#your first conversation with most of them is like. OK KYS

[famousblueraincoatmp3]

fallout 3 is great because if you pass a speech check you can just tell the antagonists to kill themselves and they'll do it without hesitating

[gimmezutara]

Drabble that came to me earlier when reading hc’s about the steam babies:

Kya whirled around the kitchen grabbing various tea leaves. She expertly arranged the tray and swept past the counter to serve another customer.

She loved working at her Grandpa’s tea shop. It was refreshing and so different from the palace she was used to spending her days in. This place was absolutely bustling with activity and here she had more freedom than she ever did back in the Fire Nation. Here, she wasn’t Kya, Crown Princess of the Fire Nation, she could just be… Kya.

Iroh smiled as he watched her work. He loved the summers he got to spend with his granddaughter. She was always so keen to help out and was a ray of sunshine to his days.

She rushed past him again pulling a funny face and Iroh laughed.

She put her dirty tray down and bumped into Ran at the sink. “Hey, watch it Ky!” he complained as the bump knocked his arm straight into the sink.

“Are you a waterbender or aren’t you?” she teased, reaching for her notepad and pen.

“Yeah, but doesn’t mean I like being soaked,” he replied sulkily. “How come you get to serve and I’m stuck doing the washing up?”

“Wanna swap? There’s plenty of people who’d love to chat with the Prince of the Fire Nation out there,” she said, offering the pen and notebook with a knowing smile.

Ran rolled his eyes and tipped his head back with a weary sigh. “Why did Mum and Dad send us to work here again? You know I could’ve been at Ember Island with Shomo and Raoko right?”

“Doing really productive things I’m sure,” Kya said sarcastically.

Ran huffed, his fringe flying away from his face as he went back to his reluctant cleaning.

Kya bent under the counter to pick up a dish rag.

“Excuse me?” came a voice from above.

“Just a second,” she said, before she tossed the rag back in the sink behind her (feeling satisfied at the groan from her brother) and turned back to see the most gorgeous face she had ever seen in her life. She didn’t know eyes could be that green! He must be an earthbender, surely.

She suddenly realised she’d been gawping at him completely silent.

“Uh, what can I do for you?” she said, tucking her hair behind her ear and tugging the ends nervously, a habit she seemed to have picked up from her mother.

“Can I get a ginger tea please?” he asked.

“Oh yeah sure!” she said a tad too loudly. “You sit down and I’ll be right with you!”

She hastily made her way to the kitchen to make the tea, knocking the whole pot over in the process. “Shit…” she muttered to herself.

“Are you alright, Kya?”

She jumped at Iroh’s voice. “Yep, absolutely fine!” she said a little too quickly.

She prepped the tray, steeled herself and made her way out into the seated area. She caught his eyes and felt herself smile. Then she tripped over the green rug in the middle of the floor. With lightning reflexes she managed to right herself just as a tan hand appeared to steady the tray. “Are you ok?” the boy asked.

Kya’s eyes widened. She laughed awkwardly. “I’m fine, just fine,” she said, feeling the tips of her ears burn with a blush as she took the tray from his hands and placed it on the table. “Sorry, I spilled your tea a bit,” she said, “I can get you another-”

“No no, it’s alright,” the boy said with a kind smile.

“Ok, um, great,” Kya said. She nodded her head at him and made her way back to the kitchen as fast as possible.

***

The next few days the boy returned every day. One afternoon Kya was leaning on the countertop lost in her imagination.

Iroh watched from his usual seat. He followed her gaze to the handsome Earth Kingdom boy sitting by the window and chuckled to himself.

He rose from his seat and joined his granddaughter at the counter. “It appears we have a new regular!” he said.

Kya was startled from her daydreaming. “Oh, uh, yes. I mean… who?”

Iroh gestured. “He is a handsome boy is he not?”

Kya blushed. “I… wouldn’t know. I guess,” she said, winning the award for worst nonchalant answer in the world.

“Shame he always sits by himself,” Iroh said. “I would have thought he would have a girlfriend.”

“Do you think he does?” Kya asked a little too quickly.

Iroh laughed to himself but kept his features neutral. “I shouldn’t think so,” he said.

Kya’s face melted with relief. “Ok. That’s good. I mean… that’s fine. Why would I care?”

They stood in silence for a while. “I’ll take over for a while my dear, you could do with a rest,” Iroh said. “Why don’t you go and accompany our new patron?”

“What?” Kya said, instinctively clutching the notebook and pen to her. “No no no, I couldn’t do that, I couldn’t possibly-”

“Make polite conversation with our new, generous customer?”

Kya paused, stumped for a response. “Uh- no-”

“Great! You have a rest,” Iroh said, taking the notebook and pen from her gently but firmly and shooing her away from the counter.

Kya stood frozen, wrestling with herself for a bit.

She turned to face the table. She sighed and drew herself up straighter and made her way over.

“Uh, hi,” she said. The boy looked up at her and smiled.

“Hi,” he said.

“It’s- uh- nice to see you again. Here. You’re a- um- good customer,” she said. Her brain screamed at her.

The boys lips quirked up into an unfairly gorgeous smile. “Uh, thanks,” he said. “Are you… still working?”

“Me? Oh, um, my Gra….boss just said- it-it’s my break,” she managed.

The boys face lit up. “Oh well, please feel free to join me,” he said, gesturing to the chair opposite.

“Ok, thanks,” she said, managing to get through at least one sentence without stumbling over her words. Short as it was, she’d count it as a victory.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before,” the boy said.

“Oh yeah, I’m just here for the summer,” she replied.

“Where are you from?” he asked.

“The Fire Nation,” she said.

“Ah, I thought so. I mean, I didn’t want to assume, but-”

“Golden eyes gave it away huh?” she said. It was a pretty dead giveaway, even if her lightly tan skin and curly hair gave away her Water Tribe heritage.

The boy nodded, smiling a bit sheepishly. “Firebender?” he asked.

She nodded. “Earthbender?” she asked.

He smiled and nodded too.

***

Kya readied herself for her night out.

“You tell anyone I went out, you’re dead,” she threatened her brother.

“Sheesh, calm down, I’m not telling on anyone,” he said from his position lying on the couch. “Just… be careful Kya ok?”

She rolled her eyes at him. “I’ll be fine,” she said.

“Oh and you better not bring him back here, ok? I’m not sharing an apartment with you and your new lover.”

She threw a pillow at him. “Same to you and your new fancy lady!” she retorted.

Ran’s face fell. “I- what?”

“Don’t think I didn’t notice you sneaking out last week!”

“I didn’t- she’s not-” Ran began before his face fell into a scowl and he growled in frustration. “Real nice, blackmail from the future Fire Lady, that’s comforting.”

“Shut up,” she retorted with a smile. She took one last glance in the mirror before she set off.

***

Later that night she crept back into the tea shop, a soft flame burning in her palm to light the way. She could hear her brother’s loud snores from outside the room. She carefully put her pack on the side and went to grab some water from the sink.

Suddenly a loud snore from the sofa made her jump and almost drop the cup. She quickly caught it and snapped her head round. She silently made her way to the sofa and peeked her head over it.

Iroh was fast asleep on the couch.

She breathed a sigh of relief and carefully crept back to the kitchen, putting the cup back in its place before quietly going back to her room.

The door closed with a soft click.

The snoring from the sofa ceased and Iroh carefully lifted his head to glance around the room. Then he chuckled to himself.

***

“Ah, you are both here!” Iroh said, greeting the Fire Lord and Lady enthusiastically. “We have had the most wonderful time! Ran’s been working hard in my shop and Kya has been wonderful as always. She’s even made some new friends,” he said. He glanced over at Katara with a twinkle in his eye.

Katara caught his look. She knew that look. Her gaze flicked over to her husband who, as usual, hadn’t noticed his Uncle’s tell tale signs of having some juicy gossip.

“Sit down, you must tell me all about your trip over,” Iroh said, shooing them into seats around the table.

Just then the door opened and Kya walked through, lost in a world of her own.

“Kya!” Zuko said excitedly. Kya jumped, startled at the sudden presence of her parents.

“Dad! Hi!” she said, her startled face melting into a smile.

“How’s my little sunbeam?” Zuko asked, coming over to give her a hug.

“Great, Dad,” Kya said as he squeezed her tight. She made her way over to Katara giving her a hug too.

“Had fun with Grandpa?” Zuko asked.

Kya beamed. “Of course! I actually said I’d look after the kitchen this morning though so…” she said, backing towards the door.

Zuko smiled. “Of course, I’ll come and help get heaters going.”

“Dad, I’m a firebender, you haven’t had to help me with that since I was like three,” she complained.

“Let your Dad be of assistance if he wants,” Katara said, with a patronising pat on Zuko’s shoulder. He arched an eyebrow at her and she nudged him playfully before turning back to his daughter.

Katara eyed Iroh suspiciously over the rim of her cup as Zuko and Kya left the room. Iroh’s face was impassive, as always, but Katara knew he was dying to tell her something.

“Iroh…” she said.

“Yes?” he asked.

“What do you know?”

Iroh looked around conspiratorially and leaned in. “Kya’s got a boyfriend,” he said excitedly.

Katara laughed. “Who?” she asked.

“There’s a handsome boy who comes to the tea shop, you should see her, she’s been daydreaming about him all day every day since she first laid eyes on him!”

“Oh spirits,” Katara said in mock despair.

“Reminds me of a Water Tribe girl I once had working here who could barely make the right orders because she was too distracted by the other server.”

Katara’s face suddenly became amusingly affronted. “I did not make the wrong orders! And I was not ogling Zuko!” she said.

Iroh laughed. “I believe I said ‘distracted’, my dear,” he said.

Katara blushed, as if the idea of being attracted to her husband of twenty years was still embarrassing, making Iroh laugh even more.

“What’s this boy like?” Katara said, a hint of concern in her voice. She knew her daughter could handle herself but she was all too familiar with how vulnerable feelings for someone could make you, and how much it could hurt when it didn’t go well.

“He’s very kind,” Iroh said reassuringly. “You know the day she met him she tripped over, spilled his tea everywhere!”

Katara laughed. “Oh spirits, I’d hoped she wouldn’t take after her father in this respect…”

Iroh laughed too.

Zuko walked back in and the two quickly fell quiet and went back to sipping their tea.

Zuko paused by the table. He regarded them both suspiciously.

“What did I miss?” he said, his tone heavy with suspicion.

“Nothing, my son,” Iroh said dismissively. “I was just telling Lady Katara here that it is important to spice up a marriage after such a long time together.”

Katara choked on her tea.

[noladyme]

My Only Sunshine - Chapter 1

Liv is as human as they come – faults and all. After a dark experience in her past, she is determined to live life on her own terms, and never let anyone claim her as theirs again. This becomes an issue, when she meets a 1000-yearold vampire, who is dead-set on claiming her as his own.

TW: Blood

It was a warm night, and I was wearing my favorite summer dress, seated on a velvet couch, in an old house.

“Well, miss Sunday. Thank you very much for coming all the way out here to speak to me. I’ll go over your resumé one more time, but I think I’ve heard all I need”. The dark-haired, pale man gave me a friendly smile. I knew better than to reach out my hand for him to shake, and simply got up to stand, and nodded at him. “Thank you, Mr. Compton”, I smiled. “Just let me know if there’s anything else you need… So, interview over?”. “Interview’s over”, he said. “Good! Calling you Mr. Compton was getting weird!”, I laughed. “Well, you did insist”. “It was a job-interview. It was only proper”, I shrugged.

Bill Compton walked me to his front door, and I was about to say goodbye, when he halted, just before going for the doorknob. “There is one thing, I wanted to ask you; and seeing as you’ve been so forthcoming with me, on everything else…”. The vampire narrowed his eyes at me. “What?”, I said. “Why did you decide to apply for the position as my day-person?”, he asked. I smiled embarrassedly. “Honestly… I need the money”, I said. “I’ve been hoping to pay down my student loan, but taking up extra shifts down at Merlotte’s just isn’t cutting it”.

“That’s not what I meant”, he said. “You just don’t strike me as the type of person to take a job for a vampire”. He raised an intrigued brow at me. “Not enough fang marks on me?”, I chuckled. The vampire chuckled, and it seemed that if he’d been able to blush, he would have. “You’re offering a good salary for what seems like an easy job; and one that I can do while still staying on with Sam. The fact that you’re a vampire doesn’t really matter to me”. “Why not?”, he asked. “Why should it?”, I retorted. “Some might say it’s dangerous to work for one of us”, the vampire said. “You’re no more likely to hurt me than any other vampire around – or human for that matter”, I said. “Besides; Sookie speaks highly of you, and I trust her”. “Well, she speaks highly of you as well”, he said.

He seemed to think for a moment, before coming to a conclusion. “If you want this job, it’s yours”, he said. My jaw dropped. “Really?”, I asked. The vampire confirmed it with a nod. “Thank you, Bill. You won’t regret it…! One thing, though… Day-person? Can’t we call it… secretary? Or assistant?”. He chuckled warmly as he opened the door for me to leave. “Please come by tomorrow. I’ll have a list for you with some things I need handled”, Bill said, as I went down the steps of the porch. “8 pm?”, I asked. “That sounds perfect”, Bill said. “See you then”. He handed me back the “resumé”, which I’d written on the back of a paper placemat from Merlotte’s. As I took it, I got a slight papercut on my finger. “Shit”, I muttered. Bill smiled slightly. “Would you like me to fetch you a band-aid?”. “Nah…”, I said, and looked at the trickle of blood. “You hungry?”, I teased. “I think Sookie might have a problem with me feeding from a friend”. “Alright”, I shrugged.

I began fishing my car keys out of my bag, and cursed to myself, as they fell from my hand, and landed in the gravel on the ground. I was about to crouch to pick them up; when I felt a gush of wind, and suddenly stood nose to chest with a very tall man. I had to tilt my head back to look him in the eyes. They were bright blue, and had a sharpness to them. “Hello”, he said, a cheery mischievous tone to his voice. “Hi”, I said, and went to pick up my keys again. The man – vampire, I realized – held them out to me, before I even so much as bent over. “Fuck, you’re fast”, I gasped. He put the keys in my outstretched hand, and grabbed my wrist, to look at my bleeding finger. “When I want to be”, he smiled. “Bill, who is this? Introduce us”.

Bill stepped of his porch, and walked warily towards us. “Eric Northman… This is Liv Sunday”. I found it hard to break eye contact with the tall vampire, mostly because he was one of the most handsome people I’d ever met. “Liv”, Eric said. He dragged out the sound of my name, pronouncing it Leev. “Yours…? She smells… pure”. I managed to look away, and turned my gaze to Bills face instead. His jaw was clenched. “My assistant”, Bill repeated, put a hand on my arm, and went to stand half way in front of me. The tall vampire let go of my wrist. “Off limits”. “I’m a big girl, Bill", I said. “I can speak for myself". “Yes, she’s a big girl, Bill", Eric smiled. “Let her speak for herself". I frowned at the tall vampire, and shook my head. “That means you too, Vlad", I said. A grin ghosted his face.

Eric leaned his head forwards, and burrowed his eyes even deeper into mine. “Liv… You’re interesting”, he said. “Please. Tell me more about you”. “Eric!”, Bill growled. “Why have you come?”. “To discuss matters surrounding the conference. It is election year, after all”, the other vampire replied, never taking his eyes off mine. “Now stop interrupting my conversation with… Liv”. The vampire-testosterone was heavy in the air, and I swallowed hard. “Maybe some other time”, I said. “Oh come now…”, Eric smiled, his eyes digging even deeper. I frowned at him. “I said no!”, I sneered. The tall vampire seemed taken aback, and Bills eyes widened. “Ok… I’m just gonna go”, I said.

Bill followed me all the way over to my car, and held the door for me as I climbed in. I opened the window to let some air into the cabin. “Drive safely now”, Bill said. “See you at 8 tomorrow. I’ll give your regards to Sookie”. Eric smiled at me. “It was nice meeting you, Liv”, he said. “Until next time”. His intense gaze made heat pool in my lower stomach, and I had to consciously tell myself to put the key in the ignition.

I drove home to my one-bedroom rental feeling happy that I’d nailed my job interview; and stirred from meeting Eric. I supposed he always had that influence on people; Bill probably just turned his mojo down, because he had Sookie, and didn’t need to impress people in the same way. Bill was the second vampire I’d met that I’d actually spoken to, since they came out of the coffin. Eric was the third, so I didn’t have much to compare him too; but I read magazines as much as the next person.

When I got inside, I took a cold shower; trying to shake the meeting out of my system. Before I climbed into bed, I checked my messages, and saw that Sookie had sent me a text, congratulating me on my new side-gig with Bill. I sent her one back, thanking her for hooking me up with the interview.

Sookie had been a good friend every since I got to town. I’d been down on my luck since leaving San Diego; but Bon Temps had been good to me so far. I had a waitressing job at Merlotte’s, on top of the one I’d just gotten with Bill – taking care of the things he needed done during the daylight – and some good friends in Sookie and Bill; and even my other boss; Sam. I’d even go so far as calling Sookies brother, Jason, a friend – even if he did try getting me into bed with him, whenever he could. I think the fact that I was so fervent in my dismissal of him, made him have some weird kind of respect for me. I was happy – settled, even. The last thing I needed was some blonde hottie trying to get in my pants; it didn’t matter if his name was Jason Stackhouse – or Eric Northman for that matter.

---

I slept in the next day, as my meeting with Bill had been quite late – or should I say, early, as I’d not been home until 3 am. My shift at the bar was a slow one, which was good for Terry, who was having one of his bad days in the kitchen. All 6 hours dragged along in a manner so boring, it was a relief when 7 pm. came along, and Arlene came to take over from me.

Arriving back at the Compton house, I was met in the door by Sookie. “Hey, Liv! Come on in!”, she grinned. “Bill’s in the living room”. “Is it your night off, Sook’?”, I asked. “Uh huh”, she said. “Bill’s taking me to dinner”. We walked into the living room, where Bill was waiting, with a somber look on his face. “Liv… I would like to apologize for Erics behavior last night”, he said. “He didn’t do anything wrong”, I said. “It’s not the first time someone’s flirted with me”. “Eric Northman flirted with you?”, Sookie chuckled. “And you didn’t end up with your legs around his waist?”. I mock scoffed. “I am a lady”, I said. “I tend to throw them around a man’s neck first”. Sookie punched my shoulder. “Slut!”, she grinned.

Bill looked very seriously at the both of us. “This is no laughing matter, ladies. Eric glamoured you!”, he said. I shook my head in confusion. “He didn’t…”, I said. “I saw him… He was using his glamour on you”, Bill repeated fervently. “I really don’t think he did. At least I didn’t feel anything happening”, I tried again.  “Jeez… I worked for you for five minutes; and you’re already acting like my daddy”, I said.

The vampire looked confused, but Sookie broke the tension, by reminding him they had reservations. “You’re right, of course; sweetheart”, Bill said, and took a piece of paper from the coffee-table. “I made this list for you. On the top here is making an appointment with an electrician. I’ve been having some flickering lights in the kitchen. Of course, I don’t use it much, but I do want it working… Then there’s this case of TruBlood O-neg. The all-night supermarket won’t be getting another shipment for at least a week, and I can’t…”. “Honey? We’re late!”, Sookie sighed. “Where are you going?”, I asked. “A place in Shreveport. Ky-auntie”, Sookie smiled. “Chianti”, Bill said. “And you’re right. Let’s go”.

We all left the house, and walked to our respective cars, when I remembered something. “Hold up!”, I called out. I ripped some of the paper from the list, and quickly wrote down my phone number with an eyeliner from my purse. I ran over to Bill with it. “Here. You never got my number. Just in case anything else comes up”, I said. “Thank you”, Bill smiled. “Any big plans for you tonight?”, he asked. “I have a date with my neighbor’s cat. At least I think he belongs to my neighbor. He might be a stray… We eat tuna together on Thursdays”, I sighed. “I thought you were allergic to cats”, Sookie said from inside the BMW. “Our love is complex… and I take pills”, I said. “Go on now. Have fun”.

I waved them off, as they drove away; and got into my own car. It stalled a few times, before finally starting up, and I could drive home – just in time for my date with Mr. Whiskers. He was only mildly annoyed when I came out the back door 3 minutes late, with his bowl. “Sorry I’m late, honey”, I said. “I had a vampire to tend to”. The cat wailed at me, and attacked the tuna like it hadn’t eaten in weeks.

I lit a cigarette, and sat down on the steps, leaning against the screen door, reading a magazine. Some of my neighbors were having a party, and I enjoyed the music coming out of the window. It was a warm night, but not many mosquitos around. I was happy to be left alone from the little bloodsuckers, when my phone vibrated, and I found myself summoned by a large one. - Need you in Shreveport asap. Bill

I frowned at the phone. - I’m your day person. Nights are off limits.

- Fangtasia. Be there in an hour.

- Remind me to ask for a raise BOSS!, I replied; stomped out my smoke, and went back into the house to look up the address of whatever the hell Fangtasia was. Google let me know it was a vampire bar. Dinner must have been over quickly, and Bill had probably taken Sookie for a drink. I looked down at the attire I was currently wearing, and decided that if Bill insisted on being a jerk-boss, I’d be a jerk employee; and show up in cut off shorts, and ABBA t-shirt – that was fifty sizes to big, and hung off my shoulder – hopefully embarrassing him in front of his friends.

I cursed at Bill all the way to Shreveport. “Stupid vampire, ruining my date with Mr. Whiskers”, I muttered to myself, as I parked my rusty car next to a flashy convertible on the parking lot of the bar. There was a line down to the door, going all the way around the corner of the building. A blonde woman with a bored expression on her face stood at the entrance, turning away anyone she didn’t see fit for entry. I sent Bill a text, letting him know I was outside, and had no intention of waiting in line. He’d have to meet me in the lot.

I leaned against my car, kicking at a stray paper cup on the ground, when a cold finger poked my shoulder. I looked up into the face of the blonde woman. She was striking up close. “Liv Sunday?”, she said, sounding as bored as she looked. “Yeah?”, I said. She gave me an insincere smile. “Follow me…”.

She led me to the entrance of the bar, and a burly doorman lifted the red rope for us so we could walk inside. A song with heavy bass was leading some scantily clad dancers on podiums, and the air was heavy with cheap perfume and sexual frustration. The blonde led me to a table, and waved over a black clad waitress. “Order whatever you want on the house. Ginger will sort you out”, she said. The waitress smiled brightly at me. I shook my head. “No, I’m here to meet Bill”, I said confusedly. The woman rolled her eyes, and walked away. I would have given her the finger, if I wasn’t worried, she’d bite it off. “What can I get you?”, the waitress, Ginger, asked. “The most expensive thing you have that isn’t blood”, I sighed. “Long Island Ice Tea, coming right up!”, she grinned, and walked away; tugging at her tiny top as she did.

I took my phone out of my pocket, and saw I had a new text from a number I didn’t know. - Hello Liv. This is Bill Compton. I would like to extend my gratitude to you for accepting the position as my assistant. I’m writing this as Sookie is powdering her nose; as to not interrupt our evening together. Could I please ask you to add to the list, that I need to get in touch with a florist who knows where to get some sunflowers? Sookie likes them. Thank you very much.

I was deeply confused at this point, and not a little worried. If Bill hadn’t been the one to summon me to Fangtasia, then I was currently in a strange bar, surrounded by vampires, without a companion; just sitting around like a delicious crab leg on a buffet table. Sure, there were humans around, but they all seemed more focused on getting the attention of vampires, than helping me out, if needed be. I texted Sookie. - What’s Bills number? I think someone texted me, pretending to be him.

She responded quickly. - Who? Are you ok? Where are you?

I wrote back. - No idea. I’m in some place called Fangtasia.

I was still holding my phone, when Ginger returned with my drink, and set it down. She seemed about to say something to me; when suddenly she bowed reverently. “Master…”, she said, sounding like she was having a strange sort of orgasm.

I looked up, and saw that Eric Northman was standing by the table, with the blonde female vampire next to him. He gave me a slight smile, and sat down across from me; relaxing against the backrest of the chair. “Jag är inte din budbärare, bare för at du vil knulla en liten människa!”. The blonde seemed annoyed, but I didn’t understand her words. “Slapna av, Pam. Det här är annorlunda”, Eric said. “Fika på hende, då. I don’t give a shit. Just don’t ask me again”, she snarled. ”Pamela!”, Eric said firmly. “Leave us”.

“What’s up her ass?”, I muttered. “Pam doesn’t take it up the ass; she gives it”, Eric said matter-of-factly. I narrowed my eyes at him. “You texted me…”, I said. “I did”, Eric said. “Go away, Ginger”. The waitress backed away, her eyes still on the floor. “Master. Yes, master”. I raised my brows. “Wow…”. I met Erics eyes hesitantly. “Why am I here?”. “Because I wanted to see you…”, he said. He dipped a finger into my drink, and licked it. “Don’t drink this. Someone put drugs in it”.

I swallowed hard – a sudden flashback striking me, taking me to a place I didn’t want to go. “Liv?”, Eric said. “What?”, I snapped. The vampire seemed taken aback. “You’re very brave”, he said. “I don’t know what you mean”, I muttered. “Speaking to me like that… and the text you sent me back, when you thought I was Bill. You obviously don’t know a lot about vampires”. I shrugged, trying my best to seem at ease with the conversation.

“How did you get my number?”, I asked; pushing the drink away gingerly. “I’m not listed”. “I flew over Bills house, as you wrote it down”, Eric said. “I have very good eyesight. You used a .01 Ultra Black eyeliner”. “That’s kind of creepy”, I said. “You’re a flying, creepy guy”. Eric laughed heartily, the sound coming from deep within his chest. “You’re funny”, he said. “It’s like you have no sense of self-preservation”. “Well, I figure you didn’t go through all the trouble of flying over Bills house to get my number; just so you could kill me”, I said. “At least… I hope you didn’t”. Eric looked towards the bar, at the tender behind it. “Chow, get her a fresh one. Make sure it’s drug free”, he said, so quietly, I almost didn’t hear it. I realized the bartender must be a vampire as well; that was the only way he’d be able to hear him. “You don’t have to… I’m fine, really”. “It’s no trouble", Eric assured me. “This is my bar after all. It’s in my interest to keep the patrons happy". “I’m not a patron…”, I said.

Eric ignored my words. “Your t-shirt… I like it”, he said. “I’m related to the blonde, you know…”. “You’re Swedish?”, I asked. A fresh drink appeared in front of me, and I looked at it hesitantly. “It’s safe”, Eric said. “Yes, I’m originally from Sweden…”. “So, you were speaking… Swedish, before?”. Eric nodded. “You name, Liv; it’s actually the Swedish word for life”. “Huh…”, I muttered. “I always thought it was kind of geriatric”. Erics eyes lit up with a mischievous glint. “Quite the opposite… It suits you. You seem full of life”. I cleared my throat uncomfortably, and took a sip from the straw. The drink was delicious. “And… when are you from? If you don’t mind me asking”. “Are you asking how old I am?”, Eric smiled. I blushed, and took a second sip. “I am a little over 1000 years old”.

I choked on my drink, and suddenly, Eric was next to me; gently patting my back with one hand, and holding mine with the other. “Are you alright?”, he said worriedly. “Yeah, I’m fine”, I croaked. I looked up into his eyes, and saw true concern. “Really”, I smiled. Eric sat back down on the chair opposite me; still holding on to my hand. His own was cool, but not cold. I guessed he’d recently fed.

I bit my lip. “Are you really 1000 years old?”, I asked in a whisper. “Yes”, Eric confirmed. “I was a Viking”. My eyes widened. “Like with the… pillaging, plundering and… raping?”, I said. Eric smiled smugly. “I didn’t need to rape to bed a woman; or a man for that matter”. “Huh…”, I said; and took a deep sip from my drink. “Well, you do have that tall, blonde and handsome thing going for you”. He ran his thumb over my knuckles. “You find me handsome?”, he said. “Every person in this room finds you handsome”, I retorted; rolling my eyes. I looked towards a nearby table, where a young woman with obviously dyed black hair was starring at us. When her eyes darted towards me, she looked like she wanted to scratch my eyes out.

“Tell me about you…”, Eric said. “Why?”, I asked. “Because it’s only fair”, the viking-vampire said. “In the last ten minutes, I’ve told you my age, occupation, sexual orientation; and I’ve saved you from getting drugged". I was painfully aware that Eric probably had a million different ways of getting what he wanted from me, but for some strange reason, I didn’t think he’d use any of them. Not yet anyway. None the less, I still didn’t see his reason for wanting to know. “I meant, why are you asking?”, I said.

Eric played absentmindedly with my fingers – or maybe not so absentmindedly; as he seemed to know exactly where and how to stroke my fingers in a way, that sent signals straight to my core. "You’re interesting“, he said. “And Bill interrupted me before I could finish my glamour on you, to get you to tell me". I chuckled softly. “You didn’t glamour me", I said. “Of course I did", Eric retorted. “Sorry, but I think you have little too much faith in your own abilities“.

He let go of my hand, and sat back straight in his chair. For a long time, he didn’t speak, just starred at me, before his pupils suddenly dilated, and a tranquil and yet almost flirtatious expression spread over his face. “Liv…”, he said softly. “Tell me; what’s your favorite sexual position?”. My jaw dropped. “That’s absolutely none of your business!”, I growled. Eric looked completely confused, and even paler than his usual pasty shade. He furrowed his brows, and moved his head forwards; almost crouching in his chair, as to reach my eye-level. “You want to tell me, Liv", he said, his voice alluring. Abso-fucking-lutely I wanted to tell him; but not under our current circumstances. As it was, Eric was being completely inappropriate, and I had no intention of continuing our conversation. I stood up. “Thanks for the drink. Now, if you don’t mind, please go to hell".

I walked towards the door, and made it halfway through the crowd, when suddenly, Eric was standing in front of me. He looked almost enraged, and towered over me menacingly; starring into my eyes so hard, I could almost feel it physically. “Liv. You want to tell me about yourself", he boomed. “I want to go home!”, I hissed, trying to pass the imposing vampire. He moved slightly, making me have to brush against his chest with my shoulder. Eric’s hand was suddenly on my upper arm. I froze in place, as he lifted my hair slightly, breathing in my scent. “What are you?”, he asked in a low voice, his cool breath sending annoyingly pleasurable shivers down my spine. I looked up into his eyes again; and jumped a bit, when his fangs popped out. The deepest, darkest part of me wanted to put my finger to one of them, and see how sharp they were.

“Eric!”, Bills voice boomed over the music. Sookie came out from behind him, walked straight up to the 6’4 inches vampire, and hit him over the shoulder with her purse. “Looks like that’s two dates you’ve ruined tonight”, I said. Eric smiled. “But ours was going so well”, he said; his fangs retracting again. “This wasn’t a date…”, I said. “This was you tricking me into meeting you”, I hissed. “You had another date tonight?”, he asked, darkness ghosting his face. I gave him a sarcastic smile, and pulled my arm out of his grasp, stomping out of the club, past Pam. She looked amused at the situation, and stepped back to let me get to the parking lot.

With shaking hands, I opened my car door. Bill and Sookie weren’t far behind me. “I am very sorry, Liv”, Bill said. “Had I known there was a chance Eric would…”. “Forget it, Bill”, I said. “I’ll take care of the things on your list tomorrow. Right now, I just want to go home… I’m sorry I ruined your date”. “It’s not your fault”, Sookie said earnestly. “Do you want us to follow you home in Bills car?”. “No, I’ll be fine… Just, go salvage whatever you can of your night”, I said. I gave Sookie a half hug, and nodded at Bill.

Eric was staring at my car, as I drove away. I saw him exchanging a few words with Pam, before he went back inside Fangtasia.

---

I had the next day off from Merlotte’s, and after I – once again – slept in, I had plenty of time to take care of my errands for Bill. When I got back home from having dropped of a case of O-neg on his porch, I texted him the info of an electrician and a florist who could help him out with his other requirements.

My mail had arrived while I was gone, and as I got ready for a night of serving beer, I looked through the bills and catalogues; finding among them an envelope without sender. Inside was a picture of a young woman in a seductive pose, wearing very little. I recognized myself immediately. It had been taken my last night at my old job at Sugar and Spice – a night I didn’t remember much from, due to a drink I should never have accepted. I almost fell into a kitchen chair, and shuddered. I put my hand to my chest, remembering the wound I’d earned that night.  

He’d found me. I wasn’t surprised. Though my number and address weren’t listed, if Thomas wanted something, he’d get it; he had a way of talking himself in to things. Either that, or he’d use brute force. The thing that made me confused, was the fact that Thomas wasn’t even supposed to remember me. I was supposed to be just another dancer he’d taken pictures of, at the club.

I was startled when my phone suddenly rang. I picked it up, when I saw it was Sam. “Hey…”, I croaked. “Hey, Luce’… I’m really sorry to ask you this, but Coby has the mumps, and Arlene needs to…”. “You need me tonight?”, I asked, almost hopefully. I didn’t want to be alone. “You’d be doing me a big favor…”, Sam said. “I’ll be there”. “Thanks, cher’. I’ll give you tomorrow off instead”, he replied in a relieved voice. “No problem what so ever”, I said. “I’ll be there in a few”. I hung up, and hurried getting ready for work.

Merlotte’s was full of people; which was pretty typical for a Friday night. The tips would be pretty good, and I wouldn’t have to be alone with my thoughts. Sookie handed me a clean apron, and I tied it around my waist, avoiding her gaze. “You seem out of sorts”, she muttered, as I tied up my hair in a bun. “Seem? Or are you listening in…?”, I said. She looked suddenly sad. “I’m sorry, Sookie… It’s been a hard day”. She smiled a little. “I can’t read you as well as I can some other people, you know”, she said. “Whatever comes through, is usually just colors and emotions. But they’re pretty intense, so I try to avoid them”. “Why?”, I asked. “I don’t know”, she shrugged. “It’s just like that with some folks… Makes it easier to be your friend, though”. I squeezed her hand, and walked out to take some orders.

Hoyt and Jason were nursing beers in a corner, and I walked over to check on them. “Everything good here?”. “Much better, now you’re here”, Jason winked. “You know, I saw your car out back. It ain’t looking good. I’d be happy to give you a ride, when you clock out”. “I’m sure you would, but I’m not in the mood for crabs tonight”. Hoyt laughed heartily, and Jason smiled and shook his head. “Any food for you gentlemen?”, I asked. “LaFayette has some gumbo cooking tonight”. “Sounds good. Hoyt?”, Jason said. “Two bowls, then”, Hoyt smiled. “Coming right up”, I said, and took their order to the serving hatch; winking at LaFayette in the kitchen.

For the next few hours, I pushed away all thoughts of possessive men, and focused on earning my wages. Bill stopped by to give Sookie a kiss, and thanked me for my help so far; leaving me another list. “Just some time next week, will be fine”, he said. “You’re welcome to text me, Bill”, I said. “I dislike using the keys to type”, the vampire grumbled. “I prefer the old-fashioned way of writing”. “Did you use a quill?”, I asked, giving him a sly smile. “Just a no. 2 pencil”, he retorted. “And once again; I’m sorry…”. I groaned. “Please, stop… Nothing happened. I’m perfectly fine”.

Sookie gave me a slight look, which Bill caught immediately. “You’re not. What is wrong?”. “Sookie!”, I sighed. “Sorry! You’re pretty much radiating fear, honey”, she said. Bill looked at me earnestly. “I will do my best to keep you safe from Eric”, he said. “I don’t want you to worry about him”. “I’m not scared of Eric… No more than the next person, anyway”, I assured him; and walked towards the bar, to grab a tray of beers. Sookie followed me there. “What, then?”, she asked. I clenched my jaw. “Could you give this to Jane Bodehouse? I’m gonna go take my break”, I said.

I almost ran out the back door, and lit a cigarette. Sam was putting a bag of trash in the container, when I got there. “Everything alright?”, he asked. “Why is everyone asking me that?”, I almost snarled. Sam seemed taken aback. “Sorry… I’m just… It’s been a day”. “We all have those”, Sam said. “You want to talk about it?”. “Not really”, I said.

Sam scratched his head. “How’s it going, working for Bill Compton?”, he asked. “Fine, so far. It’s an easy gig”, I said. “Don’t worry, it won’t get in the way of my work here”. “I know. I just worry about you, is all”, he said. “You’ve had a strange look on your face all night”. I sighed deeply, not wanting to give away too much. “I got word from an old… acquaintance”, I said. “I’d hoped to avoid it”. “Ex?”, Sam muttered. “Not really…”. I swallowed hard. “Sam… If I… If some day I don’t come in to work… It’s not because I’m playing hookie”. “That sounds ominous…”, Sam said. “Just… I like this job. Bon Temps”, I said. “I’m happy here. So, if suddenly, I’m not around… I didn’t just skip town, ok?”. Sam walked up to me, and put a hand on my shoulder. “Liv, talk to me. What’s going on?”. Sookie stuck her head out. “Sam, we need to call Jane’s son again. She’s passed out on the pool table…”. Sam rolled his eyes, and went back inside, leaving me to smoke in peace.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I had a text; from Eric, of all people. - When can I see you again?

I rolled my eyes. - How do I know you’re not watching me now?

The reply came within seconds. - You don’t. But I’m not. Do you want me to? I decided against replying, and went back inside – chiding myself for indeed wanting that.

When I got back home, I collapsed on my bed fully clothed – but not before having checked to see if all windows and doors were safely closed and locked. Even without A/C, I’d rather sweat than risk someone coming into the house while I slept.

My phone vibrated, and when I saw who was calling, I picked it up. “What?”, I said. “Why haven’t you replied to my messages?”, Eric said. Loud music was thundering in the background. I looked at the screen of my phone, and saw that I had multiple unread texts. “Because I was working. And because I didn’t want to”, I said. That last part was a lie. “What are you wearing?”, he asked. “A leather garter belt, and a top hat”, I sneered. “Really?”. I could hear his smile. “No. Goodnight, Eric”. “Read your messages”, he managed to say, before I hung up.

I more or less had to pry my eyes open to read the messages the vampire had sent me. - I’m not used to have my messages ignored. Well, get used to it, I thought. - I could come by your job. Just say the word. - I want to see you soon. When? At least he was asking, and not telling me. That was a step up from what I was used to. - Please. That one must have hurt. I sent him a message back. - I’ll let you know. And if you insist on texting more than a teenage girl, I’ll reply like one. Ttyl lol rofl xoxo

As soon as I’d dropped my phone on the bed, I smacked my forehead. I’d written xo. That thought kept me awake for hours, and I didn’t fall asleep until the sun was almost up again.

---

As soon as I woke a little after noon, I rushed out to handle Bills errands. He’d given me until the week after, but as I saw the picture sent to me laying on my kitchen table, I didn’t want to spend a moment longer in the house. I even called Sam to ask if he was absolutely sure he didn’t need me at the bar; but he all but told me that if he saw me anywhere near Merlotte’s, he’d throw me over his shoulder, and carry me home, so I could enjoy my day off.

A little after sunset, there was a knock on my door, and I was slightly startled to see Eric on my small porch. I swallowed hard. “What are you doing here?”, I asked. “I was in the neighborhood; and thought I’d save you the trouble of texting me, when you’d be able to see me”, he said. “Besides, I don’t want you driving that rust bucket all the way to Shreveport again. It’s a death-trap”. He looked towards my car, in the driveway. “You can see me now”, I said. “Wonderful”, he said, and once again dug his eyes into mine. “Invite me in”. “No…”, I said. He once again looked confused. “Why can’t I glamor you?”, he asked. “I don’t know… Maybe you’re impotent”. Eric barred his fangs; making me jump slightly. He looked dangerous. “Not nearly”, he said. “You shouldn’t test me”.

Not wanting him to think he’d scared me too much, I took a hesitant step out of the door, putting less than a foot between us. Eric smelled like nothing I’d ever encountered before. It was crisp, and yet warm; like expensive aftershave and salt water, with an undertone of something I couldn’t define – something musky.

“I don’t understand why you keep wanting to talk to me”, I said. “I get it, I’m human. Blood and sex, and all that… But you have a club full of willing participants to whatever it is you wanna do”. Eric nodded. “I know. It’s infuriating that I feel the need to be here”, he said. “But I think I found a fix for it”. “Oh?”, I croaked, doing my best to ignore the fact that a man, that looked more or less like a GQ model, was currently reaching out his hand to stroke my cheek. As his fingertips touched my skin, my breath hitched. “Yes. See, when I have sex with a human, I usually bore with them pretty quickly”, Eric said. “I thought we should just get it over with, so I can move on”. I took a step back, and my back hit the screen door. “I don’t want to have sex with you!”, I lied. “Of course you do. I’m a very good lover”, Eric smiled. “Now, invite me in, and I’ll undress you”. “Shove it up your ass!”, I said. Eric raised a brow at me. “Well, it’s been a while, but I’m up for it if you are”.

I scrambled to open the screen door, and get back inside the house. My body was screaming at me to give in to the sensation in my lower belly, but I told myself that I had to persist. “You should… go now”, I said. Eric stepped closer to me, and I felt his firm chest against my back. “Why?”, he asked, sounding genuinely confused again. “You’re… imposing”, I croaked, and turned to meet his eyes. They were piercing mine, sending tingles down my spine. “Stop trying to glamour me” “I’m not. It doesn’t seem to work on you”, he said; a hint of regret in his voice. “Though I wonder… would you let me test a theory?”. “What theory?”. Eric smiled. “Just humor me. Pam?”.

I nearly jumped out of my skin, when the blonde female vampire suddenly stood next to Eric; and hurried over the threshold, so neither of them could reach me. “What the hell?”, I said. “Yeah, Eric. What the hell? I’ve been waiting behind that tree forever. In my new Jimmy Choo’s”, Pam said. “Be nice, Pam”, Eric said. Pam drew her lips back in an insincere smile. “Hello, Liv. I am very glad to see you”, she said. “Happy?”. She looked out the corner of her eyes at Eric.

Eric gave her a look, and something unspoken passed between them. Pam seemed to shrink in front of me. “Liv, I would like you to let Pam try to glamour you”, he said. “What? No!”, I exclaimed. “I want to know if it’s…”. “Just you?”, I said. For the first time, Eric wouldn’t meet my eyes. I took a deep breath. “Fine. But I’m not coming outside”. Eric nodded. “Pam, try to glamour her. But don’t ask her to come outside where we can reach her”. He was trying to make me feel safe – it was almost endearing.

Pam took a step forward, and looked deep into my eyes. Her voice was soothing. “Liv… You want to invite Eric inside. You want to have sex with him”. I shook my head. “No… Not happening”, I said. She narrowed her eyes in confusion. “You… want to invite me inside… Have sex with me”. “No thank you”, I snarled. Pam stepped back, and began laughing. “What the actual fuck?”, she guffawed. “What are you?”. Eric stepped in between us, his back to me. “Thank you, Pamela. You can leave now”, he said. “Eric! She’s…”, Pam began. “Now!”, Eric growled. She disappeared as fast as she’d come.

Eric stood there for a moment, not turning to face me. I was about to close the door, when he spoke again. “I’m making you mine… And getting you a better car”. “The hell, you are", I sputtered. He spun around with wide eyes. “You’re saying… no?”, he asked bemusedly. “I’m not anyone’s; let alone yours”. Eric chuckled at me. “I just claimed you”. “Well you can shove that claim up your ass, as well”, I proclaimed. “You wanted me to tell you about myself”, I said. He didn’t respond, simply stood still and never diverted his eyes from mine. “I left San Diego to get away from a guy who couldn’t take no for an answer… I’m not about to throw myself into the arms of another one who does the same”, I said. “This… guy”, Eric said. “Did he hurt you?”. There was an angry edge to his voice. I looked down, and crossed my arms in front of me. “He did… It’s over. But only because I ran away”, I said. “He… It doesn’t matter. I just don’t want that again”.

For a long moment, he just looked at me; making me swallow to wet my dry mouth. “Alright”, he finally said calmly. “Are we finished?”, I asked, almost in a whisper. “We’re finished”, he said. “For now”. Eric lowered his head, looking earnestly at me. “As long as you say no to me, I won’t do anything”, he said. “I will not force myself on you, Liv”. “Why?”, I asked, genuinely surprised. “Do you want me to? I don’t mind playing games…”, Eric smiled. I shook my head. “Never mind. I thought we were having a moment here, but it’s gone”. I went to close the door in his face. “Liv!”, Eric said; his voice imposing. I halted, and looked at him again. “I don’t know why… But I will not”.

He turned around, and walked down the steps from my small porch. I took a deep breath, before running after him. He heard me coming, and turned around. “Thank you… For at least kind of taking no for an answer”, I said. I tugged at his jacket, to get him to lower his head, and I got on my toes; placing a kiss on his cheek. Once again, I was surprised to find his skin not icy, but simply cool; and I let my lips linger for a moment.

I was about to turn back, when Eric put both his hands on my shoulders, and looked me square in the face. I could tell he wasn’t trying to glamour me. “Be mine”, he said. My breath hitched, and everything in me screamed say yes!. “N-no, Eric… No, I can’t do that”. Eric looked as if I’d slapped him. My phone vibrated, and I took it from my pocket, looking at the screen. “It’s Bill… I have to take this".

Erics face dropped, and he let go of me. “Goodnight, sunshine”, he said, and walked away into the darkness. “Eric!”, I called after him. “I regret picking up your keys for you”, Eric replied, his back still to me. “I would have loved to see you bend over”.

---

[idk-maybe-i-did-it]

Scars: Year five, Chapter one

Remus Lupin x Reader

Warnings: Cursing, fighting, yelling,

“ Mummy?"

" Yes?"

" I wanna be a boy."

" Oh- dear are you sure?"

" Yeah, I don't like being a girl. Being a boy sounds better to me."

" Oh, Ok dear. What, what would you like your name to be? If you could make it a boys name."

" Ky." ____________________________

Who put the baby in charge

" The sofa then the stairwell my child."

It's already hard, To buy all the parts

" No no, you missed a spot."

Who put,

" yes ma'am..."

The world on my back and not in my hands,

" You're not done."

Just give me a chance,

" Yes ma'am..."

I listen to my momma, Listen to my dad,

" Sweep next or no bed again tonight."

Everybody answers shit I didn't ask,

" Yes madam."

Think I'm reaching my limit...

" Can I exhale, for a minute?"

" Not until your work is done." ____________________________

" Mum can Sirius and I go out to the field and play quidditch with the other kids for a bit before we leave for the station?"

" Yes James." ____________________________

" Mum do you have anymore of your homemade biscuits left? Dad made me skip again."

" Yes my child." ____________________________

" Okay Remus, this is the first time you'll be seeing your girlfriend. Wear something nice for a change please."

" Mare!" ____________________________

" Your clothes are hanging on you."

" Yeah well who's fault is that Frank?" ____________________________

Remus Lupin walked through platform 9 3/4, almost immediately spotting three of his best friends, James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. They all engulfed Remus in a hug that lasted for  what felt like a lifetime but had only been a minute.

Once they pulled apart, the group began to look around. " Where's Y/n at? Normally she's here before any of us."

James turned around, hands on his hips, and stared Remus and Sirius in their eyes, awkwardly saying, " I- I don't know... she never answered any of our letters so I don't know what happened either. Let's just, we should probably go put our stuff up before we go and finish looking for her."

Sirius glanced around at James and Remus toyed with a book in his hand.

" Okay fine. But the train leaves in ten so we'll have to be quick and thorough."

The group of boys set off to move their luggage into the Mauraders train compartment. Sirius could see the silhouette of a person through the doors glass and went to open the door, ready to kick somebody's ass out of their seat. But what he didn't expect was to see Y/n pulling one of Remus's sweaters on over her head when he opened the door.

Remus watched Y/n as she pulled on the sweater of his. He watched how it moved down the figure of her body and how it fit her a more than before, she had grown over the summer.

The girl looked as if the muscle had been stripped off her bones, she looked like Sirius had in third year.

" Y/n, uh- wha- What happened to you, over the summer? You didn't answer any of our letters or anything and you look so, stretched."

The girl stayed silent as she grabbed her things and stuffed them into a duffel bag, threw it into the corner seat and sat down beside it, arms crossed obviously ignoring James' question.

The boys stood and stared at her for a moment before Peter shuffled in and put his things up before he pulled a tin of his mother's homemade biscuits out and handed them to Y/n timidly. The girl finally sat up and accepted the tin. She opened it and pulled out a small handful of the biscuits and tried to give them back to Peter to which he said no to, making her put them back for herself.

She nodded her head up to the boy in a thankyou and he nodded back. ____________________________

Remus watched as Y/n walked back into the compartment after changing and saw how she sat back down, still not a word said from her. He watched as she sat, her legs propped up on the wall, her body sprawling on the seat under them. Her legs seemed longer and more sticklike.

She looked like Remus had up until their fourth year. ____________________________

When the train came to an end the girl still hadn't spoken a word or answered any of their questions.

Yet, as they walked out and entered the carriages Y/n had looked to both sides of it to check for something before she slumped back into her seat with a long exaggerated sigh. The girl moved her head to the side and crossed her arms, looking out the window. " Sorry I never answered your letters, um, my dad's a muggle so he didn't understand the whole concept of using owls to deliver letters."

Remus gaped at her attempt at a passing lie and Sirius scoffed, arms folded.

" Yeah fucking right Y/n. Cut the shit, what the hell happened to you that caused you to stay silent the whole summer?!"

Y/n, who usually flinched at such harshness filling somebody's voice, quickly moved forward and yanked Sirius's tie forward to pull him closer. By then she'd pulled him up to her, their faces close. The girl examined his facial expressions for a moment. Before she asked, her voice full of anger and coldness,

" I dun'know Sirius, why don't you try being locked up in a house in the middle of a mountain range for the whole of a GodDamned summer and see how much bloody human contact you get! I'll happily wait and see the outcome asshole."

As she finished off her sentence she shoved the boy back into his seat with such a force he was shocked.

The Y/n they knew had never been the violent type. ____________________

Y/n's antics had gotten slightly better after her outburst.

However she still acted like an ass.

But one with good intentions,

Most of the time. ____________________________

The boys began to notice that the girl was anger fueled.

With everything she did, they could see her motivation.

Anger.

Pure, white-flamed rage.

But they had no clue as to what had sparked the fire behind her heart.

Funnily enough, she also spent more time doing schoolwork in the library with some Hufflepuff dickwad named Chad.

She also seemed to be drifting away from her friends as well. Spending less time with them at meals and more at the Hufflepuff table laughing and talking with Chad Williams. She stopped crashing in their dorm after pranks, stopped hanging around in the dorm with Remus after classes and in the mornings, she stopped singing into hairbrushes with Sirius at three o'clock on Saturdays and she stopped song-writing, drum-playing and guitar-strumming with James. She stopped eating snacks and having meaningful conversation with Peter in the kitchens at 2 A.M.

All her time was spent with the Hufflepuff dickwad Chad. Who by the way, was being toxic. In a very unnoticeable way to the outside person.

Of course Y/n didn't think so.

She merely thought that when he talked his arse off about all the people that he hated and how he seemed to trash talk the Mauraders during half their conversations that he was still upset about that prank from third year. She thought that when she defended her friends Chad was steering her in the correct direction by explaining to her all of their wrong-doings.

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter saw how he had been manipulating their friend and tried to show Y/n that.

Which brings us to the point below. ____________________________

James stood pacing the Mauraders dorm room as Sirius stood staring at Y/n's previous place by the door and Peter sat next Remus on his bed while the taller boy sat numb. Throughout all of their minds they shared the same thoughts.

The words that had came out of Y/n's mouth before she left the room in a fury and why things had to go down the way they did.

" Y/n just listen to us! We're trying to bloody help you, can't you see that or are you too blinded by whatever's fueling your fucking madman rampage to see what's right before your eyes?!?!"

" I don't fucking care James! You're being like everybody else in my life and trying to take away the things that make me happy! He makes me happy James, He understands me James, He Bloody Fucking Cares James!!"

" What about us then? What about all we've fucking been through? Are you just going to sit back and pretend like none of that happened Y/n?! All we've been through together, it used to be us Y/n. We used to be a team Y/n, We used to be your family Y/n, WE used to be Your GodDamned Family Y/n! Did we not care enough or did you decide that a bloody prick from Hufflepuff made you feel more at home than we did?! Did Mr. Charlie Chadington Williams remind you of poor mummy and dad or did we just stop being your family? Because I'd really like to know the answer to that L/n."

" James, you can't be taking this there. That's not what this is fucking about James!"

" Oh yeah, because it really is Y/n. You leave and go home for one bloody fucking summer and now suddenly you're this toxic person who's addicted to anger and rage, who turned her back on the people who had literally kept her alive through her recent life, WHO WATCHED HER BECAME A BLOODY JACKASS AND I'M STARTING TO RETHINK WHY WE EVEN TRY TO HELP YOU Y/N!"

" You bloody bastard... I never stopped seeing you guys as who you are. I stopped seeing people as they claim to be! And yeah James, I might've changed how I act but THAT DOESN'T MEAN I'M TO BLAME! YEAH SURE JAMES, MY PARENTS WERE BLOODY SHIT PEOPLE AND THEY'RE TOXIC AS FUCK BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN I'M BLOODY ATTRACTED TO PEOPLE LIKE THEM! I NEVER STOPPED CARING AND I NEVER FORGOT ABOUT THE SHIT WE'VE BEEN THROUGH I JUST LEARNED A FEW NEW THINGS! But if you're going to be like that then I'll just bloody leave so you don't get any of my 'toxic-ism' on your freshly bought clothing that mummy dearest ironed to perfection with her love and joy."

The four boys in the room came to wish that the girl had just yelled at them more instead of walking out of the room and most likely their lives as well.

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter sat in tenseness, their backs pressed against the door of their dorm side by side, for hours. James had lost count after the fifth. Until a knock sounded at the door.

Not a single one of them made a move to advance towards the door's handle.

Soon however, a voice reached out to them from the other side, a voice they knew all too well. Y/n's. But her voice was no longer filled with hate and fury, rage and passion.

It was filled with the sincerity of a person on their deathbed, her voice was low and full of guilt, sorrow and anguish. Remus noticed that it was the same tone of voice she had talked in when telling him about her parents and home life. They felt her knock again and they felt her slide down against the door like they'd done only mere hours ago.

" James was right... I was a prick to you all. You never deserved any of my toxic antics and I should've listened to you guys..."

They could feel the crack in her voice and the rigid truthfulness when she next spoke. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter had been previously crying and they could feel her body shudder through the wooden of the door separating them as her chest heaved with silent tears.

" I'm sorry, and you don't need to say it back. There was nothing you said that you should apologize for."

The four boys sat in silence as her words sunk into their brain, minds and skin.

" I get it if you want nothing to do with me anymore... I'll be leaving so you can sleep now."

James shoved the three other boys off of the door and opened it so fast afterwards that Y/n didn't even have a moment's notice before being engulfed into an embrace by James Potter himself that hurt her already bruised sides as he cried into her hair and held her body flush against his muscled one, in relief that his baby sister had returned home to him after all those months of being back at hers. ____________________________ __________________________ Drop a vote, drink some water, eat some food and remember You are Loved! ^ - ^

[broken-clover]

AU-gust Day 6- Hospital

I’m here early! Mostly because I had a lot of this written earlier, so if that didn’t make it obvious enough I really liked this prompt. While it’s a hospital prompt is isn’t especially intense or gory, after yesterday I tried to make this one pretty lighthearted. Honestly I feel like the only really uncomfortable part of this is how much effort I put in trying to make a Pokemon expy. Hehe.

Sorry-not-sorry for more Sin and Bedman, it’s a bit more ‘romantic’ then last time but still pretty much platonic friendship. Enjoy!

Though it felt weird to say, Sin knew his least favorite thing about his father was his charity. Helping out people in need was a good thing, obviously, but a ridiculous amount of his childhood memories involved being dragged along to food banks, hospitals, and shelters so his dad could give corny, well-wishing speeches and lend a hand to those less fortunate, forcing him to help out alongside the other volunteers. Sin had used to wonder if it was because something about having a cute little kid around raised everyone’s morale, or whatever.

Well, considering he was now a grown-ass teenager at the age of sixteen, and Ky was still dragging him along, maybe he’d been off the mark.

At least he’d been allowed to take a break after an hour of schlepping donation boxes up to the children’s wing. Of all the places his dad went to for charity work, hospitals were by far his least favorite. The colorless, sterile atmosphere was just unnerving to be around. As soon as he could, he made a dash for the nearest sign pointing him toward the courtyard.

Sin swiped his guest ID through the maglock, which released with a cheery beep. The white walls and stench of antiseptic gave way to an array of soft colors and the smell of flowers. He took a deep whiff of the aroma and sighed with relief. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his handheld, fully charged for when he got a break and could take a minute to loaf off and relax.

Which game had he left in it this time? He popped out the cartridge and smiled. That was right. Pocket Beasts: Light version. His current favorite. He just needed a comfy place to hunker down and play.

A few stone benches were placed in between bushes and flowerbeds, all unoccupied. The place looked really empty, but it made sense. Everyone who wasn’t already busy was probably at Ky’s speech. At least it meant he’d be able to get some peace and quiet and privacy.

He spotted a pretty lavender flower poking out of the bushes and approached. The ‘flower’ moved, making him realize he’d seen wrong. Sin groaned inwardly at the sight of another person, perched on the short stone wall surrounding the flowerbeds. They didn’t glance up, if they’d even noticed him at all, appearing too absorbed in their own handheld device to care about much else.

“H-hey.” He raised a hand at them, and offered a twitchy half-smile. There were so many ways he knew this could go wrong. Sometimes people screamed at him until he fled, or immediately launched into the most boring small-talk possible. Sin just wanted to play his game, he really had no interest in causing any trouble. “Can I sit down?”

Sin braced himself for a response, but he didn’t get one. “Hey?” He tried again, waving harder. Maybe they were deaf? “Is it ok if I sit out here?”

Eyes glanced up at him, but only for a half-second before they returned to the screen. Well, it wasn’t a ‘no,’ so the best he could assume was they just didn’t care.

Hesitantly, he found a place to sit. If the hospital gown and IV hadn’t already given it away, it was pretty clear that he was a patient, not a visitor. He was scrawny and spindly to the point where it was almost disturbing, his skin was pale and sickly, and the messy bedhead was only slightly offset by the awkward purple hair dye. Why was he out here in the first place, instead of at Ky’s speech?

He knew staring was rude, but he just couldn’t stop himself. Every time he tried, there was another odd little detail that caught his attention. A peculiar little hairclip in the shape of a pink arrow. A purple charm bracelet half-hidden by his standard-issue hospital band. Glittery star stickers on the sides of his handheld, and- hey, he recognized that game!

His expression brightened. “Oh, you play Pocket Beasts too? That’s my favorite! Who’s your starter?”

The only response he got was a couple of button clicks. Sin found himself sinking back into an uncomfortable silence. Well, he supposed it was better than being yelled at. He switched his game on.

Dad said he wasn’t supposed to use the internet at the hospital because it would mess with all the fancy machines, so online matches were out of the question. Well, there was always the battle tower. Maybe he could item grind to kill time. He still needed to finish his Soup Encyclopedia and some of the rare cooking items could only be found there.

Any discomfort he had was wiped away with the familiar music and intro screen of the game. How could he worry when there were battles to be won? All he had to worry about was making the most of his free time.

His avatar flickered into existence, still in the last town he’d visited. As soon as he moved towards the nearest building, though, a little indicator popped up on the bottom of the screen. Puzzled, Sin took his stylus and tapped on the icon.

Trainer BEDMAN would like to battle!

>Accept Decline

‘Bedman?’ He looked up at the little avatar that had appeared, then glanced off to the boy at his side. The messy lavender dye-job was surprisingly close, as was the magenta arrow pinning his bangs out of his eyes. Was it just some weird coincidence? If he wanted to play, he could have just asked…

Despite his confusion, Sin clicked ‘Accept.’ PvP battles were more fun than doing the same grind he had done over and over again. Even if he did lose, it was in a totally unique way.

The usual introductory animations played out as their avatars posed and tossed their first beasts into battle. Sin had to snicker at the disparity between their choices. He always liked sending his biggest and toughest beasts out in the beginning, and pretty much anything looked tiny beside it.

But smaller meant faster, so he wasn’t all that surprised to see the other one attack first. He braced himself for a tough starting move...only to be confused at the sight of a sand cloud being thrown at him.

Enemy Used SAND TOSS!

Accuracy Lowered!

Sand toss? What a waste of a turn! Sin grinned as it switched to his turn. Karate chop, a pretty powerful start, it always hit, and he had the type advantage, what a great way to start a match- !

Attack Missed!

“What!? How did that miss!?”

“Karate chop has a standard accuracy of 100%.” A low, quiet voice spoke up next to him, making Sin practically jump back in shock. “But I lowered your accuracy with sand toss, so now there’s a 15% chance it won’t hit.”

“...Huh.” He looked back at his screen. “Never see people use sand toss out of, like, NPC fights.”

“Most players treat accuracy-modifiers as a waste of time, but if you have a Pocket Beast with a high enough defense, then the turns spent not attacking are made up for when the opponent can barely hit you later.” The strange boy had such a casual tone to his voice, as though they’d been conversing for hours already.

It was a bit jarring, but Sin tried to roll with it. “I guess that does make sense. Sorta like when a beast has the ‘Decoy’ ability and the first attack never hits?”

“Kind of. But a lot of players know which beasts can have Decoy, so they know ahead of time to focus on stat-altering moves or poisoning instead of wasting a turn when they know attacking won’t do anything. Take your turn.”

It took him a moment to process the last bit, but he noticed the battle menu had popped up again. He picked another attack. “Why’d you want to battle me? Did you just pick at random?”

“You were the only opponent available.” Another sand toss. “It’s hard to find people to play with on local, and I’m not allowed to use global matchmaking in my room because it needs an internet connection.”

Sin waited for his two-turn charge move to activate, but before it could be his turn, a swift attack managed to knock his beast out cold. “Damn it! I thought I had that…”

He spotted a triumphant little smirk out of the corner of his eye. “Pocket Beasts is all about tactics. You have to take everything into account. It’s easy to just care about how much damage a move can do, but you’re doomed from the start if you don’t have the right stats, or the best moveset to compliment them.”

He couldn’t help but grin along with him. “Wow, you’re really good at strategy!

‘Bedman’ managed a small, awkward smile. “Well, um, not like I have much else to do…”

“Really?” Sin tilted his head. “I guess it’s good you’ve got something fun to do while you’re here, all this hospital stuff skeeves me out. When do they let you go back home? I dunno how long you’ve been here, but I think I’d go nuts after a couple of days.”

“I’m not sure. I’ve been here a while, already.” A lucky hit from Sin’s beast managed to knock his first one out. “Since...last January, if I remember correctly.”

Last January? Jeez, forget a few days, he was sure he’d be past insanity after a whole year!

Sin donned a look of pity. “That sucks. What’s wrong with you?” The words came out before he could think or realize that it wasn’t an especially nice thing to say. “Uh, shit, sorry-”

“Mmm. It’s okay. At least you don’t mince your words. I have a neurological disorder that affects how my brain processes information. It’s a bit hard to describe. Let’s say a human brain is like a computer, it processes the inputs that are fed into it. Powerful, modern computers can process a lot of information all at once, but if a computer is old, or wasn’t built properly, trying to process too much information can make it overheat and crash.”

“Oh. So how do you keep it from ‘overheating?’”

“Sleep, mostly. I’m only awake for a few hours every day. When I’m awake, and I don’t have tests to do, I like to play games. My sister and I play multiplayer sometimes, but usually I have to play by myself. She has the same problem I do, so a lot of the time one of us is asleep during the times the other’s awake.”

Was it weird to get all this personal information from someone he’d just met? Sin wasn’t sure. But he did like talking to this guy. “Well, want to swap Friend Codes? If we’re registered as friends then local multiplayer should work, then you don’t have to use an internet connection!”

“Where do you live?”

“Central Illyria!” Sin beamed. “Like, half an hour at most. It should still work from there.”

The other boy gave him an odd look. “I’m sure there’s plenty of hospitals closer to you, then. Why did you come out all the way here?”

That got him to roll his eyes, making an exaggerated gagging noise. “My dad. He always drags me along on his charity stuff, carrying boxes and shit. He only let me take a break because he’s making some dumb speech up in the-”

And the regret came just as fast as he saw his companion’s expression shift. He hated the visits, obviously, but he knew it was important to a lot of people. And if someone had been stuck in a hospital for that long, maybe they’d be happy to have someone new come by. He must have come off as such a dick-

Before he could stew on it more, he heard a little laugh. “Yeah. I hate those, too.” Bedman was smiling at him. “You’re Kiske’s kid? That’s got to be awful.”

“Heh. Yeah, it really is.” He rubbed the back of his head. “Never gave you my name, did I? I’m Samson, but everyone just calls me ‘Sin.’”

“I was curious about your name, that does make a bit more logical sense.” His companion nodded. “It’s nice to meet you, Sin.”

“Same! What about you? Can’t imagine your name’s really ‘Bedman,’ is it?”

“More of a screen name, really. My name is-”

“Mattie! Dr. Baldy says you’ve gotta have your IV changed!”

They both jumped at the sudden noise, accompanied by the slam of a door. A girl with shaggy blonde hair and familiar features limped into the courtyard, setting her sights on them as soon as she was visible.

“There you are! I just knew you’d be out here.”

“Well, there’s not many other places I could be…” He said. “When did you wake up?”

“‘bout half an hour ago.” She replied. “Just in time for mom and dad to send me out to look for you.”

The girl’s expression changed when she noticed Sin. “Oh! Mattie, who’s this?”

“Sin, this is my twin sister, Delilah.” ‘Mattie’ pointed to her. “Delilah, this is my...new friend.”

“New friend?” Delilah reached out and shook Sin’s hard with a remarkable amount of strength. “Did my baby bro talk your ear off about his favorite game again?”

“You’re only older by nine minutes, Delilah!”

“He’s really good at Pocket Beasts.” Replied Sin. “It was fun playing with him!”

At that, he realized neither of them had selected anything in a while. He looked down at his screen

TIME UP

DRAW

“Aww, maaaaan…”

“Do we have enough time for another match?” Mattie asked.

“Dr. Baldy looked really serious. We probably can’t make him wait that long.” Delilah shook her head.

Sin tried to bring the mood back up. “Well, we were still gonna swap Friend Codes, right? Then we can play whenever! Either of you have something to write with?”

Delilah pulled a thick black sharpie from her sock. “I have a marker! But no paper…”

“Oh! Hold on a sec.” Sin rolled his jacket sleeve up and held out his arm. Just write it on the back!”

The two of them looked hesitant. “Is that safe?”

“It’s totally fine! It’s a little hard to wash off, but that means it won’t smear before I get home!”

Mattie took the marker and began scribbling on his forearm. “You’re really quite strange, Sin.”

“Thanks!” As soon as the wet feeling on his arm went away, he twisted around to see two series of digits.“What’s this other number?”

“Our phone number. If, um, you ever feel like calling.” Despite his attempts to hide it, Sin could see the faint blush to the other boy’s cheeks. “Do you think you could do one more thing very quickly?”

He couldn’t think of what it could have possibly been. “Yeah?”

“Can you draw something on me? I’ve never done it before. I want to see what it’s like.”

He grinned. “Hell yeah! I’ll try and draw something cool real quick!”

Delilah winced. “You know mom and dad are going to kill you, right?”

“Just say it was my idea!” Sin beamed. Mattie flinched the first time he pressed the marker to his skin, but he managed to still draw a straight line. He couldn’t think of anything in particular to draw, so he settled for a series of sharp, criss-crossing black lines circling his forearm. “How’s that?”

“...woah.” Simple as it was, Mattie looked utterly awestruck. “It’s…

“C’mon, Mattie, we’ve gotta go!” Tired of waiting, Delilah all but dragged him off the wall.

“See ya!” Sin waved as they departed. “You’d better bring your A-game next time we battle, I don’t lose easy!” He folded up his game and tucked it into his back pocket. That was probably his cue to leave, too.

As he hopped off the wall, he could make out a faint voice trailing away to the other side of the courtyard.

“Huh? What’s the deal with you, Mattie? You never look that happy!”

Sin smiled as he turned to leave. Ky was probably waiting for him.

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been excited for the next visit.

[sgstories123]

Hui Ru’s Bet

Hui Ru was regretting her decision to join her friend Gwen to watch the basketball match. All she has been hearing for the past 30 minutes was how great Gwen’s boyfriend Nick was. Was it not enough that every other sentence that Gwen had uttered in the last 3 months since she got together with Nick was about her boyfriend? Does she need to do a running commentary about how great Nick was in playing basketball? Even when Nick misses a shot, it was still a great shot. It was the wind, or the sand on the court or the glare of the sun. Somehow, Nick misses the shot not because he was no good, but because something else affected his performance.

Granted, Nick was really cute. He was lean and tall. One time, when Nick took off his shirt after a game, Hui Ru saw that he had a muscular and sexy body too. And to top it all, if Gwen is to be believed, he has a long and thick cock that he expertly use to drive her bitch crazy. Hui Ru tried to make out the size of Nick’s cock but he was always wearing loose basketball shorts or jeans which made it difficult. Well, maybe Gwen is exaggerating, as always when it comes to boyfriends. Every one of Gwen’s boyfriends is godlike in her book.

“Look at that! See how high he jumps!” Gwen purred. “What a powerful throw!”

“Stop it! You have been going non-stop about Nick. One more word about Nick and I will make sure you regret it.” Hui Ru glared fiercely at Gwen. “Oh, you are just jealous. And most probably because you have not had sex in a while. You know, that makes you cranky. Let’s see, you broke off with your ex for nearly 6 months? Yeah, that’s a long time.” Gwen countered.

Hui Ru did not reply. She did not want to talk about her ex-boyfriend, Weng. They broke up because she found out he was sleeping around with other people. Not only that, one of the girls that he slept with was from her school. The girl walked up to her one day and showed her a video clip of Weng having sex with her. In the video, Weng was heard saying that the girl was better in bed than Hui Ru. The girl obviously wanted to insult Hui Ru. She was still hurt from the incident and did not want to talk about Weng at all.

“Yes! What a wonderful shot! Nick is going to win the game for the team! We are going to celebrate!” Gwen shouted.

Nick turned around and gave a smile. Hui Ru thought the smile was directed at her. But, that cannot be right. It must have been directed at Gwen. Afterall, Gwen is Nick’s girlfriend and is sitting next to her.

“Nick is so good. Without him, the team would have lost. Now they are going to win.” Gwen was delighted.

“I don’t think that is a sure thing. They were behind most of the game and now they are only catching up. They are still behind by a couple of points.” Hui Ru was trying to stop Gwen from talking about Nick again. “You are just so jealous, sex deprived Hui Ru without a boyfriend!”

Hui Ru was upset now. “What happens if Nick’s team loses the game? You want to take a bet if you are so sure?”

Gwen did not even look at Hui Ru but was just staring at Nick as he tried to take another shot. “Okay. Bet you a hundred dollars that Nick wins the game.”

Hui Ru was surprised that Gwen was so spontaneous about it. Gwen must really be crazy about Nick. For a hundred dollars and a chance to put Gwen down, especially after the callous remarks she made about Weng, Hui Ru thought that she should do something to win the bet.

The teams stopped playing to take a break. Nick took off his shirt and wiped the perspiration off his body. Hui Ru could see his abominable muscle. She thought she caught sight of a faint trail of pubic hair extending towards his belly button. A thought came over her but she quickly brushed it off. Nah, this is crazy, she thought.

Just then, Nick looked in her direction and gave her a smile again. She looked around but did not see Gwen around. Nick was really smiling at her and not Gwen. Fuck! She thought to herself. Let’s do this. She might even enjoy herself.

She strode nonchalantly towards Nick, smiling in return.

“Hi. Are you enjoying the game?” Nick asked.

“Yes. But you know, I was wondering if you can do me a favour.” Hui Ru replied. “Gwen is betting that your team will win the match. I hoped to win the bet and earn some extra cash. Do you think you can play less competitively?”

Nick laughed. There was a twinkle in his eye which made Hui Ru’s heart beat a little faster. Damn. He is really cute.

“But we play to win. And I don’t get to win anything. Are you splitting the winnings with me?” Nick smiled mischievously. NIck’s teammates overheard the conversation and moved closer. Hui Ru was nervous with what she was about to say next. She saw Gwen approaching with a bottle of 100Plus. She must have gone to buy that for Nick. There was not enough time and she need to do it quickly.

“If you lose the match, I will let you fuck me.” She tried to say it as seductively as she could but she knew that her voice was quavering.

“Now that is something that I can consider.” Nick was pleasantly surprised. “Basketball is a team sport. You need the whole team to work together. If we lose as a team, can we fuck you too?” Hair Ru turned around and saw that it was Mark, one of Nick’s teammates. Gwen was almost within hearing distance. “Ok. If the team loses, I will let everyone of you fuck me. Now do we have a deal? Gwen is here. We cannot let her know.” Hui Ru whispered sharply.

“Ok. Deal.” Nick replied. His teammates were all nodding and smiling.

“Deal? What Deal?” Gwen purred. “Nick, your 100Plus. You are so good. I think we are going to win this. We celebrate later okay?”

Nick smiled but said nothing. The match was starting again and the girls moved back towards the benches. Once seated, Hui Ru saw Nick gave her a wink. Hui Ru was nervous. If Nick really loses the game, was she going to have sex with a group of almost strangers. She started to doubt herself. Was she crazy?

The second half of the match went by quickly. Somehow, Nick’s team keep on missing shots. The scores moved further apart and when the final whistle was blown, Nick’s team lost the game. Nick and his teammates were not too bothered. They were still smiling and congratulating the other team. Hui Ru looked at Gwen. She seemed devastated. She was no longer smiling or talking.

“Tell Nick I have something on. I am going home first.” Gwen spoke softly to Hui Ru. “Gwen, you owe me $100.” A part of Hui Ru felt sorry for Gwen but another part of her was enjoying the look on Gwen’s face. Gwen took out the money and handed over to Hui Ru without saying a word. She walked off, turned around one last time to look at Nick, and then walked resolutely away from the court.

“Where’s Gwen?” Nick asked when he approached Hui Ru. “She left. She said she has something on. I think she might be angry. Sorry. Hope I did not make things difficult for you and Gwen.”

“It is okay. She does this quite often when things don’t go her way. Let’s talk about us. Shall we go to my house? No one is home and it is quite near here.”

Hui Ru was initially confused. Why was she supposed to go to his house? Then his teammates appeared behind him. There were four of them. Besides Mark, she only knew one other person, Riduan. She had seen the other two before in school, but she did not know their names.

“Let’s go. I am so horny.” Mark whispered softly to Hui Ru. It finally dawned on Hui Ru that Nick had wanted to complete the deal in his home. She was regretting her offer. But a deal is a deal. Anyway, besides Nick, the rest of the team were quite cute. It might not be so bad after all.

“Okay. Let’s go Nick’s house. But the deal is only one fuck each. No kissing, no touching, okay. And, please use condom.” Hui Ru tried to sound nonchalant as if it is something that she has done many times. The boys just laughed.

An hour later, they were in Nick’s room. Hui Ru had insisted that they stopped by 7-Eleven to buy condoms and KY jelly. She was not taking any chances that the boys may do her raw.

“Ok. Take off your clothes and lined up. Who is going first?” Hui Ru again tried to sound calm. She pulled off her jeans and panties, and laid down on Nick’s bed. She glanced at the boys and they were all staring at her cunt. “I don’t have much time. Can we get this over quickly? Wear your condom and put on lube. Be gentle and don’t hurt me, okay?”

The boys took off their pants and Hui Ru was able to see all their erect cocks. Gwen was not bluffing. Nick really had a long and thick cock. He was much larger than Weng or any of Hui Ru’s boyfriends. But Mark’s cock was just as big. He has shaved his pubic hair so it looked clean and smooth.

Nick came over and spread Hui Ru’s legs. He leaned over and tried to kiss her but Hui Ru pushed him away. “No kissing. Just fuck.” Hui Ru reminded Nick. Nick cupped his hands over her cunt and tried to finger her. “No touching. Just put you cock in and fuck.” Hui Ru was adamant. “But you are not wet. And you won’t enjoy this.” NIck complained.

“The deal was a fuck. Nothing more.” Hui Ru wanted to make this as business-like as possible. It may be the only way to get through this quickly.

Nick sighed. He spread the lube thickly on his cock and pushed himself into Hui Ru. She was tighter that he expected and he had a hard time pushing his whole length in. When he was finally in, he almost ejaculated into her. Hui Ru was so tight and warm that he could hardly control himself.

“Hey, guys. She Is really tight and warm. Go slow okay or you may come before you are done.” Nick warned his friends. “That is only you lah. You weak lah.” Riduan laughed.

Nick slowly moved his dick in and out of Hui Ru. Hui Ru was trying to suppress her moans. Nick was really stretching and filling her up. With every thrust, she could feel herself closer to her climax. No wonder Gwen loves Nick cock so much.

Nick could not control himself. He had tried to slow himself and enjoy Hui Ru as long as he can, but it only took him a short while to shoot his load. He pulled out of Hui Ru and Riduan quickly took his place. He plunged himself into Hui Ru without another word. Like Nick, it did not take Riduan long before he shot his load. The others took their turn, fucking Hui Ru mechanically and shooting their loads quickly. Within minutes, everyone except Mark had fucked Hui Ru.

Mark positioned himself in front of Hui Ru. “Hey, you haven’t come yet right? Do you want me to do it properly and make you come. Let me suck your breasts or kiss you? You are so pretty that it seems not right that you are not enjoying this. Okay?”

“Just get this over with. I don’t need to enjoy it. It is just a deal for a fuck, okay?” Hui Ru was quite tired by now. She did not want to let the boys know, but she was also growing more horny getting fucked by them. The boys ejaculated too soon and she was getting frustrated from not being able to cum.

Mark sighed and plunged himself into her. He pumped her quickly and within moments, he came into the condom.

By now, the rest of the boys were all dressed. Nick had pulled on a pair of track pants but had taken off his shirt. Mark cleaned himself and quickly pulled on his pants.

“Thanks Hui Ru. You are so tight. It was a good fuck. But I wished I could have a real fuck with you instead of this. Anytime you need us to lose a match again, let me know. I want to do this again.” Mark said, before leaving the room with the rest of the boys.

Hui Ru heard the boys making comments on the fuck session before leaving the house. She heard the front door closed and the boys voices faded off. She heard Nick in the kitchen and she was just wondering whether she should get up from the bed when Nick walked into the bedroom with two glasses of iced coke.

“You okay? Here, have a drink.” Nick offered.

Hui Ru set up with some effort. Her body is numbed from the fucking although she had simply lied down there and did not do anything. “Thanks.” She took the soft drink and was grateful for having something down her dry throat. She realised that lube and some other bodily liquid was oozing down her cunt.

“Don’t worry. It is not sperm. All of us wore condoms.” Nick reassured her when he saw her staring at her cunt. “Let me clean it for you.” He took some tissues and started wiping her off. “You are so pretty. I had been thinking so long of fucking you so it was like a dream come true for me.” Nick continued wiping off Hui Ru’s lower body. “Remove your blouse. There is some on your body.” Hui Ru was now only dressed in her bra. “Nice. So sexy. You make me hard again.”

Hui Ru saw that Nick was not lying. His cock was making a tent in his track pants.

“Fuck me.” Hui Ru whispered, unable to control herself.

“The deal was only one fuck. No kissing, no touching.” Nick smiled at Hui Ru.

“Fuck you. Just fuck me. Do it properly this time. Fuck me like you fuck Gwen.” Hui Ru commanded.

Nick brought his face to Hui Ru and kissed her. Hui Ru melted in his kiss as his tongue pried open her mouth, seeking her tongue. Their tongues wrestled with each other while Nick’s hand moved down her cunt. His fingers found their way in one at a time. He simulated fucking action with his fingers and was rewarded with Hui Ru’s juices flowing out of her cunt. Hui Ru was getting wet and aroused. Nick pushed Hui Ru’s bra up, removing her erect pink nipples. He sucked on them and nibbled on each one gently. Hui Ru was now moaning uncontrollably.

“Just fuck me already.” Hui Ru whispered hoarsely.

Nick took another condom and pulled it over his erect cock. He plunged into Hui Ru and started moving again. He lifted her hand up and let them rest on his shoulders. He will fuck her properly this time. As he pounded her, Hui Ru felt herself reaching orgasm again and again. Waves of pleasure hit her again and again. Finally, after several minutes, Nick could not take it anymore and came again in her. He collapsed on her, both of them drenched in perspiration.

“Can you be my girlfriend? I want to fuck you over and over again.” Nick whispered. Hui Ru could only nod her head.

[accio-jungkookie]

shine on anyway - spider-man x reader (ch. 2)

A/N: Hi! Hopefully you guys liked the first chapter, and I really hope you like this one as well! Remember, it is a bit slower of a fic (you won’t see Spidey or Tony for a little bit yet) because I really want to build Y/N as a multi-dimensional character. I want her to be complex and understood and all that. So, I hope you enjoy! :D

Summary: A kid from Milwaukee has to grow up far more quickly than she should while facing threats that men half her age would never dare go near. So, when she has to uproot after losing everything, does she lose herself too? 

Word count: 2.6k (see? gradually increasing lol)

Warnings: Mentions of anxiety and depression, swearing, minor character death, blood and injuries, fighting, mentions of bullying, again I will add more if I think I missed any! :)

last - two - next

You sighed as you walked through the halls of school, heavily tempted to cover your ears and walk with your eyes closed. You felt like you woke up with a migraine, since all of your senses were going haywire. It felt like every scuffed shoe was squeaking directly into your ear, and every room with its lights on felt like a flashlight pointed directly into your eyes. Your stomach was killing you, and honestly you felt like hell on wheels, to quote a song from one of your favorite musicals.

You made your way to your locker, relying on Ky to make sure you survived the walk to your first class. She was truly a god send, if you are entirely honest. You would be dead without her right now.

This. Was. Bad. Honestly, your immune system was shot to shit but in all honesty, you have never gotten this sick so quickly before. So, by the time lunch rolled around, you had holed yourself up in a study room in the library, keeping all the lights off as you let yourself fall asleep. With permission from all of your teachers, of course. They knew your home situation was not the best, and that you had no choice but to go to school when you’re sick, so your teachers had all allowed you to skip, so long as your homework got turned in on time (which it always did).

You got a frantic few calls from Ky at around 4:00 when she couldn’t spot you in the library.

“Where the hell are you, (Y/N)?” She asked worriedly. You groaned as you sat up before you peaked outside of your door. You spotted your friend however and hung up before calling her name, gesturing for her to enter your small, cozy room. She turned and spotted you peeking out of the doorway before sighing in relief, putting her phone away and heading towards the room. She walked in and closed the door gently before turning the lights on, causing you to groan and shove your hands over your eyes as you lay down again. She gave you a weird look before shutting the lights off again, wondering if you had a migraine or something similar.

“You ok?” She asked quietly, sitting on the floor next to where you were laying down. She put her hand on your back, rubbing up and down as she noted how hot your body was running. ‘Fever?’ She thought with a frown, reaching over to feel your forehead to confirm it.

“Hey, we should get you to your grandparents. You’re burning up.” Ky mumbled quietly, already starting to pack your items up as you protested.

“Noooo~” You whined weakly, trying to stop her from grabbing all of your things. “I don’t want to worry them, and I still have rehearsals tonight.” You justified, not even sitting up to look at your friend. Instead you just covered your eyes again, not willing to move.

“We’ll tell your director you aren’t feeling good, and we’ll tell your grandparents that rehearsal got cancelled then. You need to go home and take some medicine and rest.” Ky said with a frown, finally gathering all of your items in her hands before reaching down to help you up.

“Ok.” You relented with a frown, not wanting to disobey your friend. She is only trying to help, so you wouldn’t be the one to say no to her. Plus, small Asian gets big mad. You don’t want to feel the fallout of her yelling at you in Japanese when you have such a raging migraine. Again. Plus, her threats get very… creative.

“Alright, stand up then.” She mumbles, shouldering your bag and wrapping an arm around you with a frown. She pulled your weight as you stood, stumbling a bit as she steadied you.

“I’m calling my mom to get us, and then you’re going to sleep after you take some medicine, ok?” Ky stated as you both made your way back down to the entrance of the school. You heard Ky talking to her mom in Japanese, picking up on parts of the conversation (you had known her since you were both six, there was no way you wouldn’t pick up on some parts of the language) before she hung up and spoke to you again.

“Mom will be here in 15, so sit down until she is.” Ky said as she lowered you to the floor, where you curled up a bit into yourself, suddenly getting a lot colder. You shouldn’t be this cold, you think. It’s April, so at most a shiver if it’s raining, but you’re shivering like it’s the dead of December. The feel of the cold tile below you did nothing to help your situation. 

As promised, 15 minutes later Mrs. Tanaka was pulling up in front of the school, and Kyomi was practically carrying all of your weight to the car. She dumped you into the back seat then climbed into the front. She frowned at you as you struggled to buckle yourself in before greeting her mom.

“Hi, Mama.” Kyomi said before looking back at you. “Y/N is really sick; can we take her home quickly?” She asked, and her mom nodded yes.

“Of course.” Mrs. Tanaka answered in Japanese, smiling at you through the rear-view mirror. “Anything for our Buggie.” She said with a smile, making sure you were buckled, as well as Ky, before starting to drive you home. You zoned out after a while, just listening to Ky and her mom talk quietly in the front seat as the car kept on. It started to feel weird the longer the drive took, and you could recognize that you were getting motion sick. You sat up and looked out the front window intently, willing the feeling away. You recognized that there were only a few more blocks until you were home, so you just clamped your jaw shut hard and sat through the feeling. Eventually, you were home and being escorted to your room by Ky, mumbling that rehearsals were cancelled, no you weren’t hungry, and no you weren’t sick just tired, to get your grandparents off of your back. It worked, because within minutes you were huddled under your blankets, fast asleep before the clock even struck 5:00.

You woke up the next morning on Saturday to a text from Kyomi.

‘Hey, check out this video! People are calling him spider man I guess :)’ the text read, with a link sent immediately afterwards. You sat up and looked at the clock, seeing it was 8 a.m. and you groaned tiredly before you realized your head felt a million times better. You smiled, thinking it must’ve just been a nasty bug that you had, before you clicked the link. You watched the kid swing on what appeared to be webs in a pair of bright red sweats.

“Very on brand.” You mumbled, watching him climb up a wall, your eyes focusing hard on the small screen as you tried to reason out how that was possible. Almost, if not every rule of physics was ignored in the video. Logically, humans cannot climb walls, duh. Maybe he had some kind of special adhesive on his gloves or something. And surely, he isn’t… making the webs himself? Like, they can’t be coming out of his body. You watched closer and noted that, at least the webs weren’t coming from his wrist but a contraption on his wrist. You sighed and texted Kyomi back.

‘So, is he a new avenger or something? Bc I know we don’t need any more of them trying to play dress up’ you sent with a sigh. Sure, they weren’t the worst thing to happen to the planet, but after the attacks that happened in New York, what happened to your mother… You couldn’t stand them. You got out of bed and stretched, heading upstairs to get breakfast. You spotted the note on the counter that your grandparents would be gone for the day, heading north to Door County for some early season farmers market or something. You sighed and went to set down the paper before you realized it was stuck to your hand.

“What the fuck-!” You yelled, getting the attention of your dogs as they ran up to you, staring at you and waiting for a treat or something, hell if you knew. The paper wouldn’t get off of your hand and you were freaking the hell out. You went to set down your phone to peel the paper off when you realized that the phone was now also stuck to your hand.

“OhMyGodOhMyGodOhMyGod-“ you chanted as you freaked out, trying to get the items out of your hands. This would be the one and only time you would honestly be okay with throwing your phone across a room if it meant it would get off. You felt the phone buzz in your hand, meaning that Ky had texted back, and you looked at the screen, not really seeing her message in your state of panic. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm your nerves a bit. You opened your eyes and slowly opened your hand, letting your phone drop onto the table before you peeled the paper off of your hand, finding it awfully weird how it pulled your skin a bit. You threw the paper onto the table and went to the sink, scrubbing your hands to make sure that some superglue hadn’t magically appeared there. You dried them gently on your pants then walked over to your phone to read Ky’s message.

‘ig he isn’t an avenger, but I bet that tony stark has his eyes on him” she had texted back, causing your eyes to roll. You sent back a quick ‘sure, ok lol. bc Tony stark is just keeping his eye out for the next freak show’ before locking the screen. You walked into the living room and sat down on the couch, your dogs getting bored of you and moving somewhere else in the house to play. You sighed and decided to try the whole “sticky thing” again, since you knew your hands were thoroughly clean. Therefore, logically, nothing should blatantly ignore physics. You closed your eyes for a moment before tensing the muscles in your hand, then peeling your eyes open. You opened your hand flat, and then flipped it upside down quickly. Your eyes nearly popped your head as you watched the phone defy gravity, sticking to your open palm.

“What the fuuuuuuck-“ You whispered, turning your hand around to look at the phone from every angle. You relaxed again, seeing as it worked last time to get rid of the stickiness (?) and watched it fall into your lap.

“I think… I think I’m losing my mind.” You mumbled with your eyes still wide. You didn’t even know what to think, nearly shitting you pants at what you saw yourself do. You weren’t even 15 yet! How the hell are you supposed to know what to do! You let yourself panic for another moment before you took a breath, trying to force yourself to calm down. You had a crazy idea, but hell if you weren’t going to try it.

“Ok, Spider-Man. Let’s see if I’m, uh, you.” You mumbled with a sour face as you walked over to the only wall in the living room without decorations covering it. You double checked around you that the curtains were closed before turning back to the wall with a nod. You took another deep breath and put your hands on the wall above your head, tensing your fingers and pulling slightly, putting your feet on the wall below you slowly. Your eyes widened as you realized, holy shit, I’m on the wall.

“I’m on the wall.” You mumbled, slowly removing one hand and moving it up, then your foot, and then continuing until you had made it to the top of the wall, eyes wide as you breather heavily.

“I- what the- what.” You said, mind blank as you looked at the floor, a good foot and a half below you. You sighed and looked up at the ceiling that is now so much closer to your nose. You nodded and decided, yeah, okay, on the ceiling I go. You moved your body and slowly started to crawl again, eyes wide as you slowly moved and slowly, ended up on the ceiling.

“This… goes against physics so hard.” You mumbled, slowly moving around until you decided, hey, maybe I shouldn’t be on the ceiling. You almost hyper-fixated on the physics, about any possible, logical explanation as you slowly climbed down again and promptly freaked out. You weren’t sure what to do, or who to tell, if anyone. You ran down to your room and sat down in front of your laptop before you googled Spider-Man, trying to figure out what he could do to test it for yourself. There was no way, right?

You knew the webs weren’t from his body, but you noticed he had amazing balance and strength, almost too much for a human. Hell, he had stopped a bus dead in its tracks with just his hands. So you nodded, standing up again and looking around your room. You had no clue what was heavy enough for you to test, before you spotted your packed bookcase.

You walked over to it and pulled it away from the wall, eyes widening already at how easy that was. You nodded before squatting down, mumbling small encouragements to yourself, before you got your fingers underneath it and just… Stood. You stood up with this bookcase in your arms like it weighed no more than a few books. You nodded to yourself again, still horribly confused as you returned the case to its designated spot, eyes wide.

“Okay what the fuck.” You practically laughed before your face dropped. You thought quickly before sitting at your desk again, pulling up Google and the picture of the spider from the auditorium that bit you.

“There has to be a reason that he’s called Spider-man of all things, right?” You mumble to yourself, trying to find out what kind of spider had bit you. Since it even had the ability to bite you, that ruled out hundreds of kinds right away, and of the handful left, none of them had the same coloration at all of the spider that had bitten you. And even then, logically none of them had any way to alter the human body. Honestly, that is probably scared you the most.

“Okay, so let me think through this…” You mumbled to yourself, pulling out a pen and a notebook. You wrote down your own name and drew a line underneath it, writing underneath it what you knew you could do now so far. Super strength and sticky hands/wall climbing were the only things so far, but you were willing to bet there was more. Your brows wrinkled and you wrote down enhanced eyesight, heightened senses. It would make sense, since suddenly you didn’t need your glasses, and it felt like your senses had been dialed up to 11. You put your notebook down and tossed the pen on top before standing up, glancing at the clock on your desk and seeing it was almost noon. You sighed and rubbed your eyes, deciding to get ready for the day. You had to buy groceries today, and Nana would be very upset if you forgot.

So, you did just that. You got ready, went to the store, and picked up the few groceries that your house needed. Everything was totally fine and normal until you were walking home. You had your earbuds in, and you were crossing a street when you felt it. Every nerve in your body went haywire and you got immediate goosebumps. Your eyes widened, still staring at your feet, but you just knew you needed to jump. So, you did. Really fucking high, right over the car speeding towards your side. You landed on your feet, all of the bags in your hands still, and your eyes were blown wide.

‘What the fuck was that’ you screamed in your head, covering your face and rushing home. So, you could jump really high, and you could run fast (since you got home in half the time it usually would have if you had run it at top speed), and you had some random… feeling?

“Being a freak is fucking… freaky.” You laughed at yourself quietly as you got home and sorted out your groceries.

[friendlyfaceseverywhere-sp-blog]

Chapter 1: Party At Cartman’s

          The last week of August and the end of summer had finally came to South Park. Stan’s Marsh phone alarm played a nice, peaceful and relaxing tune, which was the opposite of what his mornings looked like, but the volume was high enough to wake him up. Stan opened his eyes and was about to press the snooze button, thinking five more minutes of sleep wouldnt disturb his routine, but stopped when He saw there was a message from his best friend Kyle Broflovski. He opened the chat and read “Ready for another year of torture?”

           Stan laugh. “And do we have a choice?” was his reply, knowing Kyle would probably chuckle like He did on the other side. He gave up sleeping five more minutes longer and stood up, walking towards the bathroom to wash his face, but was abruptly pushed before He could enter by the stupid She-Ogre He knew as his older sister. Shelly would just return to the college campus for classes in september and Stan couldnt avoid thinking if it was about time for her to go away. Have her home some weekends was bad... But everyday was almost too much to bear.

- God dammit Shelly! Do you have to do this everyday? – Stan shouted from outside the bathroom, knocking on the locked door. His sister had grew a lot. She didnt used braces anymore and had gave a update to her looks, at least the possible, but her bad attitude had stayed the same. Shelly opened the door, almost hitting Stan’s face with it, to respond.

- Shut up Turd! I’m going out! – and she closed it again almost breaking it. The noise made Stan’s mom, Sharon, soon appear to ask what was going on, but the boy Just sighed and went back to his room. He packed his school stuff and changed his clothes while waited for Shelly to come out of the bathroom.

           He placed his jacket, a The Who shirt, clean jeans and his red converse Chuckies above his bed. He opened the drawer e there it was, carefully stored, his trade Mark: The red poof Ball hat. He throw the little thing with the others at the same moment He saw Shelly passing irritated through the hallway while his mother followed her screaming. Finally He could use the bathroom.

             About twenty minutes later, Stan got to the bus stop, not the same one He and his friends used to hang when they were kids, despite being practically the same thing. All sights in South Park looked alike. When He got there, Kenny and Cartman were laughing, while Kyle had his arms crossed glaring at the other two. – Hey guys. – Stan Said smiling to Kyle, who Just sigh and got closer to his Best friend.

- Hey dude... – Kyle seemed frustrated and Stan knew the reason. He knew why his other two friends were laughing their guts out and it was the same reson that placed that expression on Kyle’s face.

           A week ago, to celebrate summer’s ending, Cartman threw a huge party for everyone in class on his basement. Eric Cartman’s basement had always been the Best place for such stuff... It was big, had an extra bathroom and Liane, his mom, never seemed bothered with all the shit they’ve done down there. The whole sophomore class appeared, Kenny had got the booze and the pot with his contacts and everything was going as planned.

           Stan and Kyle were sitting in the staircase that lead to the basement waiting for Wendy Testaburguer, Stan’s girlfriend, arrive. The Black-haired boy was anxious, since she had spent most of her Summer travelling with her parents. Kenny, Cartman and the others that had arrived already, were downstairs having fun. Watching this, Kyle seemed nervous about something.

- Youre gonna try tonight Kyle? – Stanley asked with a smirk on his face as Kyle turned to him widening his eyes for a second.

- Uh? I dont know what youre talking about...

- The pot dude... I’m asking if youre gonna try it. You Said your parents would be out tonight. – Stan gave a brief look towards Ike, playing with his phone in a couch. Since the Broflovskis were out, Kyle had to bring him to the party.

- I dont know dude... My mom would kill me if she discovered i’ve smoked. – He took a deep breath before continuing. – I know Ike wont say a Word, but i dont know... You know how she gets when she’s angry.

           Stan opened his mouth to say something to his Best friend, but they both turn their heads at the same time hearing the door above the stairs opening. Wendy and Bebe passed through it and the Black-haired girl froze as soon as she saw her boyfriend waiting. Stan smiled and patted Kyle’s shoulder friendly. – You know i support whatever your decision is, right? – and before the red-haired could reply, Stan stood up and went up to where Wendy was.

- Hey babe! How was your trip? – He asked already pulling her into a hug. Wendy seemed nervous about something, and her fake smile showed that.

           Kyle, who could see Wendy’s expression, watched the scene confused, standing up as well. Bebe passed through him shooking her head. – This ain’t gonna be cool... – she sighed already knowing the kinda talk her bestie would have with her boyfriend next. Kyle turned to her listening this, getting even more perplexed now since according to Stan, the two of them seemed to be ok until the previous Day, at least He Said Wendy seemed to miss him in their messages.

- Bebe... What...

- Have you seen Clyde, Ky? – Bebe asked and the jewboy only pointed to where the football team captain and the blonde’s boyfriend was. Soon He also went down there leaving Stan and Wendy alone.

 - Everything was fine Stan... I had lots of fun. – Wendy replied stepping away from his hug. She was acting weird.

- Is everything ok? Something happened? – Stan asked noticing this. He hoped his girl would be anxious to see him again, just like He was. He hoped that she would be happy and willing to tell him the news about her trip and that they would spend na amazing night together at the party. But the words that came out from Wendy’s mouth next made Stan’s heart stop beating for a second.

- Can we... Talk? – she said in a uncertain and not a bit thrilling tone. – I mean... Alone?

 - Whats wrong with your face Kyle? – Kenny asked when He saw the jew coming downstairs with some worry on his eyes. He looked up towards Stan and Wendy while going down, and bit his lip nervously when He saw Stan’s smile vanishing, before He agreed with his head and followed Wendy out of the basement.

- It’s just... I think Wendy is going to break up with Stan. – He said grabbing a pop for himself while Kenny raised na eyebrown. He understood why Kyle seemed worried about this since Stan always ended up devastated everytime He had a fight with his girlfriend and them splitted apart for a while. None of them could forget the goth kids episode. Kenny got a bottle of vodka and added some to Kyle’s cup.

- Guess we’re gonna need more of this to comfort him later then, huh? – He said with a little sigh. Kyle looked at his cup and scratched his neck.

- I dont know if i should Kenny... Ike’s here and... – He thought for an instant. Why not? He wanted to be able to help his Best friend upstairs, but theres nothing He could do at the moment. Maybe when He came back, if what He was thiking truly happened, Kyle could cheer him up a little bit. – Alright... But let’s get slow... You know Stan has a problem with alcoohol.

- I have some weed here too... – Kenny said patting his parka’s pocket where probably the joints were. The smirk on his face showed the other the exact words that were about to come out of his mouth. – You said you were gonna try tonight, Kyle.

             Wendy guided Stan to Cartman’s backyward. Usually, there was the parties Make out spot. Of course, couples used to kiss and fool around down the basement as well, but true action happened there, under the stars. Stan and Wendy had kissed in Cartman’s backyward before but they never reached the ultimate goal, He respected her too much to try doing anything without her giving a sign first. In reality, He didnt fell secure enough to go more ahead than what they had done by that point.

           A girl placed her hands in her coat’s pockets. Despite still being Summer, South Park managed to be to coldest town in all Colorado. She sighed without facing him, just looking at the starry sky, nervous with something Stan couldnt identify. – Wendy... What do you wanna talk about? – she suddenly firm her feet and turn her head to him.

- Stan... We need to take a break.

           Complete silence. Stan tilted his head to the side confused for a few seconds staring at his girlfriend not knowing how to react. E then He chuckled. It was a quick one tho, since Wendy’s expression didnt change. – Wait... You’re being serious? B-But why?!

- I’ve been thinking during this trip... You know? I need a break to think, thats all. – she replied shyly looking to the ground. She hated having to do that. But at the same time, it was needed, doubts came on her head during vacation and she needed to find a solution to it without Stan interfering, even without meaning it. – Please... You need to understand.

- You’ve met someone on the trip, don’t you? Thats what happened? Thats why you’re acting weird? – He asked leaning onto her and gently taking her hands, which made him stare at his eyes one more time. – Wendy... Please don’t do this to me again... I... I love you...

           She stopped and her eyebrows curved in a sad way. She slightly and carefully touched his face. – And i love you too. Thats why i have to do this, because i don’t wanna hurt you more than necessary. I need a break Stanley... – her voice was firm and decisive. – And no... I didnt met anyone on the trip. I just... Need you to respect what i’m asking you.

           She took a deep sigh gazing deeply inside his eyes, before releasing his hands and pass through him, returning back into the house. Stan’s shoulders dropped while he stared at nothing ahead of him with wide eyes, shocked, without understanding how in a matter of minutes he went from “Cute messages of missing you” to “We need to take a break”. He had no Idea how longer he stayed there staring at nothing in particular, but he discovered later that it was for awhile, cause Kenny opened the glass door that gave access to the backyard, holding himself to not have a laughter attack.

- HAHA! STAN! – he couldnt stop laughing. – You have to come see the shit Kyle’s doing! S-Stan... – Kenny stopped in front of his friend, finally seeing his desolate expression. – Uh... Stan? What happened?

- Wendy... She... She... – Stan tried to speak, but the words simply didnt came out. He felt his body being pulled into a hug all of sudden. Kenny sighed releasing him a few seconds later.

- I’m so sorry dude...

           Stan felt terrible. If at least he knew why Wendy did this to him, maybe he could stand the fact better. Kenny was a good friend and for sure, at least as far as possible, his hug had helped. Perhaps if he went to hang with his friends... Wait a minute. Stan’s sad face changed to confused in just one second. – What did you said about Kyle?

 - ALRIGHT, MOTHERFUCKERS! WHEN I SAY CARTMAN, YOU SAY FATASS! – Kyle was standing above the junk food table, wearing only his underwear and hat. His voice sounded drunk and a little bit higher than usual. Kyle already had the most high pitched voice among all his male friends, but that was too much.

           Kenny returned with Stan to the basement and just when he saw Kyle, he couldnt contain his laugh. Stan’s eyes got wide seeing his Best friend completely high and screaming almost naked in front of everybody. That wasnt Kyle, or at least, it wasnt how Kyle acted. All the others had similiar reactions to what was going on: Or they were laughing or they were shocked. Cartman didnt seemed to care that mosto of the shit coming out of the jew’s mouth were poorly directed to him. At the moment, the fat kid hold onto Heidi, his girlfriend, while filming Kyle making a fool of himself with his Iphone. – That’s totally going to my Twitter. – Eric laugh evil.

- My god Kenny... What the fuck did you gave him? – Stan asked, a mix of worry and giggle on his voice. Kenny laughed out loud in return, showing the other joint he had.

- Looks like our friend Kyle kept his promise, huh Stan?

           Wendy was one of the people looking at Kyle without knowing how to react. For a second, she glanced at Stan, but quickly the boy looked away and went to the table where Kyle danced ridiculously. – Kyle, you have to get down from there dude. – Stan said reaching his arms towards his Best friend so he could come down without falling or getting hurt.

- Hey Stan! Hey everybody! This is my Best friend Stan! – Kyle said almost tripping and falling from the table, but Stan managed to hold him and put him down safely before that could happen. – Ah... Dude... Your eyes are puffy... – Kyle stopped smiling and touched Stan’s face dizzily. – She broke up with you, didnt she? I’m so sorry Stan! – and then he hugged him.

Stanley wanted to talk with Kyle about it. During his whole life, that boy was always there to help him, but he knew the red haired didnt had conditions at the moment. He sighed and asked someone next to the scene to pass him Kyle’s clothes that were on the floor. – C’mon man... Lets get you home. Lets go Ike!

Stan went away without saying bye to most people. In the end, Kyle’s little show had gave him an excuse to leave... After what happened, the last thing he wanted was partying. When they got to Kyle’s house, on the other side of the street, Stan carefully placed him on his bed with Ike’s help. He thanked Jesus for their parents being out.

- God dammit... Hey Ike, i think i’m spending the night. Just in case Kyle doesnt feel good... And he has no conditions of... – Stan stopped talking when he heard voices that sounded much alike the ones he heard at the party coming from Ike’s phone. – Ike?

- Uh? Oh, sure, no problem. – Ike replied laughing and showing his phone screen. It was a vídeo of Kyle’s show at the party, posted three minutes ago on Eric Cartman’s Twitter Page. – Its online already.

           Stan took a deep breath, rolling his eyes thinking how Cartman could be such an asshole. He looked at Kyle knowing how ashamed he would be in the morning, despite him looking so peaceful sleeping now. – Alright Ike... You should go rest. We’ll figure this out tomorrow ok? The sleeping bag is still in the closet?

           Stan layed on the floor next to Kyle’s bed, curling himself at the thick Terrance & Phillip sleeping bag. He smiled a bit remembering how happy they both were when got that gift. Soon he frowned tho, thinking about Wendy and what happened at the party. Why did she had to do that with him? Why didnt she gave him a reason? He heard Kyle moving on his bed and then released a groan.

- You better be ok in the morning to hear me mourn Kyle...

- Stan? Are you listening to me? – Kyle asked waving his hand in front of his Best friend’s face, that looked completely lost in thoughts.

- Uh? What? – he asked snapping out of it. He was inside the bus already heading to school with Kyle sitting by his side.

- You didnt heard a single Word i said, right? – the red haired kid asked with a bored look. Stan stuttered to reply, which made Kyle sit straight in his seat with his arms crossed. – Nevermind...

           Stan felt bad for a second. He’d been thinking about Wendy and what happened for the last minutes, not realizing his surroundings. In fact, he and the girl havent spoken to each other in a week, ever since the talk in Cartman’s yard. The boy relaxed in his seat sighing sadly gazing at the view from his window. – I know you were problably cursing Cartman for being an ass and posting that vídeo. He’s really a jerk... I’m sorry about it and i’ll help you solve this shit. Is just...

- The thing with Wendy, right? – Kyle said suddenly. The two boys knew each other time enough to know exactly what the other was thinking without much effort. Stan looked back to his friend. – I know dude... It sucks. But you told me she just wanted a time. Didnt she said she loved you?

- Well... Yeah, she said. But i dont know... She seemed so... – the bus stopped in front of South Park High and the doors opened so the students could come out. But Stan couldnt stand. He saw something outside the bus the simply freeze his movements. Wendy was sitting at the stairs in front of the building with a big book in one of her hands... Because the other side of the book was being held by a blonde kid around their age that was extremely familiar. -...Distant...

           Kyle looked from the window seeing the same scene. The boy was close to Wendy. Too close. The two of them seemed to be talking about the book and she seemed happy with this kid’s company. Kyle lifted an eyebrown, having the same sensation of familiarity. The blonde curly hair thrown back, fancy outfits and that smart air he exibited over Wendy... It reminded them a lot about this kid they’ve met years ago, when they were just eight, and that had went study with them. Kyle’s eyes widen when his mind reproducted the words “La Resistance” and he could, finally, identify who this guy was.

- Gregory... – he said making Stan turn to him abruptly.

- Hey, you two have to come down! – the bus driver yelled making them realize they were the only ones left inside. The boys quickly took their stuff and did as the man said. Kyle tried to pull Stan as far as possible from where Wendy was with Gregory, maybe head to their lockers and get over with that, but Stan couldnt avoid giving his girlfriend, or ex, a look with all the sadness from his body.

           For a moment, Wendy faced him back, and the joy vanished from her face. She looked embarassed to the ground while Kyle kept trying to pull him away. But he knew there was no sense in spare him since his heart was probably already broken.

             Eric Cartman was walking towards his locker with his usual egocentric air. He wasnt among the youngest in school anymore, actually, he was practically a veteran if you think well. It was like he owned this territory by now. He spotted Heidi Turner, his longdate gilfriend, searching for something inside her locker, and, even tho he wasnt seeing her face, he knew she was excited to see him. They were more attached than ever, since a week ago, after the incredible party in his house that he liked to call “High Kyle’s show” they went it on inside his room. Probably the best day of his whole life, not only for seeing Kyle humiliating himself, but because he lost his virginity, all in one night. It was too good to be true.

           When he reached her, Cartman hugged her from behind, gripping her waist and lifting her up softly. Heidi gasped startled, tooking a fright when he lifted her, but when she looked back and saw her boyfriend, her face turned angry. She shook her legs and kicked him lightly to be released. – Let me go Eric!

           Cartman released her, getting confused. He chuckled sarcastically. – Wow... Looks like someone is on a bad mood today. Are you on your period or something?

           Heidi shut her locker madly, which made Cartman shut his mouth. He had seem her pissed before, despite being rare, and he didnt liked at all. He kept perplexed while she faced him almost like she was about to attack him. – I dont wanna talk to you! – she yelled suddenly and started to walk away. Cartman ran and grip on her arm.

- Hey! Wait a second, what have i done? – he asked not understanding. Heidi’s face got even angrier, burning bright red. After a few seconds she opened up.

- You want to explain to me why everybody knows what we’ve done last week? – she screamed pulling her arm away from his touch. Cartman’s eyes widen, as he placed his hands on his pockets.

- I... I dont know what youre talking about, Heidi...

- Dammit Eric! I asked you to not tell anyone! – she stamp her feet on the floor with tears on her eyes.  

- And i didnt! – he screamed back, some people were staring at them both, before turning their faces and leave. Heidi crossed her arms, not buying not even a bit of that. – Well... Maybe i’ve told the guys... And Butters... And Clyde. I mean, i had to tell Clyde, right? Oh yeah... I told Jimmy too...

           He stopped when she suddenly pushed him and his fat body hit the floor. – Youre an idiot! Now everybody looks at me knowing what happened! Dont you ever speak to me! Its over Eric! – and then she returned to march nervously away from him.

- Fuck you Heidi! Thats right, go away and leave me here, laying on the floor! – Cartman yelled seeing her move away. Noticing she didnt hesitate a single step and just disappeared by the end of the hallway, ignoring him completely, he sighed heavily, still with an irritated expression, laying the rest of his body on the floor too. – Crap...

OH MY GOD I’M SOOO HAPPY HAHA! So yeah, this was the first chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed. Feel free to comment, share and talk to me or Mary about it cause it really makes us want post more and more about this!!  

*THIS AU BELONGS ENTIRELY TO ME (@maryramos) AND MY FRIEND (@m-tonks). If repost, please give credit to us and make sure to follow our page for more content of it!*

[awkward-radar-tech]

An Awkward Tech: Part 3

Summary: Big brothers are big brothers even if they are less than half an hour older. Matt and reader visit the garden again, and more meals.

A/N:This is the last part for a bit. I will definitely be writing more for this, it might be an ever growing fic, I don’t know. There will be at least 2-4 more parts with larger time skips looking at their relationship after it has developed.

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 4 – Part 5 – Part 6 – Part 7 – Part 8 – Part 9 – Part 10

When you woke up the next morning and read Matt’s text you couldn’t help but smile. He called you sweetheart, your favorite pet name, although he didn’t know that.

8:14 am: Good morning Matty :) sorry I fell asleep last night before saying goodnight, I was already dozing off when you text you survived and ended up passing out

8:17 am: Good morning to you, (y/n). Don’t worry about it, you had a long exciting day.

I am going to be heading over to the garden in a little bit, do you want to come along? We can get breakfast first at the cafe if you’d like.

8:20 am: I’d love to

8:22 am: Ok, I’ll be there in 20 minutes

8:24 am: see you then!

You quickly got up and brushed your hair and teeth and then changed into your favorite sundress, which thankfully didn’t stain, and some strappy sandals. Before heading out to the living room, you grabbed a floppy sun hat to wear in the garden. Ally was already in the living room, sitting on the floor at the coffee table eating some cereal and reading something on her phone, when you entered.

“Let me guess, Matt?”

“Yeah, we’re going to breakfast and then to his garden again.”

“Sickeningly sweet. How are we even friends, you a sweet romantic and me a cynical ass.”

“We weren’t like that in kindergarten. Plus we complement each other, so, ya know.”

“Yeah, I do.”

You had just sat down on the couch when Matt knocked on the door.

“That must be Mr. Lover boy. Have fun (y/n), love ya.”

“See you later Ally. Love ya, too.”

You opened the door to greet Matt, only to see that he was joined by two other men about his height but with dark brown hair.

“Uhh, hi (y/n). In case you couldn’t guess, these are my brothers Ben and Kylo. They umm wanted to come help tend the garden and meet you I guess.”

“Oh, uhh, nice to meet you both. And good morning. I’m ready to head out, so let’s go.”

You grabbed Matt’s hand and lead the way out of the building. Kylo and Ben followed a few feet behind and you heard them softly talking to each other. You and Matt took the stairs while Kylo and Ben thankfully went down the elevator.

Once safely out of sight and earshot of the others inside the stairwell you stopped Matt and wrapped your arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss, “Sorry, I’m not one for kissing in front of others. Good morning Matty.”

“I understand, especially in front of my brothers. And sorry about them, they invited themselves, they both got into the car before I could lock the doors and drive away.”

“That is okay, and I’m assuming we are driving to the cafe instead of walking.”

“Yeah, they are lazy bums. If they aren’t in the gym they don’t like to do much exercise.”

You kissed once more before heading down the stairs and to the car. Ben and Kylo didn’t say a word to either you or Matt until you were seated at the cafe. Then they tag teamed trying to get as much info out of you as possible.

“So, (y/n), Matt here hasn’t told us what you are going to school for. Mind enlightening us?” Ben prodded.

“Well, I’m going to help find a cure for cancer one day. I’ll be working in a lab for a living.”

Kylo smacked Ben’s shoulder, “Of course our brother found another brainiac. He needs to have somebody to talk sciencey stuff with I guess. Tell me, (y/n), what has he told you about us.”

“Well, he told me your names, that you’re triplets, that you both had dark brown hair, and that one is currently an artist while the other is a businessman, and you live together. He also said that you tried to get your childhood friends to include him but they wouldn’t.”

Ben nodded at what you said, “Well, all that information is correct. If you had to guess, who is in which profession?”

“Hhmm, I think Kylo is the artist and you are the businessman.”

“That is correct,” Kylo responded, “now, be truthful, since you have now met all three of us, who is the most attractive?”

“Guys, what the hell?!” Matt squeaked out, “Leave her alone. And Ky, why would you ask that, Ben stop smirking I know you planned this out together!”

You reached out and squeezed Matt’s shoulder, “Hey, Matty, calm down, it is okay.” You gave him a devilish smirk before turning to the two across the table from you and lowered your voice a bit, “Now, to answer your question ‘Ky’. You all are quite handsome, but you asked about attractiveness. Ben, I’m quite attracted to you, but that goatee thing you got going on is a turn off, like how are you a businessman with that on your face. Kylo, you are very attractive, but why does your hair look so greasy, like gross wash your hair for once.” You paused and turned to Matt who was trying to contain his laughter from your comments about his brothers and their reactions, “Now, for my handsome Matty, he is super attractive, the way his blonde hair contrasts his beautiful brown eyes takes my breath away. I just adore the way his glasses frame his face but don’t hide any of his features.” You leaned forward and whispered just so the two of them could hear, “And his voice does things to me and I can’t quite explain why,” then leaned back and gave them a wink and a smirk. You then turned to Matt and gave him an intense kiss just to prove your point.

You left the barely older men speechless and Matt just laughed. The waiter came and delivered your meals and you and Matt held a pleasant conversation while Ben and Kylo ate in silence. You were proud of yourself for putting them in their place, why wouldn’t you find Matt the most attractive, you were dating him after all. You knew they would be back to normal in a little bit after their embarrassment passed, but hopefully would keep their comments and questions like that to themselves, you had no problem answering the first questions they had and wouldn’t mind answering more.

When you all finished, Ben paid for the meal and then both he and Kylo walked ahead to open the door for you and Matt. On the drive to the warehouse, they continued to be silent. Kylo unlocked everything once at the building, and then stayed inside with Ben while you and Matt went up to the garden.

“Hey, sweetheart, I’m sorry about my brothers. I don’t know why they thought it was okay to ask you that.”

“Matty, it is fine. I had fun responding to them and tearing their egos apart.”

“I didn’t know you could be so petty. And the things you pointed out about them are features they take pride in. Do you mind telling me what you whispered to them that made their jaws drop, because I really want to know.”

You blushed and turned away from him, kind of embarrassed about what you said. It wasn’t a lie, but you weren’t sure how he’d react. “I don’t know, it is kind of embarrassing on my part to tell you.”

“Oh, okay. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“No, umm, I don’t mind. Just umm, please don’t make fun of me.”

“I won’t hun.”

“Ok so uhh, I said that your voice does things to me that I can’t explain.”

“It what? Wait, you mean like umm, in that way?”

You folded in on yourself and nodded yes, your face burning hot.

“Sweetie, that is nothing to be embarrassed by. There are things about you that make me feel the same way. But those feelings are nothing we have to explore any time soon, or at all. If we are together for 20 years and you finally feel like going down that path I will be ok with that. I am never going to force you to try or do anything you don’t want to, except maybe going on an airplane because I want to take you on a nice vacation, but I’d let you squeeze my hand the whole time we are in the air.”

“Thank you, that really means a lot. So, why are we up here today?”

“We have to tend to some of the plants. Watering and weeding mostly. Some of the tomatoes might be ripe so we can pick those.”

“Okay! Lead the way, sir!”

He taught you a bit about every plant you took care of, why he chose to add it to the garden, how he learned how to care for it, and how to care for it. As you were kneeling and weeding the planter with onions growing in it, Matt silently slipped away and cut you a small bouquet of flowers. When you turned around he was standing there holding the flowers close to him in one hand and had his other hand extended to help you up. Once up, he handed you the flowers and walked you over to a bench to sit at.

“(y/n), I know we have only been dating for like 18 hours, but I want to know if it is ok to call you my girlfriend.”

“Oh Matty, yes! I’d love to be called your girlfriend, and call you my boyfriend!”

“Really? That is great! Could we take a picture so I can show my mom my beautiful girlfriend? And for me to have when we aren’t together.”

“Only if I get to take it and you send it to me.”

“Sounds like a deal, here’s my phone”

After some adjustment of your positions, you took a very cute photo of the two of you that included your bouquet. You handed his phone back to him and kissed him before getting up and wandering around the garden looking at all the plants. Matt continued to sit on the bench and look at the picture you took before sending it to you. He then just silently watched you as you went from plant to plant, and took a few photos of you when you weren’t paying attention to him.

He was brought out of his daze when you called to him, “Hey, Matty, can we get some lunch soon, I’m getting kind of hungry.”

“Sure sweetheart, what are you in the mood for?”

“Hmm, a burger, fries, and a milkshake!”

“I know just the place, we will leave in a few minutes, let me put away the tools.”

You invited Ben and Kylo to join you for lunch, but they declined saying they would order pizza and also apologized for their behavior at breakfast. Matt drove the two of you to a quaint little 50’s themed diner just a few miles away.

“Holy crap, Matt! I haven’t even been in there yet and it is already my new favorite restaurant. We definitely have to dress up in 50’s clothes and come for a date another time.”

Matt couldn’t contain his smile at your excitement about this little diner, “Noted, sweetheart… Wait, you have 50’s style clothes?”

“Yeah, I do. I like to dress dapper sometimes so I have a few swing dresses and circle skirts and petticoats.”

“You’re amazing. And how about we actually go inside to get what we came for.”

“Let’s! I’m starving.”

Your meal was great, you geeked out about the interior for a large portion of the meal and Matt was just fine watching your excitement and happiness. He knew he could get used to this, spend his days with you and taking you places that brought out your inner child’s excitement. He knew from that point on, he would do all in his power to hold on to you for the rest of his life.

[carrissajackson-blog]

After Dark

Chapter 1

These day's sleeping wasn't as easy as it used to be. Anymore than 4 hours was considered a bonus, since these terrible nightmares decided to made it their job to wake me up at all hours of the night. And getting back to sleep was a lot harder than it seemed. I could never fully remember what the dreams consisted of, but I could roughly remember the faces of who were in them. They were never people I knew, or had even remembered seeing. But somehow I recognised them. And it never ended well for them. By that I mean they always ended up dead! I couldn't remember how or where, as a matter of fact I couldn't really remember anything short of who they were. But I was sure that if I'd see them again, I'd recognise them. I'd often started to wonder if I was going mad, or even if I had a psychopathic streak in me, (Not that I'd ever wanted to hurt someone. Well not kill them anyway...) but surely these dreams couldn't be normal, could they? I suppose you never really know whats going on in someone else’s head, unless they confess it to you. And if there was other people out there having dreams like mine, I don’t blame them for keeping it to themselves. I hadn't spoken to anyone about mine, god if I did, I'd probably be locked up in an insane asylum by now. But not only that, how could I possibly speak to someone about this without sounding crazy, or like I have major issues. Nope, I think I had to come to terms with the fact that I had to deal with these horrible nightmares myself. If only I knew how. Waking up with bags under my eyes was starting to become a routine. It's a shame my concealer wasn’t cut out for the job of hiding them. But I still applied my makeup like normal, and hoped for the best. This morning was a bit of a rush though, I didn’t manage to get to sleep till about 5am, well that was the last time I checked my alarm before the loud annoying sound decided to wake me to let me know it was time for school. There had been plenty of times I had laid in bed, debating whether to actually make an appearance or not. At the time the thought of getting out of bed, to get ready, to go somewhere I didn’t really want to be, was more draining than actually doing it. But every time I battled myself and managed to fight the urge to stay in bed all day, or maybe all week if I was going to try and catch up on the amount of sleep I had lost altogether. The first couple lessons at school was a complete drag. Constantly looking at the clock hoping that the time would just fly on by, when in reality, it was probably going slower the more I kept looking at it. Nothing in the lessons was really being taken in. My brain was still trying to cope with simple instructions, like not falling asleep. Or even just trying to listen to the teacher enough to be able to take notes, so that I wouldn’t fall even more behind then I already was. "Hey, Kyra you ok? You seem a bit off today?". And finally comes the dreaded question. Is it really that obvious? "Yeah I'm fine thanks. Just a bit tired". That was an understatement. I was completely knackered, I was so tired I wasn’t even sure I'd be able to keep up a conversation without mumbling and falling asleep half way through. "God tell me about it my dad was up watching some forensic programme till early hours. Wouldn’t have been to bad if he didn’t have the TV so loud. Took me ages to get to sleep". Yet looking at Brenna you wouldn’t have been able to tell if she'd missed even a minute of sleep. And somehow I managed to look like a walking corpse, that had missed their funeral date. When class finally finished after what felt like, the longest hour of my life, I made my way to the cafeteria to get some food, to make up for the breakfast I had missed from rushing about to get ready for school on time. Cafeteria food wasn’t the best food I had tasted in my life time, but It wasn’t the worse either. I picked up an apple juice, tuna and sweetcorn sandwich and a chocolate muffin, and made my way to my friends. They were sat on the regular table in the far right corner. It was always better to sit away from everyone else, unless you wanted to end up with food in your hair. Because for some reason the jocks thought it was funny to have a food fight with each other almost every lunch time. To be honest I'm amazed at how they still find things like that entertaining. There’s only so many food fights someone can have in there life time until it gets annoying surely? "Hey guys" I said as I sat down next to Brenna. "Hey" they echoed back. "Not hungry Charlie?" "I can safely say that Mr Halliman's class has put me off lunch for today". Mr Halliman was our Biology teacher. He was a short fat man, with dark brown hair. Which at his age was clearly dyed. He was one of those people, that no matter how old you got. He still thought he was 25 at heart. "Don’t tell me. You had to blow up a lung in class today?" Brenna added. "A pig lung to be precise. I’m guessing your class had to do it as well?" "Not yet, but I've been tipped off about it" "Well I’m telling you now, its nothing to be looking forward to" "Oh trust me, I’m not!" Brenna stated. I scoffed down my food, like someone who hadn't seen a crumb of bread for weeks. I was so hungry I even went back for a second sandwich. "Have any of you seen Alyssa recently? She hasn’t been in school the past couple of days." Alyssa Daron was just another ordinary girl in our year. But she wasn’t one to miss school. Until her mum divorced her dad for another man that is. Then she had a lot of time off. But a lot of time had passed since then and things had been resolved, so it was a bit weird for her to be missing school again. "I heard she had an argument with her dad and packed her stuff to go and live with her mum and her new fella" Charlie mentioned. "What do you mean new fella?" I asked. "They've been together for a while now" "Oh don't you know. They guy she divorced her husband for was having a secret affair with another woman the whole time. If you can even call it that when there not married". She's not really having great luck with men is she. "So what? Is she ever coming back, or is she going to switch schools?" I asked. "I don’t have a clue. Haven’t heard anything more about it" "That's not the only thing that’s been weird around here recently. Did you hear about Kyle? He got sent home for the rest of the day for fighting." Brenna added. "Fighting? Who was he fighting? He's not usually into that sort of thing." "I thought you would have known by now. Apparently they had to pull him off Luke, took about four of them just to get him off" "Luke as in my brother Luke?" "Yeah. I dont know how it took them four people to get him off him though. I mean come on, I know hes a jock an all, but they made it sound like he was the hulk or something". "How did you find out?" I questioned. "I heard some of the guys talking about it in the hallway". Why on earth was Kyle fighting my brother? Their like best friends. I best go and see if he's ok, and find out what happened. I had to admit, I don’t like being involved in drama, but its entertaining to hear about. Even if it is about my brother. The sound of the school bell rang loudly throughout the cafeteria. Echoing off of all four of the blank washed out walls. Guess that’s going to have to wait till the end of the day now. I stood up tipped my rubbish off of my tray into the bin, and placed it on top of the stack of dirty trays waiting to be washed on the way out. Strangely the last two lessons went by quite quickly. Maybe that was because my body had finally decided to kick in and start functioning. Better late than never I suppose. I joined the tsunami of students, all making there way out of school. The sudden change from the cool, shadowed hallways, to the beaming hot rays of the sun was almost relaxing. If it wasn't so daum hot. I saw Luke stood on the grass under the comforting shade of an Oak Tree. So I made my way over to question him about the whole fight between him and Kyle. He was stood talking to some guy in a jock outfit that I had never seen before. I don’t know how it was possible that I didn't know him. Lakewood High wasn't exactly a massive school, and basically everyone knew everyone, whether they liked them or not. "Hey" I said walking over to meet them. "Oh hey Ky. This is Alex, him, his brother and sister have just moved back here". No wonder I didn't recognise him. He was what you'd call tall, dark and handsome. But he did have bright ocean blue eyes, that stood out well against his short flowing dark hair. He was only slightly taller than Luke who stood on the other end of the spectrum with blonde hair and blue eyes. They were both well built in size, not too stocky but not skinny. He was quite hot, even if I do say so myself. "Hey, nice to meet you" I said politely. "Nice to meet you too" He said smiling at me. "I'll let you guys talk. I better make my way home anyway". "You sure you don’t want a lift?" Luke quickly asked. "No, It's ok, might as well make the most of this weather. I'll catch you tomorrow at practice." I was glad he walking away, it gave me a chance to check him out from behind. And just as I suspected, he had a nice ass as well. "So...". "I'm guessing you've heard already then. Let me just start with its not my fault" Luke said trying to plead his case. "I don’t care who's fault it is I just want to know what happened. Oh my god are you ok?" I said turning his head with my hand. He had a bite mark on his neck. It must have been from Kyle because it was definitely a human bite mark. "Yeah I'm fine. Don’t know whats up with Kyle though. He just. Changed. He started talking smack about Sofia for no reason. So I called him out on it and he just threw himself at me, took me to the floor, and then bit me". Talking badly about Sofia? They dated at one point, why would he talk about her like that. Not only that but Sofia was my best friend who passed away a few months ago. It was still a touchy subject for a lot of people. And I still regularly visited her grave and went to see her family. I had always been really close to her family, their house was basically a second home to me. And with them supporting me when my mum went missing, I repaid the favour when Sofia passed. "You need to bandage that bite up or something, it might get infected" I said examining the mark. "Oh come on, its not that bad, you always make things seem worse than they are" "Make things seem worse than they are? There is literally blood running down your neck" Luke quickly wiped his neck, and looked at his fingers to reveal the rich red substance coming from his wound. "What is he some sort of animal or something? Why is he biting you anyway?". He responded by shrugging his shoulders. Common reply for Luke, when he wanted a conversation to end. "Hey! Kyra do you need a lift?" Charlie shouted from across the car park. "Im alright thanks, I'll just catch a lift with Luke. You still coming round later?" "Yeah give me an hour and I'll be there" She said before running back to her car. The journey home felt like a death trap, the car was so hot from it being sat in the baking sun all day, I felt like I got third degree burns just from putting my seat belt on. The first thing we did was wind the windows down. The air couldn't get to me fast enough, I might as well have been sticking my head out of the window I was that close to it. But getting home was a relief. Dad wasn't home yet, and he wouldn't be for another hour or so depending on if he was going grocery shopping or not. So It meant that we had the house to ourselves for a bit. We pulled onto the drive in Luke's sky blue 1965 Ford Mustang. Working at the Patterson's car garage had its perks, and one day he was hoping to work up to a Shelby GT500. I rushed out of the car, up the walk way and straight into the house. I dropped my bag in the hallway that connected the front door to the kitchen and living room and made my way into the kitchen to make a drink. I don’t know what I would do without the ice maker on the front of the fridge. It really did come in handy in weather like this. Suddenly a loud bang came from the hallway. "God daum it! Stop putting your bag in the hallway. This is the third time this week I've tripped over it while walking in" Luke shouted. "Well maybe you should watch where your going!" I shouted back. My house isn't what you would call huge, but it's fairly sized. It's a white wooden house, just like most of the town houses, lining my street. In fact the only thing that really makes my house stand out from the others is the pink blossom tree in the front yard. My mum had always loved blossom tree's and the pink ones were her favourite. So when she went missing we all decided to plant one in her honour. It hasn't been easy since mum disappeared. The simple things like having girly chats. Watching chick flicks together. Or even just going shopping together. You don’t truly realise how much you take things for granted until you no longer have them. Plus living in a house with two hot headed guys can be very tiring at times. But having such a traumatising thing happen at such a young age, helped me grow up a lot quicker. That’s not to say that I don’t make just as much mistakes as the next person. But I've learnt to deal with things in a better way than I used to. Whereas for Luke, he's not really one for talking about his feelings. He's the type of person that bottle things up until it gets unhealthy and ends up exploding. But he's trying. And dad. Well the whole disappearance with mum killed him. Just in the way that you would expect any husband to react to his wife going missing. He puts a smile on his face, and sometimes I even believe its genuine. Which it might be. But I know my dad. And I know how he deals with things. I can tell deep down there’s a chunk of him missing. After all my dad and mum were what you'd call 'High School Sweethearts'. Yeah they argued, but they never went to bed on an argument, they would always sort it out beforehand. God I missed her so much. Her smell. The way I could talk to her about anything without her judging me. She was such a kind, understanding, compassionate, loving person. I know most people would say that about their parents, but she really was one of a kind. If your reading this, thank you for taking the time. And I would love to hear what you think about it. So please feel free to message me :)

[ecotone99]

The Dinner - Part Four [RF]

The boys exchanged timid looks. Reese got up and placed a hand over Helen’s. “You ok, Mom?” He asked, hesitantly. Helen nodded. “I just, uh, I need a minute to fix dessert, ok? Could, uh, could you take the boys upstairs for a minute?” Reese nodded blankly and motioned for everyone to follow him.

The boys collapsed on Reese’s bed, peering out the windows to try and catch sight of Matt, Levi, or Stella, with no luck. Tyson turned to Silas, brushing the hair from his eyes and checking the sore spot on the back of his head.

“Shoot, this ain’t good.” Reese sighed throwing a pillow over his face. Kyle shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down at the ground between the piles of dirty clothes and half-finished model planes Reese had scattered around.

“Everything we did, that’s why Levi got so mad?” Kyle asked, with the slightest tinge of regret in his voice, for the first time all evening. “No, that wasn’t our fault, but it didn’t help none.” Reese replied, sitting up with a deep sigh.

“But isn’t getting Levi mad what we wanted? That’s why we played all the jokes, right?” Kyle asked, lost again. “No Kyle, we were just busting Levi’s balls. We wanted to make ourselves laugh, not make him cry.” There was a lot more than a tinge of regret in Reese’s voice.

“It was supposed to be funny in an annoying way, not in a mean way.” Silas furthered, watching Kyle continue chewing his bottom lip in thought. “I meant it in a mean way.” Kyle declared, after a moment.

“No you didn’t. You don’t know what you’re saying.” Reese dismissed, as he turned to check out the window for Levi again. “Yes I do. If Stella goes away, then Levi won’t leave us, and everyone will be happy again.” Kyle said, crossing his arms in defiance.

All the older brothers froze, pulled from their own internal woes and into mentor mode. “Oh man,” Reese muttered to himself as he motioned for Kyle to sit next to him on the bed. The other boys joined him. “Listen, just because Levi’s got this new girlfriend doesn’t mean he’s going to leave us. What do you even mean by ‘leave us?’” Reese asked, wrapping an arm around Kyle to pull him in closer.

“He’s not gonna come home when he’s done at school if he goes and lives with her.” Kyle said, sniffling. Reese realized he must’ve overheard some of their dad’s discussions with friends, in which he lambasted Stella for this same reason. The older boys exchanged looks. They knew they’d likely never convince Matt of this next point, but Kyle might not be a lost cause just yet.

Silas knelt down to his level and spoke gently, even as Kyle pulled his hands away. “Ky, Levi’s not coming home when he finishes up school whether he’s got a girl or not.” As he processed this information, tears began to drip down his small, furious face. “What?! Why not?” Kyle asked, blinking rapidly to try and conceal his emotions.

Tyson wrapped an arm around him from the other side. “Hey, hey, that’s not a bad thing. It’s just what happens when you grow up. It’s natural. Look at Dad and his brother. Does Uncle Chuck live here in the house with him?” He asked. “No…” Kyle agreed, thinking out loud.

“That’s right, because Dad’s got a family of his own in the house. Once we grow up, we’re all gonna have our own houses filled with videogames and snacks and it’s gonna be great. But it’s gonna happen whether we’re with a girl or not. So, do you want Levi to be stuck sitting all alone in his house?” Reese asked. “I guess not. Maybe just for a while. Just until he misses me.” Kyle decided, wiping away a stream of tears with the back of his hand.

Reese could see on the other boys’ faces that they didn’t entirely disagree, so while he addressed his answer to Kyle, he directed it to all of them. “He already misses you. He misses all of us as much as we miss him, but it’s ok for him to miss us without feeling lonely on top of it, right? Stella makes him happy, and we want him to be happy.” He wasn’t met with any resistance there. “Oh yah, she makes him happy in ways none of us really want to think about.” Tyson joked.

Reese sweep kicked him to the ground before he could continue the crass monologue in front of the really little kids. “Hey!” Tyson cried as he hit the floor, barely dodging a crash with a model plane. “What’s he mean?” Kyle asked. “Yah. Happy in what way?” Silas added. “Nothing.” Reese and Tyson insisted simultaneously. “Just that Stella’s someone very special to Levi, that’s why he brought her here to meet all of us. Because he cares what we think a whole lot.” Reese said, meaning it even if it wasn’t technically germane to their original question.

“And she probably knew that coming in here. So I guess we could’ve been more welcoming, huh?” Silas asked, as he came to realize it for the first time himself. “Yah, I only thought about whether or not Levi would get a kick out of the jokes. I didn’t really think about what Stella would think of them.” Reese admitted. “And Levi didn’t even like our jokes.” Tyson reminded him. “Because Stella didn’t like them.” Reese put together in real time.

Kyle had been having a ball antagonizing everyone right up until it all went south at the end, so this part wasn’t as compelling to him. “You promise he’s not leaving for good though? He’ll still come back sometimes?” He asked, holding out his arms for a hug, which all three of the older boys obliged. “Well, maybe. If we hurry up and fix this.” Tyson said.

“I promise Kyle. If it seems like he isn’t coming back in good time, I’ll hog tie him and drag him here myself if that’s what it takes.” Reese said, squeezing him tight. Everyone let go and prepared to go out and search for their oldest brother. After a long silence, Kyle volunteered, with no hint of humor, “And I’ll gag him.” The boys shared a surprised pause. “You know, if we need to. To get him back here.” Kyle clarified.

They found Levi didn’t make it too far, his figure was unmistakable, even in the thick darkness of the cloudy night. He was just by the rental car trying to convince Stella to give over the keys and let him stay at her hotel until they could fly back to her place for Christmas.

“Levi?” Reese broke in, approaching the two of them. “We were just trying to bust your balls back there, make up for lost time, but we definitely took it too far, and—” “And promise you’re not ever gonna leave us for good!” Kyle cried out. Levi had been running his mouth in an almost continuous loop since the moment he stepped out the door, but that stunned him into silence.

“Of course not Kyle I… What?” Levi asked, picking the small boy up onto his shoulder as he tried to put the unprecedented request into context. “I’d never leave you Buddy, you’re my brother, you can’t get rid of me forever if you tried. And apparently you just did try, so I hope this is proof enough for you.” Levi laughed.

“Stella, we’re really sorry. We were just trying to get a rise out of this guy here and we didn’t stop to think about how you’d been caught in the crossfire.” Reese began. “No, it’s fine. Thanks, though. None of you four are the reason we’re out here.” Stella reassured them. Only the older two knew what she meant implicitly.

Levi knelt down to the younger boys’ level. “I’d never leave for good, but I might have to leave for tonight. Mom and Matt hurt me in there, so if I do leave this time, it has nothing to do with you. After the way Matt was carrying on, I don’t know if it’s in anyone’s best interest to—” “You leave that to us. Five of us, three of everyone else, we’ll dominate the conversation and keep it civil.” Reese assured him. “It’s the least we can do.”

Levi knew Reese meant it, but he wasn’t sure the kids could pull it off, even with their best intentions. “I don’t know if it’s worth going through all that again.” Levi said, eyeing Stella, exhausted. “If she’s everything you say she is, then there isn’t a question here.” Reese replied.

Skeptically, they made their way back inside. Helen had already convinced Matt that if he didn’t reevaluate his actions, he might not see his son again for a very long time, let alone be tapped to evaluate a girlfriend of his. It was only after listening to Matt rant about how upset he was by Levi’s spending Christmas break with Stella instead of the family that she realized the false dichotomy of “instead of” being used in place of “as well as,” considering Levi was home in front of them. She was not without cognizance of her own role in establishing it.

“Why is she here? Why doesn’t he want to spend the break with us? Why is he spending his time with her instead of with his family when he’s with her every other day of the year?” Matt harped for the umpteenth time since he’d stormed out. “What if he just wants her to get to know you? What if he flew her here to get to know us?” Helen questioned, less aggressively now. “Then he shouldn’t have picked the most sacred week of the year.” Matt insisted.

“Your son is still learning how to balance a girlfriend with the other important relationships in his life.” She reminded him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Well, if he’s looking at it as a choice, then he’s chosen her. So what does that tell you?” Matt jerked her hand off and moved further from the house. “If he’s looking at it as a choice, it tells me he’s looking at it wrong, so especially needs some guidance from his dad.” Helen pleaded. “He’s a man, let him make his own decisions.” Matt said, trying to mask the pang of guilt he felt as Helen’s words sank in.

“He’s 19, he’s still figuring things out.” Helen explained. “Well I’m 47 and I’ve got it figured that I’m leaving now.” Matt replied. “Before you do that, I need you to consider what it is you’re leaving, exactly.” Helen cautioned. “Would you rather he bring his girlfriend home, or not have come home at all?” A long, hard, silence, followed. Matt turned to go back to the table.

The boys sat down and did the best they could to put their plan into action over dessert. At the beginning of the evening, Helen had been disappointed that she’d been unable to incorporate a meat product into the final course (she’d burned the candied bacon in the oven), but with her newfound perspective, she was relieved.

“Maple cupcakes!” She chirped, with forced cheerfulness. Reese felt awful about having further instigated the night’s back and forth, and he wanted to make it up to Levi in a big way. He knew that meant taking a risk, but he hoped if he timed it right, the odds would be in his favor. It would either make things better, or, how much worse could things get, really? As they made small, but cordial, talk about sports, the weather, and current events, Reese saw his opening.

Discussing lacrosse, Stella mentioned, “I’d always wanted a lacrosse stick with a throat like Levi’s has, but they only manufacture them that way for men.” Just to move the conversation along, and to encourage his son to be a gentleman, as he always reflexively did, Matt said, “Maybe Levi will swap one of his out with yours for Christmas, huh?” Reese crossed his fingers, winked at his brother, and jumped on it.

“That’s a great idea, Dad. Stella should stay for Christmas! We’d love that, right guys?” Reese affirmed enthusiastically. The other brothers, whose guilt over the earlier events now just barely outweighed their possessiveness over Levi’s time, emphatically supported the idea.

Levi tried and failed to repress the spread of his ear to ear grin as he held Stella’s hand under the table in anticipation. “I suppose that would be alright with me, if it’s alright with your father.” Helen said, half hoping Matt would squash this before it became a reality, and half hoping he would prove that he was still capable of personal growth.

It would determine whether or not Matt truly approved of Stella, and whether he realized it or not, that would ultimately determine whether or not his son stayed in a relationship with her much longer.

Matt had no idea the full scope of the choice he would be making then, but six years later, his wife would be reminding him of the night he made the right choice as they reminisced about what would turn out to be their first Christmas as a family.

They remembered all this as they took their seats in the front row underneath a canopy against a mountainside, laughing about Matt storming out the front door and Levi going out the back, as they watched their sons line up to be groomsmen in Levi and Stella’s wedding.

submitted by /u/Nightingale_Effect [link] [comments] via Blogger https://ift.tt/38YsMtW

[pabluesman]

The latest rant:

Look familiar?

So the Comey hearing came and went and, much like that trip to Disneyworld you took when you were a kid in 1974, it didn't quite live up to all the hype. The left has been crowing that it is an indictment of trump and proof that he is a dastardly villain, missing only the black cape and handlebar mustache. The right has been shrieking about how trump has been completely vindicated, the Russia story is completely made up, and Democrats are nothing more than a bunch of crybabies. Both of these groups are wrong, and both of them are indicative of the fundamental problem with our government these days. In addition to casting some much-needed sunlight on the shadowy dealings of the trump administration (fewer than liberals want, more than conservatives care to admit), it highlighted the basic dysfunction of our government: that every action, hearing, press conference, photo opportunity, floor speech, legislative debate, and so on is less about running the country than it is about scoring partisan points. I realize at this point there are probably a bunch of you out there saying "Well, DUH," like I have taken complete leave of my senses and lost all capacity for critical thinking. To which I say, this is my blog, dammit, and I can say what I want. Moving right along ... Of course, I can't expect you take my word for it, can I? Therefore, I am going to go through the hearing (I read the transcript. Twice. And took notes.) and present my thoughts on each observation. But first, the cast of characters. There is James Comey, of course, and donald trump, and Loretta Lynch and Bill and Hillary Clinton make guest appearances. Then there's the Senate Committee on Intelligence, in alphabetical order: Roy Blunt, R-MO, present Richard Burr, R-NC, Chairman, present Susan Collins, R-ME, present John Cornyn, R-TX, present Tom Cotton, R-AR, present Dianne Feinstein, D-CA, Former Chairman, present Kamala Harris, D-CA, present Martin Heinrich, D-NM, present Angus King, I-ME, present James Lankford, R-OK, present Joe Manchin, D-WV, present John McCain, R-AZ (Ex officio), present Mitch McConnell, R-KY (Ex officio), absent Jack Reed, D-RI (Ex officio), present Jim Risch, R-ID, present Marco Rubio, R-FL, present Chuck Schumer, D-NY (Ex officio), absent Mark Warner, D-VA, Vice-Chairman, present Ron Wyden, D-OR, present So now the stage is set, and we can dive right in. First observation: every single one of the Senators, with the exception of Marco Rubio, Martin Heinrich, Angus King, Tom Cotton, and John McCain took a moment to thank Comey for appearing, and most of those took an extra moment to acknowledge his service to country (some, like Jack Reed, were fine with a simple "Thank you for appearing," while others were more effusive). However, Rubio, Hienrich, King, Cotton, and McCain simply dispensed with all niceties and jumped right in to the questioning. Whether this is a good or bad I will leave up to the reader to decide. What follows is a member-by-member accounting of what happened. I will attempt to remain as factual as possible; where I veer off into the realm of opinion I will very clearly identify it as such. So, in order of appearance ... Richard Burr, R-NC (Chairman) Senator Burr took several minutes to a) thank Director Comey for appearing to testify, b) provide an overview of the Senate Intelligence Committee's mission in general and in terms of this hearing in particular, and c) to provide the basic framework under which the other members would be operating (seven minutes for each member, and so on). He then turned things over to Senator Mark Warner. Mark Warner, D-VA (Vice-Chairman) Senator Warner took the opportunity to go into a little more detail as to the nature of the hearing: what it was about, what the committee hoped to accomplish by holding the hearing, and a brief summation of the relevant events up to that date. Richard Burr again Burr swore in Comey and advised him that he is now under oath. He recognized Comey and granted him the floor "for as long as you might need." James Comey, Former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Comey gave a brief history of events and expressed his confusion and concern over the multiple stories coming from the White House concerning the reason for his firing, after which the questioning began. Richard Burr some more Burr pretty much kept to hard facts. He asked if Comey's written testimony had been reviewed and/or edited by the Office of the Special Counsel (it hadn't). He asked if Comey had any doubt that Russia was behind the intrusion into the DCCC's and DNC's computer systems (he didn't). He asked if he had any doubt that Russia was behind cyber intrusion into state voter files (he didn't). He asked if he was confident that no votes in the 2016 were altered, either electronically or otherwise (he was). Comey also testified that, while trump was not directly under investigation, Comey was not able to get unanimous consent from his leadership in the FBI to publicly state this. The reasoning here is that the investigation was ongoing and one could never tell where it would lead (a la the Starr investigation into Whitewater which lead to the whole Lewinsky thing). In Comey's words, "when you start turning over rocks, sometimes you find things that are unrelated to the primary investigation that are criminal in nature." In short, Burr confined himself to things that could objectively be verified. Unfortunately, this would be one of the only times we saw this even-handed approach, as several of the other Senators appeared to have axes to grind and viewed Comey as the perfect sharpening stone. But more on that as we come across it. My opinion: non-partisan. Mark Warner again Senator Warner took a more partisan approach, albeit in the cloak of objectivity. His questions were respectful and factually based, but his overall tone suggested that he was trying to convict trump in this hearing and get it over with. My opinion: Somewhat partisan James Risch, R-ID Senator Risch was the first to really dive into the weeds. The first part of his seven minutes was spent trying to discredit a February 14th article from the New York Times in which the Times alleged connections between Russian operatives and trump associates. He asked why Director Comey did not issue a statement to correct the article. Comey replied that it is considered common practice to not do so when the investigation involves sensitive material as it might compromise security. Risch spent the rest of his time parsing the word "hope" in the context of trump asking Comey "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go." Comey maintained throughout that, given the fact that it was the President of the United States saying this in the Oval Office, even though it was not a direct order it would reasonably be taken as such, given the context. Risch replied "You don't know of anyone ever being charged for hoping something, is that a fair statement?" My opinion? Blatantly partisan, trying to get trump off the hook in much the same way Warner was trying to hang him on it, but the partisanship was much more naked here. Dianne Feinstein, D-CA Feinstein started by asking Comey why he thought he had been fired from his position as Director of the FBI. Comey responded that he didn't know for sure but that, based on what trump has said, he was fired as a result of the Russia investigation. Feinstein continued by acknowledging and paraphrasing what Comey had said to Risch: that the Oval Office could be an intimidating place, especially when the President is making a direct request. She then asked "But why didn't you stop and say, Mr. President, this is wrong. I cannot discuss this with you." Comey replied "I was so stunned by the conversation that I just took in. The only thing I could think to say, because I was playing in my mind -- because I could remember every word he said -- I was playing in my mind, what should my response be? That's why I carefully chose the words." My opinion: Feinstein's focus seemed to be mainly centered around wrongdoing on the part of the trump administration. I rate her as being mildly partisan. Marco Rubio, D-FL Rubio seemed to be focusing on the asks from trump of Comey:

Asking for Comey's loyalty.

Saying that he "hoped" the Flynn investigation would go away. Not a formal ask, but when the President says he hopes something happens, and he says this in the Oval Office, it's not a stretch of logic to interpret this as a strong request, if not a direct order.

Publicly state that trump personally is not being investigated.

To his credit, Comey did not comply with any of these. My opinion: Rubio was trying for a partisan advantage, but his line of questioning turned out to be a dead end in that area and it didn't pan out for him. I rate this as non-partisan, but not for a lack of trying. Martin Heinrich, D-NM Senator Heinrich was the slickest of the bunch in that he was able to score partisan points without appearing to be partisan at all. To start, he gave Comey the opportunity to make the following statement: "The Russians interfered in our election during the 2016 cycle. They did with purpose. They did it with sophistication. They did it with overwhelming technical efforts. It was an active measures campaign driven from the top of that government. There is no fuzz on that. It is a high confidence judgment of the entire intelligence community and the members of this committee have seen the intelligence. It's not a close call. That happened. That's about as unfake as you can possibly get." Heinrich then shifted focus to the trump team attempting to "set up a sort of backdoor communication channel with the Russian government using their infrastructure, their devices, their facilities." Comey testified to this point that, in a hypothetical sense (he refused to comment in an open setting as to specifics), it was easier for the Russians because "[y]ou spare the Russians the cost and effort to break into our communications channels by using theirs. You make it a whole lot easier for them to capture all of your conversations."

My opinion: Heinrich created a partisan result from a non-partisan line of questioning. Kudos for skill on this one, but it still misses the "trying to be objective about this whole thing" point. I rate his performance as partisan.

Roy Blunt, R-MO

In one of the most blatantly partisan approaches of the entire hearing, Senator Blunt attempting to cast doubt on Comey's credibility by asking why he continued to take calls from trump even after he told Attorney General sessions that all communications should go through the AG. Apparently Blunt has never heard of the notion that when the President calls, you pick up.

He then sought clarification as to whether Comey's notes were official documents or personal ones. Comey said they were personal, and nobody else seemed to have an issue with this.

My opinion: Blatantly partisan, and in a particularly clumsy and inartful fashion.

Angus King, I-ME (he caucuses with the Democrats, though)

Senator King jumped right of the gate with a question as whether, in Comey's opinion, the Russian interference in the election was a one-and-done thing, or would we see future attempts. Comey testified that "it is a long-term practice of theirs. It's stepped up a notch in a significant way in '16. They'll be back."

King then sought clarification as to whether or not the dinner with trump was trump's idea or Comey's. Comey said that it was initiated by a phone call from trump, and manages to get in a shout-out to his wife when he said that he had been forced to break a date with his wife to have dinner with trump (again, when the President calls, you pick up), saying "I love spending time with my wife and I wish I would have been there that night."

King's approach seemed to be to cast doubt on trump's veracity (not that this would take much), by asking Comey whether it was true that Comey had called trump, as trump had claimed. Comey said "I never initiated a communication with the president."

My opinion: King, being an independent, is by definition non-partisan. However, because he caucuses with the Democrats, we have to view him in that light. That being said, I would rate his performance as slightly partisan in questioning, moderately partisan in results.

James Lankford, R-OK

Senator Lankford, apparently, was the Designated Republican Shill for this hearing. He started his questioning by asking Comey why he thought trump's "I hope we can drop the Flynn thing" statement was such a big deal when it was never mentioned again by trump, the White House staff, the Director of National Intelligence, the Attorney General, the Department of Justice, or the head of the National Security Administration. He followed this line of reasoning to a (flawed, obviously) implied conclusion that a) either trump never said this, at which point Comey is lying (forget that he's under oath and all that), or 2) it was never a big deal in the first place and Comey is overreacting.

Lankford is also trying to paint trump in positive light by pointing out that, even though he has the authority to stop the investigation, he has not done so. Granted, there is a very real possibility that trump is not aware of this ...

My opinion: Lankford was noting more than the token Wild-Eyed Republican whose main goal of the hearing was to vindicate trump of any and all accusations of everything and show everybody that he's really an awesome guy and if everyone would just let him do his thing the country would be great again and everybody wold have money, and fame, and more money, and fancy cars, and the world would be a wonderful place.

Of course, this only applies to rich white male Republicans. Everybody else can go screw themselves, because they don't matter.

I rate Lankford's performance as ludicrously partisan.

Joe Manchin, D-WV

Senator Manchin was lobbing softballs. He asked Comey about trump's interest in the Russia investigation (almost identical to the question asked by Senator Angus King), giving Comey the opportunity to wax poetic about how this was not a Democrat or Republican thing but an American thing, that "this great experiment of ours is a threat to them," and that "as difficult as we can be with each other, we remain that shining city on the hill."

He then asked about Robert Mueller, and whether or not he would be "thorough and complete" in his investigation as Special Counsel. Comey replied by saying that he would indeed, and that Mueller is "one of the finest people and public servants this country has ever produced."

My opinion: Manchin is, to some people, a DINO (Democrat In Name Only) in that he has pretty strong conservative creds and there have been rumors that he may defect to the GOP. Given that, I don't know if we can tag him as being partisan; if anything, he was anti-partisan, slightly boosting the Republican case that trump is NOT a serial liar, philanderer, and cheat. Therefore I will rate this performance as non-partisan.

Tom Cotton, R-AR

Tom Cotton is one of the most partisan members of the Senate, but without the intellectual power of someone like Mitch McConnell (who isn't really the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but who is very canny and shrewd). Cotton's questioning began with trying to get Comey to state that there was no connection between Russia and the trump team. Comey didn't fall for it, and that line of questioning fell flat.

Cotton's next gambit was to focus on a New York Times article form February 14th, headlined "Trump campaign aides had repeated contacts with Russian intelligence," by asking "Would it be fair to characterize that story as almost entirely wrong?" Comey replied in the affirmative.

My opinion: First, the tactic of trying to exonerate trump failed, and failed big. Second, the focus on the NYT article is irrelevant ... it's not the first time a major paper got a story wrong (remember "Dewey Defeats Truman?"). I would rate this performance as not only wildly partisan, but also flat-out stupid. Not that I would expect anything else from Tom Cotton.

Kamala Harris, D-CA

Senator Harris asked many questions of Comey, all of which got the same reply: "I cannot answer that in an open setting." It seemed like she was going for the spear that would slay the trumpian dragon, but fell short. Of course, once the closed session began, she may have gotten something ... we won't know for sure unless the hearing transcript is declassified.

My opinion: Harris was going for the jugular, partisanship-wise. The fact that she failed had everything to do with her asking about sensitive material. I rate her performance as highly partisan.

John Cornyn, R-TX

Cornyn started his questioning with a legit question: if an FBI agent becomes aware of criminal activity, is he or she under a legal obligation to report it? Comey replied that he did not know about a legal obligation, but there is certainly an ethical one.

Cornyn then focused the rest of his time on the Clinton email thing,  hammering the point that a special counsel was not named despite repeated requests from Congress to AG Loretta Lynch to do so (including from Cornyn). Comey said that he decided a special counsel would have been "unfair" because "I knew there was no case there."

He finished up his questioning by asking "Do you think it's unreasonable for anyone, any president, who has been assured on multiple occasions that he's not the subject of an FBI investigation, do you think it's unreasonable for them to want the FBI director to publicly announce that, so that this cloud over his administration would be removed?" To which Comey replied that it was a reasonable point of view, but that it was inadvisable because of the possibility of "a duty to correct."

My opinion: John Cornyn has always had a naked hatred of the Clintons, and saw this as an opportunity to beat that dead horse one more time. I rate his performance as off-the-charts partisan, and also a bit ridiculous.

Jack Reed, D-RI

Senator Reed asked Comey if the direction in which the Russian investigation was headed could include the president. Comey said in theory, yes, but was not willing to make a definitive yea/nay statement.

My opinion: Reed appeared to be trying to convict trump right off the bat, but was derailed by Comey sticking to the facts as he knew them. I rate is performance as highly partisan.

John McCain, R-AZ

Senator McCain's questioning was not quite as unhinged as everybody is making it out to be. Yes, he asked why the investigation into Clinton's email server was closed while the trump investigation was not, but seemed unable (or unwilling) to grasp the concept of the Clinton investigation being completed while the trump investigation is still ongoing. Comey explained that the Clinton investigation had run its course and did not turn up any prosecutable offense, but the trump investigation is still in the early stages and it is too soon to draw conclusions.

McCain then asked about Clinton's involvement with Russian interference in the election by saying "you made the announcement there would be no charges brought against then-Secretary Clinton for any activities involved in the Russia involvement and our engagement in our election." Apparently, the fact that Clinton had no involvement with Russian interference -- except, of course, as the primary target and intended victim -- didn't register with him.

My opinion: Yes, he came off as a little nutty, as that crazy old uncle that keeps getting invited to Thanksgiving even though nobody really likes him and all he does is rant about irrelevant topics, but he was also using blunt-force partisanship to try to cast doubt on Comey's testimony. I rate his performance as highly partisan, and possibly as an indication of impending dementia.

So there you have it. The entire hearing, wrapped up in a nice little package. Now, I would like to make some observations here.

First, I find these public hearings to be more than a little ridiculous. Let's face it, with subject matter like this, nothing of substance is going to come out of a public hearing because so much of the relevant information is classified and forbidden from public consumption. These hearings are nothing more than political theater, a chance for some Senators to get some face time on camera and burnish their partisan reputations. Out of the two and a half hours of testimony, all we heard was what Comey had written in his seven page initial testimony, released a few days ago ... it was just massaged and tilted this way and that to show different faces.

Second, this hearing points to a larger issue: both parties are concerned more with the balance of power within Washington than they are concerned with the lives of those outside the Beltway. This is actually nothing new; it's only the prevalence of social media and the 24/7 news cycle that has given it more visibility. However, the fact remains that, in any given situation, Congress is going to act according to what is best for the next election cycle, or what will bring in the most campaign donations, or what will make the other side look as ineffectual and ridiculous as possible, and everybody who is not a member of Congress of a big donor to their campaign coffers ... well, if it works out in their favor, it is sheerly by accident.

Third, the fundamental thing that everybody seems to be overlooking here is that trump is not a legitimate president. Yes, he won the Electoral College, but only because a foreign power put their finger on the scales. He lost the popular vote. He has alienated virtually every world leader, so much so that the leaders of European countries are going to bypass the President and the White House and go directly to the states when it comes to the Paris Climate Accord. He has approval ratings that would make Nixon gulp.

donald trump is turning the United States into a second-rate Third World nation, and the Republicans are doing nobody any favors by going along with it in the name of bolstering their short-term agenda. The Democrats aren't helping, either, by painting all trump supporters with the same broad "they're all a bunch of idiot yokels" brush.

The partisanship has to come to an end. Republicans and Democrats need to put party aside for a bit and focus on country, and the people therein. Otherwise we are all doomed to an endless display of petty bickering and constant games of one-upmanship, and the people of the United States -- you know, the ones for whom these clowns are supposed to be working -- are going to bear the brunt.

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[ecotone99]

The Dinner - Part Four [RO]

The boys exchanged timid looks between themselves. Reese got up and placed a hand over Helen’s. “You ok, Mom?” He asked, hesitantly. Helen nodded. “I just, uh, I need a minute to fix dessert, ok? Could, uh, could you take the boys upstairs for a minute?” Reese nodded blankly and motioned for everyone to follow him.

The boys collapsed on Reese’s bed, peering out the windows to try and catch sight of Matt, Levi, or Stella, with no luck. Tyson turned to Reese, brushing the hair from his eyes. “Shoot, this ain’t good.” Kyle shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down at the ground between the piles of dirty clothes and half-finished model planes Reese had scattered around.

“Everything we did, that’s why Levi got so mad?” Kyle asked, with the slightest tinge of regret in his voice, for the first time all evening. “No, that wasn’t our fault, but it didn’t help none.” Reese replied with a deep sigh.

“But isn’t getting Levi mad what we wanted? That’s why we played all the jokes, right?” Kyle asked, lost again. “No Kyle, we were just busting Levi’s balls. We wanted to make ourselves laugh, not make him cry.” There was a lot more than a tinge of regret in Reese’s voice.

“It was supposed to be funny in an annoying way, not in a mean way.” Silas furthered, watching Kyle continue chewing his bottom lip in thought. “I meant it in a mean way.” Kyle declared, after a moment.

“No you didn’t. You don’t know what you’re saying.” Reese dismissed, as he turned to check out the window for Levi again. “Yes I do. If Stella goes away, then Levi won’t leave us, and everyone will be happy again.” Kyle said, crossing his arms in defiance.

All the older brothers froze, pulled from their own internal monologues and into mentor mode. “Oh man,” Reese muttered to himself as he motioned for Kyle to sit next to him on the bed. The other boys joined him. “Listen, just because Levi’s got this new girlfriend doesn’t mean he’s going to leave us. What do you even mean by ‘leave us?’” Reese asked, wrapping an arm around Kyle to pull him in closer.

“He’s not gonna come home when he’s done at school if he goes and lives with her.” Kyle said, sniffling. Reese realized he must’ve overheard some of their dad’s discussions with friends, in which he lambasted Stella for this same reason. The older boys exchanged looks. They knew they’d likely never convince Matt of this next point, but Kyle might not be a lost cause just yet.

Silas knelt down to his level and spoke gently, even as Kyle pulled his hands away. “Ky, Levi’s not coming home when he finishes up school whether he’s got a girl or not.” As he processed this information, tears began to drip down his small, furious face. “What?! Why not?” Kyle asked, blinking rapidly to try and conceal his emotions.

Tyson wrapped an arm around him from the other side. “Hey, hey, that’s not a bad thing. It’s just what happens when you grow up. It’s natural. Look at Dad and his brother. Does Uncle Chuck live here in the house with him?” He asked. “No…” Kyle agreed, thinking out loud.

“That’s right, because Dad’s got a family of his own in the house. Once we grow up, we’re all gonna have our own houses filled with videogames and snacks and it’s gonna be great. But it’s gonna happen whether we’re with a girl or not. So, do you want Levi to be stuck sitting all alone in his house?” Reese asked. “I guess not. Maybe just for a while. Just until he misses me.” Kyle decided, wiping away a stream of tears with the back of his hand.

Reese could see on the other boys’ faces that they didn’t entirely disagree, so while he addressed his answer to Kyle, he directed it to all of them. “He already misses you. He misses all of us as much as we miss him, but it’s ok for him to miss us without feeling lonely on top of it, right? Stella makes him happy, and we want him to be happy.” He wasn’t met with any resistance there. “Oh yah, she makes him happy in ways none of us really want to think about.” Tyson joked.

Reese sweep kicked him to the ground before he could continue the crass monologue in front of the really little kids. “Hey!” Tyson cried as he hit the floor, barely dodging a crash with a model plane. “What’s he mean?” Kyle asked. “Yah. Happy in what way?” Silas added. “Nothing.” Reese and Tyson insisted simultaneously. “Just that Stella’s someone very special to Levi, that’s why he brought her here to meet all of us. Because he cares what we think a whole lot.” Reese said, meaning it even if it wasn’t technically germane to their original question.

“And she probably knew that coming in here. So I guess we could’ve been more welcoming, huh?” Silas asked, as he came to realize it for the first time himself. “Yah, I only thought about whether or not Levi would get a kick out of the jokes. I didn’t really think about what Stella would think of them.” Reese admitted. “And Levi didn’t even like our jokes.” Tyson reminded him. “Because Stella didn’t like them.” Reese put together in real time.

Kyle had been having a ball antagonizing everyone right up until it all went south at the end, so this part wasn’t as compelling to him. “You promise he’s not leaving for good though? He’ll still come back sometimes?” He asked, holding out his arms for a hug, which all three of the older boys obliged. “Well, maybe. If we hurry up and fix this.” Tyson said.

“I promise Kyle. If it seems like he isn’t coming back in good time, I’ll hog tie him and drag him here myself if that’s what it takes.” Reese said, squeezing him tight. Everyone let go and prepared to go out and search for their oldest brother. After a long silence, Kyle volunteered, with no hint of humor, “And I’ll gag him.” The boys shared a surprised pause. “You know, if we need to. To get him back here.” Kyle clarified.

They found Levi didn’t make it too far, his figure was unmistakable, even in the thick darkness of the cloudy night. He was just by the rental car trying to convince Stella to give over the keys and let him stay at her hotel until they could fly back to her place for Christmas.

“Levi?” Reese broke in, approaching the two of them. “We were just trying to bust your balls back there, make up for lost time, but we definitely took it too far, and—” “And promise you’re not ever gonna leave us for good!” Kyle cried out. Levi had been running his mouth in an almost continuous loop since the moment he stepped out the door, but that stunned him into silence.

“Of course not Kyle I… What?” Levi asked, picking the small boy up onto his shoulder as he tried to put the unprecedented request into context. “I’d never leave you Buddy, you’re my brother, you can’t get rid of me forever if you tried. And apparently you just did try, so I hope this is proof enough for you.” Levi laughed.

“Stella, we’re really sorry. We were just trying to get a rise out of this guy here and we didn’t stop to think about how you’d been caught in the crossfire.” Reese began. “No, it’s fine. Thanks, though. You guys aren’t the reason we’re out here.” Stella reassured them. Only the older two knew what she meant implicitly.

Levi knelt down to the younger boys’ level. “I’d never leave for good, but I might have to leave for tonight. Mom and Matt hurt me in there, so if I do leave this time, it has nothing to do with you. After the way Matt was carrying on in there, I don’t know if it’s in anyone’s best interest to—” “You leave that to us. Five of us, three of everyone else, we’ll dominate the conversation and keep it civil.” Reese assured him. “It’s the least we can do.”

Levi knew Reese meant it, but he wasn’t sure the kids could pull it off, even with their best intentions. “I don’t know if it’s worth going through all that again.” Levi said, eyeing Stella, exhausted. “If she’s everything you say she is, then there isn’t a question here.” Reese replied.

Skeptically, they made their way back inside. Helen had already convinced Matt that if he didn’t reevaluate his actions, he might not see his son again for a very long time, let alone be tapped to evaluate a girlfriend of his. It was only after listening to Matt rant about how upset he was by Levi’s spending Christmas break with Stella instead of the family that she realized the false dichotomy of “instead of” being used in place of “as well as,” considering Levi was home in front of them. She was not without cognizance of her own role in establishing it.

“Why is she here? Why doesn’t he want to spend the break with us? Why is he spending his time with her instead of with his family when he’s with her every other day of the year?” Matt bellowed for the umpteenth time since he’d stormed out. “What if he just wants her to get to know you? What if her flew her here to get to know us?” Helen questioned, less aggressively now. “Then he shouldn’t have picked the most sacred week of the year.” Matt insisted.

“Your son is still learning how to balance a girlfriend with the other important relationships in his life.” She reminded him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Well, if he’s looking at it as a choice, then he’s chosen her. So what does that tell you?” Matt jerked her hand off and moved further from the house. “If he’s looking at it as a choice, it tells me he’s looking at it wrong, so especially needs some guidance from his dad.” Helen pleaded. “He’s a man, let him make his own decisions.” Matt said, trying to mask the pang of guilt he felt as Helen’s words sank in.

“He’s 19, he’s still figuring things out.” Helen explained. “Well I’m 47 and I’ve got it figured that I’m leaving now.” Matt replied. “Before you do that, I need you to consider what it is you’re leaving, exactly.” Helen cautioned. “Would you rather he fly home with his girlfriend, or not come home at all?” A long, hard, silence, followed. Matt turned to go back to the table.

The boys sat down and did the best they could to put their plan into action over dessert. At the beginning of the evening, Helen had been disappointed that she’d been unable to incorporate a meat product into the final course (she’d burned the candied bacon in the oven), but with her newfound perspective, she was relieved.

“Maple cupcakes!” She chirped, with forced cheerfulness. Reese felt awful about having further instigated the night’s back and forth, and he wanted to make it up to Levi in a big way. He knew that meant taking a risk, but he hoped if he timed it right, the odds would be in his favor. It would either make things better, or, how much worse could things get, really? As they made small, but cordial, talk about sports, the weather, and current events, Reese saw his opening.

Discussing lacrosse, Stella mentioned, “I’d always wanted a lacrosse stick with a throat like Levi’s has, but they only manufacture them that way for men.” Just to move the conversation along, and to encourage his son to be a gentleman, as he always reflexively did, Matt said, “Maybe Levi will swap one of his out with yours for Christmas, huh?” Reese, crossed his fingers, winked at his brother, and jumped on it.

“That’s a great idea, Dad! Stella should stay for Christmas! We’d love that, right guys?” Reese affirmed enthusiastically. The other brothers, whose guilt over the earlier events now just barely outweighed their possessiveness over Levi’s time, emphatically supported the idea.

Levi tried and failed to repress the spread of his ear to ear grin as he held Stella’s hand under the table in anticipation. “I suppose that would be alright with me, if it’s alright with your father.” Helen said, half hoping Matt would squash this before it became a reality, and half hoping he would prove to her and to the rest of the family that he was still capable of personal growth.

It would determine whether or not Matt truly approved of Stella, and whether he realized it or not, that would ultimately determine whether or not his son stayed in a relationship with her much longer.

Matt had no idea the full scope of the choice he would be making then, but six years later, his wife would be reminding him of the night he made the right choice as they reminisced about what would turn out to be their first Christmas as a family.

They remembered all this as they took their seats in the front row underneath a canopy against a mountainside, laughing about Matt storming out the front door and Levi going out the back, as they watched their sons line up to be groomsmen in Levi and Stella’s wedding.

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