#And sometimes I want to think about how in his absence she's much less able to process her emotions at all

[hephaestuscrew]

Pan-Pan, Boléro, and Minkowski's different responses to loss

I want to compare two key lines of Minkowski's which indicate very different responses to grief:

In Ep29 Pan-Pan, Minkowski breaks down and says "Doug Eiffel is gone! There was nothing we could do to save him. It wasn't anyone's fault. It's horrible, and pointless, and it just happened."

In contrast, after arriving at the funeral in Ep46 Boléro, she says "[Lovelace, Hilbert and Maxwell are dead] to make the fact that we're not gone yet important. They're gone... so that we never forget how important it is that we're still here." 

TL;DR: In Pan-Pan, Minkowski expresses her unprocessed grief through despair and hopelessness. Whereas in Boléro, she is able to find hope in the loss and lead her crew in trying to move forward. I suggest a significant reason of the difference is the presence of Eiffel to force Minkowski to confront and process the sense of loss.

Pan-Pan: "It's horrible, and pointless, and it just happened"

In Pan-Pan, the whole episode is full of anger and despair, but Minkowski speaking about the horrible pointlessness of losing Eiffel is one of the most painful and hopeless moments. It doesn't feel like she's really speaking to the others. She's focused on her internal despair (as suggested by the fact that she goes on to talk about the cracks, which Lovelace and Hilbert aren't supposed to know about).

The only potentially positive thing Minkowski says here is her recognition that "it wasn't anyone's fault". When Hera and Hilbert have been blaming Lovelace, and Minkowski has been blaming herself, it's significant that she acknowledges that sometimes a horrible thing just happens without there being anyone to blame. 

But in this context, and in the tone of voice Minkowski uses, even the lack of blame doesn't really feel like a positive thing. If Eiffel becoming stranded was just pointless and random, if there was nothing any of them could have done to save him, then the next tragedy might be just as unpredictable and unpreventable. Minkowski strikes me as the kind of person who can sometimes fall into the trap of subconsciously wishing that the awful thing is her fault because then at least she'd have control over something. In her train of thought here, the lack of blame is followed by focusing on how horrible and pointless what happened to Eiffel was. The only conclusion she can draw is "it just happened". There's no sense of hope in those lines. Eiffel being stranded just happened, and so do the cracks, and the crew are at the whims of brutal fortune with no meaning to any of it.

Boléro: "They're gone... so that we never forget how important it is that we're still here"

In Boléro, Minkowski can't even say that the tragedy wasn't anyone's fault. For each of the deaths, someone pulled a trigger. There is blame, and some of it lies at her feet. She didn't want to come to the funeral because at first she didn't know what she could say about the deaths she feels responsible for.

Yet even so, this time she finds something reassuring she can say to her crew, a grain of hope she can provide without attempting to diminish the loss: "[they're gone] to make the fact that we're not gone yet important. They're gone... so that we never forget how important it is that we're still here."

In another show, or another context, this kind of line might have had an 'everything happens for a reason' tone, which is something I deeply dislike as a response to other people's loss. But it doesn't feel like that's what Minkowski is saying here at all. She isn't trying to make any grand philosophical statement about the ultimate beneficence of the universe, or about how mortality gives meaning to human life. What she says here is working on a much more personal level. It's more about finding something other than despair that the crew can take from what has happened. This tragedy may still be horrible, but it provides a reminder that they are still alive in a context where that's far from guaranteed. Minkowski emphasises that the fact the survivors are alive matters - her crew matters. I'd argue that this contrasts with the 'it just happened' outlook discussed above. 

I don't know how much Minkowski fully feels the importance of them still being there in the moment, but it's something that she can offer her crew, something that she can say in a situation that words can't grasp. I think the moment when she joins the funeral is such a key moment of her leadership. In the end, despite her doubts and struggles, she's there for her crew. Eiffel brought them together for a funeral, but he doesn't know what to say when Hera asks why they have to be gone. Minkowski enters just at the right moment to support her crew and she provides an answer to Hera's question. It's not a perfect answer, but it allows the funeral to move forward. It allows the crew to move forward (even if that emotional movement is somewhat thrown off by a dramatic change in the circumstances). Minkowski starts off the eulogies; she leads her crew in the acknowledgement of what's been lost.

Why such a difference in responses?

There's lots of ways you could interpret the difference between the outlook of these two moments, and there's probably more to say about it though the lens of Minkowski's character development than I'm going to say here. But for me, the main difference between these moments is that, in Pan-Pan, it feels like no processing or recognition of grief has really occurred. When Minkowski says "Doug Eiffel is gone!", it almost feels like the first time that Minkowski has fully confronted and acknowledged the loss. Eiffel has been lost in space for 116 days, but it's only at the end of this episode that Minkowski brings herself to say in her distress calls that he is "presumed dead". Whereas in Boléro, she's already eulogising the dead and thinking about what can be learned from the loss, not even a full day after the mutiny.

Obviously there is much less ambiguity to a body bag (or least there would be, if not for alien interference). But I can't help thinking that the difference between the attitudes towards loss which Minkowski displays in these two quotes is less about the difference in the kind of loss, and more about a situation that prompted and enabled the processing of emotions in Boléro: namely, the funeral. After Eiffel was stranded in space, I think Minkowski probably went months without looking her grief in the eye. But after the deaths of Lovelace, Hilbert, and Maxwell, Eiffel's suggestion of a funeral forces Minkowski to confront her complicated emotions and provides a space in which she can offer direction to her grieving crew.

This is a good illustration of how I think Minkowski and Eiffel complement and support each other in a really valuable way. On his own, Eiffel couldn't provide the leadership that the crew needed for the funeral to work. But without Eiffel, and his determination to recognise the emotional weight of the three deaths, the funeral would never have happened and Minkowski would never have been in a position to provide hope and direction to her crew. When Eiffel was the one the Hephaestus crew were grieving, Minkowski couldn't offer much emotional direction to her crew beyond despair. But when Eiffel is beside her in the grief, saying that the grief deserves to be felt, then Minkowski can find a way for them to move forward emotionally. It's not the deaths that remind them how important it is that they are still here. It's the grief. It's the ability to confront that grief together.

[spicy-apple-pie]

Guys… Don’t blame me, blame the TikTokers who put the “Moo” “Shut up.” “Meow” panel in their “Batfam being goofy” slide shows.

Sometimes I think about how Damian’s pets would respond to his absence after his death. And how heartbreaking it is for Bruce.

Like, when he gets home from patrol, Titus is waiting patiently by the door to his office. The dog stands and greet Bruce, sniffing his hand before expectingly looking to the clock for another to come out. He’ll stay there, watching the clock vigilantly for the whole night. The only thing that gets him to move is the sound of his breakfast. He’ll race down to the kitchen and look around, searching for his boy.

Bruce can relate. When he goes down to the cave, he expects to hear Damian clicking his tongue, huffing that he was late. Again.

Bruce buys a dog bed to put in his office for Titus. He looks so lonely and cold on the hard wood.

Alfred (the cat) is less upfront about her grief. She spends her days snuggled in Damian’s unmade bed (untouched. Just how he left it). She’s quiet for most of the day. She looks offended when Bruce disturbs her peace with his presence. God forbid he grief his son. At night, she wakes Bruce up with her horrible yowling. They somehow sound painful. After 20 whole minutes, he goes to check on her. “What do you want?” He asks, his patience thin. “He’s gone, alright!” Bruce spits out, Alfred looks at him blankly. “He’s gone.”

Bruce slumps back to bed, only to hear Alfred’s howls pick up again.

One night, after a particularly restless patrol, Bruce picks her up and plonks her on his bed and gets himself under the covers. He doesn’t expect Alfred to stay, much less snuggle up next to him while purring.

“I know.” He whispers to her. “I miss him too.”

Batcow doesn’t leave her barn very often. Bruce takes over the usual chores in Damian’s stead. No matter how much it hurts. Batcow used to stand up to greet him, but she doesn’t move very much anymore. Bruce tries to cheer her up, but only realizes that he has no idea how to pet a cow. He tries sitting with her.

He remembers how one morning, the first snowfall since Batcow arrived, Bruce was convinced that Damian was kidnapped. Damian was acting as his usual self the night before, they didn’t fight (and Damian was not one to passively aggressively insist that he’s fine) he was about to report a missing child when Alfred suggested he look for him in the barn.

Sure enough, there he was. He was leaned up against Batcow, her head twisted into his lap. He chuckled at the sight of a blanket barely being able to cover Batcow’s rear, but Damian still laid it there anyway. Bruce laid his coat over Damian, who shivered every so often, careful not to disturb Batcow.

His jacket smelt like a barn yard. It took a couple of washes to get it out.

Slowly, Batcow lifted her head, looked at Bruce, and settled into his lap.

He understood why Damian liked cuddling with her so much, the weight was comforting.

When Damian returns, he cannot find a moments peace from his animals. Titus is constantly following him around. For a while, Damian could only throw a stick so far for catch. If Titus deemed it too far away, he would only look at Damian. Acting as if Damian would disappear if he wasn’t in his line of sight for a certain amount of time.

Alfred (the cat) is worse. She’ll invite herself into Damian’s lap wherever she could. Rubbing against him and purring. She demanded that Damian carry her around, twisting in Damian’s hold whenever he tried to put her down.

Batcow comes barreling out of the barn when Damian calls for her, barely slowing down in time to not trample him. She’s slobbering all over him and licking his face. Damian has to take a shower right after.

Like I said, don’t blame me, blame TikTok.

[greynatomy]

the space between us

ingrid engen x reader

hi, it’s been a while

———

You met in the strangest way—one of those encounters that should have been fleeting but instead rearranges the entire landscape of your life. It wasn’t a grand romance at first, just a quiet unfolding, a slow realization that her presence fits into the empty spaces of your days. In hindsight, you realize it was never small. It was everything.

At the time, you didn’t know how brief it would be.

You met on one fateful day, losing your grip on your dog’s leash, he rushes to a person sitting at a cafe.

“Oh, hello little one.” She reaches down to pet the dog’s head.

“Benny!” You chase after him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to let go of his leash.”

She looks up to meet your eyes and you swear time stopped.

“Well I’m glad you did.”

“Y/N.” You reach your hand out. She gives you a smile, taking your hand in hers.

“Ingrid.”

It starts with a text. A ridiculous, unfiltered thought they send late at night that somehow finds you in the middle of your sleepiness.

“Did you know that your brain blends out a lot of noises your body makes?”

“Huh?” You reply, squinting your eyes from the brightness of your phone.

“If you were able to hear it, you would slowly drive yourself insane.”

You smile in the dark, the glow of your screen paints soft shadows on the wall.

“That would absolutely drive me insane.”

And just like that, a door is opened.

That night, you talk for hours. About anything, everything and nothing all at once. About her childhood fears. About the way you pick at your nails when you’re nervous. About how some songs feel like home even if you don’t know why.

“You ever feel like you’ve met someone before even when you haven’t?”

“Like déjà vu?” she replies, her voice drowsy through the phone.

“No. Like…fate.”

She didn’t reply after that, you heard the way her breathing evened out, knowing she fell asleep.

“Goodnight.”

The days that followed are filled with stolen moments, with messages slipped into the space of obligations.

You were on call again late at night. You knew she was half asleep but you couldn’t keep it in any longer.

“Can I tell you something?” you ask.

“Anything.”

There was a moment of silence as you find the courage to speak.

“I think I’m scared.”

You can hear her bedsheets rustling. “Of what?”

“Of how much I feel this. How I don’t wanna lose you.”

There was another moment of silence.

“You won’t lose me.” she whispers.

You don’t reply right away, but when you do, your voice is barely there, your vulnerability can be heard.

“Promise?”

Ingrid promises, but sometimes promises aren’t enough.

The unraveling happens so slowly that you don’t notice at first. Maybe neither of you wanted to.

She signed with Barcelona, promising that nothing will change and distance is just a small obstacle.

But the texts become less frequent. The calls grow shorter. The easy and effortless way she once reached out to you becomes hesitant, uncertain. You tell yourself that she’s just been busy. That nothing is wrong.

But something is.

“Are we okay?” you ask one night, after yet another day of silence.

She hesitates.

“Yeah. I’m just… I don’t know. I’ve just got a lot going on.”

You want to believe her. But there’s a distance in her words now, something slipping through the cracks.

“You know you can talk to me, right?”

“I know.”

But she doesn’t . Not in the way she used to.

And then one day, they just… stop.

Not in a dramatic and catastrophic way. Not with a fight, not with a storm of angry words. Just a slow fading, like ink dissolving in water.

At first you make excuses. She’s busy. She’s tired. She had a long day. Everything will go back to normal again.

But it doesn’t.

You try once more, sending her a short message.

“Goodnight, sleep well. I love you ❤️”

It sits there, unread.

And you know.

The absence settles into you like a ghost. You still catch yourself reaching for you phone, expecting her name to light up your screen. Some nights you find yourself scrolling through old messages, rereading conversations that once felt infinite, listening to the many voice notes she used to send.

You tell yourself that it was brief. That it shouldn’t hurt this much. But it does.

Because it was real. Even if it was short.

Even if it’s over.

One night, much later, you find yourself looking up at the moon, remembering a moment a few days into her move to Barcelona.

“Oh wow, the moon is beautiful tonight. Not as beautiful as you, but still beautiful.” you tell her as you stand outside, earphones in your ears.

“Thank you.”

“How’s your moon looking like?”

“Beautiful.”

“Do we have the same moon? Wait. Duh. There’s only one moon.”

She laughs. “You’re so cute.”

As you look at the moon, you wonder if she’s thinking of you too.

If somewhere in the quiet of her own loneliness, she remembers the sound of your laughter.

If she ever misses you the way you miss her.

If she ever looked at her phone, just for a second, and almost reach out.

But she does’t.

And you don’t.

So, instead, you whisper a goodbye to the sky.

And let her go.

[cowboyfromh3ll]

how about for arthur, john, and charles: your hcs on how each would react to a shyer (not naive) reader who has a crush on him and keeps needing his “help” for various things so she can get his attention, and eventually working up the nerve to be more forward and hopefully pique his interest. who would catch on the fastest? would any of them realize before or after she becomes more forward and how would they react from there? smut absolutely welcome 🙏🏻

HC for Shy!Reader ft. Arthur Morgan, John Marston, Charles Smith

HCs are so easy and fun to write

Warnings: smut

Arthur Morgan

Arthur did not allow you much time to go and ask for help given his repeated and lengthy absences from camp

But when he was around to help, he put his all into it

No matter how mundane or small it may be, he always made sure to help you until satisfaction. Similar to the way he helps random people around the map, he helps you in the same way. 

But the level at which you asked for help was quite baffling to Arthur, but he never made a comment on it. He would never want to make you feel as though you were somehow less competent at doing things than the average person

He liked the way you would try to strike up conversation with him whenever he was helping you, recounting his travels to you in detail upon request

Part of him wondered why the two of you didn’t just talk more often outside of his time helping you. What he didn’t know is that you were unable to come up with a decent, not-too-forthcoming, excuse as to why the two of you should spend more time together alone 

He probably wouldn’t catch onto that fact too quickly, instead thinking you were just a person who wasn’t afraid of asking for help

He’d definitely think something was up when he realizes he’s the only one you ask

Maybe he’s just a dependable guy? He thinks to himself

But when you ask him to help you go fishing, come to find out you didn’t even have a rod, it was too late to back out as the two of you were already alone down the lake at Clemens point

He felt quite touched when you told him you really just wanted to spend time together, and that you weren’t sure how else to ask

Insisted you be more forward with him to establish a level of comfort between you two, but he still found it quite cute when you would shyly ask him for help

Eventually led to you two becoming very close, noticeably sweet on each other. Even the gang was able to catch on.

NSFW

Even though the two of you had been in an established relationship, your bashfulness did not end.

Asking for help for sexual matters was something you subtly hinted at or wordlessly requested, rather than outright saying it

Arthur himself was a man who needed clear permission, and your hints would be met with crudely sexual questions asking for confirmation

“You wanna have sex? Is that what you’re saying? Or am I understanding this all wrong.” 

His forwardness would have you burying your burning face in your shared cot as you nodded

Arthur was a very perceptive man, so when asking if he was rubbing your clit just right or if he needed to slow his thrusts down, you’d squeak out an embarrassed response

When you wanted him to touch you in a certain place, you’d nudge him in the direction, yank on his hand or hair, or simply just bashfully point wordlessly

Makes sure to constantly ask questions because he knows you’re not very vocal when it comes to self advocacy

Extremely tender and very patient with you, just wants to make you feel comfortable in the end to be able to vocalize your needs

John Marston (my pookie)

This man is as dense and stupid as a bag of rocks

The man himself doesn’t even know what he wants, so figuring out what you want is mental gymnastics on its own

He’s around pretty often helping around camp, and he doesn’t mind taking on the brunt of your chores as well

Doesn’t realize what you’re trying to do so sometimes he turns you down, saying he’s too busy

“Are you really that helpless?” 

He’d stand there confused as you stormed off angrily, only to have him follow you around camp begging for forgiveness

“I ain’t mean that, I’m happy to help you. I’m a fool, honest.”

You’d forgive him eventually

If it’s a more tedious task you need help with, he would get into the zone. Honing in all his attention while trying to fulfill his efforts in helping you as competently as he can

Focuses so much, that sometimes if you try to strike up a conversation about his day, he’ll either shut you down, or be so concentrated he won't even register your question

“Hold on, can you stop talking for a sec? I’m tryna concentrate.”

Would be equally as confused when you huff angrily and turn away while crossing your arms

You realize yourself that John isn’t picking up any hints, so you offer your own help as a form of “repayment” for everything he’s done for you

Is also dense about that 

“I appreciate the help, little lady. Though I don’t see why you’d willingly offer to help to fix a wagon wheel.”

Kinda laughable how oblivious he is

Eventually you have to muster up all the courage possible to ask him on a date to town

Emphasize the word date. Or else he’ll think you just want help with errands or something

Will accept, but won’t shut up the whole time about how sudden this is and how he would’ve never seen it coming

NSFW

Would get very excited if you even hint at something sexual

Much like Arthur, he’d ask for confirmation, but much more enthusiastically

“So you wanna fuck right? Right?!” 

Kinda desperate but who can blame him, you’re equally as horny

Get so caught up in excitement he gets straight to it, has to be reminded to ask questions and check up on you

The one time where you actually feel compelled to tell him things straight up instead of just hinting at it

“For the love of god, slow down Marston!”

He would for a few minutes, then get back to it

Would still be shy with asking, but you get so frustrated with how dense he is you’re kinda forced to

His excitement rubs off on you, so he doesn’t mind at all when you just shove his face between your thighs, that does all the speaking for you

Says shit like “You like that, don’t you?” without actually waiting for a response

Gets very embarrassed when you say no and ask him to do it another way

Charles Smith

This man's love language is literally acts of service

He’d probably end up falling for you in the process of helping you out so often

Will be more than happy to take you up on every request for help

Not only does it make you happy, but it makes him feel good for being able to help someone

Literally thrives off of it

He would be the one to pick up on it the fastest, but he wouldn’t make a comment. He doesn’t want to scare you off by being too forward and therefore curtailing your requests for help

Would be very intimate while helping you

“Hey, come closer to take a look at how I do it.”

You would lean in incredibly close, so much so that you’d be able to hear his breathing

Would sometimes take your hands and make you do it as well

Hands would linger far longer than necessary while helping you

And you aren’t naive! You knew what he was doing! He was flirting with you!

From an outside perspective, it appeared as though the two of you were just sitting around together and flirting rather than doing something to help you

“Like this?” You’d ask, which was followed by a giggle

It was pure self indulgence

He would often approach you himself and ask if you needed help on anything

Other times, he’d ask if you wanted to learn something new, showing you how to make weapons or how to identify certain plants from one another

Some tasks would be found mundane by others, but it was the most entertaining thing in the world as long as Charles was teaching you

You would feel most comfortable with him with asking him out, your question sounding more like a mutual profession of love from one another

NSFW

So so gentle

Much like in your relationship, you’d feel far more comfortable expressing your wants and desires to him

But you still struggle to maintain eye contact while saying it

If you turn your face away during sex he’ll gently cup your cheek and move your head to face him

Can pick up on your body language if you don’t feel too vocal

Will slow down or pick up the pace based on how your body reacts

Your moans are also a good indicator for him to know

Will also ask you questions before and after sex, like your some sort of food critic and you’re giving him feedback on his dish

You guys will probably sit down and have whole talks about your sex life, as embarrassed as it makes you, but he finds it necessary

Guy is a huge giver, in no time, he’ll know your body and what you do and don’t like like the back of his hand

[getaandlucius]

A brief taste of honey (Geta love story)

Summary: Geta is recovering from his injuries. Lucius must go to war again.

Previous parts: part 1, part 2, part 3, Part 4, Part 5, part 6

"Who is Arishat?"

Lucius blinked. Slowly, a pair of intense brown eyes swam into view. He had not regained full awareness of his surroundings, and it took immense effort to translate his thoughts into words.

"Mmm." Lucius groaned softly as he turned on his back and stretched out his arms above his head. Of course, Geta did not know about her. Who would have told him?

"You... said her name. In your sleep," Geta clarified.

Lucius nodded. "She was my wife. She died in the invasion of Numidia." He rubbed his chest. "She was shot. In the ribs. Drowned soon after."

Geta stayed silent for a while. Then, quietly, "I'm really sorry, Lucius." Something in Geta's tone surprised him and made him turn his head. The sincerity in it. Perhaps he recognized, remembered the feeling of loss.

"It's okay."

There was a time he would have blamed Geta for killing her. But knowing him and his brother for longer, he understood the way they ruled. Like kids. Ignorant, with no idea of the consequences of their actions nor the lives lost and affected. Bitterness still filled his heart remembering how he had felt.

Geta shook his head. "It is not. And I am sorry."

Lucius could feel his throat close up, so he just gave a nod, quickly blinking away tears.

"What was she like?"

Lucius did not reply right away.

"If you want to share, of course."

"It's okay." He frowned. "She was... strong. Independent. A great fighter." He stared at the ceiling. "Never allowed me to protect her."

Geta's fingers slid into his curls, stayed there until he began playing with them. It startled Lucius; Geta had not done this before. Never touched him in such a way.

"It, ehm..." He cleared his throat. "It drove me nuts, to be honest."

"That doesn't surprise me," Geta said, lazily winding a curl around his middle finger. "You miss her?"

"Very much." Lucius looked away from him. He could feel Geta's eyes burning in the back of his head.

Geta came closer, his warm breath fanning over the side of his neck. He then ghosted his lips over the shell of Lucius' ear.

"I can't bear it when you're sad," he said, his voice solemn and low. Then he sighed and lowered his head, tucking it between Lucius' chin and shoulder. Lucius did not know what to say to that, so he didn't say anything, just focused on Geta's heartbeat drumming against the side of his ribcage.

"What about your brother? How are you coping with his absence?" Lucius asked, feeling guilty he’d gone so long without asking. Geta said nothing for a long time.

"I feel half-human without him."

Lucius squeezed his arm.

"I'm sorry too."

Geta nodded. Then he added, "I know you were right when you said he would kill me if it came to it." Geta turned his face inwards, talking to the skin of Lucius' neck. "I knew you were right, and that's why I struck you." Geta was crying now.

Lucius nodded. "I assumed so."

Geta swallowed. "I would have never been able to kill him. Never. Not even if I would lose my mind."

Lucius nodded again, looking down at him. Geta was softer than most people gave him credit for.

"How are your wounds?" Lucius asked after letting him cry for a while, changing the subject. "Are they still hurting badly?" Geta nodded without looking at him. "Sometimes less than other times."

"When does it hurt the most?"

"When I sit up, or when I accidentally turn on my stomach."

"Can I see?"

"The wounds?"

"Mm-mm."

"No."

"Why?"

"It's ugly. I don't want you to see it."

"Do you think I care if it's ugly?"

"I care. It looks gross."

"It's not healed yet."

"It will scar. Pius said the scars will be the size of my hand."

"It bothers you?"

"Yes. It does."

"It doesn't matter to me."

"It's not about that. I liked the way I looked. I liked my skin. It will never be like that again. Every time I see my reflection, I will be reminded of terror. It bothers me."

Lucius propped himself up on one elbow, searching Geta's eyes. "I'll teach you how to fight. We'll get you healthy again." He insisted.

Geta shook his head, his cheeks still damp from previous tears. "I will never be the same again. I'll never walk around these halls the same man."

Lucius frowned. "You don't know that."

"Mmm. I do."

Lucius adjusted so he was in the same position again, with Geta's head resting against his shoulder. "We'll take it a day at a time, alright?"

Geta sighed and didn't reply. When Lucius looked down, his eyes were closed again.

"You want to sleep?"

"Yeah."

Lucius brought his hand to Geta's face, letting it rest there protectively. "Sleep then," he said.

Geta murmured something unintelligible. Lucius adjusted a little and yawned himself, letting his eyelids close too. Unexpectedly, he was off in a heartbeat.

When he woke again, it was hot and early in the afternoon. Sunlight streamed through the open window, and his thin tunic clung to his damp torso. Geta’s arm was draped across his chest, his body tucked gently against him. He was lying on his side, deeply asleep. That was good—he probably needed it.

Lucius carefully lifted Geta’s arm off his chest and slid away from him. Geta's breathing remained heavy, his arm falling limp on the bed, palm flat against the mattress. Lucius pressed a kiss on his arm before standing up, leaving him to sleep undisturbed. It had never felt right to leave him, but it was becoming harder and harder the more time he spent with him—like a fabric being pulled tighter with every thread.

If he could, he would have stayed with him all day, all week, making sure his heart kept beating steadily, kissing him, caressing him. But this was not the time. Geta needed his rest to recover, and Lucius had a battle to plan.

----

That night Lucius entered the dining hall. Geta was already sitting at the main table, clearly just awake, looking a bit disheveled with his hair sticking out all over the place.

"I will leave in two weeks," Lucius said, sitting down.

Geta looked up with sleepy eyes. "How long will you be gone?"

"I expect around three or four weeks."

Geta nodded. "Okay."

"When I get back, we’ll start our training sessions, yes?"

"Yes."

"Good. In the meantime," Lucius added, "I want you to be careful and stay in bed most of the time. You can have my quarters to yourself. If you’re in pain, tell one of the guards and they’ll get Pius or Ravi. I know you’ll get bored, but please do not go roaming around the gardens or do anything Pius hasn’t advised you to do."

Geta grinned and took a sip of wine. "Okay, father."

Lucius shook his head. "I’m serious."

"I know you are. When are you not?"

"Mmm..." Lucius knitted his brows together. "True."

"I like your solemness. Don’t worry."

Lucius took a bite of his food. "I’ll make sure you have enough to read. I heard you like to read."

Geta nodded, letting his teeth sink into a piece of chicken. "I do, thank you."

Lucius smiled. Watching Geta eat was one of his favorite things in the world.

They finished their meal in a comfortable silence.

After dinner, Lucius went looking for Marcus for the most recent reports on developments along the trade routes.

The news was not good. The Phitians were closing in on Rome’s lifelines—grain from the north, salt from the mines, and trade along the coast. Without these, Rome’s legions wouldn’t march, its cities wouldn’t eat, and its people would face starvation and chaos.

Lucius asked Laurentius to find Mantius, the main military leader of the Roman army, who had replaced Acasius.

Inside, Marcus studied the map, his hand hovering over the grain routes. "They’ll strike here first. If they cut off the grain or seize the salt mines, the people will feel it within days. We can’t protect everything. Where do we hold?"

Lucius stepped forward, scanning the map. "The coast. Without trade, we can’t resupply at all."

Marcus nodded sharply. "And the salt mines?"

"Decoys," Lucius said, thinking aloud. "We let them believe we’re prioritizing the mines while fortifying the coast and the grain routes."

Mantius pointed to the passes. "If we control the high ground here, they’ll walk into a trap."

Lucius’s jaw tightened. "It’s not perfect, but it gives us a chance to keep the people fed."

He walked over to Laurentius at the door. "Could you please send a message to the local governors that I need to speak with them?" Laurentius nodded.

---

The next two weeks, Lucius spent preparing for battle and training his men. He and Geta slept mostly in separate beds, as Lucius often worked late into the night and Geta needed his undisturbed sleep. But when Geta’s nightmares became severe, Lucius would come to his bedside, rub his back, and whisper to him until his breathing calmed.

Sometimes his eyes would drift down to Geta’s full lips, wondering what it would feel like to kiss them, to slowly part them with his tongue. But he would quickly push those thoughts away. There was still a shyness between them—something Lucius wasn’t willing to break away from just because of impatience. What they had was delicate and precious, and he wanted to savor it. Savor him.

The evening before his departure, he went to find Geta. His horse had been readied, his men were prepared and had been spoken to. Geta put his hands on Lucius’ shoulders. "You will come back to me soon." It was a demand, not a question.

"I will come back to you, soon," Lucius nodded in agreement. "Remember what I told you. Be safe, ask for help."

Geta nodded. He was cold; the evening air left a wave of goosebumps on his arms.

Lucius sighed, feeling more reluctant than ever to leave.

"Lucius?" Marcus was standing at the gate, fully dressed in golden armor. He was too old to go to battle but had refused to stay behind. Lucius nodded at him before returning to Geta.

They just stared at each other, not knowing what to say.

"Okay, goodbye then," Lucius said after a moment.

Geta nodded. "Goodbye," he said, looking over Lucius' shoulder to Marcus, who had stepped outside. Lucius could hear Geta breathe in before he bent forward and pressed his lips to Lucius' mouth. It was a simple, understated kiss—a promise. Geta grinned when he pulled back, his big eyes devoid of any shyness.

"Now go, you fool. Don’t make them wait."

Lucius nodded and turned on his heel, walking toward his horse.

"Strength and honor!" Geta called after him.

Lucius looked over his shoulder, the corner of his mouth curling up. "Strength and honor."

Next part: part 8

Please let me know what you think in the comments!

Taglist: @potato1d-blog1, @joan2914

[last-herondale]

Almost Part 5

Bucky Barnes x FemReader!

Angst, hurt, heartbreak

Warnings: cussing

AN: yall, I love this series so far. It hurts my heart but damn.

Enjoy ❤️

You had been back from your mission for about a month now. Whatever this thing was between you and Steve, was still happening. He didn’t seem to be in any rush to define the relationship, and to be honest you were in no hurry to define anything either. Having fun might have been an acceptable answer, since the two of you certainly had a lot of that since your return. But even despite the physical attraction the two of you clearly felt towards each other, there was also the emotional connection that you two had.

You were surprised to find out just how easy it was to open up to Steve. He was a great listener. You were used to being the listener in situations like these. You had been the listener for Nat whenever she needed to talk and you had been the listener for Bucky on those many nights that he needed someone to vent to. It was nice. Freeing in a way to be able to talk to Steve. He didn’t make you feel ashamed for talking about your feelings, even when those feelings sometimes drifted to his best friend.

You found yourself thinking about Bucky less and less. Not seeing him around as often also helped your heart heal. He would turn up occasionally of course, for briefings or training sessions with Sam, but other than that he had been an anomaly to see at the headquarters. Steve offered little insight into Bucky’s whereabouts, although you wouldn’t dare ask now. Since you and Steve were… together… In some capacity anyway, you did your best to refrain from talking about Bucky Barnes.

But still, your heart ached for him in ways that you couldn't understand. The ache didn’t hurt as much as it had that night on the balcony, but even now the absence of someone who you held so dearly hurt, despite yourself… You decided that it was okay to let go. You were happy being with Steve. He was what you needed and in return you wanted to be the best version of yourself to prove you were worthy of being with him. And you knew that that meant letting go of Bucky.

Of course, fate has a funny sense of humor, because as you were passing through the hallway one late night, a door opened up and a beautiful woman stepped outside. You had been in your sleep wear, a water bottle from the kitchen in your hand, and you damn near ran head first into the woman. Your training kicked in and with the sight of a stranger in the Avenger’s tower made you grab her arm and pin it behind her back. The woman let out a muffled scream and dropped her purse.

“I’m sorry! Please, don’t hurt me!” She squealed as you pinned her against the wall.

“Who are–”

Before you could finish your question, the same door burst open and out came a shirtless, wild eyed Bucky. He had a small pistol in his hand as he scanned the hallway.

“Nadia what the hell-” his words fell away as his eyes settled on you. He lowered his weapon immediately.

“James, help me,” she whimpered.

You and Bucky locked eyes for a moment and then it suddenly hit you all at once. You hadn’t realized that you had gone down the wrong hallway, and that you were in front of Bucky’s apartment. The route used to be a familiar trek for you, but now… This girl had been leaving his company in the late hours of the night…

You dropped her arm immediately and watched as she stumbled back over to Bucky.

Right. The girlfriend.

You felt your cheeks flush in embarrassment as you quickly bent down to pick up the purse and hand it to her.

“I’m sorry, I thought–”

“What the hell?” Bucky asked angrily, holding Nadia and soothing her hyperventilation.

The anger in Bucky’s voice hit a nerve with you. It didn’t make you emotional, like you thought seeing him, and his girlfriend together, would. Instead, you found yourself clenching your jaw in frustration.

“I said sorry, didn’t I?” You snapped, “Maybe next time get your girl here an escort out the door, before someone far scarier than myself finds her in the halls. I think Tony has a special pass for late night visitors.”

Nadia scoffed at the inflection of your tone, and your allusion to her being a hooker. She looked to Bucky for some sort of help, but he just stared daggers at you. You gave her slight smirk and you put your hands on your hips.

Nadia just snatched her purse from me and stormed off down the hallway. You watched as she huffed away, and you felt a small smirk creep up on your face as you turned to look at Bucky. At first, the only thing you could see on his face was anger, his face was a bit flushed and his eyebrows were furrowed. But you swore you could have seen a spark of amusement lingering in his eyes as he stared you down.

“What the hell is your problem?” he demanded, shoving his pistol in the waistband of his sweats.

“I don’t have one,” you said between your clenched teeth, “Like I said, it was an accident, I didn’t realize this was your hallway.”

He raised his eyebrows in disbelief and you just gave out an angry huff of breath. You knew it didn’t look good for you to be so cross. Just because you had bumped into the woman that he chose over you. It was crass and unprofessional… but you didn’t care.

“Whatever, I don’t have to put up with this shit,” you muttered as you turned around to leave.

A cool metal hand caught the back of your arm, not hurting you, but gripping tight enough to stop you from leaving.

“Wait, I–”

You spun around on him, anger flashing in your eyes as you faced him.

“Oh! Are you finally going to talk to me, James? Or yell at me some more for scaring your girlfriend?”

Bucky frowned at you, clearly getting worked up as you were. You knew you needed to be careful. You didn’t want to say the wrong thing in front of Bucky, but he knew exactly how to work you up into a fit.

“You haven’t exactly been a conversationalist with me either, you know,” his voice dripped with sarcasm as he spoke. “You run away for a month and a half, not telling anyone where you’re going.”

“That’s not fair, I was on a mission…”

“Don’t use that as a fucking excuse. We all go on missions, but that was different and we both know it,” Bucky snapped, his temper rising as he was losing control of himself.

“Do you know how worried I’ve been? You, Steve, and Sam disappear after the party and fuck off to some place that no one knows where? What the hell was I supposed to think when Tony said you three had a snag in the mission. I thought you were dead. All of you.”

“We were busy…”

“Oh yeah, I know. You’ve been really busy lately, haven’t you?”

You felt your blood freeze. He obviously was referring to Steve. You weren’t sure how he knew, since you and Steve had made sure not to tell anyone anything yet. You didn’t want to announce a relationship if there wasn’t one. So how did Bucky find out? Did Steve crack and tell him? Had he been lying to you?

Heat quickly found your stomach again. You clenched your fists and met his icy gaze.

“I don’t see what business of that is yours,” you said sharply.

“He’s my best friend,” Bucky said tensely.

For a moment it looked like Bucky would continue talking, but he tightened his mouth into a line and just kept a steady gaze on you. You crossed your arms, mimicking him. You felt your temper rising to dangerous levels.

“Whatever you want to say, just fucking say it.”

Bucky scoffed out a laugh. But you weren’t laughing. You took a step towards him, willing your eyes to be sharp as daggers as you stared at him

“Say it.”

You saw the fire burning in Bucky’s eyes and he clenched his jaw before opening his mouth.

“There were other ways to get back at me, you know,” Bucky said in a deadly low voice, “But fucking my best friend is an all time low.”

You flinched as if he had slapped you.

Your chest was rising and falling at a rapid pace as you tried not to cry in front of him. You wanted to yell at him, scream at him. How dare he accuse you of using Steve as a weapon against him. How dare he get mad at you for trying to move on, when he didn’t want you. Rather than curse him up and down the hallway, you just took a step back from him, feeling oddly hollow and cold.

“I didn’t know you thought so little of me,” you said in a small voice, “but I guess that checks out doesn’t it? I guess you never thought much of me… ever.”

Bucky’s anger seemed to fall away instantly. He uncrossed his arms and opened his mouth to say something, but you were gone. You were running down the hall, tears blurring your vision as you ran. You didn’t stop to listen if he was following you. You flung open your door and slammed it shut as you slid down against the door immediately. Tears poured down your face as you sobbed. You wrapped your arms around your knees, feeling like that was the only thing you could do to keep yourself together.

You sat there, the rest of the night and early into the morning feeling so empty that if a breeze were to come into the apartment, you knew you would float away. Part of you wished that you would. You wondered how many times your heart could break before it was useless. You wondered why you continued to let James Buchanan Barnes break your heart, if you really had any control over that at all. You had hoped that being with Steve would help. Maybe Bucky was right? Were you using Steve to get over him? The thought made you want to vomit.

All you could be certain of was the pain. You felt it everywhere and nowhere all at once. It lived in you. Consumed you. What you hated the most was that you couldn’t distinguish love from the pain anymore. All you knew was that whenever you thought of Bucky, the pain returned with a vengeance. Now it had settled deep in your bones and it made you want to die.

Part 6

[toast-idk]

Ty sat by the shore next to his shoes, his socks tucked into the toes.

The tide had only just come in, meaning the still damp sand wouldn’t get into his clothes and shoes, instead it clumped around rocks and shifted into little rivulets that reminded Ty of a network of fast flowing rapids.

He’d made a point, since leaving to the scholomance, of not visiting the beaches when he returned to Los Angeles. But the institute was empty now, Helen and Aline on holiday and the rest of the Blackthorns scattered.

Alone, the past seemed more bearable to Ty. The memories less painful.

It was strange to Ty, and sometimes a little unnerving, how different his family was now: since the cohort had taken Idris.

No more pancakes in the morning or movie nights with Dru or reading stories to Tavvy.

There was still Livvy though. There would always be Livvy.

She sat beside him now, or as close to sitting as a ghost could get, her pale form shifting and shivering in the tentative morning light. It almost looked as if she were cold.

The water brushed his toes and he smiled at the icy wash, looking to Livvy, forgetting, for a moment, that she wouldn’t be able to feel it.

Ty had family. Ty had friends- a friend, anyway, Anush. He had Livvy.

He knew, rationally, that he shouldn’t feel so lonely, that was for the isolated, the missing. He knew Mark had sometimes felt terribly lonely in the hunt.

As he thought, his fingers found- as they always did- the graceful swoop of a herons wings around his neck, the chain icy in the frigid morning air.

At first the gift had sickened him, not the usual kind of illness but a twisting in his stomach and a dizziness so intense he’d had to sit down. He was sure there were a million words for what he’d felt holding the necklace. Regret, sorrow, perhaps even heartbreak, but only one thought had really struck Ty in that moment. He was lonely.

He missed Kit.

He could remember with unfortunate clarity the moment he had raised Livvy. The desperation and the heat of the fire and Kit beside him, somehow burning his skin more than even the flames could.

Hearing “I love you” shouted like a plea and Livvy, not quite there but close enough.

He had thought, foolishly it had turned out, that Kit would want Livvy back as much as he did. He had seen them kissing that day, and knew that they understood each other perhaps better than he could either of them.

“To never being parted” Kit had said across a campfire. Ty knew it wasn’t right to label him a liar but he’d left without even saying goodbye.

Livvy shifted beside him.

“What are you thinking about?” She asked him, her voice more quiet, more introspective than it had been when she was alive.

He never lied to Livvy.

“Kit.”

She didn’t reply, but moved a shimmering hand over his.

“I miss him.”

And he did, he could feel Kits absence under his ribs, a sort of hungry ache.

“I’m sure he misses you.”

Ty closed his eyes and lay back on the sand. He could hear the rustle of Livvy joining him.

The waves were loud in the silence between them, thunderous and unrelenting.

“I loved him.” He whispered, half hoping Livvy wouldn’t hear.

He knew that really, at 15, he had been too young for love, to understand the complexity of his own thoughts and emotions, too surrounded by loss to let himself think too hard about them.

It was a very sad thought that if he and Kit met today, if they had between them what had been there 3 years ago, Ty would know.

Perhaps now he would have told Kit that he loved him too. That he didn’t know how relationships and romance should go but that he would learn for him, with him.

But more likely, the two of them would barely speak at all, the desperation and fear that had driven them together missing. The bond broken before, in this alternate world, it had formed.

[hamartiah]

𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐑 𝐕𝐎𝐈𝐂𝐄 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒 ( voice claim: djura / blood.borne )

first meeting: " A pleasure to meet you, most know me as Mr. Moon. But you can call me Briar- as we're on friendlier terms. I'm a dreamweaver, I help mold dreams and do my part to maintain the dreamscape, among other important tasks. It keeps me quite busy actually. But I'm sure I can make time for you. "

greeting: " I'd be happy to give you a tour, free of charge. There's so much to see in the dream- it can be a little overwhelming to some. "

parting: " Till we meet again. Whether in the waking world, or another dream. "

about self, eyesight: " I wasn't always blind, it just sort of happened when I was very young. I don't really feel any sort of way about it honestly, and manage to get around on my own just fine. Conveniently though; the dream allows me to see whenever I'm there- so I can still do my work without issue. Cool right? "

about self, halo: " Most Halovians have them don't they... well, not all. At least I don't have one- makes me pretty unique right? I haven't really found myself struggling any more or any less because of it though. I make do just fine. "

chat, dreams: " People enjoy escaping into dreams. You can do anything, and be anything. The limits are entirely based on your own mind. And we do a very good job of keeping it as safe as possible. It's hard to blame people for wanting to stay for as long as they can. Breaks are advised though; take a moment to wake up, walk around and stretch your legs. Dreams are fun. But they are just dreams. It's important not to lose yourself to them. "

chat, the family: " Right you are- I do have some ties to the nightingale family, being a dreamweaver haha. But I don't like labeling myself among any of the five lineages. The family has a great deal more wrong with it than they'd like you to think. And it's leaders now rush desperately to take control with the Oak family as frail as it is after Sunday's absence. It's all a bit much really... "

hobbies: " I may be blind, but I can still dance. Dancing is a true, and engaging form of self expression. Whether you're alone, or with someone else- it's good to let your body move and feel however you feel. "

annoyances: " Do people really have to wear such strong perfumes? I don't mind most scents- but my nose is very sensitive. Strong aromas, especially when worn in excess give me a headache. "

something to share: " As a Halovian I have empathic abilities that allow me to feel another's emotions. I can even manipulate them if I want; see, all it takes is a simple suggestion and I could have you dancing for me. Or barking like a dog. Don't worry- I only do this to the most troublesome guests. I find a simple conversation is usually the easiest route to working out any issues. "

knowledge: " The ocean here is always bright and blue. But did you know in reality the sea can be countless different colors, dependent on what planet you're on, or the climate? I've always wanted to see a real ocean, even if it's dull and grey. "

about sunday: " His heart was in the right place I think, trying to do what he truly believed was the right thing. " sighs. " Just went about it the wrong way. "

about robin: " She's a wonderful friend, and I appreciate everything she's done for me. But I do envy her sometimes, being able to venture so far from home. "

about reca: " The dream is the only place I can enjoy his films. I admire the passion he has for his craft, and his willingness to dig into... complicated themes. But as they say with anything good- too much is too much. "

about boothill: " We don't really get any Galaxy Rangers in the dream. And such a rowdy one at that- haha! How refreshing! I wonder what he dreams of... "

about boothill 2: " He mentioned helping me escape this gilded cage during our first encounter. I wonder if he'll keep his word, or if it was merely a stray thought. "

about ratio: " I can appreciate someone who isn't afraid to speak plainly. Too often visitors and residents of the dream are afraid to offend, and try to appeal to people despite themselves. His blunt way of speaking was a surprise, admittedly- but a pleasant one. "

about rappa: " What an energetic girl! Determination like that can move mountains. I hope she maintains that for years to come, if she can hone it properly- I've no doubt she can do anything she sets her mind to. "

[askthe-r-m-au]

Oh golly gee willakerz! It's that time again!!

I can't write for shi-

Also finally this is the part where Voz is introduced so I can answer some things about his existence-

[The Ring-Misstress | Chapter 3: The project]

There was about 1 more day until the big launch of The Amazing Digital Circus computer game. The recently promoted Co-Ringmaster had lay awake in her bed the night before. All this combined with the constant looming need of an exit was a whole lotta pressure. It's probably the exact opposite on Caine's end...

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

Within the circus walls, outside of bounds was Caine. He, too, had been up all night (but for a few more reasons). They had much less time than he thought they would. He may have to continue adding the finishing touches throughout the week. Hopefully, it shouldn't be too much trouble. I mean, he does have Pomni to help him and- POMNI! HE'D NEARLY FORGOTTEN TO WAKE HER UP!

The ringmaster quickly pulled out his WackyWatch.

☆Ah, it's only been 5 minutes...☆

☆5 MINUTES!?!☆

Gadzooks, he'd better hurry if they wanted time to prepare for tomorrow.

Making his way towards her door, he couldn't help but realize. After the other day, he'd felt awfully strange. Maybe it was the unfamiliarity of Bubble not being there. He'd never thought that he could ever let a virus in under his watchful eyes. How long had Bubble been like that? Had he just gotten infected by something sometime before or something else? Something about his absence made him uneasy...

Buuuuut now was not a good time to think about all that! He couldn't spend time thinking about such silly things when they had such important matters!! He had such to to and- Okayy... get ahold of yourself, Caine! What is wrong with you today??

He took a quick breath and reached his hand to the door (witch was very shaky when did that happen???).

Okay... you can do this...

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

☆GOOD MORNING, POMNI!!☆

Pomni jumped from her bed, startled at the fact that Caine actually used the door for once. Not that she minded.

♧Oh- uh- morning, Caine... wh-♧

The ringmaster cut her off impatiently.

☆COME NOW MY DEAR FRIEND! WE HAVE LOTS TO DO TODAY!! WE HAVE A VERY BIG DAY TOMORROW!! NO TIME TO WASTE!☆

♧Huh? Hold on, what're you-♧

She looked up at Caine and back down at herself, recalling the last few days' events.

♧Oh... alright, one sec.♧

☆Great!! Meet me out here. I have something I wanna show you!!☆

She grabbed her hat and cane, sitting on a small shelf next to her bed, and headed out to where Caine said he'd be.

♧Alright... what's up?♧

☆I'm glad you asked!! See, I've been working on this for a while now, and I thought it'd be great if we could work together to finish up on my most recent project!!☆

He snapped his fingers, and in front of Pomni stood a little model. Closely resembling her old jester outfit, but more green instead of red, except for the additional party hat. Which was also lined with teeth?? Eh, it makes sense if Caine designed it.

Other than that, he looked... rather adorable. The little guy opened his eyes, taking in his new surroundings as Caine began to speak.

☆This little Fella is Voz. Or a V.irtual O.ffspring Z.imulation!☆

♧Wait, doesn't that start with a- nevermind...♧

☆I know, I know, it just rolled off the tongue more. Aaaaanyway, this little guy will be able to get along with the other players, as well as help the rest of us with minor tasks! Or, yaknow, just do other kid stuff.☆

♧Such as..?♧

☆A- well, let's ask him!! Cmon, little buddy, say hello!☆

Voz took a big gasp of air before attempting to speak. Except his words came out all glitchy and distorted. You could hardly make out what he was saying.

[H- h- ɛl·l -o¿ -lo-?]

Voz covered his mouth, and another tiny gasp escaped. Pomni looked at Caine in confusion.

☆Heheh... so maybe he can't speak... b-but that's where YOU come in!! Your job is to help program him, you can start by giving him a voice!☆

Pomni looked down at Voz then back up at Caine.

♧Well how? I don't even know what he's supposed to sound like.♧

☆Well... what do YOU think he sounds like??☆

Pomni thought for a second. She thought long and hard. She hardly remembered anything about children herself. She turned to look at Voz one more time.

[...hello?]

Out came the voice of a little boy, around 6 or 7.

He gasped and covered his mouth again. But this time in surprise rather than shame.

Pomni's eyes lit up. It actually worked.

♧Hey-♧

Caine flew in right beside Pomni, nearly shoving into her.

☆Welcome to the circus, little fella!! I'm your creator Caine, and this is your Co-creator, Pomni!☆

Caine gestured towards himself, and then his Co-host.

Voz Looked at the two standing together. First Caine, then Pomni. Caine, then Pomni. Caine, Pomni. He softly spoke up once again.

[...Papa? Mama?]

The pair looked awkwardly at each other then back at the child infront of them.

☆Oh my stars how could I forget? These things adapt to the first thing they see.☆

♧Huh??♧

☆I'm pretty sure that's a kid thing, just go with it.☆

She looked back down at Voz, who stared back, anticipating an answer.

♧I... yaknow what? Sure. Just- you can call us that.♧

He looked up at his "Parents" with huge eyes. His smile almost stretched all across his face. He didn't need to say anything for the two to know he meant "thank you".

♧Heh, you're very welcome-♧

Before she could finish, Voz ran up to the both of them and hugged their legs.

Pomni and Caine accepted his embrace. Looking down at their new project, all that dead from before? Was gone.

Maybe this wouldn't be so hectic after all.

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

RAH OMAIGOSH IM SO SORRY IT TOOK ME FOREVER TO GET BACK INTO WRITING THIS-

I procrastinated alot-

Expect chapter 4 in like...

20 years

Anyway yall know the drill, ask them stuff, ask ME stuff, and... uh-

Bye-bye

[sabweenie]

so its the middle of the night and i'm rereading one of the earlier sections of the yuri zine and i come back to this quote, "sometimes when looking at my self is as painful as staring directly into the sun, my solution has typically been to study the reflection in the moon" and it all just sort of hit me. holy hell. inside mari. to study yourself through another pair of eyes, in her case. this language unlocked so many different ways of understanding inside mari that i just started scribbling on my ipad until next thing i knew an hour had passed and i ran out of white space and how did i even get here? anyways. here is the batshit insane looking page where i dumped all the thoughts i'm going to attempt to organize them here? this image is just so funny to me now i thought i should include it.

the horror of Looking at your own self.

a lot of yuri zine talked about reading and interacting with yuri as a form of self identification. and how those bring up both good feelings (gender validating) and bad feelings (confronting yourself and your regret and your shame for whatever reasons you may have). both as a consumer of this media but also found within the characters themselves in the stories we read. considering how the big reveal of the entire story is about how. in an attempt to identify herself, mari was forced to truly look at herself. something she literally couldn't handle. throughout the zine, the authors all in one way or another touch upon the idea of how uncomfortable it is to confront yourself. to look at yourself. its shown through jennifer and needy's relationship in jennifer's body, which i hadn't thought about but one of the essays in this zine explains it so well. it's shown through when readers see too much of themselves in certain characters. this feeling of discomfort exists both in and out of the texts we talk about. and how this sort of leads into the understanding that yuri is "the relationship to absence, to projection." the yuri that of inside mari is how she absents herself as a way to allow herself to love Yori (to love girls in general). (i want to emphasize how in allowing herself, it implying the norm for her was denying herself, stopping herself, punishing herself for feeling the way she did) because the whole time, the mari we see is just mari the whole time. not komori body swapped into mari's body. the mind warping mental gymnastics she goes through to live this sort of delusion allows her to be a boy who's just trapped in a girl's body. it allows her own self to love girls and accept this because. it's not mari thinking these things, it's komori who is a boy so. it's allowed. this also speaks to Shuzo Oshimi’s thoughts on being a girl. the ways mari goes about identifying her self while at the same time struggling with the mere act of Looking at her self is so yuri. i'm going to come back to this after i talk about Identity for a little bit hold on.

what is it that mari yearns for? what is it about gender?

mari's fragmented identity splits into three parts: fumiko, mari, and komori. her attachment to komori, the male identity she takes on stems from her hetero-patriarchal understanding of the world. she envies him for being able to experience sexuality and love girls in ways she feels she can't. but she ultimately abandons this identity too and exists as something separate from all three. or something that combines them all? the story ends with her alive and finally happy with herself. her attachment to komori's identity is less about his masculinity or maleness so to speak, but what she really desires is to love other girls in the specific (romantic, sexual) way he is allowed to in this society. her yearning is lesbian. i read her experience playing with gender not as her struggling with her own gender identity, but instead i felt that her beef was with the social performance of it all. i think she's a girl who doesn't feel connected to the daily practices and rituals that signal femininity. explaining why she sort of.. forgets how to do makeup and dress herself when she exists as the clueless komori inside mari's body. she uses him to liberate herself from these expectations. maybe i'm just full of shit. maybe her gender is just lesbian after all. another essay in the yuri zine talks about how yearning is gay. yearning is queer and yearning is lesbian. that yearning isn't limited to wanting to be with someone, but wanting to be someone. to live life the way they do. which hey. is literally what mari ends up doing in this story. what she yearns for is a reality that cannot exist (or rather, one that she cannot confront/reconcile with yet) she cannot look at herself, so she absents herself in order to allow herself to pursue her own desire. she felt like she couldn't pursue her desire in her current self, in her current standing as a girl in society.

what does it mean to feel like a person? to feel human?

i need to watch that interview everyone talks about "yuri made me human" because i already feel that truth in my core but i don't even know what the hell they're talking about in that interview. from the zine, "is the fantasy of yuri about finding a way to become a person. when you don't feel like one?" yes. but. what does it mean to feel like a person? in mari's case, which person? her First person? the one that died with her grandmother and replaced with a new name and identity by a mother she cannot understand or bond with? her Second person? mari? the person she grows to hate? the one that is forced to perform these ritualistic practices that signal femininity but is never allowed to desire it for herself? her Third person? komori? the depressed pathetic sexually frustrated hikikomori who is too stupid to see how good he has it* that he doesn't have to fend off boys who only objectify her? that he can have a girlfriend and kiss her and hold her hand in public without punishment? the komori that ultimately broke under the heavy weight of the truth that is not her. she is not him. she is no one for a while. yuri is everything and yuri is nothing. in fact, when mari is in that coma or whatever, yori desperately wants her back again, wants her awake, and she begs “don’t disappear” until she wakes up into someone again. someone for yori. but most importantly, someone for herself (the first time i read this, i felt sort of disappointed? that yori and mari didn’t get to live together forever but those feelings didn’t last long... i don’t actually want that for them. in fact i actually really love that they were able to reconcile their feelings for each other and also end on a note where yori goes to school and mari seems to actually be happy and secure with her own self) anyways. she struggles to connect to her fractured identities until through her growth as a character she not only starts feeling like a person but becoming one, probably for the first time.

inside mari is fascinating to look at and unpack from a yuri pov. i loved thinking about how this too was yuri, that she envies komori for his ability to pursue and love women. the way she projected onto him. the way she wanted something nonexistent and intangible. the way she yearned through imagining she existed as something other than herself. the way she shattered when faced with herself. the way she existed not as a participant, nor an observer. the way she loved yori so much she became everyone and no one.

in conclusion please read yuri zine and please also read yaoi zine 1 and 2 they are genuinely so good. bless the minds of everyone who worked on these.. the yaoi yuri theorists i look up to.... there's no real conclusion to this ramble. i hate conclusions. i'm done. good night...

[dollsonmain]

Stuff be happening and while it could go on the whining blog, I kind of think it goes here even though some of it is definitely whining.

You get a cut, though.

I'm getting really tired of being blamed for other people's mistakes.

That Guy and I were fighting yesterday because neither of us noticed an unexcused absence on Son's reports cards since the beginning of the year. The report cards are printed in small text on colored paper and neither of us noticed. That Guy blamed me and told me to fix it.

There's not going to be any fixing, the absence is from the beginning of the school year and they're not going to be able to prove or disprove that Son was there that day at this point. I'll call anyway and then tell him and he'll say that's my fault, too.

We also were fighting because That Guy puts off dealing with his mail for years at a time (and his taxes and that was a whole other problem that I got blamed for even though I was the one that fixed it) and couldn't find some of his bank statements. I put them in the same place every time, and have for nearly 20 years.

Yes, sometimes I put bills in the wrong pile and then we get another bill and it's taken care of. If he'd do his mail immediately, he'd help catch those mistakes. I've done that 2 times since 2007. 2.

This time it was an old school lunch bill that we actually didn't get until a couple months after it was already paid (I took care of it at the time), and a water bill.

The water bill never arrived and we got another bill and a shut off notice. I paid that bill online and put the paper copy in the bills. He was yelling at me about how THAT was the bill that never arrived and THAT'S why the remittance was still on it until I showed him no, that bill was $117 and our usual water usage is around $56, so that was a bill for two months of water, the one that arrive later, and the one I paid online. I took care of it at the time.

I told him about all of this WHEN it happened and he forgot.

I'm also getting that a lot at work. Manager keeps leaving me alone in the store which also means I have to do her job. I'm the newest employee and my job title is "cashier".

Management is who should be dealing with vendors not parking where she wants and then refusing to move when I tell them to, delivering too early in the day, and sneaking in earlier and earlier so we get noise violations from the local HOA (the owner should just leave the HOA) and continuing to do so even when I tell them not to come in until 7, customers having issues with the pumps/card reader/lottery kiosk, etc. None of that is the cashier's job.

Vendor's don't give a fuck what a cashier tells them to do, either. They only listen to a manager, because only the manager can tell them what to do. That's how that works.

But I get blamed for it.

It happens so often that I'm starting to question myself. Am I wrong? Is it really all on me to manage That Guy's mail and I'm just being lazy by refusing, that I didn't notice that absence and tell him about it even though he has just as much opportunity to see it on the fridge as I do, and my fault when vendors, customers, or inspectors don't listen to me because no one sees a cashier as someone with any sort of authority?

Am I just.... Are my expectations unreasonable?

-

I have no idea if That Guy is going to work tomorrow.

Thursday he pulled the "I could tell you what that is but you don't want to hear about it" line on me when half-telling me that his office may be shut down as of tomorrow due to the recent funding cuts.

He hasn't brought it up since.

If he's out of a job that makes me the sole earner for the household, and I earn less than half the mortgage payment each month.

[midsummersmorn]

Hiiiiiiii!!!!!! 🤯 and 🧛 please?? 💞🦛

Adding these here too @monsterrae1, @eddiebabygirldiaz & @spotsandsocks

Shannon and Alexis fic first it is!

Why was it then that now every time Shannon woke up she was thinking about Alexis? It wasn’t like they had met, she just saw her come into the vet sometimes and saw her kiss Ted. An immediate feeling even now when lying in her own bed made her uncomfortable, why did it bother her so much?

Lots of vampire buck sentences

Eddie’s eyes looked over to Hen, there was even more concern on his face now “Can you message me when you get there?”, he asked, unsure that Buck would be able to with the state he was in Hen nodded her head, she couldn’t help her own concern about Buck too. If his eyes weren’t still closed she was sure she would be checking them “I will”, she answered before she pulled on the seatbelt for herself. Buck didn’t stop groaning, when Eddie’s absence was felt it was worse but knowing that his car was moving did give him some kind of comfort “Why do I feel like this?”, he whispered to himself. Hen wasn’t driving quickly, not when almost every turn she took Buck’s head would shake and his eyes would open. She was noticing something though, he had this glazed over look that felt very unusual to her “Buck, can you see?”, she asked. Buck didn’t want to keep his eyes open for long but he nodded his head at the question “Yeah but it feels… I don’t know… off”, he answered. Hen took the answer for what it was but it did not make her less concerned, it just seemed to add to the concern she was already feeling “You’ll be home soon, promise”, she said. Maybe trying to distract him from whatever he was feeling. Buck felt that strangeness again when he was looking at Hen for too long or maybe a time he felt was too long. He was becoming aware somewhat of the way her heartbeat changed when she was concerned, he didn’t understand how he could even hear it “Hen”, he said, sounding almost scared. Hen moved the car so it was parking outside of Buck’s building, her head turned “It’s okay. You’re home”, she assured him. Buck smiled for a second, relief was there but then he fell face forward, his seatbelt stopping him from falling straight onto the floor of his car

[thaliajoy-blog]

Valyrians // Iron Islanders parallel I found interesting 🤔 and leads me to some conclusions about Valyrians (it's just my opinion though) since we know little about them ultimately

- Obviously, the both of them practiced/ still practice some form of slavery.

- Valyria was a powerful, brutal empire looking to always expand it's territories, and was feared by all ; and while a lot milder the Targaryen dynasty springs from "the Conqueror" (and several Dornish wars show that continued ambition). All the while not only did the Ironborn once conquer a sizeable part of Westeros and subjected it to their dreadful rule under house Hoare (Harren the Black), but in the current asoiaf timeline they also have conquered parts of the North, and Euron has even bigger plans. So in both cases, a big tendency to expansionism.

- They both practice polygamy to some extent. Ironborn have one "rock wife", a legal wife, and "salt wives", who are captive concubines. We've not that many info on whether or not the Valyrians valued some wives above others, since the two cases we have real info on are entirely different. But like the Ironborn Valyrian polygamy seems to be only polygyny, a marriage of one man to several women.

- So, info we've got on individual characters can imply many things for the Valyrians, especially how their society works (social strata) and their values. Some theories have it that Valyrians treated their women much better & gave them quasi-equality to men, but I kind of think the cases of Visenya & Rhaenys (and some possible cases among some previous Valyrian women like Janaera Baelaerys or the Elaena who "ruled with her brother") in the eye of the comparison with the Ironborn, kind of look like Asha's situation. Especially with Visenya. They are both women with unusual positions & who are closely associated to power by their male relative ; they are both warriors and they fight for their family, and are respected as such. Despite the Iron Islands having a pretty misogynistic culture, Asha manages to fit right in and be considered practically as her father's heir and a possible contender for the salt throne, while Visenya was an advisor for Aegon & sat the Iron throne in his absence with her sister Rhaenys. And even if Rhaenys embodied more feminine qualities and wasn't a "true warrior", she could still fly her dragon into battle with her siblings. It's possible that dragons elevated Valyrian women & their place in society, like being a warrior, a sailor & a captain did for Asha in the Ironborn society. They are useful in the same way men are, are more or less able to do the same things.

- To develop the comparison, if we look at Maegor, who was raised by Visenya, the embodiment of Valyrian female autonomy & power in a sense, it kind of is strange that he became a man who didn't respect women all that much. He abandoned his first wife because she couldn't give him children, and treated most of his other brides as potential broodmares. In both instances in the text he affirms that what he wants from his wives isn't just "a child", but "a son". How does that make sense for Visenya's son, raised by her, except if Valyrians were patriarchal but sometimes allowed women (dragonriders) to hold some power and could on an individual level be lead to see them as equals of sorts (like Balon with Asha) ? While still really valuing men first, ultimately - which is why Aegon (the Uncrowned) was made prince of Dragonstone, and not Rhaena, who was older but female. It's a culture that cares about sex & does discriminate to some extent, but cares more about strength in some way, and so gives some equality to powerful women.

- So, this lead me to tentatively infer that dragonlords possibly did "rank" their wives, and if they had dragonrider (sister) wives and non-dragonrider wives, put the first above the second in some way. (Edit : they apparently sort of did, as they could have wives and concubines, like Aenar the Exile had)

[trinity-mia]

a story as endless as the ocean

the lightning thief

0.1 kronos ate the kids

warnings : kronos... eating his kids

word count : 3.7k

0.1 kronos ate the kids... yummy ( ? )

-- sixteen years later

In the absence of the sun, the day could've been observed as night as dark storm clouds gathered overhead. I was glad I'd checked the weather before getting on my motorcycle— I would just barely miss getting caught in the storm.

Normally, in New York City, you only drove yourself places if you were one of two things: rich or stupid (although, to be honest, it's astounding how often those two things coincide). The traffic of Manhattan is unbearable, but if you're that much of a show off, and you really want people looking at your car, you drive. However, while I did fall under the "rich" category (thank you random casting agent in Central Park when I was 2... I guess?), I wasn't driving because I wanted people to see the Harley my mom had gotten me for my 16th birthday the August before. Being entirely honest, I just needed a break, and sometimes yelling at people about how awful their driving is can be very therapeutic. 

But the clouds unsettled me in a way that I couldn't explain. A way that had me shuffling on my Harley and shifting my weight much more than my ADHD would normally have made me do. The weather had been off since I'd come back from Philly in December, so I was almost used to it at that point, but it was like a sandbag had burst open in the pit of my stomach, letting all of the particles of sand spill out, every time I looked up at the sky. 

Still, there was no use complaining about the weather. If anything, I should've been complaining about the fact that I was still in the exact same spot I was ten minutes ago. Sometimes the City That Never Sleeps is really a pain in the ass. 

Danny was going to give me a real hard talking to if I was late for this field trip. It was supposed to be to some Greek and Roman history museum in Brooklyn, but most people weren't going to learn— they were going because it got them out of class. We only had a few weeks left of school, but Christ if we all didn't want the year to end sooner rather than later. And Danny only wanted me to go because of a role I'd recently gotten playing a Spartan queen, Aerlla, as though me knowing more about Greek mythology was going to win me another Oscar. 

I gave a sigh of relief as my next few turns weren't nearly as crowded. A bit of the traffic finally thinned out, so getting to school was much less difficult. Technically, with it being a boarding school and all, we weren't allowed to have our cars here. They figured we'd all try to leave and never come back if that were the case. It was only with a little extra money that I was allowed to be able to travel. No one else really got that privilege. 

Luck seemed to be on my side that day and I got back to the school just as they were loading the bus for us to go on our senior's (which was a whole story in and of itself, as I was supposed to be a sophomore. Thank God for online classes) end of the year field trip. While it might be the most boring thing you've ever heard of (yes, I thought that at first, too), Mr. Brunner, the coolest teacher I've ever had, was supposed to be chaperoning all of us. 

My luck ran out right after that, though, once I noticed our other chaperone was my insufferable AP calculus teacher from Georgia. She came to our school right after our first calc teacher had a nervous breakdown. She always wore a faux leather jacket and, although she was fifty, she looked like she'd drive my Harley into someone's locker whenever she wanted. 

"Allie, there you are! I was beginning to think you wouldn't make it on time," my friend, Grover, called as soon as I took my helmet off. I saw Mr. Brunner check my name off of the roll call list from beside Grover.

Grimacing as I realized I wouldn't have time to run by my room to put my helmet up and therefore would have to take it with me, I replied, "We wouldn't be in New York if I wasn't almost late."

We both boarded the bus, Mr. Brunner giving me a small smile as I passed, and luckily got a seat together. Much to my chagrin, however, it was right in front of the resident douche and pain in the ass himself: Nathan Bobofit. He gave me a gross smile and I could only just keep myself from getting up and bolting as the bus started moving. 

My teeth clenched together as Nathan reached around the back of my seat to grab my arm. "C'mon, Jackson, my lap's a whole lot more comfortable than sitting next to that weirdo."

I jerked my arm out of his hand as he tried pulling me up. "Don't fucking touch me," I snapped scathingly as I tried scooting as far away from him as I could. 

I'd had my share of rejecting him, but God if he wasn't persistent. And gross. Really, really gross. It was sad to say, but I was used to it. People on the internet don't exactly hold back either. And being an actress and model with a big following... yeah, not the best mix. People are creepy, I've learned that lesson many times. 

"I'm gonna fucking kill him this time. I swear to God, I'm not kidding," I grumbled as I felt Nathan's knee pressing into my seat, just enough for me to be able to feel. 

"Don't. Allie, these are the last few weeks you have to be in high school. If you get expelled now, you won't be able to go to Columbia next year and you'll be repeating your senior year at a different school. Just get through this, a few more weeks, and you're in the clear," Grover warned me. I huffed and leaned back, grumbling a 'whatever' to keep him satisfied. 

To be fair, he was right. Danny, my manager, would've been pissed at me if I managed to get expelled in my last semester of high school. He'd already done so much so I could graduate early and figure out a schedule for me to be able to go to some classes in person and finish the rest online. With how much time and effort he'd put into helping me get a good education, I'd hate to throw it all away because I couldn't keep my temper in check. 

And I'd hate for TMZ and all the other awful news outlets to get word of me having got expelled because I fought someone. God, I shudder to think of the fire that the media would light under my ass. Though, I thought, maybe if they figured out why, at least Twitter would be on my side. 

I was happy the trip was fairly short. I could only go so long ignoring the painfully obvious and gross comments about my body by the boys behind me. Grover and one of my cheerleader friends, Ivy, made sure they got directly behind me so Nathan couldn't. He'd been known to try things when left behind me and today I'd made a mistake by wearing a skirt. As we unloaded the bus, Mr. Brunner got us checked in and led the museum tour. 

Mr. Brunner was your average middle-aged guy, except for the wheelchair he had to be in wherever he went. It was a well-known joke for everyone around the school to try and guess why he had to use it. As far as we knew, no one was correct. Mainly because no one has enough courage to ask him. Popular theory was that he got stabbed during one of his sword demonstrations and accidentally got hurt. 

He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery. It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for over two thousand or three thousand years. 

He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top and us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, Mrs. Dodds would give me the evil eye.

Finally, I got fed up, my patience run too thin, and I snapped, "will you shut up?" at Nathan, the loudest of them all. And though I had turned towards Nathan, Mr. Brunner had stopped talking and I could tell he was looking directly at me. I could also hear a few stifled giggles coming for the rest of the senior class. 

"Miss Jackson, did you have a comment?" I turned back towards him and noticed his amused expression. 

"No, sir," I replied, trying to keep a blush from coming to my face. 

"Do you mind telling us what this picture represents?" He asked, gesturing towards a carving right beside him. I let out an internal breath of relief. Thank God it was something I recognized. 

"That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"

"Yes," he frowned, and I knew he was going to ask for a better explanation. "And he did this because..."

"Kronos was the King of the Titans and he didn't trust his kids, the gods, because there was a prophecy he heard that said they would overthrow him and lead the world themselves. So he ate them. Except, his wife, Rhea hid baby Zeus and gave Kronos and rock dressed in baby clothes to eat instead. Once Zeus grew up, Rhea gave Kronos a mixture of wine and mustard so he would throw up the rest of his children." There were a few disgusted outbursts at this. "Since they were immortal, they had been growing in Kronos' stomach the same way they would have. So then there was a long war between the gods and the titans and the gods ended up winning." 

I heard a scoff from beside me. "This is so stupid. It's not like our job applications are gonna have 'why did Kronos eat his children' as a question you have to answer correctly to get hired," Nathan stage whispered to his friends. They snickered in response. 

"And why, Miss Jackson," Mr. Brunner said, "to paraphrase Mr. Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?" 

I sighed and racked my brain for at least a semi-logical explanation, because truthfully, I couldn't think of one. "There's always something that you can learn from history and myths passed down by generations. By listening to the stories, you can ensure you won't make the same mistakes— in this case, you learn not to let your own paranoia control you?" 

He tilted his head as if debating whether or not my answer satisfied what he was looking for. He finally came to a conclusion. "Not quite the answer I was looking for, but full credit all the same. Your explanation was wonderfully done, Miss Jackson. After Kronos' children were released from his stomach, the gods teamed up together to overthrow their father. And they did so by cutting him into little pieces with his own scythe. Now on that happy note, Mrs. Dodds, could you escort us outside for lunch?"

I speed-walked out of there, Grover in tow, before Mr. Brunner could call me back in. If he needed to say something super important he could tell me outside, but I wasn't in the mood to get lectured right at that moment. 

We all gathered in various groups on the steps of the museum. We were positioned in a way that would allow us to watch the traffic on Fifth Avenue. The weather still worried me as the clouds had only gotten darker, but I forced myself to ignore it once I noticed no one else was paying attention to it. 

Most of the girls were gossiping in groups, most likely talking about how Gabby hooked up with a boy in our class, Tate Dare. I'd heard the story a million times— I didn't need the story again. 

Being famous did have one major perk: everyone wanted to be my friend, which in turn allowed me to know all of the school's gossip before almost everyone else. The boys were trying— and failing— to pickpocket a few tourists who'd stopped in front of the museum to take pictures. Of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing. 

I threw my head to the side, a gesture telling Grover to follow me to the fountain a little ways away, trying very hard to make it seem like we weren't part of the slightly-psycho group of teens. 

"Since you're my main source of news, what's going on school-wise?" Grover asked me once we'd gotten comfortable on the fountain. 

I shrugged. "Gabby, you know— the Gabriella who's on the cheer team with me— hooked up with Tate Dare. Lindsay Greene might be getting suspended for vaping in the bathrooms, but that's up in the air right now considering her daddy's a teacher. Uh... oh! Victor Ryles failed a drug test, so he can't try out for any sports next year. That's it, I think?" 

"Why do you know all of this? And can I have your apple?" 

I handed it to him and smirked. "Most people like me— well, they like my 'status' at the very least. If I want to know the gossip, they give me the gossip." 

Grover and I laughed and he was about to say something else but was cut off by Nathan 'tripping' over a crack in the sidewalk and tossing his food right on Gover's lap. 

"Oops. I got a little distracted by your beautiful eyes, Allie," he said in a faux British accent, his friends snickering behind him. 

The look on his face just made me angrier and he reached out to touch my face, but never got the chance. One moment he was in front of me, the next he was sitting on his ass in the fountain, spitting out water and a few coins. The weirdest part was the whispers. 

"Did you see—"

"— The water—"

"— Like it grabbed him!"

I clenched my teeth as I glared at him. I would've loved to say something super badass, and the words were on the tip of my tongue, but a strong grip on my arm kept me from saying it. I turned my glare to Mrs. Dodds, who was staring at me with the most triumphant expression. She looked as if she'd been waiting for this moment all semester. 

"Now, honey—" she said, using the nickname that never failed to enrage me. 

I rolled my eyes and interrupted her despite the situation I had put myself in. "Oh, whatever! What's my punishment going to be? See how long I can go without eating?" I snapped. 

That apparently wasn't the correct thing to say. The triumphant fire in her eyes only burned brighter. 

"Come with me."

"Wait!" Grover said, trying to force himself in between Mrs. Dodds and me, giving me a why-the-FUCK-would-you-say-something-like-that look. "It was me, I pushed him."

It wasn't the most believable lie in the world, especially considering I had much more muscle than him and it was very obvious he wouldn't have been able to push Nathan into the fountain. 

Because of the roles I'd done, I had to learn a whole bunch of shit I'd never use again, which include, but are not limited to, sword fighting, hitting many bullseyes with a bow and arrow, and lots of hand-to-hand fighting. From the weight training classes I take, I can bench press about 160 pounds, give or take, and cheerleading makes throw myself upside down while spinning. Grover looked like a twig compared to me (still love you, though, Grover). 

"I don't think so. Miss Jackson will come with me, and you can stay right here."

She didn't have to try hard to scare Grover, considering she already terrified him. He gave a small and stiff nod and looked at me petrified. 

"Thanks for trying, G," I whispered. 

He just stood paralyzed and kept glancing between Mr. Brunner and Mrs. Dodds, who was already at the front door. 

Wait, what? How did she get there so fast? I shook my head and walked after her. 

"Don't die in there, Jackson! Me and my friends still want to fuck you before we graduate! How about Thursday?" Nathan yelled at my turned back. 

I turned, gave him my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare and a middle finger, then continued walking. 

At first, I thought she was just going to make me buy Nathan a new t-shirt at the gift shop, but that didn't seem to be the case. Mrs. Dodds kept walking until we'd made it back to the Greek statues and paintings section. 

She crossed her arms with her back turned towards me until I'd gotten close enough. When she turned, I stopped walking. 

"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said after a few moments of silence. 

At first, I thought she was mentioning all the random times paparazzi would show up at the front steps of Yancy Acadamy and demand my picture, but something told me that wasn't it. I decided to go for the safest option and chose to be polite. 

"Yes... ma'am?" 

She started making a sound from the back of her throat, almost like growling. She tugged on the cuffs of her jacket. "Did you really think you were going to get away with it?" 

I furrowed my eyebrows. The only thing I could think was, what the hell? The fire grew brighter. She looked beyond mad; she looked evil. "I'll... it won't happen again... ma'am," I shot out, saying the first response that came to mind. 

Thunder shook the building. 

"We aren't fools, Astraea Jackson."

I flinched at the use of my real name. Virtually no one knew it, only my mother, the principal, and my manager. And usually it was because I was in trouble. I didn't like the way it rolled off her tongue. 

"It was only a matter of time before you were caught. Confess to what you've done and I might choose to be merciful."

"Okay, time for a pause. What am I even confessing to? What the hell did I do that was so—"

"Time's up!" 

And with that, she started changing. Her eyes turned red, her fingernails grew into talons, and her leather jacket started melting and turning into wings. 

"Holy shit!" I screamed, scrambling back a few steps as she shot into the air. Thunder rumbled again. 

"Allie!" 

My eyes didn't shift from the winged-bat-creature-thing my calculus teacher had just turned into, but my mind registered that it was Mr. Brunner's voice. I stepped back and turned and barely had a second to catch the sword flying towards me. Once I had it in my hands I turned back towards Mrs. Dodds, who was flying overhead like a vulture. 

Finally, she swooped down for the kill and I got into the stance my instructor made me do thousands of times over. Once she got close, I didn't feel any fear. It's just like a prop, do what you're supposed to and you won't get hit. 

My body did the only thing that came naturally; I swung the sword. 

She'd flown down in the perfect position, and the sword hit her left shoulder and passed through all the way to her right hip. She burst into a yellow powder and vaporized on the spot, leaving only the smell of sulfur and an uneasy vibe in the air. 

I didn't register the sword falling out of my hand, only the overwhelming desire to get back to my group. I felt like throwing up and like an awful migraine was about to hit. 

When the doors were in my sight, I sprinted the rest of the way and almost ripped the doors off their hinges to get out of there. Grover met me halfway down the steps and started to say something, but I just shook my head. I felt like I was about to pass out from the pain in my head, so there was no way I could've explained anything that had just happened to Grover. 

Just as I got off the last step, Nathan intercepted my path. "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your ass, bitch. Would've gotten you prepared for the main course," he said, still dripping from his swim in the fountain. 

I was about to punch his lights out, but a piercing whistle cut through the storm, re-irritating my migraine. I cried out in pain, clutching my head. I settled for shoulder-checking past him, leaving him to follow in Grover and my tracks. 

Mr. Brunner gave me a concerned look as I boarded the bus, but he didn't say anything to me. Once I got to my seat I pulled a Gucci hoodie out of my bag and threw the hood over my head. Grover sat down as I was searching for some ibuprofen. I relaxed as I found it and dry swallowed three pills. 

"You okay, Allie?" 

I shook my head. "Migraine," I muttered and our conversation ended there. The storm raged worse and the entire bus was silent as lightning cracked across the sky and thunder quickly followed.

*    *    *

previous | next

SERIES M.LIST | MAIN M.LIST | TIPS

[writingpaperghost]

Linking With the Only One Called You (Chapter 2)

Chapter 2: Space Superiority

While the search for the Switcher continues, Nozama tries to help Ryuusei understand Utahoshi a bit better, and Ryuusei tries to get back on Utahoshi's okay side.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/56095588/chapters/162998731

It was Ryuusei’s second day at Amanogawa High School and he’s not even to the gate when Nozama approached him. She had a serious expression on her face, book clutched to her chest.

“Orion’s still out there,” She said.

He frowned, “Orion got a bit blown up.”

“Utahoshi told me that the only way to really defeat a Zodiart is to deactivate or destroy the Switch that transformed them,” She explained. So there were switches of some kind involved. He’d have to see one for himself to know if it was the same as what Jirou had…

Sighing, he responded, “I don’t think Utahoshi wants me involved any further.”

She scowled, “You’re the only one who’s been able to use the Fourze Driver. We need your help, whether he likes it or not…” She shook her head. “For now, focus on trying to find the Switcher. It’s likely to be someone at the school.”

Well, Ryuusei could play detective.

Another few days pass, and despite Ryuusei’s best efforts, he can’t exactly find a lot of leads. No one really knows much about the monsters that have been appearing, and even less about who might be the monster. But Orion hadn’t appeared again yet, either, so that was good. If he wanted to, he could try to go after Ryuusei, and without the Fourze Driver, it would be like their first encounter.

As the end of the day drew, the seat behind him was empty – Utahoshi was gone, probably down at the nurse’s office, as usual. Or at the Rabbit Hutch. Probably for the best, Utahoshi was ignoring him, and if they talked, as things were, it would only be trouble. He and Utahoshi had opposing personalities. Jojima seemed to notice Utahoshi’s absence, too.

“Utahoshi’s always so sick…” She frowned, “I wonder if the stress of school is getting to him?”

That prompted Ryuusei to look over at her, curious, “What do you mean by that?”

She laughed a bit awkwardly, “Well, I remember last year, he wasn’t so sick… actually, I think it only really started sometime this last summer?” She frowned a little in thought, “Maybe around the time he and that Nozama girl started spending time together. Honestly, I’m worried she could be putting something in his food…”

Nozama poisoning Utahoshi? It didn’t seem impossible, but she didn’t seem to dislike Utahoshi so much, not enough to purposefully poison him. On accident didn’t seem impossible, he’d glanced over to her at lunch sprinkling god knows what into her food. Still, it could be a coincidence. And who was to say if it was piloting that mech or a preexisting condition that left him so strained.

He shook his head, “I really don’t think that’s what’s going on, Jojima…”

“Still, it’s really weird…” She shook her head and her smile returned, “So! How have you been liking Amanogawa?”

Bright and loud? Awful? Well, awful would be a bit of an exaggeration. He hadn’t had a lot of time to focus on that outside of class due to his investigation into who was Orion. Outside of trying to look for Orion, he really hadn’t done much around AGHS. He had no desire to join any club, and he wasn’t here for friends.

“It’s… fine, I guess. Teachers aren’t awful.” He finally answered.

“Only fine,” Jojima pouted, this almost exaggerated pout, “It’s Amanogawa High School! How could it just be ‘fine’?”

He sighed, “I never wanted to go here in the first place, it was my parents’ idea.” He shrugged, “Maybe it’ll warm up to me.”

“Give it some time, I’m sure you’ll learn to love it here,” Jojima’s smile returned, before she glanced back at Utahoshi’s seat. “I really am worried about Utahoshi though…”

“I’m sure he’s fine, he’s the loner type, anyway.”

Jojima hummed, thoughtfully, standing up and swinging her bag onto her shoulder, “I wonder if Chairman Gamou realizes that he goes to school here…?”

“Chairman Gamou?” The name wasn’t unfamiliar, and as Jojima said, he was the chairman of Amanogawa High School. It’s founder. He used to work with JAXA and that was how he allowed students so many opportunities in aerospace and related skills.

She smiled a little, “He used to work with Utahoshi’s father, you know.”

That was news, Ryuusei didn’t even know anything about Utahoshi’s father, so he couldn’t exactly say if what Jojima said made sense or not. But, it wouldn’t be a stretch that Utahoshi, who somehow got the highest grades in class despite being gone so much, inherited his smarts from his father. He’d consider bringing it up with Utahoshi, but given they didn’t get along, he’d probably have better luck with Nozama.

With her peace said, Jojima skipped off, singing a song under her breath, “My name is Hayabusa-kun,” he’d heard her sing it a few times. Some song about the Hayabusa satellite. She sure did love space.

He sighed and shook his head, he had to focus on finding Orion, someway, somehow. So he stood up, lifting his bag onto his shoulder, and left the classroom.

Ryuusei only makes it halfway down the hall before he’s cut off by another student dancing into the space in front of him. He skidded to a halt, startled by the student. His uniform barely resembled the Amanogawa High School uniform, the jacket more the style of a hoodie jacket, filled with pins and colorful patterns, bangles all over his wrists. His hair was a bit longer than most, still stopping above his shoulders, a sort of bleach dyed lighter brown, with a few colorful streaks and hair clips.

“Yo,” He said, “I hear you’ve been looking around for a troublemaker.”

Ryuusei blinked, surprised at the student’s younger appearance, “What… who are you?”

He smiled, throwing an arm around Ryuusei. Ryuusei stiffened, though the student started talking. “You can call me Jay-Kay, pronounced ‘Jake’.”

Grabbing JK’s hand and pulling it off of him, Ryuusei rolled his eyes, “Do you need something?”

“Maybe I can help you find who you’re looking for, right? Someone’s after the football players, that monster that showed up the other day.” JK went on. He must be talking about Orion, it seems some knowledge of that had made it to at least some of the student body.

“Do you have someone in mind?” It was worth a shot. Maybe if Ryuusei could find the Switcher, Utahoshi might give him another chance as Fourze…

It’s the only way to save Jirou. Surely one of these Zodiarts might give him some solution to Jirou’s predicament. Surely one of them could wake Jirou up. Maybe that wasn’t something Utahoshi would agree with, but Ryuusei didn’t care. They all had their own motivations, their own fights. Utahoshi could deal with it.

JK looked a little sheepish, “Well not someone specific, perse, but I’ve got a few ideas where you could find some leads.”

That was… something, at least. “Lead the way, then.”

“You got it!” He spins around and begins to walk down the hallway, “You won’t regret it.”

“I wasn’t thinking I would…” Until you said something.

Still, Ryuusei followed after JK, unsure where he’d lead him, but any leads were better than nothing. There were a few head turns from the handful of students still in the halls, but most were absorbed in themselves. JK chattered as they walked, mostly about things going on at the school, even if Ryuusei didn’t pay it all much mind.

Though it seemed JK was the kind who kept up on school gossip – it would make sense why he might have some idea as to a lead on Orion. “You know a lot about what’s going on around the school, don’t you?” He asked.

Glancing back, JK grinned, turning to face Ryuusei, “Of course. If you want to know about anything going on at Amanogawa, I’m your guy.”

He backs into someone, “Already bothering the new student, JK?” Nozama said, voice as quiet ever, though there was an annoyance to it.

Jumping, JK spun back around, hands raised placatingly, “Hey, hey, I’m not bothering him…”

Nozama didn’t look convinced, so Ryuusei added, “He says he might know where there are some leads on Orion.”

With a sigh, Nozama walked around JK, grabbing Ryuusei’s wrist, “Come on, Sakuta. I have something to show you.”

“What?” What could she have to show him? Why now?

“Just come along,” Ryuusei figured it was best to go along with it, he could track down JK later.

She leads him to the Rabbit Hutch, Utahoshi thankfully not present. That meant he was probably down at the nurse’s office, at least right now. This couldn’t be what she wanted him to see, though.

Opening a door, she revealed spacesuits, pulling two out and handing one to him. “Put it on,” She said, “We’re going out.”

“Out onto the moon?” Ryuusei couldn’t help the disbelief in his voice.

“That’s what the space suits are for.” Nozama replied. He still didn’t understand what she was trying to do, but he followed her lead and put the spacesuit on. And then he followed her out, onto the moon.

The moon was broad and empty, each step feeling different. The rational part of him said that it was just the difference of gravity. The part of him that, like every child, once dreamed of the stars said that it was the beauty of the moon. Of a place so few had ever seen, and even fewer while still so young. On the moon, it was quiet, empty, and in its own way, serene.

It took him a little bit to get the hang of movement, but he was a fast enough learner, and Nozama guided him. Then, not too far from the Rabbit Hutch, they stop at the edge of a crater. They just stand there, for a few moments, only the sound of their own breathing.

Then Nozama says, “This is where Utahoshi’s father died.”

“What?” Ryuusei says, as equally confused as before, though now because that was quite an out-of-pocket thing to say.

“Eighteen years ago, this is where Utahoshi’s father died.”

Ryuusei considered that, “In a crater on the moon,” What a way to go.

“This crater only appeared eighteen years ago,” Nozama told him. That… said a lot about how Utahoshi’s father died. Just what had happened?

He glanced at Nozama, who stared out at the crater, “Why are you telling me this?”

She looked over at him. “So you can understand him a bit better. So you can understand why he’s so protective of the Fourze Driver.”

So he could understand… Ryuusei had his parents. He grew up with them, with no real responsibility or legacy to carry. But Ryuusei did know what it was like to cling to something or someone important. For Ryuusei, that was Jirou. For Utahoshi, that was the Fourze Driver and the Switches. The work of his father, now in his own hands. The work of his father, which Ryuusei had used and in moments, had little care for or for Utahoshi’s opinion.

“I… think I understand. Not perfectly but…” He thinks he knew how to get off of Utahoshi’s bad side. Or at least try.

---

Utahoshi was at a dirt track, riding a motorcycle around and around. It was pretty impressive that someone prone to getting so sick could manage so well. But Utahoshi probably knew his limits well, or at least Ryuusei would hope as much. Nozama had told him that he was here, so Ryuusei set out to walk there, though it thankfully wasn’t far from the school.

“Utahoshi!” He called, standing to the side of the track as Utahoshi approached.

To his surprise, Utahoshi did stop, pulling off his helmet to glare at him. “What do you want?”

“I think we got off on the wrong foot. A couple times, really.” Ryuusei said, “I’ll spare you the boring mushy feelings things, but the simple way to say it is… we can help each other.”

“I really don’t think you can.” Utahoshi said, shaking his head.

“Maybe you don’t really need my help, but I need yours. So I’m offering my help, one more person to try to find the Zodiart, someone who can fight with you.” Ryuusei sighed, “I’m not saying we have to be friends or anything. I’m not saying you even have to like me.”

The glare from Utahoshi didn’t weaken in the slightest, “Maybe I don’t want your help.”

It wasn’t a surprise that Utahoshi wasn’t budging so easily. Ryuusei was prepared for that, “You need someone to be Fourze, whether you like it or not. It’s the best way to stop a Zodiart. So let’s try it again, I know how to fight, but not anything about Fouze or those Switches. So I listen to you, properly. We’ll do it right, this time.” He held his hand out, “Let’s give it another shot, Utahoshi.”

Utahoshi stared at the outstretched hand, still frowning, but now seeming to consider what he said. And then, Utahoshi took it. “Fine, one more shot. But we have to find the Switcher first.”

“The stadium,” Nozama said, appearing from… somewhere. It startled Ryuusei, but Utahoshi didn’t seem bothered. “The Switcher is a football player. Toshiya Miura. He’s got something against the football team, and they’re going to be at the stadium right now.”

Pulling the helmet back on, Utahoshi got back on the motorcycle, “To the stadium, then. Get on, Sakuta.”

While Ryuusei had no helmet, they wouldn’t be going far and he figured Utahoshi would be particularly trying to kill him. “What about Nozama?”

Nozama shook her head, “I’ll catch up, focus on stopping Miura.”

Utahoshi got them to the stadium quick enough, and they headed for the locker room. That was their best bet for finding Miura. Then all they had to do with get the Switch away from him, though Ryuusei was sure it wouldn’t be so easy. They found the football team quick enough, though their presence obviously drew attention.

“What are you two doing here?” Someone asked.

Ryuusei spoke up, “We’re looking for Miura? Think we could steal him for a minute?”

And then all heads turned to look at one student, who was in the midst of cleaning something up. The student – who Ryuusei assumed must be Miura, looked up. And then his eyes narrowed at Ryuusei – if he was the one who’d become that monster, surely he’d have seen Ryuusei before he’d transformed and recognize him.

Miura reached into his pocket, pulling out a Switch, different from the ones that worked with the Fourze Driver, but not so different that it seemed like something else entirely. Ryuusei had seen it once before, briefly.

Last One

Those words were still burned in Ryuusei’s mind. As Miura gripped the Switch it morphed, covering itself in spikes and overall, just being more… menacing. This one… this was the sight that Ryuusei saw whenever he relived that night. Just in his memories, it was Jirou, not Miura.

“Don’t do that,” Utahoshi called out, but Miura ignored him. He clicked the Switch.

Orion

And with that, Miura morphed into the monster that Ryuusei had fought before, except instead of becoming the monster… his body fell to the floor, wrapped in something like thick spiderweb. The football players, thankfully, had the sense to get out of there when they realized what was happening – it was tight, but they all were able to push past Ryuusei and Utahoshi. It helped that Miura was in no hurry to attack.

Utahoshi shoved the Fourze Driver at him, Switches already inside. “Do it properly this time, Sakuta.”

“Leave it to me.” Ryuusei placed the Driver on his waist once more, straps coming out to wrap around him. Quickly, he flipped the Switches.

3…

2…

1…

Pulling the lever, he called out, “Transform!”

Fourze’s suit was an unusual but not unwelcomed feeling, this time. This time, Ryuusei at least had a better idea what he was doing. “Now, you and I are going to settle this.”

As Ryuusei fought Orion, Utahoshi set his briefcase down, typing away quickly at the computer in it. Beside it was a strange mechanical device, which greatly resembled a hamburger.

After a few moments, Utahoshi calls out, “I’ve found where the Switch is in his body, you’ll have to get it in order to get rid of this Zodiart.”

Blocking a punch from Orion, Ryuusei asks, “And how am I supposed to do that?”

“Enough damage to the body should cause the Switch to be ejected, for a time. If you can turn it off then…”

That was enough explanation for Ryuusei, at least. “So just give him a few good hits,”

Closing his briefcase, Utahoshi adds, “It would be best to do it somewhere a little safer.”

Right now they were fighting in far too narrow of a space. The best and safest place would be up. “I can find that.” Flipping the Rocket Switch, he braced himself for the incoming thrust.

Rocket on!

Soon he was blasting out of the building, Orion Zodiart in tow. He tosses Orion, then kicks him, letting the rocket push them even higher. Once the rocket’s thrusters died down, he switched one of the other Switches out for a different one.

Parachute on!

At a quite reasonable pace, Ryuusei floats down, finding the Switch having landed in around the same spot, still intact despite the height that it fell from. Curiously, he picked it up. Utahoshi said that he had to turn it off and it should… fix this, he supposed. He pressed the button on the Switch once more, and a moment later it disintegrated, leaving not even a residue in the white of Fourze’s suit.

Leaving the transformation and removing the Driver from his waist, Ryuusei made his way back to Utahoshi, Nozama having finally arrived. Miura was still unconscious, but the webbing is gone.

“Sakuta, you did it,” Nozama said, “Like a real Kamen Rider.”

Utahoshi rolled his eyes, “Enough with that nonsense,” He squatted down, checking over Miura. “We should take him to the nurse’s office and they can get him to a doctor.”

Ryuusei couldn’t help but keep his eyes on Miura. It felt… too familiar. Was this… common? Did using the Switches really have this much of an effect on people? Or did it have something to do with the way the Switch changed? – Utahoshi had seemed a bit surprised by that.

Was Miura doomed to become like Jirou? Or… was this different? Would he wake up? Would Jirou ever wake up? Ryuusei couldn’t let his mind stay on that thought too long. He’d find a way to wake Jirou up – especially now that he knew more about the Switches. It was only a matter of time.

[brooklynxcox]

Brooklyn shook her head, "But I do. I need to apologize because I lied to you. I said I was okay when I wasn't, I said nothing was going on when there was. I made excuses and I lied because I was in too deep and I couldn't see a way out. For a moment there I didn't think there was a way out and pushing everyone away seemed a whole lot better than missing me. It hurts less to be mad, right? I was gonna do it, do something at least. Run maybe. I had a bag packed and thought about it so much. Had a date and city picked. Said I'd do it before Halloween, then before the gala. I told myself I had to do it after dinner in a few days. Have one last meal with my family and then run. But there was always something holding me here. Each time I pushed back I was committed less and less and honestly if Oxana hadn't talked to me that night after I fought with Kai, I think I would have done it." Her words came out fast, rushed as if she wouldn't be able to get them out otherwise. It was the time to come clean about it all. Almost everything at least. She felt like her words were everywhere and it was all a big mess.

His words made her crack a bit more. "That's the worst part of it, Jason." She said through tears, "I know you would have. You would have fought and did whatever you needed to for me to be safe and to get out." But she did what she had to to keep him safe. "That's where it gets fucked in my head because with my soul I know you wouldn't think low of me, you would have protected me, but the thought of what if...I think that was the point of it, the game for him. Isolation." It was the same thing abusers would do in domestic violence situations. Cut off the help. "It's like a constant fight in my brain because I can look you in the eye and say I believe you... but maybe I just needed to hear it to be sure? Because the voices in my head win sometimes."

She didn't want to say it, but she thought that low of herself. Guess that's the thing about the verbal beatings, the bruises don't fade nearly as fast. She watched as he stood, the absence of his warmth hitting her nearly as fast as the look on his face. His jaw set, he knew what he was gonna do, she could see it in his eyes, "Please don't do anything stupid or get yourself killed because of me" she whispered. "I need you alive." Because as long as they were both breathing there was a chance they'd be happy again. Now whatever happened to Jason because of it was her fault. If Dante were to hurt him, that was on her.

She watched, that look in his eye as he spoke. She knew that look, it reminded her of the boy she met a long time ago. Oh, how they have grown up. She wished she could go back to those days when everything was just so simple. Their biggest worries were burning the MC dinner their prospect year. She grabbed his hand before he could leave or walk away, "It matters" she spoke, "Because I want to watch them bleed, Jason. And honestly, I don't care if I'm the one that has to do it." They hurt her in ways she would never express, and she needed to take something back from it. "I know I'm.." a lover, not a fighter. "not much of a fighter. I just... want to watch them hurt the way they made me hurt." She held his eye as she spoke with conviction, there may still be tears down her face but she was angry too, she didn't get to watch Sera go down, hell she didn't even hear about it until just a few minutes ago. "I need to take something back."

Jason didn't say it. Didn't say the phrase she hated so much. Do you really think that low of me? He didn't say much of anything at all, not for a long while. He just listened and watched with those blues — less cold, thawed, while she divulged everything to him. Explanations. Rationale. Apologies. All things he had given up the right to know for a long, long time now and yet, he had asked anyway, and she still told him. It was a helpless sort of feeling, knowing that nothing he could say would do much of anything, but there was something he could do about it, and all he needed was those names.

"Brooke," He began when it was all said and done, gritting his teeth at all the shit she went through. "You really don't gotta apologize to me for any of it and you sure as hell don't gotta do anythin' to protect me. This isn't 'bout me." Jason started, leaning in as he shook his head. Even if there was some truth to her her words. Who knows what he would have done if he had found out earlier? The Jason from a couple years ago was reckless and pissed off, and yet that Jason seemed to be coming out to play more and more often nowadays. "Just know, that if you did tell me I woulda looked out for you." He paused. "And for what it's worth, I don't think that low of you either."

With that, Jason rose up from his seat, concealing the heat that rose up with him with the clench of his jaw. The newfound information acting as his fuel, his movements seemingly of their own accord, wired to act on instinct and instinct alone. Barry. Miles. Moretti. He may have been angry, controlled by his demons on more occasions than he was proud to admit, but even so, Jason wasn’t that stupid all the time. For now, the Don was untouchable. He had learned that the hard way, his favorite way, marked by one of his lackeys only months ago. Their time would come though. But the bouncers, they wouldn't know such mercy.

“Doesn’t matter what I’m gunna do.” Jason kept the details short. Brooklyn didn’t need to know the specifics, just that the bastards weren’t going to get away with it or hurt her again. Anyone who fucked with the MC wasn't going to get away with it, and it needed to be known. Zak had already started to send that message and took out the traitor, and Jason would take care of the other loose ends at the club. He stepped around so she couldn't avoid his gaze and looked her dead in the eyes. "They're not gonna get away with it, they're gunna pay."