put under witness relocation as well.  Truth was, Diego had completely forgotten that gay marriage was even legal, and he had to remind himself at this point.  He could only imagine how loud his nieces would be berating him right now for being so clueless.  They'd be saying similar things to him as Darcy, only with more 'oh my god, Tio, you're so dumb' thrown in for good measure.

"Hunh," he grunted, but squinted in amusement when Gen gave him permission to use such verboten (in his mind) words.  "I dunno, honey.  In Texas, 'queer' is still used like an insult.  But...I guess that's mostly just among us straight people, huh."  He didn't sound angry or anything, just wry.  As if he was making some sort of point (he wasn't; or rather, his point wasn't interesting).  "I guess...well I guess it'd be like having three kids, and all of 'em are straight, huh?  No one ever points out how weird that is, do they."

_______________________

Gen let out a long sigh and tilted her head at Diego as she gave him a look. This wasn't the first time she's heard this response, though given how the last couple of years have been going, she hasn't heard it in a while. "I don't say straight as an insult, Diego, I say it as a fact. Cause you are one. Which is showing a whole lot right now."

He listened to her, though. It was one thing she could never say about him is that he wouldn't listen. He was ignorant and he happily lived in his own heterosexual bubble because it was easy, but when the topic came up and she tried explaining something to him, he always listened. Back when she told him she was pansexual, and now too. He was trying to understand, he just didn't really go out of his way to do so when he didn't have to or it didn't come up.

"Yeah, well, straight people like using these words as insults way too often, if you ask me. So if it's an insult in your mind, then definitely don't use it, everyone will be able to tell you're using it as such. But at the same time you should just accept them and think of them as not insults. They are just the people's sexualities, nothing else."

"You said one of your nieces was on the spectrum, right?" she asked. She thought she remembered Diego mention it to her during their last similar conversation, but she wasn't sure if she remembered wrong. "Do you talk about these things with her?"

She ate some fries as she thought of Benji and Finley. They are what started this whole conversation. "I didn't know they got married, by the way. My brother and his boyfriend. Well, husband now. Finley - that's his husband's name -, asked me to help look for rings not too long before everything happened, but I wasn't sure if he got put in the witness protection, too, and if they got to stay together or not. But this was the best-case scenario. At least they were together and they could help each other through it."

_______________________

Diego grinned then and shrugged.  "I gotta be me...which I suddenly get now.  The ga- the people who aren't straight gotta be them too.  My nieces would be so proud of me now."  He seemed contented at Darcy's advice to not try and use the words she used so freely.  From her, 'gay' and 'queer' sounded free-flowing, comfortable.  Coming out of his mouth, he knew it would just sound unnatural, borderline insulting.  He laughed lowly when she asked about his nieces.

"On the spectrum..." he said, once more a term that was very novel to him.  Sex was a big part of his life, and the idea that there was a spectrum applied to it?  His poor straight mind boggled at the concept.  "Jesus christ, are you kidding me?  I'm their Uncle, Gen.  Kids don't want to talk to their uncles about that sort of shit.  And frankly I don't want to hear about it."  Before Gen got that tight disappointed look on her face, he raised his hand to add,  "What I mean is, I stay clear out of their entire dating and love lives and all that...grown-up stuff, as much as I can.  They might technically be adults now but they're still little girls to me.  They got their own friends to talk like that." He huffed.

"The only time they bring it up is just to make me and their mother all huffy.  For their own entertainment."  He didn't seem particularly bothered about this, though.  That was what nieces did - they poked fun of older family members for, well, being older.  Curiously, he asked,  "Do your folks know?  About you, or your brother?  Did you have to..." Diego searched for the term.  "Come...out?"

He supposed there was no harm now in Gen knowing that the brother and his...fella were married, or whatever.  Everything had to be so hush-hush for so long, it was good she got a few factoids to feed off of for the next few months of hell.  And Diego realized then, how much it sucked that she missed the wedding.  If there even was a wedding.

"That's true," he conceded, finishing up his food and then exhaling slowly.  "C'mon, let's go have a smoke out on the balcony."  He stood up, grabbing his pack of smokes from the desk.  "Also I just realized there's only one bed. And I didn't ask if you'd be okay with that."

_______________________

The big grin plastered on Diego's face as it all seemed to click for him was cute, even if all of this was a ridiculous conversation that Gen did not think they would be having this night out of all of it. But he was trying and he seemed to be taking small steps towards the right direction, which was definitely a good start. Gen let out a small chuckle at his indignation that he would be talking about his nieces sex lives with them. "I didn't mean about their sex lives, Diego, obviously you wouldn't wanna hear about that, I meant..." But she shook her head with a small smile. "Nevermind." She meant more about what it meant not being straight, but this was probably best to just let it go.

"Yeah, they know," she nodded as she ate the last of her fries. "I didn't really have a typical coming out experience, though. Benji had it all figured out a lot faster and a lot younger, I needed more time figure all of it, all of me, out, and by the time I got there I also realized just how little my parents were present in our lives. And to be fair to them, they did what they thought were best for us, which was work their butts off and provide us with financial security, but it meant they weren't really around, so I didn't really feel like I was required to have that proper sit down where I told them I was pansexual. I didn't lie to them, I just didn't openly tell them. They figured it out when I brought Vivien home for introductions."

It was more like when she announced she was bringing her home, which was probably for the best because a huge fight broke out after it that came down to 'why did you lie to us for years and years about this?' as if they were entitled to something so personal. She didn't really care about their reactions, but she remembered that she was glad Vivien didn't walk into that fight when they went over for a family dinner and she did question back then if not openly telling her parents before that was a mistake or not. And then she didn't see her parents for months after that dinner like it usually went, and she decided she probably did the right thing.

"Oh, god, yes, I'm in," Gen said as she pushed herself up from the bed at the thought of a smoke. "I'm guessing asking for some whiskey along with it would be impossible, right?" she joked, but that would have probably helped a lot with her mind in that moment, even if she knew unless Diego snuck in something under his coat, they wouldn't be drinking tonight.

And then he pointed out that there was only one bed for the two of them, which really should have registered for her sooner - he was spending his time here with her, he was taking a shower in this room's bathroom, of course this was both of their rooms and they would have to share it, what was she even thinking? But somehow she was way too occupied to notice and process any of this information, and she stopped for a moment as she heard those words because really?

Really?

It already felt like some kind of torture, the way he was being so nice and he was trying to comfort her through all of this, and now sleeping in the same bed together? The last time they were in a bed together, they fell asleep in each other's arms after spending a really long time ravishing each other and chasing the same pleasures, and now... fuck. She was fucked.

And she couldn't show any of this because he would offer to just sleep on the damn floor and then she couldn't ever convince him to come sleep on the bed cause he was stubborn like that.

So after the momentary freezing she quickly pulled herself together. "We're adults, right? And it's a big enough bed, anyway, there's enough room for both of us." They headed outside and Gen leaned against the railing and while Diego lit both of their cigarettes, she took the sight in - which was mostly the motel's weirdly lit pool and the buildings around them -, and then pushed herself up onto the railing. They were on the first floor and the railing was wide enough, she was good.

"Unless you would feel uncomfortable, in which case you are taking the bed and I'm taking the floor. And before you object, your face has a whole different color now and I'm pretty sure your dick suffered even more so, while the worst thing that happened to me is that I got a little scared. You don't need back pain added to the list of shit that happened to your body."

She was quiet for a few moments, taking a couple of drags from the cigarette and listening to the sounds of the city around them before she asked, "Do you ever think about what's the whole point of all of this? Everyone suffers through so much bullshit in their lives just for a few fleeting moments of happiness, and then all of it becomes pointless because you become nothing in the end anyway."

_______________________

Diego was about to ask how Gen's parents took it, when she brought a woman home for them to meet.  But although it seemed like Gen was able to bring up the mention of the memory with not too much issues, this was definitely not a good time to make Gen think even more about her past with Vivien Salazar.  It could too easily spiral into Gen feeling guilty and stupid for being duped by Vivien for all that time, blaming herself for everything that happened to her family.

So instead, he just nodded in understanding.  "Parents can be tricky," he said vaguely.  A moment of silence and then he added,  "I suppose we have that in common, sort of.  I'm closer to my sister than I am to my mother.  Or father, when he was alive."  It wasn't always the case, but Diego always considered his childhood to be complicated but completely normal at the same time.  He said he loved his family - he was Latino, of course he loved his family - but it hadn't been difficult to move into law enforcement and travel for work.

Getting up (and minutely thrilled that Gen was going to join him for a smoke), Diego chuckled as Gen asked about whiskey.  "I don't think the motel stocks a minibar, no.  We'll have to make do with sobriety."  In the dimness of the room, he didn't notice Gen's apprehension about the one bed, or he didn't read into it too deeply.  Perhaps because he also felt someone antsy about it, if only because they'd been fighting before Vivien showed up, and technically had called their whole...sleeping-together thing off.

Hadn't they?  Everything had changed, when Vivien showed up.  The reasons for Diego's anger no longer mattered.  Did the reasons still matter to Gen?  He wasn't sure how long she could hold on to old fights, but he supposed he'd know by tonight.

Fortunately it seemed like Gen chose to take the high road, and Diego was more than fine with that.  He handed her one lit cigarette and leaned against the corridor railing,.  "Okay.  That sounds fine," he said, when Gen laid it out so reasonably.  He puffed, wondering if he should mention assurances that he wouldn't touch her or try to make any moves on her while they were in bed - god, he felt so confused about where they stood on their...thing together.  But it was hardly the most important problem that either he or Gen had right now - but then Gen kept talking.  Or rather, in her trademark way, she started overthinking it.

He choked on his cigarette when she casually mentioned his dick, and Diego coughed indignantly.  "My bit and tackle are in fine working order, thank you very much, madam," he said huffily, his manhood clearly feeling threatened (albeit in a comical way).  "It just ain't gonna be directed at you, is all."  He winced when he said that last bit.  He'd meant it to mean he wasn't going to try and get frisky, put Gen in a position where she felt she had to reject intimacy.  Which would be understandable and her right.  But it just came out weird and petty.

He leaned his back against the railing to face her.  "What I mean is, I'm fine.  I can sleep on the floor if that's what you prefer.  No way in hell I'm letting you sleep on any fucking floor, and don't argue with me about women doing what men can do or whatever.  This is simply because - because maybe I got beat up on the face...and other parts of me.  But you got beat up inside, and in your head.  And you know what doctors always say - internal injuries are worse than external ones."

Of course, Diego took that out of context, since he didn't mean Gen's internal organs, but rather her emotional and mental beatdown.  "So that hurt head of yours deserves a nice...creaky, springy, misshapen bed more'n I do.  No argument, Gen, I mean it."

Gen's questions turned philosophical then, and Diego welcomed the change of pace.  He smoked slowly then.  "This is a conversation best had over a bottle of whiskey," he said.  "But since we don't have a whiskey, then...I think what you've gone through is extraordinary, Gen.  As in, I don't think it's what most people have to deal with.  Not to downplay other people's shit - I know you wouldn't like me doing that - but I'm just saying more people's ups and downs at least have context and they can reference the same shit around them to know how to deal with their own shit.  You?  What on god's green earth would ever prepare you for your girlfriend turning out to be a crime boss?  That's not normal shit.  That's one in a million. That's extraordinary."

He stubbed his cigarette out.  "Guess you're just special that way, honey."

_______________________

Gen watched Diego with careful consideration as he mentioned that parents could be difficult, and then mentioned his dad. She could only remember him mentioning him once before, and it was in not so positive light, and she wanted to ask about him, see if she could get Diego to talk about his family and his parents a little more, understand where he was coming from better, but then decided to go into a completely different route. "You don't really talk about them," she said. "Your parents, mainly, but your family in general either. Is that because this is a job and you don't want to let too much information slip out, or you just don't like talking about them in general?"

She was expecting Diego's reply about the whiskey, but she was still disappointed he wasn't hiding even just a little bit of alcohol somewhere hidden on him. If there was a night to get drunk and try to forget everything, it was this night for sure. "The motel should definitely think about it. The minibar is one of the easiest way to overcharge the customers, and I assume a lot of their customers would be delighted to splurge on the cheapest thing they could possibly find." It's probably for the better, though. She wouldn't need a headache the next morning - either the FBI would have more questions and dealing with them with a hangover would be a bitch, or some other official business that she'd need to do that she would be better for sober.

She chuckled at his indignation and him calling her madam, but her smile didn't last long. It just ain't gonna be directed at you, is all. He needed to make sure she knew just because they were sleeping in the same bed potentially, nothing changed between them. And in general, she respected him for it, not wanting to betray Rita like that. But on the other hand, the reminder was like a cold bucket of water being suddenly poured all over her body. For a few moments she could just forget about it, but now she was painfully brought back down to reality and she didn't know how to react. Except for the annoyed, quiet muttering that she couldn't help letting slip out from under her nose, "Don't worry, I wasn't planning on jumping you or anything," and then took a long, hard drag of the cigarette.

Thankfully he kept talking, though, and so she focused on that instead of the stupid way her heart panged and how for the first time she wondered if maybe Diego not sticking around and not being there for her through all of this would be better. She would miss him, Jesus fuck she would miss him, but at least she wouldn't be reminded constantly of what she fucked up and could never have.

She tilted her head, giving Diego a look. "You know that's about internal bleeding and my organs, not my mental state, right?" Her voice was just a touch bit sharp and annoyed. She didn't mean to carry over the annoyance that she felt after his comment, but she couldn't help it, it just came out. She cleared her throat, forcing herself to get her shit together. "And when have I ever not argued with you? Really, Diego, you are not sleeping on the floor, I'm not going to let that happen. I will kick you up onto the damn bed if I have to," she said, the last of her words more teasing than anything else.

"So you won't let me sleep on the floor, I won't let you sleep on the floor, we're back to being adults and sleeping in the same bed, huh?" It was going to be a torture and she felt even more grateful for the possibility of a sleeping pill. She could just take it and push through the time while it hits and then she wouldn't spend the entire night not only reliving everything that happened in the past 24 hours, but also over-analyzing Diego sleeping a few inches from her.

"See? I told you we would need whiskey," she joked but she listened to Diego quietly while smoking, purposefully ignoring him calling her honey again. She was wondering how long she could take it. She already just wanted to snap at him and tell him to stop calling her that because it was messing with her head. "I don't wanna be special like this. But I guess nobody would. It's funny, though. I used to want to be special. And I don't mean that I wanted to be a princess when I was four, even though I did, but I-- I wanted to be that one in a million. I wanted to prove to everyone around me that I could be that one person who just rises and rises and rises to the top and becomes outstanding." She let out a bitter chuckle. "I guess I became outstanding in a very different meaning of the word. And now all I wanna be is normal, and that's the one thing that isn't in the cards."

She shook her head. "Fuck, my head is full of... all of this bullshit. I can't-- I just can't. Tell me something fun. Something good that made you happy or made you laugh or something. Anything that isn't related to... all of this. Please."

_______________________

"A little of both, I suppose,"  Diego replied with a half-shrug.  He'd never really had friends, ergo he never really talked about his family.  Even when it came to falling in love - with Helena - she'd known him growing up, and when they met as adults, they were in a situation far too dire to reminisce about their pasts.  "You're the first person who's asked so many dang questions."  He said it gruffly, but not meanly.  He gave a low laugh when she tried to lighten the mood, talk about profit for the motel via minibars.

"Maybe the rooms usually do have minibars.  But this motel's used a lot for federal business, so I'll bet you they remove the minibar whenever they know a fed's taking up the room.  Too many of us are alcoholics and your tax money shouldn't go to pay for our drinking problems."  He was teasing lightly of course, just going off of Gen's own riffing.

Because what she said next (completely due to his own faux pas) made everything feel tense again.  "That's not what I --oh forget it.  We should just - right.  Yea.  Let's just be adults and sleep in one bed.  Jesus, it's no big deal."  Cigarette break over, Diego headed back inside, to brush his teeth one more time.

He started to brush, then came out of the bathroom to talk to her more.  Granted he was talking around his toothbrush, but he didn't seem to notice.  "You always argue with me, but I keep hoping in vain that this ONE time you'll actually listen to me.  That's what crazy people do right?  Repeat the same thing and hope for different results?  You drive me crazy."  In more ways than one, but regardless, Diego pointed at the side of the bed that was closer to the exit door.  "That's my side." he told her, before going back into the bathroom to spit and rinse.

She was right - no one who didn't ask for that life, should be considered the type of special that Gen currently was.  But Diego returned, wiping his face with a face towel as he listened to Gen talking.  Revealing something about herself that to Diego sounded so profound and deep.  He was struck by how vulnerable it seemed.  And she was sharing this with him, out of the blue.

"It's not bullshit,"  Diego was quick to respond.  "It's not bullshit at all.  It's...it's fine.  I can't say I understand, but at the same time...I dunno.  It's fine, Gen, you're..."  He wanted to reach out to her and hold her then, but something made him resist.  Everything just felt too prickly then; and an embrace might be taken the wrong way.  So instead he maneuvered past her, to get to his side of the bed.

"Me?  You want me to tell you something fun?  You do know who you're talking to right?"  Diego joked, sitting on the edge of the bed, but turning to look at her.  "Mr NoFun Guy here.  But listen - just, go brush your teeth and...whatever else girls do in the bathroom before bed.  I'll find us some nice movie or fun tv-show to watch before we pass out, hm?  That's as much fun as I can do.  Oh - and I got a bottle of painkillers, they're on the sink.  Feel free to help yourself.  Might help you get to sleep."

_______________________

Gen quickly finished up the last of the cigarette and then headed back inside after Diego, settling down onto the bed while she waited for Diego to finish and suddenly feeling a whole new kind of awkward and unsure of what to do with herself. She agreed with what she said, they were adults and the bed was big, they could spend the entire night never touching, but it still felt... well, it felt like too much. Maybe because of her newfound realization (it felt kind of insane that she barely realized her feelings for Diego less than 24 hours ago, the last 24 hours felt like a week, maybe even a whole month instead of just a single day), maybe because so many things happened she just felt emotionally drained and this was just the cherry on top, maybe because the last time they were in the same bed, things between them were a whole different situation, but it just felt a lot and she didn't know how to really handle it.

Thankfully Diego was here, though, acting like it was the most normal thing on the world and making it seem like they did this every single night. (Which was a whole kind of weird in her mind, but at least it was something she could roll with.)

When Diego came out of the bathroom, toothbrush in his mouth while he was talking around it, she couldn't help a half snort, half chuckle that escaped her. It was cute. And amusing. And more domestic than she'd like to think, so she pushed that part to the side. "Isn't there like a rule that you can't be crazy if you are aware that you're crazy?" she mused aloud, teasing. "Or that might be just Catch 22. Not sure."

She nodded to the declaration of the side and when he came out and babbled a bit, trying to comfort her. He was trying, she could tell, and she appreciated it, but he wasn't really able to say anything helpful either, not that she expected him, and she gave him a small, appreciative smile before heading into the bathroom herself while he was talking about just how unfun he was and the plan for the rest of the night.

She quickly brushed her teeth and washed her face again and took a painkiller, hoping it would actually go to sleep. By the time she got back to the room, Diego found something on the tv and she climbed into bed next to him, making sure to keep the distance. The moment her head hit the pillow, it was like her body finally caught up to everything that happened and she felt nothing but sheer exhaustion. And even though her brain started running like it always did, maybe the painkillers were working, maybe everything that happened was too much even for her, but she fell asleep relatively quickly compared to how long it usually took her.

[lovemesomerafael]

It’s Complicated                              Chapter 4:  What If...

Source: @sherrykinss

Chapter 1  Chapter 2  Chapter 3  

Why yes of course you can also read this on AO3

Frankie really, really did not want to untangle herself from Rafael to answer her phone, but she’d put it on the bedside table in case the NYPD or FBI needed to get in touch with her, and the screen told her it was Dean Porter.  As she rolled back toward Rafael, she put the phone on speaker so that he could hear the call. 

“I have some news,” Porter said without preamble.

“Shit.  What did he do?”

“He set your car on fire.  Well, he didn’t, he had the tweaker kid do it.  But your car is destroyed.”

“Anybody hurt?”

“No, the parking garage near the courthouse has a good sprinkler system.  Only damage was to your car.  It’s all on video.  Pretty brazen.”

“Did you catch the tweaker kid?”

“I’m sorry.  Not yet.  But he hasn’t come near your apartment, so there’s that.”

“I haven’t made it to the DMV yet, so the registration on my car still has my Virginia address.”

“Then there’s a chance he doesn’t know where you live yet.  But it’s the twenty-first century, lots of ways he can find that out.  We can’t take that for granted.  Don’t tell me where you are on a cell phone, but are you in a safe place?”

“Yes.”

“Then wherever you are, you should stay there.”

Frankie looked up at Rafael, leaning over her in his bed with a concerned expression and a serious case of bed head. 

“I will.”

“We’ll keep you informed.”

“Thanks, Dean.  I appreciate everything you all are doing.”  She hit the “end” button on the phone, tossed it aside on the bed, and threw her arm around Barba’s neck, pulling him down into a searing kiss.

“See?  Gratitude’s not that difficult,” he muttered, tickling her lips with his laugh.

“Cállate.[1]  He torched my car.”

“That’s why there’s insurance.”

“Thanks for the sympathy.”  They were getting very good at talking and kissing – even serious kissing – at the same time.

“I’ll be sympathetic later.  Right now, I’m- what did you call it?  Prioritizing.”

“You’re doing a good job,” she breathed, arching her body toward him.

“Another polite comment.  You’re much nicer when you’re getting laid.”

“You’re not.”

*******************

A lazy, sensual, and very satisfying half hour later, Rafael had to get up to go to work.  He wouldn’t let Frankie join him in the shower. 

“You’ve done enough damage,” he said sternly.  “I’ve had no sleep, and I did about a third of the trial prep I had intended last night.  You’re just lucky I’m so good at what I do.  Otherwise I’d drag you in front of the judge and make you explain yourself.”

“No problem.  She’s a woman.  She can see how rico[2] you are.  She’ll understand completely.”

He smiled as he leaned over and kissed her.  “You’re shameless.”

Frankie just giggled.  When he got up and went into the bathroom to shower, she stretched luxuriously and rolled over, asleep before he even got under the spray. 

****************** 

He was fully dressed as he leaned over the bed and kissed her awake.  She groaned.   

“Don’t answer the door.  I’ll call and check on you as often as I can.”

“Kick that defense attorney’s ass,” she muttered.

“Already in process,” he grinned, giving her another quick kiss before standing up and moving toward the door.

“Barba,” Frankie called.  He turned back toward her, hovering in the doorway.  She was a gorgeous mess – hair comb long since fallen out, leaving her long, black tresses to spread across his pillows, sleepy eyes sparkling but half-open, lying tangled in a sea of hopelessly disordered bedding – and he felt a physical pang of desire to dive back in with her.

“Thank you.  For letting me stay here,” she said softly.

“You’re welcome.”

He hesitated.  They both wanted to say more, to discuss what had happened between them, but neither knew yet what they wanted to say.  They settled for smiling at one another before he turned and left for court. 

 ********************

Barba had been right.  Even the defense attorney had to admit that Barba had the trial won.  During the first recess of the day, after Barba had annihilated the defense’s expert psychiatric witness using the questions Dr. Rojas had helped him prepare, the defendant had accepted a very satisfactory plea deal.  Which meant that, only a few hours later, Rafael was able to call it a day.  He had more work to do than he could possibly handle, and could have made a good dent using the extra time the plea deal had provided, but he uncharacteristically allowed his second-chair to wrap up the paperwork on the trial and called Carmen to say he wouldn’t be coming back to the office.  Alone at her desk, Carmen indulged in a facial expression that clearly showed her intrigue at this news. 

*****************

“It’s just me, Señorita Fresa,[3]” he called as he let himself into his apartment.

Since he had texted to warn her he was coming home, Frankie wasn’t frightened by Rafael’s entrance.  He was taken aback, however, to see her, sitting in a reading chair with the sun streaming in the window making her look like she was aglow.   Her hair was down around her shoulders, ruler-straight and gleaming, and her face was radiantly beautiful without a touch of makeup.  His royal blue zip-up sweatshirt was huge on her, as were his jogging pants, which she’d had to roll up to be able to walk in them.  She was about a third of the way through ‘Slaughterhouse Five’, one of Rafael’s favorites. 

“What did you call me?”  She tilted her head with a fake frown.

“Sorry.  Doctor Fresa,” he corrected.

She shook her head, laying it back against the soft cushion of the deep, fluffy armchair she sat in.  “You realize that’s an insult,” she said, grinning.

Rafael walked over to her, sitting on the ottoman where she rested her bare feet and leaning toward her, putting a hand on the chair back above her and the other around her waist and pulling her to him.  He kissed her for a long time. 

“I don’t know why you’d think so,” he said matter-of-factly.  “Strawberries are beautiful.”  He kissed her again.  “They’re shapely.”  This kiss lasted longer, and involved some tongue.  “And they’re delicious.”

His hands were all over underneath the sweatshirt she wore, and she moved her body to make sure he had plenty of room to touch her anywhere he chose.  When she could speak, she asked breathlessly, “What am I going to do with you?”

“I’ve thought of nothing else all morning,” he responded, and she put down her book and followed as he led her to his bedroom.

**********************

For the rest of the day, neither SVU nor FBI made any progress with the Pattern 20 rapist or finding either the tweaker kid or Alan Canady.  In the evening, Rafael emerged, yawning, from taking a few hours’ nap while Frankie continued reading her book.  Wearing nothing but sleep pants, his hair adorably askew, he padded to his kitchen.  He was delighted to find hot, fresh coffee waiting for him, without having had to make it himself.  

Frankie grinned at him as he stumbled into his living room, coffee in hand, to flop down on his couch.

“How’s the book?”  He asked.

“It’s yours, and it’s dog-eared. I’m assuming you’ve read it.”

“I was asking how you like it.”

“Actually, I’ve read it before, too.  At the risk of the inevitable mocking I’ll receive from you, I still don’t get it, even on the third reading.”

“I’d like to mock you about that, and I would…”

“Of course you would.”

“Except I find it a little difficult, too.”

“No kidding.  That’s quite an admission, coming from you.”

“Mmmmmm.  I’m sleep-deprived, undercaffeinated, and hungry.  Only explanation for such a moment of vulnerability.”

“Well, today is your lucky day.”

“How so?”

“I’m hungry, too, and you happen to have the makings for Tacos al Pastor.  I’m curious as to why, exactly, you have a pineapple, but you do, and I’m a great cook.”

“Can I help?”

“You can hang out and talk to me. Or just sit there looking like that. That works for me, too.”

“I’m told I’m rico.”

All Frankie could do was shake her head at that on her way into the kitchen.

****************************

“How hard is it to get a sample of someone’s DNA if you think they’ve committed a crime?”  Frankie asked, seemingly at random, while slicing the pineapple half an hour later.

Rafael, sitting at his kitchen table sipping his second cup of coffee, watched her thoughtfully.  “Depends on why you think they’ve committed a crime.”

“Well, that’s the thing.  It’s just a theory.  But it makes sense, if you know the suspect.”

“Not gonna happen.  You need more than ‘it could be this person’.  You need to ‘proffer a good faith factual predicate sufficient for a court to draw an inference that specifically identified materials are reasonably likely to contain information that has the potential to be both relevant and inculpatory.’"

Frankie stopped cutting and looked at Rafael.  “Shit, Barba. That was hot.”

“Really?  That works for you?  Because I can recite the standard for a 440 motion for ineffective assistance of counsel, too.”

“Before you do that, you’re gonna need sustenance.  Because I can’t be responsible for my reaction.”  

“Do you want to tell me what’s on your mind?”

“Uh… sex.  That was innuendo.”

“Smartass.  You know what I mean.”

“OK, so I’ve been trying to figure out where the tweaker kid comes in.  Who is he?  How does he know Alan?  And what does fencing items stolen from rape victims have to do with Alan?”

“And your theory is?”  

“Well, brace yourself, because it’s going to sound a little far-fetched. But not if you know Alan.  So, Alan knows what I do for a living, and he knows I work with sexual assault victims. Somehow he finds out I’m in New York, and he looks at FBI recruitments online, which anyone can do.  What if Alan raped those women, in hopes it would lead him to me?”

“Francisca, mi fresa, you’re right.  That’s far-fetched.  Very far-fetched.  New York is huge.  The FBI and NYPD are huge.”

“Yes, but the intersection between the two, with respect to sex crimes, isn’t.”

“And how does that connect Alan and the tweaker kid?”

“So if my theory is correct, then someone has to commit a sex crime.  Alan’s on board to hurt and humiliate any number of women, but he’s not going down for a felony.  So what he does is, he commits the sex crime, steals valuables from his victims, and hires the tweaker kid to get caught trying to fence them.”

“Why’s the tweaker kid going to do that?”

“Seriously?  You need to hang out with more addicts, Barba.  They’ll do anything for drug money.  The kid gets arrested, looks to see if he can find any trace of me at SVU, gets paid either way but more if he finds me.”

“But he goes to jail.”

“For a day.  He gets bail, which Alan pays, then he skips, never to be heard from again.”

“Until Alan needs him to torch your car.”

“Which he’s perfectly happy to do for more drug money.  Doesn’t even have to go to jail this time.”

“I don’t know…”

“OK, I’m not asking you to accept my theory.  What I’m asking is, would it be enough for a judge to let us DNA-test Alan against the rape victims?”

“Not even close.  Sorry.”  

Frankie scowled as she went back to cutting the pineapple.  “What would you need?”

“Something tying the suspect to the crimes.  A confession. A fingerprint.  A piece of physical evidence.  Defensive wounds consistent with the victim’s story.”  

“Shit.  We have none of that.”

“No, we don’t.  We can at least share your theory with Porter and SVU.  But I have to tell you, it sounds pretty wacky to me.”

“Not to me.  And not to Porter.”  

********************************** 

Amanda Rollins took Frankie to her apartment the following afternoon to get some clothes and other necessities.  It felt really strange to Frankie to be wearing a bulletproof vest, and increased her sense of being in danger.  Even though Amanda was there to ensure her safety, she hurried to pack as quickly as she could, and was relieved when they were back in the squad car, pulling away from Frankie’s building.

“Can we make a stop on the way to where we’re going?”  Frankie asked, as casually as she could.

“Sure.  Where?”

“Patsy’s cupcakes.”

“Oh?” 

“Yeah.  Because you’re about to find out that I’m staying at Barba’s apartment.”

Amanda’s eyes went wide.  “OH.” 

“Yeah.  Oh.”

“Well, um…  Huh.”

“What?  You’re the one who said he’s not the guy he seems like at first, and that he’s hot.”

“All of which is true.  I stand by it.  But listen, Frankie, I…  I like you.  I think we’re gonna be friends.  So I’m gonna tell you something, with the full understanding that I like Barba, and he’s my friend, too.  OK?”

“OK.”

“He’s kinda got a… reputation.”

“What kind of reputation?”

“He goes out with a lot of women.”

Frankie laughed.  “OK, so he’s a slut.  Consider me warned.  What makes you think I’m not an even bigger slut?”

“Maybe you are.  I just thought, being new in town, you might want to know not to get too attached.  Because he doesn’t.”

“Well, thanks, Amanda.  I appreciate the heads up.  I’ll guard my heart, although I don’t think it’s in too much danger.”

Amanda frowned through the windshield.  “Did I cross the line?  I apologize if I offended you.”

“Not at all!  I like you, too, and I’d like us to be friends.  I think we are already.  If the situation was reversed, I’d make sure you knew what you were getting into, too.  Speaking of which, now that we’ve established that we’re friends and I’m a slut, tell me about your love life.”

Frankie was more bothered by what Amanda had said than she let on.  Not that she had feelings for Barba.  Of course she didn’t.  Her concern was that, in the hormone-drunk frenzy she’d been in since meeting him, she’d completely ignored everything she knew about recreational sex.  She knew never, ever to have unprotected sex.  Ever.  Sure, Barba had been reckless enough to take her hurried word for the fact that she didn’t have any diseases and was on the pill, but that was Barba’s problem.  She hadn’t even asked him.  That bothered her for a host of reasons, especially now, being told that he slept around.  Well, she needed a doctor in New York anyway.  She made a mental note to get one and get tested as soon as possible.  And if she and Barba were going to be having more sex – and there was no doubt that she and Barba were going to be having more sex – they were definitely using condoms from now on.  She frowned.  Maybe it was a mistake staying with him.  But she told herself that it was safer than staying at a public hotel. 

*******************************

Amanda had also taken Frankie by the grocery, so that when Rafael returned to his apartment that evening, he was met with rich cooking smells that drew him into his kitchen.  Frankie, in faded jeans and a ribbed turtleneck with one of his aprons covering most of her, was stirring some kind of rice dish that looked complicated.  

“That smells wonderful,” Rafael smiled.  “What’s in it?”

“I could tell you,” she answered, “But then I’d have to turn you over to the Federales.  Mexican state secret.”

“You’re American.”

“Yes, but my mother wasn’t.  A Mexican citizen can legally pass this recipe down to her children, but that’s as far as it goes.  I’m terribly sorry, but it’s in Chapter 18 of the Mexican Civil Code.”

“It is not.”

“What an ego.  You don’t know what is or isn’t in Chapter 18 of the Mexican Civil Code.”

“Pretty sure your mother’s recipe for arroz con pollo[4] isn’t in there.”

“I didn’t say it was.  I said-“

That was as far as she got before their lips met and she didn’t say anything more for a long while.  When they broke the long string of kisses to catch their breath, he was pressing her against the counter and they were moving together.

“I could definitely get used to coming home to you,” Rafael said without thinking.  He could feel Frankie react to that, but she simply laughed.

“It’s not usually like this, believe me.  It’s just that, I tried to work today but I’m more distracted than I thought.  So I decided to cook, instead.  It’s relaxing.  Usually, with me you get leftover takeout.”

“That’s a food group around here.”

After a dinner of savory, spicy arroz, Rafael excused himself to take a shower while Frankie did the dishes.  It wasn’t long, however, before she joined him under the steamy water, playful and audacious.  Rafael found himself holding onto the shower head and the handle of the built-in soap dish to keep upright as she drove him to distraction with her mouth.  He wasn’t entirely sure how she was managing to breathe down there with the water running, but he trusted her to complain if that was a problem.  

Later, as she lay sprawled across his bed with him half covering her legs while he rested from reciprocating her favor, she asked him whether he’d spoken to SVU or Agent Porter about her theory that Alan might be the rapist.

“I met with them today.”

“And?”

“This is what you want to talk about right this minute?”

She snorted a short laugh.  “I suppose my timing is somewhat poor.  But it’s on my mind.”

Rafael crawled back up the bed and laid down next to her, putting an arm around her as she curled up against him. “It would be.  Sorry.  They… think it’s an interesting theory.  They’re going to let me know as soon as they come up with anything they think I can use to get a warrant, but I don’t think you should hold your breath.”

Frankie sighed.  “It’s not that I haven’t enjoyed these last few days being your kept woman, but I’m about ten minutes from stir crazy.  I can’t just sit here and wait for Alan to come for me.”

“No one’s asking you to. They’re working on it.  Anyway, I’m not complaining.”

“You’re not, are you?  I hardly recognize you.”

“And here I thought we’d turned a corner, you and me.  Turns out you’re still obnoxious.”

Her body moved delightfully against his as she chuckled.  “Maybe. But you like me.”

“I do not.  I tolerate you because it turns out you’re a hell of a cook.  It’s you who likes me.”

“No, I don’t.  I will admit, I am pleasantly surprised to find that you are… not entirely without your charms.  And if I must hide, here with you is preferable to a Turkish prison. But I still think you’re arrogant and… have other undesirable qualities that escape my mind right now because you’re distracting me with your fingers.”

“You find this distracting, do you?”

“Very.”

“Do you want me to stop?”

“Oh, hell, no.”

***********************

The following day, Mike Dodds got a call about a sexual assault in progress in Chelsea.  The witness who reported it had asked for “Sergeant Dodds from SVU” in particular, which was very strange, but he and Olivia Benson were rolling anyway.  They figured that the uniforms would get there before they could, but SVU would be among the fist on the scene, so hopefully they wouldn’t muck up the evidence too much before they got there.  In one of those rare, strange New York City coincidences, SVU and the uniformed patrol officers arrived on scene at the same time.

Tearing up the stairs to the fourth floor of the cheap motel, Dodds in the lead, the SVU detectives pulled their weapons and told the uniforms to stay back.  That was why Mike Dodds and Olivia Benson were the first two people through the door, and the ones who saw Dr. Francisca Rojas, covered in blood, kneeling over a man’s body with her hand on the handle of a knife plunged into his chest. She looked up as they approached the open door, horror-stricken expressions on all of their faces.

“I didn’t do this,” she said, holding up both hands, from which blood was dripping freely.

[1] Shut up

[2] Literally means “delicious”, Cuban slang for a hot guy

[3] See definition in Chapter 2

[4] Rice with chicken

[mattyslittleworld]

6.

I’m in a cafe in a French little corner of Toronto called Leslieville. I’ve been on the road for a few days by myself, about to start a Canadian week run. My bro hit me about booking a small cool situation and honestly I needed it. First show is a house show and I pulled up to load in...a punk girl full of patches watering plants on her deck. The house looked condemned. I walk in and the house smells like cat shit, there’s stains everywhere, food everywhere, spaced out wonderful dedicated humans, and hardcore posters all over the walls, showing the house shows they’ve thrown over the years. The punk girl said they’ve been doing shows for 6 years. They slide the couch over and setup a PA. This is exactly what I need in my soul. I grew up in these punk squats all over the world. I am this. I come from this. These people don’t know who Casanova or Albee Al are. They don’t know Fetty Wap or Tsu Surf. They know Realm Hulud and this underground culture they love applying to the outside world that pushes them away. A truth to be romanticized.

 I felt like I burnt myself out a month ago. Taking my dreams and flipping them into reality - the loss of friendship and love made me march forward and demand a new life and once that door opened I ran full speed and never looked back....until Quad Studios a few months back. I looked in the mirror and found nothing of the person I was - no resemblance of that kid. That scared me. So when John hit me with this I accepted immediately and packed my shit. I just wanna have convos about challenging, progressive, active things. Trade road stories. Talk about 7inches. Hardcore and punk. I’m grateful to be able to experience both of these worlds. I asked the punk girl if there was a coffee shop and she said there’s a booouuugie one around the corner if “you like spending a lot of money” and when I got here the barista charged me 2 bucks. I love that fuck the system attitude, although at the same time I think I’m becoming a part of the system - the sold out, corporate side of the music business that we all ran against our whole lives. I mean I just wrote a song with Casanova about texting. I just rapped 4 bars with Tsu Surf about gucci sunglasses and Louie v coats and fucking in the back of an Uber. 

I packed my shit and went to NYC and finally got to check out the Queens Bridge housing that Nas grew up in. They were huge. So many. It was so awesome. You can sense the pride and community. From there I just drove around NYC finding spots I used to hangout in as a kid. Blasting inspiring tunes and just vibin out. 

Ended up in Spanish Harlem, Queens, China Town. Damn I love New York. At 4 am I left and started my drive to Canada with a stop at Niagara Falls, where I had a Hotel for 2 days waiting for me. I checked in and just cooled out for 2 days it was amazing. I forgot how much I love touring alone. I drove a half hour to Andy’s house and hung out with him and his wife for the night. And damn did I need that. I needed trust. Loyalty. Familiarity. Friendship. Somebody who grew up fighting like me. Who left that life behind like me. Who’s been in real trouble and seen real life hell like me. We both came so far.  Beautiful.

Im currently in a hotel in Chicoutmi, Quebec. The window open, breeze coming in nice and sweet. Canadian currency everywhere. Coffee cups everywhere. Ive only eaten fruit the past 2 days. I feel good. Last night the drive was really lonely and long, but I toughed it out and here I am. Thinking back a few days ago to Toronto, I was so inspired and so electric. The hotel was right downtown and I walked all the way to Chinatown and the markets. Running around by myself blasting music. You go throughout your life knowing you need to outlive your demons - nights like that really defines that. The shows have been so cool. Great people. Great conversations. I have a few Canadians and im back in the states. 

Ive been editing three music videos along the way. One of which is with Casanova. Im really proud of this. I never thought id get to such a height of being in the room with someone as famous as him. We did the song and it was amazing - but for him to double back and hit this video with me and Rob, damn. The day of the shoot I was so quiet and so awkward before I left. Is this happening? Is this really a thing? Is he really gunna show up? A model is coming. Rooms have been rented. People have been invested. Its all on us. We got there early and set up the set. Ive said it many times before on here - my life socially is completely different. Everybody in my life is brand new and not many people know of my past musical endeavors or even my past in general. But having Rob and Colgan there with me really made me happy. Through thick and thin. I didnt hear from Cass all day so I shot him a text - no answer. I was like oh my god should I call and be annoying? Called him and immediately picked up AYO WHATS GOOD MATTY! 1030 right?! And I was like damn. This dudes a good dude. I asked him if he wanted any Hennessy and he said Yeah pick me up a bottle of dusse. I was like no problem dude….hung up…looked at Rob and went…”What is Dusse?” And he was like NO IDEA LOL. Hit Colgan who was on the way like yo can you scoop Cass some Dusse on the way?? He was like WTF IS THAT!!! I was like IDK so I did the whitest thing ive ever done (Besides being a white rapper) and sent him a google image screen shot and boom nailed it in time. Cass calls and belv goes to let him and his crew in and they mob up and its on. All love from there with such a good vibe. Me and my day 1’s making history…..I remember specifically me rob and Colgan at the port Monmouth skatepark hopelessly lost of a future. Written off by our town and society. Parents let down. Pieces of local shit that’ll amount to nothing. Here we are. Roc Nation….from the basements man. With Belv in the house - without him…none of this would be possible. Killed the video and it left me inspired to see bro just get in the back of a black suburban and drive off. Like damn. Thats wealth. Mentally, and financially. Thats inspiring to me. To be that much of a millionaire but still come and put on for some kids he sees potential in. 

I feel a void though. I want to share this all with somebody. Im ready for a relationship - I feel my mind and body gravitating towards that way of thinking and behavior. I think back to the days of having a home in someones heart….so comforting. I needed to run though. I needed this time. I needed to raise hell. I needed those fights, to fuck my life up. I NEEDED this. I needed to plant my feet on this planet and just get my name known. Make shit happen. The window is open right now…and a storm is rolling in off in the distance. You can see lightning. You can see the clouds darken. Wow. After this show im going to rush back here and just watch it on this sill. 

I feel extremely emotional right now. Im trembling. 

[rizzizzsins-blog]

From the Ashes, Ch 8

Wanna read this on Archive? Click here.

 The shopping trip was a success. Asher rediscovered his love of cyberpunk, and he looked like an extra out of      Akira    . After he and Cinn had lunch at the food court, much to Edge’s dismay, everyone piled into Edge’s Jaguar, and they were off.

 “You both have such nice cars,” Asher marveled a bit.

 “Don’t compare my brother’s hunk of junk to my marvel of nature!” Edge frowned a little.

 “Listen ‘ere, that Pontiac took me an entire year to restore. I’d like to see ya try it,” Cinn smirked.

 “That’s not fair! You know I’m not a tinkerer like you!” Edge protested.

 “Then quit throwin’ shade at my baby. She’s perfect the way she is, save fer a little dust from this one,” he nudged Asher with his elbow.

 “Oh, sorry,” Asher apologized; Cinn shook his head. “I’m just jokin’, princey. It’ll be alright. ‘S a memory, that’s for sure.”

 A memory, huh…

 “This may be a bit of a drive, so feel free to fall asleep,” Edge remarked, adjusting his mirrors a bit before driving off.

 “You got it, bro.”

 “I’m not talking to you! I need your help with the directions! The place doesn’t appear on my map apps, since it’s technically a closed business.”

 “Yeah, alright. Make a left, then stay on 64 for about 10 miles.”

 Asher slowly sunk into the Jaguar’s leather seats. He hadn’t realized how tired he was. The shopping trip had left him completely drained.

     Asher was in the community garden; the sun was slowly coming up. Dew dotted all of the leaves, and the tulips were lazily opening, one petal at a time.  

     It was around the time to harvest the dandelions. Apparently humans treated them as pest plants, but they were quite a good food source, so his glen grew them. It was best to pick half while they were flowering and half afterwards.  

     As he reached out to them, they shrank away. Asher moved his hand closer, and the plants leaned further away. Frustrated, he reached out and snagged an apple off a tree. As he was about to put it in his mouth, he felt something wet and sticky in his palm.  

     The apple was decomposing rapidly in his hand, until it melted into a viscous, black sludge. Asher turned to see where he’d walked; the grass was dead in every area where he’d stepped.  

     “Samara! You’re ruining everything!” His mother shouted, her hands in her hair.  

     “Mom! I’m sorry! I----” The rot spread faster and faster, crawling up his mother’s roots.  

     “You ruin everything, Samara. Everything.” Her flesh rots, and her teeth fall out one by one.  

 Asher screamed himself awake.

 “JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!” Edge pulled over hard, turning off the ignition. “WHAT’S HAPPENING?” His eyelights glowed intensely, and the magic of battle brewed in the air.

 “I’m sorry, mom… sorry….” Asher mumbled. He was awake. It was over.

 “I shoulda fuckin’ warned him about the nightmares, Boss. It was my fault.”

 “No, I could have done so as well.”

 Asher shook his head. “Don’t worry… I can’t remember the last good dream I had. They’ve just never been that bad.”

 “Yeah… our dad never talks about his. Makes sense, though, since he doesn’t fuckin’ talk about anythin’.”

 “Hmph, it is frustrating. I can tell that it’s bothering him. He has the same microexpressions as I do when I’m upset. But he just shoves it all down and acts like an asshole. That’s going to blow up in his face some day.. I hope I’m not around for that,” Edge sighed.

 “So… we almost there? Sorry for scaring you.”

 Edge restarted the car, and they were off. They were pretty out of the city; the interstate was mottled with wildflowers and tall grass. Large houses with acres of property made up most of the landscape.

 “Yes, just one more turn off this exit and it’s the first place on the left.” They rounded the hill next to the exit and…

 Jesus Christ. The house was an absolute horrorshow. It looked like the kind of place that a church would run a haunted house in to raise money for charity. How it hadn’t been condemned or demolished was beyond Asher. The shutters were slowly sliding off their windows. Some windows were missing panes altogether, covered by plywood instead. The parking lot was full of luxury cars and retrofitted antique vehicles.

 “This is… a little worse than I expected, Edge.”

 “I know it looks a bit haunted on the outside, but that’s simply because they don’t feel like fixing it. The inside is a lot nicer,” The captain assured him as they pulled into the lot.

 He checked his phone. Goddamn it, a whole bunch of them had dipped out of lunch. Including Vanilla.

 Fuming, Edge smiled at Asher. “Excuse me for one moment, Asher.”

 “Easy, bro.”

 “NO! THEY SAID THEY WERE COMING! WHY AM I THE ONLY ONE TAKING RESPONSIBILITY?”

 Edge basically slammed his fingers into the keypad as he dialed someone Asher didn’t know.

 “VANILLA! WHAT THE FUCK GIVES?!”

 “What can I say? Not interested.” Looks like Edge hit the speaker button in his hurry.

 “YOU COULD APOLOGIZE!”

 “I’m not the one doing something wrong. You’re introducing some decomposing rando into a house of already half-functional skeletons. And now the queen wants to throw in that psycho? Count me the fuck out.”

 “WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THAT PSYCHO.” Edge’s eyelights went out.

 “Oh, you haven’t heard? He just got released from prison, and that’s what Fafriel wants to do with him. You should probably make peace with your old man before he’s wiped off the face of the earth.”

 “RIGHT. AS IF YOUR FATHER IS GOING TO LEAVE HIS HOME JUST BECAUSE OF TWO NEW PEOPLE. NOT EVERYONE THROWS IN THE TOWEL WHENEVER THEY FACE ANY LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY, SANS.”

 The line went quiet.

 “If I have to drag my dad out of that building by force, I will. I’m not losin’ him after just getting him back.”

 “OH, YOU’RE GONNA DRAG HIM OUT? HE’LL JUST TELEPORT BACK. OUR FATHERS ARE EVEN BETTER AT TAKING ON CHALLENGES THAN YOU ARE AT RUNNING AWAY FROM THEM. GOOD DAY, SANS,” Edge hung up with a wicked grin.

 “Who was that?” Asher asked, wrinkling his nose.

 “Vanilla. Cinn’s Tale Kingdom counterpart. We’ve both been on the Surface for the same amount of time and he hasn’t evolved or matured one bit in that time. I for one, am proud of all the progress my brother has made. Vanilla and Honey just seem to go backwards, frankly. I feel sorry for Papaya and Azure.”

 “There’s no need to feel sorry for me, Edge! Sans is just going through a rough patch!” A skeleton in a suit jacket, leather elbow patches and plaid orange dress pants put his hand on Edge’s shoulder.

 “NYAAAGH! DON’T DO THAT, PAPY!”

 “See? You don’t like it when you’re talked about      behind your back    , do you?” the other chuckled. “Don’t worry! I would have dragged Sans by the ear here if I had to. Brother, come out of the car!”

 A dark blue-eyed skeleton skulked out of his brother’s Ferrari.

 “Coming.”

 “Hello, little dryad! My name is Papaya Aster, Esquire. It is truly an honor to meet you!” He seemed so excited he could barely contain himself, pulling out a fidget spinner to burn off the extra energy.

 “Go on, Papaya. It doesn’t hurt to ask,” Edge clapped him on the back.

 “A-ARE YOU A HUGGER? E-excuse me, I tend to be a little too clingy sometimes!” Papaya smiled apologetically.

 “Oh? Sure. Haven’t been hugged too often, but I like trying new things, hahaha.”

 Papaya scooped Asher up and spun him around, before setting him down carefully, making sure he landed properly.

 “Jeez. Can’t say I’ve ever been hugged with quite so much enthusiasm. Thank you, Papaya.”

 “It’s no issue! If you’re ever wanting a hug, I am always ready to give!”

 “Yeah, and that’s just the issue,” his brother muttered. That must be Vanilla.

 “Nice to meet you,” Asher smiled, offering a hand.

 Vanilla takes it. The others seemed to have expected something to happen, since they were all cringing. But nothing happened.

 “Nilla’s the name. I’m one of your landlords, I guess.”

 “Right,” Asher swallowed.

 “Is anyone else planning on showing up?” Edge sighed, pinching his nasal bridge.

 “I believe Azure is coming in. Honey’s… a little impaired at the moment.”

 “You can say      drunk    , Papy,” Edge spat.

 “I don’t want to make a bad impression!” Papyrus responded. They weren’t upset, not with each other, at least.

 “Considering the unpleasantness that was the phone call with your brother, I think that we can drop all pretenses.”

 A car braked hard in the parking lot. A pair of heels stuck out of the door, as well as… a riding crop?

 “ESPRESSO! CORTADO! GET OUT OF THE CAR, THE TENANT IS ALREADY HERE!” He shouted, a curt rasp in his voice.Two thumbs up popped out of the windows, before two long, yellow eyed skeletons stepped out of the car. The one yelling stepped out last, needing assistance from one of his brothers to get down from their enormous Lexus GX.

 The smaller seemed to be in charge, the other two trailing behind him. One of them was hunched as he walked, his hoodie dipping just a little over his eyes. Headphones sat squarely on his shoulders. The other was much dressed like his brother, walking straight, in a rather futuristic black trench.

 “ESPRESSO! PICK UP THE SLACK! WE ONLY HAVE A LIMITED AMOUNT OF TIME TO ASSESS THE TENANT BEFORE YOUR THERAPY SESSION!”

 The hunched one nodded, running a little to catch up with his brothers.

 The two militant ones squinted at Asher hard.

 “CORTADO. HIS STATS.”

 Wait, Asher’s stats?! What the hell did they need those for? Were they about to fight him or something?

 “Illegible. Nothing but VOID-garbled gibberish, Captain.”

 “THEN GIVE ME AN ESTIMATE!”

 “Uh… do I need to do something here?” Asher asked Edge.

 “No. This is just… their routine. Riesling, do you intend on wasting all of lunch staring at our tenant, or will you introduce yourself like a normal person?”

 “THIS IS PERFECTLY NORMAL! CORTADO, I GROW IMPATIENT.”

 “DEF 50. ATK 30. HP 30/30. Soul of Justice.”

 “PATHETIC! A COMPLETE AND UTTER WEAKLING! GOOD. YOU ARE OF NO THREAT TO OUR FATHER AND MAY PROCEED.”

 “Al...right?” Asher wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or insulted. Maybe a little bit of both. He wasn’t a complete weakling, right?

 “WE MUST WAIT FOR THE LONE COMMANDER, AS WELL AS OUR COUSIN AND HIS PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A COMPANY,” Riesling sighed.

 “You know Scamp and Sliv are always late. Let’s just go inside and get this over with,” Nilla sighed deeper. Cinn gritted his teeth.

 “You’se guys go on ahead. I’m gonna need a moment.”

 “Fine,” Edge nodded. “Asher, would you mind staying for a moment with my brother? I would like to make sure our fathers aren’t doing anything abnormally dangerous, and set up a bit, before you enter.”

 “Alright, sounds good.”

 Everyone except Cinn and Asher went into the house. The door practically screeched whenever it was open and shut.

 Cinn pulled out a cigar and sat on the hood of the Jaguar. “Y’ want one?”

 “I can’t smoke. It’s really bad for plants. Even though I’m more rot than plant, I still don’t want to risk it,” Asher declined.

 “Suit yaself.” He snapped his fingers and the tip of the cigar lit up. So he knew a little fire magic…

 “.... So that was… a lot. Are you all related? Or what’s the story?”

 “We’re all counterparts. It gets kinda messy. Our names started out as nicknames, but eventually we had ‘em all legally changed. Got sick of gettin’ ‘calls for Sans and Papyrus’. How was we supposed to know which pair people wanted?!” He chuckled a bit.

 “But, yeah… I’m sorry yer havin’ to go through all this. I’d hoped this would be a little easier than you livin’ on yer own, but all I’ve done is complicate the shit outta your life. This one’s on me, princey.”

 Asher shook his head.

 “You know, it’s at least been different. I got so used to my routines with Theo that I kind of forgot what life was like outside of that. Sure, not everything’s fun, and certainly not Vanilla, but it’s been different, and in that sense, refreshing. It helps me keep my mind off… this,” he smiled, gesturing to his broken body.

 “Yeah. That’s what velcro shoes an’ jackets are for. Ya look right outta Blade Runner.”

 Asher’s smile grew a little bigger. “I have mixed feelings about that film, but the aesthetic is top notch.”

 “Yeah…” Cinn drew in a big puff, before blowing it out in the shape of a heart. “Hehehe, I still got it.”

 “Can you blow it out your eyes?” Asher had to ask.

 “Hell no! Shit burns like a motherfucker. Who showed ya that?” Cinn shuddered.

 “Me. Nyeh heh, didn’t mean to set the bar too high for ya, shorty,” Scamp popped in and noogied Cinn mid inhale, giving him a coughing fit and stealing his cigar.

 “You sack of fuckin’ shit, you planned that!” Cinn growled. Asher could kind of tell they were playing around.

 “Brother. Please. We arrived with a duty, and we must perform it.”

 “DON’T TREAT IT LIKE A DUTY, TREAT IT LIKE AN ADVENTURE! WE GET TO MEET A NEW FRIEND! HOPEFULLY CRIMSON WON’T INSULT THEM SO MUCH THAT THEY LEAVE CRYING THIS TIME!” It was odd. The two voices sounded like they were from the same person, yet one of them was heavy and flat, and the other was bouncing off the walls. Eventually, Asher was able to see the two skeletons talking. They had showed up in a sporty motorbike and sidecar, removing their helmets before coming to say hello.

 “Nyeh heh, you Blue’s      side    piece now?” Scamp joked with the quieter one. The two motorcyclists looked almost inverted. The quieter one with muted purple eyelights robotically shook Asher’s hand, before the bright-eyed one grabbed Asher’s other hand and shook it vigorously.

 “HELLO! I DON’T BELIEVE WE’VE MET! MY NAME IS AZURE ASTER, AND THIS IS MY FRIEND, SLIVOVITZ ASTER!”

 “Yeah, here’s my big bro. Well, big metaphorically.”

 “Hardee har har. Because I’m short. Very original, brother,” Slivovitz sighed. “I would at least like to supervise Edge making the food, even if he will no longer let me assist.”

 “MAYBE IF WE’RE LUCKY WE CAN SNEAK MAKING A FEW SIDE DISHES. COME ON, SLIV!” Azure grabbed Sliv’s hand and basically Naruto ran to the door.

 “Well, princey, whatcha see is whatcha get. You still wanna go in that house?” Cinn checked. “Y’ can say no. I’d fuckin’ say no.”

 Asher shook his head. “I’m ready. I want to give this a try.”

 Without realizing it, Asher took Cinn’s hand, and they walked inside. It was lunchtime.

[mrs-mikko-rantanen]

@fantasy-studiies asked: Prompt list #50. GIVE ME AVANDA SAYING THAT LIKE OMG but you already know that. Hmm... to give you another let’s go with #25 and Ewan saying it to Avanda. Have fun lol. MAKE ME SHIP IT! I can’t ship what I currently ship cause it’s not otp 😆 starting with the first prompt on this one: #50 from @fantasy-studiies fantastic 50 dialogue prompts list (go check her out, she's got an epic story brewing!!) “If you’re going to fight, then fight. Don’t just stand there with a sword in your hand looking pretty.” Characters: Avanda Mileanta and Thane (who I think I've done a blurb with already?) Maybe mentions of others.

THERE IS SOME CUSSING IN HERE, BUT NOT TOO BAD

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Avanda let out an annoyed groan as she paced her room. It had been a long day of meetings, and delegations, and negotiations, and battle strategizing.Ewan had been getting stressed, and as usual that was manifesting itself as heightened security measures. He had been tailing her like a faithful dog for the better part of three days now. Granted, that wasn’t too unusual. He was the captain of the guard and her boyfriend. They just sort of werre together, all the time.  However, his attitude had shifted greatly, and it almost didn’t feel like “him” anymore. He was stiff, uptight, and formal all the time. He had dropped all pet-names and signs of affection towards Avanda, referring to her only as “M’Lady,” “Your Highness.” Even when they were at home, his guard didn’t drop. He wasn’t sleeping well, if at all. She had been a little relieved when he suggested that they stay the night at her father’s palace. To avoid any possible “unsavory” rumors about their relationship, he never stayed the night in her room there. As much as she loved him, he could be a bit stifling in this sort of situation, and she was glad to have some space. (Although a bit of freedom would have been nice too.)

She jumped as the door opened, looking up from her pacing. She smiled eagerly as she saw her friends step into the room, and crossed over to them, wrapping an arm around Carina’s neck.

    “Oh thank God!” She exclaimed, “I was starting to go crazy in here!”

Carina laughed as she pulled back, letting Caelum in to hug the princess. “We kinda figured you would be.”

“Hence; The Rescue Mission.” Thane said with a flourishing bow after the heavy door had shut. “Suit up Princess. You and I are rolling out of here.”

Avanda frowned and looked at him. “What? How, Thane what on Earth?”

Nyar tossed a quick look at the door and began speaking in a low tone. “Look, Av, it’s important for your people to see you without the guards. Especially the soldiers. Sure, they’ve sworn loyalty to you and your father, and a lot of them are willing to die for that oath, but you need to show them that they made the right choice with that. And when they see you with Ewan and your guards, they aren’t seeing the ‘real’ you, Av.” The tall boy picked up a piece of her leather training armor and offered it to her as he continued. “They need to see you as you  are: relaxed and a good fighter.”

Avanda snorted a little. “So what? You’re saying…?”

Thane spoke up next pulling the armor out of Nyar’s hands and then over Avanda’s head, “You and I are going to sneak out your window and down to the training camp. We’re gonna mingle. THey’re relaxed, they have the next few days off for the harvest celebration, so it’s basically a party of epic proportions down there. You and i are gonna go, have a few drinks and show them that you’re just as laid back as they are.” He laughed as he pulled her braid out from under the armor. “With any luck we’ll get you into a bar fight to show them you can take care of yourself.”

“And the rest of you?” Avanda asked as she slung her sword belt onto her hips, “Are you coming too?”

Caelum shook his head. “We’re decoys. We’re going to stay in here, chatting loudly and laughing, having a good ol’ time so that your Guard Dog doesn’t get suspicious.”

Carina tossed Avanda the simple helmet and winked. “Go on then. Bring me back an ale.”

Avanda rolled her eyes and followed Thane to the large doors to the balcony. They pushed it open, and stepped onto the railing, close to the wall. Thane started climbing first, hugging the wall and moving spider-like down the wall. He was smaller in build than Avanda, and not to mention a bit more coordinated. He swarmed down the wall with ease, hardly changing pace from his usual walking speed. Avanda moved a little slower, placing her hands carefully in different holds, and testing each one before supporting her whole weight with them. Finally, she joined her brother on the ground and the two of them hugged the wall of the castle, walking towards the glow of the training camp. As they neared the camp, they both straightened their backs, walking with the attitude of two soldiers returning to camp as usual.

Once in the camp, they pulled off their helmets, pinning them under their arms. The camp was loud with the sounds of the yet to start harvest festival already building in the camp. Soldiers gathered around large fires, and the smell of woodsmoke and fresh cooked food of all sorts wafted through the air. Avanda smiled, her excitement quickly overthrowing any anxieties she had.  The stress of the past few days lifted almost instantly and she looked to Thane.

“So, where to first? I’ve never really been one for parties.”

Thane snorted. “You don’t have to tell me, Av.” He clapped his hands and looked to her, “First things first, we need a drink. That guy over there with the wagon full of kegs? He’s about to become my new best friend.” He sauntered over to the cart that had been set up by one of the many merchants who had been allowed into the camp for the night. Thane slapped a hand on the open tailgate. “Good sir, two flagons of your finest, please!” He called.

The man inside the wagon nodded and pulled out two tankards, filling them up. “Make sure these get back to me, soldier.” He said, looking down at the two of them. His eyes drifted to Avanda and widened as they landed on the coat of arms painted onto her training armor. “M’Lady,” He stammered, hurrying to bow sloppily, “Please, no charge for you and your friend, I had no idea.”

Avanda chuckled a little nervously and offered the man some coins, “Please, don’t worry about it. I’m not a princess tonight, I’m a warrior.”

The man looked long and hard at the coins, trying to decide how best to go about accepting them. After Avanda urged him a bit more, he hesitantly took them. “Thank you, M’Lady.”

Avanda smiled, “Thank you, sir.”

Thane, who had already made shockingly good progress on his drink looked up at the man, “In a camp like this, where would be the best place to find a prize ring?”

The merchant shot Thane a stern look, “Are you asking to bet or to shut them down? These lads deserve some fun this week, don’t you go spoiling it for no reason.”

Thane put a hand up, “I would never dream of shutting such a proud tradition down! I have a few coins to wager, and I was thinking of maybe stepping in the ring myself.” He said honestly, “Besides, the princess has never seen one. I thought that it would be a good experience for her.”

The man frowned, “A prize ring is no place for a Lady of the court.”

“I’m not a Lady of the court tonight, now am I?” Avanda reminded him.

With a worried scowl and a sigh, the merchant pointed to his right. “See that big tent to the left, past the main fire? If you keep in that direction, you’re likely to run into at least one prize ring. But if your father asks, M’Lady, please dont tell him it was I that sent you.”

Avanda smiled and set a few more coins down on the tailgate, “Don’t worry. It’s between the three of us.” With that, she and Thane started off in the direction that the merchant had pointed. “So a prize ring?” Avanda started, “Is this a hand-to-hand combat or weapons?”

Thane shrugged, “Depends on the fight. Could go either way. I didn’t bring my sword for no reason though, I can tell you that much.” There was a loud cheer and Avanda looked ahead to see a tightly knotted crowd ahead, and Thane laughed. “Seems we’ve found it. Keep your drink close, Av. Likely to catch some elbows in here.” He had to shout a little over the shouts and the music that was coming from somewhere on the other side of the crowd. Avanda quickly downed several large gulps and followed her friend as he pushed his way through the crowd. After pushing and jostling, they finally made it to the front of the crowd, and Avanda could clearly see the fight in progress. Two large soldiers grappled with each other, both of their faces bloodied and bruises already forming on their arms. Thane cheered loudly as the larger of the two men twisted, throwing the other to the ground with a loud thud. The second man, taking fast advantage of his new position, kicked his opponent hard, just below the knee. The man stumbled back a half a step, giving him just enough time to scramble partway to his feet and heave himself into a tackle that sent them both into the crowd, most of which scrambled out of the way fast enough to avoid any injury or mess.

Avanda, however, was not among them. She spun quickly, her drink held up high, and paying more attention to her own well being, doused both of the fighters as well as herself in the remainder of her ale. Both men scrambled to their feet, swearing loudly and turning on her, eyes blazing. Just as they were about to lunge however, they stopped, recognition and concern.

Thane cackled as the two fighters fell to their knees in a bow and the rest of the ring fell silent. “So who won that fight?” He gasped, wiping a tear away, “Certainly wasn’t the princess!”

Avanda chuckled and wiped a strand of dripping hair out of her eyes, offering a hand to the man nearest her. “On your feet, sir. That was a good fight, I’m sorry I interrupted it.”

The man took her hand, stammering, “Princess, M’Lady, I’m so sorry, I never would have…”

Avanda cut him off with a wave of her hand. “Ah, just a bit of ale. No harm no fowl really.” The whole ring was silent now and she looked around. “So who’s next?” She called, “I brought money, and I mean to lose it!” There was no response, and both of the current fighters stood hastily falling back into the crowd. Avanda frowned thoughtfully and nodded, “Well in that case, I’ll fight.” She set down the now empty tankard and helmet next to it. She stepped into the ring and held her arms out in a challenge, “I’m all your’s! Swords or fists, take your pick!” No one moved. The crowd was silent, and she raised an eyebrow, “Ahc, c’mon now, surely one of you can take a swing at me!”

Thane laughed and set his tankard down next to her’s “If none of you cowards’ll lift a sword to her, then I will.” He stepped into the ring, holding a fist in the air. “Let’s hear some noise then! For the challengers!” He pointed to Avanda with a bow, “Avanda the Brave, Heir to the throne of Keridwen and General of the King’s forces!” There was a deafening roar and he grinned at her.

Avanda held her fists up in the air, then shifted them in Than’s direction, “And Thane the Loyal, Chief advisor and a dumbass little shit!” There was a roar of laughter as Thane proudly and theatrically bowed to the crowd. “Place your bets, everyone! This could go either way!”

The two turned to each other and gripped the opposite hands in a tight fist, coming into a lopsided hug and slapping the other’s back as hard as they could.

“You ready to lose that money, Av?” Thane said with a crooked grin.

“Only to pay for the lads to carry your stretcher out of here.” She shot back at him, laughing as they retreated to the opposite sides of the ring.

“Hey, I have no political loyalty to you,” Thane reminded her, “I can kick your ass right here right now and then have another ale, no problem.”

Avanda laughed as she unsheathed her sword. Bold of you to assume these men would let you.”

Thane laughed, “Yeah, great comeback there, Av. ‘I can’t fight for myself so these lads’ll do it for me when I lose.” He raised his voice a bit, addressing the crowd, “If I were you, I’d be placing bets on me after that comment!”

Avanda rolled her eyes and gestured to the weapon in his hand with her sword point, “If you’re going to fight, then fight. Don’t just stand there with a sword in your hand looking pretty.” She darted at him, sword flicking in a fast attack as she spoke, and he put his sword up to block the blow effortlessly.

“Ah, so you think I’m pretty then, do ya?” He asked as he pushed back, sending his own attack, “I’m flattered, really.” He sent a flurry of rapid blows, and Avanda grunted as she parried each of them.

Truth be told, Thane was the better sword fighter of the two of them. He stood about the same height as she did, but she easily outweighed him. She was broad shouldered and had the dense bones and build of her father’s family, with the extra heft that came along with that natural born strength. Thane however, was slightly built, with a more wiry strength and blindingly fast speed and agility. His light body made it much easier for him to sneak in closely to deliver a swift attack and then dart back out to dodge the return blow. He had always been better at swordplay than Avanda, even if only slightly. It never really bothered Avanda much though. Once the weapons were set aside, overpowering him was no problem, and she could easily best her friend.

“Well, pretty is almost all you are, really.” She teased, clashing her sword to his, “You certainly aren’t the brightest torch at the riot.” she gasped a little and lunged back as his sword broke through her defense, a thin slash blooming on her bicep.

)“Strong words coming from the girl who can’t find Gyffes on a map!” Thane chortled.

“It’s a small island!” Avanda retorted, “It’s easy to miss!”

“Your own mother was born there! It’s part of your lineage!” Another blow broke through, this time Thane swiped his sword low, his blade scratching her shin. Avanda hissed angrily and swiped her sword down quickly, catching his shoulder. The boy jolted up and back, guard in close. Avanda turned her shoulder to him, sword angled just right, and threw herself forward, crashing into him and sending him back a few steps before reversing her grip and attacking his other side.He switched his guard and met her, both of them pushing against each other for leverage. Thane shot a swift wink at her before stepping backwards, throwing her balance off. There was a loud shout from the crowd, some laughter mixed with roars of displeasure as she stumbled forward. Thane stepped to the side, planting a foot on her shoulder and shoving her sideways. Avanda had no choice but to fall at that point, and the sudden change in direction caused her to drop her sword, sending it clattering to the ground. The crowd roared as Thane first kicked her sword away, then planted a foot on her shoulder and drove his sword into the ground next to her head.

“So, how about that ale?” He said, leaning on his sword and looking down at her with a satisfied grin. He took his foot off of her shoulder and offered her a hand, helping her to her feet. She smiled and punched him playfully on the arm, then held his fist in the air as the crowd cheered. He was by no means humble about the victory and threw his other fist into the air, cheering loudly. Avanda clapped, then turned, looking to the ground for her sword. She grinned a little as she caught sight of someone offering it to her from the edge of the circle. She turned to them with a grin, reaching for the sword, but that grin dissolved very quickly as she looked into Ewan’s angrily smoldering brown eyes. Her own eyes flicked to either shoulder and she bit her lip as she saw her father standing behind him, arms crossed.

“M’Lady.” Ewan’s voice was sharp and laced with anger and worry. “I trust you’ve had a good night?”

“Uhhh, hi, Da.” Avanda grinned sheepishly to her father, “I can explain, really, this was all my idea--”

The king scoffed, “I should hope you can explain. That was some of the sloppiest swordsmanship I have ever seen from you. I expect better from you, Avi, I really do. I hope you’ve learned that ale and swords should never be mixed.”

Avanda bit back her laughter as she watched Ewan’s jaw clench at the response that he clearly found insufficient. “Yes, Da.”

The king grinned widely at her and turned to the crowd. “A round of drinks and a challenger! I need to show my daughter how a prize fight is meant to be fought!”

Avanda laughed and cheered loudly with Thane as she took the sword from Ewan.

“You’re certainly your Father’s daughter, Your Highness. I just pray that you don’t end up in some of the same scrapes he has because of that.”

“Ah, c’mon Ewan,” Avanda said, pushing her hair back, “He’s made it through life fine, hasn’t he?”

“Barely, M’Lady.”

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