#told us to go and they can't just suddenly charge you money to walk through public places just to get where you're going! it's just like.

[katya-goncharov]

today i acted kind of karen like in public for about the first time in my life, and i'm honestly still astonished at myself

[bechloeislegit]

Is This God's Way of Testing Me? Chapter 4

Aubrey didn't immediately respond. Instead, she got up from her chair and walked to the door. She opened it and looked out. Then, seeing the man she was looking for, she called out to him.

"Detective Harris?"

"Yes, ma'am," Detective Harris said, turning toward Aubrey.

"May I hear the tape made of Beca, uh, Mrs. Mitchell's meeting with Mr. Walp?"

"Of course," Detective Harris said. "I'll need a minute."

"That's fine," Aubrey said and went back into the room and sat down.

Beca sat next to her, chewing on her thumbnail as her leg bounced up and down under the table.

Detective Harris came into the room, carrying a laptop. He placed the laptop on the table and tapped a few keys, and suddenly they could hear Chicago's voice through the laptop's speakers.

"Right on time," Chicago said.

There was the sound of something hitting the ground.

"That's when I tossed the bag with the money at his feet," Beca narrated.

"Are you ready to give up the custody case and terminate your parental rights to Sophie?" Beca's voice came through the speakers.

"No problem," Chicago said.

A rustling sound was heard.

"He's checking the bag," Beca explained.

"Is it all there?"

"Yes," Beca responded. "Two hundred and fifty thousand, just like you asked."

"A quarter-million dollars for a daughter I never wanted," Chicago said. "Not a bad deal."

"You're pathetic," Beca said. "I'm still trying to figure out what Chloe ever saw in you."

The sound of footsteps could be heard as if someone were walking away.

"Hey!" Beca's voice called out. "Don't think for one minute you can come back for more later. A quarter of a million dollars to drop the custody suit and stay out of Chloe and Sophie's lives forever. That was the deal."

"I may not be Father of the Year, but I am a man of my word. That was the deal we made, and I stand by it," Chicago responded.

"Thank you. That's all I needed to hear."

There was a sudden flurry of sounds and voices calling out, "Drop the bag and put your hands up!"

"Chicago Walp, you are under arrest for coercion," another voice said.

"What the Hell?" Chicago could be heard saying. "You bitch! You set me up!"

"You set yourself up, asshole," Beca responded.

"That's when they put the handcuffs on him and took him away," Beca said.

"It doesn't sound like you said or did anything wrong," Aubrey told Beca. "Detective, has someone from the DA's office heard this?"

"They have," Detective Harris said. "The tape and Ms. Mitchell's testimony should put Walp away for a minimum of one year up to a maximum of three years. The DA is proceeding with filing coercion charges against Walp as we speak. I believe they will ask for the maximum time allowed under the law."

"What about Beca?" Aubrey asked. "Any reason to believe she may be charged with something?"

"No, ma'am," Detective Harris said. "The DA believes the case is strong against Walp and doesn't foresee any charges being brought against Mrs. Mitchell. She did the right thing by calling us as soon as he asked for money to give up his daughter. So as far as we're concerned, Mrs. Mitchell is free to go."

"Thank you," Beca said as she and Aubrey stood.

~~ Is This God's Way of Testing Me? ~~

Beca and Aubrey filled Chloe and Stacie in on everything that had transpired that morning.

"So, it's over?" Chloe asked. "Chicago will go to jail and can't bother us anymore?"

"Yes," Beca quickly responded.

"Hold on a second because it's not that simple," Aubrey said. "If Chicago pleads guilty, he will be sentenced to one to three years in jail. The actual length he'll serve will depend on what the DA recommends and within the Judge's discretion. But, if he pleads not guilty, there will be a trial. And everyone sitting here, as well as Amy, could be called as witnesses."

"All of us?" Stacie asked. "Even you?"

"It would be a conflict of interest since I have an attorney/client relationship with Chloe and Beca, so I doubt the judge would allow it," Aubrey responded.

"Let's hope Chicago does the right thing and pleads guilty," Chloe said.

"I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for that to happen," Beca said. "He hasn't done the right thing by you or Sophie in the past three-and-a-half years."

"We just have to be prepared for every contingency," Aubrey said. "I'll be by your side through the entire thing. Whether as a friend or your lawyer will depend on how things go."

Beca took Chloe's hand and looked at Aubrey.

"I'm sure I speak for both of us when I say thank you for all you've done and all you're doing for us, Aubrey," Beca said sincerely.

Chloe squeezed Beca's hand in support. She then smiled and nodded at Aubrey.

"Beca does speak for me in that regard, Brey," Chloe said. "I couldn't ask for anyone better to be on our side."

~~ Is This God's Way of Testing Me? ~~

Two days later, Aubrey was notified that Chicago Walp had pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. She asked Beca and Chloe to come to her office so she could discuss what their roles might be during the trial itself.

Beca and Chloe were quiet as Aubrey told them about Chicago pleading not guilty.

"So, there's going to be a trial?" Beca asked.

"Yes," Aubrey said. "The DA will want to meet with each of you to begin prep for the trial. It will most likely be several months before the trial starts, and there is a long list of things that need to be done before then."

"What kind of things?" Chloe asked.

"Witness interviews, evidence verification, and many mundane things like that," Aubrey said. "Plus, I'm sure there will be pre-trial motions from the Defense that will have to be addressed."

"So, what do we do until the DA calls us in?" Chloe asked.

"We wait," Aubrey said. "And, don't talk to anyone else about the case, especially the press. We don't want Walp's lawyer using that to try for a mistrial or having the case thrown out."

Beca and Chloe were both quiet on the ride home from Aubrey's office. Chicago's lawyer held his first press conference a few days later and alleged that pop singer Beca Mitchell had offered to buy Sophie from her biological father. Only a few reporters attended the press conference, but news reports were coming out less than 24 hours later stating that Beca was involved in a "baby-selling" scheme.

After the news got out, Beca feared for her and her family's safety with the way the paparazzi ambushed them every time they left the safety of their home. The studio hired bodyguards for Beca, Sophie, and Chloe. If they went anywhere as a family, they would have at least two bodyguards with them to ensure their safety.

Chloe balked at having bodyguards at first. Then she saw a news story where the paparazzi had cornered Beca and one of her bodyguards. The bodyguard did his best to protect Beca, but they were surrounded and were pushed and shoved against a car. Chloe could see real panic and fear in Beca's eyes through the television screen. If a couple of the studio's security guards hadn't intervened, Beca and her bodyguard could have been seriously hurt. She didn't want to be out alone with Sophie and have something like that happen to them, so from that moment on, Chloe accepted the bodyguards that followed her and Sophie everywhere they went.

Beca and Chloe tried to keep their daily lives as normal as possible for Sophie's sake as they anxiously awaited the start of Chicago's trial. Unfortunately, Sophie picked up on her mothers' anxiety and had become extra clingy, especially with Beca. She would cry every time Beca was out of her sight. She would get so upset that she often made herself sick from crying.

Beca started working from home more since neither she nor Chloe knew what else to do to help Sophie.

It had been a month of Beca working at home with the paparazzi constantly camped outside when she looked out one Saturday morning and didn't see any paparazzi lurking about.

"I guess they found something better to take up their time," Beca muttered.

"Do you think they're really gone?" Chloe asked, looking out as well.

"For now, at least," Beca said, turning to face Chloe. "Let's get out of the house. We can take Sophie to that park over by Aubrey's. I'm sure Sophie will like getting out for a while. I know I'd like that."

"That's a great idea," Chloe said. "I'll ask Brey if she and Stacie want to bring Bella and meet us. Then, we can visit with her and Stacie while Sophie and Bella play."

"That's a great idea," Beca said. "You call Aubrey, and I'll get Sophie ready."

"Okay," Chloe said.

~~ Is This God's Way of Testing Me? ~~

Aubrey and Stacie were already at the park with Bella when the Mitchells and two bodyguards arrived. Bella ran over and hugged Sophie.

"Come on, Sophie," Bella squealed. "Let's play."

"Okay," Sophie said, squealing as she ran off with Bella.

"Stay where we can see you," Chloe called out.

One of the bodyguards followed after Sophie, while the other remained close to Chloe and Beca.

After ensuring the two girls were okay, the two couples greeted each other with hugs, and I miss yous. After the initial greetings, they sat on a bench and caught up on everyday life.

Beca and Chloe were on high alert, but once they determined there were no paparazzi around, they relaxed and enjoyed their time with Aubrey and Stacie.

Aubrey and Chloe chatted while they pushed their daughters on the swings.

"You guys should come to ours for lunch," Aubrey said. "We can have a cookout. I'm sure Bella would love to have Sophie over so they can play more."

"That sounds like fun," Chloe said. "Let me check with Beca to see if she had anything else planned for this afternoon."

~~ Is This God's Way of Testing Me? ~~

Later, the two couples were sitting around the Posen's back deck after lunch, chatting quietly. Sophie and Bella were running around the yard, squealing and having a good time.

Beca's phone pinged with a text from Theo. She opened the link Theo had sent and sighed.

"Would you guys mind keeping an eye on Sophie?" Beca asked Aubrey as she stood. "I need to talk to Chloe about something."

Chloe looked over at Beca. "Is everything okay?"

"Um," Beca mumbled, looking at Aubrey and Stacie. "Maybe you guys should hear this, too. Theo sent me a video of a press conference that Chicago's lawyer had earlier today."

"What was it about?" Chloe asked.

"You," Beca responded.

"Me?" Chloe asked. "What about me?

Beca walked over, handing Chloe her phone with the video ready to play.

Chloe watched the video and gasped. "How dare they!"

"Don't let it get to you, babe," Beca said, kneeling in front of Chloe with her hands on her knees. "Nobody's going to believe that shit."

"But, they're saying that I set Chicago up because I'm upset that he broke off our affair," Chloe said as a tear fell down her cheek. "They're saying I cheated on you, Beca! It's out there for everyone to see, and it won't matter if I deny it because they're going to believe it."

"Chlo," Beca said, leaning up to pull her into a hug. "We both know it's not true. Anyone that knows you, who knows us, won't believe it. Trust me; we will get through this together."

"Can I see the video?" Aubrey asked.

Beca sat back on her heels as Chloe reached out and handed Aubrey Beca's phone. Aubrey pressed play, and Stacie leaned in to watch the video as well.

"This has gone on for too long," Chloe said, wiping her eyes. "Brey, is there anything I, we, can do about all the lies and crap Chicago's lawyer keeps putting out there? Beca's reputation, our reputations are taking a beating, and I feel like we should do something."

"Didn't you tell us not to discuss the case with anyone, including the press?" Beca asked. "Shouldn't that go for all parties involved?"

"It should, but-"

"They are only doing this because Beca is famous," Stacie interrupted.

"I agree," Aubrey said, nodding her head. "And, the only thing I can think to do is talk to the DA's office about getting the judge to issue a gag order to keep anyone involved in the case from talking about it outside the courtroom. That should put an end to the press conferences. Also, since Stacie got called in as a defense witness, you shouldn't talk about it with her either."

Stacie scoffed. "I still don't understand why I would be called as a witness for the defense. I thought I'd be on the DA's witness list, if anything."

"I tried to get it quashed," Aubrey said. "But I was denied. The defense only called you as a witness because you were there when Chicago showed up at their house late at night to see Chloe. You witnessed Beca's reaction to him being there and kicking Chloe out of the car, and they will use that to show there was a rift in their relationship. Which then led to Chloe having an affair with Chicago."

Beca and Chloe both scoffed at this. Aubrey raised her hand to stop them from saying anything as she continued.

"This is all speculation on my part, but I think Chicago most likely told his lawyer about that incident at the house and then told him that Beca called him the next day to offer Chicago money to go away and leave Chloe alone. The tape made during the money drop will be used by both sides, with different interpretations of what led up to it. The defense will twist everything to make it seem like Chicago was set up and is the victim in all this. It could cause doubt in the minds of the jurors."

"This is exactly what I was afraid of," Beca said, sitting on the ground and holding her head in her hands.

~~ Is This God's Way of Testing Me? ~~

It took a few days before the DA could get before a judge. The judge issued the gag order for all parties involved in Chicago's trial. Chloe was pleased, but Beca was still filled with guilt for what she did that caused Chloe and their friends to be involved in it all. She was constantly berating herself for not letting Aubrey handle everything through the legal channels available to them.

That same night, Chloe woke and reached for Beca. She sat up frowning when all she felt was an empty space where Beca had been lying. Chloe quietly got out of bed and went to look for Beca and check on Sophie. She noticed Beca's office light and made her way to the door. She listened for a moment and thought she heard sniffling.

"Beca?" Chloe said quietly, pushing the door open so as not to startle Beca.

Chloe's heart clenched when she saw Beca sitting at her desk with tears streaming down her face.

"Oh, baby," Chloe said, rushing to Beca's side. She took Beca's face in her hands and wiped the tears from her face. "Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not okay, Chlo," Beca sniffled. "I've made a mess of things. When Chicago asked for two-hundred and fifty-thousand dollars to drop the custody case, I thought calling the police was the right thing to do, but now? Now I'm afraid he will turn everything around and blame me. I should have left well enough alone and let Aubrey handle him. We could lose Sophie because I had to do things my way."

"Baby, we're not going to lose Sophie," Chloe said, pulling Beca to her and wrapping her arms around Beca's shoulders. "There's no way Aubrey, or you and I, will let that happen."

"But I screwed up," Beca said, pulling back from Chloe to look at her.

"No," Chloe said, looking Beca in the eyes. "Chicago screwed up, not you. And once the trial starts and we get a chance to tell our side, he'll go to jail, and we won't have to worry about him or anyone else taking Sophie away from us. I promise you that."

Chloe stood, grabbing Beca's hands and bringing her up with her. "What do you say we go to bed?"

Beca wiped her face and let Chloe lead her out of her office.

"Mama!" Sophie's voice cried out, causing Beca to stop and move toward Sophie's bedroom.

"I'll check on her," Chloe said, pulling Beca back. "You go wash your face. You don't want to scare Sophie with your wild raccoon eyes, do you?"

Beca chuckled and pulled Chloe to her. She gave her a quick kiss and swatted her on the ass as Chloe moved past her to get to Sophie's room. Chloe's ensuing giggle soothed Beca in a way she would never be able to describe.

"Hey, baby girl," Beca heard Chloe say as she entered Sophie's room.

Beca smiled softly and went into their hall bathroom to throw some water on her face.

~~ Is This God's Way of Testing Me? ~~

The trial was just over two weeks away, and the ADA asked Beca and Chloe to come to her office for some pre-trial preparation. Aubrey met with the couple to give them some insight on what to expect during the meeting. Beca sat with her leg bouncing up and down.

"Stop worrying, Beca," Aubrey told her. "ADA Madison is one of the best ADAs L.A. has. She'll walk you through the questions she's planning to ask, and she'll probably have one of her colleagues act as the Defense Attorney and ask you questions they believe the defense will ask. The Defense Attorney will try and fluster you or get you angry. You need to keep your cool no matter what they ask."

"What kind of things is the Defense allowed to ask?" Chloe asked.

"Just about everything pertaining to the case is on the table," Aubrey said. "He'll try to play up your supposed affair with Chicago-"

"I am not having an affair with Chicago!"

"And I thought Beca was going to be the one I needed to worry about," Aubrey said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "What part of keep your cool are you not understanding, Chloe?"

"Sorry," Chloe said meekly. "I just don't like being accused of something I didn't do."

"Join the club," Beca muttered.

"What?" Chloe asked, looking at Beca.

"I said join the club," Beca responded. "Now you know how I felt every time you got angry with me because of something you saw in a magazine insinuating that I was cheating on you."

"That was different," Chloe huffed.

"Different? How?" Beca asked.

"I was trying to deal with Chicago during that time. And I know you weren't cheating on me. I just."

Chloe stopped talking as tears came to her eyes.

"You just what?" Beca asked softly.

"I screwed up, okay?" Chloe said as a tear fell. "Is that what you want to hear? I should have told you about Chicago and his threats of a custody suit when he first approached me. I'm sorry I didn't. If I had, we wouldn't be in this predicament right now. I'm so so sorry."

Chloe put her head in her hands and cried. Beca reached over and pulled Chloe into a hug.

"It's okay," Beca whispered while rubbing her back. "We both made mistakes. It's what we do from here on that matters." Beca looked over at Aubrey. "So, when is our meeting with the ADA, and are you going with us?"

"The meeting is tomorrow at two," Aubrey said. "And, yes, as your lawyer, I'll be going with you."

~~ Is This God's Way of Testing Me? ~~

"Mrs. and Mrs. Mitchell, thank you for coming in," ADA Madison said as Beca and Chloe entered her office with Aubrey. "I know you're all busy and have things to do, so we'll try and get through this as quickly as possible. Before we start, do you have any questions?"

"Aubrey, um, Miss Posen, said you might have someone here to ask us questions the defense may ask," Chloe said. "Will that happen today? Or will we have to come back?"

"My colleague, Jack Maxwell, should be here any-"

Suddenly, a man came rushing in, apologizing for being late.

"It's okay," ADA Madison said. "We've barely started."

ADA Maxwell sat down and looked around the table.

"Let me make the formal introductions," ADA Madison said. "Ladies, this is ADA Jack Maxwell. Jack, these are Beca and Chloe Mitchell, and this is Aubrey Posen, the Mitchells' lawyer."

"Mrs. Mitchell," ADA Maxwell said, nodding at Beca before turning to Chloe. "Mrs. Mitchell."

"Um," Beca said, drawing his attention. "To avoid any confusion, I'm Beca, and she's Chloe."

Jack nodded, saying, "I'm guessing Dianne has already told you that I'll be taking on the role of the Defense Attorney."

Beca and Chloe nodded.

"Okay, let's get started," ADA Madison said. "Um, Chloe, we'll start by calling you first. I want to run through how Mr. Walp came back into your life because that's how this all got started, right?"

"Right," Chloe said, nodding her head.

"Should I be a part of this?" Beca asked. "Don't I have to stay out of the courtroom while she's on the stand, so I don't hear what she says? So, it won't taint my testimony or something like that?"

"Watch a lot of legal shows, do ya?" ADA Maxwell asked, looking at Beca and chuckling softly.

Beca glared at him.

"Don't do that," ADA Madison said, looking at Beca. "The defense will say things like that to get a rise out of you. So don't take the bait."

"To answer your question," ADA Maxwell said. "In some cases, we might request that witnesses wait outside the courtroom, but we haven't made that request for this case, and neither has the defense. So, you can be in the room while your wife is giving her testimony."

"Oh, okay," Beca said. "Thank you."

"Let's move on," ADA Madison said. "A few things to remember. Dress appropriately for court; no jeans, shorts, tank tops, or t-shirts. Don't take anything to the stand with you. Try not to fidget and don't give any indication that you find the question objectionable or stupid. When you answer, be truthful and don't elaborate unless I or the defense ask you a follow-up question asking for more. These are suggestions, and they are directed at both of you. Jack, did I leave anything out?"

"I think you've covered everything," Jack responded.

"Great," Dianne said. "Chloe, I'll start with you since you'll be our first witness."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Next up, Chicago's trial starts.

[multifandom-girlie]

𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐨𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟓

Imagine: “Could I request a Daniel Gillies smut like they are both at the comic con(they are both in the originals) and he is teasing her while he answers a question ? Or makes fun with Joseph and he says some dirty things.” Requested by @elijahspersonalwifeyyy .

Pairing: Daniel Gillies x Reader

Warnings: Smut

Words:

Edited: Yes

A/N: I apologise @elijahspersonalwifeyyy for the incredibly long wait. I’ve had this lined up to post but with coursework and writing so much at the same time, it’s made it difficult but I refuse to quit. I’m not a quitter. I’m also not a person to announce a hiatus. Either way, hope you enjoyed ! There is a lot to read I know but we needed a build up and this is one of my favourite comic cons ever, I wanted to do the before hand scenes either way so. Don’t forget to check out my new story “On The Way” !

All of us at the current moment in time were stood backstage waiting to be called on. I couldn't tell you how irritated I was when I went on after Joseph and then Daniel followed. They were both irritating enough to me together anyway but they were in a particularly annoying mood today and I was not prepared for it.

“The man who will break your heart and then rip it out and then probably eat it. Joseph Morgan.”

The whole audience cheered as he walked on and he waved quite casually as he did. 

“The women who brings all men to there knees but still can't find anything better to do than drink wine. Y/N Y/L/N”

I giggled as I walked out and I saw the audience screaming and Joseph giving me a mischievous look.

“The brother with a suit for every occasion. Daniel Gillies as Elijah.”

He walked out, threw me a quick smirk and blew a kiss to the audience as they screamed. He pulled his chair out and smiled at everyone.

“Nice jacket.”

“Yeah. Give it up for this jacket ! Huh ? Out of a suit and into a smoking hot jacket.”

“I know right, the one time he's not wearing a suit.”

“Thank you. It was actually a gift from Y/N.”

“Aw that’s super sweet Y/N.”

“Thank you. It was actually a gift for our anniversary.”

“Really ? How many years ?”

“Seven.”

“and very sweet.”

He called the rest of our costars out and we continued on with the panel.

After the host had started the panel with a question for Julie and Michael, it was now a group question for me, Joseph and Phoebe.

“Uh now going to the show, we've seen Klaus and Lily and Klaus and Hayley kind of trying the uh co-parenting thing and it did not really go so well as we all saw. How is Klaus going to be as a parent now that Hayley isn't around and Lily and Elijah have reconciled ?”

As soon as the question was asked, we all turned to Joseph.

“Uh you know, before he alienated his whole family by toasting Elijah's girlfriend, sleeping with his wife and and and cursing the women he thought he was in love with um Klaus survived under this sort of umbrella of Elijah's protection and forgiveness I suppose and so Elijah was always a voice of reason and Hayley was always there to battle it out with him. So, I would say badly. He's gonna do badly as a single parent you know and I think he knows he's kinda messing it up but he's trying. At least he's trying. You gotta give him that. Even if he's warping the minds of his two daughters, one before she's even uttered a syllable and the other before she get's old enough to realise that Klaus and Lily aren't actually together you know like she’s thought for years.”

“Geez. So uh how are are Lily, Elijah and Klaus going to tell her ? Who's going to be the one that does it or will they all do it together ?”

I decided to answer this questions, being more involved with the story line of my children.

“I think that Lily will have to be the one to tell her and whilst doing so will definitely have to be quite cautious when telling Sofia, you know not only because she's only 7 years old but also because she’s thought of Elijah as her Uncle her whole life- and although that hasn't changed it's still going to be difficult since this latest revelation is that, her Uncle Elijah that she adores oh so much is now also 'mommy's boyfriend' or in more formal terms her step-dad. So I think she's going to be confused and it might be quite difficult for her at first but I think she’s mature for her age and that she will understand quite quickly that, Mommy and Daddy aren't together and that despite realizing that her mom was married to her uncle I think she will quickly appreciate the fact we told her because of her understanding personality. “

Daniel quickly leaned forward and spoke before the host could ask another question.

“The moral of the story is, don't sleep with your husband's brother. Especially when not using protection and then deciding to get back together with your husband before trying to force him to sign the divorce papers.”

The whole room suddenly echoed with loud laughter and I couldn't stop giggling myself despite being offended for my character. I hit his arm playfully. He grinned at me and rested his hand on my leg as the room calmed down and he slouched back in his chair a little.

“Very true. So, I mean he can always just compel a few dozen nannies but he does have Elijah there to help him co-parent you know not just with Sofia but with Hope. I'm thinking like shared schedules, late night feedings...Whose doing what ?”

“It’s like we both wake up and the baby is crying and it's like, are you going to get her or am I ? Alright, I'll get her.”

“Yeah no it's gonna be me. I'm gonna do the graveyard shift, I know that all to well. But we gotta remember too, Lily and Freya are going to be doing a large share of the work.”

“Oh yeah, they can do it. There you go.”

I giggled and hit Joseph in the shoulder for the comment.

“Sexist.”

“No, come on. Lily's already been through this twice she knows’ what she's doing and Freya's Switzerland at this moment in time, I think for both of us to be in there...I’m gonna stop talking.”

We all chuckled at Daniel's comment.

                                               *

“Now we're going to go to audience questions in just a little bit but first I wanted to do something fun. I know it's not the holiday's and I know we don't have a big ass bonfire in front of us but I thought it would be quite fun if everybody kinda thinks about a wish for their character for the future, just throw it in the imaginary bonfire.”

“Well, I'm a human....so I just want to stay alive.”

“Good answer.”

“Oh I forgot you weren't a character.”

“I have wishes for everybody but I don't have a character.”

“I do wish for Julie that Supernatural Judge Judy becomes her next spin off and Exploding Ovaries is the title of Daniel Gillies' next memoir. 

“A wish for Hayley would be that Hope can live a normal, happy existence. I think would be what she would want the most.”

“That’s very sweet.”

“Thank you. That's it, I'm done.”

“Uh, I think for Elijah...I mean other than wishing that his girlfriend's wouldn't be incinerated or his wife doesn't sleep with his brother again...”

I giggled at Daniel's comment, despite his comment towards my character and spoke with Joseph, simultaneously. 

“Oh, come on.”

“I'm not letting that one go easily. So, uh...I would wish for him. Oh man. I wish for him, I’m actually wishing for something dark, like I sort of would wish for...a great division between the brothers before reconciliation.”

“So that's how it's going to be.”

“So, my wish for Lily is um...to finally find that bloody fertility spell that she's been looking for, for centuries. So that her and Elijah can have children of their own which they want more than anything and move somewhere outside of New Orleans in a nice family home, away from the drama.”

“That’s very sweet.”

“Uh, I wish everyone would just do what Klaus says because he's always right. He knows what he's doing. It's for the greater good. Come on. Get on board with his plans. Everything will be alright in the end. Not everyone will be alright in the end but everything will be alright in the end. Right ?”

“Um, I wish Marcel would cross over. No.”

“I wish for more of your cleavage.”

I couldn't help but laugh a little when he says comments like that. Even though it wasn't directed at me, I knew the double meaning behind it. Daniel has not taken his eyes away from my chest today. That's what breast feeding does to you, I suppose. When Daniel picked my outfit this morning, I was glad. I was going to wear some leather pants and a red blouse with some heels but he somehow convinced me to wear a dress. God was I glad, I actually listened to him. It was hot in San Diego summer heat and I underestimated a little when I decided on leather pants. 

“Yeah. We gonna get some dollar bills. Let's see some ones. Tryna make some money out here. Somebody, put on some Usher. Slow jam. Uh yeah...”

“I have a twenty. What can we get for a twenty ?”

“Break it up. Break it up.”

“Make it into ones and let's make it rain.”

“If I throw loose change at you, can I make it hail ?”

“Alright, moving on. Next subject.”

“Um, Davina is a witch and I think it would be really cool if she could fly. So, whether it's a broomstick or something else...I still think it would be really cool.”

“That’s a good one. Um, mines pretty selfish. I hate shaving, so I wish we could work something in so Vincent could have like a huge beard.”

“I changed my mind, I want superpowers as well. Three one foot long, retractable adamantine claws from each hand please.”

”Why is the camera on me ? I wanna fly. I wanna see these guys fly. I want them charging up walls and...we don’t have the budget for that. I wanna see more vampirey stuff. Why am I wishing again ? I exhausted my wish.”

“You guys can make as many wishes as you want. This is your made up tradition.”

“It’s raining wishes on you.”

“Raining for your wishes.”

“God this is embarrassing.”

“T it up.”

“T what up ?”

“What do your need for a rain of wishes ?”

“What happens when it rains ?”

“An umbrella.”

“What ?”

“An umbrella, sweetheart.”

He closed his eye in frustration and dropped his upper half into my lap, whilst we all laughed at his slow mind.

“Oh shit. Umbrella. So sorry, so sorry.”

“The rain, the umbrella...”

“Dropping hints. Awesome, alright well let’s turn it over to some audience questions.”

                                               *

“Hi, my name is Julia and first I'd like to say, I love you all. Especially Joseph Morgan and Danielle Campbell.”

“Thanks. Thanks a lot.”

“Don’t worry, I love you Daniel.”

He squeezes my thigh and leans in to kiss my head. Before deciding to move his arm around my shoulders and hugging me into his side. I rested my hand on his thigh as I hugged him back.

“I love you too, beautiful.”

I blushed and smiled, whilst the audience all awed. Which prompted the red in my cheeks to darken. I sat back up straight and he returned his hand back my thigh, yet this time a little higher up and whilst stroking the fabric of my dress up my thigh.

“My question is for the whole cast and it is, if you were able to play another role...who would you wanna play ?”

“On our show ? Or just in general ?”

“Yeah. On The Originals.”

“I..I think I would choose Hayley. The Hyrbid female. She's a pretty cool character. Your welcome.”

“Um, I would play...Klaus. Mind you probably better but...”

“I don't wanna play anybody else, I wanna play Elijah.”

“I would play, Elijah....purely because it would be an absolute blessing to wake up that hot everyday and he's a pretty awesome character.”

He smirked at me and moved his hand further up my leg, his fingers now resting at the hem of my white lace thong. I gulped a little but held my composure. It seemed hat every time I complimented him, he got further up my leg and closer to my core. Like a game...and I was more than happy to play.

“If...If I had to absolutely play someone else uh, I would play Oliver because I just think he needs to be brought back to the show...and uh #saveollie. Bring him back !”

“Uh, I would play Elijah because I think I look damn good in a suit.”

“Yeah, you do.”

“Buttoned up to the naval.”

“There we go. I know it's distracting for you, my body.”

“I cannot concentrate. I refuse to continue.”

“Um, I would play Genevieve. I thought she was a really cool character. She was a lot of fun to work with.”

“I see some Genevieve fans in the house, awesome.”

“Um, yeah I think I might choose Elijah too. I think uh, it's a really cool character that Daniel has created.”

“They both quietly believe they can bring more to the role, is what they’re saying. Not quietly, they're saying it to an audience of like three thousand.”

“Only because of what you've done with it Daniel.”

                                            *

“Hi Guys, wow that's loud. I'm so sorry, my name's Marissa. First, I want to say Daniel I watched saving hope and your death killed me. I'm so sorry that you died.”

“Yeah, tell me about it ! I was gutted.”

He squeezed my thigh a little more and started making circles with his finger on the spot closed to my core.

“Oh my goodness.”

Yeah, oh my goodness indeed. He really knew how to make a woman feel good, without hardly doing anything...quite literally.

“Um, so my question is for Julie and Michael. Um, I was wondering...there’s so much violence on the show and so much adult stuff and I was wondering if the network or the studio has ever told you, 'No you can't do that’ ?”

We all started laughing in reply to the questions.

“Oh, we have a story about that don't we...Leah.”

“I don't wanna tell the story again.”

“There's things that we did that couldn't be shown.”

“So here's the thing about broadcast television is that, apparently you can decapitate someone, you can drive a knife into a vampires skull, you can rip out their heart, you can shove a pencil up their nose, you can stab them a million times with glass but when stimulating a sex scene...if there's any movement at all that one would define as thrusting...”

“No thrusting. Pull back on the thrusting.”

“A motion that originates from the hip.”

Charles decided to get up and share a demonstration of thrusting and everyone on stage started laughing and the audience started to scream. Daniel gripped my thigh a little harder, due to jealously. I didn't have to ask him what the reason was, I already knew. At the best of times, he was not a jealous person. He loves and trusts me and Charles a lot and he knows nothing would happen but when he's horny and in need of some attention...he does get jealous. Understandably so, I know because we both do. His pinky finger then started to stroke me, through the lace of my pants.   

“It’s difficult because I don't actually remember thrusting being in the script. That was something the actors chose.”

“It was a creative choice. I mean, look at Charles...you would do the same thing. Also, let's not forget the originators of this little problem.”

The audience stayed silent, indicating that they weren't sure how to react to her last sentence. I leaned into Daniel and rested my forehead against his bicep in retaliation to Leah's comment. I couldn't stop giggling, despite the finger rubbing against my wet thong and the blush rising on my cheeks. Daniel was using his other hand to pinch his forehead, whilst chuckling.

“Come on guys, explain it.”

“So, what happened was we were doing the flashback sex scene of Elijah and Lily's wedding night. Daniel got a bit too excited and started to thrust a little and I tried hiding it by opening my legs a bit more.As I did, my underwear snapped because it wasn't as flexible as I thought. So, I had to pay a fine for showing too much skin because the sheets had come off of me a little and we hadn't realised. Not that it was much it was just a little side boob, still.”

“So, it wasn't the thrusting ?”

“No, ironically it wasn't.”

“Let me tell you. There was some excellent, simulated thrusting in those scenes. That was cut, per broadcast standards. While, I think in the same episode seventeen people got brutally massacred. It is what it is.”

“Some of the best thrusting. I hope it makes the special features.”

“Charles called Leah, for some extra rehearsal before hand.”

                                           *

“Hi I'm uh Skylar. Um, I know that between you there has been a myriad of different supernatural creatures. Uh, Phoebe...I think you've been a werewolf, a witch and a mermaid. Uh, in really life...What would you wanna be ?”

“Well, I would say witches because witches don't have to turn on a full moon and they don't have to be like plagued by vampire...the demon’s of vampires. They can just have all the power and really cute outfits...and if I can look more like Danielle Campbell. I'll take it.”

“H20 rocks!”

“Thank you ! Well actually I-Im gonna say a mermaid then. Like, life is better under the sea and I think I would be a mermaid.”

“I don't know-"

“Merman ?”

“Merman. No, I...um. I'm pretty pervy...so I'd say like invisibility.”

“Um, so I'm not pervy at all unlike Daniel. I do think that Heretics are soooo cool though. Like, they can do magic and they are vampires but still have all those human capabilities...like procreation. So, yeah a heretic.”

His hand stopped stroking me through the lace of my panties suddenly and I instantaneously felt a cold gush of air race up my well-shaved legs and punching me in my core. I felt the frayed edges of my lace tickling my upper thigh, where they shouldn't be. Hinting that my favourite pair of thongs had been snapped. I turned to Daniel and narrowed my eyes at him whilst he just continued the panel, like nothing happened. His hand when back to it’s original position resting on my thigh, clearly in punishment for making a comment about his pervy answer. 

“Nah, I'm happy where I am. You know, Hyrbid. Definitely not, invisibility. When I joined the show, I thought I was only gonna be a vampire so I was thrilled when I was a werewolf-vampire. I'm sticking to my guns.”

“I like being the token human. I'm just gonna like stay there. Create more mermen.”

“Season three, season of the mermen.”

“The next spin-off.”

“That would be so cool, let me be a mermaid. I would kill it .”

Joseph put his arm on the back of my chair, looking at me after I made my wish known to be a mermaid.

“You better not cum in the water.”

The entirety of the room ruptured into fits of laughter. Even Daniel, who had now moved his hand closer to my core again. Letting his fingers stroke my entrance. Meanwhile, I continued laughing...ignoring the feeling of my husband’s gentle and sensual touch. 

“I’m blushing.”

                                            *

“Hi, I'm Katie. If you were to go to Comic Con, on the floor. Is there anyone you would dress up as ?”

The first thought that came to mind was pleasing Daniel. If I said him there was no doubt he'd give in. The problem was, was it a risk I was willing to take...at a comic Con in front of three thousand fans and some of my closest friends.

“Daniel Gillies.”

Every one repeated my answer and whilst doing so I was discovering that I was unequivocally correct with my thought process. Sure enough, Daniel plunged his fingers straight into my entrance leaving me to deal with the resounding squeal that ripped from my throat. Causing Daniel to laugh at me, influencing Joseph to join in.

                                            *

The final question had just been answered by Daniel and I was leaning my head into Daniel's shoulder to help with controlling the moans erupting inside me. The warmth in my stomach has just appeared as quickly as it vanished again, Daniel had stopped and chuckled at my irritated expression. Nevertheless, I got up and shoved my now broken thongs in Daniel's jacket pocket and waved at the fans with a bright smile on my face as we all walked off. We had just got out of the fan's eyesight when a hand delivered a hard slap to my barely covered assume cheek as this dress was so short. I span around and grabbed his wrist before dragging him further backstage, behind a screen next to the dressing rooms.

“What do you think your doing ? Playing around like that during a panel and then not even letting me finish ?!”

I didn't even let him reply as I dragged his face down towards mine and kissed him lustfully. His hands wandered down to my waist and clutched the already tight fabric tighter around me. The other unoccupied hand drove down to my ass and clutched it, allowing the skirt to rise up. Exposing the bare skin of my cheek. I used one of my hands to undo his zipper before pulling his dick out and stroking it. Clearly, he was eager because before I knew it. I was pressed up against the wall, sticking my tongue down his throat and moving myself up and down on his already hard cock. What we hadn't realised that the screen had moved, as Daniel had knocked it with his foot when walking to the wall. He pulled away and smirked at me.

“You told me we wouldn't have public sex after last time.”

“This is the last time Mr Gillies, I'm promising you.”

We smiled at eachother and kept going against the wall. His tip caused some tension when arriving to a depth he hadn’t before but it was a pleasurable one most definitely. The lips of my pussy enveloped his tip and he ran it through my drenched folds before deciding to plunge into me once again. I was about to scream and he knew I wasn’t good at being quiet when he fucks me so good. I clung onto him hoping it would relieve tha ache he’d created by filling me so good. He sat down on a chair that was sat in a chair of the little area backstage. Sitting down, allowed his thrusts to speed up rapidly and his face to rest in between my smooth and nearly covered beasts. He bit my hardened buds through my dress and caused a shive of please to shoot down to my core and promoting me to burst.

I then decided to let go and couldn’t help but let out a gratifying scream for him. I was coming down from my high and the screen pulled back. A man that looked about 40, eyed us disgusted and told us to move it.

“Well atleast I won the deal ?”

“Remember the deal we had ? If I was right about is having sex in public again no matter how much you denied that we wouldn’t. Your were very adamant.#

*

MASTERLIST

[l-egionaire]

Owl House Fanfic - Can't Hurt Her

"Ha-ha! Not fast enough Luz-er!"

"Give it back!" 

Luz's cries fell on deaf ears as the large jock she'd been running at  tossed her Azura novel over her head and into the waiting arms of the cheerleader standing at the other end of the hall. Around them, a crowd of students laughed as Luz turned around and raced towards the cheerleader.

The whole mess had started just a few minutes ago. Luz had been walking through the halls,  her face deep in the latest Good Witch Azura book. She'd saved up for a month to get the special edition with the maps of Azura's home and exclusive wraparound cover art. Unfortunately, Luz had been so wrapped up in reading that she hadn't been paying attention to where she was walking and accidentally bumped into someone, causing her to fall to the ground. She looked up and, to her horror, saw that the person she’d walked into was Allison Greer.  Head cheerleader, most popular girl in school, and person who delighted in picking on her at every opportunity. Behind her was her usual entourage of jocks, cheerleaders, and other assorted cool kids.

Allison gave Luz her usual “your existence is bothering me” glare. “Watch where you’re going, Noceda.”

Hoping to avoid yet  another humiliating encounter with the girl, Luz muttered out an apology and quickly scrambled to pick up her things that had fallen to the floor. But before she could pick up her new Azura book, Allison snatched it up.

"Hey!"

Allison flipped open the book and rifled through the pages. "Jeeze, is this the kind of nerdy junk you’re always looking at?” In an overly dramatic and sarcastic tone she recited “Azura swept Hecate into her arms, her trembling fingers sweeping the hair out of Hecate’s face so that she could see her deep blue eyes. 'Oh Hecate! I’m so glad that you’re alright! I couldn’t bear to imagine life without you!' Allison and her friends all laughed. “Really riveting.”

Luz sighed, used to this kind of thing by now. “Can I just have it back please?”

Unfortunately for Luz, Allison’s face got the smirk she always had when she was about to do something mean. 

“Aw but I’m not done reading it. Although, it might be easier without this lame cover.” Allison used her manicured nails to begin scratching the cover off the book.

Luz panicked. “Stop!” She ran at Allison to try and take her book back but Allison noticed and threw the book over to one of the jocks near her causing Luz to turn around and go towards him instead.

This led to the humiliating game of back and forth Luz was currently engaged in. The crowd had gathered after a few minutes to indulge in her embarrassment.

After  charging the jock once more, only for him to chuck the book to Allison, Luz finally stopped in the middle area between them and cried to the cheerleader. “Please! Just give me my book back.”

Allison looked at her for a moment before sighing. “Fine.”

Luz’s chest filled with glee. She ignored the sound of the crowd groaning in disappointment and walked straight to Allison, her hands outstretched. “Thank you!”

But, rather than return the book to Luz, Allison once again gave her her signature evil smirk. Her eyes then locked on to something behind her.

“You know Noceda, I’ve got to admit. After only reading a few pages of this lame book, it seems like garbage. So...I’d say it belongs in the trash!”

With one last strong throw, Allison hurled the book into an arc in the air until it landed into an open garbage can.

Luz cried out in shock, “No!” She bolted to the trashcan and hurled herself halfway into it,  clawing through the trash to find her lost novel. After a few seconds, her hand found the books spine. But before she could pull herself out, she felt someone grab hold of her legs, lift them up, and stuffing her fully into the trash can before putting the lid on top of the can, leaving Luz surrounded by stink and trash.

Even from inside the can Luz could hear the rest of the students laughing at her.

"Well, that's two pieces of garbage that got thrown away." She heard Allison say.

                                                                 __

Luz trudged down the street, garbage juice soaked into her clothes and tears running down her face.

After managing to pull herself out of the garbage, Luz had unfortunately run into the school principal. She'd tried to explain what had happened with Allison but, as usual, he didn't believe her and assumed Luz had gone dumpster diving to look for elves or something else strange she usually did.  So he'd sent her home to change out of her dirty, smelly clothes. And worst of all, her brand new Azura book was ruined!

Beneath the sadness, humiliation, and pain Luz had stored up from today, one other emotion bubbled to the top.

Rage.

She couldn't do this anymore. She'd tried hard to ignore the bullying and just make the best of her school days but this was the last straw. She was going to call her mom, tell her what happened and she'd…..do something. Tell the principal to believe her? Pull her out of school? She didn't know. All Luz knew was that she couldn't keep pretending things were okay at school. She had to come clean.

Soon, Luz arrived at her house. She unlocked and opened the door only for her eyes to widen in shock at the sight of her mom sitting asleep upright on the couch, her head laid back and drool leaking from her mouth.

Luz walked over and gently shook her mother's arm. "Mamá?

Camila immediately shot awake and blinked tiredly around her before noticing Luz. "Whah!? Oh, ugh, I'm sorry Mija."

"Are you okay? What are you doing home so early?"

"Oh, I'm just tired. I've been working so much this week that I've barely gotten any sleep. " Camila stood up from the couch and yawned before slouching over. "And after I accidentally brought a doctor a baked potatoe instead if the replacement spleen he needed he may have suggested I go home and get some rest.

Luz let out a small chuckle but then actually noticed how worn out her mother was. There were heavy bags under her eyes, her whole body sagged with exhaustion. Even her voice sounded haggard and weary.

"Mamá, are you sure you're okay?" Luz asked worriedly.

"Si, Si, I'm fine. But, what are you doing home so early?" Camila rubbed her eyes then looked at Luz again. She then seemed to notice the stains on her clothes. "What happened?" She then sniffed the air, cringed and held her nose. "And why do you smell so bad?"

Luz suddenly remembered what had happened and clenched her fists. This was perfect. She'd been planning to just call her mom at work but now she could tell her to her face-

And make her have to deal with even more. 

That took the wind out of Luz's sails. She once again looked at her mother and took in her still lingering signs of exhaustion.

Her mamá had already been pushing herself so hard at work to bring home money and keep a roof over their heads. And now Luz was going to make her have to deal with her problems too?

Luz sighed internally and plastered a sheepish smile onto her face. 

"Oh that. I, uh, dropped my new Azura book into the trash so I went into the trashcan to get it back."

Camila groaned. "Luz, I've told you before. You can't go rummaging through the garbage! Now look at you. You got your school clothes ruined. "

Luz laughed weakly, struggling to keep her false grin. "Heh, heh, sorry mom. I just...couldn't help myself. You know how I am."

[heaven-in-a-wild-flower]

Crows Headcanon: Wesper Headcanon (Wylan Van Eck and Jesper Fahey)

If you’d rather read this and more Crows headcanons on ao3 here’s the link.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Previous Chapter (Chapter 5)

Chapter 6 (the chapters aren’t related and do not continue the story, each can be read separately)

Wylan

It was inevitable. Their first fight. Of course, they'd fight at some point, living together. It began as everything does, small and barely noticeable. There would be tiny squabbles about clothes strewn about in the room, trinkets never returned to their places. Then it grew and grew, never-ending poisonous vines wrapping around them, strangling them. They spent every moment apart thinking of flaws with the other and every moment together pointing it out.

Just this morning Jesper grumbled about being too warm when Wylan woke up wrapped around him in the morning (even in sleep, his body knows what it really wants, too bad his mind isn't as smart right now). And Wylan knew, he <i>knew</i> that Jesper probably meant nothing by it. But his mind immediately began spewing venom into his heart. <i>You will only ever be a burden. He says he loves you, but he's already tired of you. How much longer do you think he'll stay here when he could have anyone?</i> But he's stubborn and strong and, he refused to show his heart because what else is that but an invitation to stab? So he pulled away and said, "Fine, then. If it's such an inconvenience then I won't touch you at all." And he walked out of the room, tears stinging in his eyes.

Jesper

I know I messed up. I've been messing up constantly. All of this is so new to me. I didn't know it would be this difficult to stay with someone. I've shared so many beds but I've never before shared a room. I didn't realise that it would bother someone else that my clothes aren't always in the cupboard. At first, it frustrated me that he would find faults with me all the time. It reinforced those voices in my brain that told me that I'd never be enough. So I took out those frustrations the way I always have, in cards and drinks and coins.

For a while, it was fine. I thought I'd fixed it somehow. Then, he started noticing more money missing. And he was so so angry. What else did I expect from a bomb-maker, if not an explosive temper? I knew that it wasn't working. I knew it was wrong. I knew that it wasn't truly helping me at all. But it scared me, terrified me that he'd already noticed all the worst things about me, and had to be stuck with that all the time. I realised then that this wasn't going to last much longer. So I gave up. I stopped trying to fix anything between us and just continued to feed the fire. If this is going to end anyway, what was even the point? What would be the point of telling me to please stay, please let me stay? How could I even convince him? He'd seen the worst things, the darkness behind my flirtatious smiles. He's let me stay for months now, and he hates it. He hates <i>me</i>, here. What could I ever do about that?

Even this morning, I complained about being too warm when he'd wrapped his body around me. I'd just gotten up, and for a single moment, I'd forgotten. I'd forgotten that we'd gone from being lovers, loved, loving, to...fighting. I'd forgotten that every word would be taken as a bullet. He'd flinched away from me (it made my heart <i>hurt</i>) and snarled, "Fine, then. If it's such an inconvenience then I won't touch you at all." And he'd stormed out of the room.

I raised a hand automatically, about to stop him. But what could I say? I'd only ever been good at destroying things, not fixing them. So I dropped my hand and laid back on the bed, eyes closed to keep the tears in, not succeeding in the least.

Wylan

It got so bad that even Inej and Kaz began to notice. They'd visit from time to time, either for his help or Jesper's. And naturally, they felt the crackling tension in the air. They never said anything about it, but he could see them exchanging glances, communicating in that way that only they could. It reminded him of the way he and Jesper used to communicate. The gentle brushing of their hands, stray touches on the elbow or shoulder, and he had to stop and take a deep breath to clear the constriction in his lungs.

They were both so tired of fighting all the time that even that had stopped. He never thought he'd miss fighting, but he did. At least then, Jesper was paying attention to him, even if he was smirking thoughtlessly. But now, nothing. They simply avoided each other around the house. He'd enter the kitchen, and Jesper would walk out. Jesper would enter our bedroom, and he'd leave. Even at night, Jesper would stay out so late that they never went to bed together. They did still sleep in the same room, the same bed. They still had that, but he didn't know how much longer even that'd last. So when he inevitably woke up first every morning, he'd stare and stare and stare. He'd caress every inch of Jesper's brown skin that he could see, just with his eyes, hand itching to touch.

He made sure never to get close to him, knowing that he wouldn't be able to let him go. He'd latch onto him and hold on forever.

Jesper

The silence was so loud it was deafening. It made his hair stand on end. He hated this silence, but he also didn't know how to break it. It'd grown so huge, a looming monster growing between them, and he knew no way of vanquishing it. So he let it be. He let Wylan avoid his touch like he had something contagious, and he let him keep as much distance as he wanted, even as his heart shrivelled every time it happened.

The only way he now knew to protect his heart was to stay out of the house. He didn't think that he'd ever need to protect his heart from Wylan. He couldn't believe that this is what it'd come to.

He came home every night, skin chill from the wind outside, aching to sink into Wylan's warmth and knowing he wasn't allowed. So he stared and stared and stared and drank whatever warmth he could from those bright curls and freckled skin. And in his dreams, the only thing he saw, over and over again, were those azure eyes gazing at him like they once did, in love.

Kaz

He'd had enough. What now that they didn't have any problems those idiots decided to make some of their own? He would not let this stand, not a chance.

Inej

She knew that gleam in his eyes. He had a plan, and since it was Kaz's, it was expected that it'd be devious. But, she knew for once that it was with the best of intentions. So she listened attentively when he told her and smiled a tiny proud smile when he was done.

Wylan

It was an overcast evening, and he shivered as he made himself a cup of hot chocolate. Jesper was out, of course, doing whatever he did every day. He didn't know. How could he if they didn't talk anymore? So he took out his flute and tried to practice, tried to ignore his trembling hands. Suddenly there was a loud banging on the door. He dropped the flute and ran for it, only taking a second to check who it was. Inej.

He yanked open the door. She wouldn't bang it like that if there wasn't an emergency. She looked worried, eyebrows furrowed and eyes wide.

What's happened?" he asked.

"Jesper...he's missing," she said, suddenly wilting. His heart stopped.

"What?" he whispered, his voice breaking.

"Kaz needed him for a job, so I went to get him. I checked all his usual joints, and he wasn't there anywhere," she looked pitying now. She'd definitely noticed the way his skin grew paler. If even the Wraith couldn't find him, where could he be? What-what could've happened to him?

"But," she said and he perked up immediately, "we think we know who could've taken him."

It takes them half an hour to make a plan to rescue him, hoping desperately that they were going to the right place. Inej instructs him on which bombs they need, and they set off.

Jesper

It can't be true. It could not be true. Not again. Kaz just told him that one of his rivals had kidnapped Wylan. They were now waiting for him to come to them and demand the ransom. How could this have happened? Why Wylan? He hoped with all his heart that they were at least treating him well, knowing that that wasn't very likely. As they sat there, a fire burned in his belly. He felt hatred rise like a storm inside him. He would not be merciful with whoever had kidnapped Wylan.

He didn't understand how Kaz could just sit there, relaxed as though nothing had happened. No, he knew that maintaining a veneer of calmness would make it easier to negotiate with the kidnapper. But he still couldn't stop his fists from clenching and his jaw from tensing. He tried to breathe deeply, telling himself that the kidnapper wouldn't kill Wylan because that would get him nothing. Wylan would be okay. He had to be. He couldn't die. He couldn't die, with Jesper not able to recollect the last time he touched him, the last word he told him.

So they waited. Jesper grew more and more jittery, legs shaking and fingers tapping and fidgeting. Kaz somehow grew calmer and calmer, cane resting gently on his lap, utterly in his element, ready to do his part.

When the outer door slammed open, Jesper stood up abruptly, and Kaz gripped his cane tighter. The door opened and in came charging...

Wylan

Finally, they got through the gate, and the soldiers posted outside and entered an empty room. He didn't waste a second. The moment he noticed the other door in the room, he rushed at it, pushing it open. And there he was. He ran to Jesper and hugged him, holding on so so tightly. He was so relieved to find him that he didn't even wonder why Jesper wasn't tied up and gagged.

"You're okay, you're okay," he chanted, under his breath, still unwilling to let go of his sharpshooter. Jesper held him in return, nestling his head in Wylan's curls, speechless for once. After a few minutes, or seconds, or hours, or an eternity, he pulled back a little to see Jesper wide-eyed, looking at him like he was a ghost.

"I'm sorry," they both blurted out at once, and they laughed and sobbed at that.

"No, no, I should be the one to apologise. I'm so sorry for being such a mess. The clothes and my other things and the gambling. Oh, I knew I needed to stop, and I couldn't and then- and then-" Jesper babbled.

"No! Don't be sorry. I'll help you, we'll do it together. Okay? I'm sorry too. It was all so perfect, and it scared me. I was so scared that you'd leave that I nearly drove you to leave myself," he said, staring right into Jesper's eyes so he'd understand.

"Okay. But just so you know, I never would've left," Jesper tells him, looking back just as intensely.

"Okay. That's good," Wylan says, chuckling, suddenly embarrassed.

Jesper tilts his chin back up and gazing into his eyes the whole time, kisses him. Wylan responds ravenously, and well...it all works out. They remind the other that they love them, that they always have and always will. And when they realise what Kaz and Inej tricked them into, Wylan is outraged, and Jesper just laughs and laughs and laughs (Wylan then kisses him, hearing the laughs echo in his heart).

Next chapter (Chapter 7)

Let me know if you want to be added to the tag list.

[punkrock-writer]

Space Cowboy- Part 1

Having a Very Bad Time at Disney World

Pairing- Din Djarin x F!OC

Warnings- Swearing. A lot of bad words. Mild Violence. 

A/N- The response to this fic is overwhelming I woke up and wanted to cry, thank you to everyone who liked and reblogged and followed me. And thank you to everyone who went to AO3 and left kudos and comments ily. This introduces my OC Sedona. She's a little rough around the edges but I hope you like her. Feel free to message me or comment if you like it or hate it, I like talking to people. Thank you again. 

Prologue AO3 Wattpad 

The musty, thick, Florida humidity did little to stop her body from practically vibrating as she gazed up at the sight before her. The grand entrance to Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge stood proudly, casting an arch shaped shadow that she stepped into to get a better look. Faux sandstone and waving flags beckoned her into the park, and she gladly followed with a face splitting smile. She had been saving for this trip for what felt like a life time; overtime had finally payed off, and she couldn't wait to spend an entire week in "the happiest place on earth"...

Or so she thought.

Sedona smiled as the butterflies fluttered in her stomach, gazing up at the Millennium Falcon was like a dream. The ship was massive, and fit snugly within the surrounding attraction. She wouldn't consider her self a 'super fan'- she doesn't know the names of the planets in a galaxy far far away, and she definitely couldn't name all of the different space races- but the beauty of the universe awakened the child that was buried deep in her soul. Nostalgia and adult money were a deadly combination.

It didn't help that the casting department knew how to cast the perfect eye candy to keep a grown woman entertained.

She dragged herself away from the massive ship. Though she told her self she wasn't obsessed, she still unconsciously decided to carve an entire day out of a week long trip just to roam around Batuu. She took as deep a breath as she could of the hot air, just beginning to get used to the uncomfortable way her hair curled and clung to the sweat on her neck. The air smelled like an amusement park, little kids vomit, sweat, and caramel corn. She walked leisurely, her sandals dragging on the pavement as she passed stalls and a makeshift cantina, making her way under another gigantic arch. Voices and music filled her ears, she let her guard down, allowing herself to completely absorb the atmosphere.

If she hadn't been gazing up at the architecture of the buildings surrounding her, she would've been able to react quicker.

An insanely bright blue light flashed in her face followed by a high pitched whine, similar to your grandpas weird old camera.

Startled she took quick steps back, her vision foggy as she struggled to clear the blotches that stayed behind when the light went away. But when she can see the sight before her fills her with confusion and anger.

"What the hell is this Men in Black Comic-Con, who are you?" Holding her tongue had never been her strong-suit.

There was a tall, old, white man in a black suit and sunglasses. Typing something into an iPad, not paying any mind to the girl he just attempted to blind. She made the move to step toward him when his head moved away from her, looking upwards and to the left.

"So this is the one" he wasn't even looking at anyone, and then she noticed the tiny bluetooth device in his ear. Her brow furrowed deeper, her mouth set in a frown. Her hand lifted and mouth opened simultaneously but before she could yell at him further, an object was thrust in her outstretched hand.

That's when her head split open.

Her empty hand instantly flew to her forehead, eyes squinting shut as she tried to control her breathing. It literally felt like her skull was cracking down the middle, lights danced underneath her eyelids, she curled into herself in the middle of the Disney World street.

"Mother fuck" she spat out the words, cracking one eye open to look for the man, but he had disappeared. Leaving her with a migraine and gadget that looked like the worst dildo in the world.

The growl that ripped through her throat was inhuman. One hand still covered her left eye as she charged in the direction she thought the man could've gone. Most likely looking like the angriest bitch in the entire park. Her fist clenched around the metal piece that was in her right hand, swinging it as her flip flops smacked against the cement. She didn't know where the hell he went but she was going to find the prick an-

"Miss are you okay?" A timid female voice flitted from her left side. She spun quickly, another wave of pain crashed over her, she couldn't fathom how she looked right now to the poor mother and her young child. A fist covering her left eye as her face contorted into a snarl, her other hand clutching some kind of metal object. Her chest heaving and leaning awkwardly into her left side.

"I'm fine" she grumbled, before marching further on her war path. She missed the way the mother quickly bundled the child into her arms, rushing into the opposite direction as quick as she could.

━━━━━━━━▲━━━━━━━━

Sedona attempted her murderous trek for as long as she could. Searching the park for the mysterious business man who had fucked with her relaxing vacation. But sooner than she would've liked the pain overwhelmed her. Begrudgingly she boarded a Disney bus and made her way back to her hotel room. The device had been tossed into her purse, not wanting to get rid of it, so she could beat the man with it when she found him.

Yet another shuddering wave of pain ripped through her as she flung open the door to her room. Quickly shutting and locking it behind her, the first thing she did was pull her hair from its ponytail. Her hair, damp and curly from sweat hung to her shoulders, she ran both hand through it, taking a deep breath of the air conditioning. The next to go was her purse, which she unceremoniously flung onto the bed as she stomped forward. Her flip flops were kicked off at the end of her bed. Peeling the sage green sundress off her sweaty body, she rifled through her suitcase.

Nothing good ever happens when I wear a fucking dress.

Satisfied with her choice of pajamas she shuffled into the bathroom. Pausing for a moment to glare into the mirror. Taking in the mess of a girl who couldn't even keep her eyes all the way open. She pivoted to the shower, praying the cold water would do some kind of good for the aggressive pounding behind her eyes.

She stayed in the shower till she was shivering. The headache only diminishing slightly, and the gaudy scent of the hotel toiletries didn't really help. Grappling two thin towels from the rack above the toilet she rolled her hair into one atop her head, the other she quickly dried herself off. She didn't really want to spend much longer in the dampness, wanting a nap much more.

Her pajama choice was simple, a men's 3XL Big and Tall black T-shirt, and a pair of Mandalorian printed MeUndies. No, no, she definitely wasn't a super fan. She exited the bathroom, bee-lining for her massive suitcase that was perched on the bed. Plopping down she hauled it into her lap, searching through the many pockets for the one containing her emergency first aid kit, and she sighed in relief when she finally found the bottle of Advil. As she unscrewed the top she glanced at her purse, a strange blue light emitted from within it.

She reached over her suitcase, grabbing her purse and setting it into the bag on her lap. She couldn't help the eye roll as she pulled the device from the depths. It was a simple looking thing. A long pill shape, with an indented seam running the entire edge, and one small thumb-print size button in the middle. The button pulsated it's annoying blue light slowly, beckoning someone to press it.

"I don't have the energy for this shit" she grumbled. Maybe it was the headache making her loopy, but she placed her thumb over the indentation, without much of a hesitation.

And of course it started to vibrate.

She would've laughed if the vibration wasn't followed by the entire outer seam of the device growing brighter with the same blue light.

"Travel begins in 5 seconds. Please gather all items needed for travel"

Sedona's eyes grew wide as her brow furrowed in confusion. The mechanical voice didn't give her much time to think.

This can't be real.

4

Panic rose in her throat, her eyes searched the device, flipping it in her hands as it began to grow brighter and brighter.

3

On instinct she gathered both of her bags closer to her chest. The massive suitcase not really yielding much.

2

Her breathing grew quicker, matching the aggressive buzzing of the device in her hand.

1

"Fucki-"

And suddenly she is falling. Rapid descent lifts the towel from her head, and she can feel wind rushing past her face. She squeezed her eyes shut, but she could still tell that she was falling through and insanely bright blue tunnel. Faster and faster until.

BANG

Her knees are folded underneath her, taking the entire collective weight of her body and both of her bags that fall on top of her. She swears she hears a pop, and can feel a burning pain rip up her knees to the top her thighs.

She deeply inhales, slamming her hands onto whatever metal floor is in front of her.

"MOTHER FUCKER"

[bangtanreadingcorner]

my saving grace • jung hoseok

plot – you rescue hoseok from the guys beating on him, never thinking that anything more would come from it.

genre – streetdancer!hoseok

words – 6.1K

You and your friend, Jimin, were walking home from work - both of you working as a waitress and waiter at a diner a few blocks away - when you walked past an alley and heard the tell tale sound of someone getting their ass kicked. You ignored it, this wasn't the best part of the city, there was always someone getting the short end of the stick somewhere around here.

"Hey, Y/N, looks like trouble." Jimin whispered, stopping in the middle of the alley, looking intently while you didn't even glance at it.

You grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the scene, "Hate to break it to you, sweetie, but this world is full of trouble."

"Come on," Jimin whined, tugging at your arm backwards. "It's three against one and the dude is getting his ass kicked. It's not fair, you have to help him."

You rolled your eyes, wondering how you ever made friends with this big hearted idiot. Really, Jimin was to soft and good for this world. You gave him a look, "If it bother's you that much, why don't you go do something about it?"

He glowered at you and you stared back unflinchingly as he said, "Because unlike you, I can't take on seven people at the same time."

"That was once and I was pissed." You reminded him pointedly. "And I got a sprained wrist and two broken ribs for my wonderful heroics."

"Good news then, this time it's just three." He said cheerily. When you still wouldn't budge, he pulled the ultimate weapon. "Please."

You sighed, knowing the battle is lost. You can't say no to Jimin's puppy eyes. "Jesus Christ, fine, if it will get you off my ass."

Jimin, the idiot, grinned widely. "Yes!"

You scoffed, walking back to the alley. At the entrance, you stopped Jimin and handed him your backpack. "Hold this and stay here. If I catch a glimpse of you in there, I'm leaving his sorry ass."

"Okay." Jimin nodded, taking your bag and clutching it tightly.

You entered the alley, taking in everything that was in the alley that could help you fight and the three guys. They were all at least three times your size. You whistled loudly, to catch their attention and turn it from the guy to you. They weren't beating him anymore, but they could decide to start again at any moment.

It worked, they turned around and faced you, looking a little confused. You decided to use that to your advangtage and to move quickly. You ran at them, jumping on one of the crates you spotted earlier and using it to propel yourself through the air, kicking the nearest guy in the face, full force. You landed on your feet and he landed on his knees, blood pouring from his nose. Quickly you landed a punch to his already broken nose, knocking him on his back. You weren't sure if he was unconsious though.

The other two snapped out of their stunned stupors and charged at you. You dodged them, grabbing the one's arm and twisting it behind his back, pulling it back with enough strength to dislocate it, a pained shriek leaving his mouth. The last guy aimed a sloppy punch that you dodged easily, snickering. You aimed a harsh kick to his balls, watching in vague amusement as he doubled over in pain. Out of the corner of your eyes, you saw the one who's shoulder you dislocated coming at you again, but he was clearly off balance from the pain.

From there on, it was almost laughably easy to knock them unconsious.

You looked at the three unconsious men - and one half-consious man - and almost felt disappointed that there wasn't more of a challenge, more of a fight to it. You scoffed, "And my mother wonders why I'm still single."

You stepped forward and crouched next to the guy who had his ass kicked, his eyes were swollen and his lip busted. His nose looked realtively okay, but you couldn't tell if he had other injuries. "Hey, you a retard yet?"

The guy groaned, lightly shaking his head and groaning again. You took it as a no.

You heard footsteps coming up behind you and your body tensed for a moment, ready to fight again, but then you recognised the soft footfalls of you best friends. You sighed, "Jimin, didn't I tell you to stay out of here?"

"I figured you meant until the fighting was over." He retorted easily, also crouching next to the guy and besides you.

You closed your eyes, pulled for strength and then opened your eyes, pushing yourself upright. "Okay, so I helped him, time to go."

Jimin scrambled to his feet and pulled on you arm to stop you from walk him away. "We can't just leave him here."

"What do you want to do? Take him back home with us?" You asked, not meaning it at all, more sarcastic than anything. Then you saw the look on Jimin's face.

"Well . . ." He trailed off with a hopeful smile.

You gaped at him, then shook your head. "Jesus, fuck, Jimin, no. You can't be serious."

"But what if we take him to the hosipital and they go after him again?" Jimin asked, worrying his bottom lip, glancing back at the bloody guy.

You groaned, feeling the urge to hit your head against the wall. "You're gonna be the death of me, Park Jimin."

Jimin perked up, eyes brightening. "Is that a yes?"

You sighed in resignation, "Yeah."

* * *

"What happened to you three?" Daejoon asked as he looked at the idiots that were supposed to take out his competition.

"We were taken out." The one said, but that much was obvious from how they looked.

"By who?" Daejoon asked, furious because who would dare take out people related to them?

"A girl." Another one muttered shamefully. "But she's was really good, scary good actually."

"A girl?" Daejoon'd brother, Sejoon, who had been lounging on the out perked up at this. "About 5'4, fast as lighting and just as lethal?"

"Yeah." One of the three nodded.

Sejoon leaped from the couch, started pacing. "Jesus Christ, and you say that she protected him? The guy you were supposed to take out?"

"We asked around and people said she and some other dude took took him with them. We can find them if you want." Another one explained.

"Another dude?" Daejoon's brother paled. "Okay, fuck, no. Under no circumstances are you allowed to go anywhere near where she lives." He turned to his brother. "Daejoon, you need to stay far away from that Hoseok guy."

Daejoon scoffed, "What, because of some girl?"

"She is not just some girl, okay? And that guy she was with? I'd bet my life it was Park Jimin. And if that's true, then you need to stay even further away from her."

"What, you gonna tell me he's some badass too?" Daejoon scoffed at his brother.

"No, he's harmless." Sejoon said, tense. "But her? The girl? She's not badass, she's dangerous."

* * *

The next morning, you woke up with an empty space besides you which was weird, because you gave Beaten-Up Dude Jimin's bed to sleep on after your best friend said that you couldn't let him sleep on the couch with those raw bruises. You told him that he would be sacrificing his own bed, because you aren't letting a stranger sleep in yours. Jimin didn't push it because you already did a fuckton of shit for him that night.

You almost flew out of bed, worried about Jimin, and when you pulled open the door, your mouth fell open. Because there was Jimin and Beaten-Up Dude, sitting on your couch and laughing. Jimin noticed you first and waved.

"Good morning." He chirped and you just kept on staring, remembering to close your mouth. He turned to Beaten-Up Dude, who looked a little worse this morning but not as much as you thought he would have. Probably because you cleaned up his bruises the previous night. "That's my best friend, Y/N, she's not much of a talker in the mornings, or in general really, so don't feel insulted if she doesn't answer you. It's not personal, it's just who she is." Jimin looked at you with mirth in his eyes.

So, you did the mature, grown up thing. You flipped him a middle finger and said with a fake smile, "Fuck off." before heading to the bathroom, your bladder suddenly reminding you that it was full after a night's sleep.

After finishing your morning routine, you left the bathroom and found two sets of eyes looking at you. You raised your eyebrows, "What?"

"Hoseok, that's his name by the way, was just telling me why those guys were beating him up. He's a street dancer and made it into the finals of a really big underground competition, and his rival was the one who sent those guy's after him, to take him out, but then you saved him." Jimin told you excitedly.

"I have a feeling I'm not gonna like were this is headed." You noted matter of factly.

"The prize money is 50 million won," This time it was Hoseok who talked to you and you turned to him.

You looked at him in disbelief, more than a little skeptical. "There can not be that much money in street dancing."

"There isn't, usually." Hoseok told you. "But this a competition that only happens one every five years and it's the best against the best. My offer is, if you can protect me until the finals, I'll split it with you in half."

"Definitely don't like where this is headed." You declared.

"It's not gonna be a 24/7 thing, just like, go with me to places during the day and then on the day of the competition you need to come with me."

"First of all, I already have a job. Second of all, it's illegal. Third of all, I'm not a bodyguard." You told the both of them, trying to ignore the two sets of hopeful eyes were watching you. Why Jimin's was working, you got, but why Hoseok's was working, you had no idea. The guy's eyes were swollen, for fuck sakes!

"Which is why I'm willing to give you half the prize money. Right now it's not even about the money for me anymore. It's about beating Daejoon's ass. He thinks he can get away with anything." Hoseok said, voice turning angry and indignant. The name Daejoon was vaguely familiar but you didn't worry about it. If it was really important, you would have remembered immediately.

"And if you don't win?" You asked, raising a brow.

Hoseok scoffed, "You really think they would beat me up like this if they thought that idiot has a chance of winning?"

"Fair point." You conceded, crossing your arms over you chest.

"So, you'll do it?" He asked, eyes lighting up hopefully.

"Depends." You said after a moment of contemplating in silence.

"On what?" He asked, frowning ever so slightly, then wincing because the movement pulled at his bruised eyes.

"When's the competition?"

"In three weeks, twenty-one days exactly. I won the semi-finals earlier tonight."

"Even if I say yes and follow you around during the day for the next two weeks, you still have the problem of nights." You pointed out. "They could attack you in your apartment or even when you feel like going to the corner store because you're craving a chocolate or something in the middle of the night."

Jimin cleared his throat, giving you a sweet, sweet smile and you immediately knew what was coming. "I was thinking that he could stay here until the competition."

"Of course you did." You deadpanned. "Any other wonderful ideas that I should be aware of?" Jimin pursed his lips, actually thinking about it, and you glared at him.

Finally, he shook his head. "Not that I can think of."

"Great." You muttered sarcastically. You looked at Hoseok, who's hopeful and desperate eyes tugged at your heartstrings violently. You sighed in resignation. "Fine, but no dancing until the swelling of your eyes go down."

"Uh," Hoseok looked a little stricken. "How long's that gonna take?"

"No more thank two or three days." You answered.

"Okay." He nodded, lips that were no longer swelled, pulling up into a heart shaped smile that had your cheeks heating up.

"So, you're doing it?" Jimin asked, repeating Hoseok's question. You hummed in confirmation, hands flying up to cover your ears when the two let out identical squeals of happiness.

* * *

You came to the realisation that Hoseok was attractive four days after meeting him. The swelling in his eyes was completely gone by day three and on day four, he used a bit of concealer to hide the bruised skin. And when you looked at him, really looked at him, you realised that he was hot. You wouldn't do anything though, it's always been easy for you to ignore physical attraction to someone.

"How did you get your boss to give you time off?" Hoseok asked as you two were walking in the streets, your destination currently unknown.

"I told him it was only for three weeks, asked really nicely, even used the fact that I've never taken a sick day in two years, and Jimin promised to help out until he gets a temp." You answered with a slight shrug, a little distracted by his sunny grin. He was tapping his fingers against his thigh, body moving lightly the beat. "So where do you practice?"

Hoseok lit up at the question, "There's this warehouse, owned my one of my friends, where I practice. It's where we're headed right now."

You made an 'ah' sound of realisation, having wondered where Hoseok was taking you two but not being bothered enough to ask him. There was, weirdly enough, already trust between you. "Do they dance too?"

Hoseok put on a thinking face that you found adorable and had to turn away so you wouldn't smile like an idiot. "Uh, just Taehyung. And Jeongguk, sometimes. He's very shy."

You frowned a little, remembering that he had spoken about a Namjoon the previous evening. "Exactly how many of you are there?"

"Including me? Six. You and Jimin will make for eight." He looked at you, that smile still locked on his face.

"Oh, we're friends now?" You raised a brow at him.

Hoseok's smile faltered, and your stomach twisted. You were about to tell him that your were just teasing, that you are friends, when the smile returned tenfold and he said, "You saved my ass and I'm crashing on your couch, if that doesn't make us friends, then I don't know what will."

"Yeah, okay." You smiled slightly at the look he gave you.

"You have a nice smile, you should do it more often." He said matter-of-factly and you rolled your eyes, desperately hoping your cheeks don't get noticeably red.

You chose to change the subject instead, "How come you don't ask them for help? Your friends, I mean."

"I just, I don't want to burden them, you know? We all have our problems and I don't want to make their lives worse."

"So, you decide to up end my life instead?" You said, voice light.

"You're getting paid, aren't you?" Hoseok said, words more teasing than anything else, but it set something off inside you.

The next moment Hoseok found himself with his back pressed against a wall, you all up in his personal space, eyes narrowed dangerously. "Let's get one thing straight, right now: I'm not doing this for the money. Sure, it's a nice bonus but that's not why I said yes and if you piss me off, I will leave."

"Okay, sorry. I didn't mean anything by it." He said, eyes wide and a hint of fear in them. It made you take a step back, something inside of you deeply hurt by the fact that Hoseok is afraid of you and there was no one but yourself to blame.

"Just forget it." You muttered, willing the tightness around your heart to go away.

"Why did you decide to help me?" Hoseok asked, curiosity getting the best of him.

Because I couldn't say no to you and it scares the fuck out of me, you thought to yourself.

"Jimin." You answered instead, which wasn't a lie either, it just wasn't the whole truth either.

***

"Does she hate me?" Hoseok asked Jimin that night after they had all eaten dinner and you disappeared into your room, saying you are tired and wanted to sleep.

"She would never help you if she hated you, no matter how much I pest her." Jimin answered, tilting his head at the dancer. "Why do you ask?"

"I think I might have done something to make her hate me." Hoseok admitted, face worried instead of the usual cheery aura he had.

Jimin snorted in disbelief, "That's highly improbable. Y/N doesn't hate easily."

"Today we were talking and she said something about helping me and I told her she was getting paid and I think I really pissed her off." Hoseok explained, hoping desperately that Jimin was right.

Realisation filled Jimin's face and he gave Hoseok a gentle smile. "Good news is, she doesn't hate you. Bad news is, she is pissed." When he saw the panicked look on Hoseok's face, he rushed to add. "But not at you. Really. It's just the memories that come with what you said."

"What memories?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you. All I can tell you is that Y/N swore on her life that she would never use her fighting skills for money ever again, and even if that's not the reason she said yes, she's doing it anyway." Jimin told him, looking more than a little guilty. "It's her business and her decision to tell you the rest if she wants."

"No, that's okay. I understand." Hoseok gave Jimin a bright grin, but he was still worried that he damaged something between him and you.

* * *

"I'm sorry." Hoseok blurted out the next morning as you two started your trek to the warehouse. It was about a twenty five minute walk and now five minutes had passed in complete silence before he broke.

You frowned at him, "About what?"

"About yesterday, when you got so angry." He explained nervously.

"Hoseok," You started with a sigh. "It's not your fault, okay? It's my own issues. Your words just triggered some nasty memories, but it's not your fault and I'm not mad at you."

Hoseok's grin was blinding and you couldn't help but give him a small smile back. "Good, good, that's really good. And if you ever want to talk about it, I'm here."

Your smile grew a little wider, stomach fluttering. "Thanks, Hoseok."

The rest if the walk was spent with Hoseok chattering next to you about anything and everything, dancing to some beat in his head every now and again. Arriving at the warehouse, you saw that unlike the previous day, today there was people. From Hoseok's relaxed posture and excited eyes, you guessed it must be his friends.

And so you finally met Seokjin, Namjoon, Yoongi, Taehyung and Jeongguk. Hoseok stood next to you, "And this is Y/N, she's gonna protect me from Daejoon until the finals."

"Like he actually has the balls to do something himself." Yoongi scoffed. "He'll send someone after you again."

"And I'll stop them. Again." You said, speaking up for the first time. Yoongi looked at you, a little surprised, then finally nodded his head.

Watching Hoseok dance, you realised, was something out of this world. He was graceful, strong and powerful but at the same time he looked kind of delicate and beautiful. It was mesmerizing, watching as his body moved to music. You quickly figured out his routine - warm up to two songs, one slow paced and one fast paced, then he started practicing for the competition for hours - long enough for you to loose track of time as you watch him dance, and then he warmed down by stretching.

"You're good." You complimented him as you walked home later that evening. "Really good. I can understand why your competition is scared of losing."

Hoseok's flushed, "Thank you."

"Just telling the truth." You shrugged.

"Can I ask you something? You don't have to answer." Hoseok looked nervous, really nervous and you didn't understand why. What was he about to ask you?

"Sure." You nodded hesitant.

"Where did you learn how to fight?" He blurted.

"That's what you wanted to ask?" You chuckled. "I thought it was like for a kidney or something, with how nervous you were."

"Well, you are a very private person, okay?" Hoseok exclaimed and you snickered. "I thought you might bite my head off for asking."

"Nah, I don't bite heads of for asking questions. I bite heads off when people can't take no for an answer or fuck off, depending on my mood." You told him with a slight smirk. "And to answer your question, my mom and dad used to own a taekwondo studio. They were both Master's and they taught me."

"Wow, that's great. Do they still have the studio? Maybe I'll sign up for some classes after this is all over." He rambled excitedly.

Your face fell and Hoseok saw, but it was too late to take back his words. "No, they don't."

Hoseok hesitated, not wanting to make yo sadder that you already seemed. "Can I asked what happened?"

"My dad got sick, lung cancer, and he died when I was seventeen. My mom couldn't do it alone, so I tried to help but in the end it didn't work out and we lost the studio." You answered him, looking at your feet.

"I'm so sorry." Hoseok said, voice truly and sincerely apologetic.

"It's not your fault. Sometimes bad things just happen." You shrugged, still looking at the pavement.

"Yeah, I know, but it doesn't make it any easier."

"No, it doesn't." You agreed.

* * *

The rest of the time until the competition passed quickly. Too quickly if someone were too ask you, but Hoseok was excited. So was Jimin and all of Hoseok's friends, who would all be there to watch as Hoseok and Daejoon compete for the winning title and the prize money.

"Is this like a dressing room or something?" You asked Hoseok with a snicker as you walked into the room. You were in one of the backrooms of a club that the finals would take place in. The two of you had grown much closer in the last three weeks and it terrified you as much as it excited you. You didn't know what would happen after tonight, but you hoped that Hoseok would still be in your life.

"Yeah, technically, but for me it's just a waiting room."

You hopped on the dressing table looking at Hoseok curiously. "So, how do they decide who wins these things?"

"There's three judges and we get a score out of ten. The one with the highest score wins."

You let out a laugh of disbelief. "It sounds so normal."

"It kind of is." Hoseok nodded with a bright, if somewhat nervous smile.

"It kind of is illegal." You pointed out teasingly.

"Only if we get caught." He retorted and you snorted, nodding your head in agreement.

"You ready?" You asked Hoseok, looking at him with curious eyes and a fondness in your heart that's just grown stronger with each passing day.

"Yes, I am." He answered confidently.

The door to the room opened and in came a panicked Namjoon. "Y/N, trouble."

You turned to him, body tensed and ready for a fight but confused too. "I don't understand, Hoseok's right here with me."

"It's Jimin, some guy-" And you didn't here the rest of what Namjoon said because you were already out the door, running to where you left Jimin. You were vaguely aware of Hoseok and Namjoon following you but you didn't pay them any attention, to worried about getting to Jimin, your best friend, your brother in all but blood.

When you finally rounded the corner into the large room where Hoseok and Daejoon would dance, your blood boiling when you saw who it was. An all to familiar and definitely unwelcome face. Jimin, who was luckily pushed behind Jeongguk and Seokjin and neither look scared to start a fight, looked absolutely terrified.

"Taemin." You called, voice icy cold and loud enough to catch his attention. He turned to you, eyes widening a fraction. "Haven't learnt your lesson yet?" You asked, raising a brow and walking closer and closer to him.

"Relax, no need to be so hostile. I just came to say hi." He let his hands up in defence, smirk playing on the corners of his lips.

"That was not the agreement." You all but snarled at him, hands clenching into fists.

"I didn't know you'd be here, that's just pure coincidence." He shrugged a tad to smug and your fuse blew. You quickly knocked him to his knees and gripped him by the throat, leaning down.

"I believe I told you that if I ever see you within ten feet of Jimin again, I'll kill you with my bare hands." You told him with a sickeningly sweet smile and you could hear three guns being pulled and aimed at you. You didn't flinch, knowing exactly where each gunman was standing and how to take them out, and how to use Taemin as a body shield if one of them gets trigger happy.

"Let him go." It was Jimin, voice pleading but you didn't listen, to angry to as images of Jimin's bruised body filled your mind, how you took care of him, how you put him back together again, how you nearly drowned in guilt because it was all your fault.

"Let him go, this isn't you." This time the voice was accompanied by a hand on your shoulder, but it wasn't Jimin's. It was Hoseok's. His other hand reached out to wrap around the wrist of the hand that was holding Taemin's neck as he crouched next to you. He gently tugged at your hand and you let go. He grabbed both your hands in his and you looked at him, mind racing as he pulled you upright.

Why did you let go? Why did you feel the anger die down inside of you? Why was Hoseok's touch relaxing you instead of irritating you like it normally did when someone touched you while angry. Not even Jimin could do that. You shook your head to clear it, you'd think about it later. (Besides, you already had some idea, if the feelings you had towards Hoseok was any indication.)

You looked at Taemin aiming a deadly glare his way, "I'll be paying your boss a visit tomorrow."

"That won't be necessary, I'm right here." You whipped around and directed your glare at the other familiar face. "My apologies, I didn't think Taemin would be anything less than a gentleman."

You scoffed at Sejoon, "We're talking about the same Taemin, right?"

"Again, my apologies."

"I don't want your apologies, just make sure it doesn't happen again. We've had peace for two years now. I'm sure you'd hate for something to ruin that." You gave him a cold glare.

"Yes, I would." Sejoon gave you a smile that would have been charming in another world. "Enough time has already been wasted, what do you say we don't waist anymore and get this show on the road?"

"Keep your bitch on a leash." You warned Sejoon with a glance in Taemin's direction. You grabbed Jimin's hand and then you walked away, back to the room where Hoseok was previously waiting.

"You know that guy?" Hoseok asked once the door was shut, pointing a thumb over his shoulder.

You hugged Jimin tightly, rubbing a hand over his back as he held on tighter. You tried to meet Hoseok's eyes over Jimin's shoulders, standing on your tiptoes. "Yeah, why?"

"That's Daejoon's brother. He's the reason why the little brat thinks he can do whatever he wants."

"I thought the name rang a bell." You muttered to yourself then looked at Hoseok again. "Not tonight he won't."

"You should very sure of that." Hoseok noted as Jimin let go of you.

"That's because I am." You shrugged, turning your attention to the dancer.

"They're a gang." Hoseok blurted after a moments silence. You raised an eyebrow, silently asking him to go on. "Are you part of their gang? Is that why he won't do anything? As a favour?"

"No, I'm not in a gang, I've never been in a gang and I never will be in a gang. Sejoon will keep both Taemin and his brother on two very tight metaphorical leashes unless he wants to start a war with me again."

Hoseok frowned, caught off guard by the words. "Wait, what do you mean start a war again?"

"It's a long story that we don't have time for right now." You sighed and as a thought came to mind, you smirked slightly at him. "Hey, if you win, I'll tell you the whole story."

"Okay." Hoseok nodded, eyes locking with yours. "And dinner."

"Huh?"

"If I win, then you have to tell me the story and buy me dinner." Hoseok said, swallowing thickly.

"Okay fine." You smiled, heart beating way to fast, cheeks flaming hot. With a grin, Hoseok left the room and you saw Jimin smirking out of the corner of your eyes. "Don't even."

"I didn't say anything." He held up his hands in defeat.

"You were thinking it, it's annoying."

Jimin hummed, a noncommittal sound. He looked at you seriously. "Are you really gonna tell him everything?"

"Yeah," You gave him a slight smile that he matched with a bright one "I really am."

"I'm so happy for you." He gushed.

"Yeah, yeah, settle down." You said with flaming cheeks.

***

"You know, then I said I want you to buy me dinner, I didn't exactly mean nooodles and chicken skewers." Hoseok said with a light laugh later that night. He won, of course he did. You weren't even surprised.

"Why?" You frowned a little. "Did you want to go somewhere else?"

Hoseok shook his head, hesitating a little. "No, I just, I meant it more along the lines of a dinner date." Hoseok said, voice growing less confident and softer with each word he spoke.

"Oh." You said, realisation spreading through you as you looked at shy smile on Hoseok's face. Finally you spoke, shy smile matching Hoseok's and your heart beating just a bit faster. "Well, this can still be a date, right? I mean, it's about the person you're with and not the place."

Hoseok's beam returned as he happily exclaimed, "Yes, it is."

You two were near a river and bought food from a stall that was near a picnic area, so you two sat down at a picnic table, eating your dinner and talking about nothing in particular, just enjoying each other's company.

"You still owe me a story." Hoseok said after dinner as you were walking around aimlessly along the side of the river.

"It's really not that glamourous, so if you're disappointed, it's your own fault." You paused for a second, thinking where to start. "Right, well, I guess it all started two years ago, when Jimin and I were almost mugged by two idiots. I quickly took them both out and apparently Taemin saw me. From then on, he tried to recruit me into the gang. At first, he offered me ridiculous amounts of money, which didn't work. He did everything he could, went to my work, figured out my phone number, basically like stalking me. And then one day, he found out where me and Jimin lived. And he kidnapped Jimin." Your breath faltered here and tears gathered in your eyes.

Hoseok's arms was around you in a second, wrapping around to tightly. You melted into his embrace, calming down as he held you. "You don't have to tell me anything else."

You pulled away, shaking your head. "No, no, I want too." You took a deep breath and then took Hoseok's hands holding onto them tightly, drawing strength from his presence. "I didn't know, at first, that it was Taemin who took Jimin. It was only after five days of searching and nearly going crazy, that he told me I had one of two choices: join the gang and get Jimin back or don't join and Jimin dies. I picked choice number three."

"I thought there was only two choices." Hoseok said, looking a little confused.

"There was, I made my own choice. I declared war. Not just on Taemin, but on the gang. I investigated and I didn't let the law stop me like the police. I burnt down warehouses with drugs and guns, called in anonymous tips about their human trafficking safe houses. See, I knew that if the gang started feeling the loses because of what Taemin did, they'd do something about it. And I was right. It worked."

"How did you know they wouldn't just kill Jimin?"

"Because they couldn't catch me, and believe me, they tried. And if they couldn't catch me, they couldn't stop me. Which means unless they give me what I wanted, I wouldn't have stopped until I ruined their whole empire. Taemin called me one day, after two whole fucking months of holding Jimin, he said he'd give me Jimin back if I went to see his boss. I wasn't stupid, of course. So, I made a USB stick with all of the locations and gang members and gave it to my neighbour. Said if I wasn't back by the next morning that she should sent a copy to the police and a copy to the media. Luckily, it wasn't necessary. Sejoon handed Jimin over to me and we both agreed that as long as Taemin stayed away from me and Jimin, I'd leave the gang in peace. I also told Sejoon that one day I'd get my revenge for what he did to Jimin, because Hoseok, when I got Jimin back, h-he," Your breath caught in your throat, a sob making you choke. "He was beaten and broken, so badly. It took me weeks to get him to talk, months to go outside without me and he still looks over his shoulder to this day when he's alone."

Hoseok hugged you again and you cried, softly and not making a sound. When you were done, you pulled away and sniffled, giving him a watery smile. "Sorry I got snot on your shirt."

"It's okay, I can wash it again." He waved you off.

You took a deep breath, wiping your face clean with the sleeve of your shirt. "So, that's it. That's the story."

"Did you ever go after Taemin?" He asked, hesitantly.

"Oh, yeah! I almost forgot. I did, it took me five months because Jimin didn't want to be alone, but I did. I put him in a hospital bed with the warning to stay away from Jimin or I'll kill him." You told Hoseok. "I almost did kill him."

Hoseok looked at you, shocked. "Now I understand why you are so overprotective of Jimin."

"Yeah." You nodded, voice trailing off and you looked around you. There was a bench not to far from you two and you walked to it, taking a seat. "See, Hoseok, I'm not a good person. I've done things I'm not proud off and if someone I care about is in danger again, I'll do those things without hesitating all over again. Now, I'm not gonna lie, I like you and I trust you, which is why I told you the truth now. I didn't want this to come between us later on. I need you to know who I am right now, before we can go any further."

"You're wrong, you know." Hoseok said, taking a seat next to you.

"About what?"

"You are a good person. You're a good person who had something terrible happen to you and then you did bad things to make it right. Does it make what you did right? No. Does it make you a bad person? No." Hoseok took your hand, lacing your fingers. "I like who you are and I want to get to know you even better. I want to you know favourite song, your favourite colour, you favourite food - I want to know everything."

You squeezed his hand, smiling as your eyes blurred a bit. You giggled out of happiness, "I don't have a favourite song, there's to many good ones, my favoured colour is turquoise and my favourite food is lasagna." You smiled at him, warm and wide. "Your turn."

Hoseok told you as you told him. Later, you leaned on his shoulder as you two kept telling each other all of your favourite things. Some your would remember, some you would forget, but as you sat through the night and watched the sunrise, you knew there would be enough time for you to discover it all.

the end.

[sirene312]

i'm back at home

This have to be the first time that the reason I disappeared here was not because I lost my internet, I don't even know how to start the nightmare that these last two-three months have been. What happened to me it's something so horrendous that i need to get this out of my chest now that i have the chance so i don't have to think about this whole experience ever again. sorry in advance but this is going to be a long post. 

Before you read this I want you to keep in mind that I live in a south american country falling apart with many problems (here's a translated thread (x) of the things happening on in my country. here’s the original with images (x) caution some images are distressing) where crazy things like this happen with impunity because literally nothing here works and that includes justice.

My dad passed away suddenly at the end of August, my brother and I went to his house that is on the other side of the city, and when we got there, apparently there were some “friends” living with him: a man, a woman and a child. At the time, since I was distracted by being utterly devastated and my mind was clouded with pain i didn't realize what this could mean, after all my dad had many many friends, but still i thought it was a little weird since we talked to my dad frequently on the phone and he never told us about these randos.

After the funeral, since we still needed to do more legal stuff and wanted to save to give him a proper grave/tombstone we decided to stay and live at my dad’s house (now ours by law) for a few weeks until we took care of everything. and this is where the nightmare starts.

We asked these "friends” of his when they would leave and go back to their place and they never gave us a clear answer, they were very evasive and never told us why they didn't want to go to their own home... and you know why? because they didn't have one. They were squatters. Here they are called “invaders” and you can read in these news articles (x) how they act (x), in our case these squatters were non violent but they did make our lives hell, because since we couldn't get them out we had to live with them or we would have lost our dad’s house and everything inside. 

In this stupid country if the squatters got into your home in a non violent way, you can't just force them to get out. Yes, you read that right. That is why we didn't went to the police, we knew they weren't going to do anything, they only do something if you have money, have contacts in the police, or a bunch of people make a fuss and attract media attention. 

The only thing we could do legally was go to la Fiscalía (I don't know what's the equivalent in English the persecution I think?) and file a complaint and some other paperwork, all that legal process can take years and meanwhile, the squatters can live there as they please and you can’t get inside your home again or get your things out...God...as you can imagine that was definitely not an option. 

After much thought we decided to sacrifice some of the money we had and got a lawyer for advice in what to do, and she said that while she searched for another legal way to get them out asap, we had to live in the house and don't ever leave it unoccupied, always my brother or I had to be there, because otherwise the squatters could change the locks and then there would not be anything we could do to get back in. I didn't want to do that but we had no other choice. Nothing could have prepared us to the things we would have to endure there.

Here are some the horrible things they did while we were living there:

They rearranged everything inside the house. We just lost our dad and I couldn't even keep the memory of how his house was decorated and how his things looked the way he had them. they moved around every little thing. it stills hurts, they had not right. 

They STOLE many things of my dad. They were only old things with very little value, but to me, their sentimental value was incalculable. like for example imagine that favorite chipped coffee mug your mom loves, or your grandpa reading glasses, or that comfy cardigan your granny likes to use when knitting, now imagine that a random stranger took them without permission and is using them as they please, worse because your loved one is no longer here and that is the only thing you had left of them. Now you have an idea of how sad and indignant i felt.

They never wore masks or didn't even wash their hands, they didn't care they were putting us all at risk with their lack of hygienic measures, in fact mocked us because we were super clean and wore masks when they were near us.

The woman pretended to have a serious medical condition and would threaten to report us for attempted murder  if we spoke to her in any way that she wouldn't like because getting “upset” triggered her “condition”. Which is ironic since I’m the one with a heart condition and she could have jeopardize my health with all the stress she and her husband were subjecting me everyday. 

They turned all the neighbors against us! that evil woman would pretend to have “fits” of “her disease” right on the street were the neighbors would witness it to gain sympathy and later tell them that we caused her that, they believed her and everyone on our street hated us, and even all of them signed a bullshit letter to have us evicted from our own house and to let them keep the house. Good thing that wasn't legal and the government office ignored that ridiculous letter.

They used everything inside the house without permission, like our refrigerator, the kitchen appliances, the washing machine, the stereo, our water and food, our frigging clean bed sheets, it was like that was their home and WE were the intruders. that made me so so mad. 

They psychologically tormented us. They took advantage of our emotionally fragile state to do and say things to get us so upset so we would leave the house for good. And they almost got it, my mental health was a mess, grieving and dealing with this was too much but our mom convinced us to stay, she said our dad wouldn't have wanted us to lose our house to these damn thieves.

and speaking of theft...they even tried to steal OUR DOG. The kid one day said “this is now my dog! our new dog, my mom said so!” and i was like wHAT NO! but i just said something like “but we love him we’ll be very sad and lonely if he's not by our side” bc i didn't want to upset the kid. She was very sweet and innocent, she and I actually got along well and played sometimes (she gave me drawings that i still have and i gave her some paper crafts and my childhood toys) it was not her fault that her parents were evil. That horrible man wasn't even her father, he treated her bad, god I hated how he yelled at her and made her cry she was just a little child, i wish i could have had the power to do something.

At this point you must be thinking, why the hell were you acting like a doormat?? why did you allowed them to treat you like this!! why didn't you do something!? oh believe me I was very vocal in my discontent and didn't give them an inch, but the thing is there was little we could do, if we tried to talk to them they ignored us at best, police were not going to help (we at one point did end up going to the police station just to get told what we already knew: that they couldn't do anything), and even when one day i snapped and i told them to leave us alone and not touch our things, they just brushed me off. They knew if things escalated and violence of any kind were used against them we could be in legal trouble (same applied to them, that's why they never physically attacked us). We were alone in this battle, didn't have the support of anyone. What else we could do? our hands were tied. 

We had to endure all this shit non stopping every day we were there. I was saving all my limited phone data for important things like calls and messages to my mom and my lawyer, so my only source of entertainment was the cable TV, I can't believe that what kept me sane was watching old reruns of Cupcake Wars and home improvement shows.

But the more time passed the more this situation was unbearable and we were not doing well, this distressed my mom so much that she decided to pack a small suitcase and go stay there with us, we didn't want her to do that because she is an elderly woman and her health could be at risk but she didn't care and just show up one evening and let me tell you, after months of not seeing her when she walked through that door i was so happy and relieved and emotional that i started crying two seconds flat and we just hug her for a long time. Damn these people for causing us to be apart when we needed our mom the most.

Now with our mom there I think they felt threatened and so those pathetic fools went so far as to make a false document where it said that they were “our tenants” so they could be protected by law and could stay there “legally” for at least a year or two. That stupid stunt would be their downfall. 

We were cited to go to a govt office that deals with rent and housing problems where they were going to present that bogus document, the office needed for all parts to be present there, so my bro, our lawyer and I got there and later the squatters and their kid since they were using the scarce public transport. My mom stayed back at the house alone. I don't know if it was luck or divine intervention (or karma in their case)  that the woman in charge couldn't make it and the audience got postponed for the following month, our lawyer was fuming she didn't want those horrible people to spend another whole month at our house, she called my mom and told her to lock all doors and don't let anyone in, we quickly got into the lawyer’s car and got to the house first before the squatters and we put a huge padlock on the door! That way they wouldn't be able to get in, they only had keys (that were originally our spare keys that they stole) to the front door.

I can't even begin to describe how nerve wracking was all this, but for the first time i felt hopeful because finally things were in our favor, now if those squatters tried to get inside of our private property by force they could get in serious trouble. How the turntables bitch!

And that's how we could GET THEM OUT AT LAST. 

When they realized they couldn't do anything more than pace furiously on the sidewalk they left (the woman tried having one of her “fits” to get people’s attention but since it started to rain she quickly gave up ha!). We thought they were going to stay in any of the neighbor's houses but they left to who knows where. A few days later we changed the locks and we got our uncle to go stay and live in the house while we finish sorting the legal papers. The only thing i felt sorry was for the kid but we later learned that the squatters found another house to take over the very same day we locked them out, so i know at least that poor little girl is not sleeping on the streets. I feel sad every time i think of her, this is not how a child should be living bc of her deplorable parents. i wish i could have had the chance to say goodbye to her in better terms.

I still can't believe all this happened to us when all we wanted was to get through grieving our dad and give him a better grave with some flowers. Hopefully we can finally finish saving and get that done now that we don't have to stress 24/7 over people wanting to make our lives hell.

I would have liked for this insanely horrible experience to end with them receiving punishment for what the did to us, but by this country standards when dealing with this kind of situation we were very lucky, this was the best outcome many people has told us, and honestly I'm just happy that it's over and I'm back at my home with my family and I’m sleeping on my own bed again.

Last but not least I want to thank everyone that took the time during these months to send me their lovely messages and their condolences, and were very supportive and understanding of my situation, although now is when I'm able to read them, they have made me very happy thank you so much for all your kindness.

and now to end on a high note here's Tomy our sweet dog, that belong to us and we get to keep because he’s ours :)

[mymemoirs]

Unrecorded Memories and Missing Taiwan #8

This is gonna be my last post for this series because I am left with only one week worth of story. Yes, my 2018 summer exchange story is coming to an end. I'm so glad it's going to be over because there's so many things I want to write in my next post.

32) Monday came and each groups presented their presentation in front of the class. My groupmates and I presented our presentation. It went smoothly and there were no real pressure compared to my AI presentation. Unlike the AI presentation, there was no grading for our presentation and thus no recognition of who's the best presenter in our class. Well, I think this way we can just be neutral and enjoy everyone's presentation. Although, to be honest, I can't remembered any of the presentations during this class compared to the AI class.

Okay, this is really out of context, but I have to admit that the Indian students I met are confident and good presenter. One presenter in particular presented like Steve Jobs. His talk is inspiring and full of hope (well, his expressions especially) even though he's just explaining about an AI that creates lyrics for music.

Now, back to topic *laughs*. So, after everyone in the class finished their presentation, I think we were dismissed quite early. I don't really remember what I did that day. The only clue I have of that day is a photo of the 7-Eleven near the campus. I think knowing well that I will miss that place, I just took a photo of it for my memorabilia. Well, sure enough, I do missed that convenience store. They have everything! I always bought my breakfast there. Sometimes I even have my lunch or dinner there. It's such a memorable place. I really love how the convenience store really depicts 'convenient' very well. It's very different from the convenience store in my country. Oh, and I think it's open for 24 hours. Like, seriously, this is too convenient!

7-Eleven store besides Asia University Campus. Look at that infinite supply of foods with chairs and tables. I just love so many selections of foods to choose, I really miss Taiwan's 7-Eleven.

33) On Tuesday, our professor suddenly told us that we were going to have a campus tour. So, off we go around the campus with our professor as the tour guide. It's not like we don't explore the campus but after the tour, I realize how big the campus is and how little exploration I did. There were so many places, BEAUTIFUL places around the campus. But the only thing I did whenever I finished classes was to go back to my room and rest. I don't really explored much except when I get lost. I also didn't visit other friends in different dorm buildings which is located quite far from my own. Now, that I think back, it's really too bad that I don't do much exploring but that's also one of the reason why I would still want to go back to Taiwan if I had the chance. I'm only in Taichung before and there were a lot of cities in Taiwan I haven't explored yet. I'll love another chance to explore the country.

The first half of our class (before lunch) was spent on touring the campus. After that, on the second half of our class, we went to an art museum in Asia University. I think our professor was out of ideas on where to take us and since most of us never visited the art museum that was actually located in the campus. He suggested that and we all went along, although, we must pay for our own entrance fee to enter the museum. However, I think it was discounted. I vaguely remembered paying 100 NTD for that.

The museum itself is called "Asia Museum of Modern Art" located in Asia University's premises. I actually had to pass through the museum every time I went back to my dorm. It have this amazing architecture that's also one of its selling point in my opinion. The architect of the building is a Japanese man named Tadao Ando. I just have to go gaga on him after searching more about him and his works. What a talented man he is! It even shows in the museum I went.

He's a King of Concrete because his works mostly uses concretes and the museum I went was made of concrete. It was also not painted and that's really interesting to see a building not painted but still exudes such a classy and modern look. There's also one spot in the museum that's very popular. Since the building is triangle, the corner of it have this eye fish effect if we took a picture from that corner. Just take a look at this picture below!

In one of the corners in Asia Museum of Modern Art.

As you can see, being in the corner allows people to see both sides of the wall, making an effect of using a wide lens or fish eye lens. I saw Tadao Ando's other work too in the internet and I am officially a fan of his work now. He really have piqued my interest in the world of design. I'm in love. *laughs*

Since it was an art museum, there were a lot of art works ranging from pottery, paintings to very abstract object. According to the guide, the museum have different arts displayed there depending on the exhibitions. I don't really remember what exhibition or what theme I am seeing when I went there but I was mostly focused on the architecture of the buildings. Walking around and seeing people taking pictures. I don't really take pictures which is kind of a bummer but I don't think I feel comfortable asking people to take a picture of me. Most of my pictures are taken in a group or by my classmate's initiative.

I took a picture of this because of the meaning behind the words which is very simple but deep. You read it downwards and from right to left, it would be translated as: "In Beauty, there are great pain and ecstasy"

34) After our trip to the museum, we can go back to our dorm. That Tuesday was actually the last night for my roommates since their classes had finished. So, we decided to eat outside and find a cafe where we can chill near the campus. The campus is actually very convenient since there's a lot of shops near it. I actually enjoyed eating around there to be honest. Ah, now I really miss my student's life. Hahaha.

When we went to the cafe, we ordered waffles and shared it among the four of us. While we were eating, the cafe owner suddenly approached us and offered another serving of waffles for free. That is actually quite surprising for us but we received it with delight. Who wouldn't like a freebies right? However, I had a feeling the reason we got that free waffle was because my roommates were attractive. Or maybe it's just because we were new customers and he wanted to gain repeating customers. Which is me *laughs* cause I brought another friends to that cafe again but we weren't lucky to receive a free waffle again. Oh yeah, the name of the cafe is 唯享时刻 (Enjoy Moments) which have a very cute exterior. I think that's the reason why the four of us is interested to try out that cafe.

Anyway, while being on the topic "being treated/ getting freebies" cause you're attractive, it's only when I went to Taiwan that I do saw this kind of thing. I mean back in my country, it's really rare to see my friends being treated or offered by strangers 'cause we're really scared if that actually happens. Heck, I even saw it twice happening with my roommates since one of my roommates were especially attractive. Aside from the cafe, there's this one time when we went to a minimart to buy our breakfast for tomorrow. The cashier actually didn't charge one of my roommate for something she brought it was as if he was treating her. It was actually amusing for me to witness that, their conversation goes like this:

Cashier: *scans barcode of the stuff, leave out an item and then says the price*

Roommate: Um, you forgot to scan the banana.

Cashier: Oh, no, it's alright. It's for you.

Roommate: Um, okay... *while giving the money* Thank you.

This is not really the exact conversation since I forgot if the cashier even said anything at all about giving it to her. I am not beside or behind her when this happened and I remembered the cashier being meek but he was definitely attracted to my friend. Because after going out of the minimart, the rest of my roommates who also went to the same class with her, tease her and said that this is not the first time the cashier treated her. And I think that's also part of the reason why they chose to shop at that minimart.

Last picture together before my roommates leave Asia University.

Anyway, back to to the cafe moment, I was really sad that we had to part ways tomorrow. Iris and Karen were going to stay in Taiwan for a while but they will go to a different cities tomorrow. Vincy, on the other hand, will be going back to Hong Kong. I can't remember every conversation we had, but I do miss them from time to time. I don't know if they feel that way towards me because our meeting is really such a short period of time and I actually rely on them as my roommates. We still had the WhatsApp group chats but it's always me who initiate the conversation in the group but even if we're not close, they really leave behind such a deep impression on me. I do hope I can meet them again.

35) The next day, on Wednesday, we have our class as usual. Our professor invited other lecturer to teach us about Fintech that day. There weren't much to mentioned for this day except that my roommates all went to their respective destination and we parted ways. I did have the chance to eat my lunch with Vincy before I sent her off in front of the campus. Aaaah, now I really miss them and the moments I had with them but life must go on and that's the thing about making friends across countries. You need to go back to where you belong.

On Thursday, the professor told us that we're going to have a farewell party and ask us to gather in a cafe near the museum. The cafe was actually managed by an alumni of the university and I think that's the reason why our professor wanted us to go there. Although, I don't know if the cafe still exists since it doesn't show up in google maps. With the pandemic that's happening, I felt it cause businesses to go bankrupt but at the same time new kind of businesses went viral during the pandemic.

During our farewell, everyone is having a light snacks and coffee, conversations, picture taking, etc. I don't quite remembered how the event unfolds in the Entrepreneurship and Creativity class farewell compared to the AI class farewell. I think the professors only gave some short speech and we also watch some videos before we received our certificates. The owner of the cafe also gave her speech about the cafe which really fits our class.

Receiving the certificate of completion from the professor.

After the farewell party, everyone is free to go. I usually hang out with my Thai friends when I'm on this class but instead of going out with them, I went out with my classmates who came from the same university as I am. It's funny that I only get close with them on the last day. I think they've told me that they felt I was not really approachable especially since I always hang out with my Thai classmates. I don't really deny that because I personally felt the time is so short to be friends with everyone and I'm the type to focus on one group of friends rather than getting along with everyone which I think is impossible for introverted me.

It's a good thing that I do get along with them eventually. I am also grateful that they invited me to go out with them 'cause I don't think I'll go anywhere that day if they didn't invite me. Although, initially I think they just invited me to get a picture together in front of the campus as the representative of our university. After that, they find me approachable enough to ask if I had any plans and would like to join them. Since I love travelling and am not the type to plan most of my days, I gladly accept their offer.

So, off we go to their dorm since they had to take care of some stuff (like preparing to go out, do a little packing, pray, etc). Since, I'm ready to go out and have done most of my packing, I don't mind going along with them to their dorm. It's also the first time I visited other dorm buildings aside from my own. Their dorm rooms are actually quite different compared to mine. They had inner toilet in their rooms while in my dorm the toilet is outside of our rooms. While I am there watching them, one of the classmates actually offered to do some makeup on my face and I let her do it. Although, I don't really have a picture of it unfortunately.

Me and my classmates from Airlangga University

After that, we went downtown to get our lunch since the food in the cafe is just light snacks. It was quite late when we grabbed our food, I think around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. We went to subways since they're craving for it and I also think it's halal for them. I actually enjoyed talking with them, they're funny and expressive. However, in terms of a travel buddy, I don't think I can get along with them because they only visited shops and more shops to buy the stuff people ask them to. Of course, they charge for it which is very business minded of them but I can see they're struggling with their baggage too.

We were outside for the whole day. Since, I had no makeup remover, I had to follow them to their room to use it. Afterwards, I left their dorm because I had prior plans with two of my Thai classmates (Phoom and Benz) to eat together since this is our last night in Taiwan. I remembered only eating with both of them even though there are other Thai classmates who didn't joined us that night.

While walking to our meeting point, I actually thought how beautiful the night view is around the campus. There were couple of places I went during daylight but it looks so different and beautiful with the lights. The moon was very bright that night too. Tbh, those kind of moments actually reignite my desire to travel again and even during that time I already missed Taiwan. I'm sure people who travel or on a holiday have those kind of moments where they miss holidays even before it ends.

Now, back to our dinner. We ate our dinner in a beef noodle shop near the campus which is actually very popular because it's close to the university and it also tastes quite good. Although, I don't think we can eat that everyday because it's quite costly compared to other available options (around 100 NTD). But when's the perfect time to eat a bit costly dinner than the last day, right? I personally enjoy talking to both of them even though they are much older than me since I knew they were a master's student around their 30s. After eating, we went to a minimart where they bought beers and then we walked back to our respective dorms since my dorm buildings aren't the same with them.

36) Friday, my last day in Taiwan! Everyone who's going back that day went to the meeting point in front of the campus where we will board on a bus that's heading to the airport. We say our goodbyes to the remaining friends who's going to stay, taking pictures together and just spent some time chatting before the bus arrived. Most of my classmates are going back directly to their countries but I was heading to Singapore instead because I have relatives living there.

The moon is so tiny but trust me, it really caught my eyes. Seeing it with your own eyes does feels different.

We all went home that day. It was really a memorable month for me and I am grateful that I get to experience all of this. I have always wanted a student exchange experience while still balancing my college life and this opportunity came through. Having this summer exchange on 2018 was one of the best highlights I had during college. While on the plane back home, I sat near besides the window and I was able to see a full moon shining brightly and beautifully. Although my phone didn't do much justice to the grandeur I saw, I really wanted to share with everyone the picture of it to end this series.

- Reina

PS. Thank you for reading this series, if anyone ever read it. I really appreciate it. Even though there are certain events or timelines that I'm not completely sure of, I find writing and sharing about the memories I had in Taiwan as a fond thing to do because it's really a memorable one that I just had to write about it. I also find this process - digging up past memories - to be a good exercise for my brain.

[doof-doofblog]

"You Can See Yourself Out, Can't You?!"

Tuesday 3rd November 2020

Good afternoon/evening everyone! I realise this will be my second post of the day but I am wanting to try my absolute best to catch up as much as I can. I am in work tomorrow morning, quite early, so tonight's episode will be reviewed tomorrow. This post will be covering Tuesday's episode. We have a lot to get through so I'm not going to waste any more of your time and jump straight into it.

This episode begins with Kush slumped on the kitchen table, it looks like he must've slept there during the night. He is woken by Kat walking through the front door. Understandably, things a looking pretty awkward between the pair. Kush voices his concerns to where his girlfriend had been through-out the night, but it's plain to see that she stayed out all night. Kush explains that one of her children were awake in the night asking for her and he made sure that they were okay. Kush once again goes very sheepish as he takes a huge breath and prepares to tell his girlfriend that he thinks he needs help for his gambling addiction. But his pleas fall of deaf ears as Kat completely ignores him and turns the conversation to wanting to get her children ready for school. I think it's going to need a lot more for Kat than him just accepting he has a problem, he needs to do something more in an attempt to fix the situation.

Out on the Square, Jay and Honey are sharing breakfast as she receives a phone call from the Detective who's working her case. Could this be the news regarding the sexual assault or whether they're going to charge Paul with his crimes? Either way, Jay pushes her to answer the phone, as he will be there to support her no matter what the outcome. Meanwhile, at the laundrette, Max finds Linda in the middle of her shift. Is it just me, or can you still sense sexual tension between them? It's like ever since they shared that kiss, they've both been nervous around each other. The reason Max has popped into see her is to ask her whether she'd be interested in working another shift at the restaurant for the afternoon, he insists that he wouldn't have asked if he wasn't desperate. I guess the Carter's need as much money as they can get right now, will she agree?

Back at the Slater household, Kat returns explaining that Stacey has taken the children to school instead. She informs Kush that she has been told the good news that they've been allowed to stay in their house, on the catch that they pay more rent, which Kush confirms that if they don't get they will kicked out of their house for sure! Kat takes a seat opposite and feels like this might be the time to hear him out, she needs an explanation. She asks him straight out why did he feel the need to gamble everything they had? At first, Kush doesn't know how to answer the question, until he reveals that the gambling gave him a buzz - which is the typical feeling an addict gets when they gamble. It's that rush of adrenalin and excitement, the buzz. As Kush continues, I begin to feel for the guy. He mentions to Kat about losing his Zaair, his son to Shabnam and then losing his brother Shaki, over the years he feels like he has slowly lost his spark, his swag, and gambling was kind of the only way to replace it. Kat looks as if she understands and agrees to give her boyfriend one last chance. Kush even admits he almost played another game last night while she was away, but he didn't and he forced himself to delete the game from his phone - which is a massive step for a gambling addict. Kush is deeply apologetic and regrets everything he has put his family through and panics how they're going to be able to pay Suki the rest of the rent, but Kat tries to reassure him and informs him that once Stacey returns, they'll sit down together as a family and sort it, as she has an idea.

Meanwhile, Honey is having her meeting with the Detective supporting her case and they have confirmed to her that there was no evidence of her being raped. However, just because there's no evidence of sexual assault, does not mean that she hasn't been assault in any other way. Unfortunately, the detective confirms that there are no possible ways of finding out such things, the main evidence they have is the video of her on Paul's phone. It's then that the Detective drops the bombshell to poor Honey that the case might have to go to court and she may have to give evidence. Honey's thought of this clearly worries her, she'd have to be in the same room as her attacker. But as Jay watches her with concerned eyes, she says she'll do whatever she can to help, to which he gives her a small smile, he looks quite proud of her and how brave she's being. I can seriously sense them both falling for each other during this storyline.

Back on the Square, Mick is walking down the street in his own world as he hears voices from across the Square. As he looks up he sees his wife and Max discussing her shift, before he leaves Max just happens to make a joke regarding a pair of knickers that we found attached to Linda's apron earlier. Obviously, Mick isn't going to react positively to this. As Max walks away, Linda sees her husband and approaches him asking whether he wouldn't mind her working another shift. But clearly it's a big deal for Mick, it looks as if he doesn't want his wife anywhere near him. But the only thing he says to her is "That's up to you!" and walks away. Once again, pushing away the people who care about him the most. Meanwhile on the other side of the Square, Tiffany rushes out from the undertakers. Rainie sees her catching for breath and understands what's caused her reaction. Stuart had taken her down to the refrigerators to see all the other deceased bodies. This, I feel is a brilliant scene, very funny! Again, with Stuart and Rainie, just a little bit of comedy that we need in the soap right now! Tiffany then proceeds to ask Rainie what happened with their previous beautician. I loved the fact that they share a mutual opinion at this point when Rainie explains that she used her expensive lipstick on a corpse! Tiffany completely agrees and when Rainie compliments her saying she'll do really well at the undertakers, a little smile grows her face.

At the Mitchell household, after having to skip breakfast with his boyfriend after preparing it so beautifully but then having to rush off due to call message from DI Thompson, Callum returns to the house. Ben approaches his boyfriend and being polite, asks how work went. But Callum doesn't really want to talk and insists that he has a banging headache and just wants to go for a lie-down. It looks as if he's shrugging of Ben again. Ben can see that his boyfriend is hiding something, he's been acting shifty for quite a while now and Ben has clicked on that something isn't right. Callum tells his boyfriend that he just wants to be alone and storms up the stairs, as he does so, Ben tries to tidy up his jacket on the banister when suddenly Callum's phone falls out the jacket pocket. For a split moment it looks as if Ben contemplates looking through his boyfriend's phone, I mean, I wouldn't blame him! But surprisingly, he does the decent thing and puts it back. Suddenly Callum returns and instantly accuses Ben of checking up on him and looking through his phone, Ben is quick to defend himself saying he was just tidying it up. Ben makes the valid point that Callum has been acting strangely over the past few days and it's no wonder it's given him reason to worry. He's acting like he actually has something to hide. Something is telling me that it must have something to do with Callum trying to dob in Phil, how the hell will Ben react when he finds out what his boyfriend has been up to? Even though I feel Callum doesn't want to do it anymore, he's definitely got himself in too deep and can't really find a way out. I think Ben should've looked at his phone while he had the chance! Callum accuses his boyfriend of not trusting him and walks away. Why do I fear things are going to go wrong for Ballum before things go back to the way they were?!

Back on the Square, Mick is sat gathering his thoughts. Suddenly Frankie appears as she exits the Prince Albert. Mick is quick to get a moment with his daughter. He hasn't seen or spoken to her the past week or so, he asks how she is and why she hasn't responded to any of his messages. Frankie simply tells him that it's been hard for her to deal with she's learned in recent weeks about her Dad and her Mum. Realising that her Mum sexually abused her own Dad, it must be tough for a young adult to come to terms with, realising that maybe she is the result of sexual abuse ... (I know that sounds awful, but it could be true). Mick tries to explain to her that he wants to help her as much as he can, but she make the very valid point that he can't even help himself right now. He can't come to terms with it either, so how on earth is he going to be able to help her? From the way I see it, they're both become victims of her Mother's actions, they're both suffering and having to deal with the devastating truth, to be fair, it should be the main thing that brings them closer as Father and Daughter. I have a feeling that maybe when Frankie's Mum arrives, Katy, it will be the main thing that brings them closer together. What do you guys think?! It's quite devastating, both Mick and Frankie admit that things were easier for them both before they entered each other's lives, Frankie suggests that they should not contact each other anymore and she walks away. The look on Mick's face, he is absolutely distraught, something tells me he's not going to be able to walk away that easy, how on earth could he walk away from his own daughter? Even though she had no idea she existed, he'd do anything for his kids like any other Dad, I don't think he'll be able to simply walk away from her, not now that she's made such a huge impact on his life.

Meanwhile at the Slater household, Stacey can't believe what she's hearing. Kat's idea of helping the family and getting some money in their pockets is a potential robbery. It turns out that the security guard Kat went on a date with the previous night got so drunk and told her all the information she'd need about the building. She knows all the lock codes she needs to get into the building, the only thing they need is a way to get inside and someone who will help them pull it off. Stacey isn't wanting anything to do with it as she insists that she's has been the best this year. Kat reassures her that she doesn't have to be involved, she needs to be able to stay at home and be with the kids, just in case something goes wrong. Kush voices his concerns whether it is such a good idea, but when Kat asks whether he has a suggestion, there isn't much that he can say in response. It's then that Kat reveals she's got someone in mind who might be willing to help them out …. but who could it be?!

Returning to Mick, he makes his way into Walford East ... now I don't know about you, but this is the Mick that we have been missing, don't you guys think? He sneaks his way into the restaurant and grabs a table and hides his face from his wife. As Linda approaches his table, he makes himself known and basically (in not so many words) apologises to wife for the way he's been acting and basically states the fact that he loves her more than anything in the world and is wanting her more than anything right now. Now it's nice to see Mick back to his old funny, flirtatious self, but is he really being able to forget all about Frankie and move on? Because even though this is nice to see after so long, something tells me its not going to last. Linda giggles at her husband's flirtation and they both giggle as they leave the restaurant together.

Meanwhile, in the Vic, Jay is finally catching up with Lola. They're discussing their offer on a potential flat they've looked at. It looks as if Lola is really wanting this future with Jay, but with him being at Honey's side in recent days, it seems Lola isn't being able to see her boyfriend as much. They had originally made plans that evening for a drink and a Chinese together. However, Jay admitted that he promised Honey he'd check on her, much to Lola's disappointment Jay asks whether they can postpone their date for another time. Lola is visibly upset but she reassures her boyfriend that it's fine and she understands. But when Jay just happened to describe Honey as "Amazing" - Lola's ears prick up, I mean, it's true that everyone loves Honey. But something tells me that Lola is going to be feeling a little jealous and upset that Jay is spending so much time with her lately. As Jay goes to check on her, Lola is left in the Vic, suddenly Isaac swoops right in after overhearing their conversation and offers Lola a drink. Uh-oh, is Lola going to cheat on Jay for a second time?!

Back at the undertakers, Tiffany is still experiencing her first day and is having her first lesson on what to do when there's a fire drill. This scene was once again brilliant, more comedy from Stuart and Rainie. I found it funny when Tiffany and Stuart were waiting for Rainie to appear whilst the alarm was still blaring. Eventually she emerges from the building with two cups of coffee in her hands. I just loved the way that Stuart commented how slow she was and she had a go at him claiming she wasn't as quick as she used to be! It's then that they turn to Tiffany and offer her the job as a beautician, which she completely agrees. I have a feeling that there could be some brilliant scenes ahead for them all in the undertakers, it'll be interesting when Keegan finds out, but surely he'll support his wife?!

Back at the Vic, Ben finds Callum sat alone with a pint. It looks as if this will be the opportunity Ben will only have to get to the bottom of what's bothering Callum. He sits beside his boyfriend and admits he knows what's been bothering him, explaining that he understands he's been pulled from pillar to post whilst helping his Dad with the whole Ellie situation. Callum doesn't know what to say, of course he has to just play along, he can't tell his boyfriend truthfully what's bothering him, only that it's really complicated. Ben tells his boyfriend that he'll never forget what he's done for his Dad, he makes the valid point that the Mitchells always remember loyalty. He tells his boyfriend how proud he is of him, Callum can't do anything but smile. Ooooo I just really hope that Callum will come clean eventually. I don't want to see the Mitchell family falling to pieces just because of something Callum was going to do. Something tells me Christmas is going to be explosive, it's going to cover all sorts of big reveals and secrets for all the families ... the Mitchell's, the Slater's and the Carter's. What do you guys think?

At home, it looks as if Mick's goofy flirtatious mood didn't last very long. He's sat in the living room in another world of his own, Linda walks again and tells him not worry as "These things happen!" - So he wasn't able to perform for his wife as things were still painfully on his mind. Linda suggests it could've been his anxiety medication, Mick softly agrees but also reveals to his wife that he was trying to pretend to be something he's not. Which is actually really sad, he shouldn't have to pretend to make an effort to perform for his wife. I mean, I think it's kind of nice he tried to make an effort as clearly things haven't been right for them in recent weeks, but it looks as if not being able to perform has made the blow much harder, mainly because he's got other things on his mind. I do feel for Mick right now, but as much as I'm not enjoying seeing him lash out to his loved ones, I feel like I just want him to reach out to Frankie, make an effort with his daughter and (I know it's hard) but he needs to come to terms with what happened in the past, and not pass the blame onto his Mother.

In the park, Honey is on her own as she watches a young couple canoodling. She's looking almost upset as she watches them laughing and enjoying their time together. Jay approaches her and she comments how the couple look so in love at young age, and no one has turned up to ruin it for them yet. Jay sits down beside her and comforts her, tells her that at some point she will meet someone. Maybe not tomorrow, not next week, not even next month - but eventually she will find someone who will love her, because plain and simply there is nothing to not love about her. Jay compliments his friend and says she is just too lovely to not let anyone love her. Honey smiles and thanks Jay for being there for her the past couple of days, he's been the one who's been there more than anyone, even Billy. They slowly swing together and share a small laugh and smile. Something really does tell me that eventually either Jay will fall for Honey, or Honey will fall for Jay. Do you see something happening between them? I'd love to hear your thoughts on these two!

The final scene of this episode, we're returning to Kat, we can see she's slowly approaching someone's house. The camera turns and we can see the Phil is approaching her from behind. Later inside she's trying her absolute best to convince him to help her with this robbery job. She confirms she's got all the information they need to get into the building and out, she proposes it'll be an easy job for them to pull off. But Phil gives her the blow that he isn't interested. He simply doesn't understand why she needs him for the job, to which she explains it's simply for the muscle and perhaps to make their getaway. But once again, Phil declines her offer, she begs him to help as this is the only thing that could help her family. Unfortunately it makes no difference and he asks her leave. Is Kat going to maybe attempt the robbery on her own? Will she get someone else to help her out, Kush maybe, considering he was the one who caused this whole mess, couldn't he be the one to help her sort it?! Or will Phil maybe change his mind and take her up on her offer?!

I hope you've all enjoyed reading this blog as much as I've enjoyed writing. I shall be back tomorrow reviewing tonight's episode. I'm slowly catching up and I promise you, by the weekend I will be completely up to date. Enjoy the rest of your night everyone. Love you all xXx

[btssunnyboy]

Partners In Crime - Jeon Jungkook Part 1

You had a vendetta, and this was your chance. You were gonna prove yourself, but now you got another person to worry about.

Word Count - 3,131

Warning - Undercover Agent! AU, profanity and mentions of drinking.

Masterlist

Also I’m back after a few months break I’m so sorry, but hopefully I’ll be back with a lot more updates!!!

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"I absolutely refuse! I'm more then qualified to handle this mission on my own."

The words slipped pasted your lips quicker then you intended. Venom laced through every word, as you stared stared at your higher up. His eyes threatened to roll back in his head ; agitation clearly visible through his stressed state. He released a heavy breath, while pinching the bridge of his nose. His hands form together into bone crushingly tight fist.

"L/n! Work with me! You need a partner for this assignment and he's the perfect coverup!" Mr. Jones ushered out as his eyes glanced cautiously at the clock. The small ticks that erupted from the small machine filling the tense silence that was floating in the air. His leg shook wildly in return in made the floorboards squeak underneath the shaky weight.

"I've been working Jackson Wang's case for over six months! His banquet is my shot to prove I'm worthy of my spot on this team!" You bellowed, comic stream bursting from your ears. Your face was red from embarrassment, disappointment and most importantly anger. Pure, boiling, hot anger seeping through every crevice of your body. This was chance to prove that you weren't a rookie anymore! This was a chance to live up to what you father used to be on this force.

"You've shown your worth more then enough times to be about of my department, but this is a mission that requires back up. It's too dangerous even for you." Mr. Jones sighed once more when he noticed your posture. Stick straight back, with clenched hands and jaw. You were passed the state of furious, and he knew hell was about to rain down. "Can I at least tell you his name."

"Of course it's a guy."

"His name is Jeon Jungkook. He's one of the top residents we have, and he's moving up through the ranks remarkably well." The sickly sweet comment rolled off of his tongue with such ease. It disgusted you down to your core. You didn't need a partner to handle Jackson Wang. You've dealt with his accomplices, and you sure as hell can take a guy like him on. "Now would you please stop making a big scene."

On one hand Mr. Jones had a point. Your reaction was starting to take the form of a five year old who just got told no to a brand new toy. You were overreacting, but with a good reason to back it up. This was your main chance ; you didn't want to be shadowed by some partner who would take all the credit. This was your shot, and you desperately needed it. Your worth in this department now rests on the hands of someone called Jeon Jungkook.

Before you mouth could open to add more snarky comment chief's door swung open. I'm walked a man who was almost your age, but maybe a bit older. His big doe eyes held so much innocence ; you almost pity the man who decided to work in a job like this. A job that requires you to be deceiving in every way, a job that tests your limits, and a job that puts your life in danger every time you walk out those doors. Being undercover has it's downfalls, and it may corrupt a sweet guy like him.

"This is your partner. Jeon Jungkook meet L/n Y/n."

"It's a pleasure to meet you! I've actually heard so much about you!" He beamed while staring softly at you. His hand was extended, and your whole body was hesitant to even shake his hand. He noticed the delay, and awkwardly pulled his hand away, and rubbed the nape of his neck. "It's gonna be an honor working with you."

You stayed silent through the entire exchange. The way his smile dropped ever so slightly, but the gleam never left his eyes. His stare was now directed towards the chief. Desperately trying to get the train moving along, and bolt as fast as he could out those glass doors. The chief gave a sudden scoff, before he started making his point clear.

"Jeon I'm sorry for this unprofessional like matter coming from one of our finest, but you two need to work together." The message was supposed to be loud and clear. Both of you were supposed to understand that this mission is going to take every once of willpower from the both of you. "This is his case file, learn it, live it, and then catch it."

Sharp nods left the both of you, as you reached for your file. Flipping through what felt like miles of charges against him. Things been drug charges, third degree battery, and many, many more. This just goes to prove that money will get your dumbass out of any situation. This man has ruined lives, and here he is still allowed to roam the streets without a care in the fucking world.

"Jesus Christ how can this guy live with himself?" Jungkook mumbled while pulling his chair out. His eyes scanned each charge, and loudly showed his disapproval. His scoff filled the small room, as if practically reverberated throughout. "What do you think about all of this?"

His question lingered in the air, as a response was settled onto your tongue. It was searing in your mouth, begging to have the cool air hit it and diminish the intensity of it. Instead you stayed silent. Letting your eyes linger on the file, even though you knew everything about this man. His motives, his relationship, his goddamn childhood. You knew it all, and a personal vendetta was pushing you towards getting this bastard in jail. Him and his stupid connections ruined your life, and you're never going to forget that.

"I know this isn't exactly your idea type of mission, but I'm just here to help." Jungkook softly said as he pulled his chair to the front of your desk. His famous doe eyes staring so softly into yours. They had a gleam that looked like a whole universe was settled underneath his cornea. His smile was still on his face, as if you silence wasn't affecting him at all. He didn't seem to care, as he continued on this conversation. "We still need to think of a plan to catch him."

He wasn't wrong. This whole mission still needed to be planned out step by step. And all you've got so far is the fact he's in town for the week, and once he leaves this area your team's jurisdiction will be useful no more. It has to be you, and your partner who take him down. The mere thought of him leaving made your hands clench in anger once more. Your knuckles going white from the harsh grip, and you could already fill your nails tearing the skin of your palms. His eyes glanced down at your hands, and he took it as his sign to leave.

"You don't have to go." Your voice was so soft he almost didn't hear it. This was a drastic change from your demeanor back in the chief's office. You tightly shut your eyes, and wished you'd just kept your mouth shut. He was just about to leave, and you could've been alone to make a plan layout. This could've be done all by yourself, but something made you want him. Something made it hard to see him go. "Like you said we need a plan."

"Y-yeah! A plan if were gonna catch him we need to make sure that he's caught in the act. I figured the only reason why he's never be truly admitted to jail is that he's never been see doing these things. Someone else always manages to take the fault." Jungkook stammered, as he pulled out his laptop. His eyes scanning every detail of the records he's looking at. Different people each lined up with charge that some how correspond with Jackson Wang's charges. They go down for him, and he just leaves them there. What a sicko.

You nodded your head in understanding. He would get charged and then everything would be dropped. Only for another man to take the place, and as they said coincidental at the time. This plan needs two brains working together, a different perspective is exactly what this mission needs. Yet you still can't bring yourself to accept that. It was stupid sitting here in a mood just because you have to have a partner

"We have less then a week to catch up so Jeon Jungkook. What's our first move." You sighed as you leaned back in your seat. A curt nod came from him as he typed away on his computer, original doe soft eyes were pressed in harsh glares. His min was set on finding an answer, and it looked like he was set on finding one fast.

"His banquet, like we've mentioned before is our only shot there's no other way. The only problem is that we need an invitation." Jungkook grumbled as he slammed his laptop shut. He knew this was a big opportunity, and now he can't do anything about it.

"I've got that covered, before Bailey's incident she's was assigned this case and already acquired two tickets. Now this is our last shot bring him back home. Do I make myself clear?"  The chief spoke loudly. Making sure this was getting through both of your heads.

"Crystal."

"You're both two of the youngest on this team, make this count. And be careful, Jackson Wang is many things, but he's not a fool. One slip up and this whole operation goes down."

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"So we have to look like a couple at this party." Jungkook sighed as he fixed the blazer that settled onto his broad shoulders. The sleek looking material complimented his body in an extraordinary way. He was actually looking the part of a wealthy business man, and that's exactly the cover up that was needed. "We still have a few days, maybe we should actually go on a date."

Your eyebrows shot up in a questionable look. Your head tilted to the side as well. The emerald dress in your hands suddenly worth a lot more attention then the dashing man in front of you. It felt stupid to get to know him considering after this mission you planned on never talking to him again. Hell you planned on staying quiet throughout the whole night at the banquet. Get in, get him and get the hell out. It wasn't supposed to be a bonding experience.

"Come on, I'm not that bad." He commented again, as he shrugged off the sleek material. He somehow looked even better without that jacket. His white button down shirt cling to his biceps, making him even more appealing. That same smile he always wore still graced his face. Almost like it was the only permanent expression he had. "I mean I'd like to get to know you considering we're gonna be on the same team after this."

You dreaded it when he spoke that sentence. You truly didn't mind him it's just, getting close to someone in this business has its consequences. Consequences that take every ounce of happiness in you, and rip it to shreds. You've gone through them enough to know just how terrible they actually are. You didn't want to experience that pain again, and Jungkook sure wasn't worth going through that guy wrenching pain once more. But you never know what could happen in the span of a week. Once more you stayed locked onto the target of the silky emerald dress in front of you.

"I just wanna make sure you're okay with being around me. If we have to look like a couple we're gonna have to be touching in some way to make it more believable. Maybe just tell me some lies, or say I love you. It's gonna be fake anyways."

The way he spoke so nonchalantly physically hurt your heart. It was so stupid to let those few words effect you in such a big way. You were gonna ditch him so you had no right to upset about this.

"Let's get take-out and go to my place tonight. This better be worth my night."

"Of course it's gonna be."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

It was a silent ride to your little apartment. The cars passing by providing only little bit of noise in the long car ride. You could tell he was itching to start a conversation based on the way his hand kept twitching. His eyes would shoot from the road back to your sleepy form. He just wanted to get to know you, and he's usually a talk active person. But he's scared he's gonna mess up things if he even speaks a word. He's worried that if he breathes the wrong way you're gonna complain even more. 

"Up here at the left." You said in a groggy tone, and rubbed the sleep from your eyes. A small yawn passing through once again. You honestly don't know if you're awake enough to even make it to your apartment door. But there is a hot takeout box in your lap, and it’s been a long day. Besides Lucy was definitely awake, and she’s always happy too see you. Well most of the time she is. Your keys wiggled in the lock as you tried to open the door. The sound of keys slapping against the concrete woke you up only slightly.

“Here let me do it.” He spoke softly as he took the keys from your weak grip. His hands softly guiding the takeout from yours. “If you want to reschedule it’s fine.”

“No it’s fine, when need this bonding experience anyways. Besides I think Lucy has already taken a liking to you.” You laughed lightly as the calico cat immediately rubbed her head against his jean clad legs. A soft purr erupting from her. The freaking cat loves him, but hisses at anyone else. “Well hello there.”

That little heifer has the audacity to love up on him, and completely ignore you. You’re the one who fills her green bowl, gives her half the food on your plate. And she goes to the stranger that smells like mint and chocolate.

“I swear she’s usually in a mood.” You commented, as you tossed your coat on the back of the couch. As Jungkook sat down she immediately made her nest on his lap. Like you said before, that little heifer. “Okay now lets start talking.”

“Okay, what’s your favorite tv show.” He softly said as he shoveled the noodles in his mouth. His eyes never leaving yours once more, as if he truly wanted to know. He’s actually taking this hang out session seriously.

“I’ve really been getting into body of proof recently, that was reason why I wanted to be a medical examiner at the start of my career.” You smiled at the memory. Your mom done everything in her power to put you on the right track. She was always worried you’d get chocked up dealing with dead bodies like that, but she was more worried you’d get caught in between a murderer and a victim. Like your new job was any better.

“Why didn’t you continue with that?” His question was innocent as all get outs. But it still hurt to even think about the reason why you dropped it from your worries all together.

“That a personal question for another time.” You sighed as you wiped the corners of your mouth. Your eyes staying down casted towards the hardwood floors. When you noticed how Lucy’s food bowl was empty you took that as your chance to leave. Slowly searching through your kitchen cabinets looking for favorite chicken meal.

“Oh, okay. I didn’t realize, that it was like that.”

“You couldn’t have know, it’s fine how about we move onto the next topic.”

He sucked in air through his teeth as he raked his mind for another topic. The air was tense, and that was the last thing he wanted. He cleared his throat, as he lightly stroked Lucy’s head. She dug her head further into his hand ; trying to appreciate the warmth that he was giving her.

“Look I’m sorry I keep making everything so difficult. I’m not trying too it’s just in this job I’m scared to open up. It’s gotten me in some trouble, and that almost took me out.” You confessed as you popped open the cat food. Hearing her small paws tapping against the hardwood floors once more. You wiped your hands off on your jeans, and turned to face him fully. His head was tilted in the way yours does, and his eyes held that curious gleam once more.

“I understand that to an extent, but we’re just talking right now nothing bad is gonna happen.” He smiled as he pushed himself up off the couch. Leaning down with a huff he sat beside of you and watched at Lucy lapped up the food that was left in her plate. As soon as she was done she moved towards the man behind her. She happily rubbed her small head underneath his chin.

“Lucy seems pretty content with you, maybe that’s a good sign.” You half smiled as you twirled her soft tail around you index finger. Successfully gaining her attention, as your little baby licked at the tips of your fingers. “How about we put in a random movie, and go from there.”

He smiled widely as he rushed towards the small component underneath the tv. His eyes gleaming happily as he traced the spine of each dvd. Before his eyes settled onto the marvel section. His hands grasped the dozens of DVD’s and sprawled the across the floor. Ranging from Captain American to the one and only Endgame. A small chuckled passed through his lips as he held up one of the Iron Man disc.

“We can bond over one of my favorite movies.”

“I’ll get drinks.” You smiled as you raced towards your cabinets once. Pulling out the wine from the back corner. The beautiful blue bottle shinning underneath the soft lights of your kitchen. Pulling out two wine glasses you jumped onto the couch beside of him.

“I’m ready whenever you are.” He tipped his glass towards you with a suggestive smile. His eyes lingering towards the alcohol in your hands.

“Okay then let’s play the infamous twenty-one questions.” You spoke as you poured the wine and let it flow into the glasses. Watching as the foam started to settle. Taking a sip, and letting the cool liquid soothe you throat. “What made you want to go undercover.”

“Let’s get ready for a story.”

[ma-gic-gay]

Knock Before Entering

If Chase had simply knocked before he went in that room, there would be nowhere near as much awkward tension right now between the three of them.

But alas, he hadn't knocked and they were all in an uncomfortable position.

Let's set the scene: Just an hour ago, Michael and Willow had made their marriage official. In Wiley's playroom they were supposed to be painting stars on the ceiling in so their son could have stars to see when he was an astronaut. He was going to be one when he grew up and so they had begun painting them when the annulment papers had came in.

Instead of annulling their marriage, however, they'd finally said everything they felt about each other to each other- and acted on it. Several times.

They'd decided to go again and were making out like fifteen year olds when Chase barged into the room.

The mood had never been killed quicker.

Glaring at Chase, Michael and Willow threw on their shirts and tried to look somewhat presentable as Chase was standing there awkwardly, looking at everything but the sight in front of him. Willow blushes a deep red color, more embarrassed than upset. For her especially, this is an awkward situation.

When everyone's fully dressed, she excuses herself to go find Wiley. As she leaves, Michael's glare returns, as well as his bulging neck veins. "You wanna explain what you're doing here right now?"

"Brook Lynn and I made a deal where if she and Ned talked, I'd talk to Willow," Chase explains, clearly digging himself deeper and deeper into the hole he's created.

"Why are you and Brook Lynn making deals? And what do you have to say to Willow?" Michael asks.

"We're friends. For God's sakes, she's living on my couch! So, since we both have things we don't want to do but should, we made this deal. She tries to work things out with her dad and I tell her how I feel."

Confused, Michael asks, "What do you feel for my cousin that involves Willow?"

"No, not Brook Lynn. She's great, and very interesting, but I don't feel that way about her. We're just friends, nothing more. The deal was I tell Willow what I feel for her. Willow, she told me you two were getting an annulment so I thought it was my final chance to tell her how I feel about her."

Taking a deep breath, Michael asks, "And what do you feel for my wife, Chase? Please, tell me. I'm dying to know. I'm dying to know how you feel about her."

Chase can sense the anger in his tone as he says, "I love her. I-I know what you two-"

"You cheated on her with Sasha. The two of you broke our hearts when you did that, and I don't think you can say you love her if you can have an affair. I get that your conscience might not have let you date Sasha afterwards, but you still managed to cheat on her while you were supposedly in love with her. It's been months Chase, months since the affair," Michael reminds him. "So don't tell me you love her when you broke her heart and didn't care about that. Don't you dare do that."

"I didn't have an affair with Sasha! We faked it for the custody case, so you two would get married and keep Wiley safe from Janelle and her manipulations," Chase exclaims loudly.

Suddenly, everything comes to a halting stop. How loud was he, could Willow hear? Could Brook Lynn hear? What had he just said? The affair was fake?

Willow walks back into the room, confused. "What did you just say?"

"Willow, I love you. Sasha and I never cheated on you and Michael, we made up the affair because you two needed to get married for Wiley's sake. Now that you're getting annulled, I thought this would be my last chance to tell you that I love you and I don't know if I'll ever stop loving you. I need you to know that I still love you." The look on Chase's face is one of anxiety, but it's obvious he's telling the truth.

"You two were making out on a couch! That's still cheating, you just didn't have sex. Do you want an award? Some applause? Chase, you broke my heart. You broke Michael's heart. I've moved on and I don't love you anymore. It's best you move on too," Willow explains to him.

Brook Lynn opens the door, seeing the three of them in an awkward conversation. "We heard yelling from Chase and it was decided I'd be the best to come up here and figure out what's happening."

Angry, hurt, and annoyed, Chase kisses the Quartermaine girl intensely. Is he using her? Only slightly. The kiss feels right though, and so they pull away moments later breathless. Neither were expecting that to be... That. For a first kiss, it was a solid 10/10.

Anger fuels through Michael as his cousin actually kisses him back. "What the fuck are you two doing? Chase, you love Willow but somehow you're making out with her? You can't make a decision for the life of yourself. When you chose to play god with all of our lives, you knew what you were doing. And now you don't want to deal with the consequences of your own actions."

"Michael! I'm an adult, I can take care of myself. Look, I'm fine, alright? That was the first time him and I did that," Brook Lynn reassures him and his breathing calms slightly.

There's a pause before Michael's anger at Chase continues to spew, uncontrollable. "I can't believe you! Saying you're in love with my wife one minute and the next you're making out with my cousin. Brook Lynn, I trust you can take care of yourself, and I trust you told the truth. But Chase, how can you do that? How can you break someone's heart and then say, months later, that you love her? Tell me, please. I'm begging to know. Maybe I can break someone's heart who doesn't deserve it like you did!'"

"Look, let's all take a deep breath before we do anything we're going to regret," Willow suggests, bringing Michael back to reality: they're still in the playroom, trying to solve a problem. With annulment papers conveniently somewhere around here if they so choose to get them and sign.

After that momentarily breather for everyone, Chase says, "I do love Willow, and I think you might love Sasha still, Michael. Things could go-"

As he says that, Michael can't hold back and, neck veins bulging, punches Chase. It's a good punch, one Jason taught him to throw years ago. There are perks to having your mother's best friend being a hitman and your father being in the mob, and one is punching lessons. Well, really more self defense lessons, but still. It's a perk to growing up in dysfunction.

Chase and him fist fight for several minutes to the protests of Willow and Brook Lynn, who both were trying to stop it. But alas, nothing can stop two angry men from fist fighting each other like 12 year olds over an XBOX.

They finally stop the fight, both having taken good punches and thrown good ones. Fury burns in Chase's eyes as shame fills Michael. He let his temper get the best of him and this happened. "Look man, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have thrown that punch and started that-"

The detective throws another punch, this time leaving a bloody lip. "Damn right you shouldn't have. But now, you're going to be arrested for assault."

"You do not want to arrest him. Arrest me," Brook Lynn suggests.

"As much as I'd like to, Brook Lynn, you don't have any grounds for arrest at the moment and he does," Chase reminds her.

"Chase, please don't do this. At the very least, let me take care of his bloody lip," Willow begs and Dante walks into the room.

Whistling, Dante says, "What the fuck happened in here? It smells like sex and Michael's got a bloody lip and Chase has what looks like a bruised forehead. Is this some weird sex thing I don't know about because if so I feel like it's illegal."

"Do not start that conversation or there will be more blood," Brook Lynn warns him. "But currently all I know is Chase told Willow how he feels and Michael punched him when he said that she still loved him and he still loved Sasha. But I'm guessing that the sex thing came from Michael and Willow, so I'm pretty sure that's actually encouraged in most religions. Also Chase made out with me."

"How much did I miss? But Detective, arresting him is a shoddy at best move. Trust me, I was with the police department for a while." Dante chuckles.

"Thank you for your input Dante, but I'm going to go and bring Michael to the station," Chase says before reciting the Miranda rights to him. "If you don't want him to be in jail tonight, I suggest you go to the police station."

"I feel like this is harassment and that that's how the commissioner will see this as well," Dante informs him.

But the protests of his family don't have any meaning as Chase handcuffs him and he's dragged out to the police car, absolutely silent while everyone sees him being arrested by his former best friend.

An hour later, Diane's there and clearly displeased with him. "Michael. I would expect this behavior from, say, Jason or Carly. They've actually both been in a situation like this at one point. Irony's a beautiful thing. That's not the point. You are supposed to be the good one! Not the one fist fighting people with no real reason except you're mad they're in love with your wife!"

"I know, I know. I overreacted to it and I'm sorry for that and I let my anger get the best of me which I shouldn't have and I feel like hell but it was so great finally punching him. But, in my defense, he also said false things that we'd already said we're false and made out with Brook Lynn after insisting they were just friends. And he gave me a bloody lip, so I'd say we're even," Michael struggles to defend himself. "Is it still bloody?"

"Yes, it's still bleeding. Carly, Sonny, and Jason have been made aware you're here, and I'm sure that you and Chase have very different sides to the story but, provided he drops the charges, you'll be let free. If he doesn't, someone will need to post bail money for you and this petty case will be taken to court."

Chase walks back into the interrogation room. "Michael, I think we can make an agreement. I'll drop the charges if you and Willow get annulled."

Diane steps in, chuckling. "This form of agreement seems harassing, as does the proposition in question. Detective, I understand you decided to arrest him on the grounds of assault but a jury or the commissioner will just see this as you harassing my client. Additionally, the annulment papers were received by them today."

"Diane, we're not getting annulled. We, uh, we decided we're staying together. Chase, he walked in when we were making out and then told us he'd lied about the affair and that he still loves Willow and so Brook Lynn came upstairs to figure out what was happening and he made out with her and I asked him how he could do that and he insinuated several things about my love life so I punched him, not hard, and he fought back so we had a minor fist fight and then I apologized for throwing the first punch because that wasn't smart or productive and he gave me a cat lip," Michael explains.

"Detective, I strongly advise you stop harassing Mr. Corinthos here because that's what it looks like to me. Willow can make her own decisions, that's her choice who she wants to be with. She is not to be sold as property."

Chase, exhaling, says, "You're right. I shouldn't have arrested him in the first place, and I'll drop the charges, but someone does still need to bail him out."

"What is bail set at?" Diane asks, smiling.

"$500. I'll alert his family, which is loudly congregated out there," Chase says, standing up from the table.

"Thank you," Michael smiles.

As Chase leaves, Diane's smirk widens. "What's this I hear about no annulment? Did your grounds for it become, how shall I say this, void?"

"Well, the Quartermaine's already know, why not you. Yes, we did decide not to get annulled. It isn't something either of us want, so sorry for wasting your time."

"It's your private life so I'm not going to dig into it, Michael, but for what it's worth, I wish you and Willow the best on your marriage. Trust me, she's probably the only woman who both of your families will agree is good for you and who can deal with the chaos that is your life."

"Thanks, I think," Michael chuckles as she leaves and he finds out his bail has been posted and gets uncuffed.

He walks out of the room, embarrassed but fine minus the bloody lip, and sees that there's a good fifteen people out there for him; Carly, who's pacing and talking to Jason very loudly, Jason, who's remind her they're at a police station, Willow, who's trying to just ignore the situation, Brook Lynn, who's harassing Chase about how he acted, Dante, who's smirking about everything that's happened, Wiley, who clearly isn't comfortable with this situation, Sonny, who's just scrolling through his phone, Diane, who's discussing something with a disinterested Sonny. Dysfunction at it's finest.

Willow looks up and sees he's there and runs up to hug her husband. "You're okay? Your lip's not bleeding, but are you sure you're okay and we don't need to go to the hospital right now to get you checked out?"

Chuckling, Michael says, "Willow. Look at me. I am fine. Trust me, I've been through worse than my busted lip and soreness. You have absolutely no reason to worry."

"You were arrested! For punching him over me! I feel like there was plenty of reason for me to worry and be upset," she smiles.

"Well, I promise you, I am fine and don't need to go to the hospital. Your overreaction is, though adorable, unnecessary right now. I'm fine, Wiley's fine, you're fine, and that's all that matters," Michael assures her.

Smiling, she quickly kisses him which is convenient seen by everyone there. "Promise on your life?"

"That's a bit extreme."

"Then you're going to the hospital," she declares as Carly and the adults are laughing. "What's so funny?"

"How casually you two just kissed. Yesterday, you were getting an annulment and today there's this. We clearly need to be caught up on what happened. Besides, your concern is just so much like a wife, you two really are married now," Carly laughs.

"I'm still making him get checked out at the hospital. Would any of you like to join me?" Willow asks, earning another chuckle from them.

"Sure, why not?" Dante chuckles as the rest of them minus Brook Lynn agree to join; she's doing a thing she does where she just stares blankly while you talk so you can't see her emotion with Chase.

"You are way too worried about me," Michael protests.

"You wouldn't swear on your life."

"You're lucky you're my wife."

"I am," she agrees as they walk out, him kissing her forehead. "And you're lucky I'm your wife."

"That I most certainly am."

wsdfgbhnjm words

[misha-moose-dean-burger-lover]

*in the middle of a case*

Wise Old Informant™: And based on all that evidence, I think we're dealing with a cult.

Dean: Awesome. But like on a scale of the Paris Hilton fandom to the Thules, where does it score?

Sam: Somewhere in the middle. So probably Illuminati level?

Dean: well except for the demonic science nerds with money pouring out their asscracks and Latin triangles tattooed on their dicks, right? Because that's really not my thing. *looks at Cas for reaction but there are none. Shrugs and laughs himself*

Sam: you're so far from correct, it is really not funny.

Dean: shut up I'm hilarious. You're just being bitchy because you fanboy for the Langdons of this World and cults *laughs, and looks at Cas for a reaction but gets none*

Sam: *bitchface*

Cas: *unaffected* So, do you have any descriptions of their rituals?

Dean: yeah, do you? Are they the sacrificing llamas type? Dancing around bonfires for tentacled aliens? Community orgies? *laughs again, and even Sam has to grin but Cas doesn't bat an eye*

Wise Old Informant™: No, they pray like we do. Different deities though, and way weirder than the ones we pray to.

Dean: are you sure? Because like Cas here is a cousin of Jesus Christ and a bunch of other evil dicks, and they're all sons of the creator, this home-alone called Chuck, who sings suckily in the shower and watches cat videos, but go off I guess

*now, Dean laughs with Sam but not Cas, and the Wise Old Informant™ looks at them worriedly*

Wise Old Informant™: I'm sorta religious, so just not going to react. So yeah, there's a hierarchy. The beginners stand. There's prostrating at the feet of statues. And then there's sitting.

Sam: yes. The most powerful position is on your knees.

Dean: ...that's what she said

Wise Old Informant™: *laughs*

Sam: *annoyedly laughs*

Dean: *proud of himself but Cas is as stoic as ever, so he finally loses it* Dude. what is wrong with you? You're not on a strike! You're allowed to laugh!

Cas: I would, if I, uh, felt the need to.

Dean: *irritated* what, like, angels can deactivate their sense of humor? And well, I think I'm on a roll here! This is comedy gold! Do you think I'm not funny, huh?

Cas: *polite* maybe we don't share the same sense of humor, Dean. If you want -

Dean: I don't need your pity laughs *mentally* challenge accepted.

~

*Dean decides that it's now a matter of his honor, and he'll make Cas laugh, come what may*

~

*while dealing with the Lucifer situation*

Sam: he's possessing some musician now ughhh

Dean: what some of us do for fame...

Dean: *sees Cas listening and takes it a step ahead* I mean, he's basically a Mean Girl now. He craves attention and would possess the President for drama™

Sam: *snicker*

Dean: I mean, think about it! He could just start driving a pink convertible and become friggin' Regina George next

Sam: *bursts out laughing*

*Dean looks at Cas to see if he laughed, but its like he doesn't even bother to react. Not even a smile*

Dean: ...you can do better Winchester

~

*In the middle of a vampire hunt*

Dean: *slicing some SOB's head off* Phew! Its basically routine now!

Cas: *admiring* you're very good at it, yes

Dean: *decides to seize the moment* they're just pretty bad at what they do. I mean sure, you sparkle just fine. But you don't need to shine out your ass for eternity to suck blood, just wear some headgear so that knifes don't slice through

Cas: *zoning out*

Dean: *desperate* heh I mean the only reason Twilight has all these movies is because it was those embassies against some more dumbasses. Throw in a hunter, and it would've been over before Pattinson could've cried out for the wolf with abs, Jake or whatever

Cas:

Dean: *mentally* its gonna take more efforts, but you'll get there

~

*Gabriel is flirting with a random woman*

Dean: *sees an opportunity and charges* for a guy his age, Gabriel sure seems to get laid a lot

Cas: yes *smiles* he has had a lot of practise

Dean: yeah that, and he has all these great lines, being an angel and everything

Cas: like?

Dean: *excited that it might work* oh come on Cas, what's the use of being an angel if you don't use the pick-up lines it brings?

Cas: I see.

Dean: *sees Cas sobering up and tries harder* you know like, the whole array of heaven related ones? "Heaven's missing an angel, I now see why"?

Cas: *serious* why, Dean?

Dean: no, its just a line, don't take it seriously

Cas: okay

Dean: *desperacito* There's more too! Like, like, "Are you my vessel? 'Cause I would love to get inside you!" *waits for reaction*

Cas:

Dean: it was funny, you ass

Cas: but how would that work like I'm a -

Dean: gODDAMMIT C A S!

~

*TFW sees a girl wearing a trenchcoat, crossing the street*

Dean: *mentally* I'm gonna Carpe the Fucking Diem out of this

Dean: LOOK Cas! She's wearing your trench - no, not yours, I mean, one just like it - but hey, guess what that means?

Cas: what?

Dean: you're finally in season

Cas:

Dean: get it? You're like a trendsetter? Your fashion is finally in style?? Get it????

Cas: ...yes?

Dean: *desperacito x 1234500016351903611* REACT TO IT THEN

Cas: OH! I completely forgot! I was supposed to laugh, wasn't I? Sam told me to look for cues when you spoke, but its much harder to know when to laugh when you speak than you think -

Dean: I swear to god Cas I'm goNNA -

Dean: and Sam, we need to have a fucking talk!? I'M HILARIOUS!! I DON'T NEED PITY LAUGHS

Sam: ...Sam thinks you do, Dean

~

*Many gruesome years later when all except Dean have forgotten about the challenge*

Sam: *teaching mode* and now you enter the name

Jack: I get to choose the name?

Sam: uh, go nuts *walks away*

Jack: *typing keenly* A - G - E - N - T B - I - E - B - E - R

Dean: *peeks* seriously kid?

Dean: *struck by a fabulous idea* HEY CAS! Remember the time you and Crowley used those fake-ass aliases when you went hunting behind our backs?

Cas: not really

Dean: *helpless, but too far gone to be brought back* You don't remember??? The Agent Beyonce and Z?

Cas: *grins* oh that. Yes, those were his idea

Dean: *spurred on* he was always an idiot. Seriously a miracle you 2 weren't caught that time! Close save!

Cas: I suppose

Dean: *dying because the moment is so close to falling flat, and jumping to the punchline* I mean, heh, if we'd not showed up, you would've moved on to the next city as Agent Kardashian and West *hopeful for a reaction, as he bats his eyes at Cas*

Cas: *polite* no we were not stupid

Dean:

Cas:

Dean:

Cas:

Dean: *sigh*

Cas: oH WAIT -

Dean: don't say it don't fucking say it. I give up okay? I'm done. I'm so done. I give up. I GIVE UP!

Cas: I'm sorry Dean, I'll laugh -

Dean: nO - I'VE G I V E N U P

~

BONUS

Jack: ...what's happening?

Sam: Sam keeps forgetting how new you are until moments like these happen

~

EPILOGUE

*Sam, Cas and Dean are reading up on archangel lore*

Cas: *to Sam* ...and that is how he uses all 6 wings to his advantage.

Sam: that information could really be useful when we take him on. All you know about archangels is really gonna be helpful Cas, I should write it down. Speak slower

Sam: I can't take all of it at once.

Dean: *tries to resist but can't* THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID *Cas is stoic as ever and Sam bitchfaces him*

Sam: grow up jerk

Dean: bitch *does the armpit cart thing to demonstrate just how grown up he is*

Cas, suddenly: *snickers*

Dean: did you just -

Cas: I - I mean, I just - *begins to chuckle as he replays it in his head*

Dean:

Cas: *rolling on the floor, full fledged laughing*

Dean:

Dean:

Dean: I've been...its been...y E a r s...I mean - this is what makes you laugh...I mean...

Cas: *unable to breathe from the laughing, red in the face*

Dean: ...fArTS, CAS!?

[alchemisland]

The Moors Mutt - I

Part II coming on Tuesday!

I. Old Stone

The beast I knew only in folkloric snippets. Hedge whispers perverting history to arcana through time immemorial. Perhaps too I had known it in nightmares, shapeless until named, becoming then familiar as a bedchamber.

It was grim autumn when that fateful letter arrived, setting in motion a chain of events both strange and unlikely. In retrospect, that a series of vignettes so bizarre could start with the simple act of a posted letter seemed comical.

The letter landed with a thud, dubbing me sole executor of the late Lady Renton Sizemore's last will, a grim charge requiring a trip to her wicked home, listed in the Briarscombe country house register as the third most bloodstained holding in England.

Dislike isn't the word. Lady Sizemore and I got on famously when last we spoke, thirty years ago. I wasn't the doting schoolboy turned dribbling manchild spending Saturday nights at bingo. Neither was she the elderly relation procuring coins from behind ears to the delight of the youngers.

We were not eachother's keeper. Why I was suddenly favoured for this sensitive task that required more mental finesse than anyone in the family gave me credit for out loud, puzzled me greatly. Somebody must have annoyed her at one of her events. Sandwich gala on the Pringle Estate destroyed by careless nephew's untucked shirt. In true family style, whatever infuriated her she took to the grave.

Once the money was apportioned, I was to ensure no stone went unturned, apt phrasing given its namesake. Cairn Cottage stood oppressively atop the mound some two hundred winters, a plundered megalith shielding against the bracing gales.

Up there the flowers bloomed blighted, grass grew sideways and only the sturdiest roots survived. Without the megalith's girth, perhaps those winds might have toppled the twisted demesne, but she held firm now as old.

Mystics, druids and spiritualists alike extolled the house's phantasmic virtues. Fringe groups scrambled to reserve exclusive use of the land for Candlemas ceremonies. Lady Sizemore didn't care, provided she was soundly remunerated.

Rumours abounded of hauntings, anomalies occurring on the land by midnight's trickery.

Upon receipt of instruction, I spurred my carriage toward Cairn Cottage, the house in whose shadow no local walked without rosaries.

Although my visit was primarily administrative, there was another matter pertinent to my interests. One muttering which above all others inspired fear. A cautionary tale warning children from the grounds by night. And sometimes, on cold and lonely nights, a brave man wandering alone might see fit to take the longer road home.

Worse than druids, they said a beast lived on the Moor. A hulking creature, whose snarling teeth bared in fullness of dark glowed like spears of starlight, whose stark brightness was dulled only by the gleaming viscera of previous engagements clinging in ragged flaps.

However the rumour started, it long sprouted legs of its own, more exciting with each recounting.

No smoke without fire. I intended to find the single primal ember, the lone truthful element, stripped of frill and frock, fancy and folly, bereft of myth, or loyalty to tradition. Was there something in the fields by night? Was it dangerous?

First came Sperrin, a grizzly hamlet outside the estate's confines. For a penny, a local lad promised to find a suitable nook for the trap. I visited the sole watering hole, a squalid cellar named Lar's. The tavern itself was not charmless, offering average vintage for below average prices, warmth, music, rustic flattery and inimitably, whispers of the beast.

The tavern's proprietor Lar was a man out of time. With his arms folded across his simian chest and those big lugs like trophy handles either side of his substantial forehead, he could have easily passed for a saxon chieftain. He stood astride the bar against a backdrop of coloured bottles. Immediately upon entering his eyes set upon me with great intensity. Unlike the merry keep of fireside tales, he offered no warmth in greeting. That you were found fit to sit his barstool was kindness enough.

Inebriates remained nursing drams, glowering at their respective lecterns. Occasionally I'd catch one staring at me, then turn away as I waved. After a while sitting and sipping, making a game of catching their nosy glances, I signalled Lar's attention. 'This is probably going to sound strange. Probably because it is. Hear me out though. Have you ever heard or seen anything strange out on the moor?'

Widened like an owl, Lar's right eye scanned me once, twice, three times before he moved a muscle. 'Have in fact. Not now though. Too many around. Later.' His lips barely moved. I tipped my nose.

Nearer closing, he poured a cup and sat, remaining on the business side of the bar.

'The beast, you say?' He leaned in close, one eyebrow raised, its shape the arching rod of a hooked line. 'I could tell you a thing or two about the beast alright.'

'Prithee speak, my curiosity is burning. I won't rest a wink until it's satiated. Tourist talk aside, do you believe, as men do God, a beast prowls these forests?' I inched forward, as if by closer proximity, the truths would be truer.

'Regular Theseus, eh? Monster hunters, we have had plenty. Lovers of darkness too. Students of forbidden arts. All are served here. Kings and paupers alike. Did you come all this way to hear me say that?' Lar spoke with great confidence. The manner of his prattling meant the tales he told were true, or this was practiced.

'No.' I replied, 'I have business in the cottage. My heart though, she belongs to this creature. I am not a quack, nor a holder of séances. I am not a man of low learning on the hunt for falsehoods. I am a lover of stories. Pray, continue your captivating narrative.'

He continued, 'Let it be said I was coaxed. You wanted this.'

In this ominous portent he let slip a mask of deft craft. There was artifice in his smile, a cheshire grin that touched either cheekbone. A whispered suggestion of hidden intent.

Everything made sense. Was I seeing clearly? More than ever. I saw his ruse; city boy down for the day, take him for a ride, tell him the usual stories. A pal of his will burst in at just the right time, scare me half to death, then they'll take me to the supposed hot-spot for the low price of everything I've got. Lar took me for a lettuce. Something in his warning tipped me. A little over-arch. If his performance was not theatre, then Shakespeare never wrote.

Doubtless once finished, Lar would proffer some overpriced talisman no fellwalker could risk refusing.

'Enough pussyfooting. Spill it. I'll need all the advice I can get.' Like a drill tip, I pressed my index finger into the bar.

'No matter what image I conjure in your mind's eye, the beast is yet more ferocious and terrible in the flesh. It's the great unreality of it.' He tapped his forehead. 'Your mind doubts what it's seeing, unable to comprehend its stimulus. Brave men are made mice in its shadow.'

'What evidence have you of such a creature?' I asked, draining my tankard. He did the same, then wiped the amber residue on the back of his hand. He looked me over once, as if to ask who I was to question. I returned a withering gaze, maneuvering my features to convey a similar message. For a moment the air felt charged with kinetic possibility. As when two pugilists circle to begin a contest, lead hands pawing. Neither of us wished to be responsible for qualms.

He broke the armistice. 'Evidence? If you didn't think it weren't here, you wouldn't have come. If you believed in your heart this week you'd be contending with a monster, you'd have stayed at home in your jams.'

'Nonsense, man! You forget I am summoned, not here of my own volition.'

'We, each of us, tell ourselves sweet little lies to justify how our limited time is spent. I have a right mind to think if the lady yet lived, you and I might still have met. On a yawning stretch such as this, arriving as you have: alone and curious. If there's one thing I can't respect, it's a self hating believer. Swanning around with all the cynicism of a non-believer, clad in the robes of an adherent, so that when the hobby is proved spurious you can point to your skepticism. You'd be first to the papers tomorrow if scientists verified the beast's existence, how you had journeyed and studied on your own dime to further the science.' Lar pursed his lips, knowing he'd cut me to the quick, vanished was his earlier reticence.

I hated how right he was. I was exactly this sort. Insulting people who believed the same things as me. First to refuse to enter a haunted house for fear a demon might take my soul.

I'd never concede his point though. I riposted, 'Few are more loathed than the opinionated barman. You speak much too readily. Do so again, I'll see your manners are checked for the next weary traveler willing to pay good coin.'

Lar's eyes lit, bulging with imagined riches. 'Let me fill your drink, sir. I meant no offence. We speak freely here. Manners soften. Soon one finds truths cannot be digested unperfumed. Here in the wilds, it's a duty to voice quarrel. Far from crown and court, unaired anger festers.' Lar gladly dispensed his pearls of rural wisdom as if they were sweets from a bulging striped bag.

'Really, man. Every idea can be made ridiculous if extrapolated to that degree. Manners take the edge off. I'm not offended by your candor. I intend to find the creature, if such exists. Have you no doubt about that.' I watched him pull another drink.

The returned tankard was too full to raise without spilling. I slurped loudly, head bowed. Like a pulled plug, half the liquid gone in a single gulp.

'What evidence is sufficient? Look around you.' Lar held aloft his hands, urging me toward his empty business, still cast in a sickly light from the last flickering sentinels.

He pointed toward the empty seats. A single patron remained hidden in the shadows. A local by his boots.

'We did a roaring trade before that bloody woman inherited the place. Once she came, the trade died. When I was a lad, that land was free to roam. No walls. She had them built to spite us. Worse rumours too and all, that she built those walls to house it.'

'It?' I asked

'It. The beast.' Lar's voice lowered to a whisper. 'A cage for a pet beyond control. That's your sort all over. Dabbling where you shouldn't.'

'Her sort.' I corrected, 'I'm not aristocratic. You're a presumptuous sort, you know.'

'Believe you're not the first to say. Her sort, whatever pleases. I don't subscribe to this theory. Me personally, I think it came from hell. One thing's for certain, it got worse when they shifted the cairn.'

'You say you have seen it?' Part of me thought I was the one stringing him along, but another more gullible me firmly believed, or wanted to believe, that he had seen something. Hoping not to seem needy, I drew myself close to him, the bar still between us, 'With your own eyes if you saw it, you must swear it now. Did you see it as I see you now, or as one sees the distant stars and erroneously assumes knowledge.'

'As I stand before you.' Lar gestured to his stained apron, which he then removed and hung on a hook overhead. He nodded to the barfly, who stumbled from his seat and shot the bolt across the lock, an angry black mechanism like a bas-relief, which clanked against the timber as he let it fall. 'That's Fergus.'

Fergus lurched over. One leg trailed behind him. I couldn't help imagining him as a gothic manservant, dragging corpses to the laboratory in pursuit of higher knowledge. He came to stand beside me. There were giants on the earth is those days. Though our eyes observed the same setpieces, his countenance betrayed little comprehension. He had the chiseled jaw of a marble bust in profile, but his mouth hung open permanently, moist lips pursed like a fish.

He placed an enormous hand on my shoulder. Such space was permitted between his splayed fingers that ten legions abreast might find passage unmolested. His knuckles protruded unnaturally, evidence of labour, something harder than masonry or smithcraft. Mayhaps soldiering overseas.

I stared at his hand. He never looked at me. I coughed, first mannerly, then more harshly, thinking to approach cautiously lest my assumption prove provident, that he had lost his sound during foreign campaigns, of whose spoils we all were beneficiaries.

'Don't mind him.' Lar said. He spoke softly in the presence of his friend, observing his movements closely, ready to interject with a steadying hand or a warning to the cruelly curious. I wondered were they brothers. They bore little resemblance, though stranger things I had heard. Lar took Fergus' wrist and pressed gently, disturbing the folds of his motheaten jacket. They shared a moment I could but observe, radiating warmth and glad tidings in a wordless wave.

'I mean not to speak boldly, and lash me with spite if I transgress overmuch, but I must know or I should forever wonder, are you kin?'

Fergus shared Lar's laugh with the same look of bemused ignorance.

'You hear that? Fancy man reckons we're brothers. Probly thinks we're all related down this end, and not in a godly way.' Lar laughed, a viking bellow.

Lar released his grip and the folds of Fergus' sleeve righted themselves. He spoke several octaves lower, miming offence at my observation. I started to explain I intended no hidden subtext, but Lar waved to indicate all was taken as delivered.

'We are not brothers. Close friends. Known Fergus here forever.' He gently tapped the giant's hand, slapped on the bar like some enormous muddy bird print. 'Used to be a keen cookie too, once upon a forever ago. Loved languages, Welsh mostly. Pugilism he loved more. One passion consumed the other. Anything burning so intensely inevitably cannibalises itself. Took one knock too many, stole his wits in an instant. A left hook across the bar sent him erstwhile. Twenty five minutes he was on the shores of night, learning the landscape of the dreamworlds, while we fanned his rigid form, wet his brow and whispered familiar names in his ear. When at last he woke a part of him was left forever in that place. I like to think, boyishly perhaps, it awaits him upon leaving this plain of lousy strife, like the belongings awaiting a homeward jailbird. The cloak of a lost lifetime. Not for him. He'll slide right into it, fit like a tailored piece, and all of eternity to speak. Not here though.'

Tears welled in his eyes. I took the reins, 'Think nothing of your emotions, man. We each have them. Doubtless I will shed a tear up in the old witch's place. Another life awaits, that much is sure. Grander than this. I'm sure he made, and makes, a fine man. Built like a gladiator. I am sorry to have dredged unpleasantness. I meant only to satisfy my own selfish curiosity. Forgive me. Please, continue.'

'I will at that.'

'It were one night, three years ago. Ferg was there. We'd been called out on account of strange noises near the workers' cottage. They wouldn't work until the evil was killed or driven away. We came down from the high road proper and saw it between the trees ahead. Like a horse it stood, with clumsy stilts supporting an ursine bulk that swayed as it shambled. It drank shadows to conceal its dread presence. Blackness it took for robe. In walking its front paws propelled its cumbersome form, while the rear set, less lengthy, dredged channels in the dirt. In motion it arched to reveal a belly spun of lighter felt, ashen in the scant moonlight. Bundled, it became an orb of shadow, nothingness.'

'Unbeknownst we watched it watching, green eyes like blazing protostars probing for movement. Well it knew to choose this site, one of only two wells being located nearby. In a flash then it was gone, satin-shoed away into the night.'

The tale Lar knew was a scorcher paused. He beamed, an actor awaiting applause. I gathered my jaw from the floor, brushed it and set it back properly.

Each word drew me closer, which Fergus mirrored, until we three sat as witches about the bubbling lip of their cauldron, a coven of pallid specters.

Lar paused to sip and nodded we join.

I wondered had my hobby, in a blink, become too dangerous to justify. It was well telling my employers of ghost hunts, but a wild beast - my insurance wouldn't have it! If it turns out some menagerie escapee, what then was it? Quest for wonder or recklesss folly? Weiss, Wellie and Wardun insurance, even in their most obscure policies, don't pay out for fools. That's why I chose them!

Lar went on, a fresh cigarette painting the air blue in his articulation, 'Each new, shifting moon we came to that spot and watched. We took it upon ourselves to rid the land of danger.'

'Fergus knows a bit about a bit, that's what's left to him, God bless. What he knows is knots. Army training dictates every officer have at least passing knowledge of ten or more useful fastenings.'

'Me? I know about animals. We make a fierce duo. We inquired in advance about a reward, to which the estate responded agreeably, so we set off with lengths of rope overshoulder and the angriest looking traps the furmen could spare, determined to snare it. We planted snares all about its presumed domain.'

'Nothing came. Not a rat. Not a wisp. Not never again. It's the mystery disturbs me most. I'd die happy knowing.'

In his voice a single note of longing rang, dispelling the subterfuge of his intentions and, in the length of a breath, his beings and inner machinations were laid bare. Far from the sinister goldlust and murderous intention I had silently attributed to him, he seemed eager in an earnest fashion, willing in the name of a job done.

I observed Lar, powerful and straight. 'Do I sense an unfinished quest?'

'Aye. Not too subtle, mind.' Lar flashed a toothy smile, the sort a condemned man spits at his executioner. 'You seem a serious man. I didn't know when you first came in parading your manners like fancy knickers. You can't be too sure about a man who gives too many pleases. You're not that sort and have proved such twice over.' Lar imagined that was a compliment from the look he gave me. Expectant almost, between child submitting scribbles for display and cat batting dead mouse onto pillow.

Well, of course I had something to say about that. Cats were hissing. A donnybrook of claws and torn fur not even a hearty stock of iodine could salve. 'And I might say also that I too had cast aspersions on your character, maintaining you were of sinister country stock. As you claim to have been rapturously convinced otherwise, as have I.'

'Once the lady's estate is divided and bequeathed I'll receive my own. I mean to inherit a substantial bursar. I will pay to you a fair sum. In exchange, you will guide me to the hotpots, generally ensuring nothing eats me. When we find it, you're in charge until it's bound.' If he came, it would be on my terms.

'Find it? Slow down. We've seen it once in a hundred times. I'll take you gladly all the same.'

Wordless, we shook hands and drained our horns.

'Tomorrow?' Lar asked. He drew my gaze to an unopened whiskey bottle, which I declined.

'Not so, good man. Tomorrow I will tend my affairs. In the evening, if all is ordered, I will return to discuss further a plan of action. Have you a room I might rent?'

'Not for everyone mind, so don't go saying. There's one in the back. I'll light the fire.'

'Please do.'

I left a generous tip. Before following the publican to the warm hollow, I shook Fergus' hand, assuming he too would be part of our fortean friendship.

While I slumbered, the nightmare broke free her paddock, thundering across the veil of my somnambulant phantasmagoria, its clanging hooves ringing shrill terror.

I saw spined creatures oozing pus, many-eyed. Edgeless orbs hissing like flying snakes from one black abyss to another.

Cats with human faces screamed. A hairless man with a tail curled upwards like a scorpions noxious pike disemboweled himself with a broken mirror.

Last came the bestial form, not unlike that which Lar had described, striding evilly. Two venom coated fangs, uncontained by its snarling mouth, curved inward toward its breast. Catlike claws glinted menacingly. Turning my third eye downwards as if to look upon my feet, I found I was formless, yet the beast circled knowingly around the space my corporeal form should occupy.

I knew instinctively this reverie was more tangible than the others. That if the beast should strike I would die or wake screaming with a crimson pool spreading below me. It sniffed the air, pawing closer.

I woke to my beastless chamber. Sodden, I sought a candle and in its gloam chronicled my nightmare. That night sleep ne'er returned, making groggy my morning plod toward Cairn Cottage.

[99sshithouse]

Dr. Rocco Jr. Gallavan

Jeff Goldblum

Age : 46

Alias(es): Rocky, RJ

Place of Birth: Dalitica City, USA

Eye & Hair Color: Amber, Dark Brown

Height & Weight: 6'2" | 185lbs

Sex & Gender: Male and Identifies as Such

Orientation: Heterosexual

Marital Status: Single

Personality

Adventure Is Out There, You May Just Have To Swim To Get There

Rocco is a kind, patient, sweet man who is both extremely driven but also very fulfilled just by doing what he loves and being around those he cares about. Rocco always has a smile on his face, a twinkle in his eye, and a general warmth that comes off of him in waves. He is happy to be around people, but also just as content to sit alone and think to himself for a little while. He usually spends time alone whenever he gies back out on the ship, and finds it relatively soothing to be together with only his thoughts and his work. He is loyal to a fault, finding it physically difficult to go behind someone's back or to cheat someone of what they deserve. He secretly hopes the best for everyone, though sometimes being so openly sentimental can cause him problems because he looks soft and that isn't what he should be when apart of the crime world.

He enjoys contributing to history, and finding objects from an old world now passed really has an effect on him. He wants people to learn all the amazing things he does with every new discovery, which is why in his "spare" time, he works at the museum. He loves to see the wonder that passes through people when he explains an art piece or historical object. He has always had a love for art and music. While it's not his profession, he could sit down and talk about music <i>all damn day</i>. He will immerse himself in new styles and artists all the time. He likes everything, old and new, and loves getting new recommendations.

With his age and experience, a sort of pacifist nature has taken over Rocco. He feels most comfortable speaking and talking things out over letting things get violent. Part of it is because he doesn't like to see others in physical pain, but the biggest reason is because he has learned that violence really does breed only more violence. He has taken a lot from his previous experiences how people all effect one another, and he hates to watch people succumb to that feeling. He has learned all too well how much power it makes you feel you have, but how empty it leaves you at the end of the day. He has taken a lot experience from his family. He learned all he knew about kindness and happiness from his mother, but didn't put it into effect until after she had passed away. When he was young, he was always told he had his father's hands and spirit.

Employment

Marine Archeologist | Museum Curator

Half of the year, Rocco works as a curator at DC's local discovery museum, explaining exhibits with a wide variety of knowledge on several different topics. He helps organize when the director can't, and he sets up new tours in his spare time. The other half of the year doing his true passion, underwater archeology. He spends months at a time at sea, pulling up lost artifacts, investigating sunken ships and planes, investigating objects that either can't be pulled up because it's too heavy or because it'll break if a team tried. He has a small bit of notary, and people trust him with the more difficult jobs.

Criminal Specialty:

Smuggling of Artifacts | Black Market Art Sales | Selling Information

The pleasant thing about pulling something old from the ocean that no one has seen for hundreds of years, is that there isn't any real inventory. No honest to goodness guarantee that he'll find all that is missing or even things that might not have been known to be missing at all. That's where Rocco's craft becomes extremely useful. Taking old artifacts, turning around, and selling them is where he makes the most of his money. But if the dive is to retrieve more resent ships or planes, and he happens to find some interesting information somewhere, he'll turn around and sell that too.

Skills & Abilities

Trained Scuba Diver | Able to hold his breath for long periods of time | Excellent Swimmer and Athlete | Intelligent and Passionate in his Field | Doctorate in Marine Archeology as well as Oceanography | Can Captain, Steer, and Fix some boats | Decent Cook | Trained in Several Languages : Fluent in English, Spanish, French, Dutch. Conversational in Swahili, Arabic, Hindi, Samoan, and Portuguese | Religiously watches the weather | Street Fighter

Kind and Patient | The man is a saint. Aside from his dealings in the black market, the guy is more likely to injury himself trying to protect someone than he is actually hurt someone. He's an educator by heart and mind, takes the time to learn about people and help them whenever they need it

Audiophile | You've heard it, he either knows it or will be suddenly very very interested in hearing it. He likes music from all over the world, has an extensive music library, and loves showing people new music.

Pacifist | He prefers a gentle touch to get people to see it his way. Will use a gun if he has too, but he would rather not kill anyone unless there is no other way to handle a situation. Some may see this as a weakness, but he prides himself on not being a rabid animal that kills for no reason.

Experienced Gang Member | Has been in his gang since his teenage years.

Disabilities & Disorders

Greed | The man has been known to spoil the ones he loves and lavish them with gifts, but that is because he has always been money orientated. He can sometimes get too eager or price something he is selling too high to be sold right away.

Nicotine Addict | Usually smells like cigarette smoke. Enjoys a beer everyday to unwind but typically doesn't get drunk.

OCD | Things need to be perfect or else they go wrong. For both of his positions, this statement rings true, but he can sometime nitpick to the point of being unnecessarily stressful on himself and others.

Can get immersed in his work | He does his best to make personal time, but it feels like he is always on and always working.

Past Violent Streak | When he was younger, he wasn't exactly known, but he had a reputation of being stone cold, heartless fighter. The man knew how to throw fists and had an ego about it. He still hears people ask about why he quit while he was walking in his father's footsteps. While he can usually make the situation, he had caused people a lot of pain when he was young and it still bothers him deeply.

Crime

Assault

Charged with assault after getting into a fight with his step-dad and step-brother at the age of nineteen

Illegal Fighting Ring

Spent time in his early twenties, he spent a lot of his time fighting in an illegal ring. People would bet on him or his opponent, so illegal gambling was involved.

Gang Initiation: He had joined the gang under the guidance of his mother, who was a lifetime member. While he does regret not leaving DC as soon as he was eighteen, he has remained loyal to his gang for the last 30 years.

Parents

Janis Gallavan - Mother [Deceased]

Rocco Gallavan - Father [Deceased]

Sid Montello - Step-Father [Deceased]

Siblings

Uri Montello - Step-Brother - Currently resides in Brooklyn, NY

Friends

Plenty. He's been in DC a long time and has collected a lifetime of friends and acquaintances the entire time.

Affiliation | Wolves

[akalittlemisscrazy]

Backpacking Escapes: Siem Reap

Siem Reap. A backpacker’s dream and our last stop after 50 days of traveling. Of course the big attraction of this city to tourists is the temples, particularly Angkor Wat. For our first day we rented bicycles for $1 a day as suggested by a blog Rachel had read. All I can say is dear God I’m impressed if they actually managed to actually cycle all 3 circuits in 2 days without melting. With a proper dirt bike I may have been able to, although I would be very tired after a grand total of approximately 150 kilometres. But honestly what killed us was the heat. I’d recommend bringing A LOT of water or at least some money for the street vendors (who thank goodness sell ice cold water for normal prices instead of trying to rip you off. Absolute life savers).

We cycled the small circuit; a total of 43 kilometres in 36*C heat on the most rickety bikes I’ve ever seen. Even though I was a bit stiff by the end of the day I sti enjoyed this experience. The highlights of this route include Ta Prohm (accurately nicknamed Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider temple) with some spectacular Strangler Figs engulfing the doorways. I love how despite all the restoration and conservation efforts, they have haven’t pushed the jungle completely back. This keeps the mysterious forgotten world aura surrounding these temples in tact.

Srah Srang was once the 'Royal Bathing Pool' for ritual bathings. It was so perfect I just couldn’t resist dipping my feet in, much to Rachel’s amusement as she watched in confusion as I suddenly threw my shoes off saying “Why not?!”.

Bayon Temple is so drastically different to all the other temples that it is somewhat curious to explore. It originally had 49 towers; today 37 towers remain with almost 200 faces carved facing in 4 directions. Despite its slightly cluttered feel, this temple was mysterious and beautiful in the evening golden light.

Angkor Thom means ‘city centre' and is actually the collective name for the area including the Terrace of the Elephants and Terrace of the Leper King. Make sure to fully explore these areas, particularly between the inner and outer walls as there are many wonderful carvings that are still well preserved down here. See if you can find the 5 headed horse, the elephants and the 5 headed Nagas.

Our final adventure for our first day here was our “shortcut” home. And by “shortcut” I mean Google maps told us there was a road running down to join the riverside track. In reality this was a very narrow dirt path winding through the jungle, then along a road that was more pot holes than actual road through the village-like outskirts of Siem Reap. On the bright side I’m fairly sure we were the highlight of the day for many many children who all rushed out to say to hello to us as we passed by, then sprinted back inside to tell their parents about the strange girls. Honestly I’ve never said hello so many times in such a short space of time – it was so endearing 😊. The people here are so friendly, warm and open.

Angkor Wat sunrise is probably the number one thing you’ll hear people recommend, for a very very good reason. I mean, just look at this beauty:

I don’t think words are even necessary; these photos speak volumes for themselves. No filters - that's just genuinely what it looked like. Yes it meant dragging ourselves out of bed at 4.30am but at least today we’d had the sense to book a Tuk Tuk driver for $12 each who took us to Angkor Wat for sunrise, then to all the way out to Banteay Srei (which by the way is worth the journey away from the city. It's only a small temple but it has a wild beauty around it and the grounds are also lovely), then finally around the Grand Tour of Angkor.

Another major advantage of getting up early meant we had a lot of the temples to entirely ourselves. Literally Queens of Backpacking ❤️

For our day off we decided to simply wander. Something about the twisting streets screams 'explore me' and it has one of the best vibes we’ve had from any city. It is quirky and interesting, and the people are so lovely. We decided to walk towards the riverside and stumbled upon an old map for the 'Historical Quarter Walk' which held a view interesting sights.

Before long we arrived at the Royal Gardens Park, nicknamed Bat Park for a very good reason. We flopped on a bench in the shade for a quick drink and both had the same sudden almost simultaneous moment of realisation. Rachel’s jaw dropped as I gasped 'Holy cow...'. Looking up we realised the trees were full of hundreds and hundreds of fruit bats hanging from the branches.

Having found our own little peaceful corner watching these bats occasionally flutter from tree to tree, we spent the rest of the afternoon lounging here. The park is very quiet and sleepy during the day but wakes up in the evening. Apparently if you want an outdoor Zumba class this is the number one place to go. We passed 3 on our way out of the park.

Another highly recommended activity I’d found on Pinterest was the Happy Horse Ranch. Another 5 gold stars to Pinterest – this was BRILLIANT. We’d started going into animal withdrawal so a three hour hack seemed to be the perfect cure. This is the best way we’ve come across to see the picturesque countryside. Endless fields of rice plantations and lotus flowers stretched out all around us. There’s nothing quite like feeling of wind running through your hair as you canter through such a peaceful gorgeous place. And to top it off all the horses here looked happy and healthy. This place easily gets a 10 out of 10 and I’d gladly go again. Our guide (Kong) was very friendly & helpful, the views spectacular and the horses perfectly matched to our experience levels (a.k.a. we can both handle a slightly fizzy spooky horse, personally it makes the ride more enjoyable than plodding along on an old cob! Even if it is slightly more difficult to shimmy past a water buffalo threatening to charge at you when you’re also trying to persuade your horse it’s absolutely fine if she just keeps on walking).

Artisans Angkor was simply an incredibly lucky break. We’d been googling free things to do in the city when I came across a brief mention of this silk workshop around the corner from our hostel. It ended up being so much more – by simply turning up at the door you get a free guided tour around the workshop where they make wooden carvings, stone carvings, silver inlays, jewellery and some stunning silk garments. You really get an appreciation for the amount of skill and how long it takes to make these masterpieces. Some of the stone sculptures take 4 months to complete. The tools they used are recycled from old motorbike and tuk tuk springs. These artisans also help with the restoration of the Angkor temples, recreating some beautiful statues based on the original designs. During your tour you may even get to try carving yourself (then realise how hard it is and watch amazed as the guy turns your scribble into a masterpiece).

The next day we returned to the workshop to get the free shuttle bus for another free tour (I love that Asia is cheap, but free is even better ❤️), this time around the silk farm itself. Hats off to whoever first looked at a cocoon made by a worm and thought “You know what? I bet that will make a really nice fabric”. I learnt so much here and it didn't cost us a penny. Artisans Angkor use over 60% of their sales income to give back to the local community and provide so many people with jobs & support. Definitely high up on my recommendations list. It's such a shame more people don't know about this. Go go go people.

And that's it....

The end of my Backpacking Escapes series. For now at least! Thanks to the fellow travellers I've met along the way I've now got a list of new places to visit and things to try as long as my arm, and I can't wait for more adventures. South East Asia has truly been a dream, and I would say it's been a once in a lifetime trip - but how can it be when I'm so in love and so desperate to come back?! I'm certain this won't be my last visit to Asia, but rather the first of many.

Bon voyage for now my friends! I've got a couple more blog posts planned but it's time to go home. To those of you still travelling make the most of every moment! And those of you who aren't....

What are you waiting for??