#piper needs to get a therapist!!

[aliceyabusamesoneball]

something that i think is a little scary about me is that if you are even remotely nice or polite to me enough times then i feel completely safe opening up my deepest vulnerabilities and going on 1823939373 paragraph rants right until i finish sending them and then i regret it really bad bc i don't wanna scare people off 😢

[thetourturedwritersclub]

PJO characters and what professions they would have

Percy:He's either a marine biologist or an Olympic swimmer. I'm kinda edging more on the Olympic swimmer ngl. I think he's more athletic than academic. Not to say that he isn't smart. I think he would enjoy smth athletic more than academic.

Annabeth Without the shadow of a doubt she's would be an architect and one of the best in the field. SHE REDESIGNED OLYMPUS. I think that says enough.

Grover would have a job that cared about the environment like a wildlife biologist or a biologist. I think he would be really interested in that.

Clarisse now listen i think she would be a history teacher and I have 2 reasons to believe this. One I think she would be really like to read about the wars. Her violent nature comes to show lol. Two Ik military is an option but I think she wouldn't want to be away from her friends and siblings.

Silena she would have a salon. In her salon you'd be able to get ur hair, nails and make up done. To most of her customers she is like an older sister. And she gives amazing advice.

Piper McLean Would be a CEO business woman. Argue with the wall bc I ain't taking no criticism on this one. She would have a billion dollar company.

Jason Grace Listen, listen Literature Professor. I think that if he had gotten the chance he would be a HUGE literature fan. From Edgar A. Poe to Oscar Wilde to Jane Austen. He would have the most interesting classes in New Rome University. The students would have so much fun bc Jason would pour his heart out into those lesson plans.

Leo Valdez : Mechanic and I don't think I need to explain myself in this one.

Frank Zhang: He would do Archery. Maybe he'd compete in the Olympics. He'd be amazing at it.

Hazel Levesque : Now I think she would own a jewellery brand. Maybe smth as famous as Tiffany and. Co or maybe Svaroski (idk if I spelled that correctly lol). I just know that she would make the world prettiest and trendiest bracelets.

Nico Di Angelo : He and Bianca would have a paranormal yt channel with occasional appearances from Hazel bc she's a medium.

William Solace He would obviously be a doctor maybe a pediatrician if we were to go down to specifics. I think he would do rlly well with little kids. OR maybe he would perform autopsies on dead bodies idk rlly know. Both options kinda fit Will's character.

Reyna Ramirez Arellano: She would be a war general. Her fierce nature and leadership skills make her perfect for the job. And that's all I need to say.

Rachel Dare : She would be a psychic or a therapist. Idk but my personal hc is that she would giver rlly good advice.

Now that is all!!! I haven't read TOA yet bc I wanna live in delulu ( Yes I'm a Jason Grace defender till the day I die). But when I do, I may or may not make a similar one for the TOA characters.

[happyk44]

In terms of healing and recovery, I talked to someone abt this before I think Piper would not seek help for HPD. Like I just don't see it happening. One of the things with PDs is that ppl don't see their behaviour as a problem or as the crux of any problems they may experience because of it and I think with that in mind Piper wouldn't seek out help for desperate need to be the center of attention, even at the expense of other ppl.

And thinking about that I was wondering about Annabeth and her NPD and I think while she might seek help for certain things, she'd get frustrated with any physician that makes her feel like something she talks abt is her fault. If she brings up a situation and they seem like they're implicating that she was in the wrong, she gets angry and more set in her ways. Even if she senses that her way of thinking may be a problem, she's too stubborn to accept it and she will rewrite that thought into a sense of "no, other ppl are the problem, I'm fine".

Meanwhile I've always been of the thought that Percy would accept help for his BPD. I feel like traditional talk therapy is not helpful for him because he's too emotionally repressed to talk about himself that way to a stranger but that he would talk informally with specific people (usually Carter or Grover, probably Nico as well and Jaz in the Nome AU; Annabeth is too much of a problem solver, "just do this and you'll be fine" kind of person to really help him out so he doesn't like voicing his problems to her because she won't listen, she'll just jump to "I can fix this for you" and it never works).

So yeah, Percy wouldn't go to a therapist but he'd be okay talking out certain things with people. I feel like Nico might be able to convince him to speak with Pasithea (who I HC to be Nico's therapist) a couple times, and in the Nome AU Jaz might be able to get him to speak with the doctors at the first Nome, but in either case it's never very regular because he can't stand talking about his feelings and his traumas. He does do his best to correct his behaviour and learn healthy coping mechanisms because he doesn't want to hurt anyone, but it is a slow process.

Similarly with Clarisse and the ASPD headcanon, I feel like she also has a desire not to hurt ppl, although it's more so limited to the ppl she cares about (Chris, her siblings, any other close friends), so she does seek help for her anger issues (because they make her get physical and she doesn't like that about herself) and her disinterest in other people's feelings (because when she's really stressed out the people she loves are also affected by this). Which is how she is like. The only one of the four to have an actual diagnosis lol.

But she does actively seek regular help from professionals and when she gets frustrated with it, she thinks about Silena dying because she didn't care about how the war would affect the others, she was just pissed off with the Apollo cabin, so fuck everyone else, and she actively chooses to be better every day and gets up and does the work she has to do. She'll never be cured of her ASPD, or her anger issues, but she can do her best to make sure the people she loves are not harmed it.

The reality is that not everyone seeks help for their issues, diagnosed or not, and I think it's realistic to look at certain characters and think "would they reach out for help? would they realize there's something wrong? would they accept it if someone suggested that something was wrong?" and concluding that the answer is "no, they would not". Healing is messy like that.

[xxxregulusblackxxx]

Okay, here's my full rant on The Sun and The Star. It's contains spoilers so keep scrolling if you don't want those

I absolutely love it, it's cute, it's Sad, it's angsty, the fluffy and your scared for what's going to happen to the character. Dionysus is like a Therapist and older brother figure to Nico which I'm just loving, he admits Nico and Will are his favorite demigods, we get more Chiron which I love, we get mentions of the Trials of Apollo, we get to see Nico's grief over Jason, Piper and Nico have a talk about it and their sexualities! We get Will's POV and he's scared and self-conscious. He thinks he's not enough for Nico which is so sad but also reflected with Nico thinking he's not enough for Will and still trying to push him away suddely but they both are so deeply in love that they CONSTANTLY remind each other that they're there for each other and I mean constantly! Like 5 times per chapter once in Tartarus. We get a to see Solangelo going to PercyBeth for advice we get MORE SALLY CONTENT! We get to see how Nico got captured and put in the Jar. We get to see Will and Nico's first kiss, and how they got together and all these snippets of their relationship as they tell this other character about it. We get SMALL BOB BACK! WE GET BOB BACK! He calls Solangelo his Sun and star! It's so cute. Nyx is the villain which I kinda love. We get to see all these dreams and flashbacks of Nico's trauma, we get more banter between Will and Nico and it's so cute. NICO GAVE WILL HIS SKELETON RING! ON MY GODS WILL WEARS IT ON A NECKLACE! WILL GAVE NICO THIS COIN THAT'S SPECIAL TO HIM! THEY TRADED KEEPSAKES!! Nico quite literally gets his personal demons made into these tiny black fluffy ball demons that he and Will named coco puffs and they follow him everywhere but no longer remind him of like all his trauma, because he accepted it all and is starting to cope. The story's about self acceptance and that you can change and chose your own path and make your own choices and not have to be who everyone thinks or wants you to be and I think it's a beautiful message.

NOW! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN THEY'RE ACTING OUT OF CHARACTER?! This is a canon novel, anything Rick writes in this universe IS CANON AND THEIR CHARACTER! Just because Will's not all confident and self assured doesn't mean he's not Will. You just made a different versions of him in your head and are mad about it, same with Nico. Y'all make him this sad emo twink who can't do anything for himself and needs saving. He's a fucking powerhouse, he's strong and confident and can protect himself and not some week baby. Stop fetishising him and look at his canon character. "He's more happy and talkative" YEAH BECAUSE FROM TBTL THROUGH HOO AND A BIT OF TOA HE WAS ACTING PURELY IN FIGHT OR FLIGHT MODE AND TRAUMA RESPONSES! He was this super happy kid extraverted and he's coming into a more mature version of that as he copes and processes his trauma. I'm so sick of people making him depressed and suicidal, he's snarky and sarcastic and self confident, he's coming into himself and is actually happy with that, he's recovering from an eating disorder too which we see that the end and he's happy about it. He likes himself and is happy which is such a wonderful thing for a character like him. It shows me and other fans, and even younger fans that you can overcome your trauma and it's not something to be fixed but to deal with and after all of the trauma and everything you've been through, you can be happy and love yourself, you can be gay, pan, bi, queer literally whatever and be happy and love yourself and I think that's such a good message and I'm so happy Rick made him that way because it shows everyone especially his younger audience and new fans that you're lovable.

Either way that's my rant, if you don't agree with me I'll gladly argue with you and will pull up quotes and WIN. Or you can scroll. If you do agree with me, hi welcome to my page, I'm pleased to meet you I'd be happy to talk

[nerdthatsiriuslylovesteaxx]

Helpless part 41, if you only look for the darkness that’s all you’ll ever see

"Will... can I talk to you?" She seemed... quieter than usual, almost scared.

"'Course Kay, what's up?" He moved closer to her on his bed, in the otherwise empty cabin, everyone else had already left for lunch.

"Well there's two things." Kayla was biting her nails, almost as if she was scared to continue.

"Are you alright? Has something happened? Do I need to beat anyone else up because you know I won't hesitate." She hoped this would go well, she needed this to go well otherwise she didn't know what the fuck she was going to do.

"No- Will it's not that I'm fine just- I wanted to tell you... I'm nonbinary, and I've been wanti-." He wrapped his arms around them, pulling into a hug.

"Thank you for telling me Kay, does anyone else know?"

"I was going to tell Austin last night but I couldn't find him, he's probably trying and failing to write music somewhere."

"That's a very Aussie thing to do; also I'm so proud of you." He ruffled their hair placing a kiss to their forehead.

"Will... there's something else I need to talk to you about." The child of Apollo's voice cracked in fear, they were shaking badly.

"Is everything okay...?"

"Your normally the one doing this but I guess someone has to do it to you."

"What do yo-"

"Will, I know about everything. You're not allowed to work, at all until you yourself are in a better state-"

"Kay-"

"No, you aren't working and I've already set you up with a therapist with Piper's help."

"So she told you?"

"She just said to keep an eye on you, so I did. You can't take care of everyone without taking care of yourself first."

"I'm not worth it, I can't fight so I need to make myself useful in some other way."

"Don't you fucking dare say that, Solace you need help and you will be getting it because I can't lose another brother." Tears fell from their eyes, Will pulled them into a hug,

"You won't lose me."

"It pretty well fucking seems like it considering the only thing you've eaten in weeks is nectar and ambrosia just enough to keep you alive, you haven't drank water in who knows how long, you work practically 24/7, you've fainted like twelve times in the last few days and hid in your office thinking no one would fucking notice, I really don't know how many meds you're taking to keep yourself alive but I know it's more than it should be because this isn't fucking healthy. You scared the living shit out of me so many fucking times because every time I see you looking half dead and I just think what if you physically can't take it anymore. Will you can't kill yourself, I can't fucking do this alone. People are being shit, I'm left trying to comfort crying children while I'm on the verge of tears myself, and Austin is doing who the fuck knows what because he keeps running off at random hours and acting weird as fuck. I can't fucking take this any longer and you aren't leaving me alone in this shit." They wiped the tears with the side of their sleeve.

"I- I-I'm sorry."

"Don't apologise, just please, for the love of Apollo, take care of yourself."

"I'll try." He would, but he knew there was no point.

"No working does include everyone by the way, that includes Nico, you can still see him I know that technically isn't protocol but it's probably better for everyone, you just don't have any actually medical authority." They conveniently left out the part that depending on how he was in a few days he might be joining Nico in the infirmary.

"Okay, yeah just please if it's ever too much let me help you."

"Austin can do that, you need time for yourself for once, maybe talk to some of the younger kids because they're terrified of you by the way."

"Why exactly?"

"I mean at first they thought you weren't real because you were never in the cabin then that turned to a ghost that was haunting the cabin which everyone called the head."

"Yeah I'll go talk to them, and Kay, thank you."

"You don't have to run the world on your own Summer Child."

"You're also an Apollo child." He said rolling his eyes,

"Yeah but I'm not blonde, catch ya later, gotta go find Austin."

[amanita-muscaria-lover]

Libby Reads Trials of Apollo: The Burning Maze:

~spoilers below the cut~

The book is dedicated to the muse of tragedy??

GROVERRRRR

COACH HEDGE?!

Oooh Emperor #3 is about to be named?

Meg's lil crush on Joshua Tree is incredible

Caligula namedrop 😬

I am loving the Meg lore drops

I want need this book to stop mentioning Jason

PIPERRRR

Um the love Piper has for Leo makes me want to sob

Lowkey love the mover sitting on the chair (aka not doing his job)

WAIT so Piper and Jason broke up??

"We'd be together forever like Percy and Annabeth?" DAMNNN

Piper's dad owned three houses? Fuck

Apollo/Lester calling military intelligence an oxymoron really is something

"Recycling is good karma." hell yeah babe

Medea vs Piper Round 2

STOP TALKING ABOUT JASON

The way Robbie Daymond voices Caligula is so unnerving but it's oddly perfect ??

Lowkey fuck Demeter

"He'll be happy to see us then." MEG MCCAFFREY YOU SARCASTIC ASSHOLE ILYSM

RIP Shakespeare you would've hated students studying your works

Jason baby just go back to class

Mr. Rogers lore drop ???

SO HE KNOWS HE'S GOING TO DIE?! RICK!!

"Anger is good. It means you're making progress. But be aware that you might be angry right now at the wrong person."

Party splits are a bad idea. So what does the party do??

Not Rick writing the word 'masseuses' instead of 'massage therapists' As a massage therapist I'm disappointed

Aphrodite is canonically jealous of Scarlett Joahannson I love it

Incitatus can talk? I'm as shocked as Piper

Medea vs Piper Round 3

TEMPEST AYOOOOO

Jason and Tempest taking on Caligula and Incitatus? Iconic as fuck

Jason's last words were an order to Tempest to get Piper and Lester to safety

"The people who deserve to die took forever to do so, those who deserve to live always went too soon."

Ahh now I understand why the next book is The Tyrant's Tomb

CREST NO

Medea vs Piper Round 4 *ding ding*

Yo the Meliae showed up quick

The Meg 🫡❤️❤️

Leo! Oh... oh god no baby boy

"WHERE'S JASON?" SORRY???

Percy doesn't know. Frank doesn't know. THALIA DOESN'T KNOW.

So my final thoughts are screw that 💔💔💔

[raina-at]

Flattery

Hubris. Pride. Ego.

A crippling lack of self-esteem from years of bullying, a childhood spent emotionally neglected and constantly overshadowed by an older sibling in a family where intellectual achievement was valued over everything else resulting in an intense emotional need for validation that runs deep and burns bright and goes largely unacknowledged (to use the words of his therapist at his second rehab clinic).

Any one of these would suffice as an explanation why he's ended up here, on the roof at Barts hospital.

Sherlock always considered it a sign of true intelligence to be able to learn from your mistakes. The problem is recognising the exact nature of the mistake. 

He let Moriarty flatter him into engaging with him. Then he made the same mistake with Irene. Then with Moriarty, again. All because he was secretly so pleased that Moriarty chose him as a rival, not all-seeing, all-knowing Mycroft, no, for once, Sherlock was the special one, the archnemesis. He let Moriarty lead him by the nose to his own self-destruction. He was too proud, too flattered, too stupid to walk away.

And now his chickens have come home to roost, it's time to pay the piper, and a few other useless metaphors that all mean the same thing: Playtime is over. Now it's time for consequences.

And of course what's truly horrible about all of this is that the consequences aren't only his to bear. No, the mistakes were all his, but the consequences will be shared by everyone who — stupidly — cares about him.

"What are you doing up here?"

Sherlock starts and turns his head, watching as John approaches the air vent he’s leaning against. He sits down next to Sherlock without saying a word, and Sherlock is grateful for the silence.

"Mycroft is having kittens downstairs, just so you know. You're supposed to be dead, not wandering about the bloody hospital," John finally says.

"He arrested the snipers, we're out of danger," Sherlock answers, dismissing Mycroft's concern with a wave of his hand.

John doesn't answer, just tilts his head back to look at the bright blue sky.

"What a fucking day," he sighs. "So what now?"

"Now..." Sherlock looks at his hands and wishes this conversation to be over, wishes he didn't know exactly how it's going to go. Wishes he could just disappear. But he can't. He owes John the truth. After all the shit he put him through, with Moriarty and the trial and then having to witness Sherlock's fake suicide, having to live with Sherlock's death for two hours before Mycroft could get to him - after all that, Sherlock can’t just leave without explaining where he’s going and what he has to do.  "Now I go after Moriarty's network. He had people all over Europe, all over the world maybe. Killing the spider means nothing if you leave the web intact. Another spider would just move right in."

John is quiet for a while. He's sitting very close to Sherlock, shoulders touching. The day is mild, but Sherlock's still shivering a bit with nerves, exhaustion and fear, so the warmth of John's body against his is - pleasant. Necessary.

"You know I'm coming with you, right?"

Sherlock sighs, having expected this response down to the exact inflection of John’s voice. "John—"

"No, no, don't even try to talk me out of it." He turns to face Sherlock, and Sherlock can see the grim determination on John's face. It's incredibly reassuring, after a day like this, even though it's terribly inconvenient in every other respect. "Listen. You're brilliant, but you can't do this alone. And what's more, you don't have to."

"I almost got you killed."

"You saved me today. And so many times before." John turns his head to look over the edge of the roof Sherlock jumped from not three hours ago. "I can't..." John's voice nearly breaks, but he takes a deep breath and soldiers on. "I can't just sit here, knowing that you might die out there alone. Please don't make me go through that."

"You're not playing fair," Sherlock says, leaning his head back against the warm concrete wall. He’s too exhausted to deal with John’s loud and insistent emotions. He’s also far too tired to argue against something he secretly desperately wants. He doesn’t want to go alone, and he doesn’t want to go with anyone but John. But he has to make sure John knows the risk, that he goes into this with his eyes wide open. “You’re not considering what I would go through if I got you killed. We might die out there. Either or both of us.”

John grins at him, fierce and sharp and dangerous. “Remember what you said to me, on Day bloody One? I said dangerous, and here you are.”

Sherlock looks down at his hands and smiles. “What do I have to do to get rid of you? All of London thinks I’m a fraud, I make you watch me die, almost get you blown up, stabbed, shot, and you’re still here.”

“Well, you could stop leaving ears in the fridge, I won’t lie,” John says, jostling his shoulder against Sherlock’s. “Other than that, I think you’re pretty much stuck with me.”

Sherlock closes his eyes and stops fighting the fierce gladness that John is still here, that he believes in Sherlock, that he’ll come with him into the darkness and maybe out the other side again. “I guess I could think of worse fates.”

“Wow, easy with the flattery, otherwise I might think you like me or something,” John says, the smile audible in his voice. He gets up from the roof and holds out his hand to Sherlock. “Shall we?”

Sherlock takes his hand and lets John pull him to his feet. “By all means.”

A little TRF fix it for your reading pleasure. Thank you so much for the prompt, @calaisreno

Tagging a few people: @lisbeth-kk @keirgreeneyes @meetinginsamarra @jrow @khorazir @totallysilvergirl @helloliriels @topsyturvy-turtely @shiplocks-of-love @7-percent @the-reading-lemon @catlock-holmes @inevitably-johnlocked @thetimemoves @discordantwords and anyone else who wants to play.

[radrage]

Fallout Companions and the Jobs They'd Have in a Modern AU

Cait: Physical Therapist. I feel like she'd be either a PT/OT or an actual therapist. Specifically for sportspeople. Though this is if Sole meets her post-boxing career. If not, well, she's a Boxer.

Curie: School Nurse. No doubt in my mind. She loves working with kids. Thinks they're the "future we all need". Also thinks they're adorable and the stories they have for her are always really sweet. She's adored by the entire school (which is probably an elementary/middle school) and always gives her patients a lollipop.

Codsworth: Butler/Nanny. That's a given. I mean, he's programmed to be a butler. Think an Alfred type-beat. Loves to cook on the side and his employers always love when he cooks for them.

Danse: OSHA employee/Safety Inspector. Another pretty obvious one. Is really vigorous and the GMs he shakes down always despise getting him for checks. Takes his job very seriously. Post BB (TBD what that translates to in a modern AU), he works as a freelance mechanic. Always some form of grease/oil on his uniform.

Deacon: Makeup Artist, duh. Or a SFX artist. Loves his craft, probably cosplays on the side. I don't have much to say for Deacon, but he probably holds competitions with his fellow artists for "best wig" and things like that. He hoards the entries to those comps.

Dogmeat: Instagram dog. 600k followers, MINIMUM. We love Dogmeat here, he deserves the best. Spends his days chasing ducks and barking at cars, much to Sole's (and DM's follower's) delight.

Hancock: Laid-back Gas Station employee. Sells weed on the side. Always zoinked out of his mind and probably needs a detox. Doesn't do much on the clock, but when his higher-ups come in, he straightens out. Pretends to not see the homeless people swiping ramen/chip packets because "Fuck capitalism. Homies need to eat."

MacCready: The homeless person Hancock refuses to call the cops on (/j). In seriousness, MacCready probably works as a freelance builder. For my Aussies, think a Tradie. Doesn't like his job and wants nothing more than to be a stay-at-home Dad, but needs to work for Duncan's sake. Very dusty, all the time.

Valentine: Grief Counsellor. Helps those who lost loved ones to manage their emotions. Always dreamed of being a detective, but never got the chance. I feel like that helps him connect with his patients as he lost something close to him as well. Maybe worked as a detective in his early days but had to retire after Winter's End?

Piper: English Teacher/assistant. Maybe works at the same school Curie does. Buys weed from Hancock. She wants to be a reporter, but a stable job is more important to her so she can care for Nat. Adores her kids, but despises the workload. Teaches night classes for those who struggle with English.

Preston: Works in the community department of the local government. Organises homeless drives, soup kitchens, etc. Really into charity work and probably volunteers on the side. Aggressively nice to everyone who comes into his office. "HAVE SOME TEA. PLEASE, EAT. EAT."

Strong: Works under MacCready. Demolitions expert. That or a Personal Trainer, for obvious reasons. He'd be really into whatever he does and keeps his head down for the most part. Goes to Piper's night classes.

x6: The manager who hates Danse. Probably works in a government-sanctioned building, so he actually works with Danse a lot. Sits in his office that probably has a catwalk over the actual building and looks down on his peasant employees. Think Lord Farquaad.

[queen-of-writing-bad-things]

Henry Danger Reader Insert | Captain Man x Reader: SEASON 3

Episode 13: JAM Session

What is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about Piper Hart? That's right, her never-ending anger issues. She was infamous for her temper, even the slightest annoyance could make her fly off the handle, meaning that for many people she was often very unpleasant to be around. 

Deep down, Piper was a sweet little girl, a brat that secretly had a heart of gold under all the meanness, the trouble was she rarely let anyone see that. For weeks, she and her friends had been planning a skiing trip, just the group of them; a whole week of snow, hot cocoa and fun. She had packed her bags, donned her cutest hat, scarf and gloves, the whole shebang, the only problem was her friends had grown. tired of her foul outbursts and her constant t beratement and brutal harshness, so that left without her.

Yep, all of her friends had reached a unanimous decision and had skedaddled before Piper had even had a chance to realise that she had been left out. And that broke her. She was left sobbing at the kitchen table since she knew that sometimes she could be a little prickly, but she had never meant to hurt her friends so much that they'd prefer to be without her than spend a trip with her. 

Now, Henry, being the kind and sensitive big brother he was, had sat down and comforted his little sister, advising her that her violent outbursts were what was driving people away and offered to take her to a "Junior Anger Management" session, or y'know, just JAM for short. He and his parents hadn't really expected it to work, after all, Piper had been like that since she was a toddler and even the most experienced therapist surely couldn't be able to treat her. Or. could he?

The man had some kind of magic aroma gas stuff that was diffused from some sort of collar. Henry called bullshit as soon as he saw the stuff, thinking that this was some kind of marketing scheme or shit hoax, but no. One sniff of the calming gas and Piper switched from a teen in a tantrum to polite and gentle, even offering her hand for the man to shake. 

Henry was stunned, bewildered, but also...happy. He'd. grown tired of his sister's temper and screaming, so he thought that if she could stick to the JAM course and its treatment, his life would be so much better, which put him in a perfectly content mood for work. 

~The Man Cave~

"Well, move over Chicago, 'cause Swellview's about to become the windier city." Came the voice of Mary Gaperman on KLVY News. Some strange shit was going on around the secret headquarters; Ray was making (y/n) contort and stretch his arms in every which way, whilst Jasper and Charlotte were removing the guts from several large pumpkins. It was some fad diet that Ray had insisted on trying (it might have been something to do with Henry calling him fat last week) and so, here they were trying to help him get whipped into shape.

(y/n) was certain that he didn't need to get any fitter, he was already perfectly trim and gorgeous in her eyes, but no matter what she said or did, he just wanted to eat pumpkins, pumpkins and more pumpkins.

"Good one, Mary. Now, bring your pets inside and tie your kids to something heavy, because a big ol' tornado is on its way to Swellview and is expected to cause powerful winds of up to ninety-five miles per hour. So now, here's Mary with what she calls her torna-dos and torna-don'ts. Mary?" Trent Overrunder carried on as the teens continued to hack the obscenely large orange fruit into small chunks. that could be shoved into the fridge. 

Meanwhile, Ray was enjoying his girl rotating and yanking at his arms, which looked and sounded painful to anyone else, but actually felt quite nice. Her small hands and strength pulled him one way and then the other, making him groan and lean his head into her soft tummy. She felt so tired from the vigorous actions, but seeing him so contented made it worth it.

"Do stay inside. Don't go outside." Mary advised, making her fellow reporter and the people watching frown at the obvious notion. Charlotte had heard enough and switched the ridiculous channel off, preferring silence to whatever drivel was on the air. 

"Like that?" (y/n) asked her boyfriend, making sure to yank his arm as hard as she could, knowing that it was what he wanted and judging by the please groan he released, it was working.

"Awwww, yeah, sweet girl." He rumbled, smiling dopily as she worked her magic. All he had to do was lie back in his squishy chair and think of everything he loved, namely her and pumpkins, but mostly her. His continuous moans of pleasure were particularly odd to Henry, who had walked into work thinking everyone had gone mad.

"Okaaaaay, (y/n) pulling arms, pumpkins being murdered." He summed up, trying to rationalise what the hell was going on. "Why are you making them hack up pumpkins?" 

"Isn't it obvious?" Ray asked with a blissed-out, smouldering gaze as his girlfriend ran her hands over his shoulders. God, he could get used to this.

"No." Henry shook his head. It wasn't Halloween nor could he see a reason why they'd need so much of the orange flesh. It was all a bit weird to him.

I'm on P.E.P...P-E-P!" Ray exclaimed, loving talking about his new diet to anyone who would listen, which wasn't many people. (y/n) was fed up with the smell of pumpkin, the taste of pumpkin on his lips, the sight of pumpkin, just everything about the fucking things. 

"Pep?" Henry asked, vaguely recognising the name, but he had no clue what it was.

"Yeah! The pumpkin eating plan!" Ray elaborated whilst his girl began to raise and lower his arms above his head, really getting those muscles working, hers and his. 

"All he eats now is pumpkins. Pumpkin juice, pumpkin smoothies, pumpkin patties, pumpkin pasta, pumpkin jerky, I'm so done with fucking pumpkins!" The young woman rolled her eyes, dropping her forehead down to rest it on the crown of Ray's head. It was a bit much when he was mumbling "pu--pum--pa-pumpkin-kin" in his sleep. He'd be marrying one next.

"You still love me though, right?" He gave her a dumb, woozy smile, leaning back in the chair so he could look up to see her bemused, beautiful face. His sweet girl, she put up with everything he threw at her. 

"I suppose, doofus...Love you." She mumbled and pressed a kiss to his head before continuing with his arm exercises. Those muscles wouldn't grow on their own. 

"Hey, look! Everybody! Come look what I made!" Schwoz suddenly yelled as he dashed into the room. Well, at least he provided a break from the pumpkins, even if no one was particularly interested in what he had invented. 

"Uh, what is that?" Henry asked with a confused face as (y/n) kept pumping Ray's arms with all her might. 

"I call it a breeze-eer. You can use it if there are strong winds." The genius explained, which didn't really clarify what the breezy thing was for, but it struck a chord with Jasper.

"Oh, is this about that tornado that's headed toward Swellview?" He asked. Surely if Schwoz had a wind machine, it had to have something to do with the phenomenal weather going on right now in the city.

"Yah! See, if the wind grabs you and lifts you off the ground, you can use these controls to turn yourself and navagoot." He explained, drawing some funny looks with his poor pronunciation. 

"I think he means navigate." Charlotte simplified, making everything click into place for those who didn't quite catch the real meaning and making Schwoz sarcastically mimic her sounds. He spoke fine, he just knew he did.

"Hey! Who wants a breeze-eer?" He moved on and dug around in his bag to hand out the copies he had of his invention, but he was disappointed when everyone swiftly walked away saying no.

"Nobody. Nobody wants that." Ray told him flatly, too engrossed in how he could feel his girl's hands almost everywhere to care about some dumb wind machine. Schwoz grabbed his case and wheeled it back up the stairs, saying something in his native language that no one else could understand. He was probably cursing them or something but they could give a toss. 

"Hey, Henry, did Piper start Junior Anger Management?" Charlotte asked her friend as the tranquillity returned and she could focus on disembowelling her pumpkin.

"Uh, yeah. Me and my dad dropped her off there this morning." The boy answered and this was a conversation that Ray was highly interested in. Piper was doing an anger management course? That was hilarious to him.

"Ha!" He sniggered, causing (y/n) to sharply knead his shoulder with her strong fingers. She was glad that Piper was finding help for her temper issues and she wasn't going to have her childish boyfriend be a negative nancy about it.

"What?" Henry frowned, not liking the scepticism in his tone either. He was Piper's biggest support in this, mainly because he feared for his life every time she got angry.

"Ha! As in ha, JAM Class is stupid." He replied, earning a smack on his arm from his girlfriend. Just because he didn't need it, didn't mean that it was stupid. Different kids have different issues and Piper just so happened to be an angry girl. 

"No, it's not." Henry insisted, not that Ray cared. He only listened to one person and even then with his ears only half-open.

"You do know that JAM Class helps a lot of angry kids, right?" (y/n) grunted as she kept stretching his arms, although if he kept pissing her off, he'd have to do it himself.

"Well, it's not gonna help Piper." Jasper butted in, taking Ray's side since he a) idolised him and b) had been on the receiving end of the tween's fury many times and knew that it would never be tamed. She was just moody and tetchy and disturbed and scary and sometimes dangerous. 

"Why not?" Charlotte asked, putting her meat cleaver down on the table so she could fully enter the argument. She too thought that JAM Class was great and couldn't believe that she worked with such negative morons.

"'Cause, she's an animal." He stressed and hacked up another wedge of pumpkin as the three supporters rolled their eyes. 

"Yeah and besides, people never change. That's why they say, angry at five, angry at fifty and, uh...once a freak, always a freak." Ray added, making (y/n) pull his arm extra hard and flick him in the ribs. He whined in pain as she scowled at him and when he tried to grab onto her hands with a pouty face, she pulled away in a sulk. Piper was a child, not a freak.

"Babyyyy..." He whimpered as she ignored him in favour of harshly pulling his arm across his chest and he began to get moody when he realised that she was upset with him. 

"All right, all right. (y/n), stop torturing Ray, he's getting angry too." Henry rolled his eyes when he saw his boss's dark expression and the woman reluctantly became much more gentle. 

"Maybe he should go to JAM Class too." She muttered stroppily, which prompted Ray to seize her by the waist and hug her from behind, instantly soothing her bad mood. She turned in his arms and plonked herself down on his lap; no more arm stretching for her, she was exhausted.

"Anyway, I was at Piper's JAM Class this morning and I bet it does work," Henry smirked, having faith in his little sister and the excellent work of the therapist he'd met earlier that day.

"Well, I'll tell you what..." Ray returned the smirk and stood up with his girl bridal style in his arms since he always loved how small it made her seem and how she swooned at his strength. A win-win situation. 

"I bet you that the day your sister is done with JAM Class, I can get her to lose her temper that very same day." He carried on, snapping his fingers as best he could with his arms full and (y/n) tapped his shoulder to tell him to put her down. 

"Nah, I doubt it. 'Cause, they have these special aroma collars that--" Henry snapped his fingers in an equally annoying way and his face echoed (y/n)'s when Ray interrupted him; pissed off.

"Blobbity blobbity, aroma collar..." He ranted petulantly, making his girlfriend stand in front of him with her hands on her hips and an annoyed look on her face.

"Why would you deliberately undo all of Piper's hard work?" She frowned and folded her arms when Ray gave her one of his cocky smirks and his eyes roamed her body. Damn him, why did he have to find her hot when she was trying to be annoyed with him?

"Because Piper will never be able to stay calm, sweet girl. It's inevitable." He cooed, making her bite her lip before she said something she'd regret. Henry though, couldn't keep it in.

"All right, it's a bet!" He shouted, the boys sharing an equally hard stare as they began another one of their silly competitions.

"Yeah, it's a bet!" Ray growled back. The only problem was that the woman who was usually the referee had chosen a side too, as had Charlotte and Jasper. The whole Man Cave team (minus Schwoz) were against each other.

"Then I'm with team Henry," Charlotte announced and gave her friend a fist bump. She was an optimist and was sure that Piper would find this difficult at first, but then rewarding and easy. 

"Well, I'm on team Ray." Jasper countered and stood up on the couch so he could reach his boss's height and wrap an arm around his shoulder, which didn't go down very well.

"Take it away." Ray instantly said and Jasper immediately did so and sat down. There was only one person's arms Ray wanted around his shoulders, but she wanted to throw a spanner in the works and mess with his mind.

"What about you, (y/n)? Whose side are you on?" Charlotte asked her, assuming that her adoration for Piper, even if she was a brat, would lead her to the light, AKA, Henry's team. However, she was shocked when the young woman smiled sweetly at her boyfriend and captured his face with her hands so she could guide him into a sweet kiss. Okay, that's not what she was expecting.

(y/n) deliberately poked her tongue into Ray's mouth for just a brief second, allowing him to taste her and desire more as she pulled away with a mischievous grin. His hands were tightly clenched on her waist but his grip softened when her winning smile turned into a smirk.

"I'm on team Henry." She confirmed and stepped away from her needy boyfriend, who couldn't believe how devious his sweet girl could be. Teasing a man so cruelly, he loved and hated it.

"Tell us the bet, sweetheart." She fluttered her eyelashes innocently and joined Henry and Charlotte on the right edge of the couch as Ray took on the unspoken challenge set between them.

"The bet is...when I get Piper to lose her temper...you, Henry and Charlotte gotta eat a big ol' bucket of raw pumpkin guts." It was his turn to smirk since he knew how after having to eat nothing but pumpkin crap every time they shared a meal, his girl was sick of the sight of them Raw, slimy pumpkin seeds and tendrils weren't helping that and even if it was supposed to be good for you, it was rancid.

"So...when you fail to make Piper lose her temper, you and Jasper have to eat a big ol' bucket of raw pumpkin guts," Henry countered, deciding that he'd reverse the stakes. Tit for tat and all that.

"Yeah, while wearing swimsuits!" Oh, dear Jasper. He really didn't understand bets, he only knew how to make them worse for him and Ray, good old seething Ray.

"What?" Ray looked at the curly-haired boy like he was insane. He just made the torture worse, what a dickhead.

"I was just saying that we should wear swimsuits when we're--" Jasper smiled at the superhero, thinking it would be a wacky yet fun thing for them to do.

"Just...just be quiet." He put a hand on Jasper's head and made the boy sit down before he could say anything else, preferring to focus on his rivals instead.

"So, we got a bet?" Ray asked Henry, who grinned and nodded. This shit was on.

"We got a bet." He confirmed and firmly shook hands with him to seal the deal. Piper better be on her best behaviour tonight, otherwise, someone might lose their temper. 

~Later that evening~

"Hey, sweet girl, you ready?--" (y/n) heard her boyfriend yell as he entered their shared bedroom. She was just doing a final check on her hair and makeup when she turned around to see that he had stopped dead in his tracks to take in her outfit. It was simple, cute, with just enough cleavage and thigh to leave him happy whilst also staying appropriate for dinner with Henry's family. She still thought it was weird that they were just barging in and demanding to be fed, but Ray's charming smile would surely win Mrs Hart over, which was another worrying thing.

"What?" She asked, pushing Henry's mom to the back of her mind as she took in his gormless expression and grabbed her clutch purse so they could meet up with Henry and Charlotte in the main room. 

"You look beautiful." He cooed and floated over to her to cup her jaw with his large hands. She was so bashful, she couldn't meet his eyes, not that she needed to, he just kissed her gently anyway. She melted into it and enjoyed feeling his warmth embrace her, no bet, no interruptions, just them...until Ray got clever and tried to sneak his hands under her skirt to cup her ass.

"No, Henry and Charlotte are waiting..." She whined breathlessly, feebly clutching at his arms as he squeezed and kneaded her supple flesh, chuckling when her protests died in her mouth. 

"I'm sure we can make it quick, you look so fuckin' good, sweet girl." He growled and tried to distract her with his mouth on her neck as he teased her underwear over the curve of her ass, but she just ripped herself away from his embrace. Too much temptation and she wouldn't be able to say no.

"I've spent way too much time on this hair and makeup for you to ruin it. Plus, we both know it's never quick." She whispered and fiddled with the lapel of the jacket that was hiding his loud shirt from the world. It fit him so well, she knew it did and dinner would be a real struggle in more ways than one if it dazzled Mrs Hart half as much as it did her.

"Hey...what's wrong?" Ray asked, instantly pushing away their flirtatious banter when he saw the light in her eyes go somewhere else and he wondered what she could be thinking of that made her deflate like that.

"It's nothing..." She smiled and shook her head, trying to convince him that she was all right, but he knew her far better than that to just assume that she was fine.

"Are you sure? You seem a little out of it..." He frowned, gently grabbing her chin between his finger and thumb so he could look into her eyes and look for any kind of lie or hurt.

"I was just thinking about how you'll be munching down on those pumpkin guts whilst I'm in here waiting for you to finish..." The young woman giggled mischievously and trailed her hand up his chest and caught his lips with hers before he could ask any more questions.

"I thought you said Henry and Charlotte were waiting," Ray mumbled as he brushed her hair away from her face and followed the passionate movements of her lips against his. He was grateful that she wasn't swatting away his hand now, but they were still under a time limit.

"Five more minutes." She breathed against his lips and properly straddled his waist so she could push him back against the mattress. Five turned into ten and then twenty. Oh, well...at least she got him to herself, even if it was for just a little while.

~Henry's house~

"You guys are disgusting." Henry chastised the giggling couple as he, Charlotte Ray and (y/n) hurriedly scurried from Ray's car to his front door. Swellview's tornado was in full swing and the gale-force winds were giving the city a battering, but that wouldn't stop Henry from lecturing his boss and his girlfriend for making them late. He just hoped his mom would accept such tardy arrivals.

"Can we drop the subject?" (y/n) stressed, feeling a little embarrassed that she had done exactly what she had insisted on avoiding and had let Ray ruin her for far longer than she had originally planned, but then again, she didn't care. Her hair was still good and although her lipstick definitely needed some TLC, they had both come out of it feeling...great.

"Yeah, Hen, stop it before I puke," Charlotte grumbled, having heard more than enough already. The mere thought of that made her stomach flip and twist, god, they were so gross.

"Just open the door," Ray instructed Henry since he was fed up with the wind ruining his perfectly floppy hair and just wanted to get inside where it was warm and safe. The kid let them in and the four staggered after him, shivering from the cold.

"Mom!" Henry greeted the smiling woman as she put down the phone after nattering to her friend. She looked up from her cooking and gasped in surprise when so many unexpected faces walked through her living room.

"Hi, Mrs Hart." Charlotte and Jasper addressed her, beaming politely as she took in her four new arrivals. It wasn't like the mother didn't have enough food, it was just shocking to see Henry invite practically everyone he knew to a small family dinner.

"Hello, Mrs Hart, lovely to see you again." (y/n) smiled shyly, suddenly feeling a little nervous now that she was in front of the woman with her notoriously flirtatious boyfriend behind her, but all she got was just a similarly bright grin.

"Hello, Mrs Hart." Ray appeared behind his girlfriend and wrapped an arm around her waist as he casually greeted her. Okay, that was pretty normal, his voice was a little husky but it was cold outside so (y/n) could ignore that. No need to be scared or nervous or light-headed...

"Hi, I didn't know you were bringing friends to dinner." Mrs Hart told her son warmly and he paused to think of an answer, but the ever-flirty Ray jumped in before he could reply. God, what was he thinking? Idiot...

"Friends...and his boss from Junk-N-Stuff." Ray leaned on the counter and smirked, too caught up in the moment to realise that he was letting himself get too friendly or how his girl gulped at his softening eyes. 

Every time, every damn time, why couldn't he just stop being himself for one occasion so he'd spare her the heartache? It wasn't fair that he had been all over her only half an hour earlier, panting into her hair at how much he loved her and how he always wanted it to be this way, but now he was acting as though those had been hollow lies and shit, that cut deep. 

"Mom, you remember Ray and his girlfriend, (y/n)." Henry subtly jabbed his boss in his side as he recognised his flirting and he didn't need to look to know that (y/n) was hating it. She wouldn't say anything, she'd grown too good at that, so he was going to stop it before it spiralled out of control. 

"Oh, sure. We've met a dozen times." Mrs Hart cordially extended her hand for Ray to shake, meaning it as a friendly, but not too friendly, gesture and he accepted it with a tad too much eagerness for it to be on the same level. He'd been a player all his life, he just couldn't get out of the habit of literally charming the pants off every female he saw, even though he adored his girlfriend and would die for her. 

But actions spoke louder than words for (y/n), and knowing that she'd been the sucker believing his words, feeling special from all of his attention, made her feel small and very, very stupid. The next one in line, dumb enough to think she deserved a superhero's love.

"Ah...fourteen." He corrected the woman, causing (y/n) to take a micro-step backwards like she was removing herself from the situation. Who the hell counted how many times they'd met someone unless they had some school-boy crush on them? The thought broke her heart and made her revert to the old (y/n) - say nothing, do nothing, they're better, you're not, he loves them, not you. 

"Really?" Mrs Hart gasped, mistaking the flirting for small talk or dinner party convo, so Henry stepped in to separate their hands before it got weird and they'd have to resuscitate the young woman from a heart attack.

"Hey, uh, can I...go up to your room for a sec?" Jasper asked his best friend once the little moment between Kris and Ray was broken, making everyone look at him suspiciously. 

"Why?" Henry asked, growing at the thought of the boy sloping off upstairs to do something strange and unknown. Was this part of the bet?

"You'll see. You'll all see." That was all the curly-haired boy said mysteriously, dashing up the stairs as Mrs Hart got a text, which she rushed to answer.

"Oh! It's Piper, she and your dad will be here any minute. I better go butter the lobster balls!" She exclaimed, running back into the kitchen before she could answer any of Charlotte's queries on what exactly was a lobster ball. Was it lobster balls or lobster balls?

"Hey. Okay, before Piper gets here, let's go over the bet." Herny gathered the group in closely and whispered so his mom wouldn't hear their crafty plan.

"Okay. When Piper gets mad and loses her temper, Jasper and I win and you three gotta eat a big ol' nasty bucket of pumpkin guts." Ray smirked at his friends, still in a pretty good mood for a guy who was chipping away his girlfriend's confidence with every ill-judged comment.

"Or, when Piper doesn't lose get mad and lose her temper, Henry, Charlotte and I win." (y/n) replied, folding her arms and masking her distress with a façade that had taken years to create and master.

"Yeah! And then you losers gotta eat a big ol' nasty bucket of pumpkin guts." Henry bit back, relishing in the idea of giving Ray a taste of his own medicine. 

"You're such a child." The superhero sneered at him in a silly voice, defeating his argument by acting petulantly himself.

"I think that's the pot calling the kettle black." The woman on his left muttered, turning around when she heard Jasper coming back downstairs and oh, my...

"Uhhh, guys..." Charlotte pointed to her friend, who had changed his outfit into a crop top and some swimming shirts. So it was for the bet, well, the part of the bet that wasn't happening. 

"Well, hello, everyone." He smirked at them, thinking he looked pretty damn fine, even though in reality, he looked pretty damn ridiculous. Hopefully, Mrs Hart was too busy in the kitchen to notice.

"Dude, we told you, the swimsuit is not part of the bet," Henry told him lowly, not wanting to draw any more attention to themselves than they already were.

"Oh, I know. I'm just, uh, showing off my new one. Eh?" He swivelled his hips to try and persuade them that it was a good outfit, but Charlotte was inclined to strongly disagree. "Uh-uh. Uh-uh."

Thankfully, Jasper's swimsuit didn't stay the topic of conversation for long as Piper and Mr Hart burst through the door, shaking from the battering winds outside. 

"And look who's back! It's me and Piper!" Henry's dad announced, even though everyone could see that it was them. Oh, good, how would he react to seeing Ray flirt with his wife? 

"Dad, please don't make a big deal." The little girl sighed, wishing that she could just go up to her room for some peace and quiet, but it seem like half of Swellview were in her living room.

"Hi, baby! Guess what we're having for dinner tonight! Lobster balls and fofu!" Mrs Hart grinned at her daughter when she gasped in excitement at the sound of her favourite meal. Oh, wow, she was really being spoiled tonight.

"Seriously?!" Piper yelled and ran over to her mother. She was certainly a sweet girl at heart and could be adorable when she wanted to be, especially when she ran to embrace her mom.

"Wait, what is fofu?" Henry asked. It sounded weird and trendy, which was probably why Piper liked it. That and it was the kind of gimmick that tricked nearly everyone into loving it for no good reason. 

"Well, it tastes just like tofu."

"But it's made with meat." Mrs Hart and Piper explained together, making everyone nod in understanding. Meat that tasted like fake meat that is meant to taste like real meat; what will they think of next?...

~

Well, dinner was...interesting. The teens amused themselves, thinking that sitting and eating dinner properly with the grown-ups was boring, so they were scattered throughout the kitchen picking at their food and doing god knows what else. Meanwhile, Ray and (y/n) were sat at the table with Mr and Mrs Hart, only it didn't feel particularly sociable and friendly since every little thing Ray did or said was like torture for (y/n). It was like he didn't see her, only the ever-lovely Kris.

"Ray...would you like to try a lobster ball?" She asked him politely, offering him the food she'd cooked like a good hostess, but the large man couldn't help but switch on the charm.

"Would I like to? Oh, yeah." He answered, causing (y/n) to tear up and slowly chew the now bitter-tasting food in her mouth as he leaned an elbow on the tabletop to get closer. He promised he would change and now she felt like a fool; a stupid, gullible fool who'd fallen hook, line and sinker for everything he promised her. "But I'm on a strict PEP diet, so..." 

"Oh, you mean the pumpkin eating plan?" Kris questioned, opening up a whole new conversation/flirtation point for them to explore.

"You really get me." Ray sighed and plopped his chin into his palm as (y/n) placed her fork down angrily. Now, she was just being played like an idiot, sitting there as her boyfriend cooed and made another woman blush, and she decided that she couldn't eat anymore.

"What was that, Henry? Coming..." She excused herself and scraped her chair backwards so she could escape to the island counter where Henry and Charlotte were eating. Ray could flirt all he wanted, just not when her heart was around to endure it and crack under the pressure. She joined the teens by the sink and daren't look up to see what her boyfriend was saying or doing now, she just wanted to go home, the place where he'd act like she was the only one he wanted because there was no one else to outshine her.

"Hey, you okay?" Henry asked her in a hushed tone as she pretended that she was having a perfectly normal conversation with him. The fruit bowl was particularly interesting.

"Not really. I want to go punch him in his stupid face, but apparently, I'm invisible tonight." She muttered, glancing over to see Mr Hart say something that didn't impress Ray. Maybe he told him to back the fuck up from his wife and pay attention to the woman he'd was actually dating. 

"I'll do it for you," Charlotte said, glaring daggers at her boss who could be so pig-headed at times. She couldn't understand him, he'd whined and longed for (y/n) to like him for years, but now they were together and he had everything he'd ever wanted, he was...careless, moronic, foolish. 

"Thanks, but you need to make it look like we're having a good conversation because he's looking this way." She suddenly hissed and broke out into a nervous laugh when she saw her boyfriend glance over to see what they were doing. Aw, sweet girl, talking to the kids, cute.

"Mmmmm, this fofu really does taste like meat." Henry quickly said the first thing that came to his mind and that was the bizarre food that he was nibbling on. 

"Yeah...but not the good meat." Charlotte gagged at the gamy, slimy yet chewy texture and Henry knew what she meant. Yeah, fofu wasn't good, but thankfully, the doorbell went and they were able to put down their forks.

"Hmmm, doorbell, I guess someone's at the door." Mr Hart pondered, making Ray look at him with a perturbed face. What did Mrs Hart see in this guy? Not that he cared, he didn't feel anything towards Henry's mom since he was more than happy with everything (y/n) gave him, not that he was showing it that night.

Henry opened the door to see that it was some dude with an immensely adorable pony and a wide grin on his face. Okay, this felt surreal, there was a horse on his porch. 

"Uh, hi," Henry said, not knowing how else to react. 

"Hello." The man replied and scratched his four-legged friend behind the wars when it seemed to snort a greeting too.

"Did someone order a pony?" Henry called out to his family and friends, prompting Piper to gasp and sprint across the room to see the pretty pony, an animal she'd wanted since she was a child.

"Wow...I wonder why there's a pony here." Ray commented in a faux-surprised voice, telling his work colleagues that it was him. He was the reason the pony was on the porch. 

"Please tell me you're not responsible for this." (y/n) whispered, attempting to get close to him by carefully reaching for his hand, but she shrank back when he put his hands on his hips. Perhaps not. 

"Uh, it says here...this beautiful pony is a present for Piper Hart." The man read from his delivery sheet, making all of Piper's dreams come true. They had nowhere near enough room for a goddamn horse but seeing her so happy...

"A present for Piper? Gosh, Piper, you must be so excited and happy." Ray prompted her, making (y/n) slap his arm since he was being deliberately so cruel. She could take it, but she would let him hurt a kid like that.

"I am!" Piper shrieked, shaking from the joyous exhilaration of it all. 

"Okay, little girl, here's your--wait, how old are you?" The pony delivery guy suddenly changed his words, making team Henry suspect that here was the sudden, harsh twist of fate.

"I'm eleven," Piper answered honestly, making the man's happy face drop and subsequently hers. That didn't sound good, especially when Ray joined in for effect.

Yeah, sorry, kid...ya gotta be at least thirteen to get a free pony." The man shrugged and left Piper and Henry gawping at the front door whilst he lead the pony away, probably to another girl who was thirteen or whatever. Oh, that was mean, very mean. 

"But...what?...That---that jerk just took my pony away!" Piper yelled, trying to keep control of her temper, but it was just so hard.

"Uh-oh, I think someone's about to get angry," Jasper smirked, making Charlotte signal to Henry to use the special hand pump thing that was attached to her collar. The boy squeezed it a few times, releasing the aroma gas as Piper screamed.

"Yeah, I'm about to get angry. I've wanted a pony since I was three years old. Do you understand what's it like to have...that's a nice lookin' swimsuit." Well, that gas was highly effective. Ray and Jasper frowned as all of Piper's anger was just washed away and she was left tame and mild-mannered, friendly even. 

"It is?" Jasper questioned nervously, feeling weird at how nice the normally terrifying girl was being.

"Oh yeah, It makes me happy. Like (y/n)'s dress, which makes her look so pretty. Mr Ray, doesn't your girlfriend look pretty?" Piper tilted her head at the man and the blushing woman next to him, making them glance at each other shyly. 

"Uh, yeah, she looks...very pretty." Ray agreed, not knowing how to respond to the sudden statement, other than to wholeheartedly agree. His girl looked fucking gorgeous and he realised that he hadn't said it enough that night.

"I'm gonna have some more fofu." The girl went back to her seat and began to heartily eat the food her mother had prepared, causing Ray to glare at Henry, Charlotte and (y/n) as they looked at him with success. They wouldn't let him break Piper that easily, not on their watch. 

~

"So, (y/n), how long have you and Ray been dating?" Mrs Hart asked the younger woman kindly as they resumed eating. Even if the fofu was disgusting, (y/n) found herself rather hungry after calming her jealous anger and returned to her lobster balls and corn.

"A few months. We were best friends for years and then, we just sort of, got together." She answered, skirting around the tedious facts that they'd been obliviously ignoring the truth on how they felt until they had no choice but to admit it. 

"Oh, well, that's nice. You make such a lovely couple. I'm sure you're both very happy together." Kris smiled over her plate, making (y/n) relax, even though if she was anyone different, she would have probably labelled her as an enemy. She was blind to Ray's flirting and was just as friendly as he was, which was both comforting and worrying. Mrs Hart was kind and pretty, just Ray's type and sometimes (y/n) wished that she'd be a bitch so she could have a reason to hate her.

"Yes, very happy..." (y/n) agreed, looking across to smile at Ray with the hope that he'd agree too, but he seemed to be distracted and clearly hadn't heard a word that had been said. He was too busy signalling something to Jasper. They were happy, right? It wasn't just in her head?

Jasper copied the signal and stood up from the kitchen bar as Ray returned to picking at his food, ignorant to how dejected his girl was.

"Ooo! Henry and Charlotte, I gotta show you guys something really cool! Come on!" Jasper told his friends excitedly, making them groan but follow him anyway. Perfect, Ray knew they could never tell the puppy-like boy no, and it played straight into his hands. 

"Uh, so...I have to go get something from my car...outside..okay." He leapt to his feet suddenly, the clattering of his fork on the table adding to the awkwardness, but he ran away before anyone could ask who, when, what, why or how.

"So, I, uh, need to...supervise him, because he...gets nervous around cars." (y/n) chuckled at the husband and wife, getting up from her chair just as suddenly and running to the porch after him. She wanted some answers, for more than one thing.

"What are you doing?" She asked her boyfriend as they stood together on the blustery porch, him looking around to see if anyone was mad enough to be outside in the treacherous weather apart from them.

"I'm about to win the bet, sweet girl." He smirked at her, circling around her with his hands in his pockets, but she was certain he wouldn't be grinning in a few moments. This took all of her courage.

"I don't mean the damn bet." She snapped, making him stand still at her sudden, sharp voice. Ray didn't like it when she was angry, not like this, especially when it was directed at him. It told him she was hurt or upset and he wondered why.

"Wha--? Sweet girl, I don't understand." He looked at her flabbergasted, feeling his stomach twist when she refused to meet his eyes and swallowed to keep her voice level.

"You promised." She sighed, running a hand through her hair as she tried to stay reasonable and calm, despite her brain and heart screaming at her to just cry or shout or do something she'd regret later.

"Wha--I don't see--" He frowned, wondering what she was referring to. He thought they'd been going good recently, no hiccups or arguments, no disasters or meltdowns, just their love growing each and every day.

"No, that's the problem, Raymond. You don't ever see, you never see." She hissed, clutching her forehead to massage her temples before carrying on. 

"You tell me one minute that you love me and I'm the only one you've ever loved. But then the next minute, you're all over another woman, telling her that she "gets you" and you hardly speak to me all night." (y/n) stressed, looking up at his face and seeing how he was piecing together all of his mistakes.

"Shit--shit, I--I'm so sorry." He sighed, screwing his eyes up as he realised that his old habits had led him into murky waters once again. It was like he didn't even know he was doing it sometimes and cursed himself for not doing more to stop it.

"Look, maybe you were right. Maybe people never change. Maybe you'll finally get Mrs Hart to like you and maybe one day I'll get over it and be able to deal with the pain but..." Her eyes became misty and melancholic at her darkest thought. She never would, but her imagination couldn't help but wander and neither could his.

"But what?" He asked, his fingers twitching to reach out and brush against her cheek, but he resisted the urge. It might scare her away.

"But right now, I hate feeling like this. Like I only get to love you behind closed doors and not when you're faced with a pretty girl. I don't want to be your girlfriend--" She confessed, but the air was stolen from her lungs when the seven words Ray never, ever, not even in his deepest, darkest, cruellest dreams, wanted to hear were spoken. She hadn't finished the sentence, not even close, but he'd heard enough and seized her body and held it to his like a child squeezing their favourite toy, terrified that if he let go, she'd walk away forever. 

"Don't break up with me, please. I'll change, I swear, just please, don't leave me." He begged, nearly sobbing into her hair as she struggled to process what had happened so alarmingly fast. Her boyfriend was crushing her in his hold, tearful and screaming in anguish in an attempt to stop her from breaking up with him. This wasn't how she'd expected the night to go.

"Ray, I'm--I'm not breaking up with you." She soothed him, running one hand up and down his back as the other tangled in his hair, which made the quiet hiccups in the crook of her neck quieten down.

"You're not?" He asked and pulled back so his red, puffy eyes could look into hers, shocking her from how upset he'd become in mere moments. Normally, she was the one crying, not him. 

"No, I'd never...I love you. Always, remember?" She told him gently and moved the hand on his back so she could cup his cheek. He leaned into her touch and loosened the arms around her body, letting her soft body press against him on its own since he knew that she wasn't about to run a mile.

"I love you, I love you, I love you, my sweet, darling girl, who I don't fucking deserve because I'm a massive, stupid idiot." He sighed, looking down like he was ashamed and guilty for what he'd done. It felt selfish to have someone as perfect as her and flirt with another, even if his dumb brain did it without him realising.

"You're not an idiot. You're just a doofus." She sighed, resting her forehead against his as they took a moment to think about everything. 

"Do it again though and I'll cut your balls off." She mumbled, making him chuckle against her lips and he briefly thought about kissing her but refrained when he decided that her comfort came first. He got his wish though, when (y/n) closed the gap and enjoyed the feeling of feeling secure in their relationship again. 

"We good?" Ray asked her once they broke apart, making her roll her eyes with a giggle. She thought that was obvious.

"Yeah, we're good, doof...what are you doing?" She grinned, which turned them into confusion when she watched him dig into his pockets, pull out his glowing gum tube and pop a piece of gum into his mouth. Ray leaned cooly against the wall so he'd be shielded from most of the neighbourhood's watching eyes and blew a bubble, just as Henry opened the door. He must've been looking for them.

"Ray? (y/n)?" He gasped as he watched his boss transform into Captain Man and then crack his neck in a cocky manner.

"Oh, hey, Henry." He replied, smirking at his girlfriend when her eyes darkened at his powerful persona and the undeniable sexiness he brought to it.

"What are you doing?" Henry asked in suspicion, getting the feeling that he had something sneaky up his sleeve, he just couldn't place his finger on exactly what it was.

"Nothin', I'm just--" Ray replied, but was interrupted as his PearPhone began to ring on his belt. Someone was popular.

"Schwoz?" (y/n) frowned as she stepped over to check the contact flashing on the screen. They'd given him the task of collecting some more pumpkin's for Ray's diet and she'd bet anyone ten dollars that he'd cocked it up in some way.

"Hey, Schwoz, you get my pumkins?" He answered it cheerfully, but the terrified screams that Henry and (y/n) could faintly make out were something he obviously didn't want to deal with. "Uh, I gotta go make a little girl mad...uh, I'm at Henry's house and I gotta go!" He abruptly ended the call and tried to go into the house.

"What are you gonna do?" Henry asked, blocking him from entering since he wanted to know what he was up to.

"I'm gonna go win a bet so that you, Charlotte and (y/n) have to eat pumpkins guts." He bragged, making (y/n) step in front of him too as her competitive side flared again.

"Raymond...kiss me." She tried to distract him, but even her best pout and puppy-dog eyes couldn't sway him from his mission, despite his want to do just that.

"Step aside, sweet girl." He moved her to the side and burst into the house with his usual Captain Man authority and drama, stunning those inside the house.

"Hello, everyone! It's me, Captain Man!" He announced in his superhero voice, his sidekicks following behind him with stony faces as he strolled in with the sole purpose of building Piper up to just rip her back down.

"Captain Man!" She cried as she ran over to him, drawing a terrifying look from Charlotte as she got the message that Captain Man was here with very bad news. "Ah, geez."

"Wow, Captain Man! What are you doing here when there's nothing here for you to do, you probably should be leaving, maybe?" Henry suggested awkwardly, making sure to seem distant and nothing like Kid Danger.

"Yeah, why'd you come here?" Piper added, also finding it weird that the city's best superhero had just rocked up to her house when the weather was like shit. Didn't he have a girlfriend, Miss Danger, right?

"Well, you're the president of my fan club, aren't ya? The Man Fans?" He asked, smiling brightly at the young girl, who felt all tingly and special since Captain Man knew who she was.

"Yeah, I am!" She grinned, looking at (y/n) happily since she always believed that it was her who helped her get the role since she was the one who took her to the cinema two years ago. She liked her for a reason and that was it.

"Or maybe not." His smile suddenly fell and he started to pretend that he was in deep thought, prompting Piper to lose her chirpiness too.

"Captain Man, what do you mean?...Piper's a great president." (y/n) told her secret superhero boyfriend through gritted teeth, putting her hands on the girl's shoulders in an attempt to keep her calm. 

"Uh...I'm sorry...very pretty lady, but to be president of the Man Fans, Piper had to be at least four foot, ten inches." Ray bent over so he was on her eye level and (y/n) brushed over how he was flirting with her so no one would question it.

"Piper is four foot, ten inches." She replied, smirking since he knew that her math was never wrong, unlike his, which usually was.

"Yeah, I am four foot, ten." She agreed, which made Henry snort and giggle until she glared at him. If she said she was four ten, she was four ten, no questions asked, or did he want to lose the bet?

"Sorry, I coughed." He excused and lamely cleared his throat before Ray carried on, this time switching tactics.

"Yeah, you--you know what? Actually--pfft, what I meant to say was, uh, you can't be president of the Man Fans if you're four foot ten, which apparently you are, so...sorry." He awkwardly rubbed his fingers together as everyone voiced their disgust with his stupid decision.

"What?!"

"That is so dumb!" Piper and Mrs Hart protested, but Ray wasn't going to back on his word, not when it made the little girl go a delightful Fuschia shade.

"Hey, I don't make the rules." He shrugged, not wanting to have the blame pinned on him.

"Then who does?" Mr Hart asked, wanting to know so he could find them and give them a stern telling off for upsetting his little girl in such a mean fashion.

"Miss Danger," Ray smirked, making (y/n)'s eyebrows fly to her hairline as he landed her in the shit. And the cherry on the cake was she couldn't say anything, because then the secret would be out. Oh, what a sneaky little...

"This is insane!" Piper screamed, making Henry jump in alarm. He needed her to calm down in the next ten seconds.

"Piper, remember your--squeeze your bulb, squeeze your bulb--" He tried to remind his sister of what she had learnt in her JAM Class session, but she didn't want to relax, she wanted to scream and shout and let it all out.

"NO! I got elected president of the Man Fans, fair and square!" She yelled, her face turning a deep red colour, similar to the one on the costume of a certain, bemused hero.

"Yeah, but that was probably back when you were four foot nine, so..." He replied and backed off before she could strangle him for delivering the bad news. Shit, she was getting really angry.

"Here, let me squeeze your bulb for you." Charlotte offered, dashing to the little girl's side to try and release the aroma gas, but she swatted away her hands with a yell.

"NO! Everyone, get away from me and my bulb!" She shouted, meaning Ray saw his work as pretty much complete, so he took a seat on the couch and leaned back to watch it all unfold. Oh, how he wished he could have his girl tucked into his side right now...

"Okay, I'm really mad...but! I'm not gonna lose my temper, because I've learned that if I do lose my temper that---" Oh, dear, sweet Piper, she was doing so well. Her anger was pushed down and leashed so well...until that fucking moron of a genius that the Man Cave team knew as Schwoz came crashing through the roof and KO'd her.

Schwoz and Piper stood up gasping and aching, but all Henry, Charlotte and (y/n) could focus on was the fact that the impact had shattered the buckle on her aroma collar, meaning it fell to the floor. 

"Do I smell lobster balls?" Schwoz asked, sniffing the delicious smell in the air and followed his nose to go and chow down on Piper's celebratory dinner, which didn't go down very well with her. 

"Who is this man?!" Mrs Hart exclaimed, baffled that her family dinner had turned into a farce and now, she had a little weirdo scoffing away at (y/n)'s and Ray's plates.

"Uh, guys. Piper's collar broke and fell off." (y/n) pointed out, making everyone who wasn't on team Ray gulp. That was their safety net and now, it was gone.

"P-Piper, come on now. There's no reason to lose your temper or anything. It's--It's all good---" Henry tried to soothe his sister, but she was like a volcano and it was Piper Eruption Day. Yay.

"NO REASON?! I had a pony that was repossessed! I got fired from the Man Fans because of my height! And then, some insane man just fell through our roof and is eating all our lobster balls!" She shrieked, taking a few steps up the stairs with every recollection of everything that had gone wrong for her.

"But-But...y-you like Jasper's new swimsuit! And! (y/n)'s pretty dress!" Charlotte suggested, trying to grasp onto the last little shred of hope in her heart that she wouldn't be eating the pumpkin guts later. 

"Yeah! You said that his new swimsuit made you happy and (y/n)'s dress made her look pretty!" Henry jumped in, also trying to salvage the bet for their team.

"Well, I changed my mind!... I am not okay!" She screamed, running down the stairs, ripping Japser's trunks from his body and then running upstairs in a tantrum. Shit, team Henry had lost. 

"Ehhhh...I'm okay." Captain Man sighed as he smiled at the sweet taste of success. Oh, how he loved rubbing this in.

~

Fun fact, pumpkin guts are disgusting. Actually rancid, cold and slimy with a terrible taste. Good thing Henry, Charlotte and (y/n) had three huge bowls all to themselves.

"Come on, Colin, eat some more for mommy." The young woman tried to offer some of the fleshier bits to her sweet lil' bunny as she cradled him in her arms, but even he turned his twitching nose up at the string ickiness.

"It's better than fofu." Charlotte tried to make it seem better, but nothing could make the stinking bowls any nicer to see, smell or taste. 

"No, it's not." Henry sulked and shovelled another mouthful of the slime into his mouth. If he pinched his nose, the taste was nullified, but not the texture. Nothing could change that, it was the worst part.

"I know." Charlotte sighed, dropping her optimism and accepting her fate. They were gonna be puking after this, but at least (y/n) had Ray waiting for her. He'd definitely know how to perk her up after a long, weird day.

[phoebehalliwell]

i have many questions i'm sorry

do you think the cupitches are as close, or closer, than the halliwell sisters are?

has melinda ever wanted sisters over brothers

if you had to pick any of the four charmed ladies to make twins, who would it be?

how close are henry jr and paige (in ur opinion)?

do you think andy and henry would've liked each other

how are you doing <3

hi hi hi its okay i love answering questions ❤️‼️❤️📝❤️‼️

1. i would say the cupitches are honestly closer bc they’ve known about this power of three thing since birth + are raised by and empath and a relationship therapist (coops mortal (and sometimes magical!) job) so like the clear communication thing is really really super prevalent. they were learning how to carefully articulate their emotions without pinning the blame on others while most of us were still learning santa isn’t real

2. i mean sometimes a little but the fact that her + pj + kat + tam are all so so super close in age (with parker and peyton still relatively close as well) i think it scratches that itch so to speak like she has someone to braid their hair or put on wacky eyeshadow and bad fashion shows with you know?

3. easy. prue & piper. it would just make their dynamic so much jucier like hello prues overprotective nature over her twin but then also just being the brave one which i think would make piper even more the wallflower and also makes piper taking prues mantle post death even more interesting

4. honestly i think they’re pretty close i think henry jr is a naturally curious child and i think paige likes answering his questions like we really see how much paige loves study and learning esp in season five when she dives headfirst into studying witchcraft and even starts exploring angles not previously known to the halliwells (eg using chi in the s5 premiere, studying romani culture + magic in the eyes have it) so i think like paige has found conversations with her son very engaging even from a young age also i think henry jrs just like. cool. he has a similar dry sense of humor and is in general a fun guy to hang out with so i think he and paige are really close. honestly probably the closest to paige out of any of her children

5. this is difficult to say bc like. idk i really don’t know i wanna say yea bc i love a world in which everyone gets along but my gut is telling me that (if they met in a work setting not thru the girls) no. they’re both very stubborn and strong willed and then of course henry had this bad habit of bailing which yes is a romantic thing but i think any defining bad habits will always spill into other facets of your life and as we see with andy that cut and run deal really fuckin bothers him so he might hold an intrinsic dislike for henry. that being said tho i think if they had motive to bond (e.g. ur girlfriend’s sister is my girlfriend) i think yes they would be friends. i think they were both movie / video game kids growing up i think they would bond over thejr dated pop culture references

6. i am mostly okay but i have a new crush and i’m having a terrible time about it lol i kept saying you know what i need? a like crush? something fun to keep me occupied But Now I Have One and it is not fun!!!! auauaagahuagahhghhh!!

[exvangelicalrage]

What Is Crooked Cannot Be Straightened

5/29/23

When I started going to therapy for religious trauma, my therapist directed me to Abraham Piper, a rather famous exvangelical and son of John Piper, a famous evangelical fundamentalist. Abraham Piper's TikTok account was interesting, philosophical, and entertaining all at the same time, and many of his ideas hit home with me, as someone who was floundering with the idea of religious trauma, despite it having been nearly 8 years after my Exit. 

One of the tags he used was #abusurdism which I'd never heard of before, and being a curious type of person, I googled it. 

"What is absurdism?"

Of course, as you might expect, I found dozens of articles and reddit threads discussing Albert Camus, existentialism, and meaninglessness.

I was hooked. 

Meaninglessness had been an appealing concept to me since the first time I read Ecclesiastes, the only book of the bible I ever really liked. 

Even now, if you asked me what my favorite book of the bible was, I'd still say Ecclesiastes. When I was young, my reason was that it was beautiful poetry written by a clearly intelligent person who understood the futility of life, and which ended by directing you to trust god. 

Now my reason is because Ecclesiastes breaks christianity. It's like a computer virus. As soon as you run ecclesiastes.exe, blue screen.

In Ecclesiastes, the writer concludes that everything is meaningless, therefore, your best bet is to fear god and follow his commandments (cough *philosophical suicide* cough). The ending offers an easy "skip" button. 

"Fear god!" christian you might think. "Great, that's all I need to know. I was gonna do that anyway."

This answer is good enough until you read that verse in Romans about how you're supposed to study the scriptures. And then you do study them.

As soon as you really begin to look deeply into Ecclesiastes, one key thing leaps out: if everything is meaningless... so is following god and his commandments. That solution the Teacher offers? Just as meaningless as any other solution.

All of christianity centers around one foundational element: the meaning of everything is god.

But if there is no meaning to everything, if god is not the meaning after all... what does that mean for the entirety of the christian religion? 

If you take Ecclesiastes literally, then making the choice to "obey god" is just as meaningless as making a different choice. Even if you choose to "follow god," the method for doing so is meaningless. You could choose to follow the old testament god or the new testament god, you could follow Thor or Allah, you could rename the universe "god" and call it a day—and you get to make up your own "rules" about what following god looks like, and at least philosophically speaking, you're good to go.

Most christians would argue that therefore you must follow the christian scripture, because obviously the bible doesn't contradict itself, because it says so. heh

But this doesn't work. Literally no one follows the scriptures literally. Not even literalists. Because it's impossible. Because the bible doesn't agree with itself about anything.

And even if you find ways to look past all the other contradictions, Ecclesiastes undermines everything else. It puts questions where They don't want questions. It adds flexibility where They don't want flexibility. It adds meaninglessness where They want meaning.

And They can't get rid of Ecclesiastes. Because if They do that, then they're picking and choosing what scripture to follow. And if you can cut and paste Ecclesiastes, then it follows you can cut and paste the rest of the bible, in which case you might as well just throw the whole thing in the trash and start over. 

As far as I can tell, the "best" argument against my interpretation of Ecclesiastes is "no, you're misinterpreting it" which... isn't an argument. The very fact that Ecclesiastes demands interpretation in order to "fit" with the rest of christianity, means that I can interpret it however the hell I want.

And I choose to interpret it as an exploration of the meaninglessness of everything that ultimately undermines the whole of christianity.

When faced with ultimate meaninglessness, some people choose to avail themselves of the pleasures of life. Some people choose to work. Some people choose to find meaning in the mundane. Some people create their own meaning. Some people (like Solomon) choose to follow god and obey the king. And some people simply... accept meaninglessness.

And this is the heart of absurdism: choosing to accept meaninglessness as a fact of life, rather than fighting against it, trying to fix it, or trying to solve it.

Everything is meaningless. Utterly meaningless.

Including Ecclesiastes.

Everything is meaningless and that’s okay. Not only is it okay, it's good. Because acceptance often brings peace, freedom, and joy where there was only cognitive dissonance before.

[madcatdaderpydrawer-blog]

Solstaire would let out a string of swears when he gets hit with the wrench. He’ll accept the apology, knowing damn well how nervous he was when he first ended up here. He’ll even offer to fix that broken ray with some scraps he has lying around. Lunara, is a mix of jealous and fascinated by this nice and stable version of himself. He enjoys poking and prodding at Peanut.

And Infero does absolutely nothing to sound less ominous or evil. Vim, however, loves to soften Infero’s image. Just runs in and demands uppies, which Infero does with no hesitation. Then Peanut and Clipsy get subject to a thousand questions by Vim, while Infero just sighs and lets this happen.

Pyroclasm, chronically incapable of thinking things through, rips a random pipe off the wall and starts chewing on it in the background. Causing hot steam to blast out like a horror game. Amalgam pokes his head out and ominously giggles, before slipping back into his little workshop. Don’t know what RS Solar is doing. KC is out doing charity work. Frostbite’s at her place.

MR Moon is just like “We have a portal?!”. To which the Computers chime to confirm that yes, they do. They haven’t bothered inspecting that part of their programming because it didn’t seem important. Solar Flare’s the first to ask why Clipsy and Peanut are here.

Clipsy has managed to successfully speedrun the adoption process. Moom, Mama Sun, Dadcode, and Papa Bear accept him and Peanut with open arms. They can stay as long as they like. Moom also blacklists Clipsy’s dimension immediately. The kids, meanwhile, adore Peanut. Especially Toddlunar, grownup versions of him are the coolest!

Torp just sighs and halfheartedly complains about having to arm and beef up the security system. He tells them that, despite looking like a weird Moon, he doesn’t have access to the portal, so he can’t blacklist anything.

Antumbra will have to be told to cut it out by his comfort big guy Moon, because the self-hatred is strong in this one.

Ursus insists. Clipsy’s injured, she’s in perfect health. They’re traumatized and scared, she’s got a therapist. They came with practically nothing, she’s got everything she needs. They need that bed more than she does. 

They’re very lucky that lunara didnt take Clipsy smacking his buddy as a personal offense- that would cause some issues. I know you mean prodding like in a verbal sense but I immediately just thought of lunara actually physically poking Peanut to try and figure out his secrets. Clipsy would be very flustered but thankful for the offer to fix the ray, since he did just assault this guy and being offered help after that is a bit surprising

Piper looks back at these two assholes making this situation seem so much worse and then looks back at the other two and tells them most of the family is harmless. Clipsy asking if that thing that just peeked around the corner and giggled like a serial killer was just a friend. He’s only being half sarcastic.

When asked Clipsy will go on his whole spiel about what happened, in the same somewhat nonchalant tone.

Awww the idea of peanut interacting with the kids is so adorable. He’d have a lot of fun interacting with them! Seeing a little toddler version of himself would be so cute to him. He’s glad that he is so excited to see a grown up version of him.

As long as there’s a good security system, they’d be at least slightly out at ease. Though they’ll still be nervous about him potentially coming through and causing problems for torp.

He needs to stop him from inflicting his self hatred on this random guy they just met. That’s not how you make friends XD

Clipsy argues that what happened wasn’t exactly traumatizing, which just makes it sound worse- Clipsy is way too used to moons nonsense. If Ursus is stubborn enough though they’ll cave to avoid further arguing with someone doing them a favor

[kaorimiyazonotl]

Back To You

Chapter one

When they asked if I ever got out of being sad after everything, it became hard for me to smile and admit the truth. So I half lied and half stated the truth. My girls were never going to find out that I’ve been talking to him behind their backs.

I wouldn’t accept it. Dominic was my friend and he was now my ex. I lay there on my bed staring at the ceiling and then my alarm goes off. Knock knock, I turn to the side and see Hikari and Kora in my door frame.

“Get up, sleepy head!” as Kora jumps on my bed.

“Just because it’s the weekend doesn’t mean you get to lay here all day”, Hikari pulling my sheets while I’m scowling at her. “I don’t care if it’s the weekend, I don't want to get up.” The thing is I rather dream and not be in reality. I work as the manager for San Francisco Library, it’s a quiet, settled job, but it comforts me…physically. And when it’s the weekend that’s when I get in my head and I wanna sleep more or write or read or even paint.

Kora sets herself next to me as I’m sitting up with my sheets and blankets on the floor. “Come on, today is Saturday and we gotta check out this new Italian restaurant that Weston just opened.” Weston is an old friend of ours, just as Catie, Catherin, Lilith, and Piper. All of us went to the same high school and went to different colleges but I got to live with Hikari and Kora because we all decided we were gonna go to college in San Francisco. We fell in love with the city, so not only are we roomies but best friends as well.

“Yes, so get up Amaya!” says Hikari

“Okay fine, but what time?”

They both look at me out of shock because usually I put up a fight because I need a good reason but I’m too tired to fight with them. But they smile and say “seven o’clock”. seven p.m. Tonight, will I see him? That's the thing I've worried about ever since I left Santa Clarita and decided to live with the girls. I didn’t even think about what would happen, I just did it because I planned it. While I was even in Santa Clarita, I never once ran into D. I stopped caring when it became August but you know I always did search for something.

“So now that I'm up I’m gonna take my morning walk, anyone wanna come?”

“Sorry, me and Ray are supposed to have brunch at ten?”. I look at the clock and it’s eight-thirty. “Really?”

“What? I need time to pick an outfit, besides I wanna do my makeup too.” Ray and Kora have been with each other for two months now, Ray’s nice, he’s sweet, trans and all, pretty chill guy. I’m not that close with him though unlike Hikari.

“And you Hikari?” She’s grinning at me and when she grins, I know she’s going to have brunch with Enzo, now they’ve only been seeing each other for less than a month. I saw that coming when she introduced him to everyone during our last hangout. That was a month ago too.

Sigh “Have fun you two, I’ll be here when you guys get back.” They both sit by side and give me a kiss on the forehead and a hug.

“Love you!”

“Love you too, now go both of you.”

I lay back on my bed, staring at the ceiling for a bit. If I’m smart enough I would get up right now before I start getting into my head and start crying. When my therapist diagnosed me with depression and anxiety, I wasn’t surprised. I sorta figured given the fact that for three months I didn’t stop crying and listening to music twenty four seven. I guess the only difference now is I’m trying to get past the relationship and trying to accept and deal with it without feeling so sad and guilty. I know people have their own process of dealing with things. I know it’s gonna take time for me. I get off my bed, head to my bathroom, boom, boom, boom, wide awake now, hair up and still in my pj’s. I check my calendar to see if I have anything planned before dinner. Nope pretty much cleared.

I make myself some blueberry pancakes, with a side of eggs and sourdough toast and tea. When the girls saw me making breakfast one morning, they started calling me “Mom” again. Hard to believe I used to be called that when we were all in high school, five years ago to be exact. I check my phone and I get a text from Lilith.

Lilith: Amaya I found this essential oil store called Saje Natural Wellness on Wilmot street. Wanna check it out?

With Lilith, her and I can totally do a spa day together any day. Lilith is very calm, funny, sweet, and helpful. However her therapeutic way of coping is working out and doing what’s good for the body. I'm all for supporting her but for me it’s not my style so I don’t know what works for me. So I text her back thinking what's around there to check out after.

Me: Sure, then we could check out this french-american bakery called La Boulangerie, it’s five minutes away from the wellness place.

We meet up, talk a walk and window shop and talk about all the things like improving our skin and trying out new things to help our skin. Lilith is sorta spiritual and sorta not, but she believes that people should focus on themselves first before anything, even before joining the dating life.

She’s not wrong, I mean I always found myself to be mentally unstable and unable to function because I say I’m not fit to be in a relationship.

“Amaya, so what are you gonna wear to Weston opening?” says Lilith as she takes a sip of her sparkling water. We stopped at the bakery after window shopping and checking out the wellness place.

It's cute and pretty packed and their pastries are delicious. I’d think I’d stop by here by myself next time and take my book with me. Or maybe take inspiration and write something.

“Well I haven’t thought about it yet, if it's the Grand Opening then probably something that fits the vibe for a dinner night.” One thing about me and my wardrobe is it has to fit the vibe and from head to toe; hair, outfit, makeup, jewelry, shoes. I don’t dress to impress…maybe a little bit. I like to match and go with the vibe and not be out of place. I’ve been like that ever since I was little and it’s partially because of my dad. He always told my sisters and I to never go out unless we wore proper clothing. It didn’t matter if it was a BBQ or someone’s birthday, he always wanted us to dress accordingly. To this day he’s still the same.

“Okay true, but it’s an Italian restaurant not a dinner party. I was thinking not too fancy but something nice. Besides, it's gonna be a good night.”

“Yeah, you're right.” I give her my simple smile and drink my vanilla bean latte.

“Have you heard from D? Rumor has it he got a girlfriend.”

“I know, I heard too. I’m sure he’ll bring her to the opening.”

“He is.” I look at her in shock, I probably look pale or perhaps sad almost. It’s been years since he and I haven’t seen each other and I only just talked to him a little bit just last week. If there’s one word to describe Dominic it would be the abnormal and the complete opposite or just different.

The thing is I don’t know how to feel. I would think that by now I feel okay because it’s been a year already. But I guess I’m lying to myself, if I’m trying to deny the fact that I still miss him and everything.

“Lilith. It’s been years and things have changed, besides I’m still trying to focus on myself.”

“You know when you lie I can see it in your eyes right? We’ve been friends for a long ass time, you can’t fool me and you sure as hell can’t fool yourself.”

She’s right and it’s obvious that I’m hurt by it. So it won’t change the fact that I’m trying to hide it. I decided to tell her and her only that we’ve been talking. And tell her everything up until this point.

“Well that was a bitchy move for not telling you.”

“Yeah, it was. But I’m the fool for even talking to him in the first place.”

“Girly, before the whole break-up you guys were close, if being friends is what you wanted in the beginning then no one has the right to judge you or your decisions.”

“Thank you Lilith.”

We leave the cafe, Lilith leaves and then I take my route. I could go home but instead I go to Boudin Bakery, it takes ten minutes if I take Franklin St. and then Post St. But around that area it’s always packed and full of traffic. But because I got nothing better to do I do it.

I managed to find a parking spot after fifteen minutes. And of course the line to get inside the bakery is long. I mean duh it’s famous of course. I could get a sandwich but really I just got two loafs of fresh baked sourdough bread. I’m a big bread eater but it never affected my health. I walk out and head to my car. Just as I was about to get inside. A familiar voice appears.

“Amaya?”

I turn slowly even though I know it’s him, D, Dominic himself, in front of me.

“You still have a thing for appearing out of nowhere sir.” It’s my sarcastic and confident tone I give him but he reads me like a book, so it's easy to predict what I’m feeling. That was one of the things I loved about him. The ability to read someone so easily sometimes I never had to explain myself.

“I see you haven’t changed.” says Dominic, acting as normal as possible.

“Well, what’s there to change? I still write, work at the library and live with Hikari and Kora.” I say with a smart tone, although I don’t mean to, knowing that I sounded a bit rude.

“Sorry, what are you doing over here?”

“Uh..came to buy bread, same as you. Vanessa wants to try this recipe she found.” He’s acting a bit awkward and I know who he’s referring to too. So I try to sound unbothered but I know it won’t work.

“Oh, your girlfriend right? I heard congrats.”

“Thanks…I guess. How about you, seeing anyone lately?”

“No, I’ve been trying to focus on myself and mental well being.” I want this awkwardness to stop because I feel like crying. I have so many questions for him. Why? Why her? Why not me? Didn’t you love me? Didn’t you tell me you’d wait for me? But I keep quiet.

“Are you bringing her to Westons opening?” I try to change the subject and start an actual small conversation with him.

“No, she has work.”

“Ah, I see going solo then.”

“Well with or without her I wouldn’t miss my best friend/brother’s grand opening of his new restaurant. What kind of friend do you think I am?”

“The crazy kind actually.”

It’s true because I only have three words to describe this man in front of me, crazy, reckless, and a risk taker. Even when we were in highschool together he’d be that kind of person who brings everyone together. The fun one. Him and Weston go way back too, starting off as best friends and now brothers. For every adventure that these two plan together it’s always exciting to see what they talk about and come up with. Weston was there during the break up too, I showed up at his place asking if I could come in the night it happened. Chelsea, Weston’s wife, made me tea and I told them what happened. I cried my eyes out for twenty minutes straight by the time I was done crying my eyes hurt so much and I still had to drive my ass home. But even after he still treats me the same and I always tell him thank you.

“I’ll be seeing you at Westons then Amaya.” I stare deeply into his eyes and replay the way he says my name, it has me almost falling to my knees. He turns to walk away. I don’t want him to go. I want to talk to him longer.

“Do you wanna grab a coffee?”

He looks back “Sure, I got time to kill anyway.”

What are the chances of this happening to me? I’m lost in so many ways that it’s unbelievable that I asked him to get a coffee just to spend more time with him. I ask how he’s doing, what his job is now, he answers calmly, tells me that things have been okay, he moved out of Santa Clarita as well. Now he lives here.

If I ask if they live together, is it gonna make me jealous or depressed? “Do you and Vanessa live together? You know since you moved here?”

“No, I live by myself. Why?” He looks at me like I’m up to something.

“Just asking,” I smile. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

We stopped walking, we looked out at the cars passing by, we happened to end up at Kearny St.

“If I told you..I would have hurt you..” He’s not wrong besides I’m the one that broke it off to begin with.

I know back then I was in the wrong. I did it because I was stressed, under pressure and I didn’t know how to be in a relationship. I spent a long time not being in a relationship, so he was my first. I went too fast and I didn’t love myself at the time either. My mother and I got into countless arguments and my dad practically stopped talking to me. I felt guilty and I was eighteen back then, I still lived with my parents and I broke the rules. I was lucky that I wasn’t kicked out. So how can I answer the one I love right in front of me?

“You're right, I would’ve been hurt. But you not telling me hurts more.” I start to tear up, I hold back from breaking. D comes closer and hugs me, I’m falling, I break and begin to cry.

“I missed you okay, I fucked up back then, I’m sorry, I didn’t want to lose the kind of friendship we had.”

“Amaya, I’m sorry, I didn’t think about your feelings, I just assumed you’d be okay. And I missed you too.”

The way he can just comfort me and still show affection towards me feels like nothing has changed. But I can’t be fooled, for he is not mine anymore. I break the hug and step back, wipe my tears.

“I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing? You have nothing to apologize for.” I really don’t, I just apologize for no reason sometimes and it’s a habit because I don’t like being in the wrong and making mistakes. I still have more questions about him and Vanessa but I don’t want to ask, it makes me sick rather than happy. But we’re friends so it’d be rude not to ask.

“So how are you and Vanessa?”

He doesn’t answer for a good minute, he just stares at the ground and kicks a pebble.

“Uh..it’s not all smiles and good times if that’s what you're asking?” Dominic’s response was sarcastic. I’m curious because what if it was a mistake? What if he didn’t want to be with her? But I could be wrong.

“Really? How so?”

“Let me summarize it for you, sometimes there are days where she and I don’t get along…Do you remember when I started texting you at random?”

How could I forget? I was either taking a bath, writing or even watching anime. It was like he’d just popped up out of nowhere but it made me smile because I still loved it.

“Yes, why?”

“It was because during those times she and I would get into arguments or I’d get sad about something and she wouldn’t do anything about it…She doesn’t know how to help me like you do Amaya.”

“That was why? But how do I help you?”

“Your comforting, always has been, you know how to get me out of being sad or upset. You know how to comfort others when they’re feeling down and it shows that you care.” D continues.

“She’s toxic, she doesn’t know how to help, sometimes she just leaves me and then we spend a week not talking until she wants to spend time with me.” Who is she? Why did he put himself in this position?

He tells me that after the break-up it left a lot of scars, his depression was bad during that time, he drank and started going to parties. He dropped out of college. But he didn’t say where. And then when he met Vanessa it was just to try something new.

I’m shocked because he never did this. How much did I hurt him for shit to go down hill? I feel so guilty for doing this to him.

“I’m sorry D..I-”

“Hey, it gave me time to think about life. But I quit drinking and I haven’t been out in awhile.”

“And college? What about that?”

Sigh “After talking to the councilor they said that we could work something out and I’ll be taking classes at night…I started last month.”

“That’s good, I’m happy for you..What major are you doing though?”

“Landscape Architecture.” I smile so big, I immediately give him a hug, he’s shocked but he hugs me back.

Before we graduated high school, I had asked him what he wanted to do. He had said that he wanted to go to college but he didn’t know what to pursue. He said that he’d find out once he’d get there. So knowing that he picked a major makes me so happy because he could make art out of landscapes. I mean take a look at the Jewel at Changi Airport, in Singapore. It’s beyond what you could imagine.

“Congratulations, I’m so proud of you!”

“Thank you”

We talk some more and before you know it, it’s time to head home. But just before we parted ways while going back to my car. He says,

“It was good talking to you again Amaya.”

I simply give him a smile and answer “I’ll see you later.”

Coming home the drive wasn’t bad, the memory and thought of running into D again replays in my head and I think to myself today was a good day. I’m still iffy about his new girlfriend Vanessa. I say this because I care about him and I don’t want him to get into something that he doesn’t know how to deal with.

For as long as I can remember Dominic has always been sensitive and unsure about the women he’s with. And you would think that if you’re hurt you’d end your relationship if you're with someone that you don’t have that many feelings with or if they’re hurting you. But he has told me before and his philosophy is he won’t be the first one to break the relationship without a good amount of reasons to need to.

Though time and time again he’s never been the first one to break off the relationship, except once, that was six years ago. It’s always been mind blowing to me because he hurts himself more by putting himself in a situation like that but he told me that people who break off the relationship first hurt more than the ones being hurt.

It doesn’t make any sense but I tried to not argue with him on that. There are things that he and I don’t agree on and things that don’t make any sense sometimes. But I can get along with him and have fun.

When we did date we would do the most crazy things and stay up late talking for hours, those were the type of things I’d look forward too, knowing that I can go to someone after work, knowing that someone was waiting for me when I’d come home and knowing that I had someone who’s come to me when they were done with work as well.

But things changed. He and I both changed. I just hope it doesn’t get to me because he’s in a relationship now and he’s going to be there at Weston’s opening only this time everyone will be there.

[giggle-me-this]

[ Formal ] - Dona

[ 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐋 ] ― Dona greets Nate in formal partywear (spoiler: it’s a wedding dress)

@outterridge @xiomarawinters @loxley-blair-lockhart @harrixtpinnock @virtuoshosh

It was Dona’s wedding day, and Nate kind of couldn’t believe this was actually happening.

I mean, okay—his cousin had sent out those invitations like, a month ago. But like—hasty, much? Who wanted to get married after only a month of being engaged, let alone to someone you barely even knew, whose family-or-whatever-those-evil-cunts-had-been had basically, almost brainwashed you into ditching all your friends and family and committing murder?

And worst of all—a Christmas wedding.

Though Nate supposed it was like…nicely decorated. Sort of. Someone had charmed a quaint little covered outdoor courtyard to feel deep-summer warm, even though it was winter. There were low-hanging lights that twinkled like fireflies, and Loxley had strung up long strands of earthy vines and soft moss. It was—cozy, if you were into that kind of thing. Cute in a backcountry, shotgun-swamp-wedding sort of way. It was…? The word Nate was looking for was—

“Homey,” Xiomara observed flatly, ultimately failing (but trying nonetheless, which was big of her) to hide the note of distaste in her tone. She and Nate were dawdling at the back of the venue uncomfortably as they scoped out a place to sit that wouldn’t, like, completely suck.

“How about over there with…” Nate started to suggest, spotting the back of Loxley’s head and Piper Oliver’s technicolor hair. But at the venomous glare his girlfriend fixed on him, Nate pivoted quickly to: “…um, Ruma?”

The hedge witch and hypnotherapist had allegedly been invaluable in helping to repair much of the mental damage that Dona’s fiancé had suffered, when his mental wards were dismantled. Xi pursed her lips, considering, and then gave a stiff nod when she deemed her own therapist’s company to be the option that was least appalling.

She walked toward the empty seats near Ruma, and Nate followed. But before he could sit down, someone caught his arm.

It was Harriet, and unlike the other bridesmaids (Dona’s flatmates) who were awaited to stand up next to the bride in dresses of rich honey-gold, Nate’s sister was wearing a suit. Not entirely unlike the one Nate was wearing, actually; Harriet had been stealing from his closet less abashedly, these days.

If Harriet hadn’t had the stupid bridesmaid obligations, sitting next to her would have been a no-brainer.

“Don wants to see you,” Harriet said with a hint of impatience—like it was Nate’s fault things were being held up despite him knowing nothing about it. Which—fair, he guessed.

“…now?” Nate said skeptically. And his sister’s I-really-don’t-have-time-for-your-stupid-questions look was all the answer Nate needed.

He told Xi he would be right back, and then made his way to a back room that was being guarded by Dona’s maid of honor—the annoying flatmate, with the long dark hair. Tall boots that went above her knee were visible beneath the long slit in her dress. Nate was pretty sure Xiomara knew her.

The Gryffindor’s arms were akimbo and she was glaring absolute murder at Nate before he’d even said a word, which like—what the fuck, honestly? He opened his mouth to say something, but instead the girl stepped right up to him and shoved a finger into his chest. “Just so you know, asshole—I think this is a really stupid idea and I don’t support it at all. To be frank, I don’t even know why you and Xi were invited. But, this is Dona’s day, and what she says goes, and if you do one single thing to disrupt from her happiness today, god help me I will have one of my many undead friends rip out your stupid throat and gorge themselves on your blood. Got it?”

“Um—sure?” Was all that Nate could think to say to this, and after another minute of staring him down, she finally let him through.

“So, your maid of honor is a psychopath…” Nate said as he entered the bridal suite, in lieu of an entrance line. And now that Nate was in here, what he really wanted to do was just fuck what the crazy Gryffindor had said, and give his cousin his big speech about all the reasons why this wedding was seriously not a good idea…

But then Dona turned around and faced Nate, and fuck, she looked—breathtaking. She was fucking beaming at Nate in a way that lit up her whole face—a smile Nate had certainly not earned the right to have bestowed upon him, in all the many years of disappointing and upsetting his cousin that they’d lived through to get here. No one smiled at Nathaniel Pinnock that way—and he expected no one else ever would.

Her hair was done up in the most stunning, intricate braids, which were coiled at the top of her head like a crown, the long lace of her veil nestled beneath. And her modest gown was a rich ivory that made her skin seem to glow, dark and radiant like she kept a living sun locked inside her body.

Nate was rendered speechless, and Dona smiled with kindness and humble affection at the moronic look on his face.

“You look great, Dona,” Nate said, finally. And that wasn’t enough—never enough.

“Thanks…” she replied, fidgeting with the bateau neckline of her gown. And even though her experiences had hardened the once-innocent Healer, made her bolder—the old Dona peeked through, for a moment, in her nervous blush. “…I know it’s last minute, Nate, but—I need you to do me a favor.”

“Sure, anything,” Nate said, without hesitation. And it was true.

Then Dona took a deep breath, and she said, “I need someone to walk me down the aisle, and give me away.”

Well, that wasn’t what he was expecting. Nate raised up his hands, shifting back. “Dona, I...I mean, why would you—surely Aunt Cat should be the one to—”

“My mom needs to sit out there with yours—to take care of her, so she doesn’t get confused. So I want it to be you.” Nate shifted uncomfortably; sure, he could manage not being a total dick long enough to get through this thing without making a fuss. But this?

Dona’s big round eyes got even bigger and rounder, and she said: “…please, Nate?”

Well, shit. He heaved a long and dramatic sigh, and then smirked. “Fine, fine. But the whole puppy-dog face is a cheap fucking shot, and you know it.”

And then Dona threw herself at Nate to give him a crushing hug, and Nate, despite himself, found that he was smiling.

[nerdthatsiriuslylovesteaxx]

Helpless part 42, I wish that you would stay in my memories

His only thought was fuck, he still held on to the hope that they hadn't known about the smoking because he need it to keep him sane right now. What the fuck was he going to do, he knew he was going to have to convince the therapist he was fine, that wouldn't be too hard but Kayla's stubborn as fuck and Piper could charmspeak him. He'd kept himself alive for this long, he was fine, he didn't need help, he was fine with the sleep deprivation and not eating, it was easy for him and there wasn't enough time in a day to waste on things that could easily been erased with the correct combination of magic and science. He wanted to do something, anything, he just wanted to feel something that wasn't constant anxiety, he knew Kay would find out somehow but he couldn't care anymore. He slipped off his hoodie, the raw skin and scars stared back at him, blood was still staining his skin from the night before, weak, that's what he was. Too many people already knew, did Nico know? He probably did, that's why he was trying to convince him to take a break, fuck. Will didn't exactly remember the night before, he was higher than the fucking sun and just remembered Nico showing up, he remembers crying, he remembers smoking and he remembers waking up next to Nico, that was it. He took out the lighter that was still in his pocket, flicking it on, holding it over the scarred skin, he felt the sting but he needed it because he knew in himself that he didn't deserve this, he didn't deserve to be here while he hurt people, he let children die, all because he wasn't strong enough, his magic and years of practice hadn't meant anything. He was useless. The son of Apollo thought back to that night on the bridge, the night with Annabeth, wondering what would have happened if he jumped and why he didn't back then. His arm stung but he didn't get rid of the lighter; Kayla, Austin and every other Apollo child, that was why he didn't jump, he didn't jump because he didn't want to hurt them more than they were already hurt, he didn't want them to lose another older brother. He flicked the lighter off, he wasn't going to put them through that again, as much as he hated himself and as much as he hated this he would get help, if only for them. He was head of Apollo cabin and he needed to start taking responsibility, needed to help the new kids adjust, be there for anyone who needs him not as a doctor but as a brother. Will was getting help because no matter how much he hated himself, no matter how worthless he was, he needed to be there for them.

***

[demigodsanswer]

So, Clarisse is back in the PT room, making sure Beck is getting better and Annabeth doesn't re-injure herself. What is Chris up to?

He's a principal at NYCB, and he dacned Carousel with Annabeth in the Winter. He's a principal because I accidentally made all the other boys except Beck soloists, and all of the girls except Katie and Piper principals, so we needed more principal boys in the universe.

Now, does he frequent the PT office even when he's not hurting? Sure. Does one of the physical therapists reminds him of his favorite female rugby player? Maybe. Is he going to ask her out one of these days? Who's to say.